The Lou Family's Legacy
Lou Shisui hummed a tune in high spirits, his hands never stopping as he quickly put away the freshly harvested flesh.
This was the first time he had used his Kakuja armament since coming to the new world.
Although the terrain had kept him from fighting without restraint, the sudden, violent boiling of his Rc Cells had left him unusually excited.
He retracted all his Kagune except for his Owl Wings and flew leisurely deeper into the forest.
His destination was a hidden secret realm recorded in the Lou Family's books.
Honestly, if the dead idiot young master hadn't been such a poor student, forcing him to cram the basics, he would never have found the map to the secret realm hidden in a reference book.
The Lou Family had probably forgotten just how much wealth it had squeezed from the people.
They had probably claimed this little secret realm for themselves, then decided it had too few resources and casually hidden it away, tucking the map into a book.
As for opening the secret realm for the people's benefit, that was out of the question. Who cared about the beasts of burden beneath them?
That was why he had been able to lure Yin City's higher-ups away with the Lin Family, every single time.
Raiding a great family's estate could yield a terrifying amount of loot, enough even to grease the palms of those above and cover up the blunder of losing the Awakening Stones.
Lou Shisui landed in a small valley. Starting from the center, he went ten meters left and twenty meters forward, where he found a stone buried in the grass.
The knee-high stone was surprisingly smooth. He took out the map and pressed it against the stone.
The next moment, the stone melted into a pool of water, and tiny golden lights glimmered in the puddle it formed.
Lou Shisui leaped into the water. Then the pool vanished, leaving only the smooth stone nestled in the grass once more.
The West District chief stood in the muddy mire of blood, his perception spreading over a radius of ten li, but he was destined to find nothing.
Lou Shisui had chosen to cross the river precisely to delay the arrival of high-level awakened at the Fifth Realm and above. He would never confront a Fifth-Realm awakened head-on at this moment.
Even with an amount of Psychic Energy comparable to that of the Fifth Realm, Lou Shisui was still unawakened.
He couldn't use the Psychic Energy control techniques available to the Fifth Realm, so an experienced Fifth-Realm awakened would naturally outclass him in strength.
"Am I a step too late?"
The traces of violently disturbed Psychic Energy in the air had yet to dissipate completely. The West District chief knew the other party should have left no more than three minutes ago.
A speed-type awakened at the Fourth-Realm Peak, suspected of also possessing the ability to conceal his tracks.
The West District chief had a rough idea, but he didn't immediately turn and leave. Instead, he stood where he was.
"Rustle, rustle—"
Here they come!
"Sir, what brings you to my Beastfolk territory at night?"
A brown bear three times the height of a person pushed aside the leaves and walked slowly toward the West District chief.
Despite its enormous body, its movements were light and graceful, every gesture blending into the forest.
The Psychic Energy in the surroundings resonated and mingled with it, enough to demonstrate the brown bear's profound mastery of Psychic Energy.
The West District chief cupped his hands in greeting before answering, "I was pursuing a fugitive. I trespassed in the urgency of the moment, and I hope you'll forgive me."
The brown bear gave a soft chuckle, its gaze sharpening as it looked at the chief.
His tone is respectful, but he says nothing about trespassing on my people's territory, and his stated reason for entering is ambiguous. What a fine "I hope you'll forgive me"!
The brown bear surveyed the carnage around them and said,
"This fugitive not only broke through the troops guarding both banks, but also requires the district chief to pursue him personally. He must be extremely dangerous. As your city's friendly neighbors, my people will never stand idly by!"
Let the army enter my Beastfolk territory to search? Don't even think about it!
"Thank you for your people's kindness, but this matter is too important for me to decide. Our city's mayor is already waiting on the riverbank. Why don't you go inform your lord first?"
The West District chief wore a polite smile as he changed tack, kicking the matter onto the negotiating table.
The reason for the pursuit would be framed around betrayal of one's people and slaughter. If they took this opportunity to bring the army into the rainforest, then raided a few more great families' estates to keep those above happy, the fault of the theft might even be turned into a major achievement!
The scheming between the racial factions had only just begun, and none of it would affect Lou Shisui inside the secret realm.
At this moment, Shisui stood on the ground within the secret realm. It was less than two thousand square meters in area, and with a Ghoul's eyesight, he could see the far end at a glance.
The Lou Family had emptied it long ago, leaving behind a space like an unfinished model apartment.
As temporary lodgings, it was fairly spacious, but as a secret realm, it could only be described as cramped and barren.
Lou Shisui released tons of Awakening Stones. There were enough to form a small mountain because they included the amount needed for the awakenings of all the students at West District No. 1 Middle School and several nearby middle schools.
Originally, these Awakening Stones had been stored together, ready to be distributed and transported to the various schools in the early morning.
Shisui stepped into the Awakening Stones. His Kagune gradually extended with his movements, and his fully formed Kakuja armament enveloped his tiny body.
The Kakuja body formed from numerous Kagune swelled into a ten-meter-tall monster, surpassing the small mountain of Awakening Stones in an instant.
Unlike an armament that merely covered the body like armor, a complete Kakuja form used Kagune to construct an enormous body, allowing the Kagune in every direction to be controlled freely in combat.
It was a pure killing machine, an armament of violence.
The monster opened its mouth, lined with serrated Blade Scales, and devoured the Awakening Stones in great mouthfuls.
A Ghoul's evolution required no meticulous guidance or gentle, gradual progression. All it needed was to eat, and keep eating!
An exceptionally powerful digestive system and great adaptability allowed Shisui to devour an enormous quantity of Psychic Energy polymers.
Violent energy rampaged through his body, distending it until it shattered inch by inch.
"Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—"
Amid the sounds of chewing, cracking bones and regenerating limbs, the twisted monster was torn apart and reassembled inside the secret realm.
After an unknown length of time, the monster ate its final mouthful.
Far more Psychic Energy than he could hold had accumulated inside him. His Kagune instantly deconstructed, then gathered and condensed into an egg twice the height of a person the next moment.
Scales covered the black eggshell, which was densely patterned with blood-red lines. As the lines flickered, it was as though the vicious beast growing within were breathing.
A top predator that made the world its dining table was taking shape, waiting for the moment to break free of its cocoon.