Chapter 29: The Knight of Disaster

The gunman did not reveal his face; he wore a mask of dried mud. His torso had been pierced by a bullet, yet no muscle or blood could be seen within the wound—only a few splintered wooden slats. Chu Hengkong crouched down and pulled back the camouflage clothing to reveal, to his astonishment, an empty frame constructed of wooden slats and wire. The individual who had attempted to assassinate Granny Sangjia was nothing more than a crudely fashioned puppet.

Beneath the mud mask, the gunman’s head was a sphere wrapped in rubber and tin. The creator possessed a peculiar sense of humor, having painted a comical smiling face upon it. Wooden blocks and wire alone could not operate a firearm, so the puppet’s arms were crafted with meticulous detail. The prosthetic hands, set upon white porcelain bases, utilized ball joints to achieve fluid, precise movements that were nearly indistinguishable from those of a living person.

The gunman was not even human; it was no wonder he had failed to sense any killing intent earlier. Chu Hengkong thoroughly searched the puppet, finding neither a transmitter nor any sign of control strings.

If a puppet were being used as an assassin, there had to be some medium for control. Could an AI from another world truly operate such a rudimentary frame? Or perhaps... was there something possessing it?

***

"Interim report: I have failed. The target is more troublesome than the intelligence described. The puppet didn't last half a minute."

"As expected of the Great Inspector," the man on the other end of the communication praised. "What is Chu Hengkong doing now?"

"Systematically destroying the puppet. I cannot re-possess it," the sniper paused, adding, "Its tentacles are strange. They seem real, yet not."

"Possessing both intelligence and secrets—testing him was indeed the right call." The man mused for a moment. "Retreat for now, Bessen. We shall find another opportunity to recover the puppet later; leaving behind evidence is never ideal."

"I will watch a while longer," Bessen said. It drifted on the wind toward a withered tree, observing the movements in the settlement from afar. A single puppet was of little consequence, but the subsequent developments were worth its attention. It was eager to see if this fledgling "Craftsman" could withstand a veteran "Cornerstone" and twenty-one "Glimmers."

***

Chu Hengkong delivered a final kick, crushing the puppet's head into fragments.

His battle with Tina and her dog was still fresh in his memory. In a world of spirits and demons, the art of possession was no mere fairy tale. Thus, he meticulously destroyed the puppet’s head and limbs to prevent any third-rate theatrics of a soul returning to a corpse.

Amidst this, fearful gazes were cast from behind windows one after another. The earlier sonic boom had alerted the residents to the fighting within the settlement; though they had not seen the details, they had witnessed a man "torturing" a broken corpse, and naturally, they felt terror.

Chu Hengkong realized this and used his tentacles to hold his credentials high, proving his identity. "I am Senior Inspector Chu Hengkong, currently in pursuit of a dangerous suspect... Residents, keep your doors and windows locked and do not come out!"

Halfway through his warning, Chu Hengkong suddenly raised his voice. The baleful aura in his announcement caused the swamp dwellers to pull their curtains shut and tremble in the dark. He had no interest in frightening civilians, but he spoke with intimidation because he had sensed something amiss. The swamp was dim, and even with the earlier explosions, the residents should not have been able to locate him so quickly. The only reason they could see Chu Hengkong was that light was beginning to seep from the surroundings.

***

*Gurgle. Gurgle. Gurgle.*

The sound of viscous bubbles erupted in quick succession. Patches of light appeared around the wooden huts. Chu Hengkong heightened his vigilance, expecting to see glowing corpses—"Fluorescent Husks"—but the new enemies were not even human. Clusters of mud surged from the swamp, with spots of light adhering to the half-human-sized masses of sludge, forming a filthy army that began to surround him.

There were twenty mud-covered Fluorescent Husks in total. Their movements resembled those of small insects, crashing through the damp swamp. Chu Hengkong bent his knees and lowered his stance, lashing out with his tentacles like a long whip, bisecting ten of the mud monsters in a single stroke. Yet, as soon as the lash connected, he realized something was wrong: the physical feedback from the mud bodies was almost non-existent.

As expected, the scattered mud coalesced once more. The spots of light merely flickered for a moment before stabilizing. Simple physical strikes were ineffective against these things.

Chu Hengkong made a swift decision, leaping up and sprinting toward the outskirts of the settlement. He did not jump onto the rooftops; while that would have been safer, the mud monsters might have destroyed the houses and harmed innocent residents. The Fluorescent Husks turned in unison to pursue him. These things were clearly under control; the mastermind was desperate this time, willing to expose their power within the settlement just to strike at him.

Chu Hengkong maintained a cautious distance. After ten seconds, he exited the settlement and began circling the wooden fence that marked its boundary. Strikes and stabs were ineffective, his power-storage gauntlet was useless here, and firing water bullets into the mud was no solution... He was truly out of options, but he still had Ji Huaisu. He would find an opportunity to scatter them all and then quickly rendezvous with her—

*【DONG】*

A low, heavy resonance echoed through his mind, as if a scepter had struck his very soul, causing the reverberation to echo endlessly within his heart. Chu Hengkong, mid-stride, suddenly stopped. The inexplicable sound caused his thoughts to stall; only one cold, mechanical command echoed in his brain:

*Stop.*

*Cease. Halt. The bright spots of light expanded in his vision. You must not move. Obey his command. You are about to be touched by the light. You cannot handle so many "Glimmers." Rest for a moment. Light. The light is gathering together...*

*No!*

The flowing mud slammed into Chu Hengkong, knocking him down. He moved his eyes stiffly and saw the Fluorescent Husks crawling up his legs like venomous insects. An indescribable sense of emptiness washed over him. The heat in his body was draining away, and past experiences flashed through his mind like a slideshow. His memories were blurring, and no matter how he tried to recall them, he could see nothing but blinding light. And that Fluorescent Husk was growing brighter, and brighter...

Chu Hengkong realized he was being "consumed." He was about to lose something that could never be taken from him. He screamed desperately in his mind to drown out that damned, heavy resonance. He kicked his legs stiffly, flinging the mud monsters away, yet his body remained immobile.

He needed at least another second to move, perhaps even longer. Chu Hengkong reached out a numb hand. At that moment, the swamp before him surged like a wave, and blinding spots of light were ejected, enveloped by a massive volume of mud. Rotting sludge and decay were drawn together by the light, coalescing into a crude body that transformed into a filthy giant over ten meters tall!

It stood taller than any house in the settlement; a single step forward shattered a wooden hut. The screams of the residents filled the air, but the giant ignored the panicked civilians. It raised a palm that glowed with a blinding intensity and brought it down toward Chu Hengkong with overwhelming force.

This was the true killing blow. Everything before had been a setup to force him to pull away and fight alone. That heavy resonance and this giant were the real strike intended to take his life. Chu Hengkong’s heart sank; he could neither move nor defend himself. He would have to withstand the blow and hope his constitution could survive a strike capable of pulverizing a house. But if this thing also possessed that eerie "corrosive" ability—if it could also consume memories...

His vision was completely consumed by light. He prepared himself for the worst. But in an instant, Chu Hengkong thought he was hallucinating: he saw a dense shadow within the light. As dark as the night, as gloomy as heavy clouds, the shadow forcefully overcame the spots of light, forming a massive weapon that obscured his vision!

He was not mistaken; it was a weapon, a great sword forged from shadow. It was longer than a person’s height and thick enough to rival a shield. The edges of the blade shimmered with boiling shadows, raging like dark flames. The wielder stood before him, her hood falling away due to her rapid movement, her hair swaying like golden light. She held the great sword with both hands, rotating her body deeply as if to carve her very strength into the air.

In the next instant, Ji Huaisu swung the great sword. The thick shadow tore through the intense light, the sound of the blade roaring like a beast!

***

The mud flew, and the giant body collapsed. That single strike severed the giant’s palm along with half of its torso, the cross-section as smooth as a mirror. The spots of light within the monster were violently severed by the shadow, and the twenty surrounding Fluorescent Husks were pulverized by the wake of the blade before they could even get close. That manic slash was like the decree of a tyrant; not a single spark of light survived beneath the blade.

Chu Hengkong was dumbstruck, his eyes locked firmly onto that strike, his mind unable to process it. Then, the great sword dissipated like smoke in the girl's hands. Ji Huaisu turned and crouched, patting his shoulder hard. "Hey! Are you hurt?"

Control of his body returned at that moment. Chu Hengkong took a deep breath. "...I owe you one."

"What’s this about owing? We’re brothers, damn it," Ji Huaisu said, bracing his arm to help him stand while vigilantly scanning the surroundings. No new Fluorescent Husks appeared; the mastermind had likely given up on this attack. The swamp dwellers stood amidst the wreckage, casting dull, vacant stares at them.

"As long as you're okay, Granny Sangjia is fine, too," Ji Huaisu said, quietly pulling her hood back up. "Let's withdraw now—"

"...Huh?"

Chu Hengkong doubted his ears. He turned to look and found her wearing an awkward smile. It wasn't the kind of awkwardness caused by rudeness, but the look of a child whose mess had been discovered by their parents. He then noticed that all the swamp dwellers were staring at Ji Huaisu. Their pupils constricted, their faces contorted, and their vacant expressions shifted from shock to terror.

"Heaven help us, the Disaster Knight is here!" "Enemy of the gods!" "We can't live here anymore, everyone run! Run!" "Great Wizard, save me!" "She's going to eat us!!!"

Immediately following, screams pierced the settlement as men, women, and children fled in panic. If the Fluorescent Husks were messengers of fear, then Ji Huaisu was the monarch of fear herself. The way these people behaved—it was as if they hadn't just seen a ghost, but the King of Hell.

Chu Hengkong was stunned. "What on earth did you do in the swamp?"

"Well, you know... I was just upholding justice..." Ji Huaisu whispered. "You know there are a lot of charlatans and thugs in places like this, right? So, as a law enforcement officer, it was only natural for me to mete out the punishment they deserved..."

"Just tell me how many you killed," Chu Hengkong said.

"...A few too many."

Chu Hengkong squinted at her, and the blonde girl’s voice grew even smaller.

"Just a teeny, tiny, little bit too many..."