Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 254 May Your Soul Find Peace
I never knew about these things before.

The other angels in the alliance also pay little attention to the organization's behind-the-scenes affairs; their conversations always revolve around hunting demons and advancing their abilities.

No matter how many angels awaken, their numbers are still limited compared to ordinary people.

This means that many administrative tasks within the Angel Alliance must be delegated to ordinary people.

If the devil wants to infiltrate the organization, the behind-the-scenes company is clearly an ideal entry point.

Of course, if it were Elori a hundred years ago, she would never have imagined that demons would dare to lay a finger on the Angel Alliance. Back then, the organization was full of talented people, and the stench of demons could be smelled from afar. The latter could only hide like rats in a sewer, completely at a disadvantage and being suppressed by the angels. Their coordinated attack on the temple's treasury was already one of their few major feats.

But after actually witnessing the future, her views have changed drastically.

Elori downloaded all of this data to her memory card.

Once we get back, we should thoroughly screen all the companies that have dealt with the Angel Alliance.

"Om..."

Her phone suddenly vibrated twice.

"Huh?" Elori was a little surprised. Because she was afraid of problems with her identity verification, she had not activated the communication service here, so her phone had been quite quiet these days.

Could it be that the shop manager has visited this world again?
She took out her phone and glanced at it, only to find it was a WeChat message from Honglian.

"Elori, can you receive my messages?"

"Where did you go?"

"We are still looking for you. Please reply as soon as you are safe."

Elori had a very good impression of Team Leader Crimson. She was conscientious and responsible, and quite opinionated. Although they hadn't known each other for long, she seemed very reliable. Seeing the message, Elori realized that since the apocalypse had been rewritten, it wasn't surprising that some previously malfunctioning software was now working again.

After all, her phone was connected to the public network in order to access information.

She thought for a moment and decided to simply let everyone know she was alright, "I'm fine."

"Really? Where are you?!" The person on the other end seemed suddenly excited. "We've been looking for you for so long!"

"I'm sorry, I can't say," Elori typed. "I won't be going back to the Vision Agency either. Thank you for your care before. Goodbye."

"What's the meaning?"

"Why didn't you come back?" the other person kept asking.

Elori shook her head, deleted her as a friend, and then left the Crimson Lotus group.

Joining the Dimensional Organization was an unexpected but significant episode in her pursuit of the demons. Without this decision, she wouldn't have later come into contact with Chen Xuan, Liu Shuyue, and Lin Qing. Although Elori felt the group members were quite harmonious, she trusted the shopkeeper more. Since Chen Xuan said the Organization was the enemy of the Ability Shop, she had to sever ties with these people.

When it was 10:30 p.m., Elori finished her work for the day, packed her bags, and left the library.

There is still one and a half hours before closing time.

It wasn't that she was tired, but being the last to leave each time would draw attention. She had to play the role of an ordinary Parisian citizen, and people who spent every day studying diligently in the library until midnight were obviously quite rare.

Elori's lodging was in a small hotel just two blocks away.

The security conditions are okay, and most importantly, they are willing to accept cash and do not check the tenants' identities.

It was quite peaceful outside today; there were hardly any people to be seen.

Even the gangsters who usually loved to cause a ruckus seemed to have moved to a different spot, and for a moment, the deafening noise was gone, which Elori found rather strange. However, Paris was clearly still the city that never sleeps; the commercial district on the north bank of the Seine was still ablaze with neon lights, and various billboards projected by lasers appeared one after another in the sky, symbolizing the city's prosperity.

Elori couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

She was always worried that such a future was just a flash in the pan, fearing that one day she would wake up and find herself back in that underground fortress called New Paris.

At least tonight, my hometown is still alive and well.

Just then, a car suddenly crossed the street and stopped two or three meters away from her.

The car window rolled down, and the dark metallic sheen reflected into Elori's eyes.

Then gunfire erupted.

A dense hail of bullets swept towards Elori, who instinctively lunged and rolled to the side, but she was no match for the bullets—the bullets seemed to predict her position, changing direction mid-air and chasing after her.

Elori was instantly riddled with bullets; the areas hit felt like they were being hammered. Before the pain even began to manifest, numbness spread throughout her body. Almost instinctively, she raised her hand, and a gust of wind surged from her fingertips, sweeping towards the car and shredding it to pieces.

But more shouts came from behind.

"here!"

"Don't let her get away!"

Elori glanced back and saw many people running out from hidden spots in the street, vaguely forming a circle. They weren't the petty thugs or gang members you might see anywhere in the area, but rather they were all dressed in tactical vests, wearing goggles, and carrying long-barreled automatic weapons.

This is... an attack aimed at myself?

Elori had no time to think further.

She stumbled into the alley, the sound of bullets whizzing past her ears. Perhaps she had been shot a few more times, her legs barely obeying her commands, but entering the alley would prevent her from being hit by more bullets. She inserted the memory card into a crack in the cobblestones, then spread her wings and, with her last strength, took to the air.

It doesn't matter how far or where you can fly, as long as you can fly, you can use the blind spots in the buildings to escape the encirclement.

Elori had just lifted herself seven or eight meters off the ground when she saw a figure flash overhead.

A man darted in front of her like a ghost, his back unfurling dark, fleshy wings. He reached out a large hand and grabbed her cheek with such force that she couldn't break free. Using the momentum of his dive, he pulled her down with him, slamming her heavily to the ground!
All Elori heard was a buzzing sound, and her whole head became a blur, her consciousness even stopping.

Her entire body was numb and tingling; her hands and feet felt disconnected from her brain. Forget about resisting; the fall made even getting up incredibly difficult.

Blood continued to flow from the wound, and Elori felt her body growing colder and colder.

The footsteps coming from the stone-paved road grew closer and closer.

Those who were chasing them had already entered the alley.

She turned around and lay on her back facing the enemy. Even at the very last moment, she did not want to show any weakness.

Seeing that she was unable to move, the men cautiously surrounded her. One of them walked up to her, pulled out a pistol, and pointed it at her forehead.

The last thing Elori saw in her mind when the gun went off was the image of the shopkeeper.

……

After everyone had evacuated, the man who had been blocking the angel in mid-air jumped down from the roof and landed next to Elori.

After inspecting the scene, he pried the memory card out of the crack in the stone slab.

"...That's a pretty good idea, but unfortunately I've been keeping an eye on you for a while now."

After putting the card in his pocket, the man dialed a number. "Hello, the intelligence was correct."

"Damn it, she really is an angel?" someone cursed. "Are you sure you've got it sorted out?"

"Of course, I hired company thugs. They are much more professional than ordinary thugs. At least they know how to finish off an opponent."

"Okay, make sure you handle the aftermath properly. I'm running for office soon, so I don't want anything to go wrong with this kind of thing," the person on the other end instructed.

"Don't worry, this is just a regular shooting and robbery, nothing unusual in Paris," the man said nonchalantly. "The police should be here soon, and I'll tell them how to clean up the scene."

"give it to you."

The other end of the phone was immediately hung up.

“From the past… Elori?” the man muttered to himself. “Truly, there’s no time to let your guard down. Although you are a puppet of the Mother of Flesh, I still hope your soul can find peace.”

The piercing sound of police sirens filled the air above the streets.

Such a shooting in the street will inevitably attract many witnesses and calls to the police, so the aftermath must be handled according to procedure. However, the man was already familiar with the process. He took out a wad of cash from his pocket and scattered it on the pool of blood. Then, he twisted a button on his clothes, and his civilian clothes instantly changed into a blue and yellow police uniform.

"Andorran Police Superintendent!"

"Sir, what are you doing here?"

As soon as he stepped out of the alley, the police officers who had just jumped off the hovercar immediately recognized him and saluted him.

"I was just passing by." The man waved his hand. "Work is more important. Let's deal with the case first."

(End of this chapter)