Chapter 17 Meeting

Chen Fei spent the rest of the day in his room, waiting for the sun to set as the set time for him to meet up with Crooked Jack came closer and closer with every passing minute. Meeting up at night was the safest thing to do for them both, as Chen Fei didn't want anyone seeing him with his claws and talons, and Crooked Jack didn't want to risk getting caught with Chen Fei.

Being an associate of someone like that wouldn't be good if one wanted to stay low. And as someone who worked as both a bodyguard and an assassin, getting their face out in the open like that definitely wasn't good for business.

The search results for the 'Crooked Blades' alone pushed Chen Fei to contact Crooked Jack, as while their information may not be available to the public, to someone like Chen Fei who had a Holy Library, it was easy to get a general description on the organization.

To be fair it was only a warning, but it created a big enough flag in Chen Fei's mind to research deeper, and find the results, or consequences rather of crossing the organization known as the 'Crooked Blades'.

"..... forty-three dead and over seventy injured in an armed assault against a complex believed to be the source of a drug-making ring in Green Leaf City last night. Six of the dead were identified as Knights and one of them managed to write down the name of the organization that attacked them; the assassination group known only as 'Crooked Blade'...".

"..... The Crown Prince of Gula Empire was found dead this morning, the cause of death seemed to be strangulation, however the presence of several dozens of cuts on the Prince's body seemed to show that he was tortured before death. This is only days after the information about the Crown Prince's sexual exploitation of underage women were revealed to the public, the calling card of the 'Crooked Blades' were also found at the scene.....".

"..... a mortal racketeering ring was found completely dismantled by authorities this morning, with an estimated $45,000,000 in cash was found on the premises and all records of their actions were sent to the police just hours before they arrived. When asked about the incident, several of the low-level gang members only spoke about a 'Crooked Blade' on a red flag, leading many to believe that the assassination group was in fact behind this event.....".

"..... leader of the renowned and multi-billion dollar corporation, Blytone Industries was exposed several nights ago as a man who utilised young underage men and women as sexual gifts to the various partners and friends within his tight inner circle. Over a hundred children have been found on his private island, all of them bowing and clutching onto each other as they gazed at the two crooked dagger-like symbols that had been branded onto the chest of the CEO. Said CEO has died for unknown reasons less than seventy-two hours after his imprisonment.....".

Chen Fei found dozens of articles explaining over a hundred different incidents were the the Crooked Blades were involved. None of the Three Big Ones, neither supported or dismissed their actions only stating that those who were punished deserved what was coming to them.

Most articles available to the public were blocked within a few days of posting, but the Holy Library allowed Chen Fei to access most of the blocked articles, a slight warning was given at the top of every page he visited.

[The Crooked Blades are an assassination and covert observation group that specialises in exposing and revealing incidents that involve both mortals and Knights alike. They are considered extremely dangerous and will be a possibility on any mission that is Rank 5 or higher. While abandoning a request is out of the question, please note that if you were to encounter a member of the Crooked Blades, it is suggested to allow them to complete their missions if you value your life. They are not afraid to kill, and go outside of the law to complete their task. This is a warning to every Knight in the even that they meet the Crooked Blades].

Chen Fei let out a huge breath when he saw this.

"Assassination? Espionage? Rescuing kids and hostages? They sound like more of a vigilante group than anything else. And Crooked Jack.... the one that I met last night, she's a member of the Crooked Blades?".

Just from what Chen Fei could tell, they seemed to be more morally upright than say other groups that killed people for hire. They didn't just limit their missions to assassinating businessmen or corrupt officials. They also saved kids and exposed dozens of dirty gangs that extorted or were racketeering money from mortals.

They seemed like what most would consider, a "justifiable existence", considering that they killed people for money. At the very least, the amount of good they did outweighed the bad, if you could measure one human life and happiness.

If Chen Fei could learn from a group like the Crooked Blades, then perhaps both his short-term goal of learning how to control this transformation, and his long-term goal of killing the President of the Imperial Fossil Mausoleum could be eventually fulfilled.

Chen Fei glanced outside and noticed that the sun had completely set over the horizon. Bright lights lit the streets of Water Moon City, and the fast moving balls of yellow, white and red could be seen on the roads, creating a veritable river of cars.

He could hear Skinny P and Roland in the other room, playing video games while Ida made food in the kitchen. Leaving a note on his bed, Chen Fei opened up the window once more and leapt over a dozen or so meters forward, landing on a tree branch as using the rustling leaves as a way to mask the sounds he made.

If someone saw Chen Fei right now, all they would see is a figure covered in a thick black jumper and pants, their face hidden by a hoodie and scarf, that only showed the dark green slitted eyes of the figure beneath.

During the waiting time Chen Fei started cultivating his second spiritual wellspring. No adverse affects or strange side effects were made evident during this period of cultivation, other than the fact that his cultivating speed was a few notches quicker than it was previously.

His speed and efficiency at cultivating was as fast as the wind itself, and as smooth as running water. No doubt the qualities carried by his innate Attributes were effecting his cultivation experience.

"It took me six days to fully refine my first spiritual wellspring. Now, with the Wind Attribute, it should only take me half that time to refine the second..... I wonder if another transformation will occur when I fully refine my next spiritual wellspring?".

Chen Fei doubted the possibility, however it still remained a possibility of occurring. The most likely chance of his second transformation occurring was the around the tenth or eleventh spiritual wellspring.

According to some of the research that Kim Baek Hyeon left behind, that was the original number of spiritual wellsprings thought to provoke the first physical transformation. Kim Baek Hyeon listed a number of different transformations that might occur, however the majority only confused Chen Fei with the limited information he possessed, rather than solving the questions he already had.

"... Physique Transformation..... Boundary Transformation..... Essence Transformation.... Wellspring Transformation.... Life Transformation..... Death Transformation..... Nirvana Transformation..... The information isn't even corrupted in this file. It's just incomplete. Whatever it is Kim Baek Hyeon was working on, even he didn't finish it before he left.....".

The conjecture about the details of the different transformations, Chen Fei assumed that their would be seven. Assuming the one he had experienced was the Physique Transformation, next would possibly be the Boundary Transformation. Whatever that stuff meant, he thought to himself.

Chen Fei landed on the roof of an apartment building silently. His black-clothed figure blended in with the environment around him, and even though the bright street lights lit up the city beneath him, up on the rooftops, Chen Fei's figure couldn't be seen under the cover of darkness.

Looking around Chen Fei scratched the back of his head and looked down at the address written on his wrist.

"..... 109 Biggy Road. Rooftop.... I wonder where Crooked Jack might-".

Chen Fei felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up, and the fifteen year old jumped forward several metres, noting that a knife had embedded itself in the ground where he was once standing.

His eyes unconsciously narrowed and grew slitted as they darted around the rooftop, before gradually landing on a figure standing on the adjacent building. Said figure was holding knives of the same make and size in the gaps between each of their fingers.

Similarly to Chen Fei, they also wore nothing but black, only revealing their eyes and hiding every other part of their face.

"Come".