Chapter 57: Test Subject

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Test Subject

In battles at their level, Divine Thought was not absolute because Spiritual Power could interfere with it. Thus, vision and the five physical senses became much more important. By closing his eyes, he could only rely on hearing, but the reaction time of hearing was far inferior to that of sight.

Albert did not hesitate for long. Close combat was his only chance of victory when facing a Great Saint capable of mobilizing the power of heaven and earth. Since things had come to this, there was no need to retreat!

Alberta’s eyes were filled with determination. Finding the right moment, he swung his greatsword fiercely at Shen Yun. In the split second he closed in, he shifted through seven different evasion angles. It was truly the pinnacle of his martial skills!

But it was completely useless.

CLANG!

With an ear-splitting crash, a projectile struck the hilt of the greatsword at an imperceptible speed. This time, the greatsword was sent flying. Then came the second, third, and fourth projectiles. They struck Obota’s legs and right shoulder respectively.

Like a spinning top, Alberta was repeatedly battered mid-air, spiraling wildly before crashing through the house behind him and collapsing into the ruins. Simply feeling the scorching aura the projectiles left in the air, everyone understood.

The battle was over.

Because the vitals had been avoided, Alberta didn’t pass out. He merely lay paralyzed in the rubble, gritting his teeth tightly. His eyes were filled with unwillingness, and even a trace of resentment that was hard for others to detect. However, Xiao Jiu still noticed it.

"Since you call yourself a Paladin, can you not even accept defeat?" Shen Yun opened his eyes, his tone calm. "You should know, I didn’t even borrow the Momentum of Heaven and Earth."

Aside from the ability to borrow the Momentum of Heaven and Earth, a peak Golden Core cultivator wasn’t actually that much stronger than an ordinary Golden Core in terms of Spiritual Power, especially since the opponent was a powerhouse only one step away from the peak himself.

Alberta naturally understood this. He had been defeated fair and square. Closing his eyes in slight pain, he squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "I lost. But... how exactly did you hit me?"

That footwork was the combat technique he was most proud of. He had defeated countless enemies with it, yet now, he couldn’t even dodge a single attack. Being easily defeated in his proudest area was hard for him to accept.

Shen Yun glanced at the silent young woman standing nearby. With his hands behind his back, he slowly explained, "Any movement has a regular trajectory. Inertia is something you cannot avoid. I merely found the pattern. So... do you still want to fight?"

The last sentence was directed at the young woman. During the battle just now, Xiao Jiu had actually split her attention to keep an eye on this girl. She was undoubtedly a Golden Core as well, and given her composed expression, her strength might be even greater.

"I won’t fight." Vierlia kept her gaze on Shen Yun and said softly, "I am not your match."

Surprisingly, she spoke in perfectly articulated Mandarin. Shen Yun was slightly surprised, as the man’s English had sounded extremely rusty. However, seeing the girl’s submissive posture, he let out a breath of relief and slowly flew down from the streetlight. He had far too many questions to ask.

But as he approached, the young woman suddenly raised both hands, extending them side by side in front of him. Shen Yun was startled, but he kept a straight face, maintaining the confidence of a powerhouse.

"What does this mean?" he asked casually. The Otherworld represented the unknown, and he wouldn’t be so arrogant as to think Xiao Jiu was truly and absolutely invincible.

"Handcuffs." The girl looked at Shen Yun rather strangely. "Doesn’t your country put handcuffs on criminals?"

"..." Shen Yun wondered if he had misheard. "You think that kind of thing would be useful against you people?"

As of now, there probably weren’t any handcuffs in the entire world capable of restraining a Golden Core expert. That was also why he had broken Albert’s limbs.

Vierlia fell silent for a moment before quietly retracting her hands. She had thought that wearing handcuffs was a mandatory status symbol for prisoners.

Shen Yun narrowed his eyes again. She even knew about handcuffs, not to mention her fluent Mandarin. "How long have you been in our country?" he asked.

"I just arrived today. It should be..." The young woman brushed a hand past her waist, pulling out a smartphone to check it. "Six hours ago."

Shen Yun felt an increasingly bizarre sensation, because the phone’s interface was actually in Chinese.

"In just six hours, you learned our country’s language and can use it this fluently?" Though Shen Yun’s expression remained neutral, his tone betrayed his suspicion.

"Because..." The girl hesitated slightly but still explained, "I have received the blessing of the Elf Mother Tree. I can comprehend any language and text in the shortest amount of time, even the languages of non-intelligent creatures."

Shen Yun’s breathing suddenly grew a little heavier. He cursed inwardly. He was currently still squeezing out time to learn the language of Otherworld Number One! If he ever had the chance in the future, he definitely had to get this blessing for himself.

"You believe me?" Vierlia was a little surprised instead, because in this world, there shouldn’t be an Elf Mother Tree.

"Whether I believe it or not is my business. Keep answering my questions." Shen Yun’s tone turned a bit stern. "What is your name? What is your purpose in coming to our country?"

From beginning to end, Shen Yun never said "our world," but rather "our country." This was to avoid easily exposing the fact that he and his people already knew about the existence of the Otherworld.

"Vierlia. That is my name, and he is Albert." Looking sincerely at Shen Yun with her azure eyes, Vierlia said earnestly, "We came here to hunt down a person. Someone who is very likely to cause immense harm to your country."

"John?" Shen Yun raised an eyebrow.

"No, not him." Surprisingly, Vierlia shook her head. "The one named John... should merely be that person’s experimental subject, though he is currently our only clue."

"You say experimental subject..." Shen Yun faintly had a bad feeling about this. They had long since noticed John’s oddities. But according to this girl’s words, there was actually another person from the Otherworld who had arrived here first? And it was at least before John began to rise to prominence?

"It is a filthy blasphemy." Alberta, who was lying on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes. "Sacrificing the soul of a Paladin to plant a holy seed into the soul of a Dark Mage—I cannot think of any meaning to it other than blasphemy!"

"No wonder..." Though Shen Yun didn’t fully understand, he faintly formed a hypothesis. Without a doubt, John’s extremely anomalous personality had to do with this so-called "holy seed."

Looking closely, this Alberta’s gaze was indeed cut from the same cloth as John’s... No, he had shown resentment just a moment ago.

"Master," Xiao Jiu’s slightly surprised voice suddenly echoed in Shen Yun’s mind. "Residents on the east side of the refugee camp are being attacked. Wait, the south side too."