Volume 9: Molten Mine Chapter 406: Outrageous Escort Mission
"If it can stop moving in time, wouldn't it really become Dio's 'Smash Varudo'..." Ke Lan rubbed his forehead. "This thing...could it really be a fucking Stand user?"
It is naturally a good thing that the skills have become stronger. As a senior JO fan who has read the comics of "JOJO's Bizarre Adventure" from Parts 1 to 8 several times, Ke Lan certainly knows what a perverted ability this is... However, the "time stop" skill in the 2.0 version, the "blue consumption" is really too terrifying.
Originally, when Ke Lan activated "Time Stop", it could last for several seconds at most. If it was activated multiple times, the total duration could be extended to a quite exaggerated degree... But now, after just using it for a while, he felt that his mental strength had been almost drained. It was simply impossible to apply it in actual combat.
Unless he can make his mental strength as strong as a monster...
Thinking of this, Ke Lan subconsciously looked at Ze Luo, while the latter was looking at the pile of messy corpses of the puppet individuals on the ground, wondering what he was thinking.
"Well, things will work out when the time comes... I'll think about these things later." Ke Lan thought to himself, walked back to the control terminal, turned on the hangar's broadcast switch, and said to the microphone:
"The matter has been resolved. Ivan, Layton, and Asano Akira, you come to the bridge. The rest of you stay where you are and rest."
…
…
Five days later, in the East Fourth District of the Ark, the headquarters of the "God Hunting Group", the leader's office.
Ke Lan, wearing a floral shirt and matching beach shorts, was lying on a leather boss chair, with her feet in flip-flops resting on the desk in an extremely arrogant posture. A paper book, which was very rare in this era, was spread out and covering her face, and light snoring sounds continued to come from under the book.
It has been four days since he came back from "South District 16". During these four days, Ke Lan has been sleeping almost 80% of the time - and in the rest of the time, except for eating, bathing and going to the toilet, he has been quietly practicing the 2.0 version of the "Time Stop" skill in his room.
Although the duration of the skill did not increase, and the tingling sensation deep in his brain did not lessen... but at least he would not scream out in pain.
During these few days, Ke Lan had doubted more than once whether he was a masochist in his bones, but every time his mental state recovered, he could not help but try again - this power was so attractive, even if it was only for a short moment, even if he had to endure tremendous pain, but when Ke Lan stepped into that world of only black and white, he could not help but indulge in it.
To use the words of that "mentally ill person" who doesn't want to be a human being, this is almost "the power from God."
Although Ke Lan was unwilling to admit it, when the skill was activated, he always had the illusion that he was the master of this world...
"I've read too many online articles..."
Ke Lan reached out, lifted a corner of the book covering her face, and looked at Ze Luo who was sitting on the sofa opposite her office.
The girl's sitting posture was impeccable. She placed her hands on her knees, lowered her head slightly, and stared intently at the tablet on the coffee table. That was the only request Ze Luo made to Ke Lan after she came here. In this tablet, all the books and documents that could be downloaded from the Ark Library were stored, from the ancient text rubbings on the Rosetta Stone to the "domineering CEO, God of War Son-in-law" novels in the middle and late Earth era... almost everything. During these four days, except for eating, bathing and going to the toilet, Ze Luo was reading everything.
Unlike Ke Lan, she never sleeps. Even though Ke Lan told her that as a "human being", she should get at least 6-8 hours of sleep a day, even in bed, the girl still holds her tablet and reads eagerly.
There was no other expression on Ze Luo's face except seriousness. Her pupils reflected densely packed words, which were scrolling on the screen at an extremely fast speed - not only did she not sleep, her reading speed was more than ten times that of a normal human.
"With this kind of energy, in the old era, it would have been easy for her to get into an Ivy League school." This was the Hound's evaluation of her.
As for Zelo's identity issue, it was handled by Chiron. When they returned to the Ark, Zelo already had a complete and legal set of identity documents. Even his resume from birth to his current position could be found in the archives. It was so detailed that it was almost impossible to find fault with it.
…
Outside the head's office was the office area for the senior management of the hunting group, including Hound. Of course, it was called an office area, but it was actually just a public lounge. Several solid wood desks were moved to the wall, and an exquisitely crafted billiard table was moved to the center of the office.
"Alas, I haven't received any commissions for a week. I'm just living off my savings...living off my savings!" The Hound sat on the sofa next to the pool table, holding a pool cue that cost more than four figures in the market, and kept muttering to himself.
"It was okay before, one person's food fed the whole family, but now there are hundreds of mouths to feed in the entire hunting group. Oh, and there are also those iron lumps in the underground hangar. The fucking engine oil used for maintenance is more expensive than the oil people eat... Ke Lan is so good, he threw everything to me and became a hands-off boss... This brat, he doesn't know how expensive firewood and rice are until he runs the household. Now he has to spend so much money every day, but he doesn't make a penny. Sigh, I'm so worried."
"Didn't we have two commissions coming to us yesterday? Why did you turn them down, old dog?" Layton leaned back on the sofa, holding an extra-large bag of potato chips in his arms.
"A mission to explore a D-class ruin is too embarrassing. We are a consortium-level hunting group. They came to us with such a mission. It's obvious that they look down on us." Hound said, "As for the other one, it's even more outrageous. They actually asked us to escort a transport team. Shouldn't they ask mercenaries or PMCs for this? Why are they looking for us? If I didn't have a good temper, I would have scolded those two idiots away long ago."
"Speaking of escort missions...I heard some outrageous news recently." Ivan, who was lying on the table hitting the ball, raised his head and said.
"What news? Tell me about it." Leighton responded with interest.
"It seems that there was a woman who was going to inspect her family's property in the wilderness. She recruited several mercenaries as bodyguards. But on the way, she suddenly pulled out a gun and shot the mercenary who was driving to death."
"Hmm? What's going on here? Is that mercenary dishonest? Is he attracted by beauty? Or does he want to kill people and rob?" asked the Hound.
"I don't know whether it was murder or robbery , but it's very unlikely that he was attracted by her beauty... That employer... She seemed to weigh more than 300 pounds and was nearly 40 years old... I think no one would be attracted by a woman like this, right?" Ivan muttered.
"Don't be too absolute. Who knows, some people's XP may be more unusual?"
