The Ghost Princess's Castle (Eight Thousand Words)

There are two taboos in Black Gate City, one in the open and one in the shadows.

And yet, the guild leader claims he's not entirely clear about another taboo in Black Gate City. Who can believe that?

In any case, Old Man An clearly did not believe it, and his eyes instantly filled with vigilance and malice.

But Xiao Xiao was telling the truth...

He truly had no idea that Little Four's strength was so great. In just the exchange, he clearly felt that Little Four had made significant progress on top of the third stage of the Hunter's enhancement.

Going a step further, it has already entered the category of the Fourth Element.

When did he finish it?

Even if Xiao Xiao tried hard to think, he could only vaguely remember that Little Four seemed to have mentioned something about the key element of his fourth stage of enhancement, what was its name again, but he didn't tell him that he had already completed this stage!

The Fourth Element is ridiculously expensive. When did Little Four accumulate enough points?

Furthermore, following this line of thought, he quickly delved deeper and vaguely discovered something strange.

Logically speaking, as an observer, I should be able to gain a deep understanding of everything that happens on the battlefield in every confrontation, including the performance, strengths, and weaknesses of each individual.

But looking back now, I realize that I have very few impressions of Little Four on the battlefield.

It seems to be covered by something...

Why does this strange phenomenon occur?

"Stop."

At the same time, on the empty streets of Black Gate City, the Grand Knight Spade and his group were angrily and nervously chasing after Little Four. The computer that had been thrown on the ground had already retrieved some results and emitted a soft alarm.

However, neither the Grand Knight Spade nor the Grand Knight Clover cared. The Grand Knight Yin Qing, having lost his head, could neither hear nor see. He simply stretched out his hands, groped around for a while, found a stone stool, and slowly sat down.

Quietly wait for the Grand Knight Spade and the Grand Knight Clover to take back his head.

"We must retrieve Grand Knight Yin Qing's head!"

Both the Grand Knight Spade and the Grand Knight Clover understood this was crucial. They could not accept that an unknown child in Black Gate City could take the head of Grand Knight Yin Qing.

Furthermore, if they are unable to retrieve Grand Knight Yin Qing's head in a short period of time, a terrible consequence will occur.

Grand Knight Yin Qing will die!

They chased, Little Four fled, and in the deserted Black Gate City, an absurd yet tense scene unfolded.

"The attack on City of Rest has begun."

Meanwhile, at the Black Goat Club, the Shepherds was fiddling with a new instrument, surrounded by a group of nervous people.

Since making astonishing progress on both the hunting of the secondary Mysterious Source and the creation of the Hell Legion project, two key changes have occurred in the Black Forest Biological Laboratory: First, the Shepherds's identity as the project leader has been confirmed.

Because no one had ever made such progress as the Shepherds before, the Black Forest decided to give him more power, even though Shepherds a bit crazy.

Secondly, many long-dormant technologies of the Black Forest have been unearthed by the Shepherds, who have begun to try applying them.

At this moment, a strange scene unfolded in the Black Goat Club: a row of more than ten men and women, all wearing white restraints and with their hair shaved, lay stiffly on a row of hospital beds. At the head of each bed was a sophisticated instrument with various complex wires connected to their temples. These people had been given strong sleeping pills and were sleeping soundly. On the large screen at the head of the bed, which was covered with instruments, countless static-like images appeared.

"The Spiritual Ocean Exploration Experiment, restarted for the third time, begins."

The Shepherds, with a solemn expression, explained to those around him, "The test subjects we've chosen are the ones who dream the most in their daily lives."

"This is a rather special constitution. Some people sleep very well and wake up in the morning, while others are like this, who love to dream, even if they are just taking a nap."

"We chose them to use their uniqueness to glimpse the phenomena within the ocean of the spirit."

"..."

As the project progressed, the subjects' sleep became more stable, and some complex signals were transmitted to the instruments at the bedside. On the screen, blurry and choppy images began to appear.

"The biggest difference between strangers and us is that they live in a fantasy world."

The Shepherds said, "We have always wanted to understand what they see in their fantasies, but these fantasies are corrupting. Once you see them, you are very likely to become one of them and be unable to extricate yourself."

"So, a long time ago, the Black Forest put forward some interesting ideas."

"The so-called shared fantasy is actually a phenomenon in the collective unconscious of people. It can be understood as an ocean of spiritual power. We live on the surface, while strangers live in the ocean. So, our lives are filled with normal emotions and realistic logic, while their lives are full of the bizarre and crazy. But there are gains and losses. Living in the bizarre and crazy, they can control some special spiritual fields in the deep spiritual world to influence everything that happens in real life."

"It is difficult for us normal people to directly see everything they see, unless we are pulled into the deep world of their spiritual ocean."

"But it's not like there's absolutely no way out."

"Now, we can create a symbiotic dream for these people who have entered sleep. The more symbiotic elements there are, the more likely they are to enter the deeper world of the stranger."

"By reading their brainwaves, we can see what those strangers see."

"..."

As he explained, the images on the large screen behind them seemed to be constantly distorting, merging, and automatically adjusting. Gradually, they saw a blurry yet mysterious scene.

It was a ghost town.

These people were dreaming of Black Gate City, but it was an empty Black Gate City, where no one existed.

In this deserted city, someone is chasing after a headless woman sitting quietly on a stone bench, with a flesh-and-blood mechanical monster lying at her feet.

Not far away, someone was chasing after them quickly; the one running in front was a boy holding a rag doll.

The eerie style of this dream confirms that these test subjects are experiencing a nightmare.

The Shepherds saw what was happening in the scene, a confident smile spreading across his face. Then he whispered, "A forbidden medical experiment."

Everyone around him turned to look at him in confusion, only to see the Shepherds suddenly pull out a long, thin pointer and point it at the headless woman in the painting, saying, "This is the source of her power."

"The Black Forest previously triggered a technological explosion that impacted the entire world, propelling our world to the pinnacle of prosperity. However, this technological explosion also saw the development of some forbidden technologies that were not permitted by law. One of these was forbidden medicine, which included, but was not limited to: head transplants, cancer cell culture, life restart, gene chain suturing, etc... Among these, the one I personally found most terrifying was the hydroponics technology for cultivating the brain..."

"This medical technique involves removing a person's head from their body and using various instruments to help maintain their life. It is a preliminary preparation technique for head transplant surgery."

"It can be confirmed that this woman's ability comes from this technology."

"The abilities of strangers can all be compared to certain phenomena in reality. No matter how strange the ability is, there is a corresponding one in reality."

"Write this down in a notebook; it's the most basic principle!"

"..."

"..."

The routes taken by City of Rest and Black Gate City are completely different, and there are even huge differences between them.

For example, after completing the first three stages of enhancement, they would never think of searching for the Fourth Element, lest they anger the Mysterious Source.

However, they will continue to strengthen themselves, but the way they strengthen themselves is by using points to purchase a large number of Enhancement Element in order to improve their abilities.

The Grand Knight of City of Rest, apart from the Grand Knight Heart whose core power is the branding power, each of them has a personal enhancement score of over 100,000 and possesses a core Enhancement Element.

The core element for the Grand Knight Yin Qing's survival is the [Beauty's Head].

Her Enhancement Element came from a patient in City of Rest. She was unknowingly chosen, drugged, and taken to a forbidden medical laboratory. When she woke up, she was left with only her head, sitting on a black box. Inside the box were various instruments connected to her head. However, she did not know that she only had a head left. She only thought that her body had been placed in the black box and she had been given anesthesia, so she could not perceive anything.

She lived like this for six months, and even participated in discussions with doctors.

Six months later, the doctor determined that she could live in this state until the end of her life. So, he brought a mirror to face her and then opened the box.

The woman is dead.

She was terrified to death after seeing her condition.

But at that moment, her unique mental state and complex emotions were recorded in the ocean of human consciousness, collected by the Mysterious Source of City of Rest, and finally exchanged by Grand Knight Yin Qing.

With this element, Grand Knight Yin Qing is not afraid of decapitation damage and can freely change bodies. She can use her own head to control flesh and blood machinery and various different enhanced headless corpses.

But she never expected that after arriving in Black Gate City, before she even had a chance to demonstrate any of her abilities, her head would be snatched away...

In her rage, she could only curse Little Four incessantly, but unfortunately, without her body to help her catch her breath, she could only open her mouth, but no sound came out.

Of course, neither Grand Knight Yin Qing, nor Little Four, nor even Xiao Xiao, who was currently in City of Rest, knew that this technology was actually related to Mister Ye of Black Gate City.

However, Grand Knight Yin Qing received was the painful fruit of a certain experimental subject in forbidden medicine.

Mister Ye. Ye, on the other hand, relied on that mature technology to transform himself into the "pure" person he is today.

"Stop right now."

"Otherwise, we will destroy your entire Black Gate City and be buried with Grand Knight Yin Qing."

"..."

Both the Grand Knight Spade and the Grand Knight Clover were furious, shouting loudly and ordering Little Four in front to stop.

Grand Knight Yin Qing's head must be retrieved. Although she can remain immortal for a period of time, there are two situations that could lead to her immediate death.

One possibility is that the body has been detached for too long, approximately twenty-four hours.

Another possibility is that the body and one's head are simultaneously in different levels of space.

But Little Four ran away even faster upon hearing this.

He was terrified of these people from City of Rest; they were so fierce!

The Grand Knight Spade and the Grand Knight Clover realized that Little Four was escaping too fast and they couldn't catch up. In their anger, the two of them leaped high into the air at the same time. The Grand Knight Clover reached out and grabbed Xiao Si. The entire city in front of Little Four turned into a curtain-like fold. This three-dimensional city, under his hand, seemed to have become a two-dimensional canvas. He pulled it out forcefully, and Little Four, along with the canvas, was involuntarily drawn closer to him.

The Grand Knight Spade, with a cold expression, fell from the sky and slammed his fist into the ground beneath his feet.

The next moment, the asphalt road beneath Little Four's feet suddenly melted, turning into a giant fleshy hand that grabbed at him from below.

"Ouch..."

Little Four lost control of his body and was about to be grabbed by the Grand Knight Spade. His face was deathly pale, and he raised the tattered rag doll high in his hand in terror, shouting, "Princess sister, save me..."

The moment the doll was raised into the air, a strange phenomenon occurred with Little Four's figure.

At this moment, the air around him was filled with folds, caused by the Grand Knight Clover pulling him, and beneath his feet was flesh and blood that had turned into a giant hand, turning the surrounding environment a bright red color.

Just as he was about to be pulled to the side of the two Grand Knights, or grabbed by the giant fleshy hand, no one expected that at this very moment, Little Four's feet would suddenly disappear. Just as the giant fleshy hand was about to grab his feet, they vanished. When it was about to grab his legs, his legs also began to disappear. When it was about to grab his body, his body and even his head suddenly and eerily disappeared into mid-air. The fleshy hand grasped nothing, and it was as if Little Four no longer existed in the city.

The Grand Knight Spade and the Grand Knight Clover were both stunned, looking at each other blankly. Then they turned around and saw the headless body of the Grand Knight Yin Qing slowly falling to one side.

She died.

[The Hunter's Route Fourth Element: Ghost Princess]

Elemental Level: Class A

[Ability: Can erase the user's traces in reality, achieving partial or full concealment in the real world]

[...]

City of Rest, Xiao Xiao witnessed this scene, which finally put his mind at ease.

He finally understood why Little Four had become so powerful, and why even he himself had overlooked Little Four's strength.

He remembered the Fourth Element he had told himself he wanted to exchange for; its name was "Ghost Princess".

This element allows Little Four to have a spiritual companion, someone who doesn't belong to reality but is a being naturally living in a spiritual ocean. She can help Little Four erase all traces of reality, which is why Little Four possesses such powerful assassination abilities. This princess can even erase the traces of Little Four preparing for an attack and during the attack itself, only interacting with reality at the moment of striking the target. In other words, Little Four doesn't exist until the assassination is successful.

The reason I overlooked it is quite simple.

The power of that Ghost Princess was simply too strong, even subtly influencing herself, or people in Black Gate City, and other forces outside of Black Gate City.

Little Four's existence will occasionally affect people's memories of him, making them less vivid.

"Is this the power of the forbidden level?"

At that moment, Xiao Xiao also suddenly realized some deeper issues.

No wonder some powers are simply called strong elements, while others are called the Fourth Element, forbidden!

Ghost Princess's rank isn't high; like Unquenched Heart, it's only Class A.

However, even though they are both Class A, their effects on the stranger are immeasurable. They are a special thing that is extremely suitable for him and can bring about a qualitative change in his power.

Just like Unquenched Heart, which is just an ordinary Class A to others, it allows one to transcend a level.

The same applies to Little Four (the Ghost Princess), just like Princess Mononoke.

"With this power, there's no need to worry about Little Four anymore..."

Xiao Xiao felt relieved. "It's just that Little Four is timid. If he were a bit bolder, he could have turned around and confronted those two Grand Knight head-on."

I originally thought that I would need Yang Jia, or the Shepherds, or even the Mysterious Guidepost to deal with these three Grand Knights, but I didn't expect that I had overcomplicated the problem.

His eyes flickered, and he saw that the situation in several other places had also become clear.

The Red Eyes Ling Ping was fighting against the knights of City of Rest. He had a good appearance, elegant posture, and was a perfect gentleman, but he was being beaten quite badly. After all, it was a bit too much for one person to face nine knights from City of Rest. Just when the Red Eyes Ling Ping was about to give up, he suddenly heard a loud roar beside him. The black shadows around him surged, and the nine knights of City of Rest were forced back. They looked at the writhing black shadows in disbelief. "Are you crazy? Why are you stopping us?"

"I made the wrong choice before!"

The owner of the black shadow, Mr. Taylor, whose voice was filled with regret and tormented by fear, said, "Why did I choose to cooperate with your City of Rest..."

Am I crazy?

"That mad guild leader of Black Gate City will definitely come for me. He will kill everyone in our city, kill my family, and even dance with my wife's corpse..."

"No, I need to salvage the situation. I need to restore relations with Black Gate City..."

"..."

He roared as he rushed up to the Red Eyes Ling Ping, pleading in a desperate voice, "Now I've changed my mind. I'll use the power of the entire city to help you. Is there still a chance... to get that person's forgiveness?"

Red Eyes Ling Ping, took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice, "Tell him when he's in a good mood, maybe it will work."

"But I originally planned to spend 100,000 points to buy your Nightmare Anchor, but that's not possible now..."

"..."

Mr. Taylor immediately shouted, "It's alright, no points required, I'll give you the Nightmare Anchor... Is that alright?"

"That's acceptable..."

Red Eyes Ling Ping, also revealed a faint smile, saying, "I think if you do this, not only will Black Gate City forgive you, they might even give you a boat ticket..."

"Of course, when we get to Black Gate City, don't say it was a freebie; just say I bought it for 30,000 points..."

"..."

"Are you crazy?"

The knights of City of Rest realized that Mr. Taylor had somehow fallen into a trap, and they were both angry and anxious. They shouted, "If the people of Black Gate City would kill your whole family, do you think we in City of Rest wouldn't?"

"You are all good people..."

Mr. Taylor turned to them angrily and shouted, "How could good people kill my whole family?"

"Besides, even if you killed my whole family, you wouldn't dance while holding my wife's corpse..."

"..."

These words stunned all the knights of City of Rest: "We really wouldn't do something like this..."

For a moment, I even felt that Mr. Taylor's concerns were somewhat reasonable...

On the other side, in the city where Old Zhou Under the Bridge, the rain was getting heavier and heavier. Strings of water droplets slid off his black top hat, diluting the blood on his hard palms.

He dragged his snakeskin bag forward step by step. He had already killed three knights of City of Rest, and his power had not diminished but rather grown stronger. His route was different from everyone else in Black Gate City; it was a newly opened path for scavengers. With each kill, he could store some of the victim's abilities into his snakeskin bag, thus increasing his power and subtly creating an oppressive aura around those who had ambushed him. His voice was chilling, as if from hell.

"I don't want to be in the limelight; I just want to keep my ticket on the ship."

"Now, completing the test task assigned by the chairman is the key to whether I can get a ticket."

"So, hand over the Eternal Helmsman!"

"Otherwise, I'll smash your entire city into garbage and then recycle it under the bridge in Black Gate City..."

"..."

"..."

Of the three groups, the Serpent Sisters are the most stable.

Even with the summoning of Cerberus, their battle was extremely difficult. After all, they were facing ten knights from City of Rest. Although Cerberus had completed three stages of enhancement, after the initial intimidation, it was badly beaten by the City of Rest knights. If it weren't for the presence of the Serpent Sisters and their harem, these three would probably have given up and fled halfway. However, after holding out for so long, the shrewd Serpent Sisters finally made their biggest decision:

"You guys shouldn't underestimate us..."

The two sisters looked extremely solemn. "From the very beginning, we followed the Old Chairman, survived the Black Gate Mist Incident, and finally came to the side of the new chairman..."

"We followed him through the betrayal of the Silver Bullet Family, the second attack on Black Gate City by the Hell Organization, and the arrival of the Mysterious Source —we didn't miss a single one..."

Do you know when it's easiest to earn points?

"War!"

"My sister and I have been through so many wars, and we've accumulated a lot of points, enough to be..."

"... More than seventeen thousand!"

"..."

They sneered, having decided on rock-paper-scissors who would step forward to face the City of Rest knights who were still locked in a fierce battle with Cerberus and clearly had the upper hand.

"That's enough to make one wish!"

"..."

"..."

The course of the four battlefields was completely different from what City of Rest had predicted, which made the atmosphere in this luxurious and expensive room turn cold and gloomy.

Even the Ruan Ruan, bulging belly of the child sensed something alarming and instinctively stopped eating.

She glanced at Old Man An and saw that this old man, who was the most senior among the outsiders and could be considered a legend, was sitting quietly in a grand chair, looking extremely tired.

"I never imagined that at my age, I would still have to fight with people myself..."

"..."

His voice was filled with helplessness, and even Ruan Ruan felt a pang of sympathy upon hearing it.

Beside the table, the young knight who had been serving without ever sitting down suddenly looked up, a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

"If you don't want to do it, then don't."

Xiao Xiao, holding a glass of red wine, smiled and said, "Actually, I don't want to fight with older people like you. Of course, it's not because I'm afraid you'll extort me, but mainly because I respect the elderly and care for the young!"

Old Man An slowly raised his head, looked at Xiao Xiao, and his expression suddenly became somewhat solemn. "Chairman Xiao, I need to admit that your Black Gate City has brought too many surprises, far exceeding my expectations. I am not a reckless person. In fact, after Kuang Juemin died, I secretly went to Black Gate City once, firstly to mourn this old friend, and secondly because I realized that Black Gate City would have some trouble, so I thoroughly investigated the details of your Black Gate City in advance."

"Recently, your Black Gate City has become quite famous, but I originally thought that no matter what, it has only been a year, and your strength is limited."

"But I now need to admit that I did underestimate you."

"However, aren't you City of Rest?"

"..."

Faced with Old Man An's question, Xiao Xiao asked with a hint of curiosity, "In what aspect?"

"It is I, the old man."

Old Man An slowly began to speak, "I have been sitting in the position of president of City of Rest for thirty-nine years."

"I've handled so many aberration incidents that I can't even remember them all. I've forgotten how many invasions I've helped City of Rest fight off, how many cities I've destroyed, and how many information cards I've returned..."

"President Xiao..."

"..."

His tone suddenly shifted, and he looked at Xiao Xiao with a sharp gaze. "Who is the most powerful stranger you've ever met?"

"The most powerful..."

Xiao Xiao hesitated for a moment, then said, "The one who saw it with his own eyes should be Doctor Anti?"

"He came to our Black Gate City before, and although his attitude was very unfriendly, I still treated him to a meal. Then we parted amicably and went our separate ways."

"..."

"Heh, it's him..."

Old Man An gave a hollow laugh, nodded slightly, and then looked at Xiao Xiao with a deep gaze. "President Xiao, you are the most outstanding young man in all the cities, including the Dante and Hell organizations."

"But do you know the power of time?"

"This allows me to accumulate a lot of things, such as owning a museum for an entire city..."

"..."

Ruan Ruan suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with surprise and doubt. She wondered if she had just misheard something...

Xiao Xiao was also slightly surprised, and his gaze fell on Old Man An's face.

The frail old man sighed slowly and weakly raised his hand to the stage. Suddenly, a creaking sound came from the study behind him, a room with walls piled high with books. After a moment, the study seemed to move forward on its own, as if propelled by some mechanism. Once it reached them, the study suddenly split open, revealing a huge, long exhibition hall filled with glass cabinets, inside which were countless strange objects.

All those things were piled up so densely together, some motionless, some still moving, some weeping.

An immense spiritual force, with the appearance of the exhibition hall, surged out like a cavern opening, releasing a chilling wind pressure that seemed to transform the room into a vast ocean.

Ruan Ruan's expression suddenly changed. She almost jumped up, but she turned to look at Xiao Xiao and forced herself to stay seated.

Xiao Xiao's pupils also dilated slightly, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

He finally understood why Old Man An had asked him such a question, and why he had remained so calm even now.

I would have done the same if I were in that situation.

Because his study, once opened, leads to the weapons museum of City of Rest.

When Xiao Xiao was in Black Gate City, he saw the Black Gate City Weapon Museum and felt a deep sense of envy, but he also felt the gap between the two levels.

And now, Old Man An has shown me a glimpse of his strength.

He owns the entire city museum, and all the weapons and elements in the museum are part of his power.

"Do you know why I've kept City of Rest a low profile all these years?"

Old Man An looked at Xiao Xiao quietly and said slowly, "Because I have reached the pinnacle of the Stranger, I have reached the limit of the Stranger's abilities, and I have maintained it for many years."

"I possess all the enhanced weapons and elements of City of Rest, and I control the mind and thoughts of everyone here."

"I don't want to fight anyone, because if I attack anyone, I'm bullying them..."

"..."

"..."

Old Man An's voice was deep and calm, which represented his absolute composure, because he believed that what he said was the truth.

Even Xiao Xiao had to admit that this was the most powerful stranger he had ever met.

So, with a hint of regret, he could only shake his head silently and say, "I'm sorry, I really didn't know City of Rest was like this..."

A cold smile appeared on Old Man An's face.

Then he heard Xiao Xiao sigh softly, look up into his eyes, and glance past him to the exhibits behind him, which were incredibly numerous and of an astonishing quality. A smile of uncontrollable surprise slowly appeared on his lips:

"If I had known earlier, I would have come to find you much sooner..."