39: Chapter 39 The Traitor Appears

When Chen Mo was helped out of the car, the wound on his back was still bleeding.

Lin Wei supported him while Iron Bear cleared the way as the group walked toward the Golden Door.

Over twenty people followed behind them, all members of the Summit; some were on guard, while others spoke in low voices.

The door was larger than imagined.

It was at least ten meters high, entirely golden, and covered in intricate patterns.

Those patterns flowed slowly, like the blood vessels of a living creature.

In the very center of the door, there was a palm-shaped indentation.

Chen Mo stared at the indentation.

It was exactly the same size as his palm.

"We need you," Old Zhou said, stepping out from the crowd. "Put your hand on it."

Chen Mo nodded.

He walked to the door and raised his hand.

Just as his hand was about to touch it, Time Perception suddenly triggered a warning.

Within a thirty-meter radius, there was an anomaly.

It wasn't a Ghost Shadow; it was people.

Many people.

They were closing in from all directions.

Chen Mo's hand stopped in mid-air.

"What's wrong?" Old Zhou asked.

Chen Mo didn't answer.

He turned and looked at the surrounding sandy ground.

Behind the ruins of the remains, people were hiding.

At least twenty.

All were armed.

"It's an ambush," he said.

No sooner had he spoken than those people rushed out from behind the ruins.

They were wearing various clothes and carrying various weapons—knives, guns, and clubs.

They quickly formed a perimeter, trapping the Summit members in the middle.

Leading them was a bald man in his forties, with a scar running from his brow bone down to his chin.

He held a machete in his hand, blood dripping from the tip—it was unclear whose blood it was.

"Summit people?" He smirked. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Iron Bear took a step forward, shielding Chen Mo.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" The scarred man smirked again. "My name is Zhang Lie."

Chen Mo's expression shifted.

Zhang Lie.

That name.

Old Li's best friend, the first person to be transformed.

But wasn't he dead?

"You're not dead?" Old Zhou's voice came from behind.

Zhang Lie looked at him with a complicated expression.

"Old Zhou, long time no see," he said. "I didn't die, I just... changed."

He raised his hand.

That hand shimmered with an eerie golden light in the sun.

It wasn't the color of a human.

"I became the thing you fear," Zhang Lie said. "But I also became stronger than you."

He took a step forward.

"Hand that man over." He pointed at Chen Mo. "Then you can leave."

Iron Bear gripped his iron staff tightly.

"In your dreams."

Zhang Lie laughed.

"Then all of you stay."

He raised his hand, and the twenty people behind him raised their weapons simultaneously.

Battle was imminent.

Chen Mo stood in the middle of the crowd, watching Zhang Lie.

Pupil of the Sequence swept over him—human, but the golden lines on his body were ten times denser than a normal person's.

Not a Ghost Shadow, nor a pure human, but some kind of... intermediate state.

Just like Old Li.

Transformed One.

But stronger than Old Li.

"Are you looking for this?" Chen Mo suddenly spoke.

He pulled something out of his pocket—the list stolen from Old Zhou's room.

Zhang Lie's expression changed.

"How do you have that?"

"Because I knew you would come," Chen Mo said. "I've known since the first day."

He held up the list.

"It contains descriptions of all your abilities. Did you think stealing it would let you deal with us?"

Zhang Lie stared at him.

"Then why did you still come?"

"Because I wanted to see who was behind it," Chen Mo said. "Now I see."

He put away the list and gripped his cleaver.

"Do it."

As soon as he finished speaking, another group of people rushed out from behind the surrounding ruins.

They were not Zhang Lie's people.

They were Summit people.

Lin Wei's people.

It was a trap Chen Mo had set in advance.

Zhang Lie was stunned.

He turned to look at the people who had suddenly appeared, then back at Chen Mo.

"You..."

"I said I've known since the first day." Chen Mo took a step forward. "When you sent Wang Hai to steal the list, I saw him."

Zhang Lie's face paled.

"Where is Wang Hai?"

"Captured," Chen Mo said. "He should be in Old Zhou's Basement right now."

Zhang Lie was silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed.

The smile was eerie, as if admitting defeat, yet also showing appreciation.

"Interesting," he said. "You're smarter than I thought."

He raised his blade.

"But smart people die quickly."

He charged forward.

Iron Bear met him, swinging his staff down.

Zhang Lie sidestepped and swung his blade back toward Iron Bear's neck.

Iron Bear blocked with his iron staff; the two weapons collided, sending sparks flying.

The two were locked in combat.

Chen Mo didn't move.

He was waiting.

Waiting for the seven seconds of Prediction.

In seven seconds, Zhang Lie would reveal a weakness—his left ribs, exposed because he overextended.

Chen Mo activated Infiltrator and vanished from the spot.

Seven seconds later, he appeared on Zhang Lie's left side and slashed at his ribs.

Zhang Lie felt it, but couldn't dodge.

The blade bit in.

Golden liquid gushed out.

Zhang Lie screamed and stumbled back.

But he didn't fall.

He looked up at Chen Mo, a crazed light in his eyes.

"You can't kill me," he said. "Because I'm already dead."

His body began to glow.

It grew brighter and brighter.

Chen Mo's Prediction activated instantly—

In three seconds, Zhang Lie would self-destruct.

Everyone within a ten-meter radius would die.

Chen Mo turned and rushed toward the nearest cover, a collapsed stone pillar.

Simultaneously, he shouted, "Get down!"

Iron Bear hesitated for a moment, then threw himself to the ground.

Lin Wei also dropped down.

The others followed suit.

Boom.

Zhang Lie exploded.

Golden light engulfed everything.

The shockwave sent Chen Mo flying, slamming him into the stone pillar.

He struggled to get up and looked toward the center of the explosion—

There was nothing left but a large crater.

Zhang Lie was gone.

His subordinates were gone too; some had been killed in the blast, while others fled in the chaos.

Only golden fragments lay scattered across the ground.

Chen Mo leaned against the stone pillar, gasping for air.

The wound on his back had reopened, and blood was seeping out.

Lin Wei ran over and supported him.

"Are you okay?"

Chen Mo shook his head.

He looked at the large crater and the fragments.

Zhang Lie was dead.

This time for real.

But his final words still echoed in his ears—

"You can't kill me, because I'm already dead."

Chen Mo closed his eyes.