Le Yu squatted down and lifted the dead person's head.
The neck cut of the head was very neat, like a 'bowl-sized scar'. The hair was slightly long, obviously not having been cut for many days, and the dark circles were heavy, indicating poor eating habits and lifestyle.
The eyes of the dead head were also nothing unusual, the pupils were dull and lifeless, showing only a bit of curiosity, panic, confusion, and... grievance.
Until the last moment of death, this person seemed still did not understand why he would die.
Who had he offended?
What wrong had he done?
Why did he have to end up like this?
Le Yu put the dead person's head back, put the neck together, closed those eyes filled with injustice and despair, and tidied up the corpse's appearance.
At this moment, a cruel thought popped up in Le Yu's mind, like a joke: Perhaps what he was doing now was not only unprecedented but would never be followed by anyone.
Because he was tidying up his own corpse.
'Tidying up his own corpse' was evidently a paradox.
Being able to tidy up a corpse means you are not the corpse; being a corpse means you cannot tidy up a corpse.
If someone really could tidy up his own corpse, it would mean one of two possibilities: That corpse is not his own, or—
You are not 'you'.
"This 'Backlight Particle' is so weak. It doesn't seem like he's trained in Martial Arts, doesn't have any stealth skills, yet dares to walk around Xingke City so brazenly? Could he be a scholar or doctor from the Backlight Organization?"
Beside him, a young man with a buzz cut and wearing a pitch-black vest squatted down, searched the corpse's pockets, took out a wallet and phone and fiddled with the square black-screen machine curiously: "Qian Bro, do you know what this is?"
Le Yu snatched the wallet and phone and put them into his pocket, calmly saying, "I'll study them."
"Tch, you killed the person, will I really rob your spoils?" The buzz-cut young man said disdainfully, suddenly reaching for Le Yu's pocket, as fast as lightning!
But Le Yu's response was even faster!
Almost without thinking, Le Yu's left hand caught the young man's wrist in a twist, and his right hand transformed into a Palm Blade, aiming directly at the young man's neck!
Instinctively, Le Yu's Palm Blade changed to a grip, clutching the young man's neck and pinning him against the wall. A thread of realization flashed in his heart — if he had directly struck with the Palm Blade just now, he would have sliced off the young man's neck!
"Ow ow ow—I was wrong, I was wrong, Qian Bro I was just joking." The buzz-cut young man said with grievance: "I just wanted to see what that glass was, transparent and black, quite nice-looking, do you really have to use Biting Battle Technique against me…"
Le Yu loosened his grip, and the buzz-cut young man touched his neck and coughed a few times. He glanced at the corpse on the ground, his tone carrying some fear: "Just now, I thought I would end up like this Backlight Particle, having my head cut off by Qian Bro's palm."
Cut off the head...
Le Yu gazed slightly blankly at his sleek, slender hand, then looked at the corpse on the ground.
Suddenly, two segments of memory surged in his mind.
One belonged to the Earthling 'Le Yu'. He woke up and suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar city's unfamiliar alley, then confusedly walked out along the alley, and as he was about to walk out, he saw two young men in pitch-black vests standing at the alley entrance.
One belonged to the Shining 'Qian Yuliu'. He was originally training Combat Technique in the Statistical Department office and suddenly received a notification that a suspected Backlight Particle appeared in Xingke City's Tianhe District. He brought his subordinates over and guarded at the alley entrance per the coordinates, coincidentally witnessing a young man with no charter reaction running towards him.
'Le Yu's final memory was of the buzz-cut young man reaching out to him.
'Qian Yuliu's final memory was of reaching out to the young man and removing the young man's neck.
Le Yu's body was already dead, killed with a single blow.
And Qian Yuliu's soul was nowhere to be found.
What existed here now was a brand new human possessing Qian Yuliu's body, but internally was Le Yu!
"Qian Bro, aren't we leaving yet?" The buzz-cut young man yawned: "I've already notified Tianhe Imprisonment Department to handle the corpse, let's go back to clock out. It's almost dark."
Le Yu glanced at his own corpse, surprisingly feeling little sentimentality or attachment, only recognizing clearly one point: The current temperature is probably 18°~22°, this corpse would start decomposing in 10 hours, and left unattended, would naturally enter the cycle of nature.
Even if he wished, he couldn't take care of this corpse anymore.
This world no longer had the 'Le Yu' person, there was no way for him to go back.
"Let's go."
Le Yu turned and left, walking out of the dark alley.
The sunlight outside was just right, and the air was clear.
A black sedan was parked outside, the buzz-cut young man was already sitting in the driver's seat, earphones plugged in, humming.
His name was Chen Fu, he was Qian Yuliu's subordinate and classmate, the two had known each other for more than a decade, graduated together from Xingke Military Academy, and joined the Statistical Department together. If anyone could most likely see through Qian Yuliu's body swap, it was none other than Chen Fu.
But Le Yu wasn't afraid, he calmly sat in the passenger seat and looked at the watch on his left wrist: "Drive faster."
"Got it~" Chen Fu pressed the pedal to the metal, and the black car sped out of the alley street.
Though Le Yu seemed to be resting with closed eyes, truthfully he was flipping through Qian Yuliu's memories in his mind. He wasn't simply 'seizing' Qian Yuliu's body, he even took over the memories — which made sense, considering past life's scientific research stated memories were stored in the brain's neurons; although the soul within the body was gone, the brain was still there, so the memories naturally remained.
To Le Yu, Qian Yuliu's memories resembled a library, the drawback was not gaining all of Qian Yuliu's memories instantly, the benefit was not having to worry about being assimilated by Qian Yuliu — Qian Yuliu's age was just slightly younger than Le Yu, their memory volume was roughly equal. If he digested all of Qian Yuliu's memories at once, Le Yu feared he would get confused by two lifetimes of memories and might even lose the self-agency of being 'Le Yu'.
Suddenly, Le Yu felt something strange within himself.
He wasn't some grand figure who remains unchanged even with mountain collapse before him; often, he's just an ordinary person who doesn't dare to watch horror movies and even feels a little scared using the toilet at night.
Following a series of events — crossing over, being killed, soul transfer — how could he analyze his situation so calmly and efficiently utilize available resources?
According to his own understanding, when seeing his dead head, he should have screamed, been completely lost, and trembled in fear.
Suddenly, Le Yu felt ripples arise in his mind. As if an iceberg had melted, some kind of power also seemed to blend into his heart.
A virtual panel appeared in his consciousness:
「Name: Le Yu/Qian Yuliu」
「Death Count: 1」
「Available Points: 1」
「Qian Yuliu's Fate: Have dinner with Qian Yuya, maximum interval 120 hours. (Remaining time 32 hours)」
"Self Skills: Basic Eight Rice Style Biting Battle Technique (+), Cold Blood Physique (+)"
"Eternal Skill: Substitute After Death"
"Challenge (refreshable): Survive 15 days, difficulty ☆.
Reward: 3 usable points, and one chance to upgrade an eternal skill (can enhance any skill of the current body by 1 level and transform into an eternal skill)."
After browsing through once, Le Yuxin's attention focused on the skill 'Substitute After Death'. The system panel displayed detailed information as per his wish:
"Substitute After Death (cannot upgrade/remove/transfer): Whoever kills you will be replaced by you. When you die, your soul will replace the soul of your killer.
Killer determination priority: Last Kill > Direct Kill > Indirect Kill"
After reviewing the skill information, Le Yuxin's first thought was: This skill is shameless!
When Qian Yuya killed him, the effect of Substitute After Death was triggered, and Le Yuxin directly replaced Qian Yuya's soul!
If others were unaware of this ability and took action against him, Le Yuxin would replace the killer, making the killer's lifetime efforts become Le Yuxin's possessions, how unjust!
But was it fair that he was killed immediately after crossing over?
Le Yuxin collected his thoughts and continued to view the information on the system panel.
The number of deaths is 1, and so is the usable point, making Le Yuxin wonder if each death grants 1 usable point.
Apart from dying, another way to gain usable points is by completing the 'challenge' on the system panel.
By surviving 15 days, Le Yuxin could gain one skill eternal upgrade opportunity and three points.
As for what the points are used for, Le Yuxin naturally focused on the three 'self skills'.
If he guessed correctly, 'self skills' refer to the skills originally possessed by Qian Yuya's body, while 'eternal skills' refer to the skills Le Yuxin's soul permanently owns.
'Substitute After Death' cannot be upgraded; among the self skills, the plus sign for 'Eight Rice Style Biting Battle Technique' is gray, while the plus sign for 'Cold Blood Physique' is selectable yellow.
"Cold Blood Physique: You will not be affected by any negative emotions, including guilt, regret, panic, despair, sadness, etc. Regardless of any emotional state, you can think rationally.
Next Level·Residual Blood Physique (1 point required for upgrade): You will not be affected by any negative state, including mental shock, drug addiction, severe pain dizziness, etc. Regardless of any mental state, you can perfectly control your body."
This is why I can accept getting killed upon crossing so quickly...
Le Yuxin searched his memory and found that Qian Yuya had the 'Cold Blood Physique' since childhood. He hardly had empathy, acting only because 'doing so can gain maximum benefits.' To others, he seemed like a somewhat aloof yet very approachable genius officer, but even 'aloof yet very approachable' was a facade Qian Yuya put up, believing this persona would garner more attention and affection.
His inner self was like an empty white ground, emotionless and tearless.
Le Yuxin pondered for a moment and decisively upgraded the Cold Blood Physique!
There's no point in keeping this point unused when it should be used!
The usable points became 0, and the system panel's 'Cold Blood Physique' changed to 'Residual Blood Physique'. The next level upgrade preview also changed.
"Next Level·Ice Blood Physique (3 points required for upgrade): Your Ice Blood can deceive the body, regardless of any negative state (poisoning, serious injury, limb dismemberment, paralysis, etc.), you can forcibly drive the body and reduce the effect and duration of negative states by 50%."
So powerful!
Although Le Yuxin wasn't sure if his understanding was accurate, 'Ice Blood Physique' is simply 'Overlord Body' + 'Reduce 50% continuous damage', which is top-tier divine skill in games, as output requires staying alive and being able to deliver the output.
But this is the next level skill, Le Yuxin has no points, so he can only covet a few glances. If he completes the challenge, he would have points to upgrade this skill, but...
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Suddenly, Le Yuxin felt his heart pounding fiercely, as if the blood flow within him could be distinctly felt, and the blood rushed through his body like the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers!
The upgrade of the Residual Blood Physique was silent yet as moving as thunder!
Le Yuxin glanced at Chen Fu beside him to confirm he hadn't noticed anything, then discreetly used his left fingernail to pierce the tip of his right index finger.
Piercing the fingertip with a nail might seem feasible, but the pain in all ten fingers usually triggers a reflex to abandon self-infliction. Yet with just a light move, Le Yuxin cut his right index finger.
Le Yuxin glanced at the wound, licked it, and exhaled softly.
As expected, Residual Blood Physique allows him to directly ignore pain! Though he could still feel it, the pain from a cut on his finger was like being gently touched by a cat's paw; Le Yuxin knew he was injured, but it had no impact!
This is the real reason why Le Yuxin decisively upgraded the Residual Blood Physique.
He was not the well-trained Qian Yuya; his soul was still Le Yuxin. In case of danger, even if Le Yuxin could retrieve Qian Yuya's combat experience, the pain and fear of death could make him fall to pieces, but the 'ignore pain' trait of the Residual Blood Physique could remedy this flaw.
If this world were peaceful, Le Yuxin wouldn't be so hasty.
Only...
"Hey, lucky to clock out in time." Chen Fu chuckled, looked at his watch, and said. The car slowly stopped, and Le Yuxin looked straight ahead.
A grand, majestic building appeared in front of him. A statue of War Goddess, with a long sword in her right hand and scales in her left, stood tall in the garden courtyard. Soldiers with long rifles demanded to check their IDs.
Suddenly, Le Yuxin instinctively turned his head.
Then, he saw a bullet hole punched through the car window, followed by the whistling sound of "whoosh".
"Attack!" The long-rifle soldiers instantly raised their guns and fired in the direction of the assailant, the sharp alarm sounded in the building, and a dozen soldiers rushed out from the building to board an armed vehicle for pursuit.
Le Yuxin turned his head and saw a hole pierced right in the center of the headrest of the passenger seat.
If he hadn't instinctively turned his head just now, he would possibly be the one being pursued by the long-rifle soldiers right now.
"Tsk, why do people always recklessly attack the Statistical Department's agents, how many incidents has it been this month?" Chen Fu grumbled as he steered the car into the garden, complaining, "Repairing car glass is expensive, couldn't they wait until we got out before shooting?"
"...Yes." Le Yuxin complicatedly agreed.
The level of danger in this world is something someone living in a peaceful era, like Le Yuxin, simply cannot comprehend.
Because this is a world of chaos.