Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The moment those words were spoken.

Everyone in the Investigation Bureau froze for a moment.

Then, terror filled every face. Their fear was no less than Director Zhang Ping's—if anything, even greater!

The Rift was this world's ticking time bomb.

Right now, humans and ghosts were still in a state of peace. Although ghosts were stronger than humans and could easily kill people through rules and mediums.

There were not many ghosts, so the balance had held for the time being. Even now, after the authorities suppressed the news, most people did not know whether ghosts truly existed.

That was all because the Rift had yet to be opened.

All ghosts had crawled out from the Rift.

Back then, the Rift had only opened a tiny crack, yet it had allowed so many ghosts to awaken in this world.

If it opened completely this time.

The entire structure of the human world would collapse!

Ghosts would ravage the mortal realm.

All living beings would face imminent doom.

"What do we do now??"

"Can Grave Robber Ghost stop it?"

"Once the Rift opens, we'll all die!"

After taking a sip of water, Director Zhang Ping calmed down. His face turned grave as he said, "Sit down. Our Investigation Bureau exists to deal with ghosts. We cannot throw ourselves into chaos first. Since it has already happened, we should discuss how to deal with the enemy."

"That's right, the Director is right. Hurry and think of a way to solve this!"

"How about we evacuate everyone in Linjiang City and have them flee to other cities first?"

"The best course would be to disperse the population, then seal off the city. Inform all nearby cities as well, so they can begin making defensive preparations!"

"In my opinion, we should immediately report this to the Headquarters Bureau. Have them send people to deal with [Grave Robber Ghost] and fill the Rift! There may still be time!"

"Once the Rift opens, ghosts will emerge from it endlessly. This is no longer the problem of a single city. It concerns all of China."

The ghost resurgence was already terrifying enough.

If the Rift opened, all of Huaxia—even the entire world—might become a world of ghosts.

Quite a few people offered their own suggestions.

Some wanted Zhang Ping to report the situation to the Headquarters Bureau and seek their help.

But Zhang Ping shook his head. It was clearly unrealistic. The Headquarters Bureau was in Kyoto, far too far away. Even Ghost Controllers with powerful constitutions would probably need several hours to reach Linjiang City. There was simply no time.

Evacuating the population and having everyone flee Linjiang City was equally unrealistic. There was nowhere near enough time. Linjiang City had a population of one million; even with several days, they might not be able to evacuate everyone.

By then, the Rift would likely have already opened completely.

Sealing off the city, however, was a good option.

At last, Zhang Ping shot to his feet. His expression grave, he gritted his teeth and slapped the table. "Then issue orders to every department. Seal off the city immediately. Inform all neighboring cities that the Rift is about to open. Have them send reinforcements while also preparing to defend their own cities.

There is no longer enough time to evacuate everyone, so we can only temporarily evacuate all residents within a fifty-mile radius centered on the school."

As expected of the Director of Linjiang City's Investigation Bureau, he immediately made the most prudent decision.

Hearing this, everyone nodded.

This decision was already the best possible one.

Zhang Ping looked through the enormous floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, the sky was pitch-black, thick with dark clouds.

"Hurry and notify Cleansers Captain Yi Mingqiu to return. Go to the back mountain of Linjiang No. 1 Middle School and see whether he can turn the tide. For now, have Li Hao hold on with everything he has. Send all elite Ghost Controllers over to assist in closing the Rift!"

Once the order was issued, the Investigation Bureau sprang into action.

Countless powerful elite Ghost Controllers within the Investigation Bureau began moving at once.

As the captain of the Cleansers, Yi Mingqiu did not hesitate after receiving the order and rushed straight toward Linjiang No. 1 Middle School.

Linjiang No. 1 Middle School.

The back mountain.

Li Hao received the Investigation Bureau's order to hold Grave Robber Ghost back with all his strength.

But even if the Investigation Bureau had not issued that order, he would have done the same.

"Stop right there!"

Li Hao roared and charged forward without hesitation.

[Little rat, you dare interrupt my excavation!]

What Grave Robber Ghost hated most was being disturbed while digging a grave.

It instantly flew into a rage and lightly swung its shovel.

The shovel carried an immensely powerful ghostly force, enveloping Li Hao's entire body in an instant!

Li Hao's eyes widened. He felt his body weaken, while everything before him flashed past like a revolving lantern. Clarity vanished, replaced by chaos.

The ghost within his body seemed extremely interested in the ghostly energy released by Grave Robber Ghost.

It began reviving rapidly inside Li Hao.

One move was enough to take down Li Hao, a Cleansers member who had controlled an lv.12 ghost.

Han Ningning was terrified.

Even Ghost Doll and Tong Jian felt unprecedented pressure.

Only Chen Yu remained calm as he stared at Grave Robber Ghost without moving.

[The annoying fly is gone. No one can disturb me now...]

Grave Robber Ghost chuckled. It did not take Chen Yu and the others seriously at all and resumed digging.

Shovelful after shovelful, clumps of earth were turned over.

The pitch-black hole beneath them became increasingly distinct.

They could see it.

The hazy, distorted black hole inside seemed to be some sort of fluid.

There was no end in sight to the fluid. It was densely packed with rotting sea fish and horrifying tentacles.

It was like a slaughterhouse river used specifically to discard severed animal limbs. Corpses were like Death's minions, while chunks of flesh and mountains of bodies churned and boiled within it. Some animals even seemed to still be physically struggling and thrashing inside.

If there had been light, everyone would have seen that the underground river was not black at all, but dark yellow, formed from the Corpse Oil of countless species mixed together.

The stench of corpses spread throughout the entire back mountain.

This was the Rift!

A ghostly Rift!

As Grave Robber Ghost dug, it lit another oil lamp.

The lamp flickered, and the smell produced by its flame was nauseating.

It was over!

There was no way to stop it now!

This oil lamp was the foundation of Grave Robber Ghost's actions. As long as the lamp remained lit.

Grave Robber Ghost would not stop! "Let me test your strength."

Chen Yu gave a cold smile and attacked directly.

The Headless Ghost Shadow inside him awakened.

Then Chen Yu's shadow rose to its feet, moving through the darkness as it charged directly at Grave Robber Ghost.

Unfortunately!

Grave Robber Ghost seemed to have three-hundred-and-sixty-degree cameras without a single blind spot.

Clang!

The ancient Luoyang Shovel struck the Ghost Shadow with one blow, sending it flying.

Grave Robber Ghost was actually this strong?

The Headless Ghost Shadow was one of the three greatest trump-card ghosts within Chen Yu.

It moved silently and was incredibly fast.

Yet Grave Robber Ghost had discovered it and even knocked the Ghost Shadow away.

Not someone to be trifled with!

Just then.

Several figures arrived at the back mountain one after another.

When they saw Chen Yu fighting Grave Robber Ghost.

Those Investigation Bureau elites hurriedly stopped, staring fixedly at the scene before them without even blinking.

Chen Yu had an enormous reputation within the Investigation Bureau.

However, Chen Yu was wearing a hat at the moment. By the time they arrived, he had already used the Ghost Shadow of the Headless Ghost Shadow to conceal his face.

So they still could not tell who Chen Yu was.

They only knew that this person was Han Ningning's friend and possessed both the identities of [Nightfall] and [Zoo Mystery Man].

"I didn't expect Li Hao to have already been beaten to the point of ghost revival..."

"Even the invincible Nightfall is powerless. We're finished!"

"How about we all attack together?"

"Attack now? Are you dreaming? Our people are still on the way. Only seven or eight of us have arrived. If we go up together now, wouldn't we just be serving ourselves up as extra food for Grave Robber Ghost?"

"But... Li Hao is already in trouble, and Nightfall can't stop Grave Robber Ghost either. What do we do? If the Rift opens, we'll all die..."

The Investigation Bureau elites who had arrived first did not dare to attack. Even Li Hao, a Cleansers member, had already been defeated. Even if they joined forces, they could not possibly be a match for the lv.14 Grave Robber Ghost.

Those Investigation Bureau elites hurried over to Chen Yu's side. Their expressions were somewhat restrained, and their tone was respectful.

After all, this was someone even Investigation Bureau Director Zhang Ping had to curry favor with.

One crew-cut man respectfully said, "Mr. Nightfall, our people are still arriving. This thing is an lv.14 ghost. Since we can't make it stop, let's wait for reinforcements first."

This man was the captain of this squad, Zhang Haiming.

Zhang Haiming's other teammates nodded in agreement.

But Chen Yu merely glanced at them from the corner of his eye and smiled faintly. "Who said I can't make it stop?"

Hadn't your ghost just been defeated?

It had been sent flying with a single blow from Grave Robber Ghost's shovel. How could you possibly make it stop now? Their combat strength was clearly not on the same level.

Although Nightfall was extremely famous in the Investigation Bureau.

And they knew Nightfall possessed astonishing combat strength.

In their view, however, Nightfall was not so strong that he could take on Grave Robber Ghost alone.

"But..."

Hearing that, Zhang Haiming wanted to say something.

But Chen Yu waved his hand and interrupted him. "I was only testing it just now. If one ghost could kill it, there would be no need to put in more effort. Since one ghost can't kill it, then I'll bring out a few more."

Chen Yu's voice fell.

In an instant, two red glints flashed across his hazy face.

His left and right eyes emerged directly from the pitch-black shadows, filled with bloodshot veins.

The Investigation Bureau elites could clearly see that the eyeballs had no pupils.

And around the circular eyeballs were dial markings and hands like those of a clock!

Both eyes had them!

Then Chen Yu's shadow rose from the ground once more.

But this shadow had no head!

The hand of the black Headless Ghost Shadow moved lightly, and a gleaming butcher knife without a handle appeared in its grasp.

The darkness of the Headless Ghost Shadow began spreading, crawling over the entire butcher knife and coating it in a deep-black outer layer.

The blade's original gleam vanished.

In its place was an even more intense killing intent!

Twin Ghost Eyes.

Combined with the Ghost Butcher Knife and the Headless Ghost Shadow puzzle!

"Unable to stop its actions? Are you overestimating it, or underestimating me?"

Chen Yu's words were shocking, arrogant to the extreme.

Yet despite that arrogance, no one dared refute him.

Because the Investigation Bureau veterans were all dumbfounded!

Fuck, three ghosts!

And all three ghosts were extremely high-level, each at level ten or above.

One of them was even more terrifying... The aura it gave off was utterly unlike the aura possessed by ghosts of this dimension!

The next moment.

The Headless Ghost Shadow, wielding the Ghost Butcher Knife, darted toward Grave Robber Ghost.

From an extremely tricky angle, it slashed at Grave Robber Ghost's head.

Endless killing intent, along with the desire to sever heads, instantly arose in Chen Yu's mind!

It was a kind of pleasure, the pleasure of cutting off someone's head.

But Grave Robber Ghost was, after all, an lv.14 ghost.

Its perception was astonishing, and it was incredibly agile. Seeing a powerful ghost rushing toward it, it flashed aside and actually dodged the strike!

The blade glow raised by the Ghost Butcher Knife struck the ground directly, carving out a trench and even cutting through a puddle of accumulated rainwater.

What was shocking was this.

The legendary principle that water flowed on even after being cut by a blade had no effect whatsoever on the Ghost Butcher Knife and Ghost Shadow puzzle.

Under the powerful rule of causality, the severed water could not recover!

Grave Robber Ghost seemed to sense danger and stared deeply at Chen Yu.

"You old rat, you actually tried to harm me and interrupt my gold-digging. You're dead!"

Grave Robber Ghost roared and charged at Chen Yu with the Luoyang Shovel in hand.

That powerful Anomaly Ability spread out once more, enveloping the entire back mountain.

A sense of terror rose in everyone's hearts, and boundless panic spread deep into their minds.

This is bad!

We're dead if we anger it!

That was the only thought in everyone's minds.

A few Investigation Bureau elites had even prepared to turn and flee. Others were so terrified that they no longer had the strength to run, their legs going weak.

"Ever since the Ghost Butcher Knife, I haven't seen an anomaly capable of expanding a Ghost Domain. You're quite impressive. You should taste delicious."

Chen Yu said with a smile, seemingly quite pleased with Grave Robber Ghost's performance.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

At a time like this, you were still judging whether it would taste good?

Were you even human?

Just as everyone fell into despair.

The time pointer in Chen Yu's right eye began spinning wildly clockwise.

Meanwhile, the hour hand in his left eye began rotating counterclockwise.

The powerful force of temporal laws began frantically rewinding and accelerating.

Time was completely distorted at that moment!

A spatial rift vortex created by temporal distortion appeared out of nowhere. Grave Robber Ghost's charging body was caught in the vortex of time and space, twisting grotesquely as it was forcibly wrung into a knot.

The knot tightened tighter and tighter until it was finally twisted apart!

Poor Grave Robber Ghost probably never even knew how it died.