The Highest Bounty

The person he saw was none other than the phony Teacher Ellie that quizzed him in class earlier in the day.

 Normal people would not enter the Red Light District, especially not teachers of cultural subjects in the Military Academy. Like most other teachers of cultural subjects in the academy, Teacher Ellie was just a normal human with a Cell Index of about 1. They had practically no power in combat.

 Gu Ding confirmed that Reid’s deductions were correct when he saw the phony Teacher Ellie. He noticed that she was walking at a speed faster than he could manage, and quickly tailed her into an alley.

 3The narrow alley was long and dark. Even though his footsteps were light, he tried to move as quickly as he could.

 Not long after Gu Ding disappeared into the alley, a tall and well-built man in a full-body cloak appeared at the entrance to the alley. He stopped there for a short while before following in.

 At the end of the alley was a deserted street. Gu Ding stuck his head out and looked to his left and right and found no one. At this moment, he sensed a killing intent from behind him. Before he could react, a hand reached out from behind him and clamped onto his neck, choking the breath out of him. At the same time, he smelled a light fragrance from behind him. He remembered that this was the perfume that Teacher Ellie usually wore.

 “Tell me, who instructed you to follow me?” Someone spoke into Gu Ding’s ear. The voice sounded like it belonged to Teacher Ellie, though it was far more chilling, and gave him an intimidating sense of danger.

 “Teacher Ellie, I…” Gu Ding was trying to explain himself but his words were cut off.

 “And you brought help along too. Don’t come any closer, otherwise, I’ll kill him.” The woman dragged Gu Ding away and used him as a meat shield.

 The lighting in the narrow alley was dim. A tall, well-built man stood not far away from the two people, and his entire body was wrapped in a pitch-black cloak. The features of his face were obscured by the brim of his hat. Gu Ding’s instincts told him that even though he could not see clearly the man in front of him, this man was extremely dangerous, at least ten times more than the ‘Teacher Ellie’ that was currently holding him by his throat. He was also aware that this man’s target was not him, but the ‘Teacher Ellie’ behind him, though he knew that this man would not hesitate to injure or kill him if it meant getting at ‘Teacher Ellie’.

 After the woman spoke, the man stopped for a short while, then continued stepping forward, ignoring the woman’s threats.

 The woman made a quick decision. Straightening her other hand, she delivered a chop to the back of Gu Ding’s neck then shoved him aside. It was clear that she still had some use for the boy. She intended to use him as a bargaining chip to escape from the scene.

 Gu Ding felt a sharp pain on his neck and a strong force causing his body to fly away before losing consciousness.

 After some time, Gu Ding regained consciousness. In front of him was a shocking scene.

 Not too far away, ‘Teacher Ellie’ was impaled on the chest by a rod that grew from the man’s arm. Even more mysterious was that ‘Teacher Ellie”s face was starting to become blurry, as though a layer of her skin was being torn off from her face and revealing the true visage beneath. It was the face of a woman more beautiful than Teacher Ellie and looked quite charming.

 As pretty as she might be, she was already dead. The rod had impaled her firmly on the wall, and she had ceased her struggling.

 6The man in the full-body cloak reached into a skintight pouch that belonged to the woman and retrieved something. Under the dim twilight, even Gu Ding’s extraordinary eyesight could not discern what he took.

 At this moment, the man in the cloak turned around and his eyes fell on Gu Ding. When their eyes met, Gu Ding felt as though the ice-cold blade of the Reaper’s Scythe fell on his neck. His instincts made him freeze in place. It told him that any movement would result in immediate death.

 “Target acquired. Scanning initiated.

 “Scanning complete. Target Gu Ding. Student of Cerule Basic Military Academy. Kill or no?” The cloaked man was speaking to himself. Gu Ding could not hear clearly what he was saying, but he guessed that he was communicating with someone. The strong sense of danger did not subside, and he knew better than to move even a muscle.

 1“A military academy kid? Ignore him. The woman’s corpse will be discovered anyway. How’s the mission coming along?” A low and resonant adult male voice was heard from the receiver.

 The cloaked man turned to look at the ice-cold corpse after receiving his instructions.

 “Target: Linna, the Polyfaced Fox.

 “Gene Level: Level Four.

 “Cell Index: 181

 “Affiliated Pirate Crew: The Punishers.

 “Bounty: 7 million Star Credits.

 “Target confirmed deceased. Target item obtained. Mission complete! Awaiting further instructions.”

 “Since the mission is complete, pull out of the area,” the man with the low voice instructed.

 The cloaked man turned around and left after receiving his instructions. A gust of wind happened to blow just as he turned, and this lifted his cloak.

 Gu Ding had extraordinary eyesight. At the moment the cloak was lifted, he saw a number printed in white on the man’s sleeve – 108.

 ‘108? What’s the meaning of the number? Is it his codename? Or the name of some organization?’ Gu Ding was lost in thought.

 1When he came to his senses, the man was nowhere in sight. He looked around and saw that the street was as deserted as ever. He got up and walked toward the corpse.

 The corpse was pinned to the wall by the chest with a black rod made of a mysterious substance. The other end of the rod was firmly lodged in the wall. Criminal incidents were an everyday occurrence in the Red Light District, and Gu Ding had seen no less than twenty such incidents in his life. He was not afraid of this bloody scene in front of him. He walked toward the corpse to confirm whether her identity was really Teacher Ellie.

Looking up close, Gu Ding confirmed that just as Reid had deduced: the woman was a phony. Other than her face, her body structure was slightly bigger than the real Teacher Ellie. Teacher Ellie was not a short woman, standing at about 1.68 meters. The woman in front of her, after her disguise faded away, was at least 1.75 meters tall. Her fingers were long and slim, and the nails wore bright red nail polish. Teacher Ellie never wore nail polish…

 Just as Gu Ding was looking closely, a metal wristwatch fell from the woman’s wrist. It rolled on the ground and rested near Gu Ding’s feet.