Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 273: Chapter 127: After the Battle

The old man’s words startled Jing Lin, and he was unclear why his grandfather’s stance had suddenly become so firm.

Certainly, Li Yelai’s ”Face” was quite special, and if he were to grow to the rank of a captain, even Supreme Figures would have to take notice.

Weakness Perception, Shadow Army, Divine General Dharma Image.

These powerful abilities were all concentrated in the body of one Spiritual Ability User, making his potential immeasurable.

Coupled with the courage and responsibility Li Yelai displayed, any Spiritual Ability Family would want to recruit him.

But wouldn’t such an attempt to recruit the Night General be a bit too conspicuous?

After pondering for a moment, Jing Lin finally nodded and said, ”I will try my best—I have fought side by side with him and am quite familiar with him. Inviting him and his colleagues as a comrade in arms might increase the success rate.”

”You go and arrange it. Your performance in the Disaster Fog was impressive, and you have some influence officially,” the old man said gravely. ”Have you checked the detailed information about the Night General’s family? The more detailed, the better!”

”Detailed?” Jing Lin responded in surprise, ”He has a sister, who I heard has also become a Spiritual Ability User.”

”A sister?” the old man murmured.

”Both siblings are Spiritual Ability Users? The chance of becoming one by luck is frighteningly low, and the probability for both of them to become one is even lower,” the middle-aged man said, raising his eyebrows. ”In that case, there must be a Spiritual Ability User or a Critical among their close relatives.”

”I suspected the same, but as far as I can see, their parents seem quite ordinary,” Jing Lin replied. ”His father appears to be a retired Scavenger, and after asking around among the Processors he had contact with, he’s an insignificant lone wolf Scavenger. As for his mother, she was brought back by his father, and supposedly she is mute...”

”Mute...” the middle-aged man paused, his voice trailing off as if he had thought of something, and his previously haughty demeanor briefly faltered.

He then quickly asked, ”Mute? What are... what are the Night General’s parents’ names?”

”I do know that,” Jing Lin recalled after a moment, ”It seems to be, Li Qiong and Jin Cuihua.”

”Jin Cuihua...” the old man muttered this ordinary name.

...

On the other end, Li Yelai had no idea about the Jing Family’s discussion. He needed to confirm if the family apartment was still habitable.

Unfortunately, during the battle with the Insect Swarm, a Giant Abyss Worm had rammed into the apartment complex where Li Yelai lived.

Several buildings were destroyed, including Li Yelai’s own unit.

”I had just bought the house a few months ago!” Li Yelai sighed helplessly in front of the ruins, but could do nothing else but head to the division to inquire if there was another family apartment available.

Even if the engineering teams from all four Giant Cities worked together, aided by Taboo Items, humans would not be able to rebuild all the houses quickly.

However, on his way to the division, he saw Cheese, who looked somewhat distressed.

She sat alone on a scrapped black SUV at the roadside, silently cradling a coffee.

She emitted a disquieting and chilly aura.

Seeing this, Li Yelai approached and asked, ”Cheese, what’s wrong?”

Li Yelai remembered that she had gone to clean up the Insect Swarm. Why did she look like this?

When Cheese saw Li Yelai, her expression somewhat improved. She handed over her coffee for him to warm his hands and sighed, ”It’s infuriating.”

During the invasion of the Disaster Fog, the vast majority of the populace was secured and shut away, but there were still a few who, for various reasons, did not follow the official instructions—whether because they couldn’t reach the shelter or had some unspeakable difficulties to contend with.

In any case, a small portion formed private shelters.

But this had introduced some risks.

Within an official shelter, there was management by the authorities, and no major problems would occur.

Food, ammunition, and medicine might be scarce, but there was at least some guaranteed supply.

Even if Insects infiltrated a shelter, they would be quickly cleared by officials.

But in a private shelter, that was harder to guarantee.

With the arrival of the Calamity, the former order collapsed, and the dark side of humanity gradually expanded.

Private shelters are often established by scavengers or Wild Spirit Ability Users, those with a certain level of power assurance.

They manage the population within the private shelter through military suppression.

Perhaps because the danger of the Disaster Fog was increasing daily, some of them had completely abandoned what it meant to be human.

According to them, since everyone was going to die, they might as well enjoy themselves while they could.

As a result, many private shelters saw occurrences that revealed the true nature of humanity.

A few hours earlier, Cheese had teamed up with several colleagues from the Processing Department.

They were initially supposed to enter the former subway station platform and clear out the Insect Swarm roaming within.

Then, they discovered a private shelter hidden among the subway tracks.

There were some armed militants on guard outside the shelter.

When they saw Cheese, they sneered sinisterly and immediately attacked all Processors except for Cheese, spewing all manner of foul language.

”Good luck,” ”Don’t kill them just yet,” and other sacrilegious phrases.

Li Yelai heard this, especially the obscenities recounted by Cheese, and couldn’t help but frown. After taking a sip of coffee, his frown deepened even more.

Cheese glanced at the coffee in Li Yelai’s hand, his expression somewhat strange, and then continued speaking.

For a moment, Cheese and the others thought those people had their brains controlled by some special type of the Insect Race.

Thus, they had not dealt lethal blows.

Only after subduing them all did terror appear on their faces.

Cheese also learned everything through her ability.

These people hiding in the subterranean tunnels didn’t even know that the Disaster Fog had already cleared. In their understanding, they thought they were all going to die and should enjoy everything as much as possible before death.

Consequently, on seeing Cheese, a beautiful girl, their eyes lit up with greed. They all thought she was a survivor from an official shelter who had escaped by luck.

Naturally, they met a firm resistance.

And when they opened that private shelter and saw the bloody scene inside.

Even Cheese felt a wave of nausea.

Naked women, human limbs, the skeletons of young children... and a group of completely numb or insane people.

At that time, those evildoers were still trying to shirk their responsibilities. Some even talked about hiring lawyers, claiming they hadn’t murdered anyone and at most would be sentenced.

Cheese directly spoke up, using her Suggestion ability to make them kill each other until they were all dead. She watched silently as the crazed crowd tore the last perpetrator to pieces.

This undoubtedly was a severe violation of the Processing Department’s treaties, but the other Processors said nothing, silently bringing the survivors back to the surface.

Yet, this still left a lingering malice in Cheese’s heart.

At a time when Human Warriors were fighting bloody battles with the Insect Swarm for humanity and Giant City,

these humans were engaging in atrocious acts in dark corners.

”Let’s not talk about this disgusting matter anymore, what are you planning to do next?” Cheese asked.

”Looking for a house,” Li Yelai breathed out deeply and responded.

”Ironically, I’ve lost my house too.”

(Had dinner with my father-in-law and mother-in-law, drank quite a bit, just 2000 words today. Will make up for it next time.)

(Happy New Year)