Hijacking the Timeline

Chapter 218: Mysterious Assassin [2.4k]

Translator: CinderTL

Faced with the Blue-skinned Assassin's mental attack technique, Feng Qi activated his "Berserk" ability without hesitation.

While he possessed formidable physical defenses, such defenses were useless against mental attacks.

The Berserk ability granted by the Demon Dragon Rune Crystal, however, rendered him immune to mental control, plunging him into a state of complete rage and loss of control.

With a flicker of movement, he appeared behind the Blue-skinned Assassin and unleashed a vicious roundhouse kick.

The blow slammed the assassin into the ground. Feng Qi then lunged forward, sinking his teeth into the assassin's shoulder.

Blue blood and flesh were torn away.

The assassin let out a piercing scream, and the white eye in the center of its forehead blinked again.

The surrounding air shimmered with distorted waves as invisible pressure crashed against Feng Qi like relentless tides.

Despite his berserk state, Feng Qi stubbornly endured the invisible force, extending his right hand, now tipped with razor-sharp claws, toward the assassin's neck.

Faced with imminent death, the eye in the Blue-skinned Assassin's forehead erupted with terrifying power.

Overwhelmed by the force of the Blue-skinned Assassin's attack, Feng Qi was instantly hurled backward.

As he flew through the air, his body gradually became riddled with dents.

After crashing to the ground, he rose again, his eyes bloodshot, his injuries healing at a visibly rapid pace.

But before his wounds could fully close, he lunged at the Blue-skinned Assassin once more.

Meanwhile, in the Scarlet Base's surveillance room, the monitor operator, who was observing real-time feeds from across the base, noticed something amiss with Feng Qi.

Through the surveillance footage, he observed Feng Qi repeatedly clashing with empty air. The problem was that during these exchanges, an invisible external force repeatedly slammed Feng Qi backward.

This was clearly not his own doing.

Feng Qi was currently a high-priority protected asset within the Scarlet Base.

Recognizing the anomaly, the operator immediately contacted the base garrison's military department.

After explaining the situation, a large number of Scarlet garrison soldiers swiftly mobilized and headed toward the Body Refinement Chamber.

Liu Yue, who had recently joined the Scarlet Base's garrison, also rushed to the Body Refinement Chamber at once.

As the warriors of Scarlet Base launched their operation, Feng Qi's battle raged on.

No matter how many times the Blue-skinned Assassin knocked him back, Feng Qi, driven by his berserk state, rapidly healed his injuries and relentlessly resumed his attacks.

After repeated clashes, clear fatigue began to show in the Blue-skinned Assassin's eyes.

Yet it dared not stop.

Staring at Feng Qi, who was enveloped in swirling mist, the assassin focused its mind and unleashed another Mental Shockwave.

At that moment, Feng Qi suddenly opened his mouth.

"ROAR!"

Black energy erupted from his maw, sweeping forward and instantly shattering the invisible Mental Shockwave.

Before the Blue-skinned Assassin could react, Feng Qi's right hand, transformed into a claw, pierced through its chest.

Just as Feng Qi prepared to tear the assassin apart, the door to the Body Refinement Chamber burst open.

A group of base garrison soldiers rushed in.

Seeing Feng Qi, they immediately spotted the Blue-skinned Domain Assassin.

Realizing Feng Qi was about to kill it, Liu Yue, the leader of the group, focused his mind. Sword energy erupted from his body, instantly blasting Feng Qi backward.

In a flash, Liu Yue appeared before the Blue-skinned Assassin. Jianlan, the sword behind him, instantly unsheathed, transforming into six longswords that surrounded the assassin, forming a Sword Formation.

Under the crushing pressure of the sword intent, the Blue-skinned Assassin completely lost the ability to resist, collapsing to the ground, utterly immobilized.

Having dealt with the assassin, Liu Yue turned to face Feng Qi, who was charging at him again.

A hint of helplessness flickered in Liu Yue's eyes. He formed a sword finger with one hand and, with lightning speed, tapped Feng Qi's forehead as he approached.

Sword intent surged, creating a barrier of sword energy that enveloped Feng Qi.

No matter how Feng Qi struggled, he couldn't break through this barrier.

After a moment, the crimson in Feng Qi's eyes faded, clarity gradually returning.

After a brief moment of confusion, the recent events flooded back into his mind.

"Liu Yue, thanks!"

"Brother Qi, what should we do with it?" Liu Yue asked, retracting his hand and gesturing toward the Blue-skinned Assassin, who remained pinned by Jianlan.

"It's a good thing you intervened. This creature is invaluable for research. We absolutely can't let it die."

Seeing the blue-skinned assassin slumped listlessly within the Sword Formation, unable to move, Feng Qi let out a long sigh of relief.

If Liu Yue hadn't arrived in time, the blue-skinned assassin would already be dead.

In Feng Qi's eyes, the assassin held the key to his "untimely demise" across multiple timelines, making it an invaluable research subject.

With this in mind, he immediately ordered:

"Send it to Sister Wei for brutal interrogation. If she can't get anything out of it, dissect it for research. Just hand it over to her completely!"

"Understood!" Liu Yue nodded promptly.

With a wave of his hand, Jianlan automatically returned to its sheath.

He strode over to the blue-skinned assassin and flicked his fingers several times in the air.

Instantly, sword energy permeated the assassin's body, sealing off its internal spiritual energy pathways.

Grasping the assassin by the nape of its neck, Liu Yue lifted it up and began walking toward the Genetics Department's laboratory.

After the Berserk state subsided, Feng Qi felt utterly drained, but he forced himself to keep up with Liu Yue as they headed toward the Genetics Department.

He was desperate to uncover the blue-skinned assassin's origins and why it had targeted him for assassination.

This sudden, inexplicable attack reminded him of "little black."

Logically, he shouldn't have any interactions with Domain Forces in this timeline.

Moreover, from the perspective of the Domain Forces, he was considered one of their own.

As the black shadow had said, as long as he didn't initiate aggression, they wouldn't bother interfering with his plans for the future.

This act of aggression clearly wasn't due to his reputation as a genius.

There must be a deeper, more fundamental reason behind it.

Moments later, the Blue-skinned Assassin was brought to the Scarlet Gene Department.

Wei Wei's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of this peculiar creature:

"A domain creature?"

"Yes. It just tried to assassinate me," Feng Qi replied immediately, nodding.

After a few seconds of silence, Wei Wei suddenly spoke:

"The crisis of dying young?"

"Your thinking aligns with mine. This sudden assassination attempt might be the reason for my early death. I'm handing it over to you now, hoping you can extract some useful information."

Wei Wei nodded promptly and instructed personnel to secure the Blue-skinned Assassin to an experimental table.

After injecting three syringes into the Blue-skinned Assassin, the snarling creature quickly fell unconscious.

With the procedure complete, Wei Wei turned to Feng Qi.

"Give me a brief overview of the situation, such as its abilities and characteristics during the fight."

Feng Qi nodded immediately.

"During the confrontation, it primarily used two abilities. The first was a mental attack technique that could bind my consciousness and rapidly drain my mental energy. If not for my Frenzy ability, I would have died silently."

"The second ability was a Mental Shockwave, similar to the telekinesis I described to you before, but less agile and far more explosive..."

As she listened to his description, Wei Wei nodded.

"I understand the general idea. I'll begin studying it now. You can all leave."

Feng Qi and Liu Yue promptly led the accompanying garrison soldiers out of the Gene Laboratory.

Standing outside the lab, Feng Qi turned to Liu Yue.

"Thank you. Without your intervention, capturing it alive would have been impossible."

"This domain creature is highly unusual. When the surveillance operator contacted us earlier, they reported you were fighting thin air, meaning it's undetectable by cameras."

Hearing this, he was taken aback.

He had initially assumed that Liu Yue and the base garrison soldiers had rushed over after seeing him fighting the Blue-skinned Assassin on the surveillance monitors.

But Liu Yue's explanation suddenly reminded him of a previous timeline.

In that timeline, he had been silently killed within the Scarlet Base, yet neither surveillance footage nor any other records captured the cause of his death.

(Note: The details of his mysterious death at the Scarlet Research Institute are described in Chapter 127.)

At the time, he had attributed that death to the Technology Research Institute.

However, upon closer reflection, the silent method of death differed from the Technology Research Institute's usual assassination tactics.

Based on available intelligence, the Technology Research Institute primarily employed two methods of execution:

First, the execution block.

This involved manipulating public opinion, fabricating multiple charges against him, and transforming these fabricated charges into "truth," ultimately leading him to the execution grounds for a live-streamed execution.

This had been the most frequent cause of his deaths.

The second method was remote annihilation.

However, this method required implanting a death mark within his body beforehand.

Once triggered, the death mark would rapidly devour his body from within, just as Le Ping'an's had, leaving no trace behind.

This method could also be activated voluntarily by the implanted individual.

But neither of these methods aligned with his sudden death at the Scarlet Research Institute.

In that timeline, his body remained intact after his death, ruling out spirit energy devouring.

At the time, he had speculated that he had been assassinated by a covert battle group from the Technology Research Institute that had infiltrated the Scarlet Research Institute.

But now, considering the situation, it seemed impossible for the Technology Research Institute to infiltrate the Scarlet Base undetected.

Otherwise, their conflict with the Scarlet Research Institute wouldn't have been so protracted and required direct confrontation.

Recalling his recent encounter with the Blue-skinned Assassin, its use of mental corruption suggested a method capable of causing sudden death.

It was now almost certain that his untimely demise in that timeline was closely linked to the Blue-skinned Assassin.

While waiting, he dismissed all but Liu Yue, instructing the base garrison soldiers to return to their posts.

Moments later, the laboratory's metal door slid open, and Wei Wei emerged.

Looking at Feng Qi and Lin Ran leaning against the wall, a faint smile appeared in her eyes.

"Come in. We've made some new discoveries."

Hearing this, Feng Qi exchanged a glance with Liu Yue before following Wei Wei into the Genetics Department's laboratory.

The blue-skinned assassin still lay unconscious on the examination table.

The screen of the diagnostic instrument beside the table was filled with incomprehensible data.

"The body scan is complete, and we've found some interesting things," Wei Wei said.

"Sister Wei, stop being cryptic and tell us the details," Feng Qi urged.

Wei Wei nodded and walked to the instrument beside the examination table. She retrieved a metal container from a tray, which held a white liquid.

"After scanning its body, we extracted a special substance not recorded in our current database. Remarkably, this substance is undetectable by our instruments, which may explain why it couldn't be captured on surveillance footage."

"However, research into this substance has only just begun, so we can't be certain yet. I'll be conducting further studies on this liquid."

"In addition to that, we found something else intriguing inside its body."

Wei Wei walked back to the examination table, picked up an object from the metal tray, and approached Feng Qi, extending her palm.

Before Feng Qi lay a small, round black sphere, still stained with blue blood, pulsing slowly like a heart.

"What is this?" Feng Qi asked, astonished.

"At first, I thought it was an organ from the Domain Assassin's body," Wei Wei explained, "but after careful analysis, I realized it's something else entirely—it's a tracking device."

As she spoke, Wei Wei approached the lab bench, drew a syringe, and extracted some blue blood from the domain creature's arm. She then dripped the blue liquid onto the black sphere.

Immediately, the sphere began to pulse more rapidly.

Seeing this, Feng Qi was stunned. "Sister Wei, is there a problem?"

"I'm detecting faint energy fluctuations emanating from the sphere, radiating outward in all directions," Liu Yue said gravely.

"So, what does that mean?" Feng Qi asked, curious.

"I can only sense these faint energy fluctuations—they're so subtle you wouldn't notice them without careful attention. As for what it means, I'm not sure," Liu Yue replied, shaking his head.

Feng Qi: ...

"Your explanation is as enlightening as hearing nothing at all," he muttered, rolling his eyes before turning his gaze to Wei Wei.

Wei Wei pointed to the screen of a nearby diagnostic instrument.

Feng Qi followed her gesture and looked.

He immediately noticed a golden wisp of mist rising from the black sphere on the detection screen, slowly solidifying and connecting to his body.

"If I'm not mistaken, this device is a tracking device. The Domain Assassin likely used it to locate you."

Feng Qi's eyes widened at this revelation.

Numerous questions flooded his mind.

In this timeline, he had barely interacted with the outside world. When could such a tracking device have been implanted in his body?

"That's precisely what puzzles me. I examine your body weekly and can confirm with absolute certainty that, aside from the Demon Dragon Rune Crystal, there's nothing else—certainly no tracking device. Yet this black sphere maintains a faint connection to you. It's truly baffling."

After a moment of contemplation, Wei Wei continued:

"What we can now be reasonably certain of is that your mysterious deaths in previous timelines were connected to this assassin and the potential forces behind it. But I can't fathom why they would target you, or how they could track you so precisely using this small device."

Hearing Wei Wei's explanation, Feng Qi's expression turned grave.

Her words immediately reminded him of little black.

In the Dream Realm, little black had been like a shadow, always able to pinpoint his location with uncanny accuracy and kill him.

He had meticulously examined his own body, even dissecting his organs for a thorough inspection, but found no trace of any tracking device.

Little black's relentless pursuit had always seemed utterly inexplicable.

Now, the tracking device in Wei Wei's hand felt like a clue, bringing him closer to uncovering the truth behind little black's relentless pursuit.

Turning to gaze at the unconscious Blue-skinned Assassin strapped to the experimental table, he looked at Wei Wei and said, "How about we subject him to some rigorous interrogation?"

"Exactly what I had in mind," Wei Wei replied with a smile. "And while we're at it, let's take some samples for dissection."

(End of the Chapter)

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