Surrounded

With a thought from Zhao Jin, the space in front of him rippled, and Lu Liang's corpse materialized out of thin air onto the floor.

He looked at Lu Liang's corpse, a strange expression appearing on his face. “After the Butcher was shot dead, he fell to Hell and received the aid of the Demon King. He is also the Demon King's anchor in the mortal realm...”

“Why does this incident feel so familiar?” Inside Ningcheng Hospital, Zhang Yi leaned against his hospital bed.

He had already finished reading through the entire case file. This was the actual account of what had transpired, not the falsified version released to the public.

“Speaking of which, I feel like this case is somewhat familiar too,” Peng Fei said, looking puzzled.

Standing beside them, Wang Pingcheng was also lost in thought. He too felt like he had seen this case somewhere before.

Zhang Yi closed his eyes. This peculiar sense of familiarity made him feel as though he was drawing incredibly close to Zhao Jin's line of thinking.

Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open, looked at Peng Fei and Wang Pingcheng, and said, “The Butcher!”

“What on earth is that?” Wang Pingcheng's face was practically a question mark.

Being on the older side, he knew next to nothing about internet trends and rumors.

“The Butcher? Zhang Yi, are you talking about the Butcher—that creepy monster from the Nanming Kingdom internet rumors?” Peng Fei suddenly stood up.

Zhang Yi's expression shifted rapidly. “Lu Liang's experience is too similar to the Butcher's. In both cases, their families were assaulted and killed, they were counter-sued and taken to court, and in the end, they both snatched a gun, killed the real culprit, and were shot dead.”

“What is he trying to do? But the Butcher you guys are talking about is just an internet rumor, right?” Wang Pingcheng asked, bewildered.

Zhang Yi looked at him, his expression growing increasingly solemn. “If it were an ordinary person, it might just be a coincidence. But is he an ordinary person? Besides, how Lu Liang's case unfolded is identical to the Butcher's. This is absolutely not a coincidence. He did this on purpose!”

“Is he trying to create a Butcher?! But the man is already dead, how could he possibly be resurrected? If he really has that kind of power, the members of the secret investigation team who went in are going to be in deep trouble!” Peng Fei's face fell.

He knew that another major crisis was likely about to unfold in Ningcheng.

Zhang Yi quickly looked at Wang Pingcheng. “Chief Wang, you must have the contact numbers for the secret investigation team members, right? Tell them this immediately, or else something terrible is going to happen!”

Hearing this, Wang Pingcheng quickly pulled out his phone. “I can only contact them via text message. They told me to send all intelligence to a specific email address.”

Seeing this, Zhang Yi had no choice but to pull out his own phone and call Lu Senyu.

The primary objective of the secret investigation team was highly likely to eliminate Zhao Jin, but could such an entity truly be harmed by the ordinary humans of the secret investigation team?

Inside the mall.

Zhao Jin looked at the Butcher, pressed his hand against the corpse, and spoke in a rapid tone, “O Butcher who has fallen to Hell, I hereby summon you to crawl back from the abyss and slaughter every living soul in your sight!”

The Destiny Force in his hand surged into Lu Liang's corpse. To his surprise, the words he spoke began to form golden characters upon Lu Liang's body.

These characters began to exude Destiny Force, its concentration rapidly intensifying.

This was the Destiny Force generated from the rumors spread by countless people across the entire Nanming Kingdom. Now, because of Zhao Jin, it was all converging on Lu Liang's body.

One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, five hundred!

Over five hundred wisps of Destiny Force eventually condensed upon these characters. Zhao Jin had only channeled ten wisps of Destiny Force into Lu Liang's body.

These ten wisps of Destiny Force were merely the catalyst to draw out the Destiny Force associated with the Butcher.

As these forces of destiny manifested, options appeared before Zhao Jin's eyes.

【Destiny's Choice】

Ghoul

Miasma

Uncertainty of Destiny!

An unknown entity crawling out of Hell!

Looking at the fourth option that had appeared, Zhao Jin knew his attempt had been successful.

Without any hesitation, he chose the fourth option.

A powerful gust of wind whipped up out of nowhere in the corner, making Zhao Jin's clothes rustle loudly.

The characters and Destiny Force hovering over Lu Liang all surged into his corpse.

A spatial rift tore open ten centimeters away from Lu Liang's corpse, revealing a crimson expanse within.

A beam of red light shot out from inside, merging into Lu Liang's body.

His body began to transform, growing taller and more muscular.

Seeing this, Zhao Jin turned and walked outside. Time to meet these guests.

This shopping mall was elliptical in shape, with a hollow, circular atrium in the center that allowed one to look all the way down from the fifth floor to the first.

On the first floor below, a large number of personnel armed with rifles filed in, some of whom had already made their way up to the third floor.

Near the first-floor entrance, Zhang Shuling wore a bulky white device over her eyes that resembled night-vision goggles.

The device had built-in night-vision capabilities, but it didn't allow for direct vision. Instead, it captured video footage and projected it onto a screen in front of her eyes, a measure specifically designed to prevent her from being affected by Zhao Jin's Hypnotize ability.

Standing around her was a twenty-man squad, their weapons drawn as they vigilantly guarded her.

“Captain Zhang, Team B has reached the third floor. No sign of the target,” a voice reported through her earpiece.

Zhang Shuling scanned her surroundings and said, “Continue pushing upward. We have surveillance set up outside, and there's no sign of him leaving. He is absolutely still in here.”

“Copy that!” the squad above immediately replied.

They then continued their ascent.

Zhang Shuling looked around the first floor. The space was massive and completely unlit, with piles of construction materials scattered everywhere.

“Are you looking for me?” Suddenly, a voice drifted over from Zhang Shuling's side.

Zhang Shuling's pupils contracted slightly as she whipped her head to the left.

There, sitting on a one-meter-high stack of ceramic tiles, was a young man.

The youth held an open notebook in his hands, his legs crossed as he stared down at the pages.

He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he was surrounded.

“Target is on the left side of the first floor. All units, move into firing positions!” Staring at him—especially that unique aura he exuded—Zhang Shuling was certain this was their target. She barked the order into her earpiece.

A flurry of heavy footsteps echoed as squads materialized all around the first floor, their rifles trained on Zhao Jin.

Some even raised rocket launchers, aiming directly at him.

More footsteps echoed from the second and third floors. Soldiers lined the edges of the atrium, pointing their rifles and sniper rifles down at Zhao Jin.

“Surrender now and come with us, and you might still keep your life! Don't think that just because you've acquired some special abilities, you can stand against the state machinery!” Zhang Shuling stood behind her men, her gaze locked onto Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin didn't even spare her a glance. He simply turned a page in his notebook, his expression serene. “People are always so incredibly certain of what they believe, to the point of obsession. From the very beginning, I have never spared a thought for any of you. Why are you all so eager to rush to your deaths?”

“Hmph, what arrogance. Still talking tough on the brink of death. I'd like to see how exactly you plan to ignore us,” Zhang Shuling sneered, thoroughly provoked by Zhao Jin's arrogance.

“The arrogant ones are not me, but you. You have no idea how foolish you are, attempting to use your limited perception to understand an unknown entity.” Zhao Jin stared down at his notebook, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.