Absolute Cheater - Chapter 550
Capítulo 550: Anomaly III
Asher didn’t stay to watch the place collapse.
Once the last soul fragment dispersed, the structure had no purpose left. Without the collector controlling it, the systems would shut down on their own.
He walked back through the settlement. People were already coming out of their homes, confused and uneasy. The pressure that had been hanging over the valley was gone.
No one stopped him.
By the time he reached the edge of the valley, the sun was fully up.
Asher paused and looked back once.
“This wasn’t a lone operation,” he said. “Just one branch.”
The symbol was gone, but the method remained. Someone had funded this. Someone had planned it carefully.
He turned and headed toward the nearest road.
The Association would want a report. More importantly, they would want to know one thing.
That a collector had been confirmed.
And that Asher had crossed paths with something larger than a single mission.
“This changes the scale,” he said quietly.
He adjusted his gear and continued walking.
The hunt wasn’t over.
It had just moved to the next level.
Asher reached the road before noon.
It was a real trade route, with tracks from carts and boots pressed into the dirt. Normal traffic. Normal life. That told him something important.
The collectors had stayed hidden. They avoided places that drew attention.
He followed the road until he reached a transport point and activated it without delay.
Moments later, he stepped out inside the Association grounds.
This time, he didn’t go to the normal task desk.
He went to a sealed counter marked Restricted Reports.
The clerk there looked up, alert immediately. “Authorization?”
Asher placed the death token and the clearance badge on the counter.
The clerk stiffened and nodded. “Understood. Speak.”
Asher gave a clear report. No exaggeration. No speculation. Just facts.
Handlers using constructs. Soul fragments taken before death. A hidden facility. A masked operator acting independently but following a larger system.
When he finished, the clerk was silent for a long moment.
“…A confirmed collector,” the clerk said slowly. “That escalates this beyond local authority.”
“Good,” Asher replied. “Then treat it that way.”
The clerk activated a sealed crystal and recorded the final note. “This will be forwarded to the upper council. They don’t like hearing this kind of news.”
Asher didn’t react. “They needed to.”
The clerk looked at him carefully. “If this group moves again, it won’t be small.”
“I know,” Asher said. “That’s why I’m not stopping.”
The clerk hesitated. “You’ll be watched after this.”
Asher turned away from the counter. “They already were.”
He left the building and stepped back into the city.
Everything looked the same as before. People walked. Shops were open. Nothing showed what had just been uncovered.
Asher headed back to his lodging, calm and focused.
Someone out there was still collecting.
And now they knew he existed.
When they made their next move, Asher would be ready.
Asher returned to his lodging and closed the door behind him.
He set his gear down and sat at the table. This time, he didn’t rest. He started planning.
The collector wasn’t acting alone. That much was clear. The handlers, the constructs, the hidden site—all of it required money, knowledge, and protection.
“That means an organization,” Asher said.
And organizations made mistakes.
He took out a blank report slate and began listing what he knew.
Soul fragments taken before death.
Remote handling through constructs.
Hidden sites near minor trade routes.
Careful enough to avoid rulers.
Confident enough to repeat the method.
“They’re testing limits,” he said.
Not just stealing. Measuring responses.
Asher closed the slate and stood.
If the Association escalated this, collectors would change tactics. They would go deeper. Or move faster.
Either way, people would die.
He stepped outside again and headed back toward the Association, this time toward a different wing.
The information exchange hall.
This was where independent operatives shared rumors, black-market sightings, and unconfirmed movements. Most of it was noise. Some of it wasn’t.
Asher entered and scanned the room.
He didn’t need to ask loudly.
He walked to a private terminal, placed his clearance badge down, and requested access to recent anomaly reports involving “soul instability” and “unclaimed deaths.”
The system paused.
Then approved.
Asher began reading.
Missing prisoners.
Collapsed cult cells with drained remains.
Border villages reporting people dying without visible wounds.
Different regions. Same result.
Asher leaned back slightly.
“They’re expanding,” he said.
Not one collector.
Several.
And someone above them coordinating it all.
Asher logged out and left the hall.
This was no longer a hunt for a single enemy.
It was preparation for a network.
He looked up at the sky, calm and steady.
“Alright,” he said. “Then I’ll dismantle it piece by piece.”
He turned and walked away, already choosing his next target.
The collectors had made their move.
Now it was Asher’s turn.
Asher didn’t rush.
He returned to his lodging and sat down again, this time with a clearer goal. Hunting blindly would waste time. If this was a network, then it had weak points.
“No group like this survives without support,” he said.
He reviewed the reports again, slower this time.
The places affected had one thing in common. They were all near borders. Not major cities. Not places ruled directly by powerful figures.
Areas where authority was thin.
“They’re operating where response time is slow,” Asher said.
That told him where to look next.
Not the collectors themselves.
Their supply lines.
He marked three locations on his slate. All were transport hubs used by traders moving between regions. All had recent reports of disappearances or strange deaths.
Asher stood and packed light.
“I’ll start here,” he said, tapping the first mark.
Before leaving, he sent a short notice through the Association system. Not a full mission request. Just an alert.
Confirmed collector network active.
Independent investigation ongoing.
Will report confirmed nodes.
That was enough. Anyone paying attention would understand.
Asher left the city before nightfall.
The road ahead was long, but clear.
The collectors thought they were hidden. Thought they were careful.
They were wrong.
Asher walked forward without hesitation.
This time, he wasn’t reacting.
He was hunting first.