ushernet Chapter 170 - Miss, You Have Gunk in Your Eye
Chapter 170 - Miss, You Have Gunk in Your Eye
chapter 170 - miss, you have gunk in your eye
cassius lowered his arm and instinctively glanced at the back of his hand. the skin was clear, devoid of any mark from the black rain manor. however, a long black worm-like line shifted underneath his skin every time he moved his arm.
feeling a bit uneasy, cassius immediately pressed his left hand against his right forearm. after a thorough examination, he discovered that the black line was actually one of his veins.
it wasn't some kind of blemish on his arm, nor was it the result of any parasitic infection. it was most definitely his blood vessel, but why had it turned black?
cassius couldn't make sense of it. he had never experienced such a change prior to entering the time-travel era; the blackening of his veins had occurred only after his return to the real world, suggesting that this transformation originated during his time in the time-travel era. as he sat on the sofa pondering the possible causes, only one possibility came to mind: radiation.
during the final battle at black rain manor, the black meteorite beneath the baptism chapel seemed to be emitting a terrifying amount of invisible, intangible energy—impossible to defend against. even those with a strong physique, such as practitioners of covert martial arts, would be susceptible to this radiation and potentially undergo mysterious and frightening changes.
could he have been affected by the radiation energy?
a terrifying thought occurred to cassius: could the effects from the previous radiation carry over into reality?
unable to shake off the chilling thought, cassius shuddered. despite his high pain tolerance from years of practicing the wind elephant covert martial arts, he had no desire to experience the feeling of radiation infiltrating his body again. it was far too dreadful.
no, the time-travel ability wouldn't allow harmful outcomes from the time-travel era to carry over into the real world! cassius suddenly realized. that means this isn't a negative outcome. but rather...
he looked down at his wrist, where the black artery lay parallel to the other arteries, still circulating blood as usual.
a favorable result.
cassius's eyes narrowed. this was the only plausible explanation. he believed in the powerful capabilities of his time-travel ability.
now aware of the change in his arm, cassius got started on testing it. he clenched his right hand, performing various movements, feeling the strength, speed, and flexibility of his arm.
five minutes later, cassius reached his conclusion.
his right arm had gotten stronger, though not by a significant amount. what was more noticeable was the blood flow in his veins had increased slightly. as a pugilist practicing covert martial arts, he could sense the changes in blood flow within his body during moments when he was calm and focused.
cassius could feel the difference between his left and right hands, particularly with the black artery, which seemed to be twice as effective as the other arteries in terms of expansion of diameter, durability, and elasticity. it was markedly different from a normal artery.
to put it simply, the strength and control of his right hand had improved by leaps and bounds, allowing him to execute more precise movements.
it was a positive development, and cassius had a hypothesis as to how it had come about.
just as with all radiation, the energy from the meteorite at black rain manor likely caused side effects in the human body, which could potentially lead to mutations. some mutations could be beneficial, although more often than not, they were harmful.
even on the rare occasion that a beneficial mutation might occur amidst a series of harmful ones, the drawbacks usually outweighed the benefits. but cassius had a unique ability—the time-travel ability.
the core function of this golden finger was to retain the benefits cassius gained from training in the time-travel era while eliminating the drawbacks.
this meant all the harmful mutations caused by the radiation energy had been filtered out, leaving only a beneficial, if tiny, mutation. if that was the case, cassius could consider himself fortunate. he couldn't help but let his mind wander.
what if he went into different time-travel eras and repeatedly destroyed black rain manor, subjecting himself to the meteorite's radiation energy multiple times? would his entire body eventually be replaced by beneficial mutations? would he turn into a mutant? a radiation-enhanced human?
as intriguing as the thought was, cassius had no intention of trying it again. firstly, because he doubted he could endure the unbearable pain a second time. the second reason was because of the covert martial arts, which was a discipline that involved strengthening the body and enhancing oneself through martial arts. the training process was universal, meaning that anyone could practice it provided they were healthy and had a natural aptitude for it.
however, if a person's body structure underwent mutations, would there be a difference in practicing covert martial arts? covert martial arts training was highly risky where even a slight deviation could spell danger.
cassius was not overly optimistic about the changes in his arm's artery. but after spending the next half hour performing all his covert martial arts techniques, he found no negative impact which brought him some relief.
if the only benefit was a slight increase in his right-hand strength, but would compromise his covert martial arts, cassius would never have accepted it; the choice between the two was obvious.
five minutes later, setting aside the physical changes, he continued writing in his journal. he outlined his future training plans on the page:
cassius snapped out of his thoughts. he had been unconsciously trying to recall who this person in front of him was, and perhaps he had stared for a bit too long, which wasn't very polite. cassius explained, "yes, there seems to be some gunk in your eyes that you haven't wiped away."
"ah?!"
violet quickly scrubbed at her eyes. vanity was universal, and this was especially true for naturally beautiful girls. to be outside with eye gunk was incredibly embarrassing, particularly in front of her new, stern-faced boss. she carefully checked herself in the rearview mirror.
violet blinked her big, bright eyes, finding no unsightly marks. after checking a bit longer, she realized...
was master wind elephant referring to the beauty mark at the corner of her eye? that wasn't eye gunk!
wait! violet suddenly thought of a serious issue.
could it be that when master wind elephant saw her the first time, he had assumed she hadn't wiped the gunk from her eyes? how horrible! how unfair. the thought of her boss seeing her this way made violet want to cry out in frustration. the beauty mark was meant to be a beautiful feature. how could this be...?
"let's go, i don't have much time," cassius reminded her from the back seat, arms crossed.
"oh, right."
violet started the car. just as she was about to press down on the accelerator, she couldn't help but turn back to cassius. "boss, that's not eye gunk, it's a beauty mark."
a second, then two, then three seconds... there was no response.
"it really is a beauty mark," she insisted. "boss?"
violet turned around fully, only to find that cassius, who had just been speaking, was breathing steadily, with his chest gently rising and falling. his eyes were closed.
he's asleep?! she widened her beautiful eyes. this feeling was torturous, worse than being forced to drink frog urine.
violet, frustrated but not daring to wake cassius, could only vent her emotions by overtaking cars on the road. a journey that should have taken forty minutes took less than twenty.
to be fair, cassius hadn't been pretending to sleep. he was genuinely worn-out. while returning to the real world could cleanse the body, the mind was a different story. the battle between the northern covert martial arts alliance and black rain manor had drained him significantly.
in fact, that final radiation torment had left cassius mentally and physically exhausted. he had truly fallen asleep the moment he got in the car, and before he knew it, he found himself at the train station.
with a resentful look from violet, cassius walked onto the platform. as the train arrived, he grabbed his suitcase and boarded the carriage.
***
two days later, in anta city, a border city of east sea county.
the anta mountains were nearby, and in recent years, they had attracted many tourists. some tour groups even came here specifically to hunt wild boars, turning it into a sort of rural leisure activity.
in an open area between baihua town and the anta forest, a guide led a tour group down a wide mountain path, toward a forest lodge, where they would have lunch. after a short afternoon break, they would visit the spectacular mokarensa waterfall.
most of the tourists were families with many rambunctious children among them. a little girl holding a pinwheel suddenly pointed to the roadside in the distance. "mommy, there's a really tall man standing over there..."
her mother turned to look, but there was nothing at the town's entrance. the sunlight shone on the tender green grass, the area completely empty.
"don't talk nonsense, child, or i'll spank you for lying."
"but annie wasn't lying," the little girl replied, feeling wronged.
"are you trying to scare your mother? no more candy for you today!"
"ah! no, no, annie didn't see anything!"
about a hundred meters away, at a rural crossroads, a tall, black figure stood by the roadside. he stretched out his hand slightly, pushing aside the weeds, revealing a broken bronze pillar beneath.