Plan

A few hours later, Li Yèlái and the others, who had been standing ready for action, still had not received the teammates they were supposed to support. Instead, powerful reinforcements arrived first.

Plague Doctor brought more than seventy Handlers who had just returned from the front lines, over three hundred Iron Guards, and a large number of special operations and medical personnel. They surged into Black Prison in a mighty procession.

While taking away the wounded from the upper levels, they also descended into the lower levels to support Yáng Chén.

With their arrival, the members of Third Team, who had been forcing themselves to stay alert, suddenly relaxed. Several of them immediately fell into a deep sleep.

The continuous fighting and their injuries had already exhausted them. Once they saw the reinforcements, they could no longer hold on.

White Poplar, whose arm had been severed, was taken away for surgery. His arm had been separated for too long, so reattaching it would take some effort.

They said that Captain Plague Doctor was an expert of the Divine Control Path.

Unlike other Divine Control Path practitioners who specialized in combat, she was more skilled at treating the wounded.

With Cell Domination in one hand and Flying Needle Suture in the other,

she had become the finest doctor in Border City No. 3. She could reattach almost any severed limb.

There had even been cases where she had immediately operated on beheaded people and ultimately kept them alive.

She was the kind of person who could pull someone back even after they had passed through the gates of hell—and slap Yánwáng across the face while she was at it!

With the captain personally performing the operation, White Poplar's arm should be fine.

Li Yèlái, Cheese, and the others were also transferred back to the rest area.

After Li Yèlái's wounds were examined again, he was sent back to his own lounge. This place could also be considered a safe rear area.

At that moment, Li Yèlái saw some familiar faces among the reinforcements.

It was Detective and Heavy Cavalry!

They were also part of the reinforcements, but they had not gone deep into the lower levels.

Li Yèlái immediately called the two of them over and asked, "How are things outside? Is the Family Apartments safe?"

Detective and Heavy Cavalry were startled when they saw Li Yèlái covered from head to toe in bandages.

Although Li Yèlái was still completely intact, the bandages around his body and the crimson scars spreading from his chest

all indicated that the man had gone through a dangerous battle!

As newcomers from the same period, they both knew exactly how powerful Li Yèlái was. Yet he had ended up in this state.

Detective suppressed her surprise and quickly replied, "The incident happened in South City New District, far from the Family Apartments at our East City Branch, so the chaos did not spread there. However, several family members who watched the broadcast fell into extreme fanaticism. Fortunately, they were all subdued, and there were no casualties."

"People were affected just by watching the broadcast?" Li Yèlái's expression changed. This was beyond his expectations.

Li Yúnyān had been constantly talking about wanting Fantasy Band's autographs so she could sell them. Maybe she had been watching the broadcast at the time.

Could she have been affected too? No, at that time, Li Yúnyān should have been rushing to finish her draft.

At the same time, the words "no casualties" allowed Li Yèlái to relax slightly.

Thank goodness. Thank goodness she was all right.

"That's right. Even the sound from the broadcast could cause people to be affected by the Void Realm's power.

"They might not Awaken into Psychics or become twisted and lose control, but they were still guided by the Void Realm's various powers and controlled by their desires.

"Murder, robbery, self-harm, humiliation—every kind of chaos. It was even more chaotic than the wilderness!" Detective gritted her teeth as she spoke. "And the audience at the scene had it even worse!"

Li Yèlái's face turned ashen. If merely watching the broadcast could drive people mad, then the scene itself must have been a vision of hell.

He did not know how many people had become twisted and killed their own relatives with their own hands.

Heavy Cavalry thought for a moment before speaking. "There are still some aftershocks of chaos on the surface, but overall, things have stabilized. An official Psychic of supreme strength took action and drove away that enormous Void Realm Creature."

"An enormous Void Realm Creature?" Li Yèlái froze. "Why would this involve a giant creature? Did the Calamity Forbidden Zone take the opportunity to attack the city?"

"No. According to the deductions of a senior of the Zeroing Path and the Processing Department's analysis, the other side used some kind of Class B Forbidden Item. It caused the people who heard the song and were affected by it to voluntarily provide psychic energy. That psychic energy opened a passage to the Void Realm, allowing some enormous monster to descend into the physical world."

Detective sighed. "Fortunately, our Border City No. 3 has a supreme powerhouse. They directly repelled the invader, essentially quelling the disturbance. Once the City Defense Force took over, we came to support you."

"Fantasy Band. Damn them!" Li Yèlái gritted his teeth.

They had influenced tens of thousands of people with their singing and used that power to summon a terrifying existence from the Void Realm. They had even drawn out Zhelan King's Banner.

Who knew how many innocent people had been caught up in this disaster, or how many Handlers had died gloriously?

The other side had used at least two high-risk Forbidden Items!

But what exactly were they trying to do? No, whatever their reason, they deserved to die!

"All the members of Fantasy Band except the lead singer became twisted and lost control. They've already been dealt with. Only the lead singer, Qin Zhi, is missing. He should be the mastermind behind this incident—or at least the mastermind we've discovered so far." Detective replied, "The various branches are conducting a citywide search for Qin Zhi, but there's no news yet. He also seems to be a Psychic, and he has accomplices waiting to help him."

"We have to find him!" Li Yèlái gritted his teeth.

"Every Handler thinks so. Even the Handlers from the nearby megacities think so." Heavy Cavalry cut in. "The megacity nearest to us was also watching the broadcast, and the result..."

That was right. The nearest cities—Border City No. 1, Border City No. 2, and Lava Mine City—all shared a signal with Border City No. 3.

They had also broadcast the performance, resulting in large-scale chaos.

Qin Zhi had offended four megacities in one stroke. He had defied the whole world and directly attacked civilians!

To find such a beast, all the megacities were tracking him closely!

At that moment, Li Yèlái felt that the surroundings had grown much quieter.

Cheese from the lounge next door had also appeared at the doorway at some point. Her slightly reddened eyes were looking toward the square.

Li Yèlái and the other two followed her gaze and saw people carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades back into the safe zone.

A large number of bodies had been laid out in the square of the rest area.

Everyone stopped speaking and silently looked toward the square.

There were too many. The bodies of Handlers, Iron Guards, and clerical workers—more than four hundred in total—had been placed in the square. White cloth covered their faces and mutilated remains.

Only then did Li Yèlái see Yáng Chén, his body covered in blood. No one knew when he had returned from the lower levels and come back to the rest area.

His condition was terrible. His eyes were bloodshot, and countless scars covered his body.

Those were all wounds left by the recent battle. Yáng Chén was a Six Senses Psychic of the True Martial Path, and he had strengthened himself with the Heart of Slaughter three times.

His physical constitution was extraordinarily powerful, allowing his wounds to heal and scab over quickly.

But at that moment, he silently looked at the square and the bodies hidden beneath the white cloth.

The wounds on his body could heal, but the wounds in his heart would never disappear.

After a long while, Yáng Chén finally spoke calmly. "Is everyone here?"

"More than seventy are still missing. We're doing everything we can to find them," a Handler replied quietly.

Missing? Li Yèlái sighed inwardly. How could those people be merely missing? Their bodies and bones had been completely destroyed!

Many Forbidden Items directly devoured flesh and blood, or tore bodies into fragments that were scattered across the ground.

More than eleven hundred people had been stationed in Black Prison. Now, they had found the bodies of three hundred and seventy-two, while seventy remained missing.

That meant the death toll had exceeded four hundred, including fifty-six Handlers from Third Team.

This incident had reduced Third Team's numbers by nearly one-third.

Li Yèlái felt a deep sorrow. He had only just grown familiar with those comrades from Third Team, yet he had already lost them forever.

Yáng Chén remained silent. After a long while, he said quietly, "Double the compensation for every person, whether they were clerical staff or Iron Guards."

The Handler from the Logistics Department nodded slightly. Clearly, he had already received instructions from the upper levels.

"It should be done. Their final words have all been backed up, and their names will be engraved on the Heroes' Monument of the megacity."

Yáng Chén nodded slightly. Then his gaze swept across the surroundings and paused on Li Yèlái.

Afterward, his cracked lips parted slightly. "Remember them. Avenge them and wipe away their grievances!"

The Handlers of Third Team shouted in unison, "Yes!"

Then Yáng Chén collapsed with a thunderous crash.

The Logistics Team's Handlers, who had already been prepared, immediately came forward and carried him onto a stretcher.

He was too exhausted. While most of his teammates were seriously wounded or dead, he had faced the combined assault of two Class B Forbidden Items alone. He had long since reached the end of his strength.

In the several hours after Yáng Chén lost consciousness, a fully staffed Handler team returned to Black Prison.

They replaced Third Team, whose members were all wounded, and pulled them out of Black Prison.

During this time, Li Yèlái met the last captain he had never seen before.

East City Branch had six captains.

Captain of First Team, Yáng Chén—the True Martial Path.

Captain of Third Team, Furnace—the Myriad Paths.

Captain of Fourth Team, Moon Shadow—the Zeroing Path.

Captain of Fifth Team, Pale—the Spirit Eyes Path.

Captain of the Logistics Team, Plague Doctor—the Divine Control Path.

The one who had appeared now was the captain of Second Team, Yīnhuǒ.

He was also the strongest Nether Path Psychic in the branch.

From his appearance, he looked like a teacher who educated students. He wore black-rimmed glasses and seemed exceedingly refined.

Yet a chill emanated from him, making others reluctant to approach.

Strangely, after standing for a while in front of the sleeping Yáng Chén, Yīnhuǒ deliberately sought out Li Yèlái, who was about to leave Black Prison.

"I heard you obtained a second mask?" Yīnhuǒ asked flatly.

"Yes," Li Yèlái replied. "I obtained a second mask."

Yīnhuǒ continued, "The database contains no record of that kind of mask. Can you tell me who it represents?"

"The Champion Marquis who sealed the wolf dwellings and raised the Han banners!" Li Yèlái replied.

The database naturally could not find Huo Qubing. In Peking opera, a handsome man like him was usually played by a martial performer in a handsome style, or by a young male-role performer.

A painted mask would only make him look less handsome. But Myriad Faces did not care about that.

"Huo Qubing? The ability is the Shadow Army of the Nether Path?" Yīnhuǒ asked again.

Li Yèlái nodded slightly.

He knew that revealing his second mask would inevitably attract the authorities' attention, so he simply told the truth.

Of course, he still had to keep Mr. Shadow's existence secret.

Otherwise, the authorities would think that Li Yèlái was the servant of some deity.

Though, isn't that actually true? I have both sacrifices and blessings. How could it be anything else?

That meant he absolutely could not expose Mr. Shadow—not for now, at least. He could only do so once the authorities completely trusted him.

"Your first mask is Spirit Eyes, and your second mask is Nether." Yīnhuǒ smiled. "Have you discovered any pattern to unlocking the masks?"

Li Yèlái shook his head. He could hardly say that he had to offer sacrifices to some existence, could he?

"Very well. Keep tempering yourself." Yīnhuǒ did not press him. Instead, he smiled and said, "Once your strength improves, there will be a mission for you. You'll be the best candidate going forward."

"An important mission?" Li Yèlái asked in confusion.

"It's related to this attack. You don't need to know the rest yet, lest it put pressure on you." Yīnhuǒ did not explain further. He patted Li Yèlái on the shoulder and said, "Work hard and grow stronger."

Then he turned and walked into the entrance of Black Prison.

Left standing where he was, Li Yèlái felt confused. Related to this incident?

Are they planning to send me to avenge my colleagues?

Actually, that was not impossible. Li Yèlái would be willing to make one trade to avenge his comrades.

I could simply have Mr. Shadow slaughter their entire group!

But haven't they failed to find the enemy yet?

Besides, he was currently only a Second Awakening. Even with the ability granted by the masks, he was still far weaker than the captains and the Night Watch.

What mission would absolutely require me to go? The authorities don't know that Mr. Shadow exists. Wouldn't sending me there just be sending me to my death?

"Even with the masks, my strength isn't enough. Other than being unlucky, what else about me is worth their attention?" Li Yèlái pondered.

Afterward, he left Black Prison with Cheese.

Meanwhile, Yīnhuǒ contacted headquarters.

"I didn't sense any external power on him. We should be able to rule out the possibility that he's a believer of some deity. But we still have to stay alert. That existence may have ignored my perception. Even so, I'm willing to trust Night General himself. He risked his life to pursue and kill the Zhelan King, and he faced the Zhelan Iron Cavalry alone."

Yīnhuǒ continued, "So I believe we can make arrangements soon. The people from the past were too powerful, so Ark would inevitably be wary. His special Psychic ability, combined with his low level of Awakening, instead gives him enough ability to protect himself. But we must guarantee his safety. This incident has dealt a heavy blow to Yáng Chén. If the successor were to die as well, he would probably lose control completely!"

"Of course. The purpose of this mission is to proceed while ensuring Night General's safety. As long as he doesn't act recklessly," an old man replied from the other end.

"Also, his masks are indeed special. You could even call them strange! If he has a third or fourth mask, and they grant abilities from other Paths as well, then his upper limit will be terrifyingly high! Just imagine how frightening a Myriad Psychic with abilities from several Paths would be!"

Yīnhuǒ thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "If that day really comes, my suggestion is that the Old Mad King can step down directly. As for that Little Mad King at headquarters, forget it."

"Heh heh." An old woman laughed from the other end. "You only distrust her because of the curse. All right. Since you put it that way, we'll make contact with Night General afterward."

After ending the call, Yīnhuǒ pondered. "Ark, Ark. No matter how impressive you are, you're still just a vehicle, right?"