In the laboratory on the third basement floor of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau, Feng Qian stood in front of a one-way mirror, his pale golden pupils gleaming with a metallic sheen in the dim light.
Before him lay a death row inmate strapped to a specially designed chair—today's test subject.
"Begin recording." Feng Qian's voice was calm and undisturbed.
The death row inmate suddenly began to struggle violently, the restraints digging deep into his flesh.
"Let me go! You..." The cursing stopped abruptly. Feng Qian merely glanced at him, his golden pupils slightly contracting. The prisoner seemed to be frozen in place, unable to even move his eyeballs.
"Duration of ability: 5 minutes and 37 seconds." Zhou Yuan recorded the data in the observation room, the pen scratching across the paper. "It's 11% longer than yesterday."
Mu Xingrui stood behind her, his brows furrowed, and asked, "Feng Qian, did you feel any discomfort after using your ability?"
Zhang Suyuan, another superhuman in the Investigation Bureau, always felt extremely uncomfortable after using his abilities, which is why Mu Xingrui asked this question.
Feng Qian shook his head. "I feel fine, there's nothing wrong with me."
"That's good." Mu Xingrui appeared to be happy for Feng Qian, but only he knew what he was really thinking.
Not long ago, after Feng Qian and Meng Hongyu returned from that bizarre "Lucky Casino," the Investigation Bureau's stance changed.
Meng Hongyu transformed from a man in his forties into someone in his early twenties, while Feng Qian acquired a pair of Transcendent Eyes known as the "Golden Eyes," which made many people eager to possess them.
Meng Hongyu did not show any obvious abnormalities for the time being, but Feng Qian was different. Anyone who was looked at by his eyes would freeze in place, and the freeze would be relieved after he looked away.
However, the stasis does not mean that everything returns to normal after the stasis is relieved; instead, it leaves many aftereffects.
Initially, several special forces soldiers assisted Feng Qian in testing the Golden Eyes's abilities. For the first few days, these special forces soldiers were fine.
However, as time went on, about a week later, they began to experience varying degrees of physical weakness and mental disorder, exhibiting severe violent tendencies.
After this situation was discovered, the special forces soldiers were isolated, and the personnel testing Feng Qianchao's abilities were changed to death row inmates.
Unsurprisingly, the death row inmates who participated in the testing experiments all met with dire consequences.
Mu Xingrui thought of Zhang Suyuan and Bai Jingjing. The abilities of these known superhumans all seemed to be... evil.
Is this really a supernatural ability? Or...?
"Director?" Feng Qian, who had just finished the test, was already standing at the door of the observation room, his golden pupils gleaming in the shadows. "When will we begin a new round of data collection targeting the Lucky Casino? Many people have been secretly asking me for information lately, and I'd love to go again."
His tone was casual, as if he were talking about something trivial, completely devoid of any reverence for the Lucky Casino.
"We'll discuss it again," Mu Xingrui replied briefly, turning and walking back to his office.
In another city, Hu Jiu was standing on the rooftop of an abandoned factory, the night wind making his black trench coat rustle.
At his feet, a corpse was twitching slightly.
"The thirty-seventh," Hu Jiu said softly, the withered corpse at his feet with a rusty copper coin in its mouth, the four characters on the coin already blurred by erosion.
This is the thirty-seventh local Fierce Ghost he has found in China.
His guess was correct. He kept creating various Supernatural events in this world, acting as a fuse that eventually led to the revival of the world's native Supernatural.
The fake Supernatural Revival has become real.
As the Supernatural Revival, the world's suppression of him gradually weakens.
The more Fierce Ghost resurrect in the local area, the weaker the barrier between this world and the Ghost World becomes, and the further Hu Jiu's original form Bronze Giant Tree, will erode this world.
At this moment, Du Zhong was far away in a foreign country, suddenly made a cross-border Supernatural phone call to Hu Jiu.
"Old Hu, I've discovered something really interesting."
"What's up? Did you find another particularly interesting local Fierce Ghost?" Hu Jiu asked.
"No, no, no, not Fierce Ghost, but Ghost Tamer, an ancient Ghost Tamer!" Du Zhong's tone was filled with excitement.
"Oh?" Hu Jiu also became interested. "Ancient Ghost Tamers? How ancient are they?"
"It's at least a century old!" Du Zhong exclaimed excitedly.
"I found him in a church in Europe. He was encased in a statue. At first, I thought he was a dormant Fierce Ghost, but I never expected him to awaken and become conscious!"
You'd never guess what this guy really is!
Hu Jiu feigned some confusion. "What is he?"
"It's a vampire!"
Du Zhong's statement was indeed somewhat unexpected.
He continued, "Although that vampire was conscious, his mind was no longer clear, and he had no idea about the concepts of 'Fierce Ghost' and 'Ghost Tamer'."
According to him, he encountered the devil and became a vampire, extending his lifespan by drinking the blood of the living.
"But the longer he lived, the less he could suppress his thirst for blood and killing."
"Based on my deduction, the ghost he controls is very special; it can absorb the life force of others by sucking their blood, thereby suppressing the Fierce Ghost Revival within him. Those whose blood he has sucked have probably become his Ghost Slaves..."
Hu Jiu said, "Didn't you get any useful information out of him?"
"His brain is completely broken," Du Zhong said helplessly.
"Okay." Hu Jiu hadn't held out much hope anyway. "So, what did you do with him in the end?"
"Hehe." Du Zhong chuckled lewdly, "I personally orchestrated the 'Holy Blood Church' incident, bringing vampires from legend into reality. The local government claimed it was a terrorist attack, and several terrorist organizations claimed responsibility, but unfortunately, many people didn't believe it at all."
Hu Jiu's lips curled up slightly. "Looks like you're having a lot of fun."
Du Zhong laughed heartily, "Of course!"
"We are visitors from another Otherworld. This world is like a game to me; I don't need to worry about any moral constraints and can do whatever I want freely."
"Now I understand why so many time-traveling protagonists in the novels I used to read so easily became morally corrupt."
Hu Jiu felt nothing about this, after all, he didn't need to time travel, nor did he need any preconditions such as being abused, bullied, or wronged. He was a morally corrupt villain with a black heart from birth.
Du Zhong was sharing his achievements during this period. He impersonated a deity and used so-called "miracles" to incite religious conflicts. Now many countries are in chaos, but the news has been well concealed.
Hu Jiu also briefly explained his arrangements in China. The Lucky Casino was like a poisoned candy, used to distract the Investigation Bureau and interfere with its Investigation Bureau direction.
He deliberately let Feng Qian and Meng Hongyu "win" and even gave them a "big gift".
All the extraordinary powers in this world are ghosts. Feng Qian's "Golden Eyes" is the eye of a dismembered Fierce Ghost, and Meng Hongyu's "Rejuvenation" is just a matter of Hu Jiu moving his fingers.
Both of their thoughts were subtly influenced and controlled by Hu Jiu. They maintained their individuality, but unconsciously attracted others to gamble at the Lucky Casino.
Of course, besides the Lucky Casino, Hu Jiu had other backup plans, such as the "Ghost Shop" and "Wish Coins," each of which was enough to divert the Investigation Bureau's attention.
During this time, Hu Jiu searched for Local Ghost Tamers in China while simultaneously plotting a major catastrophe.
The world is so vast that the person who tried to expel all the Supernatural from the world back then was bound to miss some small fry.
If any Local Ghost Tamers are lucky enough to survive to this day and are contacted by the Investigation Bureau, then the Investigation Bureau will immediately be able to obtain a large amount of information about Fierce Ghosts.
This is not conducive to Hu Jiu's subsequent actions.
In the archives, Mu Xingrui flipped through the mountain of reports. Since the Lucky Casino incident, the Investigation Bureau's research direction had completely changed. What was originally a balanced investigation of various paranormal phenomena had now seen 60% of its resources tilted toward casino-related projects.
"Director, please take a look at this." Zhou Yuan hurriedly pushed open the door and entered, holding a newly declassified file in her hand.
"Not long ago, several researchers in the research department died unexpectedly. One of them, a researcher named Huo Kui, is suspected of leaving behind some crucial information before his death."
Mu Xingrui took the document, his pupils suddenly contracting.
Researchers Huo Kui and Zhao Bian'e died one after the other, with a very short interval between their deaths.
After Zhao Bian'e's accident, Huo Kui remembered that several colleagues in the laboratory had died in accidents recently.
Huo Kui was filled with unease. Researchers like him were all very intelligent, and he began to imagine all sorts of things.
After Zhao Bian'e died, he feared that he would also suffer misfortune, so he made a brief record of some things.
Because his research findings were stolen from others, he dared not record them in too much detail, only hastily writing a sentence in the encrypted file:
"I've made a major new discovery in my research on supernatural powers, but I suddenly realize that it might lead to my death. Those fellow researchers who died in accidents might not have died of natural causes..."
"Why is this document only being released now...?" Mu Xingrui's voice trembled slightly.
"The file is specially encrypted," Zhou Yuan said in a low voice. "Forcibly cracking it will corrupt the contents. The employee responsible for cracking the file has been very unprofessional lately, always asking about things related to the Lucky Casino."
Mu Xingrui frowned. He suddenly realized that the researchers' unnatural deaths might be because they had actually discovered something and were therefore silenced.
Has the Investigation Bureau been infiltrated?
Mu Xingrui stood up. "I need to go to the research department."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the archives was pushed open, and Feng Qian stood in the doorway, his golden pupils gleaming in the darkness.
"Director, so you're here." His voice was gentle. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Something happened at the research department. Ten minutes ago, Zhang Suyuan's vital signs suddenly disappeared, and he was pronounced dead. After his death, his body quickly exhibited abnormal phenomena."
Mu Xingrui instinctively clenched the document in his hand. Feng Qian's gaze fell on his hand, and he asked, "What are you holding?"
"It's nothing." Mu Xingrui casually put down the file. "Let's go to the research department's lab first."
As the group left the archives, Mu Xingrui inquired about the current situation of the research department.
Zhang Suyuan died suddenly. At the time, he was cooperating with researchers in human experiments when he suddenly stopped breathing without any warning.
Three minutes after his death, his body underwent some strange changes.
When Mu Xingrui, Zhou Yuan, and Feng Qian arrived at the laboratory, they saw Zhang Suyuan's body lying quietly on the metal bed in the isolation room.
Mu Xingrui pushed aside the researchers surrounding the isolation room and peered inside through the bulletproof glass. Zhang Suyuan's body looked perfectly normal, as if he were asleep.
This man, identified by the Investigation Bureau as a "superhuman," possessed terrifying abilities in life, but has now quietly passed away.
Just then, someone suddenly cried out, their voice trembling with fear, "The corpse... the corpse is moving!"
Mu Xingrui suddenly looked up and happened to see Zhang Suyuan's right index finger twitch slightly.
This was no illusion. The unusually dark arm was slowly bending, its black nails scraping against the metal bed surface, making a teeth-grinding sound.
It's come back to life!
"Activate the emergency procedures! Immediately!" Mu Xingrui roared.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Zhang Suyuan's corpse sat up from the bed in a bizarre posture, the movement so fluid that it didn't seem like a dead person.
His eyes opened, but they were lifeless, seemingly devoid of any reason or humanity.
"Bang!"
The corpse raised its dark right hand, causing the entire wall to tremble and cracks to spread across the glass surface like a spider web.
"It's coming out!" Zhou Yuan exclaimed, her face ashen. "Everyone evacuate immediately!"
The alarm blared throughout the entire research institute.
As Mu Xingrui led the group toward the emergency exit, a loud bang came from behind them, and the bulletproof glass of the isolation room shattered under the pressure.
The intern, Xiao Lin, who was running at the very back, couldn't help but look back. That one glance cost him his life.
Zhang Suyuan's corpse moved through the corridor at a speed that defied the laws of physics, and the terrifying Ghost Hand pressed directly onto Xiao Lin's shoulder.
Before Xiao Lin could even scream, she collapsed, her pupils dilated, her breathing stopped, as if her life had been forcibly ripped away by some force in an instant.
"Run! Don't stop! Don't do anything unnecessary!" Mu Xing sprinted forward. "Run! If you touch a corpse, you'll die!"
The buildings in the research institute seemed to offer absolutely no protection against Zhang Suyuan's body; he could easily break through the walls and doors.
Panic is spreading.
In a moment of panic, a security guard instinctively drew his sidearm and fired. The bullet struck the corpse's chest, but it was as if it had hit a steel plate, causing no harm whatsoever.
Zhang Suyuan's body turned towards the shooter, Ghost Hand gently brushing his shoulder, and yet another life vanished in an instant.