Chapter 374: Chapter 245: The Missing Federal Agent (Part 2)

’According to the instance’s original plot, he was supposed to go on a rampage on Christmas Eve, pushing himself to his final form. In the end, just as I saw in my dream, Akita Town would be engulfed in a sea of fire, destroyed by the arrival of Satan.

Then, a new cycle would begin.’

Akita Town was an instance, and instances looped and reset. Destruction was just the beginning of a new run.

For contestants like Zhou Chen, failing to kill Father Natas before Christmas Eve meant failing the instance’s "main quest." This Sword Forging Competition would end in failure for them.

But for Akita Town, destruction was just another of the thousands of cycles it had already endured.

’It would actually be better if we failed,’ Zhou Chen thought. ’That way, when Akita Town resets, everyone who died in this run will be resurrected. We’ve already identified the mastermind, so the contestants in the next run would only need to find Father Natas and kill him. They could end everything easily and save as many of Akita Town’s residents as possible.’

After finding nothing else of use in the cave, Zhou Chen used his Cyan Flame to burn away the Inverted Pentagram Array on the floor. He then used Instant Teleportation to return to the surface, where he sat cross-legged atop the church and began to Meditate to restore his Essence.

A while later, Chengzi arrived.

"Renie’s making slow progress. She’s entered a state of absolute focus, so we can’t interfere. Even if we could, we’d probably just hold her back. Her Forging Skills are improving at an incredible rate."

Chengzi looked up at the sky as she spoke. "What is that colosseum?"

"The Glory Colosseum. It hosts 1v1 duels that can only be initiated with a Dueling Sword. The Dueling Sword is an Artifact distributed by the Pantheon to certain chosen individuals..."

After a brief explanation, Zhou Chen added, "Chengzi, go talk to Liu Ling. Tell him... maybe we should give up."

"Give up? Why?" Chengzi was baffled.

Zhou Chen stared at the colosseum in the sky and said in a heavy tone, "Akita Town is a looping instance. In this run, the townspeople have already been devastated by Natas. But we’ve found the culprit behind it all. So why not wait until the next run to deal with him? More of Akita Town’s residents would survive, and it would be easier for us to take Natas down."

"...That actually makes sense."

Chengzi considered it and realized he had a point. She didn’t really care about her ranking in the Sword Forging Competition anyway. Just making it this far in the finals was a pleasant surprise, so failing at the very end didn’t matter to her.

"I’ll go talk to Liu Ling, then. He’ll probably agree... right?" Chengzi wasn’t sure what Liu Ling would think and didn’t want to make any assumptions. She turned and left to find him.

Zhou Chen continued to watch the Glory Colosseum, where Yao Hu and Natas were locked in a fierce battle. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Yao Hu undoubtedly had the overwhelming advantage in combat experience and technique.

But in terms of raw Power, Natas was clearly superior. His regenerative Ability was also absurdly high. As long as his connection to the citizens of Akita Town remained unbroken, he could continuously draw on the power of their sins, rapidly recovering and fighting on at peak condition.

As for severing that connection, neither Zhou Chen nor his companions could do it.

Forget seventy thousand people—even if it were just seven hundred people packed together, it would take ages to sort them out. If he had to purify each one individually with his Cyan Flame, Zhou Chen would be completely drained long before he was finished.

Using an Artifact was also out of the question. They didn’t have time to build a wide-range jamming device, nor did they have the necessary materials.

’If I made a wish... I could try to seal off Natas’s power source directly. But under the influence of the Restricted Area, the cost would be astronomical. More importantly, I wouldn’t be able to explain how I did it afterward. This whole competition is being broadcast live worldwide.’

’Without severing the connection, the only way to kill an enemy like this is to annihilate him instantly with overwhelming power, leaving no opportunity to recover.’

’—Which means Yao Hu will probably have to advance to Tier Three right here.’

A little over ten minutes later, Chengzi returned.

"Liu Ling agreed. He said he wanted to piece together the whole story, so he went back to the police station to look for more files. Renie’s still in her state of absolute focus. We didn’t disturb her, so we don’t know what she’ll want to do."

"Let’s just play it by ear. If Yao Hu manages to kill Natas, our decision to forfeit won’t matter anyway. If he can’t... then to be honest, we probably can’t beat him either."

Zhou Chen gazed at the colosseum and sighed. "Their fight is already at the Tier Three level. Yao Hu is bound to break through. If he still can’t win after that, then we probably don’t stand a chance. Not unless Renie finishes that Weapon soon. That would at least give us a fighting chance."

"I’ll go back and see if I can help her. You be careful." Chengzi left after saying her piece. She wasn’t strong in combat, so she wasn’t much use here. Renie’s state of absolute focus probably wouldn’t last forever, so she could at least go back and lend a hand.

"Yeah." Zhou Chen nodded and resumed watching the battle, studying it intently.

Yao Hu was an incredibly powerful Strength Type Ascender. His Fist Technique and Body Technique had both been honed to perfection, qualifying as Superior Martial Arts Skills.

’And now, they were all his.’

Two hours later, day broke. Despite being affected by the corruption, the citizens of Akita Town maintained their usual routines.

Some came to the church for their customary prayers, only to find the doors locked. The nearby streets were also littered with signs of destruction. After some hesitation, they called the police.

The police and the townspeople pried open the church doors and searched inside for any sign of Father Natas, but every room was empty. They finally discovered a tunnel leading underground in the storeroom. Half an hour later, the fire department arrived with equipment to begin exploring it.

Zhou Chen moved further away, finding a spot where he wouldn’t be discovered so he could continue watching the fight.

Yao Hu and Father Natas had been fighting for over four hours now. Thanks to the unending supply of sin from Akita Town’s citizens, Father Natas remained in peak condition.

What surprised Zhou Chen was that Yao Hu’s Endurance was also exceptional. Even after four hours of grueling battle, he was still in remarkably good condition. He hadn’t advanced to Tier Three yet; it seemed he wanted to continue suppressing his breakthrough, pushing himself to the absolute limit before he ascended.

Another two hours passed before Liu Ling arrived.

"Zhou Chen, I found some relevant files at the police station. You need to hear this."

"I’m listening."

"The earliest recorded bizarre case in Akita Town was a little over a month ago. Someone filed a report claiming they heard ghostly screams at night. The police went to their home to investigate but found nothing out of the ordinary. Two days later, the person who filed the report mysteriously vanished, leaving only their ten-year-old son at home. The boy claimed his parents went out in the middle of the night and never returned."

"A few days later, the son, who had been placed in a temporary welfare home, also disappeared. Police reviewed the surveillance footage and saw the boy walk out of the home as if he were sleepwalking. He then vanished in a camera’s blind spot. The bizarre part is that the blind spot was only a five-meter stretch. Even a child should have been able to cross it in a few seconds, but he just... disappeared."

"After that, more and more people in Akita Town went missing. The number of cases skyrocketed, and many more bizarre incidents were reported."

"For example, there was the mysterious disappearance at the Akita Town Art Museum. A group of tourists visiting at night vanished into thin air. All of them. The only thing found at the scene was a cell phone with a recording of a woman’s panicked scream: ’They’re alive! They’re all alive!’"

"The growing number of strange incidents in Akita Town eventually attracted the state’s attention. Last month, they sent a federal agent to investigate. However, he mysteriously disappeared not long ago, just like the others—as if he’d vanished into thin air."

"A federal agent?"

Zhou Chen remembered Jenny mentioning that an agent had come to Akita Town. Being just a kid, though, she hadn’t known his name or any specifics.

Liu Ling’s expression grew solemn.

"The name of the missing agent..." he continued.

"...was Jack Reeves."