Chapter 100 - "An Ordinary Person"

It was happening for real this time.

He could feel himself being influenced by something else, and it wasn't because of the Covert Martial Arts he practiced. Cassius had suspected this before; his sensory acuity had increased slightly after every victory and absorption of the Shadow Demons. It seemed he had acquired some of the Shadow Demons' traits.

And now there was another side effect. He was becoming much more savage and bloodthirsty.

The benefit to this was when Cassius activated his killing intent during battle, it could demoralize his enemies and disrupt their fighting techniques. Like with Gilia and his twisted-off head. However, there were also downsides. Cassius's killings were getting bloodier, as if all he was doing was releasing pure, unadulterated violence. It wasn't an ideal situation because Cassius wanted to kill rationally.

Acting impulsively always reveals one's flaws. It was only by staying calm could he remain undefeated.

"

Huff... huff...

"

Under the moonlight, as the cold wind blew around him, Cassius's chest heaved as he tried to suppress his excitement. He needed to be rational in most circumstances, and not impulsive. Unless he absolutely couldn't help it.

He exhaled heavily, glancing at the tattered rags hanging from his body like a beggar's clothes. He gave it a good shake, and a dozen bullets clattered onto the floor, bouncing and rolling with a melodious sound.

"I'll need to put some ointment on these..."

The Wind Elephant Covert Martial Arts he practiced wasn't particularly focused on physical defense. Cassius's resilience primarily came from the two levels of accelerated blood flow he had achieved. That meant the gangsters' bullets would have still torn through the first layer of skin. If he had practiced a hard Qigong technique, he might have been bulletproof.

Setting his thoughts aside, Cassius surveyed the large mansion. No one seemed to be charging in despite all of that gunfire.

Presumably, these were the only Black Fire gang members left in the stronghold this late at night, all of whom had been called in by Edward to carry a load of antiques.

This may be remote and isn't in a residential district, but I should still quickly absorb the energy, just to be safe.

Cassius pushed off the ground. The blood and bodies became a blur as he dashed past and arrived in front of the black Fotte truck. As he approached, a faint bitter taste rose in his mouth. Overjoyed, he sprinted over.

The truck's canvas was already lifted up, revealing a dozen antiques that hadn't been moved yet. The legendary antique he sought was likely among them. Cassius began probing each item eagerly. By the sixth, his eyes lit up as cold energy flowed up his arm.

Initially cool, then bitingly cold, and finally cool again, Cassius absorbed 0.5 units of lingering attachment energy.

He continued checking the other antiques but none of the others had any energy. However, there were still some more antiques piled up in the warehouse.

Cassius entered the rectangular warehouse where all the antiques were stored for the time being. Well, that, at least, saved him the trouble of looking for them. He checked each one; Lisa's pocket watch was the only one that had lingering attachment energy.

From there, he absorbed a total of 0.7 units of lingering attachment energy.

It was unclear whether the energy belonged to Lisa or the watch's original owner, Lisa’s senior brother Natsu, but that didn't matter. Regardless, Cassius wanted the pocket watch to remember Lisa.

He exhaled a gust of cold air and slipped the old silver pocket watch into his chest pocket. The cold metal quickly warmed against his skin. He checked his energy level.

[Lingering attachment energy: 2.4 + 0.5 + 0.7 = 3.6]

That was plenty. Cassius estimated the third time-travel would require, at most, 2.5 units of lingering attachment energy.

He had been very lucky to find the Duststorm’s antique transport truck as soon as he had returned to the real world. He grabbed five legendary antiques at once; this was more than enough energy cumulatively. When was he ever going to get such an opportunity again?

Sighing, Cassius chose not to dwell on it anymore and took an antique makeup box from the truck. He left the way he came in by leaping over the wall. On the way back, he took a black bag and filled it with the antiques from which he had absorbed the energy.

Under the cover of night, he returned to Jessica Apartments. As he started walking up the stairs, a middle-aged man rushed down, nearly colliding with him. Cassius stepped aside.

I really need a place of my own where I can live by myself. This constant coming and going in the apartment is a hassle

.

And given the danger I bring, living alone is best,

Cassius thought.

He went up to the fourth floor, unlocked his door, and entered. He turned on the light, plopped down on the couch, and took out the antiques from the bag one by one. A wall clock, a landscape painting, a white porcelain vase, and a makeup box. The silver pocket watch was still in his coat pocket.

He had brought these antiques back with him not because he wanted to make a quick buck but so he could do some experimenting. Could the energy in these legendary antiques be replenished? Previous experiments suggested they couldn't, but then again, the sample size had been too small.

Cassius wanted to conduct more tests to see if there were exceptions. If there were, he would have an additional way of gaining energy. His need for lingering attachment energy remained high. There was never going to be a situation where he would have "too many" legendary antiques.

Under the light, Cassius noticed the four antiques had similar designs on them, in particular, the fine thorny patterns. It was like they were part of a furniture series.

Could they be old items from the same mansion or castle? Why do they all contain energy? Where did Duststorm get them?

Questions filled his mind as he pondered.

After a while, he checked the time. It was already 2 a.m. Cassius set the items aside and went to brush his teeth and take a bath. He didn't want to disrupt his years-long sleep schedule. Sleep was paramount; everything else could wait. A good night of rest would give him the energy to train his Covert Martial Arts during the day.

Time flew, and before he knew it, it was morning. Birds chirped outside the window, and a beam of sunlight slipped through the curtain and onto the white bed. Cassius's eyes snapped open, and he sprang out of bed. When he checked the clock, it was already 9:30 a.m.

He quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, before preparing a simple breakfast. After a brief break, he pulled out a pre-packed herb mix from the cupboard. He filled a wooden tub with hot water and tossed it in. Soon, a strong medicinal aroma filled the room. He couldn't miss even a day of soaking in the herbal bath.

Cassius jumped in, the heat immediately engulfing his body. Soon, a biting pain, like bugs were stinging him, spread across his skin and muscles. At times, it became intensely itchy. Initiating his breathing technique, he assumed a specific posture to begin absorbing the medicinal nutrients.

Training the Covert Martial Arts was a daily commitment. Absorbing the Shadow Demons was a bonus, but diligent practice was the foundation. In less than half an hour, Cassius had absorbed all the medicinal nutrients, the hot water turning cold and clear.

Five minutes later, he was taking a cold shower in the bathroom. Cassius stepped out, wrapped in a white towel and his hair still wet. He plopped down on the sofa.

The weather was beautiful today. Through the open window on the right, he could see clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The wind blew in, constantly making the curtains billow.

It was already 10:30 a.m. After freshening up and eating, Cassius headed over to the downtown combat gym where he was an annual VIP member there.

Cassius much preferred the combat gym over the Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall. Not only were the equipment sets more complete, the gym more spacious, and the service better, but more importantly, there were fewer women with ulterior motives ogling his body.

In fact, this era leaned more toward a rugged aesthetic with people highly favoring deep-set features and a well-proportioned muscular body. Men who weren't popular with the ladies might be popular with other men.

While waiting for his hair to dry, Cassius made himself a cup of black tea. He took a few sips and then, feeling bored, picked up the bag next to the sofa, and took out several antiques one by one. He fiddled with them for a bit before he frowned.

Was he feeling cool because his hands were wet from the shower or from the breeze blowing in? Or had the lingering attachment energy really been restored? Instinctively, he glanced at the top right corner.

Nothing.

Cassius closed the window and then reached out to touch each item individually. There really was a coolness in his palm and yet the number in the top right corner didn't budge. He was puzzled until he touched the fourth one. Cassius's right hand paused, and he blinked.

The number in the top right corner had changed!

[Lingering Attachment Energy: 3.7]

It increased by 0.1. Was the energy a single antique could restore so little that it took four to make up 0.1?

Cassius thought this was likely the case. He glanced around and touched the antiques with lingering attachment energy that he had previously absorbed. Unfortunately, they didn't restore any energy.

He then touched the silver pocket watch, but that didn't work either. It seemed only these four antiques could restore energy. There must be a hidden secret behind their origin.

For now, Cassius concluded that some antiques could restore lingering energy, but he'd have to continue experimenting to see how much energy these four antiques could restore and what their limits were. In any case, it was a pleasant surprise.

Cassius was feeling pretty good. He stuffed his things into his shoulder bag and then changed into a white T-shirt with a skull emblem in the center and casual pants.

He opened the door, walked down the stairs, and went to the northern part of Flag Street for lunch before taking a tram to Baichuan City's downtown area.

First, he found a jewelry store to have his silver pocket watch cleaned and maintained. He also bought a fine alloy chain to hang the silver pocket watch around his neck. It was sturdy enough that it wouldn't break under normal circumstances. The jewelry store also gave him a bottle of cleaning solution, so he could do some simple maintenance at home.

This era was roughly equivalent to the 1950s which meant the commercial shops were quite developed. Cassius found a green newsstand by the roadside, went in, and bought a newspaper.

Sure enough, the headline emblazoned on the front page of the city paper read, "Gang Conflict on Ferren Street Yesterday Night Leaves Over Ten Dead or Injured."

The article described the incident in great detail, accompanied by some not-too-gruesome photos. It included a forensic expert's evaluation where they concluded two gangs had fought over territory, with one gang taking advantage of the night to wipe out the Black Fire gang.

"

Hehe

." Cassius chuckled.

Naturally, Cassius, the reason behind this headline, knew exactly how the Black Fire gang members died. The evidence at the scene was likely too unbelievable that this was the only explanation the forensic expert could come up with.

Punching someone's head off, slicing someone in half with their hand, taking bullets head-on, and easily crossing over ten meters in a single step. One could probably make a few guesses as to what had transpired based on the evidence.

But the Baichuan City government had never encountered such things, and the police were absolutely clueless. The report naturally couldn't describe the actual situation and had to fabricate a plausible story.

Without any surveillance cameras in this era, the Baichuan City police had no way of tracking down Cassius. After reading the newspaper, he casually dumped it in a trash can.

Pulling out his VIP card from his pocket, Cassius ambled into the Baichuan City combat gym where he trained there until the afternoon.

When it was nearly time for him to start working at Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall, he took the tram to Hongta Street. He was no longer that concerned about earning money when he taught combat techniques at the hall. It was more about screening talent and noting which young people were worth training like Tifa and Phil's friend Milo who had great potential.

Back in the time-travel era, Instructor Lisa always talked about inheritance. Maybe Cassius could select a few disciples to train for fun in the real world, planting a seedling for the Wind Elephant Sect that disappeared seventy years ago. That was the least he could do.

With a clatter, the rear door of the tram opened. A few minutes later, Cassius, bag in hand, strolled into the Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall.

"He's definitely a skilled fighter. I heard he's quite well-known around Edelweiss Middle School. But it doesn't matter how famous he is; he's still just an ordinary person. Once he faces the claws of the viciously inhumane Shadow Demons, it's only a matter of time before he gets killed," Hugo muttered to himself.

He watched Cassius push the door and walk into the martial arts hall. Shaking his head, he walked away. He needed to handle the Shadowless Clan's deployment of forces to Baichuan City.