Chapter 519: 519

Chapter 519: Reaper Squad

“Impossible!”

The “captor” was shocked.

Meng Chao held the heavy saber with two hands, and when he swung it up between his legs, it was so fast and swift that after the “captor” dodged it, its momentum had not reduced. Under the force of the inertia, the saber should have gone straight up past his head.

And the “captor” had planned to unleash the fiercest counterattack while Meng Chao’s front was wide open.

Against his expectations, though, Meng Chao acted as if inertia did not exist, and the second slash came from a different direction.

The “captor”‘s pupils shrank rapidly, and he immediately found the reason for it.

While Meng Chao swung his sword, he threw the second saber above his head.

The first slash was a feint, and Meng Chao was certain that he could dodge it.

And right after the first slash missed, Meng Chao immediately let go and brought his hands up to catch the second saber that came flying at him.

That was why he did not need to overcome the powerful inertia from the first saber. He even managed to increase the speed with which he attacked by more than 100%!

‘What… is this saber technique?’

The “captor” felt his skin crawl and was really shocked. He instantly deduced that it was impossible for him to dodge the second slash.

He gritted his teeth and took half a step toward Meng Chao’s saber.

Since he could not avoid the second slash, he would choose the spot where he would be cut.

He wanted to use the sturdiest shoulder armor and chest plate of the motorized armor to take the attack.

Besides, with his spirit energy armor and his refined physical body as well as bones, he should be able to get the saber stuck in his shoulder.

If that happened, his ambusher would lose both sabers, and he could shout loudly to warn his companions that there was a fierce battle over here.

Then, he would have a chance to turn the tables around!

While thinking this, the “captor” saw Meng Chao’s second saber land on his right shoulder armor at lightning speed.

He was prepared to withstand bone-crushing pain, but against his expectations, the slash did not bring him any pain and shock.

The seemingly unstoppable slash did not even cut through his shoulder armor.

Instead, the heavy blade fell out of the ambusher’s hands and flew to the side.

The “captor” was delighted before he registered what had happened.

‘No!’

But it was already too late for him to adapt to the situation. A sharp blade as thin as a cicada’s wing and one that had no shadow or form shot out of Meng Chao’s empty right hand. It gently seeped into the motorized armor’s crack and pierced the “captor”‘s throat.

Before the “captor” could release his sharpest scream, the blade had already cut through his voice box, neck artery, cervical spine, and cervical nerves.

The “captor” could only widen his eyes and release gurgling sounds.

Red blood trailed down the formless blade and drew an outline of the blade.

The “captor” recognized the blade.

It belonged to Bloody Slaughter Gao Yang.

His face under the skeleton mask filled with shock and fear.

But no matter what sort of emotion he had, it was meaningless.

When Meng Chao exhaled spirit energy, his throat was cut by a saber glare, and his large head fell off. His headless body twitched for a while before it slowly fell to its knees in front of Meng Chao.

The entire process lasted less than one second.

A’Ji blinked when he saw the armed and fierce “captor” become a headless corpse that knelt in front of Meng Chao.

This was the first time he saw Meng Chao’s skills.

The Leprosy Village boy looked like he had seen a God and a monster in human skin.

It was only when the head landed on the ground that Meng Chao sighed in relief. He cradled his chest and sat down slowly on the ground.

He called out to A’Ji. “Come here. Help me check whether he has an emergency kit and medical fluids.”

Then, he looked down at the wound on his chest. Blood and black fog gushed out of it, and it hurt so much that his mouth twitched.

If it were possible, Meng Chao would have preferred not to kill this “captor” instantly.

After all, the living could always reveal more information than the dead.

But he was heavily injured, and the “captor” had motorized armor increasing his defense. His fighting strength was about the same as that of Meng Chao.

If he could not kill him in one blow and the “captor” made a ruckus or released a fierce shockwave to attract his companions’ attention, Meng Chao would be the one who ended up dead.

Fortunately, the “captor” really did bring an emergency kit and medical fluids in his motorized armor.

Meng Chao injected himself with a cell growth hormone and used one hemostatic gel. Then, he used an emergency tool that looked like a stapler and sutured his wounds together for the time being. His complexion looked a little better after that.

“Now, let’s see who you are!”

Meng Chao moved swiftly and removed the corpse’s mask and helmet.

Since he had instantly killed the “captor”, his face did not become distorted.

After washing away the camouflage paint from his face, he saw a fierce-looking man.

Meng Chao observed him for a long time before he came to a conclusion. ‘He’s not a veteran hunter, and he doesn’t look like a fighter sent by the gangs in the lair. So, who is he?’

Meng Chao shut his eyes and quickly shifted through the lost people on the bounty list released by the Supernatural Tower.

As superhumans, they were willing to side with the enemy and become the claws of the monsters. There should be no one else who was willing to do this aside from lost people who were hunted by the entire city and had nowhere else to go.

But to Meng Chao’s surprise, after checking the hundreds of lost people he could remember in his head, he could not identify the person in front of him.

But that did not make sense!

It has to be stated that after he reached Heaven Realm, his memory had increased by leaps and bounds. He could remember most of the lost people after just seeing them once.

Could the man be one of the nobodies ranked in the hundreds on the bounty list?

But that should not be the case. His alertness and reaction speed were pretty extraordinary. If Meng Chao had not obtained the shadowless saber from Bloody Slaughter Gao Yang and used just his chain saber and Bloody Soul to fight against him, it would have been impossible for him to kill him instantly without making a sound.

With this sort of fighting power, he could commit horrific crimes. It was impossible for him to be a nobody.

‘Just who are you?’

Meng Chao thought about it for a while before he decided to remove the headless corpse’s armor and nano fighting suit.

He examined the corpse’s fingers and skin inch by inch, especially the scars on his skin.

The man had a few healed burn scars. They were like dense holes that looked a little nauseating.

“It looks like scars left by insect-type monsters with powerful venom and acid in the wild. After he was repeatedly bitten, it resulted in a chronic skin disease, and the scars from it are on his skin…” Meng Chao mumbled. “This person has experience of surviving in the wild for long periods of time, but he’s not a veteran hunter…”

Meng Chao continued searching until he reached the corpse’s neck. His expression suddenly changed.

He brought the head over and pushed the hair on the back of the man’s head up. When he connected the head and the corpse together, he saw a complete barcode on the neck.

It had been printed on the skin by laser, and like a key, it opened a database in Meng Chao’s mind.

Faces appeared in his head, and Meng Chao was finally able to identify the “captor”.

But it should have been impossible.

A’Ji was adept at observing emotions, so he asked tentatively. “Uncle, do you know this guy?”

“I don’t.” Meng Chao shook his head slowly. “But I’ve heard his name before.”

“Who is he?”

“Someone dead.”

“Of course he’s dead,” A’Ji said. “Anyone who is beheaded will definitely die. There’s no doubt about it.”

“You don’t understand what I’m saying. This guy died three years ago.”

A’Ji’s eyes went wide. “What?!”

“Look at this.” Meng Chao showed the barcode on the corpse’s neck to A’Ji and explained what it was to him. “This is the symbol of the Reaper Squad. This person belongs to the Reaper Squad.”

A’Ji blinked and asked, “What’s this ‘Reaper Squad’?”

“It’s like this. There are plenty of superhumans who go through spirit energy deviation while cultivating spirit energy. Their temperaments change, and they commit crimes. We call them lost people,” Meng Chao said. “Many lost people can’t control their strength and desires, so they commit heinous crimes. If we were to punish them based on the laws on Earth, they would definitely receive the death penalty.

“But in Dragon City, aside from killing lost people on the spot during the capturing process, we don’t usually consider carrying out the death sentence immediately.

“It’s not that the laws in Dragon City are more merciful than on Earth. It’s not because the law enforcers are more merciful here either.

“It’s because we only have that many resources in Dragon City. The lost people have all used up a lot of cultivation resources before they gained supernatural abilities. If we destroy them with just one bullet, they are going to die, but how are we going to compensate for the resources they wasted and the damages they caused to society?

“So, when it comes to bringing judgment to these heinous lost people, we usually implant mini crystal bombs in their bodies and have them wear specially designed remote collars and spirit energy magnetic field shackles. They are then assigned to a special force known as Reaper Squad.

“The Reaper Squad is in charge of carrying out missions that are so dangerous and have such high mortality rates that normal squads have trouble handling them. They’re all deep in the fog.

“For example, they might be sent to investigate Apocalyptic Beasts’ nests, draw maps of places hundreds of kilometers away from Dragon City, search for crystal mines that have such powerful radiation that even superhumans can’t handle them, and other such missions.

“To those lost people, living is better than dying. Even though each mission is almost a guaranteed death and they can’t return to society even if they complete their mission, if they manage to survive through it, they will get to live. These people consider themselves to have earned another day of living when they complete a mission, because the crimes they committed should have led them to be sentenced to death.

“Besides, many lost people are controlled by a murderous instinct when they enter spirit energy deviation. They don’t long for worldly enjoyments, but are satisfied if they’re able to continue killing.

“To the Survival Committee and the Supernatural Tower, using the Reaper Squad to carry out missions helps minimize the mortality rate and chances of superhumans becoming crippled. They consider it as reusing waste.

“Over the ten years or so since the Reaper Squad was formed, they’ve gained great achievements, which is why this system has been maintained until this day.

“If my memory is correct, this guy is Corpse-eating Dog Du Ming. He was once a talented hunter who loved eating monster flesh raw, but he and his squad lost their way in the wild and could not return to Dragon City. After they used up all their provisions, they killed each other and even ate each other’s flesh. In the end, he was sentenced to death and sent to the Reaper Squad.

“But three years ago, during an outdoor exploration mission, his Reaper Squad had run into an Apocalyptic Beast, and the entire squad died. No one managed to survive…”