You Had Your Chance, But You Blew It

"Long live Jack the Ripper!"

A fanatical shout rang out from the other side of the street.

A few guys dressed like street thugs walked over, shouting as they went.

From time to time, they made provocative gestures toward the crowd.

Many people glared at them with rage.

Instead of being intimidated, they took it as a badge of honor, looking smug and triumphant.

These idiots, of course, had absolutely nothing to do with Jack the Ripper.

They were members of the Ripper Gang, the very lowest of the low.

Yes, the same Ripper Gang that Tang Luo had once "begged" from.

Back then, because the commotion caused by Jack the Ripper was too great, the entire Small City had been on edge, and Scotland Yard had been bloodshot with rage.

The original Crow Gang, having renamed themselves the Ripper Gang to ride the wave of notoriety, had been so terrified that they immediately changed their name back and laid low.

Now, the Crow Gang was once again operating under the name of the Ripper Gang, and the mindless low-level members were strutting about again—there was a reason for this.

The incident had occurred just last night.

The location was the manor where Count Thorndike had hosted a gathering of almost all the big shots in Small City.

"Um, Master Xuanzang, about what happened last night..." Chu Chongtian looked toward Tang Luo, who was not far away, and asked cautiously.

"It has nothing to do with this poor monk."

Tang Luo said, "This poor monk is a man of the cloth; how could I slaughter the innocent?"

This morning—or rather, in the latter half of last night—Count Thorndike's manor was discovered to have become a dead zone.

Everyone who had attended the banquet last night, every single person.

Including the bodyguards responsible for security within the manor and the coachmen waiting for their masters in the carriages.

All of them were dead!

Not a single soul was spared.

Count Thorndike and several other big shots were missing, along with their bodyguards—Tang Luo had a good habit of closing doors behind him.

It would take some time for the underground secret chamber to be discovered.

In less than half a day, the news swept through the entire Small City like a wildfire across a dry prairie.

The inspector from Scotland Yard had also been at the manor last night, accompanied by a deputy inspector.

The remaining deputy inspector had been forced to take command in the face of the crisis, mobilizing every remaining member of Scotland Yard.

They then proceeded to vomit their guts out inside the manor.

Unlike the previous piecemeal killings of commoners that had occurred over two or three months, over a hundred people had been slaughtered in a single night, including several prominent figures.

The panic-stricken Small City was suddenly pushed to the brink of total collapse.

One could tell just by looking at those thugs openly shouting slogans like "Long live the Ripper."

To be honest, when they heard the news, Chu Chongtian and the others were stunned, almost suspecting that it was Tang Luo's doing.

"No, I certainly don't doubt you, Master." Chu Chongtian shook his head hurriedly. "I was just wondering, how did Jack the Ripper manage to do it?"

According to the reports that had leaked out, aside from a few unique cases, every single corpse had been disemboweled.

In other words, the perpetrator of the manor massacre was none other than the serial killer who had been plaguing Small City for so long—Jack the Ripper.

Oh, and now Jack the Ripper was no longer just a killer.

"Madman" would be a more accurate description.

"How could he be this strong?" Zhou Zhenguo muttered to himself.

His eyes were somewhat vacant, showing signs of drifting toward the "Salted Fish Li Liang" state.

Even if Jack the Ripper possessed the ability to possess others and emitted a cold aura that made limbs numb and difficult to move, he shouldn't have been able to slaughter an entire manor.

If he were truly capable of such a feat, why had he been killing in secret from the very beginning?

Why didn't he kill Li Liang on the first night?

And on the following nights, why had he only picked them off one by one instead of appearing openly?

You must know, at that time, Tang Luo was not by Li Liang and the others' side.

If Jack the Ripper had always been this powerful.

Then what made him choose to suddenly erupt last night?

Why did he hide himself before that?

"Could it be," Li Liang said, "that Jack the Ripper is actually an organization? That it was one person before, but now it's many people, killing together?"

"Or perhaps—"

Chu Chongtian seemed to have thought of something and said, "He has been fishing all along."

"Fishing?"

"Yes."

Chu Chongtian glanced at Tang Luo and said, "Thinking about it now, that Hodge we met when the Master and I went fishing on the first night, was he really just a simple Hodge? He dodged the cane the Master threw before being blasted—uh, transcended, yes, that's it, transcended."

"That Hodge might have been possessed by Jack the Ripper."

"Likewise, could other members of the organization also have been possessed by Jack the Ripper?"

"The Master has been fishing, waiting for Jack the Ripper to come knocking."

"Could Jack the Ripper also have been fishing—no, I should say, he was waiting for the fish to gather all at once, then blast them, catching them all in one net!"

Taking a sip of water and licking his chapped lips, Chu Chongtian's voice was bitter: "Perhaps, from beginning to end, Jack the Ripper was just playing with us, using us to deal with the organization."

"If there is anyone left in Small City who can stop Jack the Ripper, I'm afraid it is only the organization."

"Even though the organization isn't exactly a good thing either."

After this analysis, Chu Chongtian couldn't feel happy at all.

There was none of the joy he usually felt after solving a puzzle.

"We were helping Jack the Ripper clear away obstacles, and now, he has no more scruples."

After hearing Chu Chongtian's words, Li Liang secretly glanced at Tang Luo, fearing that this Master Xuanzang would get angry.

Having done so many things, only to find out in the end that they were making wedding clothes for the enemy?

And to have it pointed out by a companion.

Anyone would be angry at such a thing.

Fortunately, Tang Luo still wore an expression as calm as an ancient well, without the slightest ripple on his face.

He even looked relaxed and at ease.

Chu Chongtian suddenly realized that his words just now sounded a bit like he was blaming Tang Luo, so he hurriedly tried to remedy it: "Master, I wasn't blaming—no, I didn't mean to resent—damn it!"

"Heh."

Tang Luo laughed, "It is fine, Benefactor Chu's analysis makes quite a lot of sense."

"If the organization is a beast in the shadows of Small City, then Jack the Ripper is a venomous snake in the shadows."

"Regardless of who is stronger, they must surely restrain or fear each other."

"As outsiders, a third-party force, we broke the balance, and it is highly possible that we caused one side to suddenly 'inflate'."

Chu Chongtian breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that he wasn't angry.

Then, his eyes lit up, and he asked, "Master, do you think the revolver you obtained could be the key to dealing with Jack the Ripper?"

Such powerful bosses often have a fatal weakness.

It is hard to go head-to-head, but once the weakness is grasped, the situation becomes different.

Only a storm can topple a great tree!

Elusive and mysterious, his true form has remained hidden until now.

What is the weakness of the Ripper, who possesses the ability to possess others and an "icy aura" that causes stiffness?

His true form must be Jack the Ripper's weakness.

Otherwise, the mission wouldn't have asked them to find Jack the Ripper.

Then, what if the true form hasn't been found?

What should be done?

Chu Chongtian thought it over and over, but could only think of the Omen revolver.

Perhaps the attached skill, Blood Vitality Bullet, could damage Jack's true self from a distance by hitting the possessed host?

Ending Storm—uh, that skill seems hard to connect to Jack the Ripper.

"Perhaps."

Tang Luo maintained his "whatever you say, I think it makes sense, but I neither confirm nor deny it" attitude.

Simply put, it was "letting things take their course."

Sometimes, it gives people the uncomfortable feeling of "throwing a punch into thin air."

Faced with such a go-with-the-flow Master, what else could Chu Chongtian do?

At this point, he could only offer a smile.

"Actually, this might not be a bad thing."

Zhou Zhenguo took a fierce drag, inhaling the cigarette down to the filter before crushing the ember directly into his palm to jolt his senses, seemingly having adjusted his mindset and recovered.

"In the past, Jack the Ripper hid himself too well, leaving no trace, so we could only wait for a rabbit to hit a tree stump."

"The situation is different now; we are at a disadvantage, but we also have a chance for a desperate comeback!"

"Exactly!"

Chu Chongtian said, "We still have Master Xuanzang, don't forget. Jack the Ripper has never dared to face the Master directly. In truth, we aren't at a disadvantage; our advantage is massive!"

"We charged in, and we typed 'GG'."

Li Liang muttered under his breath, only to be glared at fiercely by Chu Chongtian, causing him to offer a sheepish grin.

"Everyone, feel free to make more preparations."

Tang Luo said.

Two hours later, the three of them looked at the Omen before them, sighing in frustration.

Master Xuanzang had been incredibly generous, taking out the Omen directly.

He indicated that they could use it to deal with Jack the Ripper.

Tang Luo was naturally unafraid of Jack the Ripper, but he wouldn't refuse an extra useful combatant.

In his hands, the Omen didn't offer much of an increase to his combat power.

After all, his foundation was already set.

But in the hands of others, it was a different story.

The boost would be significant.

However, the recoil of the Omen was incomparable to the revolvers Zhou Zhenguo and the others had been using these past few days.

Even with preparation, Chu Chongtian still let the gun fly from his grip after one shot, nearly breaking his fingers.

Zhou Zhenguo managed to hold onto it and fired a few rounds.

But he was miles off the mark; he couldn't hit a cow from ten meters away.

Li Liang—well, forget about Li Liang; a salted fish doesn't need these things.

As for the Blood Vitality Bullets, everyone had tried them out as well.

After firing a single shot, there was indeed a distinct feeling of exhaustion.

The limit for both Chu Chongtian and Zhou Zhenguo was six Blood Vitality Bullets.

The exhaustion after six shots was similar to having just sprinted a thousand meters, only slightly better than Zhou Zhenguo's weakened state.

If they tried to force another shot, they were immediately hit with a sensation of detachment and suffocation.

They couldn't even keep a grip on the Omen.

If they were to use it, the number of Blood Vitality Bullets they could fire matched the Omen's original six-round capacity.

In other words, once fully loaded, they could fire twelve shots in total.

The damage caused by the Blood Vitality Bullets was the same as ordinary bullets.

There was nothing special about them; if one had to say, it was that upon hitting a target and causing damage, they would dissipate on their own.

At most, they left behind some dark red bloodstains.

The Bullet Storm, meanwhile, had no recoil and no consumption.

But because it had a ten-hour cooldown, they hadn't tested it.

To have a "divine artifact" right in front of them and yet be unable to use it.

Zhou Zhenguo really wanted to say to himself, "I gave you a chance, but you're just useless!"