This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 288 Life and Death Intertwined
Inside the silent shelter.

Nie Weiyang coughed lightly, raised his hand covered by a red glove, and tapped his temple through his helmet.

Delaying the detonation of a pre-planted psychological bomb will inevitably transmit a portion of the other person's emotions, pain, and near-death experience in the moment before their death to them.

The feeling was absolutely unpleasant, like being pricked by needles, making one's hands and feet ice cold. But Nie Weiyang's face remained expressionless; he merely frowned slightly before returning to normal.

Nie Weiyang wasn't sure what would happen between Miao Lun and Albert, but based on his understanding of the two, Miao Lun certainly wouldn't surrender easily. Therefore, he only needed to wait until Miao Lun's location overlapped with the manor on the map before detonating the mental bomb to achieve one of his goals: to stir up trouble.

This place is already chaotic, and it's impossible to hide the fact that Nie Weiyang replaced the shelter's symbolic items from others. As long as the Church of Life knows about the ongoing shelter symbolic item replacement operation within China, they might know that it's related to the Second Administrator and Nie Weiyang. Erecting the statue is, in a sense, an attempt to steal the Second Administrator's name.

Nie Weiyang wanted to know how the Church of Life managed to summon the BOSS projection.

But can he use this technology?
So, in order to temporarily conceal himself, Nie Weiyang had to throw out a bait first.

For example, there's a 'psychologist' who comes from afar, posing as different people. He even takes advantage of the fact that no one here has ever seen Nie Weiyang, impersonating him to deceive people, while actually hiding a dark secret—how terrifying!
As for why others readily believe that he is Nie Weiyang—

That must be the guiding effect caused by high charisma and high spiritual attributes!
The truth and the illusion must be mixed together to better deceive people and help them achieve their goals.

As for why Nie Weiyang knew about Miao Lun and the other person...

—He sat next to the two of them for a long time, despite the anxiety brought on by his mind-reading ability. Was he just there to chat?

Nie Weiyang opened the system interface.

Now, he needs to see how the pre-civilization shelters on this land differ from those within China.

……

Albert was shocked by the bizarre scene before him, but now was not the time to think too much; this was not a place to stay any longer!

Regardless of how Miao Lun died, it implies the involvement of an unknown force, and that this force was ruthless and unpredictable.

He must leave immediately!
Albert retreated swiftly. However, the dual-wielder was like a persistent leech, giving him no chance to catch his breath.

Although the sudden death of Miao Lun also surprised the swordsman for a moment, his primary task was to kill Albert!
The twin swords attacked once again, like a sudden rain of snakes!

An even more thrilling and desperate chase unfolds under the cover of night.

Albert had no desire to fight and only wanted to escape, but the swordsmen's assassination skills were extremely difficult to deal with, like venomous snakes in the shadows, each attack aimed straight for vital points. The two moved and clashed at high speed through narrow alleys and cluttered piles of debris, sparks flying from the colliding blades.

This was a battle where both sides suffered heavy losses. As a swordsman, Albert, with his superior strength and unwavering will, narrowly avoided fatal wounds several times, even seizing an opportunity at one point to nearly disembowel the two swordsmen with his greatsword. The two swordsmen, however, with their ghostly movements and ruthless willingness to trade blows for lives, used their short swords like venomous fangs to leave two deep, bone-revealing, parallel wounds on the side of Albert's neck, just millimeters from an artery. Blood instantly stained Albert's collar crimson.

The excruciating pain and blood loss made Albert dizzy, but he also seized the opening left by the swordsman and kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying and crashing into a pile of broken wooden planks.

The swordsman's arm was bent at an unnatural angle, almost severed by Albert, making the situation even worse.

He struggled to get up, but vomited blood and could not exert any strength.

Albert clutched the wound on his neck. He dared not linger. Taking advantage of the moment when the other man was temporarily incapacitated, he mustered his strength and staggered into the deeper darkness. With the help of the pre-planned escape route and his familiarity with the terrain, he finally met up with his men who had come to meet him and quickly disappeared into the dense forest on the outskirts of the manor.

……

On the other side, the heavily wounded swordsman was unable to pursue them into the dense forest. Dragging his almost severed arm, he crawled with astonishing willpower toward the shantytown.

Excessive blood loss and intense pain continued to erode his consciousness. Just as he was about to reach the edge of the shantytown, he finally couldn't hold on any longer, his vision went black, and he fainted.

The dull thud of the heavy object falling to the ground startled several small, thin figures.

It was Marai and the children she was leading, with Gomao beside her, searching for usable items in a nearby pile of debris. The children cautiously approached, and in the dim light, they saw a masked figure covered in blood on the ground.

"Is it...is it the one from before?" Gomao leaned weakly against Marai and asked in a low voice.

He drank half a bottle of blood-replenishing medicine. Although he was still weak, he at least survived and was able to move around with difficulty.

Marley frowned and shook her head.

"This outfit... is the manor's high-grade 'Snake Fang'."

As she spoke, she carefully crouched down to check the other person's injuries and gasped in shock.

She hesitated for a moment, then looked at the half-bottle of low-level health potion remaining in her backpack.

Seeing her hesitation, Ge Mao said softly, "I...I'm much better. If I can save someone from the manor, it might be a good thing."

"And...we've already seen him."

They've already seen the seriously injured person. If they pretend not to see him, the manor will open their eyes to them—the manor doesn't care whether you can save him or not; they care about your attitude.

Marley bit her lip, finally making up her mind, and together with Gomao, ripped off the dual swordsmen's masks. What was revealed beneath the masks was a face that surprised everyone—not the ferocious assassin they had imagined, but a delicate young girl's face with exotic features!
Her skin was a healthy wheat color, and her features were three-dimensional yet soft. At this moment, she appeared pale and fragile due to blood loss and pain. Only snake scales covered her cheeks, and her jaw joints were clearly different from those of ordinary people.

The blood-purifying medicine was fed into her mouth and began to take effect; the girl's breathing gradually became more stable.

Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes. Her green eyes initially held an instinctive sharpness and wariness, but when she saw a group of thin children surrounding her, the sharpness was quickly replaced by confusion.

She instinctively tried to move, but the movement aggravated the injuries to her arm and internal organs. She groaned and cold sweat broke out on her forehead, but she immediately regained her composure and did not react excessively.

Marley blinked, perfectly playing the role of an innocent and naive little girl, blinking her big eyes and asking timidly, "Who...who are you?"

"Is...is it an elder from the Church of Life?"

The dual-swordswoman girl remained silent for a moment, then asked in a hoarse voice, "Why do you have blood potions?"

She knew very well how precious this treatment was, something that children in these shantytowns could not easily obtain.

The children chattered amongst themselves, a mixture of lingering fear and gratitude, recounting how Albert had put Goma back in and then thrown away the blood medicine, omitting, of course, the part about Marley using the knife.

"It was that big guy...he gave it to me..."

"Who is he...we don't know..."

The young swordswoman was stunned as she listened to the children's chaotic yet 'sincere' narration.

She never expected that Albert, the manor's biggest threat and the target of her orders, would show kindness to these ordinary children. And this unintentional kindness, by a twist of fate, saved her life.
A complex emotion flashed in her eyes as she looked at the children before her, lost in thought.

Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she said softly, "Come back with me. You won't have to wander anymore."

"Huh?" The children's eyes widened.

“Yes.” The girl nodded. “You can become like me, well-fed, strong, and have a place to sleep… just like in the old days.”

This time, those lifeless eyes truly lit up. Hope gradually overflowed, flowing in their gaze.

(End of this chapter)