Chapter 126: Angel Killer

The pickup truck sped through the street in the night. After passing through two blocks, Chen Xiaolian saw that there was no sign of anyone chasing them. Only then was he able to relax a little. However, his knitted eyebrows grew tighter.

He had bought 2 Healing Type Beast Blood through Xia Xiaolei and gave one each to Qiao Qiao and Roddy. Seeing them in a stable condition while seated behind, he turned and directed his gaze towards Nicole in the driver’s seat.

“We need to talk!”

“Go ahead, what is it?” Nicole’s eyes stared at the road ahead, her expression dark.

“That fellow back then, who is he?”

Nicole did not say anything for a moment. Then, she replied with a low voice. “Thorned Flower Guild.”

The name was not unfamiliar to Chen Xiaolian, who also recalled the thorned flower pattern he saw on the wreckage of the Thunderstorm Tank.

“A very strong guild?”

“I fear the word ‘very strong’ alone is not enough to describe the Thorned Flower Guild,” Nicole revealed a bitter face. “Simply put, ‘Thorned Flower’ is one of Zero City’s biggest enemies. They could even be considered as ‘Zero City’s Public Enemy’. Several of the top guilds within Zero City and Zero City’s own governing organization have always been in a war with this Thorned Flower Guild.”

Chen Xiaolian inhaled a mouthful of cold air.

He had seen Zero City before. For a small guild like his Meteor Rock Guild, Zero City was a titan like existence. However, this ‘Thorned Flower Guild’ could actually go toe to toe and become a public enemy for the top organizations within Zero City!

The word ‘public enemy’ was significant.

“That means Thorned Flower Guild is a Player Guild? They are the public enemy of all Awakened ones?”

After tabling this question, Chen Xiaolian was able to perceive that the corners of Nicole’s lips had curled into a bitter smile.

Then, he saw Nicole’s eyes. The bitter smile from earlier had faded away, to be replaced instead by traces of a profound pain!

“You are wrong. Thorned Flower Guild is not the ‘Awakened ones’ Public Enemy’. It is just ‘Zero City’s Public Enemy’.”

“I do not understand.”

Nicole suddenly turned around and stared deeply at Chen Xiaolian. “You do not understand? Then I will make it simple! The members of Thorned Flower Guild are not merely made up of Players!”

“What?” Chen Xiaolian was taken aback. “You mean…”

“Thorned Flower Guild have recruited no small number of Awakened ones, who contributed to the increase of Thorned Flower’s strength! Or perhaps, we could say that these people chose to seek refuge in Thorned Flower Guild.”

“But… but we are Awakened ones! Aren’t Awakened ones naturally in opposition against Players?”

Both of Nicole’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and she exhaled deeply before answering in a low tone. “This world is not simply black and white. In the eyes of the Players, we are all NPCs. To them, even the Awakened ones are simply NPCs with a much higher level of intelligence, ones that could give them a higher level of excitement and gaming experience.

“Since Players can kill NPCs and us… why not enslave, exploit and recruit?

“Besides… not all Awakened ones would have the determination to fight against the Players. Some Awakened ones, for the sake of survival or a better life, would naturally seek refuge by siding with Players.

“This is a very normal occurrence. Even in a war between nations, there will be capitulators and puppet armies.

“When your country was in a war with Japan decades ago, was there any fewer amounts of traitors and puppet armies?”

Chen Xiaolian’s mouth opened wide, speechless.

“Thorned Flower Guild is very powerful and the arrangement of their members is very complex. Naturally, their core circle is made up of Players. However, there are powerful and outstanding Awakened ones who will, due to Thorned Flower Guild’s enticements, threats or various other reasons, end up joining Thorned Flower Guild.

“Some do so for the sake of survival while some do so for the sake of power. At any rate, confronting Thorned Flower Guild has always been one of Zero City’s biggest headaches.”

“The bald man from earlier…”

“I know that fellow,” Nicole’s eyes twitched and she took a deep breath. “He… is very famous. He is an expert from Thorned Flower Guild.”

Next, Nicole suddenly said using a peculiar tone of voice. “I have told you before, I am part of the ‘Floating Angels’ organized by Zero City’s security personnel.

“As an organization established by the security personnel, part of the combat forces, we are always fighting on the front lines. In order to protect Zero City, we would engage in battle with various different enemies.

“Although the Floating Angels is a guild in name only, it also has its core members. The core powerhouses of the guild amount to a total of twelve.

“These twelve people are known as ‘True Angels’. They are the strongest twelve amongst the members of Floating Angels Guild. These Twelve Angels have always been part of the core forces in the defence of Zero City.

“However, Floating Angels Guild is not invincible. Several Floating Angels have had to give their lives in the battles against Thorned Flower Guild. But most importantly, there was an incident where one of the ‘Twelve Angels’ was killed in battle!”

After she said that, Chen Xiaolian noted that Nicole’s eyes were reddening as she bit down hard on her lips.

Chen Xiaolian’s mind was also secretly embroiled by surging waves!

Floating Angels are incredibly strong as it is. For them to stand out and be listed as the twelve strongest ones, there can be no doubt about their strength.

For such a master to be killed in battle…

“The bald man from back then is a renowned expert from Thorned Flower Guild. He has a very special nickname… Angel Killer.”

Chen Xiaolian’s heart skipped a beat. “Angel Killer? Then… when you said that one of the Twelve Angels was killed in battle, could it be…”

“Killed by him!” Nicole’s face paled and her fingers had turned white. Under her ministrations, the steering wheel had deformed to the point of issuing “gazhi gazhi” sounds. She struggled laboriously to suppress her agitated feeling. “The one who was killed was given the codename ‘Guardian Angel’. He was an extremely outstanding soldier and a brilliant leader, well respected by all members of Floating Angels Guild. In a field mission three years ago, he led a team into an instance dungeon and ended up fighting an intense battle against Thorned Flower Guild. Finally…”

Nicole suddenly bit down hard on her lips and a teardrop tumbled out of the edge of her eye, rolling down her cheek.

Chen Xiaolian’s heart suddenly gave a throb. “Nicole, you…”

“The ‘Guardian Angel’ who was killed is my father, my biological father,” Nicole suddenly turned her head around and watched Chen Xiaolian’s expression of shock. “Are you very surprised? You did not expect a father daughter pair to exist within the circle of Awakened ones, did you?”

“… this is indeed very surprising,” Chen Xiaolian replied in a low voice. “The creation of Awakened ones should have been random…”

“It happened by accident,” Nicole nodded her head and quickly wiped away her tears. “That year, I was only 6 years old when I accompanied my father on a vacation trip. Then, we were sucked into an instance dungeon where both my father and me became Awakened ones! A father and daughter pair like ours is very rare in the world of Awakened ones.

“For us to be sucked into this cruel world, that was bad luck on our part. However… for us personally, it is a blessing. Because, I have a father who would always protect me while I was growing up. That was how someone like me, who became an Awakened at the age of six could survive until now.

“I am 21 years old this year. For the past tens of years, I have always been growing up under my father’s wing. In Zero City, my father’s comrade-in-arms would regard me as their own daughter and care for me. My father… he taught me everything… combat, tactics, training, piloting… almost every step I took was done in pursuit of my father’s footsteps.

“We have fought side by side time and again as father took me with him through various life and death situations. I can’t even remember the number of times my father had used his own shoulder support me, giving me hope towards life!

“Then, two years ago, after leaving for that field mission, my father never came back to Zero City. My father’s team mates brought back my father’s Floater. But, even the Floater had been wrecked to the brink of death!”

Chen Xiaolian suddenly recalled something and he carefully spoke out. “After an Awakened dies, they would be refreshed into an ordinary person. Your father…”

“Of course he has also been refreshed.”

After saying that, Nicole’s voice took on a complicated tone. “After being refreshed back into the ordinary world, my father returned to his identity as an ordinary person and continued with his life using that identity as an ordinary person.

“However, the memories of those 16 years… those 16 years where we fought side by side through life and death… those 16 years where he taught me all those things bit by bit… all of them no longer exists.

“It no longer exists…

“He could not recall all those risky adventures that we had experienced together, the many times where we were faced with life and death situations, that we had once protected one other by using our own bodies to take the enemy fire! He could no longer remember those times when he taught me how to pilot Mechs or when he had personally imparted to me those various combat techniques.

“After being refreshed, my father is simply an accountant who sits in the garden to raise his flowers while waiting for retirement.

“As for me… the man who had accompanied me through the forest of guns and rain of bullets no longer exists. Those 16 years’ worth of memories, that man who existed for 16 years is no more!

“The one who was refreshed out may only have the memories of me up until my 6-year-old self.

“Do you want to know the most ridiculous part in all this?”

“… … … what?”

“The system, it even programmed a set of memories for him! Filling up the gap within those 16 years! That’s right! Isn’t it ridiculous? From that time when I was a 6-year-old, up until I became 21, for the sake of preserving balance within the system, it programmed my father with a set of memories for those 16 years of time! In these memories, I became an estranged daughter with little to no contact with my family for the last 10 plus years, someone who would often be at work without returning home, a daughter who cared little about him!

“Occasionally, I would leave Zero City and return home to see him.

“But, I cannot bear it… my father who had once used his shoulders to prop me up to the skies, who used his own body to cover me from enemy fire… now looks at me with a cold and distant expression in his eyes.

“For me, my real father within my mind from those 16 years’ worth of memories… is dead!”