Landing silently on the Clubhouse's roof, I extend my senses, probing the building's interior.

According to Teixie, many Mercers have… particular tastes. This brothel, in the outer regions, is where they come to find satisfaction.

Probably due to the nature of this location, Trixie and Bern are keeping watch outside, while Dante and Verge have already slipped inside.

They’re playing nice with the ladies, charming them, before a quick tap sends them into dreamland. The disguises they've rigged up are… something else.

While Dante and Vergil, now rocking some seriously glamorous feminine attire, wander the halls hunting for their target, I scan the rooms.

Good thing this body has no lust; it’s not much different from turning on the nature channel. Aside from the normal business in the rooms, there doesn’t seem to be anything of interest.

Since I have no idea what a main branch Mercer might look or even sound like. I'll leave Dante and Verge to their little charade.

However, I do detect an intriguing underground level. After a swift costume change and a mask to obscure my features, I manage to infiltrate it.

Another isekai cliché, a black market. The place is crammed, but the wares aren't as glamorous as you'd think. Just the usual drugs, counterfeit artifacts, with a sprinkle of genuine ones.

Adamantine bars. That's the currency here, no exceptions. Keeps things... untraceable, they say. I'm drifting through the stalls, a real mishmash of goods, when one vendor's table catches my eye.

Mostly junk, honestly. But then, I see it. An orb, glowing faintly, and only I can see it. Plus, the air around it's noticeably cooler. Weird.

"How much?" I ask, pointing at the orb.

The guy's face splits into this wide, yellow-toothed grin. He holds up a single finger. One bar, easy. I'm reaching for my pocket when he suddenly speaks, his voice raspy and strained.

"It's yours, if you can wield it," he says, and before I can even blink, he tosses the orb at me.

The orb just... melts, turning into this weird liquid that surges right into my mouth and nose. Stunned by the sudden turn of events, a rush of pure Qi floods my abdomen..

Breathing in, staying perfectly still, and letting the Qi wash through me. This is another one of those special Qi types!

The icy coolness of it is the complete opposite of the flame Qi I drew in the magma chamber.

The influx of Qi focuses into a droplet, and as everything settles, it flows within the orb-sized core inside me.

"Ahahaha…" A laugh slips from the man's lips. He holds onto my arms tightly and whispers, "Master... I knew I'd find you."

"You must be mistaken. I've never seen you, ever…" I push his hands away and make my way toward the exit.

"WAIT…" The man follows after me, leaving all his junk behind. Once outside, I infuse Qi into my legs and disappear into the night. Or so I thought.

Before I know it, the man pops up right in front of me again, as I stop at an empty park in the city.

"Master Kurtis!" The masked man cries, right in my face.

"How did… I am not Kurtis Keyser!"

"You... you've got to be him. How do you know I mean Kurtis Keyser?" The man pulls off his mask, revealing a graceful young lady's face. Her voice jumps a couple of pitches higher.

Another person related to Dr. Keyser? And she’s got some seriously slick disguise tech, too.

"I am not Kurtis Keyser, but I'm listening. What do you want?" My voice lightens a bit. Rexy crawls out to get a good look as well.

Suddenly, she drops to her knees, and tears just start flowing. "Please, Master Kurtis, our family... I need you."

This definitely isn’t how I pictured my night going. "Let’s start with, who are you?!"

"I'm Alice Keyser, one of your direct descendants," Alice replies, whimpering.

"Do you know her?" I clutch my head, whispering to Rexy, who promptly shakes hers.

"Why were you at the black market?" I press.

"I've been waiting." Alice looks at me with teary eyes, and I pointedly avoid her gaze.

"Even Kurtis Keyser can't predict the future. How did you know I'd show up?" This isn’t just a coincidence; something's seriously off.

"I received a message yesterday, telling me to wait for you at a Mercer’s market," Alice says. "They said this one was the busiest, so I figured it was the safest bet."

Keeping my senses focused on Alice, I can tell she isn’t lying. RAVEN! That name pops into my mind again.

Raven’s the one pulling the strings! Next time I see that witch, I’ll definitely take a peek at her memories.

"How did you know what I look like?" I press on. "Did your informant tell you as well?"

"You said you’d come back." Alice pulls out an old notebook and turns to the last page of coded writing. She translates the message.

“When I ascend, an immortal with eyes of gold will lead the Keysers. Together, we shatter the chains of humanity, cast down the false gods of the Crimson Moon, and usher in a new era.”

Dr. Keyser was planning to use this body for himself, and told his descendants to prepare for his return. He was planning a rebellion… against the Anunnaki…

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Your eyes… they’re gold." Alice points to my face, seeing right through my disguise. "And you’re using natural energy… the power of an immortal."

Natural energy, she means Qi. That’s why she’s able to keep up; she’s another Qi user.

"You can use it too, are you immortal?"

"I… I can only direct it to my legs and eyes, right now," Alice murmurs.

Alice explains that only the descendants of Kurtis Keyser and a select few of the main branch of the family know the existence of natural energy, and even fewer can sense it.

Her family, being the direct descendants of Kurtis Keyser, can cultivate, but none of them went past the gold core stage. They had long lives, but they weren’t immortals like Master Kurtis.

Well… he wasn’t either… he’s a pile of dust now…

Alice herself just made it to the gold core stage. She’s able to keep up because the water elemental Qi vastly increases user speed.

Kurtis Keyser was the head of the Keysers two centuries ago. Contained within the coded notebook Alice has is much knowledge, but nothing I haven’t seen in his notebook.

"Unfortunately, I really am not Kurtis Keyser. You can call me Val." I can’t tell her he’s already dead, but I don’t owe Dr. Keyser any favors. If anything, he owes me for pulling me out of heaven!

"Alright, Val. I can lead you to the other four elements, if..."

A thin beam of red light, out of nowhere, pierces the dim glow of the empty park. Alice's leg now sports a gaping, bloody hole. The same goes for the fabric on my own leg.

Why are we under attack? My senses spike, reaching their maximum. I scoop Alice into a princess carry and leap away as more laser fire rips through the air.

They aren't aiming to kill us outright. As I run, vaulting from building to building, blood still trickles from Alice's leg. "The Duke's killers..." she gasps, her voice weak.

"Channel your natural energy, slow your heart rate, direct it to your wound to stop the bleeding!" I instruct, recalling a technique from Dr. Keyser's notebook that I've never had the chance to use.

Alice closes her eyes, and I feel her Qi stirring. The dripping blood slows to a trickle, then stops completely. "Good, keep focused!" I encourage her.

For crying out loud, I just wanted a slice-of-life isekai adventure, not some hero's journey. Why does this keep happening to me?

Looking at Alice's face again, she reminds me of my granddaughter from my past life... She was in college when I died. I shake my head, refocusing on leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

How did they find us? A sudden realization hits me. I scan her body, sensing a faint signal emanating from her wrist. There it is: a small, ribbon-like accessory—a tracker!

Under the cover of darkness, we slip into a high-rise building under construction. I tuck Alice into a dark corner, telling her to stay quiet, before dropping a couple of floors down.

A vehicle pulls up to the building's base after a short wait. I sense a couple of guys climbing the stairs in full mecha gear, clanking and heavy. I conjure a bar of adamantine in my hand.

The moment they reach my floor, iridescent strands shoot out, piercing their skulls. They freeze mid-step, never even realizing they've picked a fight with the wrong person.

Just as I'm about to dive into their memories for some answers...

KABOOM!!! KABOOM!!! KABOOM!!! ….

The bombs detonate, and the men are vaporized.

My consciousness into the afterlife dimension, just like before. Except this time, the light specks that emerge are instantly ensnared by golden strands.

Without a single glimpse of their memories, the specks fly into the golden sphere and become part of it. My consciousness snaps back to this dimension.

The shockwaves slam into me, sending me flying out of the building. The blast doesn't even scratch me. Rexy's snug in my hair, safe and sound.

As I fall, My nanobot clothes are already patching themselves up, but the problem? The building is collapsing, and Alice's still inside!

I'm mid-air, with absolutely nothing to grab onto, nothing to push off. I can't even leap back up. My brain's scrambling, trying to figure out a solution, but I'm running out of time.

Alice's only a couple of floors up, and the explosion didn't seem to hurt her, but she's not moving. And there's just... nothing I can do fast enough to reach her before the whole place comes down.

Staring at the iridescent glow of my hair, I give the command, “reach her.” hoping for some kind of crazy miracle. Instantly, the light ripples through every strand.

The iridescent strands shoot up the collapsing building. When they reach the floor where Alice is, my vision blurs, then clears. And there she is, Alice, lying on the floor.

Teleportation?!

The moment her gaze falls on mine, despair melts into surprise, then a surge of hope. Without a second thought, I scoop her into my arms again and leap out of the crumbling building.

My iridescent strands fade back to their regular silver as we free fall down the side of the building. The black vehicle on the ground is trying to bolt; yeah, no way I'm letting that happen.

Focusing my Qi into the tips of my heels, I land an axe kick right on the vehicle and unleash my Qi upon impact.

Boom!

Blasting a hole clean through the vehicle, my gaze locks onto the terrified driver. Then... I notice his chest rise unnaturally, right before another explosion. I jump back, throwing myself over Alice to shield her.

Seeing the completely destroyed vehicle, survivorless, I leap into the darkness with Alice.

Her blood has finally clotted, "We need to get you to a hospital... I mean, a care center."

"I have a place... a hideout," Alice says weakly. Following her directions, we make it to an abandoned factory.

After letting her down in an office, she limps to a closet and retrieves a needle, stabbing it into her leg. Her wound starts to recover slowly.

"Someone betrayed you," I say, holding out the destroyed ribbon.

Alice sighs, "I know..."

With Bailey on my mind, I'm already in a serious mess, and one Duke is already on my hit list. It's not wise to mess with two... especially at the same time. I'm not taking on this side quest!

"There's nothing I can possibly do for you. I'm not Kurtis Keyser. I saved your life, we're even," I tell her, trying to walk away, but my legs feel like they're filled with lead.

She... reminds me too much of my granddaughter... I look back at her once more. "Leave this city... it's too dangerous for you here. Go somewhere safe."

"Ha..." Alice lets out a weak laugh. "If the Duke wants me gone, nowhere's safe. Even my best friend turned on me." She points at the ribbon.

"Where is your family?"

"Dead!" Alice cries out, her voice cracking. "My parents were murdered, and my brother... he just vanished." Her fists clench so tight, I see thin lines of blood welling up.

"Sorry..." I glance down at the device Dante gave me, still silent. "Get some rest. I'll stay here until morning."

Alice falls asleep like a stone. I settle into my meditative stance and resume cultivation. Channeling my Qi through the water droplet within my core, I notice it flows much smoother now.

Directing the Qi to different parts of my body is significantly easier. I can even maintain a continuous circulation, which dramatically boosts my speed.

The trade-off, though, is that the water elemental Qi diminishes my raw power. While quicker, I'm undeniably weaker.

As expected, channeling both my original Qi and the water element simultaneously results in a cancellation effect.

But flipping through Dr. Keyser’s notes, I find no mention of elemental Qi. Studying the symbols scribbled in the notebook, it suddenly hits me what's missing... organs!

Normally, each elemental affinity stems from one of the five vital organs. The heart produces flames, the kidneys water, the spleen earth, the lungs gold, and the liver wood.

Without those organs, I'll have to gather the five elements myself before advancing to the next stage. Alice probably knows where I can find the other elemental Qi...

Looking at Alice, I sigh. Guess this is a side quest I'm stuck with if I want to progress in cultivation.