The Ultimate Evolution
chapter-959

"This fire is really fierce," mumbled Sheyan to himself. As he did that, he realised that his lips were very stiff. He had been in high latitude places before so he knew what had happened.

He touched his face and immediately felt some hard, stabbing sensation on his lips and nostrils. His breath had frozen into icicles right after leaving his body. A thick layer of frost had also formed on his hair, turning hard enough to emit a thumping sound when he knock on his head. When he moved his limbs, he could hear the sound of ice cracking.

"Seems like the Blood Sensing isn't here yet, or else those guys would have pounced here like dogs."

Sheyan loosened his body a little, then stood up. The first few steps he took were very unsteady but he gradually got better. He stepped over the cold fish and ice blocks on the steel floor towards the control room of the cold storage, and pushed the thick door open.

The sea breeze instantly spread a soft warmth over Sheyan's exposed skin. The night sky was the colour of black swan velvet, full of stars, sparkling and blinking. Sheyan took in the beautiful scenery for a few seconds. Right when he was about to leave, his foot suddenly kicked something that was frozen stiff. He picked it up to take a look and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:

"These guys are so lucky! They even caught something like this."

The "thing" turned out to be an eel that looked very ordinary, but had more than a dozen hard spikes on its back, giving it the appearance akin to a general in armour. This kind of eel was nicknamed "feral dog eel". They were very ferocious and domineering, consuming everything they set their sights on. They were the overlords among eels and were very rare.

He had heard that top-class grilled eels in Japanese cuisine must be prepared with feral dog eels, which were often chosen as an offering in the yearly ritual conducted by the Japanese Emperor. A feral dog eel such as the one in Sheyan's hand could easily sell for seventy to eighty thousand US dollars.

It's been more than 10 years since Sheyan last had a feral dog eel. He was immensely tempted by it. He searched around the boat and found several first aid kits, then proceeded to get the cotton out. He then took the bottle of whiskey from the drunkard, used the whiskey to start a fire, and started grilling the eel.

The eel lived in sea water so it had a natural salty taste and thus required no additional flavouring. The key lay in the control of heat during the grilling process. The feral dog eel gradually thawed in the heat and turned a golden colour. The eel was soon covered in a layer of oil; it looked extremely appetising. Oil dripped onto the flame below, making it crackle.

Sheyan carefully observed the skin of the eel and watched oil seep out of it as it was heated. The white flesh inside was exposed when the skin began to crack. Just as the skin started to roll up, he immediately put out the fire. If he had just grilled for a few more seconds, the part of the skin that had curled up would be charred. The burnt taste would undoubtedly destroy the flavour. He must stop the grilling at exactly the right time.

Sheyan bit down without paying any heed to how hot the eel was. His teeth felt like they had bit into the most tender jelly in the world, but the sensation on his tongue was of the rich oily taste of the tender white meat. If he gently pushed with the tip of his tongue, he thought he could even feel the delicate meat tremble.

There was no real need to chew. With just a roll of his tongue, the flesh dissolved and separated from the eel. After he swallowed the meat, the desire to have more would assault his mind without giving him the chance to slowly dwell on the taste.....

The captain only noticed that the most valuable harvest of their trip had disappeared when the crew unloaded the cargo two days later. To be exact, the edible part of it had disappeared with only the bones left....but it wasn't all bad news. On top of the eel bones was a small bag of diamonds. That was something Sheyan picked up along the way from the jewelry store on the shore. The diamonds were useless to him since they couldn't be brought of this world, but they were more than enough to compensate for the eel.

　　*************

Sheyan had began his attempt to go to Manhattan once again.

After confronting the Cardinal, Sheyan had gained some experience and had also found some weaknesses in the Cardinal's attack.

First of all, the Cardinal's attack follows the principle of the seven deadly sins, and it was likely that the power of the attack corresponded to the severity of the sin committed. Otherwise, why would the Cardinal need to read the memories of Aziz and himself? The Cardinal probably did that to look for the sins they had committed before, then launched an attack targeting those sins.

A cold, stony fellow like Aziz didn't seem to be very picky with his food, so the Cardinal did not condemn him for gluttony. Meanwhile, Sheyan wasn't that active sexually, so he wasn't burned by fire and brimstone.....

Which was to say, if he had continued fighting with the Cardinal on that day, the degree of the Cardinal's attack was likely to get weaker and weaker. Because his other sins were light, his punishments for them should be light too!

However, Sheyan's body still carried the imprints of the sin of gluttony and the sin of wrath.These imprints were called the mark of the sinner and could only be removed once he return to the realm. Sheyan's military rank did not possess enough authority to check what they did, but there's no way they're anything good.

Sheyan guessed that if he was branded with all seven sins, something very, very violent would happen.....

"Whatever. My mission is not to defeat him," Sheyan shook his head with a sigh and comforted himself. His eyes only dimmed slightly before they regained the usual confidence.

"And since that guy likes to read other people's memories so much, maybe I'll have a chance! "

Just then, the public phone on the street corner which Sheyan happened to walk past, suddenly rang. Sheyan ignored it and kept walking.

But when he passed by another public phone, that phone rang instead.

Sheyan's pupils constricted slightly, but he still chose not to pick it up.

When he passed by the third public phone and the phone rang again, Sheyan pondered over it carefully and finally decided to answer the phone. Aziz's voice transmitted over from the receiver.

"It's me. I'm contacting you through K's help. I'm sorry that I have to contact you in this manner."

Sheyan smiled and said:

"It's ok. What's the matter?"

Aziz said in his usual hoarse voice:

"My current situation... is quite complicated. When I tried to force my way in, a large number of people appeared and attacked me. I suffered a heavy loss.

Sheyan nodded and said.

"I know, I realised it as soon as I managed to escape to safety. They all went after you so the pressure on my side was relatively small."

Aziz's voice sounded forced as he said:

"My current predicament is like a gambler who's lost most of his chips. The only thing I've got that can turn the situation around is the reward from the Golden Side Mission. That's why I can no longer join you in attacking the Morgan Financial Center in Manhattan."

Sheyan remained silent for a moment before he said.

"I understand. You're going to the No.17 subway station in Brooklyn, right? All the best. I'll definitely return alive myself."

Aziz said with some difficulty:

"With my current situation, even the No. 17 subway station in Brooklyn is too difficult for me. That's why I need to know when you will attack the Morgan Financial Center."

Sheyan grasped the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. If Aziz could not attack the Morgan Financial Center with him, the pressure Sheyan had to face would be several times heavier than before! But not only could Aziz not help, he also needed to know Sheyan's time of operation, which means that he needed Sheyan to attract all the attention of the enemies to cover for him!

Honestly, this request had far exceeded the relationship level between the two! Even the relationship between Sheyan and Zi currently was not close enough to make a request like this. The only one qualified to make such a request of Sheyan was Reef, who had a 'Life-link' with him and had gone through multiple life and death situations with him!

But at the moment, Sheyan's interests were tied together with Aziz's. Either of their death would mean the failure of the Golden Side Mission. Sheyan also knew very well that someone as arrogant as Aziz would never make such a request unless he's really at his wit's end.

The street lamp beside Sheyan dragged his shadow on the ground long and thin. Sheyan quietly held the receiver for a long time before he broke the silence again. He said in a faint voice:

"You owe me one, Aziz. If I succeed, you will owe me three favours."

Aziz was silent for a short moment and replied in that chilly, monotonous tone of his:

"If you succeed, I only owe you two favours."

Sheyan calmly said:

"Deal. I will challenge the Cardinal again in an hour and ten minutes. Got that?"

The dial tone transmitted over from the receiver. Aziz had already hung up. He was still as cold as a stone - a stone retrieved from a cesspit.

Sheyan walked into a nearby convenience store, rubbed his hands and ordered a cup of instant coffee. He stirred up a lot of bubbles in the coffee before he took a sip, then closed his eyes and listened to the sound of countless small bubbles bursting on his tongue. As he did that, he gradually calmed down. After he finished the cup of coffee, he strode back into Manhattan. He was currently wearing a black windbreaker and a thick grey scarf. With his head slightly drooping, he looked no different from an office worker returning from an overtime shift having just taken a scolding from his boss.

When Sheyan was a kilometer away from the Morgan Financial Center, the suit-clad Cardinal once again appeared in Sheyan's sight, as if Sheyan had somehow set off an alarm which alerted him. The Cardinal's eyes were as cold and desolate as the craters on the moon. Only when his eyes fell on Sheyan did a fiery heat gush out from within like an erupting volcano.

"Heathen! Atone for your sins with your screams and your blood!"