Chapter 277
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Chapter 277: A Day in the Life of an Ordinary Middle-Aged Man
November 3rd, morning.
The superpowered individual, Shadow Master, who had seldom felt relaxation lately, was on his way to the lightless training room to practice his abilities.
Recently, his life had not been easy. As one of the suspects in the disappearance of the Nian team, he had already been cleared of suspicion.
However, after Ink Drench brought back intelligence from the outside world, he and his team members had to undergo another brief quarantine. Throughout this process, they had to constantly use their abilities to achieve various pre-set goals to prove they were the real deal and not imitations.
Finally, he was released two days ago along with the equally innocent Councilman Bordeaux.
To compensate for the inhumane scrutiny he had faced during this time, Shadow Master received a rare two-day vacation, a luxury for registered superpowered individuals.
And now, here he was.
Although he didn’t know how rare his current title was, he felt a rush of joy at the thought that nothing troublesome had happened these past few days.
No two male colleagues tangling with each other, no strange entanglements with his case, no absurd demands for using his superpowers… This kind of life was simply wonderful for a middle-aged man who just wanted to get by.
Then he saw a messenger running toward him.
His heart, beating at a low speed typical of middle-aged men, suddenly trembled.
To be honest, Shadow Master felt a little like running away.
The messenger clearly sensed this as well, so he quickened his pace to intercept Shadow Master with a distinct arc.
“Is there an order for me?”
The middle-aged man’s poor acting skills kicked in.
The messenger looked genuinely confused, and sincerely said, “Mr. ‘Shadow Master,’ there’s an order from headquarters for you.”
Shadow Master used his middle-aged man’s self-control to appear perfectly normal, then took the order and read it quickly twice.
The messenger didn’t wait around, and by the time Shadow Master looked up, he had already disappeared around the corner of the headquarters, leaving behind the fading echo of “Confirmation delivered.”
Shadow Master directed his gaze back to the order, which clearly stated the task assigned to him—
Escort an important superpowered individual out of the city to engage in communication with the suspected highly intelligent leader of the ‘extraordinary beast rebellion’ outside the city.
What was going on?
Shadow Master frowned slightly—
Although the text was officially from Hope City, why did it seem so unfamiliar?
Extraordinary beast rebellion?
Highly intelligent?
Establish communication? With whom? The extraordinary beasts?
The somewhat inflexible middle-aged man felt the world was more fantastical than he had imagined.
Although many superpowered individuals had abilities that couldn’t be explained by normal objective laws, and humanity’s current situation was similar to the magical tales of the Old Era, he instinctively felt resistance upon reading these terms together.
But that was all it was.
Shadow Master could emotionally resist all reasonable or unreasonable orders, but he could not make any actual protests in action.
This was the red line set by Hope City for superpowered individuals and one of the reasons his youthful spirit had been worn down over the decades.
Despite his inner reluctance, Shadow Master ultimately chose to obey.
He glanced at the meeting time on the order and turned to leave the headquarters.
This paper order was not only a description of his upcoming special mission but also proof of his unrestricted access throughout Hope City for a period of time.
In other words, he could enter any place in Hope City except for the central spire.
With the piece of white paper in hand, Shadow Master moved toward the North Gate of the inner city, not bothering to skip breakfast in his busy schedule. Once he crossed the boundary between the inner and outer city, he chose to wait in place.
Half an hour later, the appointed time arrived.
Shadow Master saw a young woman dressed similarly to him walking toward him from the inner city.
They wore similar uniforms, which were the standard attire for all superpowered individuals in Hope City under normal circumstances, with minor differences indicating their respective organizations.
Shadow Master naturally entered work mode, observing this temporary partner without any personal emotions.
She was a somewhat shorter young woman, and although she wore a superpowered individual’s uniform, she had an earthy simplicity about her, suggesting she had engaged in labor for a long time.
As they exchanged glances, Shadow Master introduced himself:
“I am Shadow Master, a member of the direct superpowered group from headquarters, and I’m your temporary partner. My ability is to manipulate and merge with shadows within a certain area.”
He briefly explained his ability and felt a strong curiosity about hers.
There was no doubt that he was chosen for this mission because of his unique ability.
His power to merge with shadows, even if only temporarily, was enough to evade most harm.
Moreover, he could also, to some extent, bring others along with him. As far as survival abilities went, he ranked very high.
But what about the person across from him, who seemed to be a young employee pulled from a factory?
After listening to Shadow Master’s introduction, the young woman nodded, as if she understood why he was chosen as her partner.
She looked up at the middle-aged man, who was a head taller than her, and said,
“My code name is ‘Dawn Sound,’ and I’m your temporary teammate. As for my ability…
“I can speak Elephant talk.”
“Wha…what?”
Shadow Master felt his brain temporarily lose its thinking ability.
What was she talking about?
There was a lightly familiar feeling, but he couldn’t comprehend it.
“What is that?”
“Oh!”
The young woman exclaimed with sudden realization, then quickly explained,
“I usually work in the underground pastures in the inner city, and my ability allows me to communicate with animals to a certain extent.”
“Ah, I see. So when you mentioned elephants, you mean…”
“Um, it seems to be a type of large creature from the Old Era. I’ve only seen similar material about them at work, but I’ve never encountered a real elephant.”
The young woman thought for a moment and suddenly said,
“You should have a basic understanding of this mission by now. It’s said that a large number of extraordinary beasts exhibit traits of Old Era creatures. I wonder if I can successfully handle the communication work this time.”
Shadow Master understood why he was paired with her; to be fair, it was indeed the best arrangement.
Having a superpowered individual with strong defensive and escaping abilities protect one who could communicate with extraordinary beasts made perfect sense.
But…
As they boarded the assigned military vehicle and headed toward the walls of the outer city, Shadow Master could not escape the waves of memories flooding back.
Not long ago, he had been caught up in a completely unexpected disaster.
