104: Chapter 104 Codename "Ghost"

The night grew deeper.

The moon was obscured by thick, blood-scented clouds of smoke, only showing a pale, sickly light at the edges of the cloud layer.

Chen Xi crouched atop a bell tower that was half-collapsed from bombing, the cold wind pouring into his worn-out collar.

He didn't move.

Like a stone statue merging into the night.

His gaze was locked on the ruins in the distance—the former site of Central University.

On the map, the first rescue target, Liu Guowei, was in that area.

But that place was also a hunting ground.

From time to time, groups of two or three Japanese Army stragglers wandered through the ruins like wild dogs scenting blood, searching for anything of value, or... any living thing that was still breathing.

(Charging in blindly is seeking death.)

(Saving people isn't a killing contest. I have to bring them out alive.)

(To survive in this city, to save people... I can't be human.)

(I have to be a... ghost.)

This thought became incomparably clear in his mind.

He needed stealth.

He needed extreme concealment.

He needed an ability that would allow him to come and go as he pleased in this deadly hunting ground.

He opened the system mall.

The string of "audience emotion points" that was so long it almost overflowed the screen emitted a faint, somewhat ironic glow in his dim vision.

The blood and fire of Sihang Warehouse had earned him these.

Now, it was time for them to become new capital for revenge.

Without hesitation, he swiped open the Tier 3 permission item list.

His gaze locked directly onto a brand-new icon.

[Item Name: Chameleon Cloak (Rare)]

[Item Type: Outdoor Leisure/Extreme Photography Accessory]

[Function Description: Uses the latest bionic optical camouflage materials to actively absorb and simulate surrounding ambient light and textures, achieving perfect invisibility. Built-in silent module effectively reduces movement noise. Note: Brief visibility may occur during intense exercise or physical impact.]

(It's you.)

[Confirm exchange for 'Chameleon Cloak'? Cost: 5,000,000 emotion points.]

"Confirm."

Without the slightest hesitation.

A glimmer flashed, and a plain-looking, dark gray cloak appeared in his inventory.

The texture was very light, with a strange feel to the touch, somewhere between silk and rubber.

The audience in the Livestream room watched this unremarkable "new outfit," and the bullet chat began to roll sporadically.

[Huh? Master Xi changed into a new skin? This one... doesn't seem very cool.]

[Five million emotion points for such a crappy cloak? Feels like a total loss.]

[Probably has some special effect, let's wait and see.]

Chen Xi ignored the bullet chat.

He draped the cloak over his body and put on the hood, covering most of his face.

Then, he pressed an inconspicuous, tiny activation switch on the inside of the cloak.

Hum—

An almost imperceptible, faint electrical hum sounded.

The next second.

A miracle happened.

Chen Xi's figure began to blur.

Like the distorted air rising from an asphalt road baked by high temperatures in summer.

His outline rapidly faded and dissolved.

The lines of his edges perfectly merged into the mottled, smoke-blackened wall behind him.

Three seconds.

It only took three seconds.

The place where a living person had just been standing became empty.

He had vanished.

[!!!!!!]

[Holy crap! Where's the person?!]

[Optical camouflage?! It's really optical camouflage! Is this something a casual game can have?!]

[Five million! These five million were so worth it! Master Xi, I'm kneeling before you!]

[The Predator would call him a pro!]

The Livestream room instantly exploded.

Chen Xi felt the strange experience brought by the cloak.

He looked down and could see his own translucent hands, but his body just a bit further away had already integrated with the environment.

Even more wonderful was that when he walked, the sound of his feet crushing rubble seemed to be absorbed by an invisible membrane, becoming extremely faint.

He began to move.

Leaping down from the bell tower, he landed silently in an abandoned alley.

A commotion came from the distance.

It was a squad of Japanese Army patrol Soldiers, about five or six people.

They had just robbed a rice shop and were carrying rice sacks, talking filthily in Japanese; one of them even pulled out sake from his coat and took a swig.

The smell of alcohol drifted over with the wind.

It was pungent.

Chen Xi stood in the shadows less than ten meters away from them.

Watching quietly.

A Soldier, drunk, slipped and fell to the ground.

The rice sack burst open, and white rice spilled all over the ground, mixed with mud and foul blood.

The leading Sergeant Major went up and gave him a kick, cursing under his breath.

No one noticed.

Beside them, a transparent "ghost" was watching them with eyes devoid of any emotion.

As if looking at a group of already dead corpses.

Chen Xi didn't make a move.

These people were not his target.

He bypassed this patrol squad and continued sneaking towards Central University.

Soon, he arrived at the outskirts of his destination.

According to the intelligence provided by "Great Wall," Professor Liu was hiding in the basement of the library.

But there were two Japanese Army sentries around the library.

One in the open, one in the dark.

The open sentry was behind a pile of sandbags at the library entrance, holding a gun and yawning boredly.

The hidden sentry was at a second-floor window of a flanking teaching building, positioned at a tricky angle that could form crossfire.

(Have to pull the nails first.)

Chen Xi had a plan in mind.

He didn't go for the open sentry first.

Instead, he circled to the back of the teaching building.

He needed to test his combat effectiveness in this "ghost" mode.

Like a gecko, he climbed up to the second floor silently along the drainpipe on the outside wall.

The hidden sentry was leaning by the window, lighting a cigarette.

He seemed very relaxed, completely unaware that the Grim Reaper was approaching him step by step from behind.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

Chen Xi could even smell the stench of low-quality cigarettes and sweat on him.

(Let's collect some interest.)

He muttered in his heart.

Just as only one body length remained between him and the hidden sentry.

He moved.

His right hand, the handle of the weeding sickle slid silently into his palm.

He didn't activate the high-frequency vibration.

Relying only on its inherent sharpness.

Shua—

A flash of cold light, too fast for the naked eye to catch, streaked through the air.

The hidden sentry's body froze.

The cigarette in his hand dropped to the floor.

He wanted to turn around.

He also wanted to shout.

But he could do nothing.

An extremely thin bloodline slowly emerged from his neck.

Then, it expanded.

Pfft.

Warm blood sprayed out.

Chen Xi didn't look at him.

Before the hidden sentry's body slumped down limply.

He had already leaped from the window like a gust of wind, vanishing into the deeper darkness.

Codename: Ghost.

The hunt begins.