Above Ruihe City, various Supernatural auras collided, invisible smoke filled the air, and a suffocating sense of urgency permeated the atmosphere.
Hu Jiu's true form had long since fled, leaving only one eyeball to act as a camera, secretly observing.
At first he was wary, then gradually his wariness turned into doubt, and finally his doubt turned into disbelief.
Originally, it was thought that this would be an extremely fierce battle, with three top Executor ganging up on and knocking down a giant peach tree.
What did Hu Jiu see?
The Time Management Bureau's No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 are undoubtedly the elite of the elite, each possessing unique skills and astonishing combat power.
Logically speaking, these three Executor working together should be enough to suppress the unstable Beauty Goddess.
But what Hu Jiu saw was an utterly absurd scene, as if Cthulhu were in Northeast China, and Fan Debiao was persuading Nyarlathotep jump simply because she was too beautiful.
Number 2 charged forward first. Instead of using the killing patterns of the Fierce Ghosts to attack, he chose to use the powerful body of the Ghost Tamer to fight hand-to-hand. He threw a punch hard at the peach tree body of the Beauty Goddess.
The Beauty Goddess was clearly at a loss; her opponent seemed to have suddenly become mentally challenged. Was there some other conspiracy at play? Or was Number 2 simply mentally challenged?
The Beauty Goddess swung the branch, cautiously yet ruthlessly striking at number 2.
Number 2 dodged frantically, unable to find an effective opportunity to counterattack.
Hu Jiu could see clearly that although Number 2's movements were agile, they were obviously out of rhythm, as if interfered with by some invisible force. It seemed that a high-ranking official of the Time Management Bureau had been hastily turned into a rookie.
"Smack--"
Number 2 was struck by the peach branch of the Beauty Goddess. The Beauty Goddess's body was too large, and Number 2 chose the most disadvantageous way to attack, so it's normal that he was defeated quickly.
Immediately afterwards, Number 4, who had remained silent until now, reluctantly joined the battle at Number 1's behest.
She was slightly smarter than Number 2, and chose to use a remote fire attack against the Beauty Goddess.
The eerie green flames fell like raindrops, each flame aiming at the Upside-Down-Growing Peach Tree. However, these flames strangely veered off course, ultimately only igniting the branches at the edge of the tree, without affecting the main trunk in the slightest.
Although the Beauty Goddess is in the form of a peach tree, her true nature is Fierce Ghost, not a real tree. Her attempt to burn the wood with fire will not succeed.
Number 4's attack was easily neutralized by the Beauty Goddess. The flames on the tree were extinguished by the layers of flowers. Then, the Beauty Goddess used the Fierce Ghost of [Heaven’s Retribution] that she had just mastered. The blooming peach blossoms fell, each one mixed with pink arcs of electricity, like countless ball lightning converging together, lashing out at Number 4 like a locust swarm, leaving Number 4 powerless to fight back.
Number 4's calm and collected personality had no effect whatsoever; instead, a clear sense of confusion appeared in her eyes. Her movements became increasingly chaotic, like a mad dog on a leash charging wildly, unaware of what she was doing.
Meanwhile, Number 1 [Heavenly Dao] simply stood aside, quietly watching everything. His eyes held a mixture of mysterious confidence, a sense of certainty, and a sense of bewilderment, like a serene and unassuming concubine who firmly believed in the omnipotence of the Time Management Bureau, only to be brutally slapped in the face by reality, to the point that her brain went blank.
Hu Jiu was also extremely shocked at this moment. He knew that if Number 1, Number 2 and Number 4 attacked together, Beauty Goddess would definitely be no match for them and would only be able to flee in a sorry state.
But now, these three high-ranking officials in the Administration seem to have been brainwashed by some mysterious force, insisting on fighting one-on-one after another.
This was truly unbelievable. Not to mention Hu Jiu, even the Beauty Goddess was amazed. For a moment, he even had the illusion that he was the protagonist, shining brightly in all directions under the protagonist's halo.
Only in this situation would the villains deliver their own deaths one by one!
However, Beauty Goddess did not feel joy because of this; the unusual nature of this battle was so obvious that he could not Neglect.
His first thought was that perhaps another mysterious and powerful entity was secretly intervening.
Who could it be?
Could it be Hu Jiu?
No, no, no. Based on what the Beauty Goddess knows about Hu Jiu, if Hu Jiu had such formidable abilities, she would have flipped the table long ago; there's no way she would have gone through such a roundabout way.
Perhaps some major power has developed some new Supernatural technology?
Beauty Goddess couldn't understand it, so he slowed down his offensive pace and leisurely dominated numbers 2 and 4.
Even though he had already held back, Number 2 and Number 4 still didn't think to use the power of the Time-Type Fierce Ghost, and in the end, they both fell down.
The peach branches quickly wrapped around the two of them, clearly the Beauty Goddess had no intention of letting go of these two delicious desserts. Unfortunately, now was not the time to eat, as they had just eaten too much and hadn't fully digested yet.
The battlefield in the sky was Silence, save for the sound of the peach tree enveloping Number 2 and Number 4 in its trunk.
Just then, Number 1 seemed to finally come to his senses, a glimmer of clarity flashing in his eyes, as if he had broken free from some kind of fog.
He watched as numbers 2 and 4 were gradually swallowed by the peach tree, his face showing shock and anger. His eyes were fixed on the Beauty Goddess, as if he wanted to tear her to pieces.
But Number 1 didn't act rashly; he had realized that things weren't so simple.
The image of one person flashed into his mind—0.
0 is the most precious and core treasure of the Time Management Bureau; it is both a living person and a Supernatural Item.
0 possesses power comparable to that of gods and Buddhas. One of his abilities is the ability to restart time indefinitely. He can Rollback the world at any time if he wants.
Unfortunately, 0's ending was not good. He was burdened by his emotions, betrayed by those close to him, and ultimately captured and imprisoned, losing his ability to act and think freely, and no longer able to actively use the Rollback to save himself.
In a sense, 0 became a special kind of Supernatural Item.
This Supernatural Item is the switch used by the Time Management Bureau to Rollback and restart time in this world.
However, it's obvious that 0 wouldn't willingly be used as Supernatural Item. Although he can't think freely, his power occasionally seeps out during each Rollback.
Number 1 suspects that the power of Number 0 has bewitched their minds, causing them to die one by one in front of the Beauty Goddess.
This is considered a relatively optimistic guess. In fact, there's another, even worse guess—that a super-powerful being from another world has infiltrated the area.
The other party evaded the world's immune rejection mechanism against outsiders, hiding in the shadows and stirring up trouble. Their purpose is not hard to guess; they probably want to obtain "Rollback" and other precious Fierce Ghosts with special abilities.
The time Rollback is difficult for people inside the world to detect, but those in the Ghost World outside the world can see it easily, like a movie whose progress bar is suddenly dragged back.
Number 1's thoughts were in disarray; he realized that the situation was dire.
If it is the power of 0 that has been leaked, and this power has already completely disrupted the thinking of the Administration's higher-ups, then it proves that 0 will most likely break free. Once it regains its ability to act freely, the first to suffer will definitely be all the Executor of the Administration!
If it's interference from powerful external forces, then forget it, this world will likely be completely destroyed, and everything of value will be taken as spoils of war.
The Administration bureau is now down to just one person, number 1. How can they resolve this predicament?
"Forget it, I'll just leave!"
Through so many Rollbacks, Number 1 has already accumulated enough capital to monopolize almost all the spoils, while the other four in the upper echelons are just supporting characters who can only get a little soup.
As for those Executor starting from number 6, they were just a bunch of substitutes and laborers.
In a short time, Number 1 simulated various countermeasures in his mind. He even thought that if this world were to be destroyed in the end, he could infiltrate other worlds to plunder resources.
But just then, that force that confuses the mind reappeared.
In less than a second, Number 1 went from being a master strategist to suffering from dementia.
The Beauty Goddess seemed a bit overconfident after easily dealing with numbers 2 and 4, and greedily wanted to take down number 1 as well.
He thought to himself, "After this job, I'll leave immediately. I won't be greedy and will find a secluded and safe place to finish it off slowly."
With that in mind, he and Number 1 made their move at the same time.
Although Number 1 has been intellectually disabled, his ability to act on instinct still far surpasses that of Number 2 and Number 4.
The Beauty Goddess has figured it out: number 1 in the Time Management Bureau is the most outstanding, numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5 are in the middle, and numbers 6 and below are in an even lower tier.
Every Executor is very capable, but it depends on who you compare them to. The Beauty Goddess takes herself as the benchmark and looks down on almost everyone else.
However, facing such a powerful enemy as Number 1, the Beauty Goddess naturally had to be on high alert, and the branches of the giant Upside-Down-Growing Peach Tree, like nimble snakes, were all poised to strike.
The next second, all the peach tree branches came to life, whipping fiercely at Number 1 with a whistling sound.
Number 1 was not in a clear mind, but his body instinctively retaliated. A huge amount of Supernatural power surged, and the peach tree branches were shaken and broke one after another, but more branches came like a tide.
At the same time, large swaths of peach blossoms bloomed, their petals dancing in the air, all carrying arcs of lightning, making it look extremely dangerous.
Number 1's body was struck by the petals, making a loud crackling sound. The allure of the Beauty Goddess was also subtly eroding Number 1's mind. Normally, such childish methods would have little effect on Number 1, but now the situation was abnormal. The Beauty Goddess seemed to have been buffed, and everything went smoothly for her, while Number 1 was full of debuffs, and every step was fraught with difficulties.
Number 1's already demented mind was further disturbed, and his body was still enduring the thunderstorm. His movements gradually became sluggish, and the roots of the surrounding peach trees coiled around him like giant pythons.
Number 1's body was tightly bound by tree roots, but he did not give up. He opened his mouth and three black nails flew out.
Then, a giant inverted cross descended from the sky and was summoned, which landed squarely on the human-shaped body of the Upside-Down-Growing Peach Tree trunk.
The Beauty Goddess was terrified and hurriedly tried to pull the cross off by swinging the branches. Unfortunately, the three nails that came out of Number 1's mouth were too fast and were getting bigger. In an instant, they pierced through the layers of peach branches and nailed the Beauty Goddess's beautiful human form, which was twisted from the Upside-Down-Growing Peach Tree trunk, to the cross.
The Beauty Goddess let out a shrill scream and struggled incessantly, but she could not escape the black inverted cross and the three nails.
Number 1 chuckled foolishly. The cross and three nails were items from a religious legend. He also used a cross and three nails, but this cross was pitch black and upside down, completely opposite to the legendary cross, and the nails were filled with a terrifying and evil aura.
After all, all the extraordinary beings in this world are "Fierce Ghost." No matter how beautiful, holy, or harmless they may appear, their underlying logic is still to kill.
The Beauty Goddess is now in a panic because she has discovered that her body is disintegrating.
He calls himself the Beauty Goddess because he has absorbed and controlled all the Fierce Ghost associated with beauty, allure, and lust. These Fierce Ghost are pieced together like jigsaw puzzle pieces, forming a unified whole.
However, at this moment, the originally sturdy puzzle pieces began to loosen and began to show signs of recovery.
If this continues, I will die!
Thinking of this, a resolute glint flashed in the Beauty Goddess's eyes. The entire Upside-Down-Growing Peach Tree suddenly emitted a strong and stimulating fragrance, accompanied by a thick crimson mist. A violent Supernatural power surged, as if in a final, desperate counterattack, trying to drag everything around it into the abyss.
In that instant, the world changed color.
The sky was originally azure blue. When the Beauty Goddess herself appeared in the world, the blue sky seemed to be covered with a light pink filter. Until now, the sky has turned completely red, as beautiful and rare as the end of the world.
This intense red light, centered on Ruihe City, radiated outwards without attenuation in all directions, and everyone Observation this phenomenon was severely affected by Supernatural phenomena.
Faced with the all-out attack from the Beauty Goddess, Number 1 felt threatened. His survival instinct urged his body to dodge, but his body seemed to have its own ideas, insisting on standing still and enduring the blow, neither resisting nor running away.
"Bang--"
Unsurprisingly, Number 1 was hit in a vital spot; it's unclear whether he's dead or alive.
The Beauty Goddess was still struggling frantically, but she could not break free from the restraints of the cross.
His condition was already unstable after absorbing [Heaven’s Retribution], and now it was even worse, with him faintly touching the edge of losing control and collapsing.
If a super-powerful Fierce Ghost like the Beauty Goddess were to lose control and fully awaken, it would be unimaginable how beautiful and spectacular the scene would be.
But then, an unexpected situation arose.
Despite suffering a severe blow, Number 1 did not die on the spot. Instead, he seemed to have been jolted awake. Dragging his disheveled body, he swiftly and decisively brought the about-to-go berserk Beauty Goddess under control.
The situation reversed instantly.
Number 1 looked grim, his face ashen. He had suffered a severe blow, but that did not stop him from trying to take the Beauty Goddess and possess her.
He pressed one hand against the trunk of the Upside-Down-Growing Peach Tree, and the instant they made contact, the wooden peach tree instantly transformed into bronze. Then, countless sharp Bronze Tree emerged and pierced through Number 1's body.
A grim face slowly emerged from the tree trunk, looking at the incredulous Number 1, its thin lips slightly curved upwards.
"Surprise, motherfucker!"