Netherworld Retrograde

43: Chapter 21 Siege!

43: Chapter 21 Siege!

“Buttercup!”

Li Yelai glanced at the dense crowd around him.

Cold sweat had already formed on his forehead, but he directed a sarcastic remark at the stranger he was meeting for the first time.

He let his left hand drop and pressed hard on his thigh.

After pressing for a few seconds, the communicator on his wrist emitted an emergency signal.

However, Li Yelai’s mockery was actually very precise, as it was a way to conceal his Spiritual Ability Equipment, the Crimson Long Sword.

The official Equipment Department had specially prepared a large parasol as a sheath and a disguise for him.

This was often the model used by street vendors with an umbrella height of over two meters.

It could hide not only the Crimson Long Sword but even the Sky Halberd.

And the chap holding the Black Umbrella, it was of a regular size only.

Compared to Li Yelai’s Big Black Umbrella, wasn’t it just like a “Buttercup”?

In reality, Li Yelai had already known that the newcomer bore ill intentions.

The first time he heard about Black Umbrella, it was from Wang De.

According to Wang De, it was a young man who liked to carry an umbrella on Clear Sky days.

Wang De, even when he was young and still a Scavenger, had already had encounters with this mysterious being.

And according to official investigations that followed, it was known that over the decades, Wang De had had multiple encounters with the Black Umbrella youth.

Moreover, the Silver Bell that summoned the Knight and the Ghost Immortal Altar were provided by the Black Umbrella youth.

Wang De had shown a mix of fear, obsequiousness, and wariness towards the Black Umbrella youth.

He even cautioned his relatives and subordinates to ‘be wary of the person who carries an umbrella on Clear Skies.’

These bits of information alone were enough to alert the officials.

You have to know, Wang De was nearly ninety when he passed away.

He had come into contact with Black Umbrella when he was young.

Over so many years, Wang De was in his seventies and eighties, while Black Umbrella had not changed at all.

Time seemed not to have left any mark on him.

Moreover, he could easily produce Silver Bells and Knight ashes.

You have to understand, Spiritual Ability Equipment is a weapon crafted from the Spiritual Energy extracted from the Soul Well of a deceased Sufferer or Spiritual Ability User after death.

The crafting process is highly technical and also subject to good fortune, as what ability one can get is also a matter of luck.

And Undead Summoning is an ability that only a Netherworld Spiritual Ability User who has gone through at least a third Awakening can master.

This suggests that Black Umbrella himself, or the organization behind him, had killed a thrice-Awakened Netherworld Spiritual Ability User and possessed the technology to manufacture Spiritual Ability Equipment.

Another fact was the Knight inside the bell; originally, there were two Knights, both bizarre creatures from the Disaster Forbidden Zone, each with the power of a fourth Awakening.

And now, they had been turned into Spiritual Power Ashes, becoming Summoning Items!

From this, one could deduce that the strength of Black Umbrella or the organization behind him was unfathomable.

Whether they had obtained the Knight’s bodies from the Forbidden Zone or had entered the Forbidden Zone to kill the Knights themselves, either scenario was extremely dangerous.

So, the officials immediately commenced a manhunt within Giant City.

After several days and deploying many Processors with tracking abilities, they had only located apartments and hotels where the opposition had previously stayed, with no further progress.

Who could have thought that this fellow would appear directly in front of Li Yelai today?

Even asking him upfront if he was the one who destroyed the Ghost Immortal Altar.

Damn, how brazen?

They were less than two kilometers away from the East City Branch, which was just down two streets.

Furthermore, Li Yelai’s current identity was that of an official Processor, and you – a Wild Spirit Ability User with numerous cases piled up and a mysterious background –

How dare you block a Processor to ask questions?

Isn’t that as bold as a fugitive asking the police a question not far from the Guard Hall?

Thus, while offering his sarcastic remarks, Li Yelai instantly called for his teammates and colleagues.

Once the emergency signal was triggered, all nearby Processors would receive the message and rush over at top speed.

But Li Yelai was indeed nervous.

This was near the Ring City District, with a large volume of people.

It was a bustling area.

Engaging Black Umbrella in battle here would likely result in many innocent victims.

Moreover, he was not necessarily capable of winning.

The officials speculated he was a fighter of at least a fourth Awakening.

Li Yelai might have defeated the Long Spear Knight and accomplished an overpowered counter-kill, but he couldn’t possibly fight such an enemy head-on.

He had to run!

“Come on, catch me if you can!” thought Li Yelai.

If the opposition were to chase him, he could lead them away from the crowd and use his Luck E to delay them for some time.

The Branch was close by, and backup would arrive quickly.

With this in mind, Li Yelai gripped the Big Black Umbrella tightly; the Crimson Long Sword was about to be unsheathed, and he also held on to the bell tucked inside his coat.

However, the Black Umbrella youth didn’t take offense at Li Yelai’s taunts, instead continued to look at him and said, “Why so hostile~?

I’m just curious how you managed to destroy the Ghost Immortal Altar and still survive.

Why did the Ghost Immortal spare you?”

That indeed was a valid point.

The destruction of the Ghost Immortal Altar was no secret among Spiritual Ability Users.

The event was so significant that every Spiritual Ability User within Giant City felt it.

What puzzled Black Umbrella was that the furious Ghost Immortal suddenly fell silent later on.

It was one thing not to forcibly enter our world, but why was the Processor who destroyed the altar stil alive?

Black Umbrella had acquired substantial aid from Wang De at the Ghost Immortal Altar and had roughly figured out the Ghost Immortal’s character.

The altar being smashed should have certainly provoked retaliation from the Ghost Immortal.

So what’s the deal, had it changed its ways?

Why spare this Processor?