Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 113 - The "Terrifying" Shadow Demon

Click.

The rear door of the car opened. Cassius bent down and placed the two boxes on the carpet.

"Congratulations, Boss," Violet said from the driver\'s seat.

Cassius didn\'t answer, and merely nodded. After a moment, he said, "Take me home. No, on second thought, go to the Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall first." He raised his right hand and glanced at the watch on his wrist.

"Okay."

The car rumbled alive and drove toward Hongta Street. In the back seat, Cassius opened the box he had previously opened which contained the pile of gloves and metal playing cards.

He pulled out one of the cards and examined it. The workmanship was exquisite. It was scaled down proportionally so that it was fairly light and could be carried around. This item wasn\'t just for show; it was meant to act as a deterrent.

It was similar to how some major gangs, after rising to a certain level, would have a dress code. One of their requirements for their members might be for them to shout a line before they kill such as, "By order of XXX!" The cards acted like a business card for gangs, accumulating the organization\'s deterrent power.

Ace of Spades had a similar gang business card. The lower-level members or assassins mostly wore spade-shaped badges as a means of identification, while the twelve high-ranking members naturally had the metal playing cards and swan silk white gloves on their hands.

Imagine a meeting where fourteen people—all high-ranking members of Ace of Spades, and all with serious expressions, powerful auras, and white gloves on their hands—sat around a long table. It gave off an inexplicable sense of professionalism and solemnity.

Banishing that strange scene from his mind, Cassius opened another box, which was crammed full of Green Hongli Federation bills—one million dollars that White Bird gave him after the meeting. It was supposed to be Cassius\'s fee for his upcoming actions against Duststorm.

Moreover, this was just a deposit. If they were successful in taking down Duststorm\'s antique transshipment warehouse, then Cassius would receive an additional two million Federation dollars.

Ace of Spades operated somewhat like a commercial company. Except in certain special situations, members were paid when assigned to perform a task by the organization. As the fourth-in-command of the assassination department and the newly appointed Diamond "J," Cassius\'s price for undertaking a task was naturally high, especially against Duststorm, who was currently at the height of their power. Three million Hongli Federation dollars was quite normal; frankly, this was considered a small amount.

Since Cassius was acting on Ace of Spades\' behalf, his asking price couldn\'t be too outrageous. If Ace of Spades sent Cassius over to help with some other organizations, then he\'d make much more money. Despite Ace of Spades taking a cut, he\'d still have more money overall compared to before.

As the saying goes, it\'s good to have a big tree for shade.

Whether it was obtaining antique resources or earning money, Cassius needed Ace of Spades as support; he had his own plans.

A dozen minutes later, the car stopped on Hongta Street.

Cassius didn\'t enter the martial arts hall and instead, waited at the entrance.

He forgot to bring ointment when he went to the assassination department meeting at noon, and by the time it ended, Phil and the others were about to finish school. Cassius simply asked Violet to drive all the way to Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall so he could bring his three prospective apprentices to his new home. That saved him the hassle of making an extra trip back and forth.

Five minutes later, three more figures were crammed in the back seat. Cassius sat in the passenger seat.

Tifa asked curiously, "Teacher, did you buy a car?"

Cassius paused slightly before saying, "Sort of."

Although Violet was driving this black cloud sedan now, it should be his in about half an hour.

Sitting on the side in the back, Phil seemed to be staring at Violet\'s side profile in the driver\'s seat. This beautiful older sister looked familiar...was she friends with his brother Matthew?

"Let\'s go to my house," Cassius said, folding his arms across his chest.

Half an hour later, in the courtyard of Cassius\'s new home, Violet stared dumbfoundedly ahead at the battered, dilapidated black cloud sedan.

"You want me to drive this car back? Boss..." She turned her head to look at the side, where Cassius was leaning against another black cloud sedan. That one was intact. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, his face maintainining a serious and indifferent expression. He gave her a thumbs up with his right hand.

"You can do it," he encouraged her earnestly.

This isn\'t about whether I can do it or not?! This car flipped into a ditch and is so busted up that it might fall apart as soon as it hits the road. If the fuel tank is leaking, it might explode as soon as I step on the gas, Violet complained inwardly.

Cassius seemed to notice Violet\'s frustration. He said, "This black cloud sedan looks a bit worse for wear but that\'s on the outside. The internal structure and engine are still fine. I remember flipping the car on Rueklin Avenue and driving it back four to five kilometers without any problems."

Cassius paused before continuing, "I mainly need to use it to take these three students home today. You can\'t possibly expect me to drive them around in this wreck, right? Or would you prefer to wait until about six or seven tonight to give them a lift?"

"In that case, I\'ll drive this car back." Violet decisively opened the broken door of the driver\'s seat and plopped herself down. If there was one thing she absolutely hated it was being alone with hyperactive kids!

Thump, thump, thump...

The heavily damaged black cloud sedan started up, its rear shuddering and the metal joints creaking. It really did look as though it was a few hundred meters away from falling completely apart.

Violet\'s face suddenly popped up from the shattered car window. "Boss, did you really drive it four or five kilometers without any issues?"

Cassius nodded. "Of course."

A moment later, Violet drove the car away, her face stormy and resentful. Cassius closed the iron gate and parked the new black cloud sedan in its original position. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned around.

Phil and the other two were practicing their combat moves in the first-floor living room. They were still basic combat moves, but with some differences. There were some combos, where they used two or three moves in succession, included now.

Cassius had every intention to start teaching Tifa and the others Wind Elephant Basic Combat Arts; this was merely the warm-up.

"Ha." Phil exhaled softly, his feet spreading wide to balance himself. His left hand at his side clenched into a fist, and using about seventy percent of his strength, he thrust his right hand straight forward. With his arm hanging in the air to keep him steady, he took another deep breath. Suddenly, he heard a thud. It sounded close.

Phil glanced around. "What was that?"

He didn\'t see any tables or chairs on the ground so nothing had fallen. Cassius stood not far from the three, watching each person\'s punching technique closely.

Phil shook his head, pulled his arm back, and shuffled his feet around to change his stance. He was about to throw a punch when he heard another thud.

"Hmm?" Phil was about to look around.

Pat.

Someone\'s palm landed on his head. At some point, Cassius had come up to his side. "Focus on practicing."

"But, Master, I only turned my head because I heard something falling down just now," Phil defended himself.

"Probably a mouse. Don\'t get distracted." Cassius glanced at the other two. "Look how composed Tifa and Milo are. Don\'t go craning your neck at every little noise." He looked at Phil and said with some earnestness, "If your mind isn\'t calm, you won\'t be able to practice any Combat Techniques well."

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

A continuous series of dull thuds emitted from the basement, seemingly in response to what Cassius had just said.

Beside him, Milo and Tifa paused in their practice of combat moves, and looked curiously toward the source of the sound.

Cassius\'s face visibly turned livid, his thick eyebrows twitching. "Those two damn mice!"

He turned away, right hand clenched into a thick fist. His tone was flat as he said, "You guys keep practicing. I\'m going to catch those mice."

In the living room, the three exchanged puzzled glances. Half a minute later, just as they were setting up to resume their combat practice, two heavy thuds came from the basement.

Bang! Bang!

The dull thuds sounded like a boxer hitting a freestanding punching bag at full power with his gloves on. A moment later, the three saw Cassius\'s tall figure emerge from the basement, his hands hanging at his sides, expressionless. Thick liquid dripped down from his knuckles. It looked like blood!

The three\'s eyes widened. Cassius seemed to notice their gazes and raised his hand, saying nonchalantly, "This basement used to be a granary, and there were two fat mice causing trouble, but everything is fine now since I\'ve killed them." He sped-walked toward the bathroom.

Milo pursed his lips. Would killing two mice cause such a commotion? He didn\'t know, and he didn\'t dare ask more.

Cassius returned after half a minute of handwashing. He immediately called the three to stop and produced three small bottles of training ointment.

"Grab one and apply the ointment for half an hour as usual. "

Time crept by, and the once bright sunlight outside dipped below the horizon. Carried by the wind, the clouds gathered together, a faint red line visible at their base. The entire sky turned orange-yellow, with the light advancing inch by inch.

"We\'re done for the day. I\'ll take you guys home." Cassius stood at the door, one eye on his watch. He strolled out, got in and started the new car. The other three slid into the back seat.

This time, Cassius took the three to the front of the Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall on Hongta Street. He knew where Phil lived, but he hadn\'t asked about nor visited Milo\'s and Tifa\'s homes. Rather than waste his time by driving around, it was better to let the three of them walk home themselves. Since they lived near the Edelweiss School district, it would take them long to get home if they started walking from Hongta Street.

By the time Cassius returned a half hour later, it was pitch-black, and the streetlights on both sides of the street had flickered on. He drove the black cloud sedan straight in after opening the front gate.

The car door closed shut with a click and when Cassius turned back around to close the gate, he caught sight of a beautiful woman walking in.

She wore a black dress, which hugged her body and nicely outlined her curvaceous figure. Black stockings adorned her legs, making her look very stylish and sexy.

"It\'s not a good idea to barge into someone\'s home at night." Shrouded in the shadows, Cassius looked like a statue.

"Sorry." The woman\'s apology was polite, but her next words shocked him to his core. "You\'ve been parasitized by a shadow."

Hmm?! With a swish, Cassius vanished from his spot, like a phantom behind the woman, his right hand slowly reaching out.

The woman raised her hands to prove she was non-threatening. "I know you\'re well-versed in combat moves, and you\'re likely very strong, but could you please let me finish talking?"

Ten minutes later, on the Rococo-style living room sofa.

The woman and Cassius sat facing each other, with a tea table between them bearing cups of black tea. They were already half empty.

Cassius put down the black tea in his hand and summarized what she had told him. "So, you\'re from a secret organization called the Shadowless Clan, and you want me to join because most of the members are like me, humans parasitized by Shadow Demons?"

"Yes, that\'s right. You probably already know the assimilation rules of Shadow Demons: there are nine opportunities, and each time you lose to the Shadow Demon, some part of your body gets assimilated. Before I invite you to join the organization, I\'d like to ask what your assimilation rate is?" The woman took a sip of tea and continued, "It\'s best not to exceed seventy percent. Once it does, that would—"

"Wait!" Cassius cut the woman off abruptly. He slowly raised his head, a frown on his face. "What is an assimilation rate?"

"Ah?!" The woman wore a similar perplexed expression.

Five minutes later, Cassius finally understood. His Shadow Demon was completely different from ordinary Shadow Demons!

Other people had nine opportunities to get gradually assimilated by the Shadow Demons. He, on the other hand, had only one chance, and if he lost, he would be instantly replaced. Each of the nine manifestations was extremely dangerous!

Any ordinary person would be deep in the pits of despair. Fortunately, Cassius had a cheat that he could use to exploit a loophole and dramatically increase his strength with the time difference. Not only did this temporarily render the Shadow Demon harmless, it even became a valuable resource, serving as Cassius\'s double experience package.

All Cassius had to say was, he was extremely lucky.

Additionally, Cassius had a rough understanding of this Shadowless Clan\'s strength. From what was revealed to him so far, they seemed about on par with, maybe even weaker than, Duststorm. Because ordinary Shadow Demons couldn\'t all copy a hundred percent of their host\'s strength like Cassius\'s could, this meant their rewards for defeating the Shadow Demons were severely diminished.

Just as Cassius was lost in thought, the woman in black smoothly interjected, "Join us, Mr. Li Wei. I know you\'re skilled and that you\'ve made quite a name for yourself with your combat moves at the martial arts hall near Edelweiss School. But we\'re up against a group of ferocious monsters with those Shadow Demons.

"These inhuman beings kill and they eat people! They see the fragile bodies of humans as mere prey, and even a trained combat expert has no hope in fighting a claw-level Shadow Demon one-on-one. This is the absolute limitation of the human body!"

The woman in black grew increasingly fretful. "Even the elite combat members of our Shadowless Clan can\'t handle them in a one-on-one battle; they have to rely on support from other members with firearms just to barely hold them off. So, Mr. Li Wei, please don\'t get overly confident in your own strength. If you come across a Shadow Demon, it will hurt you!"

On the opposite sofa, Cassius\'s expression remained unchanged. He took a small sip of tea. "Are you done?"

The woman raised her eyebrows. She couldn\'t resist adding, "There\'s something I want to tell you. According to intelligence received by the Shadowless Clan, Baichuan City has five Steel Claw-level Shadow Demons and one Red Eye-level Shadow Demon lurking around, ready to hunt humans or us parasitized ones at any given moment! The Shadow Demons\' massive mobilization has already caught the attention of our Shadowless Clan, and headquarters is planning to send half of the elite members from the eastern six counties to constantly monitor them! After all, they have enough power to wipe out a mid-sized organization!"

Cassius jerked his head up. "You\'re saying there are five Steel Claw-level Shadow Demons and one Red Eye-level Shadow Demon in Baichuan City?"

"Yes, so join our Shadowless Clan!" The woman in black looked closely at Cassius, as if trying to see a hint of fear in his eyes. Unfortunately, she found none.

Cassius stood up. Without thinking, he blurted out, "Actually, I... Never mind. Come with me for a moment."

"?"

As bewildered as she was, the woman still followed Cassius. A basement door suddenly appeared before her eyes.