Chapter 13: Beware of Those Carrying Umbrellas on a Sunny Day

At dusk, when Li Yela arrived at the East City branch after work, the Iron Guard stationed at the entrance greeted him.

"Night General, I heard about it—the Seventh Aerial Company stepping through the air and killing a Void Realm creature with a single strike. Great job!" The Iron Guard extended a heavy metal hand and patted Li Yela on the shoulder. "A member of Little Yang Chen's team after all; you certainly have the style of the First Team from back in the day!"

Li Yela's shoulder throbbed from the pat. This Iron Guard was surnamed Chen, while the other was surnamed Wang.

They were both Border Iron Guards stationed at the East City branch, and seasoned veterans of a hundred battles.

After meeting Li Yela a few times over the past few days, they had become somewhat acquainted.

Clutching his shoulder, Li Yela asked, "The style of the First Team? What was it like?"

Li Yela was very curious about the squad he belonged to.

On the forums, Li Yela had found traces of the group known as the "Champion First Team" within his current Third Border City.

Their combat record was exceptionally brilliant: suppressing Grade-B Taboos, wiping out branches of the Ember Church, and even repelling an invasion from a Calamity Forbidden Zone.

They had been peerless, yet now there was little movement. It seemed certain posts had been deleted from the forums. Of course, it was also possible that intelligence of such a level wouldn't be posted publicly.

Even Cheese, a senior from the First Team, refused to say anything.

After a moment of silence, a metallic voice resonated from within the Iron Guard's helmet. "Humans eventually pass away; only conviction is passed down. Don't ask too much. When it is time to know, you will know."

Li Yela's heart stirred.

*Pass away? Could it be that the former Champion First Team lost its glory because their casualties were too heavy?*

The Iron Guard added, "Go on. Little Yang Chen arrived long ago. If you go now, you might still catch a good show."

*A good show?* Li Yela didn't press further. After bidding them farewell, he walked directly into the branch.

He quickly located the training room where Yang Chen was located.

It was easy to find, as a crowd of handlers and clerical staff had gathered there. Cheese was among them and waved him over upon seeing him.

Li Yela squeezed through the crowd and stood beside Cheese. Looking through the protective glass of the training field, he witnessed a shocking scene.

Yang Chen was clad in brigandine armor, wielding a Fangtian Ji (halberd), with five heavy javelins strapped to his back. He strode forward across the field, each swing of his long halberd causing the air to crack with sonic booms.

Opposite him stood a man wearing an axe-shaped helmet and dark brown plate armor, wielding a massive greatsword in one hand and a round greatshield in the other. He swung his blade with crushing force!

As the two clashed, the ground beneath them shattered. The impact of their weapons caused air currents to explode repeatedly; had it not been for the protective glass, the onlookers would likely have been caught in the shockwaves.

The sheer momentum they unleashed was enough to make even Li Yela, who had experienced the Xiang Yu illusion, feel a sense of dread.

He hadn't expected Yang Chen's strength to be so terrifying, especially while using a halberd.

As someone who now possessed a rudimentary understanding of spear techniques, Li Yela could clearly feel that even if he had completely mastered the "Eighteen Thrusts of a Single Hand," he might not be able to contend with him through technique alone.

"Who are they...?" Li Yela asked.

"Two captains sparring—the kind without using abilities," Cheese replied. "The one fighting our captain is Furnace, the captain of the Third Team."

In the next instant, the armored knight instantly used his greatshield to parry the halberd before slashing downward with his longsword in his right hand.

But Yang Chen reacted incredibly fast. He quickly pulled the parried halberd back, twisting his body to deliver a counter-thrust—a "Returning Horse Spear" technique.

The strike slammed heavily against the longsword, forcing the armored knight back several meters. His legs left two deep furrows in the ground before he managed to steady himself.

Before the knight could launch another attack, Yang Chen snatched a javelin from his back and hurled it with a momentum that caused the onlookers to turn pale; an audible explosion even rang out!

The armored knight could only raise his greatshield to block.

*Thud!* With a muffled sound, the knight struggled to deflect the javelin, which slammed into the ground and buried itself halfway deep.

But immediately following it came the second, then the third, and then the fourth javelin!

The armored knight cursed under his breath, only able to hold his shield up to endure the impact, but he was once again driven back several meters.

The third and fourth javelins completely dismantled the knight's combat effectiveness; he could no longer even hold his shield steady.

He could only shout, "Stop, stop, stop! I lose!"

Yang Chen lowered the fifth javelin and smiled. "You are of the Myriad Manifestations Path. To fight me head-on in physical strength without using your abilities is already very impressive."

"I couldn't even last five minutes? So you were just acting before?" Furnace's left arm was too heavy to lift, so he dropped his longsword and removed his helmet with his right hand, looking at Yang Chen. "Fine. According to our bet, I'll give you those Myriad Manifestations potion ingredients. You really got a bargain; that's several hundred merit points!"

"Thanks, thanks a lot, hahaha!" Yang Chen laughed and cupped his hands. "I'll send you something good next time I get some high-quality materials."

Then, Yang Chen spotted Li Yela and Cheese in the crowd and waved with a smile.

A few minutes later, the three of them arrived in an office, which was the exclusive workspace for the First Team.

Yang Chen removed his brigandine and set his Fangtian Ji aside. He turned to Li Yela and said, "You did very well on your last mission. But it is too dangerous to use Aerial Stepping before your training is complete."

Others might not know, but as a captain of the First Team, Yang Chen knew the truth.

Li Yela hadn't even finished training before he went straight into "stepping." Anyone else would likely have fallen to their death.

Li Yela explained, "The situation was urgent. I didn't think much about it; I just felt like I could do it, so I did."

"I know. I'm not blaming you," Yang Chen responded. "Your strength and talent are worth acknowledging. Your courage and decisiveness are even more commendable! You could have escaped that place, but you chose to stay. If you hadn't found the courage, even if Cheese had fought desperately, she would have at most only taken that monster down with her."

Cheese nodded in agreement; Li Yela had indeed saved her life.

"To be able to kill a Sufferer and a Void Realm creature upon your first awakening is indeed a rare strength. But you cannot be arrogant, nor can you take such risks. I have seen too many talented psychics capsize in a gutter, while people with mediocre talent like me are the ones who survive. Being cautious is vital!"

*If I hadn't seen that fight just now, I almost would have believed him,* Li Yela thought to himself.

Yang Chen picked up a box, opened it, and pulled out a crimson longblade.

It was, unmistakably, Li Yela's psychic armament.

"I heard you're going to take a private job. I don't object to that; after all, it's your private business. The Processing Department neither refuses nor encourages it, so they won't arrange support or logistics for you. Therefore, just in case, you should take this psychic armament with you," Yang Chen said.

"It's just a private job. Do I really need a weapon like this?" Li Yela was somewhat taken aback. He had prepared a jet-axe, which should have been enough.

The detective had said it was a private matter for a wealthy family; Li Yela was merely going there as a detective's assistant to earn some extra cash.

"It's hard to say. I once took a private job to investigate a jewelry theft, and I ended up unexpectedly encountering a Second Awakening Sufferer. He beat me until I was running for my life," Yang Chen complained. "It never hurts to be careful."

With that, he handed the crimson blade to Li Yela. "Now, try out the ability of this psychic armament. And get used to it."

Li Yela nodded, took the crimson blade, and asked, "How do I use this ability? There don't seem to be any buttons on it..."

"Guide your psychic energy to connect with the weapon, and then you'll understand," Cheese reminded him. "Since you were able to master the Psychic Barrier and Aerial Stepping so quickly, this shouldn't be difficult."

*Actually, it's quite difficult,* Li Yela thought. The reason he could master the barrier and stepping in one go, and even rapidly improve his combat skills, was entirely due to the battlefield illusion of the Xiang Yu Mask, which allowed him to experience it firsthand and greatly accelerated his learning speed.

And the Overlord Xiang Yu did not have a psychic armament. Perhaps psychic armaments hadn't even been developed in that era.

Therefore, he would have to rely on his own understanding.

Li Yela calmed his mind and followed Cheese's instructions, sensing his Soul Well.

A few minutes later, he faintly perceived a surge of power emanating from within the Soul Well.

That was psychic energy.

The power humans obtained from the Void Realm by opening their Soul Wells.

Then, Li Yela guided his psychic energy into the weapon. Suddenly, he felt as if the weapon had become an extension of his own limbs, becoming much more natural to handle.

"Very good. Now, activate the ability of the psychic armament. And pay attention to its consumption," Cheese's voice came from beside him.

Li Yela nodded.

In the next second, several eyeballs on the crimson blade began to rotate.

Cheese and Yang Chen's eyes flickered.

Because, for a fraction of a second, Li Yela suddenly vanished from their field of vision.

"Visual Interference!" Yang Chen nodded. "How is the consumption?"

Li Yela felt the response of his psychic energy. "About five percent. That means I can only use it twenty times before my psychic energy is exhausted."

"Normal. A psychic armament is essentially using someone else's ability, so the consumption will be higher. However, that doesn't include the consumption of your Mask or your Psychic Barrier," Yang Chen replied. "Now, use your ability and calculate the duration. Figure out how long you can sustain a combat session."

Li Yela nodded and left the office, heading to the spacious training room. He did this to avoid giving "Misfortune" any opportunity to find him.

Then, he activated the Overlord Mask...

An hour later, Li Yela had obtained more detailed data on his abilities.

The Myriad Manifestations Mask consumed 1% per minute.

The Psychic Barrier triggered upon being attacked consumed between 1% and 5%, based on the strength of the barrier Li Yela had reinforced himself.

Using the Visual Interference of the psychic armament once consumed 5%.

Even if he encountered continuous attacks and had to keep the Psychic Barrier active, Li Yela's Mask could last for about half an hour.

As for psychic recovery, it generally required psychics to rest or meditate.

Trying to recover psychic energy during combat was a highly difficult technique with low efficiency.

Having obtained this data, Li Yela and the others began to think about how to hide this crimson longblade.

"Don't we psychics have something like spatial rings?" Li Yela asked. "Captain, how do you sneak yours out?"

"Uh, after a psychic's fifth awakening, you can toss your psychic armament into your Soul Well and pull it out when you need it," Yang Chen replied. "As for you, there's no way for now."

"Such a long weapon... even if you put it in a map of the Yan Kingdom, it wouldn't fit, right?" Cheese added with a complaint.

The three of them crouched in a corner, intensely observing the crimson longblade, discussing how to let Li Yela carry the longblade ostentatiously to complete his mission.

Just then, a person wearing a panda mascot suit passed by the training room. Seeing the three of them, they approached.

That was "Doll," a powerful psychic. It was said to be the strongest handler in the East City branch.

However, due to a terrifying curse, anyone who saw Doll's true face would be infected by fear. The sounds that came out of Doll's mouth were enough to cause mental breakdowns.

Therefore, Doll had to wear the mascot suit every day, ensuring no skin was visible to the outside world and making no spoken sounds. Communication relied entirely on typing with psychic techniques; it was said that Doll typed extremely fast.

Usually, Doll guarded the branch, posting intensely in forums and group chats.

It wasn't that Doll was a chatterbox, but rather that they were too lonely.

Li Yela strongly suspected that his sister's curse was similar to Doll's.

Doll was someone others could not look at directly, as if facing a ferocious beast—the source of fear.

His sister was someone who could not look at others directly, as if everyone else were a ferocious beast.

One could not be looked at, and one could not look at others. They were two extreme results of a curse.

At that moment, Doll picked up a signboard, and text appeared on it.

[What are you guys doing here? Count me in! (ノ￣▽￣)]

"Doll, we're just discussing how to hide this thing," Cheese replied. "Do you have any ideas?"

Although the curse made it difficult for people to communicate with Doll directly, people were very friendly toward them.

Doll first showed surprise: [That big?!!! ∑(Дノ)ノ Can't the branch transport it when needed?]

Then, after understanding the situation, the panda mascot immediately put its hands on its hips, and the signboard displayed

[Then I have an idea (^_)☆]

Half an hour later, at an apartment in the Old Town.

Li Yunyan, in her pajamas and with disheveled hair, stared at Li Yela at the door, falling into deep thought.

"Brother, are you going to set up a street stall?" Li Yunyan tried asking.

At this moment, Li Yela was carrying a backpack and a large black umbrella. His appearance was indeed quite strange.

Yes, this was Doll's "idea"—hiding the crimson longblade inside a sun umbrella.

To be honest, it was indeed a method; street vendors often did this.

But Li Yela couldn't carry a large black umbrella every single time, could he?

Li Yela complained inwardly, but there was no better way.

After returning home, he began contacting the detective.

"Detective, I'm mostly ready. When is the private job?"

"Tomorrow. I'll come to pick you up. At that time, we'll just attend the banquet together," the detective replied. "By the way, the employer is quite particular. So, I've prepared a suit for you; consider it a gift."

"Uh, it might not quite match..." Li Yela glanced at the large black umbrella, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Don't worry, I've estimated your height and weight. I guarantee it will fit!" the detective said with full confidence.

And so, the next day.

When a tall, handsome man in a suit, holding a pitch-black umbrella, was seen standing by the roadside...

The detective gasped.

And his employer, an elderly but physically robust butler, felt a flash of bewilderment and terror in his eyes upon seeing Li Yela's attire.

He inexplicably remembered the master's warning

*'Beware of people carrying umbrellas on sunny days!'*