The stench of blood and wind rushed into their faces, and Curly Hair's entire body bristled as terror filled his eyes.
Just as the terrifying beast was about to pounce and slaughter them, Lin Shuguang and Zhao Minghui attacked at the same time. Only by joining forces did they barely manage to force the beast back.
The beast's strength was brutally savage.
Lin Shuguang and Zhao Minghui were both knocked back several steps. No wonder Zhao Minghui had not dared to bring anyone forward.
When Zhao Minghui was sent flying backward, he grabbed Curly Hair and dragged him off the high platform. The two of them rolled several times across the ground.
Curly Hair did not care about his current wretched state. After all, surviving was already something to be grateful for.
Having narrowly escaped death, he turned his head and glared resentfully toward Lin Shuguang, shouting furiously, "You!"
Lin Shuguang glanced over indifferently. "What? You want to try again?"
Curly Hair's face went pale at that. He looked at the terrifying beast drooling hungrily on the high platform, swallowed hard, and staggered back a step. For a long while, he did not dare say another word.
The beast looked like a centipede magnified dozens of times. Several meters long, it merely guarded the high platform, watching the people below with murderous intent flickering in its eyes before sinking into the shadows again.
"You're pretty damn sinister!" Zhao Minghui glared at Lin Shuguang, his face full of Killing Intent.
Lin Shuguang casually glanced over. "Not as shameless as you."
Zhao Minghui narrowed his eyes and glared at him, then coldly rebuked him with a smile that did not reach his eyes. "You want to die?"
Lin Shuguang narrowed his eyes as well and said calmly, "Don't threaten me. I've killed people like you before."
Their four eyes met, Killing Intent bursting between them as neither yielded an inch.
Just then, Cao Chao suddenly shouted, "Look up there!"
Everyone looked over.
The Black Robe who had originally been floating in midair suddenly erupted with a fierce bloody radiance.
Immediately afterward, he let out a roar resembling a beast's howl. His entire body rapidly expanded, and the Black Robe covering him exploded inch by inch.
In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a giant covered in blood-colored markings.
When he landed on the ground, the entire underground palace trembled.
The giant bent down, closed Professor Ding's coffin, and hoisted it onto his shoulder. The incomparably ferocious centipede obediently lay on his arm, curling around it like an iron ring.
"What is he trying to do?"
Curly Hair cried out in shock.
The moment his voice fell, the giant hefted the coffin and punched through the stone ceiling overhead. The supposedly indestructible stone wall was torn open in an instant like paper pasted together.
The giant leaped up, smashed through an even larger opening, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
The entire underground palace rumbled, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
Lin Shuguang reacted swiftly and fled at full speed right behind the giant.
Only then did everyone else come to their senses.
"Run! It's going to collapse!"
Cao Chao and Han Yi reacted the fastest. The moment Lin Shuguang ran, they followed close behind, completely ignoring the screams coming from the rear.
After escaping the underground palace, the two saw Lin Shuguang standing in the distance. He had not continued after the giant.
They froze and called out in unison, "Sir?"
Lin Shuguang instead asked strangely, "Does your Special Management Bureau have a group of bald men with several ordination scars on their heads?"
Cao Chao and Han Yi did not understand why Lin Shuguang had not gone after Professor Ding but had suddenly asked about this instead.
Just as they were wondering about it, a tremendous explosion suddenly erupted ahead, sending billowing clouds of dust into the air.
A powerful gust of wind blasted straight into their faces.
It was not only Cao Chao and Han Yi—even Zhao Minghui and the others who had just escaped were stunned.
Lin Shuguang, however, suddenly charged forward.
A hundred meters away.
A bald man with six ordination scars on his head stood bare-chested, his skin the color of bronze and his muscles bulging as he wielded an iron staff.
Even while facing the giant and the centipede beast's joint assault, he was not at the slightest disadvantage.
The moment he saw the bald man, the internal organization of the Special Management Bureau that Qi Lin had once told him about immediately flashed through Lin Shuguang's mind.
"Do you have to shave your head to enter the Damo Institute?"
Lin Shuguang's face turned strange.
But as he drew closer, he still remembered to shout loudly, "Lin Shuguang of the Special Management Bureau has come to help!"
The bald man's eyes gleamed. He immediately threw the coffin he had forcefully seized, his voice booming like rolling thunder. "Take it back to the bureau. I'll handle things here!"
"Senior, be careful!" Lin Shuguang caught the coffin with one hand and, without wasting time, took off running.
This sight left Zhao Minghui, who had rushed over, dumbfounded.
Whoever obtained the coffin would be the one who completed the mission!
This was a rare major mission. If he completed it, the benefits would be immense!
That was why the people from the First Department had refused to let Lin Shuguang and the others interfere at the beginning.
But now!
After all the effort they had expended, this reckless newcomer had gotten there first?!
Zhao Minghui also noticed the bald man fighting the giant in the distance and hurriedly shouted, "Senior, I'm from the First Department of the Special Management Bureau—"
Unexpectedly, before he could finish, the bald man roared, "Get lost! Stop getting in the way!"
Zhao Minghui's face turned blue, then white.
Meanwhile, Lin Shuguang was sprinting away with Professor Ding's coffin on his shoulder, with Cao Chao and Han Yi guarding him on either side from behind.
Zhao Minghui's eyes turned cold. "Move!"
His group also charged toward Lin Shuguang.
But they were ultimately one step too slow.
Lin Shuguang was the first to bring Professor Ding back to the Special Management Bureau. He had wanted to question Professor Ding about Fulong Cave, but Professor Ding had remained unconscious the entire time.
After being sent into the Special Management Bureau, Professor Ding was taken over and placed under heavy guard.
"Thanks for your effort." Ma Wei led a team back as well.
They had split into several groups at the time, but they had not expected to coincidentally run into Lin Shuguang and the others.
Lin Shuguang waved his hand. "It was nothing."
Staring at the cordoned-off emergency room of the hospital, he pretended not to care and asked, "What about the reward for this mission?"
Ma Wei froze.
It seemed he had not expected Lin Shuguang to care about this...
"You made an enormous contribution by recovering Professor Ding this time. The bureau will definitely report it—"
As he spoke, Zhao Minghui came storming over, murderous intent radiating from him. "Do the people from your Third Department have no shame?!"
He had already received the news. The mission had been listed as completed, and the First Department had gotten absolutely nothing out of it.
In other words, he had lost several capable subordinates only to end up drawing water with a bamboo basket—nothing but wasted effort!
He could not accept such a result at all.
Ma Wei frowned at him. "Captain Zhao, why are you so angry?"
Zhao Minghui strode over with Curly Hair, his face filled with Killing Intent. "Ma Wei, you've gone too far this time!"
Ma Wei looked completely bewildered.
Cao Chao and Han Yi both turned their heads away.
Only Lin Shuguang sat calmly by himself on the bench. He leaned back and watched leisurely.
Go on, show us what you've got...
The moment he saw Lin Shuguang's expression, Zhao Minghui flew into a rage. "Three brothers from our First Department died this time! And now we don't even get a share of the reward? Absolutely not!"
Ma Wei's brows knitted even more tightly. He felt that Zhao Minghui was being completely unreasonable. "Captain Zhao, that's a biased way to put it. Which group didn't lose brothers during this mission? The higher-ups have already said that everyone who participated in the mission will receive commendations. I used to think you, Zhao Minghui, were someone impressive, but now it seems that with such a strong thirst for personal gain, you're nothing special after all!"
Everyone would receive commendations, but Lin Shuguang, who had brought Professor Ding back, would receive a much greater one. That was the difference...
"Ma Wei, are you determined to oppose me?" Zhao Minghui glared coldly at him.
"What are you all shouting about here?!"
Suddenly, an authoritative voice rang out. Ma Wei, Zhao Minghui, and everyone else turned to look. "Director."
This was Lin Shuguang's first time seeing the director of the Demon Capital Special Management Bureau.
He was a middle-aged man in his forties, with sharp eyes.
Lin Shuguang also rose and said neither obsequiously nor arrogantly, "Hello, Director."
Luo Hui nodded at him, then turned to Zhao Minghui and said expressionlessly, "Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"
"Director, I—" Zhao Minghui's face went pale.
Luo Hui impatiently waved him off. "Leave. The bureau won't mistreat the comrades who died, but you should reflect properly."
"...Yes." Zhao Minghui lowered his head resentfully.
Before leaving, he did not forget to glance at Lin Shuguang, his gaze icy.
After he left, Luo Hui turned back to Lin Shuguang. After looking him over briefly, he slowly nodded and said with a light laugh, "Lin Shuguang, I've heard that name far too often lately. At such a young age, you're already a renowned figure of Demon Martial. That's truly rare."
Hearing the big shot tease him, Lin Shuguang smiled harmlessly. "You've got me, Director Luo."
Luo Hui shook his head. "Si Qianjun and I go way back. I've heard him praise you more than once."
"He knows how to praise me?" Lin Shuguang asked, his face full of bewilderment.
During his time in Huai City, he had been "hunted down" by Si Qianjun plenty of times over pills and tea.
He truly had not expected that after he left, Si Bureau would still put in a good word for him. He really was a man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart... He should have asked for more pills back then. What a pity!
Luo Hui did not know the story behind it and smiled. "Your Si Bureau is used to keeping a straight face. In truth, he's a pretty decent person."
Lin Shuguang agreed with that point as well.
Luo Hui continued, "You distinguished yourself greatly the last time Wei Rong colluded with the Divine Temple. This time, you recovered Professor Ding as well. You've made an enormous contribution."
Lin Shuguang did not dare claim the credit. "Director Luo, to be honest, I merely picked up what someone else dropped in Professor Ding's case. A senior from the bureau took action first and then handed him over to me."
Luo Hui's gaze flickered. As the head of the Special Management Bureau, he naturally knew the truth.
He chuckled softly. "His identity is special, so it isn't convenient for him to appear. This mission will be recognized as completed by you."
Lin Shuguang said "embarrassedly," "That makes me feel rather awkward. After all, that senior did most of the work. I could be said to have stolen his credit..."
Luo Hui laughed heartily. "It's nothing. He doesn't need this sort of reward."
Lin Shuguang felt a flicker of surprise.
This was certainly a major mission with generous rewards, yet Director Luo said that person did not need them?
Could it be that the people from the Damo Institute had some unknown cultivation resources of their own?
Lin Shuguang felt itchy with curiosity.
But then he thought about how he would have to shave his head and receive ordination scars if he entered the Damo Institute. What would he do then?
What if they even required abstinence...
Lin Shuguang tugged at the corner of his mouth, his face full of hesitation.
Luo Hui offered a few more words of encouragement before leaving. Ma Wei came over and asked in a low voice, "Brother Lin, what exactly happened between you and Zhao Minghui from the First Department?"
Zhao Minghui?
Lin Shuguang smiled casually and merely shook his head.
It was Cao Chao who recounted the entire story from beginning to end.
Ma Wei's expression changed.
"That Zhao Minghui really is a bastard!"
But when he thought of how Lin Shuguang had used Zhao Minghui's subordinates to scout the way with ruthless efficiency, he subconsciously swallowed hard.
With that ruthless boldness alone, he truly did not believe that Lin Shuguang would be absent from the ranks of the future powerhouses!
"Each one is more ruthless than the last!"
Before you continue