Was That... a Tree?

Xu Le received countless memories in an instant, but this one alone was so vivid that it felt as though he had truly lived through it himself.

Perhaps this was the memory the body's original owner had been least willing to let go of!

Besides that, Xu Le also found many unbelievable things in the original owner's memories.

But to verify any of them, he first had to accomplish one thing.

He had to make it back alive.

Things seemed safe now, but the actual situation was even worse than he had imagined.

What he would face next was no easier to deal with than those two Oddities.

Because what he would face next... was people!

Xu Le looked at the medal again, his expression growing conflicted.

It was a copper medal.

The front bore the emblem of a lighthouse, while the back recorded several dates and the medal owner's main achievements.

The lettering was tiny and densely packed, but Xu Le had good eyesight and could make out most of it.

[Lighthouse minor merit, awarded in Year 335 of the New Calendar for rescuing a Dark Pioneer Warlock in B17 District.]

[Lighthouse minor merit, awarded in Year 339 of the New Calendar upon honorable discharge.]

[A veteran's soul lives on even in death-Hunting Knife Team 11, No. 93-Zhou Ke.]

Although there were only a few brief lines, they revealed quite a bit of information.

Especially now that Xu Le had obtained the original owner's memories. By combining the two, he could confirm quite a few things.

First, he really had transmigrated. As unbelievable as it was, it was undeniably true. There was hardly any room for doubt anymore. This was neither an act nor a game.

Second, the city-state they lived in was called Lighthouse. Besides Lighthouse, there were three other large safe zones established by humanity.

They were Tianrui Lifeng, which revered martial strength, Zion, the city of technology, and the Red Moon Holy Temple, the sacred land of warlocks.

Third, supernatural powers existed in this world.

If the medal in his hand really was the same kind of object as the one in the original owner's memories...

Then its value was beyond measure.

"A legendary Guyinduo relic! A genuine supernatural object. But Old Zhou's last wish... sigh."

Xu Le sighed, unsure what to do with it.

The original owner's character had been utterly appalling. From his perspective as a modern person, the man had simply been bad.

Or perhaps bad alone wasn't enough to describe him. He had also been vicious, ruthless, arrogant, jealous, and willing to do anything to achieve his goals.

Any trait remotely associated with the word bad could be found in the original owner to some degree.

If Xu Le had seen someone like that get killed by his intended victim, he probably would have applauded.

He would have shouted, "The light of righteousness!"

But the problem now was that he himself was that person!

With a sigh, Xu Le stared at Zhou Ke's mutilated corpse on the floor and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry."

Perhaps he was no longer the Xu Le of before, and this apology meant nothing.

Still, Xu Le felt that saying it would ease his conscience a little.

After he slowly nodded to express his remorse, his actions seemed to catch the toad's attention.

The toad gave Xu Le a look of mild disgust and said disdainfully:

"Only humans would use something contaminated by Guyinduo. Those who live in the shadows shall never know the light."

Something contaminated by Guyinduo? After a few seconds of silence, Xu Le decided to offer a small rebuttal.

"Different people see things from different perspectives. Lord Golden Toad, could you survive alone in a dark environment?"

"Of course. What's so difficult about that?"

Golden Toad sounded rather scornful, but that was exactly the attitude Xu Le wanted. He slowly shook his head.

"I couldn't."

Golden Toad paused, slightly taken aback, then finally nodded. The toad neither disputed Xu Le's words nor continued to berate him for picking up the Guyinduo relic.

Xu Le was rather pleased to see that he had persuaded Golden Toad.

Before he could think of anything else to say, something strange happened to the medal in his hand.

It was clearly just an ordinary medal, yet in his hand, it felt like a writhing mollusk.

That slippery sensation startled Xu Le, and he hurriedly threw the medal away.

"Fuck, what the hell is that?"

The medal landed on the wooden bed, rolled a few times, then lay motionless on the bedboards.

It showed no sign of writhing or any other change.

Xu Le frowned slightly. After several encounters with the supernatural, he had already formed a few ideas about what was happening.

He focused, and a sensation of restless heat gradually rose within him.

As that sensation emerged, the medal before him gradually began to change.

In Xu Le's eyes, the bronze medal had now turned completely black.

A mass of tiny black tentacles extended from a crack in the middle of the medal, twitching around it.

Xu Le realized that these tentacles must have caused the slippery, writhing sensation earlier.

He did not approach rashly. Keeping some distance, he began to examine the strange medal before him.

When he took hold of the medal again, the slippery, writhing sensation persisted.

This time, Xu Le did not let go. He said quietly:

"A veteran's soul lives on even in death. I'll help fulfill your last wish. Please trust me."

A cool sensation flowed through his skin into his body, and the medal settled down once more between his fingers.

"Did you agree?" The sensation felt rather nice.

Xu Le put the medal away. He had a rough idea of what Zhou Ke's last wish concerned.

"It should be his wife and daughter."

The original owner had killed Zhou Ke with his own hands, leaving Xu Le at a loss as to how he could explain it to Zhou Ke's wife and child.

Make up an excuse and say I wasn't the one who killed him?

But I clearly was!

Should I explain that I'm someone who transmigrated here? That definitely won't work.

Then I need a reasonable explanation. What should I do to count as fulfilling Old Zhou's last wish?

A husband's last wish. A father's last wish?

Xu Le couldn't help thinking of his own father.

His father had been so big, big enough to hold his entire happy childhood.

His father had also been so small, small enough to fit inside a little square box.

If...

With all sorts of thoughts running through his head, Xu Le passed out.

This body of his could not even be considered healthy.

The heavy blood loss from his chest wound, the repeated mental shocks, the fading adrenaline, and the onslaught of all those fears.

And the exhaustion of having narrowly escaped death.

Every one of them had taken its toll on Xu Le.

Once his body's senses confirmed that there was no immediate danger nearby, all that exhaustion crushed his will at once, knocking him unconscious.

In a way, this was his body's way of protecting itself.

After Xu Le fell into the deepest stage of sleep, he suddenly experienced a moment of clarity.

That sense of clarity was strange. He could tell that he was asleep, but if he was sleeping, why were his thoughts so clear?

He abruptly opened his eyes. Darkness stretched before him, with just a tiny glimmer of light in the distance.

Xu Le began walking toward the light.

He walked very slowly, but some force seemed to draw the light closer.

After only a few steps, Xu Le could clearly see what stood within it.

That was...

A tree?