The Highest Bounty

It was obviously not Bart’s first time doing such a thing because by the feeling he felt with his hands, he knew that Saber’s heart had been pierced for sure.

Even Rank-10’s with advanced regenerative abilities would not be able to survive under such circumstances.

Bart pulled the saber out and blood flowed out from the wound on Sharp’s chest. After returning the saber to its sheath, Bart placed the saber in his Inventory and then turned around before he strode off.

Bart exited the mall entrance, and with a few leaps, he disappeared.

At the port, Walter was stunned. He had watched everything unfold in front of his eyes.

Sharp was dead. It meant that Biggie and Bart, who had killed Sharp, no longer had anyone that could rival their strength. The mission had ended in a completete fiasco.

Walter stared at the video that was still live. He waited for a few minutes or so, hoping that a miracle would happen. Nevertheless, nothing happened and Walter lowered his head in defeat as he dialed Emily’s contact number.

Emily’s voice was heard over the communicator. “Walter, what’s the matter?”

“Senior Sharp...” Walter was still staring aimlessly at the screen when he suddenly saw Sharp’s body move a little. He stopped halfway-words stuck in his throat-his eyes became glued to the screen.

“Hey, what’s wrong with Sharp?

“Hey, say something...

“That’s weird. There’s nothing wrong with the signal. Why is there suddenly no sound?”

Emily’s voice kept coming over the communicator. Nevertheless, Emily hung up the call after a while as she did not receive a reply.

Sharp who was on the screen seemed to be motionless. Walter wondered if what he had seen earlier was his eyes playing tricks on him. Right then, Emily walked over. “What were you talking about...”

While Emily was talking, her eyes so happened to glance over the video projection that was in front of Walter. From the projection, she could see Sharp lying motionless on the floor with blood all over his chest. She covered her mouth incredulously. After a while, she asked, “Sharp is dead?”

“I think I saw him move just now...” Walter said with a little hesitation.

“Sharp never awakened such an ability. He’s dead. He won’t come back to life!” Emily’s face was stone cold. She and Sharp had known each other for nearly ten years. Although not on familiar terms, they had worked together for ten years. Hence, Emily found it difficult to accept Sharp’s sudden death. “Why didn’t you notify me when Sharp was at a disadvantage? I may not have reached in time but there had to be at least a chance for him to be rescued. Do you know how much the Federal Government will suffer because of the loss of a general?”

“Bart set a trap in that building, I was worried that you’d go in and...” Emily interrupted Walter before he could finish.

“Do you really think that Rank-7 Gene Body called Bart would’ve been able to handle two Army generals at the same time?” Emily retorted. “Or was it within your thoughts that I would surely die as well?”

After a bit of scolding, Emily was about to say something when she saw Sharp slowly get up in the video. She instantly froze.

Walter, who had his back turned to the projection, turned his head after seeing her expression. Then, he alongside Emily saw Sharp trying to slowly prop himself up in the video. As for the wound Sharp had in his chest, it began to heal quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the mall, Sharp slowly got up and looked around in a daze. The only thing he could remember was him being hit by Bart’s weird move and his body suddenly becoming heavy. At the end of it all, he could not move and the world was in complete darkness for him.

That was when a blade suddenly thrust itself into that completely dark world, and a subtle ray of light was seen. Sharp had tried his best to push through a gap made by the crack before he barely managed to escape from the darkness.

The moment he woke up, he felt that his chest was heavy. Then, he was hit with an unfathomable throbbing pain coming from his heart. However, the feeling unexpectedly got him to develop a new understanding of swordsmanship.

He screened his body with his intelligent smartwatch.

Name: Sharp

Gender: Male

Age: 43

Occupation: Federation Army Soldier

Rank: General

Gene Level: Rank-11

Special Ability: Knife Heart

Ability Description: Able to instantly understand everything about a sword, including its battle techniques and sentiments regarding each swordmaster from the past, even each and every battle scene concerning it.

Other Abilities: Ten Stars Swordsman

Highest Capture Reward: 130 Million Universe Credits

Upon looking at his body’s latest stats, Sharp was a little stunned. He had somehow leveled up to a Rank-11 Gene Body and learned a special ability that every swordsman dreamed of having-Knife Heart. Even his own understanding of swordsmanship had managed to hit level Ten Stars Swordsman. It could be said that his strength had improved greatly.

Sharp looked around for a while and could not find his saber-he guessed that Bart had probably taken it away. Nevertheless, he was calm. Even without his saber, his combat effectiveness was no longer the same as before. Besides, he was not in a hurry to seek revenge on Bart. At the time at hand, consolidating his strength was far more important. A series of sentiments on swordsmanship suddenly flashed through his mind, making him eager to start training.

After making sure that Sharp was alright from the video, Emily dialed Sharp’s contact number.

Sharp glanced down at his wristwatch. He and Emily had known each other for many years, yet Emily had never dialed his number before. He presumed that it was something important and immediately answered the call. “Emily, what’s the matter?”

“Looks like you’re alright. Come back quickly and let the army doctor check you out.” Emily felt relieved after hearing that Sharp’s voice was normal.

“Is there anything else? I’ll be back soon!” Sharp glanced down at his bloodied clothes. Then, he shook his head and quickly left the mall.

Gu Ding and his crew had witnessed Sharp’s resurrection.

“How did he suddenly come back to life?” Liliath was a little confused. “Bart pierced his heart for sure. He doesn’t have any regenerative abilities, not to mention abilities to resurrect.”

“I only noticed his gene level advance. As for the rest, I’m not too sure. Nevertheless, generally speaking, that itself should not have been adequate to bring him back to life.” Neptune was also a little puzzled. “The only explanation is that his promotion this time gave him some ability similar to resurrection, or the demigod item has a few special effects and it gave him the ability to regenerate. No matter what, the guy has come back to life. Not only has he come back to life, he’s even stronger than before. It isn’t good news for us.”

Sharp, who had returned to the port, did not feel depressed for being defeated. After a few examinations by the army doctor, results showed that all his body functions were normal. What surprised Emily and Walter more was that there were no scars on his chest.

“How do you feel?” Emily looked at Sharp skeptically. Sharp used to have a bad temper, even a little cranky. He was usually not this calm whenever he lost a fight. Nevertheless, Emily could tell with her eyes that Sharp was not faking his calmness, it was genuine.

“Better than ever.” Sharp looked at both his hands and gave a weird answer.

“What the hell happened?” Emily felt that things were a little strange. “We clearly saw that you were dead...”

“I was dead?” Sharp was a little confused when he heard her. “I only remember that my body began to feel heavy and I slowly sank into darkness.”

“Walter, bring up the video of the fight and let him see it for himself,” Emily yelled at Walter who was not too far away.

Walter immediately projected the video. The length of the video was less than twenty minutes, but its image was clear.

Sharp’s eyebrows furrowed slightly when he saw himself wrapped in a black cocoon that slowly penetrated his body. Then, he saw the next scene-that guy Bart took his saber and thrust it into his heart.

The video playback fell silent after Bart left. Then, after nearly twenty minutes, Sharp saw himself get up slowly as the wound in his chest began to heal. He himself could not believe it.

Sharp shook his head, somewhat puzzled. “I have no recollection of what happened after I was sealed by his formation. I just remembered that I was surrounded by darkness. Then, I saw a knife pierce through it as it tore the dark environment apart. With that gap, I used my strength and managed to escape. Afterward, I saw an open wound on my chest, but the wound quickly began to heal at a weird speed without leaving a trace.

“Also, there’s good news. I leveled up to a Rank-11 Gene Body,” Sharp said before he announced the good news that cheered Walter and Emily up. “Moreover, my understanding of swordsmanship has also hit the next level. Although Bart has taken my saber, my strength has improved greatly. I plan to sustain my strength thorough the next few days. Both of you will have to take over the mission.”

“But...”

Walter seemed as if he wanted to say something, but Emily interrupted him and said, “Got it, I’ll give you up to three days. Take this time to consolidate it. We won’t contact you unless something urgent happens. Even if Biggie or Bart reappears, I’ll take care of them.”

Sharp only smiled faintly. “Be careful if you meet Bart. That guy is very good at manipulation. I underestimated him and failed terribly. However, he won’t be so lucky the next time I meet him. As for Biggie-if there’s any news, let me know right away. Validating my sword technique with him will probably be better than practicing vigorously behind closed doors.”

“Alright, for the sake of your resurrection, I’ll leave Biggie to you.” Emily agreed even though she was a little reluctant.

“Other than Gu Ding’s crew, the others hid really well-basically choosing places without any surveillance. Tomorrow morning, we plan to start searching those areas with little to no surveillance, it could prove to be fruitful.”