Under a crooked peach tree in the suburbs of Ruihe City.
The peach tree branches were grasped by several strange, Ghost Hands. The Ghost Hands were bluish-black, with only one-third of their flesh and bones remaining, the rest replaced by wood.
The branches clung to the Ghost Hand, and pale red petals kept falling, trying to completely Ghost Hand and transform it.
However, the number of Ghost Hands continued to increase, gradually gaining the upper hand. The Ghost Hands fiercely pierced the tree trunk, and the original wood was slowly eroded into a dark metallic texture.
"One two three..."
Hu Jiu sat comfortably atop a street lamp, sketching and writing on a map.
People came and went around him, but no one seemed to see him.
He marked all the cities where the Supernatural Peach Blossoms had erupted, then connected them with lines, eventually forming a nearly circular pattern.
The center of the circle is Ruihe City.
He marked several special locations with an "X," Zhao Tingting stood under the streetlights, neither caring nor paying attention to what he was doing.
His phone suddenly vibrated; it was a message from Headquarters.
Hu Jiu glanced at the message and raised an eyebrow. Headquarters had issued a notice that reinforcements would arrive soon, and he was to wait in place for their cooperation.
"Wait here?" Hu Jiu's expression instantly turned terrifying and sinister.
At Ruihe City Airport, No. 52 disembarked from the plane carrying a bag.
He was wearing a mask, so his expression was unreadable. He was accompanied by two other Executor, No. 44 and No. 46.
The relationship between the group seemed cold; they didn't exchange a single word throughout the entire meeting.
No. 52's gaze fell upon a transport plane in the distance. The plane's hatch was already open, and its contents had been hauled away.
But No. 52 could sense the eerie, Supernatural power lingering on the transport plane... the statue of the Deathbird!
The Death-Announcing Bird Statue is one of the Administration's top Supernatural Items. Judging from the size of that transport plane, it probably contains more than just the Death-Announcing Bird Statue; there may be other things inside as well.
"Even this thing has been brought here, does this mean a new cataclysmic disaster has been born?"
No. 52 frowned. As the lowest-ranking member of the Administration, he had always disliked the strange organization he was in.
They talk about saving the world all day long, but they don't actually do anything. They just keep capturing World-Ending Level, terrifying Fierce Ghosts in each time Rollback, keeping the humans of this world living in the past forever.
No. 52 originally intended to use this operation to fake his death, escape to another world, avoid the next few Rollbacks, and eventually be forgotten.
But with even the Deathbird being mobilized, the situation becomes somewhat complicated.
He will very likely die from the indiscriminate attacks of the Deathbird, and in the next Rollback, everything will have to start all over again.
Outside the airport, a private car picked them up and took them to a specific location.
All action plans were pre-determined by their superiors; they didn't need to understand the details, they only needed to follow orders.
After the car had been driving for more than ten minutes, No. 52 suddenly opened his eyes. There was a violent, Supernatural fluctuation coming from not far ahead, as if a fierce conflict had taken place.
The group immediately jumped out of the car and headed to the scene of the conflict. They saw that the transport vehicle carrying the Death-Announcing Bird Statue had overturned, and the Golden Container holding the statue was lying on the ground. Countless tree roots intertwined around it, and peach blossoms bloomed.
The Death-Announcing Bird Statue, placed in Golden Container, had no effect. The driver responsible for transporting the statue had been killed and turned into fertilizer. No. 52 and the others had to provide emergency support. They frantically fought against the surrounding peach blossoms, but it was of little use, and they were soon overwhelmed.
The troublesome nature of those peach blossoms far exceeded their expectations. Neither stopping time nor returning to the past could completely change the situation, because there were too many peach blossoms and they could not find their source. Even if they temporarily avoided the entanglement of the peach blossoms and took other routes, they would soon be found by them again.
The enemy seemed to know their trump card and planned to ambush them on the way.
Just then, an impatient voice rang out. "This thing is too troublesome to deal with. Let's release the Deathbird statue from the goldware!"
The one speaking is number 46.
Another Executor, #44, objected. "No, the moment the Death-Announcing Bird Statue is released, everyone around it will die. If the statue cannot be retrieved in time, its resurrection will only lead to even more terrifying consequences!"
Number 46 said impatiently, "Those peach blossoms were only after the statue. Once they wear us down, the statue will fall into the enemy's hands. If the enemy gains such a thing and becomes powerful, that will be a truly catastrophic disaster!"
Listening to the conversation between his two companions, No. 52 quietly retreated.
Seeing that the team was about to be wiped out, Number 46 finally couldn't resist and opened the container holding the Death-Announcing Bird Statue.
The next second, all the eerie peach blossoms around them withered away.
No. 52 had already taken off running, firmly Deathbird: it cannot Observation in any way, cannot be heard, cannot be smelled, cannot be recalled in the mind, and must not be touched or approached.
Even if none of the above rules are violated, getting too close to the Deathbird will result in being indiscriminately killed.
No. 52, who ran fast, barely survived. His body below the neck was necrotic, but it wasn't a serious problem. He could continue to move by relying on Supernatural powers.
Those who were a step too slow and remained at the scene met with terrible misfortune. Except for the quick-thinking number 44 who managed to sneak into the gold bag, everyone else died, their bodies and souls completely obliterated.
The Deathbird was sealed inside the statue, but from the moment the statue emerged from the gold artifact, tiny cracks appeared on it, and within half a minute, it showed signs of revival.
"Something's wrong!" Number 44, hiding in the Golden Container, was shocked. He heard the sound of the statue shattering. This was very abnormal. According to the Administration's usage records, the Death-Announcing Bird Statue should last at least 3 minutes before showing signs of revival. Why had it revived so quickly?
He could already faintly hear the mournful cry, like a blood-curdling wail. When the Deathbirds were fully revived, they would multiply from a single bird into a flock and increase infinitely at an extremely rapid pace. At that time, he would be trapped in the golden bag and wait to die.
The peach blossoms had all fallen, and the surrounding peach trees had withered as well. Among the countless dead branches and fallen leaves, a severed hand lay silently in place, its scarlet eye staring at the Death-Announcing Bird Statue. But the eye remained motionless, like a dead ornament.
At the same time, Hu Jiu, who was sitting on a street lamp in Ruihe City writing and drawing, suddenly closed his eyes and began to fall freely.