A dusty gray sparrow stood atop a streetlamp, its head tilted as a glimmer of humanity shone within its bead-like green eyes.
The sparrow’s gaze shifted toward the distant hotel, where it could faintly see many blurred, clashing figures.
Then, the sparrow turned its head to look at a spot on the ground several streets away, where a wooden stake had been driven into the earth.
The stake was hammered deep into the ground, guarded by several fully armed men.
The sparrow flapped its wings, circling lazily a few times before using the cover of night to fly toward the stake.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the chaotic battle, one investigator was actually holding off the plush bear by himself.
This investigator was tall and burly with tiny eyes, and his exposed skin had taken on a metallic bluish-black hue.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The plush bear hopped and skipped, landing punch after punch on the investigator. The sounds were like a hammer striking a solid steel ingot.
The small-eyed investigator gritted his teeth, crossing his arms in front of him for protection.
With every punch he took, he felt his organs churn, and a metallic, sweet liquid surged up his throat, which he forcibly swallowed back down.
He didn't dare speak or even take a deep breath. He was terrified that if he showed even a single opening, he would be beaten to death in the next second.
The small-eyed investigator’s heart was filled with regret. Why had he volunteered to hold back this plush bear earlier?
He was the only idiot charging at the very front, while everyone else was dealing with the supernatural creatures that looked relatively weak.
He desperately hoped his teammates would notice his predicament and rush over to share the pressure.
But as far as he could see, the people nearby were turning a blind eye to his precarious situation.
A surge of fury welled up in his heart.
Damn it! No wonder so many veterans at headquarters hate members from the elite families.
Fortunately, Su Qingqian had been closely monitoring the battlefield. She noticed the small-eyed investigator’s ashen face and the blood constantly seeping from the corners of his mouth.
“Everyone, help him! Kill this bear first!” Su Qingqian commanded decisively.
She knew their team couldn't afford any more casualties, and they had to eliminate the variable that was the plush bear as quickly as possible.
Several of the stronger investigators nearby managed to temporarily break away from their supernatural opponents and immediately responded.
Several attacks shifted simultaneously, booming toward the plush bear.
The plush bear, which had held the upper hand, suddenly exposed a small opening—whether intentionally or accidentally.
“Now’s the chance!” An investigator capable of manipulating local gravity seized the moment, pressing his hands downward.
The plush bear felt its entire body grow heavy, its movements becoming sluggish.
Immediately after, a massive force struck its chest.
Thud.
The plush bear was sent flying like a tattered sack, tumbling several times across the ground.
The small-eyed investigator finally got a moment to breathe. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he quickly took out a potion from his pocket and swallowed it, causing his condition to improve rapidly.
He then pointed a finger at the plush bear and roared, “Finish him off in one go! Don't let him get back up!”
Who’s the commander here? Su Qingqian rolled her eyes but said nothing, her movements showing no hesitation.
She took out an eraser.
This eraser was white, very small, and heavily worn at the edges. It was her trump card supernatural object; it could erase anything, though it was a consumable that grew smaller with every use.
She wasn't sure if this little eraser could erase an information lifeform, but it should be enough to cause severe damage.
“Attack together!” Su Qingqian led the charge, rushing toward the plush bear alongside several investigators who were still in good condition.
Su Qingqian was incredibly fast. In just a few leaps, she closed in on the plush bear, swiping the eraser toward its head.
However, the plush bear suddenly catapulted upward with unbelievable speed, evading the lethal erasure.
“Restrain him!” Su Qingqian shouted after her strike missed.
In the team, an investigator with the 【Slowdown Field】 ability activated his power.
A viscous, invisible field descended over the plush bear’s position.
The plush bear looked clumsy, but it was actually very agile as it dodged the field.
“Everyone, I’ll go hold him down! You take the chance to—”
The small-eyed investigator stepped forward again, wanting to direct the battle and prove his worth.
But before he could finish his sentence...
Squelch.
The familiar sound of a skull shattering rang out.
The small-eyed investigator’s already small eyes widened to their limit, his face a mask of disbelief.
The plush bear’s hammer had been confiscated by one of his colleagues. Who was smashing his head now?
As he collapsed to the ground, his final vision was of the female investigator who had taken the hammer, now holding the weapon stained with brain matter and blood.
Her eyes were pitch black with no whites at all, and a stiff smile was stretched across her lips as she indiscriminately attacked her unsuspecting teammates.
“H-How...?” In a state of resentment and confusion, the small-eyed investigator died.
The female investigator with the hammer was immediately swarmed by her teammates as they reacted.
At the same time, a loud tear echoed through the air.
The fabric on the back of the brown bear suit split open, and countless pitch-black chains snaked out.
The chains emitted a foul, ominous aura, aiming for the investigators who specialized in control like living venomous snakes.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Several investigators who couldn't dodge in time were skewered like candied haws by the cursed chains. They didn't even have time to scream before they died on the spot.
“Granting you a painless death is far better than letting you fall into Yue Shi’s hands. I really am merciful,” the Curse Master thought to himself.
Su Qingqian stumbled back in shock, crying out, “You’re not the Ghost at all!”
She had seen the files from Lab 0 and recognized these signature pitch-black chains.
It was the Curse Master!
She wanted to demand why he had betrayed them and why he was working with Yue Shi.
But the words died in her throat.
Asking such things was pointless now.
Since the Curse Master had chosen to stand on the opposite side, they were enemies in a life-or-death struggle.
There was no time for catching up in battle. All questions could wait until after the opponent was defeated.
Moreover, the Curse Master had been a member of the laboratory and knew about the Su family’s disgraceful secrets. If he said something he shouldn't...
At that thought, cold sweat broke out on Su Qingqian’s forehead.
She understood the Ghost’s abilities and weaknesses and had prepared targeted plans in advance.
But she had very little information on the Curse Master.
Even as the eldest miss of the Su family, she only knew that the Curse Master had been brought in by that mysterious old man. As for the origin of that hunched-back old man, she wasn't yet high enough in rank to have access to that information.
The Curse Master was extremely powerful. His previous act as the plush bear had been more like he was just playing with them.
Now, the Curse Master unleashed his true nature. Pitch-black chains danced wildly as various vile curses spread, and he began a true slaughter.
The front line collapsed, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and headquarters fell completely into a disadvantage.
Before the operation, they thought they could end the battle quickly, coasting behind The Executioner and cheering from the sidelines while waiting to claim the glory.
But now, they were all struggling just to survive.
There was one more thing that made Su Qingqian feel quite uneasy.
Where was the real Ghost?
...
On the other side, Yue Shi was constantly blinking around, using his scalpel to carve wound after wound into The Executioner’s back.
The damage wasn't great, but it was incredibly insulting.
Rrip.
Another slice.
“I carved the word ‘Scum’ on your back. Do you like it?” Yue Shi asked in a deeply irritating tone.
“You’ve gone too far!”
The Executioner let out a roar, spinning around to throw a punch, but he hit nothing but air.
Yue Shi appeared on his other side, sneering with disdain. “I am a mentor who understands human nature perfectly. There’s no need to pretend in front of me.”
“I can tell that you’re actually enjoying this!”
“You crave being humiliated in public. You want to be publicly executed. You can't wait to be a slave for all your teammates...”
“Shut up!” The Executioner shouted in humiliation, violent power erupting from within his body!
He revealed a portion of his Transcendent Form.
Everything below his waist began to blur, eventually turning into countless phantoms of execution tools covered in dark red rust.
Guillotines, iron maidens, nooses, branding irons... It was as if he were perpetually enduring torture, a physical manifestation of the concept of execution itself.
“【Heavenly Punishment: Earth Tremor】!”
The Executioner let out a judgmental roar, slamming both fists into the ground.
Vwoom!!
An indescribable, terrifying vibration erupted violently with him as the center!
Not only was the earth shaking violently, but even the air around them began to vibrate at a high frequency.
Visible ripples of sound waves expanded outward.
Pop. Pop.
Several supernatural creatures that were too close were vibrated into pieces instantly.
This area-of-effect destructive strike did not spare the people from headquarters either.
Several investigators who were already in poor condition or were too close were left bleeding from their eyes and ears, losing control of their bowels as they were stripped of their combat capability.
The black aura surrounding the Curse Master was shaken apart, and the tattered plush bear suit shattered completely, revealing his withered true form.
Su Qingqian also groaned, nearly spitting out blood as she hurriedly activated a defensive accessory.
And this was merely the aftershock of The Executioner’s attack. Most of the power was concentrated on Yue Shi’s position.
Broad wings unfurled from Yue Shi’s back, wrapping tightly around him.
Rumble.
The continuous vibrations slammed solidly against the wings.
A large number of demon feathers broke and fell, dissipating into the air.
With overwhelming brute force, the strength of a Bureau captain was displayed to its fullest.
Before the vibrations had even fully subsided, The Executioner charged in front of Yue Shi.
The branding knife in his hand stabbed straight toward Yue Shi’s brow.
“So your Transcendent Form is a bird. I thought it would be a turtle,” The Executioner mocked, trying to regain some dignity as his hands didn't stop moving.
But no matter how he attacked, Yue Shi was always one step ahead in dodging.
The branding knife repeatedly grazed the edges of Yue Shi’s clothes but could never truly touch him.
Yue Shi smiled provocatively, firing back, “Your Transcendent Form is actually execution tools? I thought it would be some rotten, stinking slut...”
Before he could finish the sentence...
The Executioner’s eyes flashed with sharp light as he attacked with zero startup frames.
【Heavenly Punishment: Lightning Strike】!
Crack!
A terrifying bolt of purple-black lightning crashed down from above Yue Shi’s head without any warning.
In the nick of time, Yue Shi’s body dodged toward the rear side in a posture that nearly defied the laws of physics.
Boom!
The lightning grazed the edge of his body and struck the ground, leaving a charred, deep crater. The air was ionized, smelling of ozone.
His long hair stood on end, turning into a comical afro.
“Impressive. You almost got me.” Yue Shi smoothed his long hair, his gaze growing a bit more solemn.
The Executioner said coldly, “Don't take others for fools.”
During the previous exchanges, he had deduced from certain details that the golden vertical eye on Yue Shi’s forehead could likely perceive his actions.
That series of rapid, stormy attacks and verbal provocations were all meant to numb Yue Shi, forcing him to concentrate his attention on close-quarters combat to create the conditions for 【Heavenly Punishment: Lightning Strike】 to hit its mark.
Unfortunately, the move had still failed.
The smile faded from Yue Shi’s face as he tucked the scalpel away.
“Alright, you’ve been on the offensive this whole time. Now, it’s my turn.”
The Executioner’s heart skipped a beat!
What did he mean?
Could it be that Yue Shi hadn't used his full strength until now?
Before he could think further, Yue Shi’s figure vanished from his sight!
In the next second, a surge of intense pain came from his back, as if his entire spine was being crushed.
The skin over The Executioner’s heart was torn open. The wound was deep enough to see bone, and the flesh was rotting and oozing pus, emitting a foul stench.
“Ah!”
A scream rang out.
It wasn't The Executioner who screamed; such pain was child’s play to him.
The scream came from the other side of the battlefield.
The Executioner endured the intense pain and turned his head to look.
He saw the Curse Master, who had revealed his true form, acting exceptionally ferocious. Pitch-black chains swept across the battlefield as various curses spread, and many investigators had fallen.
Su Qingqian was also in a wretched state, facing one close call after another.
There were far more corpses lying on the ground than living people standing!
The Executioner’s eyes widened, truly growing anxious. His heart was bleeding.
These people had been pushed into the Bureau by the various elite families. If so many of them died while following him on an operation...
How could he explain this when he went back!
Yue Shi glanced into the distance before quickly turning back, his expression sinister. “You still have the mind to worry about others? You’d better consider whether you can survive first.”
As his voice fell, a sudden change occurred.
It wasn't a direct attack from Yue Shi, but rather the environment itself changing!
Under the horrified gazes of everyone present, the scene before them began to wildly twist, invert, and scramble.
The earth was kneaded at will.
The hotel building beside them tilted and folded, its front and back sides appearing on the same side of their vision.
The distant streets shattered and reorganized, and the boundary between the sky and the ground became blurred and indistinct...
Labyrinth!
Yue Shi was no longer satisfied with small-scale spatial manipulation; he had completely turned the nearby area into a vast, complex reality labyrinth with no exit!
“What’s happening?”
“Captain! Commander Su! Where are you?”
Cries of alarm and screams echoed one after another.
The remaining personnel from headquarters, the supernatural creatures and out-of-control transcendents still struggling, and even the rampaging Curse Master—all of their figures vanished into thin air, randomly scattered into different corners of this massive labyrinth.
In just a few seconds, the originally noisy and chaotic battlefield suddenly fell into a dead silence.
The Executioner stood where he was, looking around in shock.
Yue Shi had vanished.
The Curse Master had vanished.
Su Qingqian and all the other people, living or dead, had all vanished.
He was the only one left, standing lonely in this constantly shifting space.
His sense of direction was completely scrambled. The ground beneath his feet was sometimes hard and sometimes soft.
The sky above was kaleidoscopic and bizarre.
For the first time, a look of bewilderment and helplessness appeared on The Executioner’s face.
“What is going on? Where did everyone go?”
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