NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: Information!
Thud, thud, thud.
Jason was carrying the 'collaborator' as he walked through the secret path.
The passageway ahead was deep and unlit.
But for Jason, with perception 17 times that of an ordinary person,
everything was as clear as daylight.
He raised his hand and pressed a mechanism at the secret path's entrance—earlier, he had 'heard' that the man named 'Kulin' had pressed this spot, so it was safe.
In fact, it was just so.
As Jason pressed it,
the entrance of the secret path closed once again.
Jason stepped forward.
The secret path ahead was clearly dug out a long time ago, the walls were covered in moss, but the layer of gravel on the ground was as clean as new, even reflecting a glimmer in Jason's vision.
Obviously, someone frequently walked on it.
The entire secret path was about 20 meters long, with a bend.
At the bend, Jason paused his steps and looked up.
Despite the disguise on the top of the passageway, Jason could still see a metal door, a palm's width, hidden behind the moss.
Clearly, this was a defense mechanism.
When someone intrudes, pressing the mechanism would make the metal door drop down, blocking the intruder.
Perhaps it couldn't block them for long.
But it was enough to give the owner of the passage an escape.
It's just that the owner of this passage perhaps didn't expect to be killed by a 'collaborator.'
Carrying the 'collaborator,' Jason continued forward.
In front of him, at the end of the passageway, was a room, emitting a faint light.
A brazier.
Compared to the damp, dark passage,
the chamber ahead was much better.
With concrete and wooden frames as separation, and mud and sand filling the gaps, the brazier provided light and heat, making the place warm, while a corpse sat on a chair.
Around was a bookshelf taller than a person, but it held only seven or eight books, along with some miscellaneous items, in a very messy state, each book lying flat, and several places that should have had items were empty.
Besides this, there was just a desk and bed.
On it were paper and pen, Jason glanced — it was a fountain pen and white paper — which were high-priced items in 'Nightless City,' sold in only a few places even in Zone 16. More often, residents of 'Nightless City' could only get yellowed straw paper.
As for the fountain pen?
That could count as a form of hard currency.
Sometimes priced higher than gold or firearms.
The 'old man' had two fountain pens, cherishingly wiping them with satin cloth, especially when smoking cigars, loved to puff clouds while wiping.
The desk, without drawers, showed everything.
Jason's gaze turned to the bed.
Calling it a bed, it was really a platform made of stone, then covered with straw and blankets, the blanket had a hole that had to be folded over to cover properly.
It was obvious that the passage's owner, 'Kulin,' wasn't wealthy.
Jason turned his head, examining the figure in the chair, confirming this.
Besides wearing ragged clothes, there was a faint smell, left from not bathing for a long time.
However, the hands were very clean.
Clearly worried about dirtying the white paper.
At this point, the passage owner lay face up, deflated to skin and bones after being drained.
To an ordinary person, he seemed dead.
But in Jason's perception, the man's breath still lingered.
Even,
the heartbeat could be heard.
Very weak, with long intervals.
Jason didn't reveal this, he just threw the 'collaborator' on the ground and picked up the 'collaborator's' backpack.
The 'collaborator,' with a twisted neck, wasn't dead either.
The Transcendent Power made his vitality beyond imagination.
When Jason threw him to the ground, the 'collaborator' immediately saw Jason's appearance and exclaimed.
"It's you?!"
The voice was filled with disbelief.
The 'collaborator' widened those bulging goldfish eyes, already protruding, now almost popping out.
The 'collaborator' was incredibly shocked.
In his understanding, Jason was just a 'postman.'
Though famous, a 'postman' is a 'postman,' simply impossible to face one of Jing's 'six dire hounds' — Bit — and survive a lethal slash.
Unless...
"Are you Jing's special arrangement?"
The 'collaborator' asked.
The words were a question, but the tone was very affirming.
Moreover, this 'collaborator' continued talking to himself.
"No wonder facing an enemy like the 'Freedom Army,' he only sent Bit, a single hound, he clearly had a backup plan!"
"Indeed!"
"Facing someone like me, who obtained the Transcendent Power, what interested him more was how I acquired this power, and..."
"What's in Zone 30!"
Saying this, the 'collaborator' sneered.
Zone 30?
The man had entered Zone 30?
Jason squinted his eyes.
The man probably wasn't lying.
From the position of the secret path, and the words of the passage owner 'Kulin,' it seemed the 'collaborator' had entered Zone 30 for some reason, and was saved by this passage owner.
Also, it's very possible.
The man's Transcendent Power was obtained from within Zone 30!
"A Zone 30 where one can obtain Transcendent Power?"
Thinking to himself, Jason lifted his foot and pressed it down once more on the 'collaborator's' throat.
Crack!