Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 95 - Shadowless Clan

A pile of antiques occupied most of the colored photograph, the silver pocket watch lying in the corner of the frame. The silver pocket watch was somewhat old, but it was well-kept. A large acanthus leaf was embossed on the underside of the watch lid with two blurry letters engraved on its surface: NZ.

NZ, Natsu. Lisa's senior brother, and Cassius's martial uncle.[1]

The pocket watch used to belong to Senior Brother Natsu and Lisa had given it to Cassius in the hopes that he would become just as outstanding, brave, and strong as him. The watch was very special to Lisa. On that rainy night, as Lisa lay dying from that ruthless battle, her final words were to beseech Cassius not to lose the watch—it was a symbol of their legacy.

Didn't expect to find this here.

Cassius frowned deeply. All the more reason for him to intercept the shipment.

Initially, Cassius had felt a bit excited when he heard the news that Duststorm intended to transport many antiques to Baichuan City since he could absorb their lingering attachment. But after discovering that this batch of antiques contained Martial Uncle Natsu's pocket watch, he was determined to take it at any cost.

"July 5th. Tomorrow night at Beika Street..." Cassius muttered softly. He hoped the Black Fire gang members' disappearance wouldn't affect Duststorm's operation tomorrow. Otherwise, he might have to massacre the Black Fire gang to find what he wanted.

"Don't die before I get to you first." Cassius tucked the notebook in the crook of his arm and picked up the red suitcase beside him.

Under the dark canopy of the sky, he walked toward the city. The white and gray buildings contrasted perfectly with the endless darkness, with a few pinpricks of light twinkling from a few sparse stars. The crescent moon was half covered by clouds. A thin layer of white frost shrouded the ground.

The black streetlights lined both sides of the path shining a light on a few staggering drunks. A couple of stray cats rummaged through the trash cans for food. The wind blew, scattering the tattered newspapers.

Cassius sucked in the cool evening breeze and headed for his residence at 25 Flag Street, Jessica Apartments.

"Huh?!" Cassius whipped around. His senses were exceptionally sharp after his recent breakthrough.

Someone was running in the alley on the right.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...

A man in a jacket with radical-looking metal chains appeared. Was he a gangster?

"You here for me?" Cassius sensed the man was focused entirely on him. He glanced down at the heavy wooden suitcase in his right hand where a hundred fifty thousand Federation dollars lay.

"You..." The man rushed up to Cassius.

Boom!

Cassius's kick launched the man into the air, his butt scraping against the alley floor before rolling around several times.

"Damn. A thug robbing me this close to Wright Street? Baichuan City's security is going down the drain." Cassius spat, picked up his heavy suitcase, and hurried away.

He didn't want to kill here; it was too close to the city. Besides, he needed to ease up on the number of dead bodies he had been collecting. He had been killing too much lately.

In the silent gray and white alley, a man lay curled on the ground, coughing, under the dim moonlight. He lay there for a while before shakily using the wall to stand up.

"Fuck, why didn't he let me finish talking!" The man wasn't handsome, and in fact, could even be called somewhat sleazy. He had thick sideburns and his hair framed his ears. A shiny metal chain hung around his neck. He wiped the saliva from his mouth that had dribbled out when Cassius kicked him.

"He didn't mistake me for a thug, did he?" The man glanced at his attire and felt it was highly likely. He never thought his fashion sense would one day make him look like a thug! What a huge insult to Wolfdog Hugo!

He walked a few steps to the intersection and found the main street empty.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed as he retraced his steps.

In a house in the Wright Street residential area.

"Hugo, someone kicked you so hard you were sent flying?!" a beautiful woman in a black dress said teasingly, glancing over. She couldn't help feeling a little surprised.

Hugo was not an ordinary person, nor an ordinary thug. He was an elite member of the Shadowless Clan, one of the top experts among the parasitized.

Having defeated the Shadow Demon three times, Wolfdog Hugo's body was more than double the size of an ordinary person's. He was also skilled in various combat moves, making him a core member of the combat group. And yet, someone had been able to kick him like that? Perhaps he had been careless, but the other person was clearly a martial arts expert.

Such a master must be recruited into the organization! Those Shadow Demon's minions were not allowed to touch even a hair on that man.

"Don't bring it up," Hugo said irritably. "Hmm... he is quite strong. It may have been a surprise attack, but he's likely quite skilled in martial arts. Not as good as me when it comes to one-on-one battles, but he should have seventy to eighty percent of my strength."

Hugo and the woman came from an organization called the Shadowless Clan. In Cassius's current era, technology advanced rapidly and every day was different. Big cities gradually rose in power and influence due to the thriving economy. However, every bright and shiny place had its filthy and dark sewers. The monsters lurking in the sewers would greedily peer through the gaps of the bustling city and prey on humans...specifically, fragile humans.

Born in the darkness, the Shadowless Clan was the offspring between those monsters and humans. All of its members had been parasitized by the Shadow Demon and all had survived each Shadow Demon manifestation. In searching for a way to avoid assimilation with the Shadow Demon, their collective desire to survive brought them together.

Shadowless Clan members were all hosts of Shadow Demons. Not only did they have to fight off the threat that was the Shadow Demon, but they also had to fight off the minions drawn in by their scent. Therefore, they formed an organization to help each other survive and find ways to recruit new companions.

They came to Baichuan City this time because they had tracked down the gathering of Shadow Demons' minions. The Shadowless Clan had special detection tools to find people similar to them in the crowd.

Unfortunately, when Hugo found Cassius, Cassius mistook him for a robber and kicked him away before he could explain.

In the room, Hugo let out a slow breath. "I won't hold a grudge against him for that kick. I'll look for him again in a few days. Hopefully, his assimilation level doesn't exceed seventy percent."

Yes, "assimilation." It was a term Cassius had never heard before.

Hugo's understanding of the Shadow Demon's rules was vastly different from Cassius's. At its root, both of them understood that the Shadow Demon manifested a replica of the host. However, everything after that was completely different. As far as Hugo was aware, losing to the Shadow Demon didn't mean it would directly replace the host, but it would partially assimilate with them.

The first time he lost to the Shadow Demon, he had been about five percent assimilated with the Shadow Demon, with each subsequent defeat increasing the assimilation amount. The host would have to lose about nine times for the Shadow Demon to fully assimilate and replace the host. In other words, there were nine chances to fail.

Cassius was flummoxed. ???

1×9=9.

Why would he need nine lives when he could use one to become a legend?

There seemed to be an enormous gap between nine lives and one life.

1. NZ is the short form of Natsu. ☜