Chapter Four: Sensing the Primal Energy

"Dead?"

Lin Lei was taken aback for a moment. After setting the body down and confirming the man was indeed dead, he shook his head. "That was far too fragile..."

In truth, it wasn't that the man was weak; rather, Lin Lei's strength was overwhelming. Among those at the second stage of Source Energy, his power was exceptional. This man was merely a first-stage ordinary, incapable of withstanding such force. With injuries so severe, if not for being a Source Energy user, he wouldn't have lasted this long.

Raising an eyebrow, Lin Lei placed the corpse down.

"Could he be from the Blood Sakura Society?"

He studied the body for a while. After death, the man's form remained unchanged—he did not transform into the "Flesh Child." Of course, while fanatics of the Blood Sakura Society turned into Flesh Children upon death, not every member shared this fate. This alone wasn’t proof he wasn’t from the Society.

Still, Lin Lei inclined toward another conclusion:

"The Blood Sakura Society wouldn’t send a mere first-stage to deal with me..."

This man's strength was unimpressive—not only inferior to Lin Lei now, but even to Lin Lei when empowered by the five Ghoul forces, he would have been lacking. Among first-stagers, he was at best middling. Moreover, he’d come at Lin Lei with only a baseball bat, not a handgun or bladed weapon, as if he didn’t consider Lin Lei a Source Energy user at all.

"So who was he?"

Lin Lei’s thoughts raced.

"The Freedom Alliance?"

He shook his head. It was even less likely than the Blood Sakura Society.

"He thought I was just an ordinary person. He probably didn't know my identity... Could he be an enemy of Gao Yue or the Gao family?"

"Did he attack me simply because he saw me have special contact with Gao Yue, wanting to capture me for questioning?"

This seemed more plausible than his previous guesses. After all, he had just seen Gao Yue off, and immediately someone attacked him. The baseball bat, rather than a firearm or blade, showed restraint...

The timing was likely no coincidence.

Shaking his head, Lin Lei activated "Plunder" on the corpse.

The man’s gluttonous energy consumption was less than fifteen units—it was a rather average body-type ability, enhancing agility and flexibility, and passively boosting Lin Lei’s physical attributes, albeit only slightly by Lin Lei’s current standards. In fact, though the improvement wasn’t as great as that gained from a second-stage demon, it was far superior to that from a single Ghoul.

Lin Lei shook his head and decisively dialed Li Xueshu: "Captain, I was attacked tonight... Just a first-stage, very weak but agile, escaped..."

He gave a brief report, naturally omitting the fact he’d killed and plundered the man—he simply said the attacker fled. He also shared his suspicions.

Li Xueshu replied, "Understood. I'll have someone investigate whether the Gao family has any enemies... Be careful yourself..."

"Alright." Lin Lei hung up, eyes narrowing.

Night descended.

Back in his bedroom, Lin Lei produced two items.

One was a piece of jade, the other a black card—a thank-you gift from Gao Yue.

The black card was an anonymous savings card from a certain bank. Lin Lei downloaded the bank’s app, quickly bound his phone and identity. When he checked the balance, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

One million.

Aside from the Source Instrument, the Gao family had gifted him a million.

"Truly wealthy..."

Gao Yi’s personal assets were in the billions; for him, a million was nothing.

"Even as an investigator, I’d have to save for two years without spending a dime to accumulate this much..."

Lin Lei was not especially passionate about money, but having it was always a good thing. It made his plans more convenient.

After safely storing the card, Lin Lei turned his attention to the square jade.

Inside the jade box was a description and instructions.

It was a mid-grade auxiliary Source Instrument called the "Source Energy Sensing Stone." As the name implied, it could detect nearby Source Energy auras.

"Definitely not a low-grade instrument!" Lin Lei was a little excited.

At each of its four corners stood a crystal pillar. When it sensed abnormal Source Energy in a direction, that pillar turned black. The stronger the energy, the darker the crystal. It could detect up to fourth-stage Source Energy fluctuations; at that level, all pillars would turn black.

However, it was not as precise as the "Source Energy Radar," which could pinpoint exact locations and levels of Source Energy—though only for first and second-stage. Despite being low-grade, the radar was more accurate.

The sensing stone simply darkened when it detected Source Energy nearby. The issue was, the farther away the source, the weaker the aura. The stone couldn’t tell if a strong distant fluctuation was being sensed or a weaker nearby one.

"Except for detecting higher levels, it’s inferior to the Source Energy Radar in every other way."

Though mid-grade, its practical effect was limited.

Lin Lei shook his head, narrowing his eyes.

For him, such functional and long-lasting instruments didn’t necessarily need to be “plundered.” They were easy to carry—kept close at hand, ready to use whenever needed, saving gluttonous energy.

But an idea sparked in Lin Lei’s mind.

Perhaps the stone’s poor presentation didn’t mean its abilities were lacking. Its activation logic must be: first, sense Source Energy fluctuations, then use crystal color changes to alert the user.

When sensing, it might be capable of determining the source's position, but only displayed as a color change, which could mislead users. If Lin Lei “plundered” its ability, he might directly sense Source Energy fluctuations, identifying their range and location.

He raised his brow, thought briefly, and activated "Plunder."

Before heading to the Forbidden Zone, he would have pondered carefully whether to plunder. But now, with ample gluttonous energy, he could afford to experiment!

After activating Plunder, his Source Energy surged.

Still, compared to when he plundered the "Nightwalker," it was much less.

He promptly converted a portion into "Calm Power" to soothe his emotions.

Yet, the sudden spike in Source Energy left his ears ringing, not fully dissipated even with Calm Power. His mind was restless, agitation hard to suppress.

"I'll need a few days' rest..."

…

The stone’s ability was called "Source Energy Sensing."

As the name suggested, it could detect Source Energy fluctuations.

Unlike the "Source Energy Radar," which became chaotic when sensing high-level fluctuations, this stone grew clearer with stronger energy. It had no actual range, but the sensing capacity diminished sharply with distance.

Lin Lei had guessed right—after plundering the stone, he could judge whether a fluctuation was distant and powerful or nearby and weak.

Lin Lei licked his lips and closed his eyes.

Sensing the Source Energy nearby, he soon shook his head and opened his eyes.

There were no significant Source Energy fluctuations around.

In fact, the stone’s precision was limited—too faint a fluctuation was beyond Lin Lei’s detection.

Truth be told—

Even if there were Source Energy users nearby, unless they activated their abilities, the odds of Lin Lei sensing them were slim.

Its accuracy was inferior to the Source Energy Radar.

"If another Source Energy user attacks, I’ll be able to spot them from a certain distance..."