Burning Life Force for Temporary Pleasure

The moment He Ao detonated the power of "Super Memory," he instantly regained control of his body.

After being used once, Super Memory needed time to recover. It would take roughly twenty-four hours—an entire day—before it could be used again.

But that did not mean it could not be used at all during those twenty-four hours. He Ao could still forcibly detonate its power, but he had no idea what consequences such a forced detonation would bring.

Ultimately, He Ao's previous inability to move stemmed from his mind being unable to control his body. It was like two people arm-wrestling with equal strength—neither could overpower the other.

At that point, all he needed was to forcibly strengthen one side.

Super Memory was clearly a method of enhancing mental abilities. He Ao had no other choice but to detonate it and bear the unknown consequences.

Or be killed directly by the Red Skirt Woman before him.

An easy choice.

The instant he regained control of his body, He Ao immediately twisted aside and turned his wrist.

Bang--

A thunderous gunshot suddenly rang out, slicing through the air above He Ao's head like a sharp blade before striking the rooftop floor and blasting a huge hole through it.

Was that a gun? That was a cannon.

Correspondingly, it carried immense recoil.

The Red Skirt Woman seemingly had not expected the gun's recoil to be so strong. The force acted on He Ao's wrist, but it also acted on her.

It directly knocked the unprepared woman back several steps.

He Ao seized the opportunity, violently broke free from her control, and widened the distance between them.

At that moment, everything in the world was visible to He Ao in the finest detail. He even felt as though he were observing everything around him from a higher-dimensional perspective.

He could sense the woman's pulse and her breathing. Whenever she made a move, projections of her possible next actions even appeared in his mind.

The detonated Super Memory seemed far stronger than normal Super Memory, and it had no clear time limit.

But in exchange, He Ao could feel his soul and mind rapidly weakening.

This weakness was not fatigue. Under Super Memory's effects, his mind was incredibly exhilarated. It felt more as though his soul was serving as fuel to power Super Memory.

So this was a skill that burned life force.

He Ao sighed inwardly, raised his hand, and fired at the Red Skirt Woman without hesitation.

The Red Skirt Woman's body twisted like a ghost as she tried to evade the shot, but the bullet grazed her arm.

Bright red blood, carrying flecks of faint Purple Radiance, flowed out.

He had hurt her.

He Ao's mind swiftly reconstructed the Red Skirt Woman's combat data. He had fired that shot with a prediction in mind. According to Super Memory's prediction, it should have hit her directly.

Yet the Red Skirt Woman had dodged it.

It seemed Super Memory could only predict a person's movements using existing data. It could not simulate abilities He Ao had never seen. Once the opponent displayed an unfamiliar ability, he had to rebuild the data model.

At that very instant, He Ao suddenly rolled to the left.

The Red Skirt Woman appeared where he had just been standing like a phantom.

This time, Super Memory's prediction had probably been accurate.

He Ao retreated several more steps and watched the Red Skirt Woman.

Based on what had happened earlier, this Red Skirt Woman was probably not skilled at combat. Her abilities likely leaned more toward the mental side. In a one-on-one fight, she might not even be able to defeat Mu Xiu. Otherwise, she would have turned around and beaten Mu Xiu to death long ago instead of being hunted for so many years.

But how could someone so poor at fighting possess such monstrous Physical Fitness? The supernatural beings in this world really were terrifying.

"How did you do that?"

Now it was the Red Skirt Woman's turn to be curious. She looked at He Ao in confusion and did not attack again, seemingly very interested in how he had escaped her control.

"Well..." He Ao opened his mouth. "Secret."

Then he fired another shot at her without hesitation.

The woman dodged that shot as well.

He Ao was not surprised. Instead, he darted to the side as he continuously updated the woman's combat data in his mind.

As he retreated, he looked at her. "What do you think Smith is doing right now?"

"Hm?"

The somewhat irritated woman stopped.

He Ao had not failed to consider that the Witchcraft Church might be employing a strategy of Using Tigers to Devour Wolves and Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain—drawing Dawn City's official attention through Mu Xiu, then Deceiving the Enemy by a Surprise Move to conduct the ritual.

On the contrary, he had discussed this possibility with Smith while they were on their way here. Although Smith had not explicitly confirmed it, his words suggested that he had reached much the same conclusion.

That was why, when facing Mu Xiu, a top-tier D-rank powerhouse, Smith had only sent Selina charging ahead while he himself remained securely behind the scenes.

Not everyone in this world was an idiot. At least some Old Foxes were truly cunning and slippery.

But there was one point where both He Ao and Smith might have misjudged things. At the time, they had both believed that the Witchcraft Church's strongest member would be near the ritual site to ensure it proceeded smoothly, while the person sent to lure away Mu Xiu would merely be a disposable pawn. After all, the ritual was the most important thing to the Witchcraft Church.

But now—

He Ao could say with certainty that the person before him was the Witchcraft Church's big boss.

The instant he broke free, He Ao had sent Smith a message asking for help.

But there had been too little time. Crown District, where Crown Casino was located, was at least dozens of kilometers from Aston District.

He Ao did not doubt in the slightest that Smith could defeat the Red Skirt Woman before him, but he doubted whether he could hold on until Smith arrived to rescue him.

Moreover, all the nearby police officers and investigators should have gone after Mu Xiu by now. Even if they turned back, there was no telling when they would arrive.

Smith would not send ordinary people back for rescue, because that would be no different from sending them to their deaths. But he might arrange for people to surround the area, and that would be of no help to He Ao.

At this moment, the only people who could come save He Ao were probably Smith or other big shots of the same level.

"See if you can still contact your subordinates."

He Ao looked at the Red Skirt Woman with a smile.

The Red Skirt Woman's expression changed. She pulled a small, long strip from a hidden layer of fabric at her waist and put it on her hand, where it became a bracelet.

She activated the bracelet, but received no response.

"Your plan has already failed." He Ao chuckled, raised his gun at the Red Skirt Woman, and fired again. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation is surrounding this place now. You can't escape."

The Red Skirt Woman dodged this shot as well, but after several rounds of data collection, He Ao's prediction had gained some accuracy. Coupled with the proficiency granted by Basic Firearms Proficiency, the bullet struck the Red Skirt Woman's left shoulder, instantly shattering her shoulder blade as bright red blood streamed down.

The Red Skirt Woman clutched her shoulder. The bullet's force knocked her off course, sending her tumbling away as something silver fell from her body.

She had no time to worry about it. She stared at He Ao in uncertainty. If Smith had truly brought people to surround this place, Dawn City might become her final stop in life.

Wooo--

At that moment, a piercing police siren suddenly sounded.

Without any hesitation, the Red Skirt Woman flashed away and ran.

Smith was here... so quickly?

The siren also surprised He Ao. He had only said those things to scare the Red Skirt Woman, hoping to frighten her into fleeing. After all, he could not hold on much longer. But he had not expected Smith to really arrive.

After confirming that the Red Skirt Woman had truly run far away, He Ao released Super Memory's effect. In that instant, his vision blurred, all strength left him, and his legs could no longer support his body. He swayed before collapsing helplessly forward onto the ground.

A silver test tube wrapped in metal lay not far from his head. At that moment, it emitted a heart-pounding pull.

He Ao wanted to reach out and pick up the test tube, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not move his fingers even a fraction.

Am I going to die...

He felt his vision rapidly blurring as his life drained away completely.

Burning life force for temporary pleasure; after burning it all, straight to the crematorium.

He Ao's consciousness gradually grew hazy.

A small hand picked up the test tube from the ground.