Chapter 397: The Secret of the Secret Diggers
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 397: The Secret of the Secret Diggers
"Um... is it really okay for us to just walk out like this?"
As I led Qiu Ruxin out of the inn, she instinctively shrunk her neck and asked me.
"What? Has Lanas Island reached the point where you can't even walk the streets during the day?" I pushed up my glasses, glanced at her, and asked with a smile.
"It hasn't quite come to that, but there are Secret Digger fights happening around us from time to time. That means the area we're in right now might be crawling with them—in some alley, around a corner, on a rooftop, or even in the sewers..." At this point, Qiu Ruxin didn't even know how to continue, but her meaning was clear.
"So you're still afraid of a sudden attack, right? I've already put a shield on you. Don't worry, it can already withstand the kinetic damage of ordinary firearms without you taking a fatal hit. Besides, I have healing spells. Be a bit braver," I encouraged her.
I could tell that Qiu Ruxin actually had some guts, but that courage was built on a foundation of strength.
As long as she had power, she dared to kill; as long as she had power, she dared to rob the wealthy. This wasn't just talk; she was someone who actually followed through. Meanwhile, some people remained hesitant even after gaining power. In comparison, this was one of Qiu Ruxin's "excellent qualities."
Yes, that hesitant person was me—though I was starting to see things more clearly now.
"These... spells are really convenient..." Hearing my reassurance, Qiu Ruxin sighed appropriately, her tone tinged with a hint of longing and desire.
I acted as if I hadn't noticed.
Our goal for coming out this time was, naturally, to pull off something big. The pittance we made from selling scrap wouldn't be enough to live comfortably in this world. We didn't even know if we'd be able to afford another night at that inn after today—and half the day was already gone.
We hadn't even settled on a target yet.
Qiu Ruxin didn't know much about this area, so the rest was up to me.
Originally, I thought about taking our remaining money to something like an internet cafe to learn about the local layout or recent news to find a breakthrough.
However, a sudden explosion in the distance drew both my and Qiu Ruxin's attention.
"Change of plans. Let's go see what kind of beings these Secret Diggers actually are," I said, turning to Qiu Ruxin.
After all, the guys over there were live specimens. I hadn't had a chance to see them yet, so now was the perfect time.
"Eh? But..."
"It's fine. I'll use a disguise spell to make contact with them in a bit. You find a safe place to hide for now," I said quickly. After disguising myself, I headed straight toward the battlefield.
Seeing me leave so quickly, a flash of panic appeared in Qiu Ruxin's eyes, but she soon calmed down. She looked around and found a place to hide. After all, with her unlucky constitution, wandering around was just asking for trouble.
I soon arrived at the site of the skirmish. Calling it a battlefield was an overstatement; it was just the space between the buildings of this block. Getting closer, I could see figures leaping and moving.
Judging by their jumping speed, their physical fitness definitely exceeded the limits of an ordinary human. Furthermore, their exaggerated clothing and accessories, which looked completely out of place in this world, made it clear these guys were different from the common folk.
No wonder Qiu Ruxin said Secret Diggers were hard to imitate; just getting the outfit right would be a nightmare.
As I drew near, they seemed to realize I was there. The three figures, locked in combat, all narrowed their eyes and sized me up.
"Hey! Friend! Give me a hand! These two fighting me at once is totally cheating!"
Suddenly, the one being double-teamed shouted loudly, clearly addressing me.
"Can't understand you, don't understand a word~" I brushed him off with a few casual words. It wasn't just that I couldn't understand whatever gibberish he was speaking; he couldn't understand me either.
However, I could see that the three were split into two opposing sides. Two were flanking the third. From the tone of the one being flanked, I could guess he was asking for help.
Naturally, my choice was... to not let any of the three go!
At that moment, I leapt up. My powerful physical constitution was perfectly displayed as I used a few tricks to kick off the air, lunging directly in front of the two attackers.
"Holy shit! What skill is that? A double jump? Or a triple jump?"
"Are you f*cking stupid! She's coming for you! Get out of the way! That's probably a melee class!" the other person nearby shouted. Suddenly, several firearms manifested out of thin air behind him, their dark muzzles instantly spitting tongues of fire toward me.
"Taste my suppressive fire!"
I was slightly surprised to see him pull out so many firearms at once. So this was the method of these Secret Diggers?
In the next instant, countless bullets surged out, each one trailing a long, colored path like a tracer round. I felt that even without my protection spell, I could dodge them with my physical stats alone.
No matter how dense the fire-coverage net was, it didn't matter if they couldn't aim.
"Damn it! This person is too fast! Watch out!" One of them frowned deeply while a pair of grenades appeared in his hands. He bit down, pulling the safety pins with his teeth.
"Pah... Eat my explosive grenades!" He spat out the pins and shouted. Two black shadows flew toward me.
"They really are grenades." I looked at the somewhat familiar projectiles. Sure enough, when it came to lethal weapons designed by professionals, their forms tended to converge to a certain extent.
But in the next moment, as the two grenades approached me in mid-air, they suddenly vanished. An instant later, the crisp sound of metal hitting the ground rang out at the thrower's feet.
As the grenades clattered, the man instinctively looked down. His pupils shrank, and then two terrifying explosions echoed from his position.
Boom—Boom!
Countless shrapnel pieces and the aftershocks of the explosion rippled out. I looked at the result of my instantaneous teleportation spell; this method was indeed perfect for dealing with these overconfident fools.
Let him taste the flavor of his own grenades!
Unsurprisingly, the explosions from this morning were likely caused by this guy. Consider this revenge for disturbing my meditation.
Following the explosion, the man's companion let out a sharp, piercing cry, likely calling out the man's name.
But as the dust cleared, a "shield" made of pale blue hexagonal modules completely enveloped the man's body. The explosion didn't seem to have caused him much damage.
"Damn it... I got played. That was my most precious one-time activation protective shield!"
The man let out a miserable wail, as if he had lost something incredibly valuable.
Seeing that his teammate was fine, the other guy finally reacted, but he was powerless against my sudden assault. A fierce punch tore through his abdomen, the invisible shockwave shredding the fabric on his back.
"I might have hit him a bit too hard," I said flatly, shaking my fist after dealing with him. The good news was he wasn't dead yet; the bad news was he wasn't far from it.
I then cast a binding spell and a silence spell on the guy, who was now curled on the ground, unable to move.
Next, I turned my gaze toward the one holding the exaggerated firearms.
By now, he seemed to have snapped out of his grief. When he saw my gaze lock onto him, he looked as if he were facing a great enemy.
Just as he turned to run, a black spirit cat leapt through the air toward his face.
"Aaaah—!"
Amidst his heart-wrenching screams, a falcon soaring in the sky also dived down, targeting the guy who was trying to put distance between us.
With two summoning spells active, I shouldn't have to worry about any upsets.
Meanwhile, the guy who had shouted for my help earlier swallowed hard. He finally realized something was wrong. He turned around, ready to bolt. This is a freaking big shot!
This wasn't a matter of asking for help anymore; this person was probably going to take them all out!
But just as he prepared to flee, he turned around only to find me standing right behind him.
"G-G-Ghost!"
"That makes three." I ignored his cry and silenced him with a spell. His hoarse scream cut off instantly; he even thought he had lost his voice from extreme shock.
In the next moment, an invisible force bound his body, leaving him unable to move.
The reason I could appear behind him so quickly was, of course, the teleportation spell. Although it consumed quite a bit of mana, its convenience was unmatched. As long as the destination was within my line of sight, I didn't need to set a teleportation mark in advance. This was the best way to use the spell.
With that, I clapped my hands together. Job done.
I remembered Qiu Ruxin saying that these Secret Diggers had bounties on them. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to collect them, or even where to go to do so.
But more than that, I hoped to squeeze some information out of them to gain a deeper understanding of their secrets.
I was now certain they were invaders from outside the world, even if their bodies... did indeed belong to people of this world.
But that was exactly why their methods were so terrifying!
Was this "consciousness possession"?
They even seemed to have bypassed the "bad luck curse."
I didn't know if it was because their bodies were native to this world or if they used some other means.
However... having encountered them now, these guys were far too weak. They didn't have the self-awareness of world invaders at all.
Or was it just that their individual strength was low, while the civilization and technology behind them were powerful?
Thinking of this, it seemed I needed to be careful. If I stood out too much... I might be noticed by the invaders' civilization.
So... once I got the information I needed, I couldn't leave any witnesses.
Having made up my mind, I grabbed the guy by the back of his collar and hoisted him up. Including him and the two I had heavily injured, there were three in total. They should be able to provide plenty of valuable intelligence.
But before that, I needed to find a place. I couldn't exactly do this in the middle of the street.
Although the fight between these Secret Diggers had scared everyone off the streets, it was better to be safe.
As for Qiu Ruxin, I wasn't worried about her. She wasn't suited to interact with these Secret Diggers for now. Was I afraid she'd get lost?
She had my protection spell on her; I knew exactly where she was. She wouldn't get lost.
Carrying the three of them, I entered a nearby empty residential building. It was a shell of a building, unfinished and uninhabited.
After entering through the balcony, I tossed the two most heavily injured ones aside. The last guy I caught was quite lively; I figured he would be very cooperative.
After I lifted the silence spell, he slowly began to recover from his state of terror.
"Holy shit... holy shit... Boss, what class are you? That skill was so cool!"
Hearing him blurt this out after being unsilenced, I naturally didn't understand what he was saying.
But from his tone, I didn't hear any fear. Instead, it was laced with... admiration.
This reaction was wrong. Very wrong!
My expression turned slightly grave. I cast the consciousness communication spell—which could only be used on one person at a time—directly on him. Immediately, his words were transmitted to me as thoughts.
"Big shot... wait, don't. Even though you're beautiful, I have a girlfriend. But if you insist, Boss... I guess I'm not totally against—"
"If you say one more word of nonsense, I'll castrate you." I stomped my foot on the ground between his legs. The sheer force caused the entire floor to tremble slightly. Part of it was because the building's quality wasn't great, but the stomp provided more than enough intimidation.
"Ah? Wait! I'm not joking anymore!" Seeing my serious expression, he finally realized the gravity of the situation.
But after the shock, he realized something else! Mental transmission!
"Now, I ask questions, and you answer truthfully."
"Okay! Ask away, Boss!"
"You aren't from this world, are you?" I asked after a long pause.
From his tone earlier, I guessed he had mistaken me for another Secret Digger. It seemed they didn't have a very good or convenient way to confirm if someone was a fellow Secret Digger.
But if I didn't shatter that assumption and only asked leading questions as a "fellow member," I wouldn't get any useful information. So, I laid the situation bare.
"Wait... what?"
He froze upon hearing my question, and then a look of pure shock flooded his face!
"You! You, you, you! You aren't a... $#&￥!"
"Aren't a what? Speak clearly!" Even through the consciousness communication spell, I couldn't understand what he said. That last part was clearly crucial information, yet his words came through like garbled code!
This sent a chill down my spine. It meant a higher level of power was restricting him from speaking those concepts. This was mental communication; simply stopping someone from speaking shouldn't be enough to block the exchange of thoughts...
"You! You're actually a... ^*#%! How is that possible! How can this world... have a being like you! Isn't this world just a—"
"You know a lot of secrets, don't you? Tell me everything you're allowed to say, or I'll make you wish you were dead!" I grabbed him by the collar and demanded. He clearly knew a lot, but I was in the dark.
"Heh... Hahaha! This is too interesting! That's it? At worst, I'll just %&￥#! If you don't let me go, I'll just #*$ myself!"
In the next instant, the man's head slumped to the side. Just like that, the spark of life vanished from his body...
"What... what is this?" I looked at the man in my hands in disbelief. I swore I hadn't used any force; he couldn't have been that fragile, could he?