Chapter 34: Identity Revealed

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The defensive tactic that Lin Ke had secretly set up was made redundant in an instant; it could not even delay the man for a second.

Without Sand Condor’s Engulfing Sand as cover, the only thing Lin Ke could do was run!

He jumped over the half-meter-tall fence and ran toward the wall at the back.

In a second, a figure abruptly appeared in front of Lin Ke and kicked Lin Ke back into the hallway with a lightning-quick side kick.

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[You’ve been hit by a side kick from Man In Black and lost 50 Health Points.] 1

[You’ve crashed into the floor. Your Endurance has resisted the resulting damage.]

Lin Ke laid on the floor as he groaned in pain.

The mysterious man was too powerful. The only detected ability, Midnight Phantom, was so overpowered that it would have left one in despair. The man was already a Level 40 Legend character, so his seven-dimensional stats were freakishly high!

Plus, the 50% increase in movement speed at night-granted by Midnight Phantom-left Lin Ke feeling hopeless.

The man in black walked over in no hurry as he curiously sized up the man curled up in pain on the floor.

“Get up; stop pretending. I know how I kicked. Also, don’t think of touching that shotgun. You’ll have no chance of firing…”

The man in black opened his palm as buckshot ammunition clattered on the ground.

Lin Ke stood up hurriedly and checked his shotgun chamber-it was empty.

Lin Ke had loaded up all his weaponry after he killed Jack, yet all four buckshot bullets now fell into the man in black’s hands.

It sent a chill up his spine, and Lin Ke shivered suddenly.

Our only contact was that side kick. How did he manage to kick me away while unloading the shotgun in no more than one second? That was too fast! If the man in black wanted to, I would’ve become a dead man by now.

The sense of pressure the man imposed on Lin Ke was too much to handle. He was like a human X-ray machine that could see through everything running through Lin Ke’s mind.

In the eyes of the opponent, everything he did would make him seem like a clown.

“Your body doesn’t have any signs of mutation, so you’re not a mutant. Body energy levels aren’t high, and I can’t sense any natural breath-not a druid either.”

The man in black squatted down and picked up a Silver Army Ant, placing it on his palm to examine it in detail. “Fully metallic organism, lifelike in appearance. If I’m not wrong, this should be some form of new biorobotics.”

He then tilted his head and looked at Lin Ke. “But you have a pure human body, and I can’t detect any electrical signals, so how did you manipulate them?”

Lin Ke’s heart sank to the very bottom.

The mysterious man had shown his hands-he’s coming for my cheating device.

The man threw away the army ant as he stood up and signaled to Lin Ke. “I’ve watched your battle just now. Show me whatever you’ve got for me, or you’ll never have the chance again.”

He had only just spoken when…

“Ha!” Lin Ke shouted as he waved his fists and charged up for close combat.

His punches were far inferior compared to Jack just now.

The man watched with doubtful eyes because he didn’t understand why Lin Ke had the audacity to attack with his random punches.

Compared to Jack’s gem, watching Lin Ke punch would make for an eyesore.

The man in black wanted to see what Lin Ke had up his sleeves, so he did not strike back. He blocked Lin Ke’s punches with only his left hand instead.

[You’ve successfully hit Mysterious Man with a melee attack and activated your Special Ability, Basic Fist-Fighting.]

[Basic Fist-Fighting Progress: 2%… 4%…]

Immediately after, Lin Ke saw the word ‘Block’ appearing on the man’s body every time he hit him.

All of Lin Ke’s attacks were blocked by just a single hand.

This hand was like a cold metal door, impenetrable no matter which angle Lin Ke attacked from.

The man in black was waiting for Lin Ke’s actual plan to reveal itself. He clearly knew that these useless and random punches were just the tip of the iceberg. In order to see what Lin Ke was up to, he was willing to ‘practice’ with him.

The word ‘practice’ summed it up perfectly; at least Lin Ke would understand it better.

In normal circumstances, the Basic Fist-Fighting proficiency would only rise at a rate of 0.1%. But since the opponent was a Level 40+ Legend, Lin Ke’s proficiency in Basic Fist-fighting sharply rose to 40% within seconds.

“Strength, weak.”

“Agility, crawls like a tortoise.”

“Energy, negligible.”

“Endurance, barely.”

“Charm, emmmm…”

The man in black did not hold back. He blocked each hit as he ed until he spoke of quality. He looked at Lin Ke’s body features and… ran short of words.

Lin Ke was still looking for a chance against the opponent, though those derogatory s were demoralizing, especially when Charm was mentioned.

What did he mean by emmmm? Lin Ke felt humiliated.

“You can kill me, but you can’t insult me!” Lin Ke let out a great shout as he launched a flurry of punches at the man. 2

The man in black parried the strikes with a single hand, seemingly too easy for him.

Lin Ke’s rage did not affect him a single bit.

[Your proficiency in Basic Fist-Fighting has reached 100%, activated special ability-Basic Fist-Fighting Lv1]

With the sound of the system notification, Lin Ke had activated Basic Fist-Fighting.

[Basic Fist-Fighting Lv1: Melee Attack +1%, Attacking Speed +1%, Melee Hit Rate: +1%]

Lin Ke did not bother-how was he going to benefit from the sharp increase in proficiency if he was about to die?

Without warning, the man in black switched from defense to offense. He sent a quick palm strike with his left hand, slapping Lin Ke away and into the air.

The power in that strike was much superior to Jack’s, and it propelled Lin Ke away. Though this force was rather controlled-it forced Lin Ke back instead of hurting him.

Lin Ke staggered backward after he landed unscathed.

“If it’s just this, then there is nothing much to look forward to,” said the man as he touched the collar button on his suit. The suit emitted an electrical arc visible to the naked eye, in a loop down from the neck to the ankle, covering the entire body.

Right after that the man shook his clothes, and a lot of ‘silver particles’ fell out-they were all Silver Army Ants paralyzed by the electric current.

“You were thinking of secretly transporting the army ants onto me through close combat. Not a bad idea, and that intent was well disguised by your fury. Well, it was just that your combat skills were such an eyesore, and if I carried on watching, I’m afraid I can’t help but vomit… So, your little trick ends here.”

Shock overcame Lin Ke’s face as he felt that he was just like a clown.

The other party knew everything he was trying to do, and any resistance was ultimately futile.

If it was just seeing through him, Lin Ke could still tolerate that. Yet, this guy’s wicked tongue was well beyond his true power-relentless at breaking people down.

Lin Ke stood in front of the sand mound-the very place where he ended Jack.

And now…

It seemed to be his end.

“Looks like you have no more trump cards.” The man walked out of the base slowly. With the moonlight shining on him, Lin Ke could finally look at the man clearly.

Then… Lin Ke was stunned.

Dressed in an exquisite and well-ironed black suit and sporting vicissitudinous stubble on his chin-wasn’t this the artist he met at the inn?

Lin Ke’s brain went blank-he had never expected that the artist he met at the inn would be a Legend NPC.

The artist seemed to enjoy looking at Lin Ke’s dumbfounded face as he spread his hands. “You look surprised?”

Lin Ke was anxious as he tried his best to remember whether he offended the artist at the inn-whether it was crashing through the door or the apology with cash.

Though the artist did not seem to show any mercy as a pencil used for sketches appeared in his hand out of the blue.

“Do you think a pencil can kill you?” 1

Lin Ke looked at the pencil in the artist’s hand, and then his eyes widened.

The appearance of this pencil was like the first domino that fell. Much of Lin Ke’s scattered memories emerged with this pencil, linking up and forming a complete series of events.

Lin Ke’s expression changed multiple times, and finally, the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

He finally knew who this artist was now!

“I don’t think so,” replied Lin Ke with great confidence.

This sudden change in attitude caught the artist’s attention. “Though I don’t know where you got your confidence from, this place will soon become your grave.”

Before the sound of his voice faded away, the artist had come to the front of Lin Ke and knocked him onto the sand mound in a flash.

At the same time, Lin Ke got out a sentence with the fastest speed in his entire life. “Martha can be saved!”

The scene froze for an instant.

The artist’s pencil had reached Lin Ke’s chin. A little further, and it would have pierced through his jaw.

Lin Ke also had a sharp dagger at the artist’s chest.

The artist did not seem as relaxed as before. He asked forcefully, “Speak! How did you know!”

Lin Ke did not answer as he asked, “So, what does this mean now?”

The artist withdrew the pencil gradually; Lin Ke did the same with his dagger.

“It means that you’ve won this time!”

After he realized the artist’s identity, Lin Ke’s mentality changed slightly, and he started his ‘counterattack.’

“Actually, you’re not really out to kill me. You were just testing my capabilities and background, right?”

The artist put the pencil into his breast pocket with a cold expression. “Now, I really want to kill you.”

Lin Ke could tell that he was not joking. “Really, your wife can be saved!”

The artist, an NPC that did not exist in the game’s public beta.

A dead NPC, yet had various legends told about him. Even the main quests at Wastelands Planet were caused by the person in front of Lin Ke.

In the past, players completing the main quests at Wastelands Planet would often hear about a man named John from the advanced NPCs. 1

Hence, the plot gang [1. A Chinese description of people who were more focused on the storyline/content/plot than any other aspects of the literature work/movie/game] in the game forum started gathering information on anything related to John, which eventually came together and formed a complete story.

It was no exaggeration to say that, without this man, there would be no main scenario for Wastelands Planet.

A man who could only be heard and not seen; a man who would forever appear through the words of others; a man who won over every male player and made enough female players cry.

“No, it’s hopeless.” The artist’s tone became depressed; it was full of vicissitudes.

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