149: Chapter 150 The Ghost Reappears

Chapter 149: Phantom Reappearance

Mainly because he had experienced so much, and combined with knowing the true nature of this world, Locke suspected that his parents were perhaps not just simple, ordinary people.

There were many suspicious points about both of them.

As the most devout Christians, they were still courted by the Cult of the Goddess of Night to join. Furthermore, Locke just recalled things from his childhood: his parents were never home, and every time they left, it was mysterious; they would return mysteriously after several months. As for what they went to do, whenever he asked, the two would always brush him off.

The more he looked at his parents' behavior, the more it seemed like the kind of strange actions only a Transcendent would perform.

Otherwise, how could they have provoked a Death Walker, one of those villains who were considered secret existences even within the Supernatural World?

Of course, Locke couldn't be certain about this; he just had a rough guess.

"Hello, Mr. Locke, are you still there?"

Seeing that Michael didn't speak, he asked again, and this sentence immediately brought Locke's drifting thoughts back.

"I am still here,"

Locke pushed these questions to the back of his mind and said very politely, "That is indeed my father's sister. Whatever the medical expenses are, please help me cover them first. When I return to New York, I will transfer the money to you."

"It's just a small amount of money."

After receiving a definite answer, Michael breathed a sigh of relief, "Mr. Locke, you helped me solve my trouble, and I haven't even thanked you yet. How could I have the nerve to ask you for money?"

Locke knew that Michael saying this was probably because he wanted to know the progress of his purification business, so he smiled and mentioned it, "I have already ferried the souls of your wife and daughter to Heaven."

"However, I still suggest that you leave New York immediately and go to a place with beautiful scenery to relax."

Michael was silent for a moment, seemingly considering, "Oh—then Mr. Locke, do you have any good places to recommend?"

"Go to the Vatican; it is the place closest to Heaven."

Locke thought about the world he was in and then pointed out the safest place for him.

"Thank you for your suggestion, Mr. Locke. I will move to the Vatican as soon as possible."

"You're welcome."

Beep, beep, beep—

Locke didn't bother with any more pleasantries. He only offered a suggestion; as for whether the other party would move to the Vatican, that would depend on his own decision.

Sometimes, an individual's fate is not something he can change.

The reason he reminded the other party was mainly because Locke felt he had borrowed the other party's identity, and in any case, he owed him a favor.

Now that he had pointed out a clear path, this karma could be considered settled.

If the other party didn't listen to the advice and encountered any accidents afterward, then it would have nothing to do with him.

After hanging up the phone, Locke refocused his attention on his system.

"Finally, I can draw rewards. This time, there shouldn't be anyone to disturb me, right?"

After knowing who his opponent was, his motivation for cultivation became abundant.

"Let me see what kind of rewards I can get from a three-star mission where I put in so much effort to complete both extra conditions. Please don't let me down!"

As his thoughts turned, the square gift box in the system panel, which looked well-wrapped, instantly burst into several rays of light. Following that, several glowing objects flew out from within: some gold, some blue, some green, and some white.

【Obtained Incomplete Manuscript】

【Obtained Skill: Gluttony】

【Obtained Skill Point × 1】

【Obtained Attribute Point × 2】

【Star Slave Contract Advanced Card】

The moment he saw the names of these items, Locke's pupils constricted, and his mood inexplicably improved, "The rewards this time are really not bad."

It can only be said that it lives up to the reputation of a three-star mission reward; none of the items drawn are useless.

【Incomplete Manuscript: This is a manuscript personally written by the Goddess of the Night. It records certain secrets regarding supernatural paths, which might be able to help you.】

The Goddess of the Night's manuscript!

Locke never expected that he would be able to draw a reward related to the Goddess of the Night this time, and it was even written by the Goddess herself.

Locke could easily imagine how precious this item was.

Perhaps it even records the truth behind this world.

This immediately made his heart beat violently. No way around it, this was a Goddess, a living Goddess of the Night; how could he remain indifferent?

"Calm down, calm down."

Locke knew now was not the time to look at the manuscript, so he let out a long sigh and forcibly suppressed his excited emotions.

The fact that his emotions fluctuated violently while he hadn't done anything left Xiao Qi, who was standing on his shoulder, confused. "Master, what's wrong?"

【Gluttony: Restore any physical injuries by consuming a large amount of biological matter. Furthermore, there is a chance to absorb certain abilities from supernatural polymers, but this will make your meat taste better, carrying the risk of being noticed by unknown existences.】

"Restoring injuries—absorbing abilities, it looks like a pretty heaven-defying skill."

If Locke only looked at the first half, he thought it was quite good—a very excellent skill. It could restore health and had a chance to seize skills from other Extraordinary Creatures. If the probability of drawing skills was decent, this should be considered an extremely heaven-defying ability.

"But what the hell is 'meat will taste better'? Could it be that some guys will target my body because of this?"

"I don't know if the secret technique the teacher mentioned can mask these auras. If it can, then wouldn't I be able to—"

【Skill Point: Can be added to any supernatural skill to obtain a small improvement.】

"This seems to be the first time I've drawn a skill point since I got the system."

Just judging from the draw probability, Locke knew that skill points should be considered a relatively precious reward.

"I'll consider carefully later which skill I should add it to."

【Attribute Point: Can directly increase your various attributes.】

The previous rewards might all be very precious, but for Locke, attribute points were one of the rewards he needed most right now.

His mental strength of 5 points looked particularly fragile, which could be called the biggest weakness of his entire body.

"Now my mental strength finally doesn't have to stay at 5 points."

【Star Slave Contract Upgrade Card: After use, your Star Slave Contract level will increase by one. Now you can contract a second Star Slave.】

After reading this, Locke did not immediately use the skill card and the two attribute points.

The two attribute points were naturally, without any surprise, all added to his weakest stat: mental strength.

As the attribute points disappeared from the panel, his mental strength, which was originally only 5 points, instantly rose to 7 points. Although Locke didn't feel too much of a change, he vaguely felt that he seemed much more relaxed.

"Hoo—"

After reviewing the rewards, Locke let out a deep breath. Xiao Qi, who had already felt something was wrong with him, immediately opened her crow's beak, "Master, Master, what are you doing? Why do I see you frowning one moment and smiling the next? Did you think of something interesting?"

"Ahem, nothing. I just thought that this mission went very smoothly, and my mood is quite good."

Locke reached out and gently stroked her head, asking with a smile, "Xiao Qi, can you drive?"

"Me? Drive?"

Xiao Qi spread a pair of black wings, revealing a very puzzled look.

"I'm just teasing you. Hold on tight."

Music started, accelerator pressed to the floor.

A deep and infectious voice rang out in the car.

"Doesn't really matter to me, to me, Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head, Pulled my trigger, now he's dead—"

"It doesn't matter to me, Mama, I just killed a man, I put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead—"

Locke's right foot did not hesitate in the slightest; he floored the accelerator. Amidst the singing of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," the black jaguar let out a roar and shot out like a blur.

But returning this time was not the end, but a new beginning.

Locke planned to go to the Cult of the Goddess of Night without stopping once he returned to New York, to learn that skill first. At the same time, a Secret Cult gathering was about to be held, and perhaps by going there, he could trigger quite a few missions.

Speaking of missions, Locke just remembered that when he met Jason on the island today, the system did not trigger the 【Friday the 13th】 mission related to Jason.

"Could it be that the system thinks Jason's current rank is too high, so it didn't generate a relevant mission?"

Locke thought it over and felt this was the only possibility, but he didn't feel regret about this; rather, he felt a bit relieved.

After all, if the system really generated a main mission to hunt Jason for him right now, he would probably need a long time to complete it.

During this period, his rate of improvement would drop significantly, which was very detrimental to his revenge plan.

The blade known as the Death Walker still hung over his head, a fact that Locke Galahad had not forgotten for a single second.

The sun was about to sink below the horizon, and the sky was gradually darkening.

In the suburbs of New York, nearing the end of the workday, the once-busy outer ring highway had become sparsely populated with vehicles.

Inside the duty station, the rookie police officer Lanus looked at the speed detector in front of him with some boredom. "Sir, do you think what we saw that day was really just a hallucination?"

Albert wore an indelible smile on his face. "Who cares if it was a hallucination? I only know that the two of us made quite a bit of money in the news market thanks to that blurry photo and the rumors."

"But we've been waiting here for several days, and he hasn't appeared again. I'm afraid that 20,000 us dollars won't be easy to get."

Lanus and his partner were staking out this location, clearly hoping to capture the image of Locke Galahad driving the black jaguar again, and then sell it on the news market.

Of course, as an official police officer, Lanus knew more of the inside story, so it wasn't just about those 20,000 us dollars.

He knew that this 20,000 us dollars was a bounty issued by a special department jointly formed by the FBI and the Vatican.

Moreover, that department was said to be very mysterious, and many police officers were desperate to join it. Lanus also wanted to see if he could try his luck and change his destiny.

Precisely because of the 20,000 us dollars bounty offered by this department, the story of the Black Ghost racing through the suburbs of New York had already sparked widespread discussion.

Many people might not know the inside story, but everyone knew that if they could capture a clear photo of the ghost car's driver, they would be able to get those 20,000 us dollars.

One must realize that it was now 2030, and 20,000 us dollars for a single photograph was almost an exorbitant price.

Perhaps many people didn't have a concept of 10,000 us dollars; in America in 2002, a high-end Nissan 350Z sports car only cost 25,000 us dollars, so a single photo could almost be traded for a car, and a sports car at that, which naturally attracted a lot of enthusiasm.

For the past two days, besides the two traffic police officers on duty, there were many reporters carrying long lenses and cameras staking out along this outer ring highway.

They all wanted to use their equipment to take away this huge sum of money, but after squatting there for two days and getting nothing, they left the place.

Just as Lanus was preparing to pack up the three speed detectors, the reporters who had previously left swarmed back in the gathering darkness. Each of them, with faces full of ecstasy, set up their long lenses and cameras by the side of the road, aiming at the highway ahead as if someone special was about to pass by.

Lanus was somewhat puzzled and asked one of the reporters he was more familiar with: "Jeff, didn't you not believe me when I said I saw that ghost car here? Why are you back now?"

The young male reporter called Jeff, with ecstasy on his face, fiddled with his camera and said without turning his head: "You don't know, we just received news that someone spotted a black jaguar speeding towards here from the north, and the speed might have already exceeded 250 mph!"

His tone held indescribable excitement: "It's even faster than when you saw it last time, so everyone is saying this is an alien UFO flying on the ground."

"A UFO? Stop joking. It's just a car, but I didn't expect that car could go even faster!"

Lanus was very surprised after hearing this news, then ran to the three specially prepared speed detectors and began adjusting their angles.

The reason everyone gathered at this checkpoint instead of going elsewhere was that this checkpoint was the entrance to the only super-large curve on this highway.

Any normal driver would definitely slow down here; this was the place most likely to have a chance to photograph the driver of this ghostly black jaguar.

While everyone was fiddling with their cameras, the veteran Albert, with a cigarette in his mouth, leaned over to Lanus and whispered a few words.

Immediately after, Lanus carefully carried one of the three speed detectors away and went to a particularly hidden, optimal observation point.

Everyone was using all sorts of methods for those 20,000 us dollars; some had extended camera lenses, others set up a row in an attempt to win by volume. In short, everyone wanted to win those 20,000 us dollars.

Zooming out, less than 5 kilometers away from this speed trap, the black ghost was racing along the road. Its red taillights dragged out long trails of fire in the twilight; if one didn't look closely, it would only seem like two thin red lines speeding along the highway.

Inside the car, the classic song "Hotel California" was playing:

"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air, Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light."

"Driving on the dark desert highway, cool wind blowing through my hair, the scent of tobacco filling the air, looking up into the distance, I see a faint light."

Locke Galahad held the steering wheel with his left hand, his right hand resting on the window, while humming along to the music, looking very relaxed.

Although the jaguar's speed had now exceeded 250 mph, reaching the limit of this modified car—to the point where it would be flipped over by the slightest touch—he still drove it with ease.

Even if there was a pothole or a pebble on the road, he could avoid it a second in advance.

This was naturally not because his driving skills had upgraded, but because his mental strength had increased again, going from the previous 6 points to 7 points. Therefore, both his hand-eye coordination and his brain's processing speed were far superior to when he last chased Marcus.

This sensation of extreme speed put Locke Galahad in a very good mood, and coupled with the several heavy rewards he had unlocked, it was hard for him not to be in a good mood.

Standing on his shoulder, the raven Xiao Qi, gripping his clothes tightly with its claws, stared with a pair of large eyes. It was particularly addicted to this feeling of high-speed racing, occasionally exclaiming, "Woohoo! Master, how is your driving skill so good? This is even faster than me flying!"

"I think those professional Formula One racers probably aren't as good as you."

Locke Galahad smiled and shook his head, very modestly: "They are ordinary people, I am a Transcendent, it's different."

"Hmph, what's different? We're all people. Why can't they become Transcendents? That's just because they aren't capable enough."

Xiao Qi tilted its head, looking particularly proud, "In my opinion, Master, you are the man who knows how to drive best in the whole world."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem—"

Hearing the word "drive," Locke Galahad reflexively coughed twice, then ignored the talkative raven.

While driving, he analyzed and thought about his future plans. "After going back, I should still join the Cult of the Goddess of Night early and hurry to learn that concealment technique first."

"And I don't know when that Secret Cult gathering will be held. I hope I can activate a few simple missions from that group of people when the time comes."

To be honest, with only one survival mission now, Locke Galahad was actually a bit unaccustomed to it.

However, at least he hadn't lost his goal. After all, after returning, whether it was sending a Vampire to scout for news about the Death Walker, meeting his beautiful aunt whom he hadn't seen for a long time but who was full of suspicious points, or the matter of whether his parents were Transcendents, these were all things he was quite eager to know right now.

"It's here!"

At the checkpoint, a reporter stood on a hillock with binoculars, looking at the black jaguar speeding from afar, and shouted a reminder: "That car is coming, everyone get ready!"

Just as his voice fell, everyone stared intently at the road gradually being swallowed by the night. Then, not two seconds later, a black afterimage sped past them.

Everyone stared with wide eyes at the empty highway, as if they hadn't reacted yet. After a long while, everyone couldn't help but gasp, "Hiss—"

"Is this really a level that a human can drive at?"

"Why do I feel like this car is really being driven by a ghost? How could a human have such reaction speed?"

"God! 250 mph, and not slowing down for a big curve—is this even human!"

"Mom, I suspect I'm having a hallucination."