At the Pitch Black headquarters in Portugal, inside the secret experimental facility surrounded by three reinforced legions, Yaming quietly watched the busy workers below.
A vast array of high-density instruments and the workers moving at a brisk pace seemed to make everyone tense as the final moment approached.
Yaming turned around, silent and lost in thought...
Just then, a voice came over the loudspeaker. "Report, Miss Yaming. Everything is ready. Shall we begin?"
Yaming came back to herself and gave a slight nod.
Nearly half a year had passed since Lv Tian and Ming had been in Japan...
Lv Tian and Ming had died...
It had dealt Pitch Black an enormous blow. After receiving the news, Zhen Yajie had immediately gone all out and rushed to the B-017 base in San Francisco.
Over the past six months, the B-017 aliens had vanished, and all the forces on Earth had agreed to a unified plan to eliminate them.
Heming's death might not have been surprising, since he had only just begun.
But Lv Tian had the strength of a special-grade member of Pitch Black. What could kill him in a single second?
So far, no one knew. They could only wait for Lv Tian and Heming to come back to life.
To bring the two of them back, Yaming had conducted countless rounds of diplomacy with various factions.
Finally, with the approval of most of Earth's forces, they began the resurrection process.
Zhen Yajie anxiously waited for news in Antarctica.
The machines hummed, and everyone held their breath.
Smoke billowed from the machine. Two figures slowly emerged. Then came a familiar voice: "Damn it, if I hadn't been trying to protect the surrounding area, there's no way I'd have died!" It was Lv Tian—the voice Yajie had longed to hear for so long.
Heming merely gave a soft grunt.
Everyone was stunned. They had succeeded on their very first attempt, after only six months of research!
With tears in her eyes, Yaming took out her phone and called Zhen Yajie.
When the call connected, Yaming said, "Yajie, Lv Tian's all right now. He'll come over tonight." Though her voice brimmed with joy, the past few months had clearly worn her down.
Zhen Yajie was silent for a moment, then said, "He doesn't need to come. I'll go over myself the day after tomorrow. You're tired too, so get some rest."
Yaming murmured her assent and hung up...
Yaming and Zhen Yajie had always found it awkward to talk to each other. Everyone knew why...
After exchanging greetings with the workers, Lv Tian and Heming went to the conference room on Pitch Black's lowest floor. Everyone seated there was a first-grade or special-grade member.
By the time they arrived, Yaming was already seated at the head of the table.
Heming and Lv Tian were each shown to their assigned seats.
Then the person beside Yaming spoke. "Please verify the code GC399. Guangcheng Heming, give us your report on what happened."
Heming stood up and walked to the center of the conference room. "After receiving Lv Tian's order, I left the hotel and headed for the B-017 aliens' location. I ran into a few stragglers along the way and took care of them. Then I reached the rooftop where the B-017 aliens had gathered. I saw several of them talking, and then I was hit and knocked down."
After Heming finished, the person gestured for him to return to his seat, then said, "Please verify the code A-111. Guangcheng Mingjian, give us your report on what happened."
The conference room broke into discussion. Many had heard Lv Tian's code for the first time, but they soon fell silent.
Ming Jian grumbled, "Tianming, could you stop saying my name and code out loud? Damn it. Like Heming said, I followed him all the way to the rooftop. I saw him get attacked and knocked down. The enemy used Y-016 transparent bullets. Heming had no idea what was happening before he was taken out. Then I took down several nearby enemies and left one alive so I could question him. But an odd thing appeared in the sky above the rooftop—a black, jellyfish-like creature. My energy sense picked up that it was about to attack with an energy-based weapon of mass destruction, so I trapped it inside an energy shield and put a small energy shield around myself. I never expected the thing to hit so hard. It actually killed me. What a pain."
Turning around, Ming Jian continued, "Oh, I poured all my energy into the big shield. The small one was powered by my weapon. That's what happened." Then he returned to his seat.
Discussion broke out again. A black jellyfish, an energy-based weapon of mass destruction... They could first rule out aliens, because aliens didn't use energy.
Tianming spoke again. "That concludes the meeting. Heming and Ming Jian, please come to the command room."
Ten minutes later, in the command room, Yaming looked at the large screen above the control console and said, "Then there's no doubt. Those two traitors helped someone else develop the energy weapon. Half a month ago, we received word that a factory was making a special murder weapon, so we sent people to investigate. They found that black jellyfish there. After recovering it, we discovered that its data and files were almost identical to the ones stolen a year ago, just slightly modified."
After hearing this, Ming Jian asked, "You mean Min Hui and Gu Waiyi did it? If I'd known, I would've killed them both that day."
Tianming pulled out a notebook and tossed it at Ming Jian. "One of them has already been killed by Kuo Ming. Only Min Hui is left. Min Hui has two abilities, and you know what they are: he's undetectable and can turn invisible intermittently. That's given us a real headache. The only person who can detect him directly is Zhen Yajie, but she's never been willing to join the organization. I think you should talk to her properly!"
Ming Jian was speechless.
Yaming said, "Ke Ming, bring that corpse over."
Ming Jian grinned at Heming. "Lucky you. We found this corpse about a thousand meters beneath the surface. Kuo Ming didn't want it, so it's yours. You might get something good out of it, though mostly it comes down to luck."
Heming fell silent.
Ke Ming wheeled over an operating table with a badly mangled, mummified corpse lying on it.
Heming swallowed, then walked up and copied the power inside the body. But something strange happened: the corpse began to glow purple.
Ming Jian laughed. "Well, would you look at that—it's a demon's corpse! This is exciting. Everyone, give me some room. This one's mine." Yaming and the others slowly backed away.
The purple glow grew brighter, and the mummy began absorbing the natural energy around it. Heming felt uneasy, so Ke Ming grinned and put up an energy shield around him.
Two minutes later, the corpse had regained its original form. Seeing that it had finished regenerating, Ming Jian shouted, "Heh heh, another divine-grade piece of equipment for me!" He pulled a transparent sword from the palm of his hand and charged.
Yaming looked at the demon that had risen to its feet. "It's Chelsbei. If I'd known, I would've taken it on myself. Hmph."
When Chelsbei saw Ming Jian charging, it immediately turned its claws into blades and blocked Ming Jian's first strike.
Ming Jian's first strike missed. He quickly pulled back and hurled the sword in his hand straight at Chelsbei.
Chelsbei slashed at the incoming sword, knocking it aside. But Ming Jian appeared behind it and punched it hard.
With a scream, Chelsbei flew away. Ming Jian chased after it, grabbed the deflected sword, and drove it fiercely into Chelsbei's body.
Then Ming Jian grinned at Yaming. "Done. Thirty-seven seconds. Heh, that's faster than your last time."
Yaming gave a soft snort. "Go see what good stuff you got."
Chelsbei's body began to shine again, but this time the light burst outward from within.
After the flash, Chelsbei vanished, leaving a purple ring on the ground. Ming Jian picked it up and said, "A Purple Mirror. I've already got several. Does anyone want this one?"
Yaming immediately replied, "How extravagant. Give it to Heming. We all have one already, so it doesn't matter."
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