No Hero

Volume 5, The Angel Falls 9: SCIP?NC

Volume 5, The Angel Falls Chapter 9: SCIP?NC

Translator: Ever (proofread by Faren & Trespasserby; C/E edited by lucathia)

Solitary Butterfly shielded the criminal behind her, coldly saying, “I won’t let you take Josh away.”

But Dark Sun said without wavering, “He is a criminal who has committed a serious crime. He needs to be sent back to the psychiatric hospital immediately.”

Stop arguing, the both of you…

Solitary Butterfly got angry, shouting, “P29 isn’t a psychiatric hospital. It’s an experiment lab! How many times have I said this? There’s definitely something wrong with that psychiatric hospital!”

Dark Sun went quiet for a moment and then said, “Solitary Butterfly, are you being controlled by him?”

After a short pause, Solitary Butterfly scoffed and said in a high voice, “So, this is it. Dark Sun, you absolutely don’t believe me, do you?”

Calm down a bit! Solitary Butterfly, the one in front of you right now isn’t Dark Sun, it’s DSII! Don’t argue with a robot… Darn it, these words can’t be said out loud!

“Solitary Butterfly, get out of the way!”

Solitary Butterfly scoffed, and not only did she not move away, she also pulled out her double guns and said, “Over my dead body!”

After he saw the opponent pull out her guns, Dark Sun also extended his metal nails.

…Stop it! Don’t fight. Stop fighting! Ah! You guys are going to hit me too?

How did things end up like this… Ah Ye, just what are you doing?

Don’t you want to be a hero anymore?

Perhaps that criminal specifically cut off the power supply because he wanted to stop the heroes from tracking him down? But being under the pursuit of so many heroes and the police, did he still have the spare time to do that?

I was a bit confused, but the noise of a helicopter from above disturbed my thoughts. When I raised my head, I actually saw an armed helicopter. Just as I was getting nervous, I realized that the helicopter had two large letters that said NC on it. It was the police’s helicopter.

I let out a sigh of relief. But why would the police navigate an armed helicopter into an amusement park? There were so many children here. No matter what the case was, they should not land here.

…Wait, did Dell not say earlier that the criminal had the NC’s people under his control?

The criminal had ordered them to stop the heroes. But even if the NC squad had stronger equipment, they still might not be able to stop the heroes. If they insisted on executing the order, then what would they do?

It does not look like the armed helicopter is going to land. All it is doing is circling in mid-air…

I suddenly had a very ominous feeling and hurriedly shouted to the crowd, “Everyone, go downstairs!”

A few young mothers who looked like they had already wanted to leave immediately shouted back in panic, “The exit’s an automatic door. It can’t be opened without electricity!”

I immediately used “x-speed” to move to the door. After breaking the glass door in to pieces with a punch, I yelled to everyone, “Get down quickly! Leave this building! Hurry, hurry!”

The crowd started to surge toward the door. I backed into the center of the amusement park, cautiously observing the helicopter in the sky. The helicopter was still circling in the air with no intention on landing, but it did not look like it was going to leave either.

The cellphone in my breast pocket rang again. This time, I said immediately after picking up, “This is Charles.”

“…Charles? Oh well,” First Wind said in a shaky voice, “the NC members who are being controlled want all the heroes at the Evening Sun Plaza in twenty minutes, so that they can monitor us, or else they’ll start shooting people. But I don’t know what’s wrong with DSII. He’s persistent on pursuing that criminal.”

So that is how it is.

“The NC members are circling the amusement park that is on top of this building with an armed helicopter. There seem to be two people in there. I am evacuating the people on the top floor, but even if the people were completely evacuated, the NC members will likely still find other targets.”

“Armed helicopter?” First Wind groaned, “Charles, can you take care of them? The type of care that doesn’t involve killing. After all, they’re just being controlled.”

The helicopter is at a height that I cannot jump to… I know, there is the Ferris wheel!

“I will try.”

After hanging up the phone and using two “x-speeds” in succession, I quickly scrambled up the Ferris wheel and leaped, hanging below the helicopter. Even though I had tried to make my movements as light as possible, jumping such a long distance still shook the helicopter slightly.

Because of the shake, the opponents immediately noticed that there was someone hanging beneath the helicopter and fired at me without any hesitation. I hurriedly jumped to the end of the helicopter to put some distance between us. A close distance would make it hard to dodge bullets.

But unexpectedly, the opponent actually followed along and climbed out of the helicopter while firing at me at the same time. His movements were very agile and he showed no signs of fear.

How amazing… Even though the NC squad has special equipment, can normal policemen push themselves this far? Is it because they are being controlled?

I jumped down to grab hold of the landing skid of the helicopter and then somersaulted upward, moving behind the opponent and striking his neck with my hand. The opponent was wearing protective gear around his neck, but the attack broke the gear into pieces, so he immediately fell unconscious.

When I jumped into the helicopter with my unconscious opponent in one arm, the pilot actually fired an energy gun at me while navigating with one hand. Does he not care about his life?!

After kicking his gun aside, I struck him unconscious with another chop and dragged him away from the pilot’s seat, directly ripping the seat belt off as I did so. After that, I immediately climbed into the pilot’s seat and took hold of the lever with both hands, pulling on it at full strength… The helicopter dropped only a bit before it regained balance.

It was a relief that vampires were fast and that I had learned how to fly a helicopter before under Father’s suggestion. Even though I did not pilot often, I believed I was still able to land a helicopter.

You were right, Father. As a butler, it never hurts to learn a few more skills.

I should call Ji Luo Chu right now to tell him that the problem has been solved…A sharp object pressed against my neck, right on my artery.

I glanced in the rear view mirror, but the opponent was hiding behind the pilot’s seat, making it impossible to see the opponent’s face.

“Don’t move. This is a very expensive fountain pen. I actually think that it’s too expensive. A lot of the money must have been spent on advertisements and not the pen itself. But unfortunately, fountain pens made from pure silver are usually very pricey, so I didn’t have much of a choice… My point is, you shouldn’t make any reckless moves, and you are not allowed to land, vampire.”

“Who are you?” I was nowhere near being nervous, since I was navigating the helicopter, and there were buildings all around us, so if the helicopter were to go slightly out of control, it would be possible for it to crash. I believed that this person would not want to die with a vampire.

“Heh, who I am isn’t the point, as who you should listen to is another’s voice.” He leaned a cellphone against my ear, and a furious shout came from it, saying, “Damn vampire, you destroyed our plan!”

This voice is… Xie Yuan Jie, SCIP’s leader!

I suddenly figured out what was going on. The people in the helicopter were not real NC members, but were ones who were feigned by SCIP members!

SCIP had disguised themselves as the NC members who were being controlled in order to use the citizens’ lives to threaten the heroes into not meddling with the situation, so that they could go after the criminal.

I replied calmly, “Using hostages to threaten heroes into not taking part in the fight, is this something that the police should be doing?”

“We won’t really fire. This is only a kind of trick. Aren’t heroes obsessed with saving people? Now, you behave and fly nicely in the air. Don’t try to do anything, or else don’t blame us for hurting you. I don’t care if a vampire lives or dies!”

The opponent hung up, and after thinking about the situation for a bit, I decided not to do anything rash. Even though a fountain pen, even one made of silver, could not kill me, a helicopter that has gone out of control could cause great harm.

Moreover, it did not matter if the criminal was captured by SCIP and taken back to P29 or captured by DSII… Either way, it seemed that he would still return to the Sun Alliance, the only difference was whether he fell into the elder or the younger brother’s hands.

“Do not tell me that you want to kill me in order to keep my mouth shut?” A fountain pen could not kill me, but if possible, I still did not want it in my neck.

The opponent chuckled, saying, “Please be assured, I won’t do something so discourteous. Though I am categorized as a human, I have still heard of the name Charles Endelis and am still somewhat aware of the protection that the Elysees family has issued.”

Only somewhat?

Just then, the cellphone I had on me rang again, and it kept on ringing again and again, not even stopping for a second. This really is troublesome, but I am not able to take any calls…

Feeling anxious, all I could do was to talk to the opponent to try to divert his attention. “Why do you use a fountain pen? A fountain pen’s lethality is really not high.”

“It’s capable of writing and killing, and even if I am searched, I don’t have to worry about the other party suspecting that it is a weapon. What else is more convenient than a fountain pen?”

“… A Swiss army knife?”

My opponent chuckled, “That sounds good too, but I’m only here for a part-time job, so I really don’t think there’s a need to specially prepare tools for this. A fountain pen I already have is good enough.”

“A part-time assassin?”

“You think I’m an assassin? Have I killed any people?”

I went quiet for a short while and then said, “You certainly have not. Even if you do kill me, it would not count as killing a person.”

“Heh!” The opponent chuckled, “You sure are humorous. But for me, killing vampires counts as killing people too! Think about it, are people with special powers still human? If they are human, then why aren’t non-humans human?”

You really should meet Father Yue.

“Hmm, it’s been more than thirty minutes already. Giving Leader Xie an extra ten minutes should be more than enough. Though I really want to chat some more, someone seems to be in a hurry to contact you. Go land on the top floor of any building, but don’t land in the amusement park from before. I don’t want the helicopter to get surrounded as soon as we land.”

Having heard that, I chose a building located between Evening Sun Plaza and the gala’s location to land.

As soon as we landed, my opponent said, “Open the door and get off.”

I did as I was told and whirled around right when my feet touched the ground, only to see that the opponent had shut the helicopter’s door. Through the small glass window, I could only see that he had short, black hair… And then the helicopter rose up and flew away.

Taking out the cellphone, I could see that there were tens of missed calls from First Wind, Dragon Peace, Solitary Butterfly, Bramble, and Yue Gang. This made me unsure of whom to call first. After a moment of thought, I dialed First Wind’s number, but the other party did not pick up. I then called Mr. Bramble and Dragon Peace, but their lines were also busy.

Should I go to the Evening Sun Plaza or go back to the gala? Hmm… Since the young master told me to investigate the situation, I think I will go to the Evening Sun Plaza.

Leaping with more strength, I moved quickly from rooftop to rooftop. It did not take even ten minutes for me to arrive at the plaza.

Since Evening Sun Plaza was located right outside the power-failure zone, it had not fallen into darkness but stayed brightly lit. The strange thing was that the plaza was very quiet, yet how could that be? The Evening Sun Plaza was one of the gathering places of young people. It should still be very lively even at night.

I looked down from the top of a building and saw that the plaza was almost empty with only a few people standing in groups that faced each other. I believed I saw Dark Sun, who was holding his scythe, and First Wind with his cape flowing behind him. However, I could not see the situation below clearly because I was standing at the top of a high building.

I stepped off of the building and was immediately pulled downward. Continuously using my blood ability in mid-air to slow down my fall, I landed on the ground silently. This technique allowed me to jump down from forty or fifty floors without a scratch, but jumping from higher floors would be somewhat hard and would not be as quiet.

There were two large groups in the plaza that had most of the people and which were all fully armed. One of the groups had NC written on their equipment; the other group did not have any identification on them, but I did see Xie Yuan Jie standing among them.

Dark Sun was standing on one end with his scythe in hand, but there was no one by his side, while First Wind and Solitary Butterfly stood in a position some distance away from him, and Dragon Peace was nowhere to be found.

Judging from their positions and stance, it felt a bit like they were opposing Dark Sun … Could it be that DSII is really malfunctioning?

“Found you!”

I was startled but relaxed when I turned around. “Young Master.”

The young master tilted his head and said in a confused tone, “Charles, where have you been? Ah Ye was looking for you! But he couldn’t find you anywhere, and then the NC members fired at him, so he got angry.”

…DSII? If so, then the Dark Sun who is holding the Death Scythe in the plaza is the young master?

I gasped, “What happened?”

“A lot has happened! Ah Ye got really worried after you were gone. He was afraid that you got killed! So he switched places with me. He turned into Dark Sun to look for you, but the surveillance cameras around here were all out of order because of the power failure, and he had no way to find you.”

“Then, we should notify the young master quickly and tell him that I am fine.”

DSII nodded and said, “Ah Ye knows that already. He’s looking at you!”

I turned my head to face Dark Sun who was standing afar, but with the large distance between us and the visor that he was wearing, I could not tell if he was really looking at me or not.

I stood thinking for a bit and then made a phone call. It was a relief that First Wind took the call this time.

“…Charles? Just where did you go? Ah Ye thinks something happened to you, and he’s worried sick.”

I hurriedly explained, “I was held back just now, but the opponent did not harm me. Just what has happened?”

“A lot of people were controlled by the criminal, including innocent citizens and the police. They would attack Dark Sun the moment they got near him, so after being attacked a few times, Dark Sun forbade anyone to go near him, even the heroes.”

First Wind spoke in a hurry. “Even Dragon Peace and I aren’t allowed to go near him. Dark Sun even wanted me to stay farther away than the others because my weapon can reach very far.”

He will not trust even First Wind and Dragon Peace?

“And Ah Ye isn’t the only one who is suspicious of others. Even the SCIP suspect that Dark Sun and Solitary Butterfly are being controlled, too. They’re attacking to force them to hand over the criminal.”

This really is a mess. I asked concernedly, “Is the young master really being controlled?”

First Wind said impatiently, “I don’t know. Ah Ye hasn’t been himself these days, has he not?”

So, even First Wind is suspecting Dark Sun?

A criminal who can control people really can turn the world upside down. Such a criminal really should be sent back to P29.

“Charles, Ah Ye wants you back home, and I’m going to keep on looking for the criminal!” Saying so, DSII grumbled, “It’s really hard without the surveillance cameras. Just how long is the power going to be out for?!”

The young master wants me home? I looked at Dark Sun. The Death Scythe in his hand was lowered a bit, and it looked like he had no intention of attacking, so I spoke into the phone, “Please hold for a bit,” and turned to ask, “DSII, do you have a way to speak to the young master?”

“Yup!”

“Then, please tell the young master, ‘Please come home too, let the SCIP catch the criminal by themselves. If Solitary Butterfly wants to protect the criminal, then she should confront the SCIP herself.’” I thought for a moment and then added, “Tell the young master that I will be returning first to prepare a midnight snack. Will steak, baked chicken drumsticks, fries, and cream of potatoes do?”

After a few seconds, DSII chuckled and said, “Ah Ye says ‘O.K., he won’t meddle further,’ and he wants you to make more food. He told me to bring Poseidynne and Briar back home to eat the food together.”

I answered with a chuckle, “No problem.”

DSII turned and left.

I returned to the phone and said, “First Wind, Dark Sun will likely not attack anymore, but if Solitary Butterfly insists on protecting that criminal, then please wish her good luck.”

“…All right.” First Wind’s voice sounded very helpless, and he even grumbled, “It looks like I’ll have to help Solitary Butterfly myself. We’re friends after all…”

The call was cut off. I smiled and dialed Nitewalker’s number, wanting to take the taxi home…

“Hey, you!”

Hm?

“Listen up…”

Crackle!

After a great sound, the Evening Sun Plaza became one of Sunset City’s broken holes too and fell into darkness. However, since there were few people in the plaza, there was not too much screaming.

I was surrounded by darkness, and the moon was not out tonight, but that did not hinder my movements, since vampires were creatures of the dark to begin with.

Using the darkness to hide my traces, I walked toward Dark Sun. It was only when I was five steps away from him did he suddenly turn around to face my direction. Dark Sun really had heightened alertness.

I softly called out, “Young Master, it is me.”

“Charles?” Dark Sun’s attitude softened a little, and he asked in surprise, “Aren’t you supposed to be home? Does this power failure have something to do with you?”

I quickly denied it, saying, “Young Master, this power failure has nothing to do with me. I am just conveniently borrowing it to come and tell you something. I called a taxi to take me home, but the driver Nitewalker told me that he had a passenger who looked very much like the criminal in my description…”

I walked toward Dark Sun while I said so.

Dark Sun went blank for a bit and said, “Oh? Such a coincidence? Where did he drive the criminal?”

“I do not know where it is. Young Master, you will have to speak with Nitewalker yourself.”

I used my left hand to take out my phone and hand it over. Dark Sun also extended his hand to take the phone from me.

All of Dark Sun’s movements are extremely precise.

At the same time Dark Sun took hold of the phone, I also grabbed his palm, not letting him draw his hand back. When he called out “Charles” in confusion, my right hand attacked his elbow from the outside. It was an attack that I had placed all my strength into.

It could be said that no matter how the flesh is injured, there wouldn’t be any effect on his movement. But if a bone is slightly askew, it will have a massive effect on his movements.

The instant I finished attacking his elbow, I turned to my side and gave him a kick to the knee from the side with my heel.

…Especially when places like joints are involved. There cannot be a single mistake.

“AHHH—”

Attack elbow joint. Attack knee joint. Use x-speed to put some distance. All three moves were completed in an instant.

Though I had attacked at full strength, I believed Dark Sun still had some strength left to attack. Judging from the muffled and unclear sound from before, his joints seemed to be dislocated but not yet completely broken. What amazing toughness, attacking joints from their outside should be as easy as breaking a stick.

Moreover, Dark Sun was still standing and had not yet fallen.

First Wind’s worried shout came from afar, “Dark Sun, what happened? Are you all right?”

“Don’t come here!” Dark Sun roared in anger.

With a bang, the Death Scythe crashed to the ground. It looked like the Death Scythe was too heavy for Dark Sun when he was only able to move one arm and one leg.

“Charles!” Dark Sun tore off his visor. His face was filled with anger, but his voice quivered as he spoke, “Why are you attacking me? Have you forgotten who I am… I’m your young master!”

I paused. Why am I attacking the young master?

Listen up, go attack Dark Sun. Make him lose the ability to pursue me!

I remembered that was what he had said… But who is he? Why should I listen to him?

There is only one person that I need to listen to in this world, and that is, that is… The young master!

Attack Dark Sun…

Listen to the young master…

Dark Sun is the young master!

I, I attacked the young master?! I actually…

“Charles… Charles!”