The battle continued within the Rules Formation.
Monkey Captain Shen was covered in blood, and the mask on his face had been completely shattered. The black demonic ape's phantom behind him had begun to fade, as though it might dissipate at any moment.
"Captain, Xiaorou just stopped breathing..." The voice over his earpiece made Monkey Captain Shen's face grow even darker. His grip on his staff tightened until it creaked.
The deaths of his teammates, one after another, had placed him under immense pressure and filled him with rage. He knew he couldn't defeat these Eerie Monsters, and that even he would die if he let his guard down for a moment.
But behind him were the lights of countless homes!
They were the homes of countless ordinary people, and the place he protected!
His face was deathly pale as he looked at the blood-soaked creature. His hand trembled slightly as he pulled a pitch-black needle from his robes and spoke slowly. "Xiaoche, go wait for me outside. I'm going to use the mixture."
There was a moment of silence over the earpiece...
"Captain..." A thousand words seemed to have lost all meaning. The next moment, several figures, all gravely injured, stepped out onto a nearby rooftop.
They looked in Monkey Captain Shen's direction, each pulling a needle from their robes.
"Captain, we're members of the Twelve Zodiac too. How can we let you have such a good chance to earn merit all to yourself?" The man called Xiaoche smiled, a sniper rifle in one hand.
The voice over the earpiece made Monkey Captain Shen laugh and curse. "You idiots never listen to me!"
Though he cursed them, what he felt more than anything was heartache!
They were all his teammates. He had done worse, pushing everything toward the end of death.
But he, and all of them, were Wuhui. In an instant, they drove the needles in their hands into their own hearts.
The sound of a heartbeat rang out.
It was the beating of the heart in his body. It beat so fiercely that even the dust on the ground around him rose into the air.
"The Ghost-God Needle, the Forbidden Object with the highest death rate, really does live up to its name." Feeling the power erupt within his body in an instant, Monkey Captain Shen's expression grew more savage as he looked at the creature. Everything that had happened had been caused by him.
The burst of power was indeed good, but he needed to bring this sudden surge under control. He was a Withered Sea Realm expert, however, and in just an instant, it settled down.
The figures on the rooftop had also returned to their peak condition.
But the creature seemed somewhat puzzled. Several arms stitched onto his body waved about, and his face, neither human nor ghost, seemed to be crying.
His figure vanished in an instant, and when he reappeared, he was right in front of Monkey Captain Shen.
A bloody, foul stench filled his face.
Bang!
He struck out casually, but Monkey Captain Shen's expression was wild as he blocked the blow with his staff, retreating only a few steps. He could feel the power inside him still growing, as though it was about to break through his limit.
He was already at the Withered Sea Realm. The next realm above it was the Calamity Realm.
Not far away, hidden in the darkness, Blood Charm secretly watched the battle and murmured, "The price of the Ghost-God Needle: strength gained in exchange for potential and life."
"That's truly terrifying. But now it's time to retrieve Pandora's Box."
Just now, the Ninth Seat's voice had sounded in his mind with a new mission.
Retrieve Pandora's Box and take it to Shenzhou City.
But under the current circumstances, how he was going to get close to Pandora's Box had become a problem.
And would monsters like this really stop coming out of Pandora's Box now? He wasn't sure.
"Damn it, should I wait until their reinforcements arrive before making a move?" He dismissed the thought in an instant. Once their reinforcements arrived, what chance would he have left?
"No, I have to act now. While they're fighting that creature, this is the best chance." Blood Charm licked his lips and murmured.
The bone-scraping knife in his hand spun rapidly, flickering across his palm. In an instant, the flesh on his hand fell away piece by piece.
Only a ghastly white skeletal hand remained. Blood Charm's expression was perfectly calm. This was his ability, Bone Controller.
He could use the bones in his own body to connect with other people, and he could also turn bones into weapons.
"This really is art!" Blood Charm looked at his hand, and a flush appeared on his face.
But he soon turned his gaze back to Pandora's Box. His hand instantly stretched out, and the skeletal palm began to grow.
Monkey Captain Shen, who was fighting the creature over there, also detected the aura, but he couldn't break away.
Suddenly, a sound rang out as something cut through the air.
It was Xiaoche. He held his sniper rifle, white smoke rising from its muzzle, and faint black stripes had appeared on his face.
"Cultists!!" Xiaoche gritted his teeth, itching to run over and kill that person right now.
But Blood Charm merely withdrew his struck skeletal hand, his expression somewhat grim. He hadn't expected to be discovered after all.
Looking at his palm, wisps of white smoke rising from it, he sneered. "Forget it. I'll just say Pandora was lost."
He wasn't like Poison Ghost, who could sacrifice himself. He didn't have the heart for that; he just wanted to live well in this world.
His figure quickly vanished as he went into hiding, having lost interest in Pandora's Box.
"Good job!" Monkey Captain Shen, still fighting the creature, smiled as his staff struck with increasing ferocity.
He was fighting by burning his own life and could fall at any moment, but every second he could hold on counted. At the very least, he had to last until the reinforcements arrived!
Outside the formation, the Special Affairs Bureau personnel were beside themselves with anxiety. They could hear the tremendous sounds from within perfectly clearly.
"Shen Monkey Team, keep going! Hold out a little longer!"
A young special agent murmured, his face full of worry.
But suddenly, a pale, strong hand rested on his shoulder, and he slowly turned his head.
A gray-haired man wearing a black trench coat and sunglasses stood beside him.
"Are you an ordinary resident? Go back at once! The Special Affairs Bureau is conducting an operation. Please do not..."
Before he could finish, the man smiled and walked into the formation, his indifferent voice drifting back. "Tell the Magic City Special Affairs Bureau headquarters to transfer money to my account."
As he walked, his figure suddenly vanished.
The agent was dumbfounded. What was going on?
Then a voice came through his earpiece. "All Special Affairs Bureau members, withdraw. The Seventh Sequence has arrived."
"To avoid being caught up in it, withdraw, withdraw!!"