Chapter 392: Flower Night Bar
Free City, Slums.
"Only been gone a few days, and this place has really gotten lively."
Lin Ye was heading towards the place where Raymond's friend had disappeared. Just moments ago, he had dealt with the sixth wave of enemies who had attacked him.
'It's true a second-tier spiritual energy user shouldn't be wandering around a place like this at night, but precisely because of that, they should think a bit more before making a move.'
Lin Ye, holding the Metal Sphere, walked into an alley. The seventh wave of enemies appeared at the alley's end.
It was a maintenance worker wearing overalls. Although the person looked normal, appearing in a place like this was a bit strange, after all, the Slums didn't need maintenance workers.
"Tch, now even second-tier spiritual energy users dare to get involved in this kind of thing?"
The maintenance worker opposite him pulled a machete, a full two meters long, from his pocket.
"Huh, you have a spatial item? Can even fourth-tier spiritual energy users pull out spatial items now?"
Lin Ye looked at the maintenance worker's pocket with considerable interest. Free City had places that sold spatial items, but they were very expensive and the quality wasn't great.
"This of course isn't my spatial item, I just borrowed it..."
The maintenance worker's vision blurred, leaving only the empty alley entrance before his eyes.
"I see. Well, thank you very much then. I just happened to be short a spatial item;
carrying this thing around is a bit inconvenient."
Lin Ye appeared behind the maintenance worker, holding a small black pouch in his hand.
The maintenance worker had the middle section of his body obliterated by a compressed spiritual energy blast. Afraid of damaging the spatial item, Lin Ye had specifically moved next to him, taken the spatial item, and then acted against him.
'Alienated bodies are just so useful, pity they're a bit unstable.'
The clothes Lin Ye made weren't just for looks. This outfit was a mid-tier spiritual energy item, carved full of various runes, and infused with his various understandings of spiritual energy items.
Combined with his alienated second-tier body and powerful mental energy, ordinary mid-tier spiritual energy users couldn't withstand a single move from him.
Lin Ye opened the small pouch. Inside was a space of about two cubic meters, and the space was stuffed full of things.
"Buying is not as good as selling, selling is not as good as stealing, stealing is not as good as robbing. The ancients truly did not deceive me."
Lin Ye couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Spiritual Energy Firearms, spiritual energy bullets, spiritual energy bombs, various emergency medicines... just the supplies in this spatial item were worth over five hundred thousand Free Coins.
Plus this spatial item itself, Lin Ye hadn't expected killing an idiot to yield such a harvest.
'This is probably just Free City...'
Lin Ye placed the Metal Sphere into the small pouch, then put the pouch away and continued towards the target bar.
On the way, Lin Ye encountered a few more low-tier enemies, but he dealt with them casually.
These people seemed to belong to the same organization as that maintenance worker. Lin Ye didn't find any clear identification information on them.
Using the map on his Communication Device, Lin Ye quickly found the place where the other person had disappeared: Blossom Night Bar.
This was one of the few entertainment venues in the Slums. Occasionally, wealthy people seeking thrills would come here to have fun.
The missing person was probably one such case.
Lin Ye entered the bar. Inside was exactly like his stereotypical impression of a bar: noisy dance music, writhing bodies, and a smoke-filled, chaotic environment.
Using spiritual energy to push aside a few scantily clad young women, Lin Ye felt these people's mental states weren't quite right.
The air was mixed with a cloyingly sweet smell. This scent seemed to have some kind of effect on the brain.
Lin Ye sensed a very complex underground space beneath the bar. The entrance was in the bar's backyard.
'Why do these cultists all like staying underground? Is it because it suits their identity more?'
Lin Ye arrived at the bar's backyard. The entrance leading to the underground space was wide open. Judging from the traces around, quite a few people had already gone in.
"You're going in too? What you're looking for isn't inside."
A priest wearing black ceremonial robes stood by the window on the bar's second floor, smiling as he spoke to Lin Ye.
"Then I won't go in. I'm here to find someone. Can you tell me where that person is?"
Lin Ye could tell the priest wasn't lying. Moreover, just now when he approached the underground entrance, he had felt a strong sense of crisis.
"If you mean that man who came looking for fun, he has already left Free City."
The priest maintained a gentle smile on his face. His smile made Lin Ye feel a bit nostalgic.
He used to like smiling like that too;
it made others think he was friendly.
"Which district of Free City is he in? Still in the Slums?"
Back then, Lin Ye also liked mixing truth and lies when he spoke, but he had changed that habit now.
"I said he is no longer in Free City."
The priest put away his smile. He felt he had been seen through by the young man below.
"That's troublesome. So he's not even in the Slums anymore. Then where could he be... wouldn't it be Bio-Tech?"
Lin Ye stared at the priest's expression and soon revealed a pleased smile.
"...How do you know about Bio-Tech?"
The priest picked up a heavy battle axe leaning against the wall. He had originally intended to let Lin Ye leave, but now he could only take action.
"I guessed. The Salvation Cult can't possibly have only one base in Free City, so it must be connected to some surface-level faction. From what I know of you all, Bio-Tech fits you quite well."
Lin Ye really had guessed, and he wasn't completely certain even now.
"Young man, being too clever isn't a good thing. It easily invites trouble."
The priest, holding the battle axe, leaped down from the second floor. The Compressed Spiritual Energy Blade failed to penetrate his spiritual energy shield.
"Now, I can only bestow upon you the salvation you deserve on behalf of my Lord."
"Just like you saved those people in the bar?"
Lin Ye pulled a spiritual energy shotgun from the pouch, simultaneously carving runes onto the bullets inside the gun.
"I made them forget their pain, kept them in a sweet dream. Isn't that good?"
The priest held the axe with both hands, closely watching Lin Ye's center of gravity for any change, searching for an opening to strike.
"That's very good. But did you ask them? Perhaps among them, there are still some who don't want to be far from pain. Pain isn't a good thing, but if even pain is gone, then they truly have nothing left."
Lin Ye didn't act rashly. The priest's tier wasn't high, just a fifth-tier spiritual energy user, but he was a genuine fifth-tier spiritual energy user, not to be compared with those watered-down versions.
Anyway, he still had many bullets he hadn't processed yet. Delaying time wasn't a bad thing for him.
The priest didn't wait for Lin Ye to reveal a flaw. He was very patient, but a group of armed personnel surrounded Blossom Night Bar.
"How about we clear the area first? You don't want a sniper rifle pointed at your head the whole time, do you?"
Lin Ye felt these armed personnel were part of the same group as that maintenance worker.
The priest instantly moved in front of Lin Ye, swinging the axe down towards his head!