The Hero who Wants Nothing in Return

An inconspicuous armored truck is parked on roadside and from the outside, it looks like a vehicle of highway laborers however inside, two men are currently monitoring relays from deployed agents scattered at least ten kilometers around an apartment building. Earlier today, they received an anonymous tip of a possible terrorist attack.

The suspect is a cultivator and while this case should have been handled by Cultivator Enforcers, the suspect had relinquished his rights and chose to become a regular citizen which means it is now handled by the Police Force.

Though there was not a convincing evidence provided by their tipper, they still went on ahead and investigated to eliminate a possible threat. They sent out the best of their field agents to operate incognito. It has been 4 hours now since they started searching for clues and this includes detailed and comprehensive background check on the suspect and not to mention hacking into devices the suspect had used.

As of the moment, they still haven’t found anything suspicious aside from the apartment being protected by an Illusory Formation which they have been trying to bypass.

(This is Bravo 4. I’ve cracked the barrier. We now have now visual.)

(This is Gamma 6. Did you say 3 months or 3 days?)

(Standby Bravo 4. Gamma 6, this better be interesting if I say 3 months.)

(Affirmative on that. Found and confirmed encrypted message. Copied and sent. Awaiting instructions.)

(This is Bravo 4. You’re not gonna like this.)

(What about it Bravo 4?)

(There is no human inside but an old Elven geezer. Linking visual.)

(This is Command on intercept. Mobilize all units and surround the building. Make no one leave! I repeat. Make no one leave, understand? )

Following the uplink of agent Bravo 4, the brain behind the operation was furious as he knew their mission failed.

Meanwhile, Clay stepped out of a restaurant as he walked to the highway for ride. The airship he boarded to get to this place landed an hour ago and he spent thirty minutes in the restaurant to think about his actions.

Since that conversation with Professor One-Hand earlier this afternoon, he had been pondering why the professor did not talk to him like a normal person would do. No matter how eccentric one’s personality is, that is not how a normal conversation will proceed.

Especially for a renowned and prestigious school, the way a conversation would proceed for a bad news is to deliver it in an office, accompanied by another faculty member and who goes on advising someone to consider changing careers when he is only taking elementary lessons and has not even graduated yet.

And lastly, the ingredients to produce Topaz Matter is not something domestically produced and from his research on this spatial related liquid, for security, the synthesis requires the highest level of approval from the Commission of Science.

To waste such precious and rare materials just so he would be reminded and inspired to do better. It is like gifting an aspiring physicist an atomic bomb and tell him to strive harder in his studies.

It doesn’t make sense unless the professor is trying to relay something completely different. For whatever reason the professor cannot tell it to him directly, his deduction is that even the professor is a victim as well.

The professor told him to remember their conversation and to look at the cube encapsulating the Topaz matter and observe the relation of the lines towards the center, and he has to look at it on a different perspective like how a genius would see it differently.

If he really has to look at it differently, then he has to look at it figuratively and there are three things that come to mind.

First is that, Topaz matter only has one function and that is to break into subspace and for Clay, the only thing that come to mind is their suspicion of him of being a Sleeper.

And secondly, the professor mentioned that one of his students committed suicide and the family of that student came after him and he survived through luck.

And lastly, his de-registration from being a Token Holder will expire this midnight.

His conclusion is that, someone is trying to revive the case of him being a suspected Sleeper. Since there is no hard evidence to indict him, they have to make and plant one up and the best time to do that is after midnight when his de-registration as a Token holder is officially cancelled. After he becomes a normal citizen, he can easily be apprehended or maybe killed on sight by anyone in power.

He suspects they probably have threatened the professor to give him the Topaz Matter and the only culprit is none other than the champion of the tournament from three months ago. His name is Sven Norkita and it should that prick’s family member coming after him.

From the professor’s story of having ruined someone’s future that his student committed suicide, Clay can infer that Sven probably had committed suicide as well causing the Norkita family to come after him.

Clay still remembered his conversation with Hunro that Sven has backing of Ascendant cultivators.

It is a good thing the professor is smart. Knowing that their conversation will be monitored, the professor still managed to relay his message.

He did not want to implicate the professor so after school, he planned his escape in the pretense of having to look for another school that is more suitable for him.

After school, he took a train to the border and rode an aerial ship and dropped off on an island near Merea Temple. To ensure his escape, he will enter the temple and be tested to become a full-fledged cultivator. The plan on becoming a scientist needs to be halted for now. Although his Dao Powers is mighty, he had seen modern weaponry back at Grizzly School and did not want to take chances especially that he had not been in a real fight with an Ascendant.

As always, avoiding trouble is his best choice of action.

Clay raised his hand to his left to signal a passing cab.

“Where to?”

“Rocky shores, please.”

Clay entered the cab and look at the digital clock near the meter. There is fifteen more minutes before he is officially deregistered.

“You don’t seem to be from around here, young man.”

“No sir. I am not.” Clay courteously responded.

“If you’re here for vacation, I can recommend a few.”

Clay did not respond this time to hint the driver he is not open to small talk. After all, it is still not yet clear if Professor One-Hand really was trying to covey a secret message. He is worried he may have over-reacted.

After five minutes, the cab stopped below post light.

“That is ten and seventy-three cents.”

Clay handed his charge card for the driver to swipe.

*Beep

“Hu?” The cabbie driver was puzzled the charge card was not accepted. “One moment it may be broken.”

*Beep

The small cylindrical scanner beep one more time indicating Clay’s card cannot be run.

“I’m afraid I have to manually charge your card.”

Clay calmly observed the driver pressed a button above the pedal and after a second, a little screen appeared in the middle near the front row seat.

Clay was not bothered one bit as he spread a portion of his Qi to his surroundings but the moment the screen flashed, he saw something that says, “Prof One Hand – Stolen Card.”

*Sigh

“Stealing is quite a serious offense and I think you’re old enough to know what’s right or wrong.” Said the driver as he handed back the cards to Clay. “I’ll put this on your tab for now.”

Clay was confused and the moment he stepped out, the cab started and turned around on a curb then drove off.

“Since when did I…” Clay thought to himself as he scanned his body for anything suspicious like transmitters that he may not be familiar with. Just now he was thinking if he had been wrong but it looks like the professor really was trying to relay him a secret message.

Clay took out the transparent cube containing the Topaz Matter and observed it closer one more time.

Back at the school, the security is tight they are not allowed to bring anything as everything is provided by the school so he has to leave his belongings in a locker including his wallet. Before he departed, to avoid compromising his escape, he only took his identity and charge card and without him knowing, the professor switched his charged card.

When he boarded the train and the airship, the card was still working fine and it looks like the card was just deactivated.

As Clay flipped the cube, he noticed a slight irregularity on one of the edges. Using his Qi, he sensed that a tiny chip was imbedded and blended perfectly with transparency of the cube.

“Is that a spatial space?”

Clay muttered to himself as the separated the chip from the cube. After careful observation, he sent his Qi into the spatial space.

The space inside is about can barely fit a fist and contains three items, a necklace, a golden triangular card, and a holographic communication device.

Clay retrieved the items and turned on the communication device and threw it not far from him. As to who it will connect to, he already guessed it is the professor.

*Click

*Click

There was a soft clicking noise as the rectangular device rolled and after a few seconds, it gave off a blinding light revealing a hologram of two Elven cultivators.

“Tell me you did not get caught.”

The hologram emitted were lifelike Clay felt he is speaking to the two up-close. And looking at the background, the two are inside the apartment Clay was renting at and the person who just spoke was none other than Professor One-Hand who is tied to a chair. Accompanying him is another elderly Elven who should be the grandfather of Sven who committed suicide. One look and only an idiot would not know that the Professor has been taken hostage.

“Thanks to you I was able to get away. Tell me what you want.” Clay was not agitated and went straight to the point. He has no real connection with the Professor and it would be unwise to go back but not heartless to listen to a dead man’s request.

“Look here boy. If you value his life, return at once or I will extract and destroy his soul denying him of reincarnation.” The Elven beside the professor gave a delirious smile as he threatened and placed his hand on the professor’s head.

“Souls are neither destroyed nor created. They are recycled.” Clay ignored the threat and spoke directly to professor One-Hand.

“What a cheap way to console a dying man. What I want is nothing.”

“I’ll thank you properly if there is a next life. Rest in peace, Professor.”

The Elven beside the professor became extremely furious he was being ignored and judging from Clay’s actions, Clay looks like he really did not care and is about to terminate the communication.

“You think I wouldn’t dare!”

*Squish

*Crack!

Clay formed a hand using his Qi to crush the communication device. He was trying to avoid witnessing a torture but it looks like Professor One-Hand’s head was squished before right before the line was cut off.

*Sigh