Blackhand

Blackhand

With most of the civilians evacuated, the small number of Kabane below could be handled by the Samurai squad.

Xu Yue did not use firearms. In terms of killing Kabane, his efficiency was not particularly high; each time, piercing through the membrane around their hearts took considerable strength and stamina.

After dealing with Lone Wolf, Xu Yue immediately rushed toward another point of unrest.

Hopefully, that side would give him a pleasant surprise...

"Damn it! Where exactly did the plan go wrong? Why did this happen?!"

Spy looked at the Samurai squad that had already surrounded him, and despair welled up in his heart.

The plan had been proceeding smoothly all along, but for some reason, it was as if the other side had suddenly noticed them. Worse still, the drills Kōkan Station had conducted a few days ago, along with the restructuring of some residential areas, had caused enormous trouble for their side!

Back then, they had still been waiting for the first Kabane infection to appear. Why had factors unfavorable to them emerged before they even began their operation?!

And even after they had gone all in and spread out to release Kabane, they had failed to cause much of a disturbance. Could it be that those idiots had all been bitten to death by the Kabane they released?!

"Actually, you made your plan too complicated. A plan and its objective are not better just because they are more detailed and complex. Otherwise, one mistake in a single link can ruin everything."

A gentle, sunny voice drifted over. Spy froze, then immediately dropped to his knees and prostrated himself on the ground. Without even turning his head, he pleaded,

"You saw through our entire plan in advance. I surrender. I want to join your side, even if I can only be a runner."

Since the other party had spared them once, he would definitely spare them a second time as long as his attitude was good enough. People with moral scruples like this were the easiest to deal with. Otherwise, with that man's pressure hanging over him, he truly would not have dared take such a risk.

"Oh? Surrendering that easily?"

Xu Yue walked step by step before Spy. The Kabane Spy had released had already been killed by the Samurai.

Spy raised his face slightly, wearing a bitter smile.

"What else can I do? I'm not good at fighting. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been surrounded by them."

But before he had even finished speaking, Xu Yue stomped down on his hand. A sickening crunch of bones being pulverized rang out, accompanied by his shrill scream.

The next moment, Xu Yue's downward stomp turned into a kick. He shattered Spy's throat and sent his entire body flying, knocking a watch into the air in the process. Xu Yue caught it in his hand. Rarely, the watch had not been reduced to a blank item and instead displayed its attributes.

Shinigami Elementary School Student's Watch: Can fire a needle that instantly puts a person to sleep, ignoring all resistances. The higher the target's overall strength, the shorter the duration.

Looking at the watch in his hand, Xu Yue ignored the corpse that had been kicked away and merely muttered to himself,

"Honestly, if you hadn't tried anything, I really would have let you go. In terms of ability, you should have been the most useful one to me. Don't be so greedy. What a pity..."

Who knew what two missions Spy had gone through? His combat ability really was mediocre, and this was his only trump card for saving his life. Yet his abilities themselves were actually quite good.

Tracking and concealment were both excellent, and they worked on a group as well.

If he had joined some team, he probably would have been heavily protected.

After suppressing the two places most likely to cause trouble, Xu Yue did not interfere elsewhere.

With the earlier drills, the Samurai squad's new equipment, and Mumei's radar-like scans, they could no longer stir up much trouble.

Now that the Samurai were equipped with Jet Bullets and could effectively kill Kabane, Kōkan Station's defenses were clearly no longer on the same level as before.

Xu Yue slowly entered an alley and then stopped.

"What's wrong? I gave you so many opportunities along the way. Are you giving up now that you still haven't attacked?"

It sounded like an absurd bit of self-talk, yet it was answered by a soul-stealing, coquettish laugh.

"Oh my~ A newcomer who has only gone through one mission? What exactly did you obtain in your first mission?"

As the voice sounded, a seductive figure gradually emerged at the entrance of the alley where Xu Yue stood, dreamlike and illusory, blocking him inside.

Then her voice turned husky and enchanting.

"Truly... you frighten me."

It was the woman who had initially been mistaken for someone in the special services industry, suspected of having undergone plastic surgery, and easiest to overlook—the one who called herself Jiong Jiong and had mixed in with the three Railway Guerrillas!

The woman who had wanted to cling to Scimitar's thigh from the very beginning, only to be slapped and abandoned!

Judging from the way she had appeared alone, she could not possibly be some newcomer entering her second mission.

This team had actually been hiding such a terrifying presence with absolutely no sense of existence.

Had the special mission not drawn her out, she might have remained hidden all along.

"When did you start suspecting me? I thought my disguise was rather good. I never had any interest in meddling in the fighting among you children."

"When you got slapped, your face swelled up, and you still helped take care of that injured idiot. Overdoing a disguise is a flaw in itself."

Xu Yue did not hide it. He turned to look at the woman, whose temperament had changed completely and now seemed mysterious and alluring. Beyond the wariness in his eyes was an even fiercer, burning excitement.

It was you. Let me experience the meaning and value of my existence even more deeply. Let me feel the beating of my heart even more clearly!

"Just because of that?"

Jiong Jiong seemed somewhat surprised. She tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

"Once suspicion arises from the details, the flaws in your subsequent actions naturally become more and more obvious."

Before Xu Yue had even finished speaking, a black shadow pounced from behind Jiong Jiong and easily tore that delicate body into pieces.

Yet not a drop of blood appeared. It was as though her entire body had turned into rotten wadding and scattered apart.

The next instant, Xu Yue was instead drawn into a strange force field. Yin and yang reversed, and he could barely stand steadily, completely losing his rhythm.

At the instant he lost his balance, a pair of ribbons lightly struck Xu Yue's chest.

Those seemingly weightless ribbons carried the force of ten thousand tons upon impact. His entire chest caved in, and he was blasted backward.

Even the air exploded with a thunderous boom.

Boom—

He slammed into the wall inside the alley, spreading countless cracks across it!

His chest was crushed in, and it looked as though he would not survive.

Like a corpse embedded in the wall.

Yet as the roughness on Xu Yue's skin deepened, his entire body turned brown.

It formed a wooden humanoid.

Wood Clone!

The figure that had previously ambushed Jiong Jiong transformed into Xu Yue's true appearance instead. Looking at the Wood Clone that had been destroyed in one strike, his eyes were filled with delight.

Was that ability the Heavenly Demon Dance and Heavenly Demon Force Field?

He had not expected that, despite the newbie martial arts world being completely wrecked, someone could still climb step by step out of a world of The Twin Dragons of Great Tang's level.

"Substitution Technique? What a strange Substitution Technique."

Jiong Jiong, whose attack had likewise failed, looked at the Wood Clone that had turned into a wooden figure with a puzzled expression.

Wood Clone Jutsu was far more practical than Shadow Clone. Its durability and ability to deceive were both much greater. Yet this obvious veteran had still failed to recognize it.

At this moment, her heart was far less calm than her expression suggested. She had used an Authority Item to hide in a newcomer mission in order to avoid being tracked by those people and recuperate.

She had only intended to make some extra gains because a special mission had appeared, but she had never expected to encounter such a terrifying newcomer!!

Judging from the display of these abilities, he would definitely be considered outstanding even among formal Reincarnators!

Whether in strength or cunning, he was absolutely a dangerous individual highly compatible with the rules of Reincarnation Space. Once he grew stronger, who knew how terrifying he would become...

If not for the fact that she had used special authority to test him, she might even have suspected that those people had tracked her here.

But this was ultimately Mission Space for newcomers. Her actions were restricted by the rules of the space, so there was no way for her to investigate further.

After failing to land her strike, and seemingly burdened with other concerns, Jiong Jiong gave Xu Yue a deep look before leaving his sight with a strange movement technique.

Before Xu Yue's next attack could reach her, she shattered like foam, leaving behind numerous afterimages.

Her dance-like movement technique fully displayed a beauty that was dreamy and ethereal, pure and seductive at once. Like an immortal maiden ascending into a fairyland, she vanished without a trace.

"You really are impressive to have blocked one of my attacks. Then this mission is yours."

Only after her figure disappeared did her coquettish voice drift into Xu Yue's ears.

"Leaving the moment one strike failed... So she entered this newcomer Mission Space disguised as a newbie for some other reason? Was she seriously injured, being hunted, or restricted by the space itself?"

After his attack was evaded, Xu Yue looked toward the direction she had left and formed his own conjectures.

Some unknown authorities in the future might allow veteran Reincarnators to disguise themselves and enter newcomer spaces.

But without question, given how the space even took a cut when he developed ninjutsu himself, they certainly could not act recklessly even after entering a newcomer mission. This time, she had clearly used the special mission as an opportunity, and she had retreated immediately after missing with one strike. She definitely had many concerns.

Perhaps because her strength was at this level, she had calculated the difficulty of completing the mission, which was why the final reward could reach such a level.

But regardless, his short-term objective had already been completed.

Though the exchange had been brief, the thrill of their clash—the sensation of dancing on a steel wire, where he could lose his head at any breath—once again filled Xu Yue's body and mind with that long-lost delight.

It was just a pity that this timid woman had fled too quickly, and their time had been too short. She had not let him enjoy himself fully. Next time, he would have to make her pay it back...

Cough, cough. I am guilty. Because of the word count, there is only one update again today... Please forgive me.

Also, Reincarnation Space missions all have an entry limit. Entering after that limit requires paying a price. Large legions can farm missions in lower-level Mission Spaces, but the cost is not worth the gains~

PS: Some readers who have not watched Koutetsujou suggested this, and Jiecao thought about it and agreed that they were right. So now, a plot summary will be added at the beginning of the Koutetsujou arc, and every future mission will begin with one as well, to help readers who have not seen them get started. Everyone can take a look first, and feel free to offer any other suggestions~