This area had been cordoned off by the SWAT team, establishing a sizable perimeter that later-arriving officers couldn't cross. However, there were exceptions for some people.
For instance, a group of five or six high-ranking officers led by a man nearing fifty, which surprisingly included... Felicity?!
Of course, her presence wasn't unexpected, given that she was both a police officer and a direct witness to the incident.
"Chief, the scene… it's pretty gruesome," reported a SWAT captain standing outside the perimeter, his face twisted in discomfort.
"Gruesome?" The man glanced at him and then walked in without another word. Moments later, he suddenly stopped and said in a deep voice, "Felicity! Don't look!"
"Uncle... no, Chief, why?" Felicity asked, confused.
"Just go back!"
"I need to see..."
Ignoring the chief, Felicity stubbornly ran past him. The next moment, her face turned pale, and she squatted down, retching violently.
The chief glanced at her helplessly, then turned to the SWAT captain who had followed them in and asked with a frown, "What exactly happened?"
"Chief, this…"
The SWAT captain took a moment to gather his thoughts before explaining, "It was like this when we arrived. Two robbers had their throats slit with a knife, one was stabbed through the heart from behind, and another had a knife through his throat. The most shocking part was the leader of the robbers… he had shotgun wounds on his back, his entire head was blown apart by the same type of weapon, and..."
"And what? Speak up!"
"It's just a preliminary examination, so the results might not be very accurate..."
"What do you mean by 'not very accurate'?"
"From the gunshot wounds, it looks like it could be the leader's own rifle."
"What?!"
The chief was convinced that there must be a mistake in the examination results. After all, if there wasn't a mistake… the leader couldn't have committed suicide out of guilt, could he?
How the robbers died wasn't the main issue; what mattered was that they were dead before the police arrived—so who killed the robbers?
"Felicity, how are you? By the way, you mentioned the robbers took a hostage. That person…" The chief looked at Felicity, who was vomiting uncontrollably.
"I…"
Felicity couldn't bear to look any closer and turned her head away, staying at a distance. "I… I don't know... none of the dead here are him."
Her emotions were indescribable.
Who killed the robbers?
For some reason, she recalled the calm and composed expression of the man during the negotiation with the robbers. He had seemed so confident, almost like he had nothing to fear.
Could it be...?
No way!
With his frail appearance, he couldn't even take down the weakest robber.
But the problem was... this was a deserted wilderness. There were only six of them in total, and five robbers were dead while he was missing. How could this be explained?
Without the protection of inner energy, his vitality was depleting rapidly, and his physical strength was weakening at an alarming rate. His already frail body was growing weaker and weaker.
Merritt had no idea where he was. All he could see was a desolate wasteland stretching out before him.
I can't go on…
I really can't run anymore…
With a thud, he collapsed to the ground. His body went limp, and with that last breath, he knew he couldn't get up again. He could only lie quietly in the grass.
Waiting for death.
With the protection of his inner energy, his life force had been draining slowly, like a gentle stream. But now, without that protection, it was flowing away like a raging river. He could feel his life slipping away at an alarming speed, heading toward its final moments.
Am I going to die?
Maybe it's for the best.
After all, he only had a few months left to live. Whether it was sooner or later didn't make much difference. But still… he felt so unwilling!
Once a king! Once the Azure Dragon!
Once nearly god-like within a certain realm, now dying because of a few robbers. How could he accept that?
Countless memories flashed through his mind, and his thoughts settled on a beautiful figure.
She loved to dye her hair fiery red…
She loved to wear tight red leather outfits…
And most importantly, she loved him. He knew this better than anyone.
Even when she knew his powers had plummeted, even when she knew he didn't have long to live, she stayed by his side, willing to become his wife.
But what did he do?
He chose to leave.
It wasn't because he didn't love her, and it wasn't entirely to come to Ancient Splendor to find his childhood friends and fulfill his wishes, he didn't want to drag her down with him.
Once, he was the mighty Azure Dragon, but now he was just a dying man with only a few months left to live. How could he possibly marry her?
As he waited for death, his mind became strangely clear.
In a voice so weak it was barely audible, he murmured, "Girl, I'm sorry… I can't marry you, and I couldn't find Hamilton…"
Slowly, he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and death finally approached.
Suddenly!
Just as his consciousness was about to fade completely, a voice echoed in his mind, "Do you want to live?"
Who?
Who was speaking?
The last bit of his awareness was shaken by the sudden voice, but he couldn't do anything except listen.
The voice explained that the speaker had once been hunted down for a certain treasure.
They managed to escape, but only a fragment of their soul survived, and that fragment had taken refuge in Merritt's body.
Originally, the soul fragment planned to stay inside Merritt indefinitely, absorbing his inner energy and life force to recover enough to merge with the treasure.
Would Merritt die?
No!
Because now that the fragment and Merritt were one, Merritt's life or death would affect the fragment's survival too.
Actually, in about a month, the fragment and the treasure would complete their fusion. While absorbing life force would seriously damage Merritt, it wouldn't kill him.
But unexpectedly, just as the fusion was close to finishing, Merritt's remaining lifespan was cut short by three months.
If Merritt died, the remnant soul would disappear too.
What could it do?
In the end, the remnant soul had to make a choice: sacrifice itself to save Merritt's life.
Not because it was some noble act.
It was simple, if Merritt died, the soul would vanish too, and any chance for revenge would disappear.
But if Merritt lived, then at least there was still a chance to get revenge for everything.
The voice, full of fury, listed several names through gritted teeth. "Kill them, and not only will I keep you alive, I'll also give you powers you can't even imagine!"
Having someone speak directly into your mind already felt surreal. Even Merritt found it hard to believe.
But when someone tells you they can save your dying body… would you believe them?
Yes.
Actually, in Merritt's current situation, he didn't have any other choice.
Killing people to stay alive?
Totally worth it.
For Merritt, killing wasn't a big deal. He'd killed tons of people before, why wouldn't he agree?
And anyway, he wasn't the kind of person who kept promises to strangers.
Just because he agreed didn't mean he'd actually do it.
"Remember! If you fail, the thing I left in your soul will erase you completely!"
The voice became serious and gave a command, "Now, accept all my legacy. From this moment on, you are me, and I am you!"
A flood of information rushed into Merritt's memory. It was so intense that his head started to ache, and before he could even think clearly, he passed out…
He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, but when he finally woke up—
Yes!
He was alive!
If he had thought earlier that the voice in his head was just a hallucination from dying, now he was completely convinced it was real.
Not only was he alive, but he also felt that his previously drained life force had returned to its state before the incident, still weak, but no longer fatal.
Merritt sat on the ground, completely stunned. Everything felt so unreal, and he couldn't wrap his head around it all at once.
Was it a dream?
No.
He was alive, so it had to be real.
Even though his powers were gone, the mysterious illness that had been slowly draining his life for the past year was gone too.
He wasn't going to die anymore.
He had left everything behind because he thought he was going to die, but now that had changed. Being alive meant there was hope!
Starting over wasn't a big deal.
With his talent and all the experience he had, he believed he could get back to the top in ten years!
He could finally return. He could finally marry the girl he loved.
As he calmed down, his thoughts became sharper, and he began thinking about his next move.