Chapter Fifty: A Visit

The warm-hearted man’s words jolted Qi Chen into awareness. Of course, he didn’t want to become a twisted being who had lost his sense of self—what difference would there be between that and death?

He would—he must—master the power of the Overlord and yet remain true to his own heart!

“By the way, we’ve worked together for a while, but there’s still a small thing I need to remind you of.” The warm-hearted man stood from his stool. “I know, kid, you still can’t let go of that family.”

Qi Chen knew exactly who he meant—the innocent family whose tragedy had been wrought by the old beggar. It was indeed a burden he could not lay down.

“In the future, you and I are bound to face similar situations again.” The warm-hearted man’s voice was heavy, unusually serious. “You must understand, no one can achieve perfection.

“Sometimes, we’re forced to sacrifice a few to save many more.

“Take the concert hall incident—if any of the citizens inside, twisted by the mental affliction, have deteriorated to the point that no treatment could restore them, and they would pose a grave threat to the rest of City Three… Can you guess what would happen?”

Qi Chen jerked his head up, staring straight into the warm-hearted man’s dark eyes.

“We would eliminate them without hesitation,” the man said, struggle flickering in his gaze, but even more was a steely resolve. “This is the painful lesson we’ve learned since the city’s founding. A moment’s hesitation leads only to greater catastrophe. Our human frailties are precisely where the madmen in the mist strike hardest.”

For Qi Chen, who had always lived in the sunlit world, these admonitions struck harder than any horror.

Yet the warm-hearted man hadn’t finished. He suddenly smiled faintly. “But when we are not strong enough, it’s acceptable to abandon the few for the sake of the many—but we can never, must never, treat it as commonplace.

“To feel guilt is right. But rather than wallow in it, we should let these experiences become whips that drive us to grow stronger—so that such things need not happen again!”

Qi Chen understood. Compassion, mercy, remorse—these must exist in his heart, but they must not lure him into the trap of seeking perfection.

This, after all, is a world shrouded in mist and terror.

For now, aware of his own weakness, he would bury his wish to save everyone deep within.

“I will grow stronger!” Qi Chen clenched his fist and declared to the warm-hearted man, firm and resolute.

The latter laughed heartily and gave him a thumbs up. “I believe in you.”

Beep-beep!

A notification chimed simultaneously in both their earpieces, followed by a message: “Warm-hearted and Facemask officers, please report to the meeting room immediately! Officer Fu is waiting for you!”

...

“What? He’s dead?”

The moment they entered the meeting room, Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man were greeted by bad news from Fu Ying—the tall, thin man they’d apprehended had died during interrogation.

Even if it was suicide, it was a bizarre outcome. The warm-hearted man looked at Fu Ying in confusion, and she offered a brief explanation.

“He must’ve been under some special anomalous influence.

“When he was about to reveal confidential information, the lurking power would kill him outright.”

The warm-hearted man was no longer so shocked. He knew that as long as the brain wasn’t entirely dead, Fu Ying could usually extract some information from the freshly deceased! But if an anomaly was involved, all bets were off.

“Are we exposed?” Qi Chen realized the implication. If the other side could monitor whether the thin man gave anything away, surely they’d know he was dead.

“Quick thinking,” Fu Ying remarked, glancing at Qi Chen. “But our special operations team has probably been under their observation for some time. This makes little difference now.

“I have a task for you both.”

She handed each of them a dossier prepared by the intelligence analysis department.

Qi Chen’s heart skipped as he read. The documents detailed the thin man’s movements over the past two weeks in astonishing detail. Such efficiency was incredible in this age of mist; clearly, besides a team of professionals, some anomalous power must have aided them.

“Your target is to pay a visit to Officer Lou and check his residence for anything unusual.”

Both men understood Fu Ying’s intent and set off without hesitation.

This time, the warm-hearted man didn’t use his own car; instead, they took a black special operations vehicle from the garage.

With the veteran at the wheel, Qi Chen relaxed in the passenger seat, lost in thought. Now, he started to recall fragments from before he wore the Overlord mask—was it the white mask’s instigation?

Or perhaps the reason he could don the Overlord mask was connected to the white-faced mask?

It seemed that tonight, he would have to visit the mask room and have a proper talk with that fellow.

Suddenly, something in the rearview mirror caught Qi Chen’s attention—several off-road vehicles had appeared behind them, and it seemed they were targeting their car!

“There’s trouble behind us!” Qi Chen quickly alerted the warm-hearted man. He saw through the mirror that in one of the off-roaders, a figure was leaning out the window.

The man was holding a rifle!

Rat-tat-tat!

Flames bloomed at the muzzle as burning gunpowder drove sharp bullets through the air toward their vehicle!

Sparks danced across the armored surface of their car, and the warm-hearted man swerved desperately to evade the gunfire.

But two more off-roaders sped up on either side, boxing them in!

Bang!

Their car was rammed hard from both sides, making Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man jolt in their seats. Their armored vehicle was really just a reinforced SUV—extra bulletproof plates, a more powerful engine, but not much heavier in truth.

The vehicles flanking them rolled down their windows, and several masked men leveled their rifles, firing wildly!

“Overlord!” With a shout, Qi Chen summoned the Overlord. An earthshaking roar split the air, and a gray-white afterimage slammed into the left off-roader, smashing the hood with a mighty fist!

A burst of flame shot skyward as the engine exploded, sending the off-roader flying in a blaze.

The other off-roader did not retreat, instead flooring the accelerator and ramming them even harder, as if determined to overturn their vehicle!

Qi Chen’s eyes narrowed in fury, and he glimpsed a familiar tattoo on the attacking driver’s neck—

A vertical pupil.

...