The Joker's Organization Behind the Scenes

Gu Jianlin took a deep breath as he watched this miraculous scene.

Once the soul imprisoned by the Soul-Pacifying Bell was extracted, it retained its memories despite lacking any combat capability. Its self-awareness had been completely erased, leaving it like a marionette that obeyed its master's commands unconditionally.

The fragmented soul faintly reflected the image of the Joker.

The young man asked in a low voice, "I have read your file. You participated in the Kirin Immortal Palace excavation project six months ago, serving as a dimensional surveyor. What was your relationship with Gu Ci'an at that time?"

After a moment of silence, the Joker's shattered soul began to fluctuate vaguely.

No sound emerged, only the ripples of mental intent.

Yet, Gu Jianlin naturally understood his meaning.

"We were colleagues back then."

This was the Joker's reply.

Gu Jianlin pressed on, "What was Gu Ci'an's job?"

The Joker replied dully, "He was an investigator for the Kirin Immortal Palace. Before the formal reclamation of the Ancient God Realm, he conducted multiple surveys and compiled corresponding strategies. Very few people were qualified for that work."

"Because when the Kirin Immortal Palace's dimension was first located eight years ago, several accidents had already occurred. The most serious one killed over two hundred people and led to the defection of members of the Ether Association."

"Back then, Gu Ci'an and Lu Zijin were members of the same squad. Their teammate, the Nightmare Master, descended into madness during a survey mission. To advance his own power, he held a bloody ritual that killed many investigators."

"Lu Zijin's younger brother, Lu Zicheng, was the Nightmare Master's student at the time and one of the survivors."

Gu Jianlin was stunned; he had not expected Captain Lu to have such a past.

"The higher-ups attached great importance to this matter. As a super-elite of the Night Watchers, Gu Ci'an received high-level directives from the top brass during subsequent surveys of the Ancient God Realm."

"Gu Ci'an had two tasks. One was to track several accidents, and the other was to investigate the defectors. Some of them had fled with precious ancient texts and broken into the Kirin Immortal Palace."

"When Gu Ci'an led the team into the Kirin Immortal Palace, we administrative staff were responsible for organizing intelligence, providing follow-up support and rescue, and transporting supplies."

"But when we first attempted to enter the Immortal Palace, we encountered something extremely bizarre..."

Hearing this, Gu Jianlin's voice deepened, "Go on."

Unexpectedly, the Joker, who had lost his self-awareness, began to tremble in terror at this moment.

In fact, throughout his life before this, Gu Jianlin had always believed the soul was merely a product of human imagination. It was only after becoming an Ascender that he confirmed its existence; it was like a convergence of spirit, a manifestation of consciousness.

As an individual's life advanced, the soul also grew stronger.

At this moment, the Joker's display of immense fear proved that the incident had left him with deep psychological trauma—a terror branded so deeply into his soul that he had not forgotten it even after death.

His soul was like a candle flame, flickering and on the verge of extinction.

"Something that could scare a person with psychological issues to this extent?"

Gu Jianlin muttered to himself, trying to shake the Soul-Pacifying Bell, which emitted a clear, resonant chime.

The Soul-Pacifying Bell had a powerful controlling and soothing effect on enslaved souls.

The Joker's soul gradually calmed down, radiating waves of intent.

"It was the winter six months ago. One of the three giants of the Ether Association, the Supreme known as Rhine, ordered a large-scale exploration of the Kirin Immortal Palace. It started when fishermen along the East China Sea coast accidentally salvaged a super-ancient relic. It was a fragment of a shattered meteorite, inscribed with primordial characters and hiding the secret of immortality."

"Later, it was identified as belonging to the lost Ancient God Race, the Kirin Clan. Unlike the auspicious beast described in ancient Chinese texts, the so-called Kirin was not a benevolent creature, but a cruel and terrifying entity. It was inherently tyrannical, stripping away life wherever it went, wielding the power of the world's dark side, and bringing disaster and misfortune."

"It was a symbol of destruction, its very existence defined by plunder. In the primordial era, legend had it that those who worshipped it would be granted immense vitality, thereby attaining true immortality."

Gu Jianlin was taken aback. This ability sounded somewhat like the Divine Priest path.

Or rather, a high-end version of it!

No wonder the Kirin had told him to choose the Divine Priest path; perhaps there was a deep connection between the two.

After all, the so-called inheritance paths were simply the process of humans imitating gods.

"The scope of the Ancient God Realm is too vast, making a thorough exploration too difficult. It wasn't until we found ancient artifacts left behind by the battle between the Kirin Venerable and the Candle Dragon Venerable that we could salvage ancient relics on a large scale based on the clues. It was only after finding the ancient texts left by Xu Fu during his eastern voyage that there was hope of completing the strategy."

"However, one week after the artifacts were unearthed, one of our frontline archaeologists suddenly defected, taking the ancient text Records of Xu Fu with him. It was an extremely important text, possibly even a map of the Kirin Immortal Palace."

"Later, according to our investigation, that archaeologist was an Alchemist. He had become a Fallen due to a drug-induced breakdown, and thus carried the Records of Xu Fu in a desperate attempt to enter the Kirin Immortal Palace to seek an antidote."

Gu Jianlin suddenly understood; he likely knew who that person who defected with the text was.

It was almost certainly the old man who had awakened him in the ancient tomb.

No wonder he was so desperate; besides being a Fallen, he was also a defector.

"Gu Ci'an was an absolute elite, a Tier 6 Celestial Master, the pinnacle among the Super-Dimensional level. Beyond his rank, he was a top-tier super-ancient scholar with a wealth of knowledge about the Ancient God Race and was proficient in profiling."

"He had participated in the second survey of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, the excavation of the ruins of Atlantis, the spacetime rifts at the Kunlun Hell Gate, and even the legendary broken Mount Buzhou. He even had experience fighting Ancestor-level Ancient Gods head-on."

"Under Gu Ci'an's leadership, we quickly organized the exploration work. The process was very smooth, and we compiled a massive amount of information and intelligence on the Kirin Immortal Palace. Not only that, we confirmed that the Kirin Immortal Palace has three layers: one located on the seabed, one at sea level, and the tomb where the Kirin Venerable sleeps is in the sky!"

Gu Jianlin listened in silence.

So far, the Kirin Immortal Palace excavation project had been quite smooth, with no issues.

But he vaguely sensed that this might be the calm before the storm.

"We excitedly brought those precious resources ashore. The diving team consisted of sixteen people, all super-elites, and there were no casualties. It was a huge success."

"Subsequent surveys were also very smooth, with no casualties, until one time, a strong magnetic field signal interference appeared on the seabed, and we briefly lost contact."

"I was anxious on the shore, and when the signal was restored, I hurriedly asked them to report their numbers."

"Number one, all clear. Number two, all clear. Number three, all clear..."

"I listened to their reports until I heard... Number seventeen, all clear!"

The Joker's mental intent fluctuated with extreme intensity.

Gu Jianlin felt a chill run down his spine.

There were only sixteen people in total; how could there be a "number seventeen"!

Something seemed to have infiltrated the diving team!

It wasn't necessarily that the person who reported "seventeen" was the problem.

It was also possible that the bizarre entity had mixed in among them and reported the number in advance.

The Joker's mental intent was in violent turmoil, forcing Gu Jianlin to use the Soul-Pacifying Bell to soothe him again.

"I realized then that something had gone wrong. But strangely, there were still only sixteen people, with no abnormalities. It was as if I had hallucinated, and they didn't remember anyone hearing 'seventeen'."

"But I was certain I hadn't misheard. I reported it to my superiors, but no one believed me. I believed that some monster had infiltrated the diving team, and I... I had to find it!"

"But shortly after, members of our project team began to disappear mysteriously. No bodies were ever found; it was as if they had been swallowed by an invisible vortex, leaving no trace."

"I began to panic. I realized that if I didn't find that demon, everyone would die! So I started killing. Whoever I suspected, I killed! I had to kill that demon, otherwise, I would be the one to die!"

"I suspected Gu Ci'an, but he was too strong. I waited for an opportunity until... I saw Gu Ci'an's diary."

Gu Jianlin's eyes quietly turned sharp, "Continue!"

In the silence, the Joker's mental intent conveyed a thought that made his blood run cold.

"In that diary, many things were recorded using strange symbols; they must have been his own original code. But I am proficient in cryptography, and with the massive computing power of the Deep Sky network, I reached some conclusions."

"Gu Ci'an had long known that something was still alive in the Kirin Immortal Palace. He had brought us down there on purpose, with the goal of awakening the thing in the Kirin Immortal Palace to achieve his own ends."

"There is more than one Ancient God sleeping in the Kirin Immortal Palace!"

Gu Jianlin was horrified and continued to ask, "And then?"

"Nothing more. That was all I saw in that diary."

The Joker's mental intent was numb.

Gu Jianlin asked, "Why?"

The Joker replied numbly, "Because when I was decoding the diary, Gu Ci'an was standing right behind me."

Damn it.

Gu Jianlin felt his scalp tingle.

He rarely cursed, but at this moment, even he couldn't hold it together.

Under the control of the Soul-Pacifying Bell, the Joker could not lie.

From this description, Old Gu's mental state seemed highly abnormal.

It was utterly bizarre.

"Gu Ci'an was just killing at random, so I luckily survived and was rescued while on the verge of death."

The Joker whispered, "I eventually joined the Grave Diggers organization where I am now. We have a base in the Black Cloud Stronghold, and we have been observing your behavior for some time."

Hmm, a gang indeed.

Gu Jianlin frowned, "What is your purpose in looking for me?"

The Joker replied, "We suspect that Gu Ci'an gave you something before he died. We didn't dare kill you because you are the only lead, so we could only test you step by step. We need that thing to enter the deepest part of the Kirin Immortal Palace, confirm the status of the Kirin Venerable, and reap massive benefits."

For a moment, Gu Jianlin felt a chill.

So the reason this group was looking for him was actually for the Kirin Venerable.

In the end, the target was still him!

He felt a strong sense of crisis and asked, "Who is the person behind you?"

A faint trembling sound echoed.

The Soul-Pacifying Bell vibrated violently, and the black halo became unstable.

The Joker's soul was also struggling in pain, as if enduring some extremely cruel torture, screaming silently.

A sudden change occurred!

The Joker's soul collapsed abruptly, and in an instant, endless blood-colored mist surged out. Within the blood, a pair of molten, scorching vertical pupils lit up, as if they had crossed the vastness of time and space to cast a chilling and terrifying glance!

What a terrifying monster it was, with a hideous and fearsome silhouette, like a giant beast sleeping in purgatory, roaring as it approached!

Holy crap!

Gu Jianlin was startled, feeling an immense pressure wash over him, his heart nearly stopping.

The majesty of the primordial era bore down on him, pressing him until he felt he would be crushed to pieces.

At the critical moment, the Black Kirin in his mind suddenly awakened, opening a slit of its scorching golden eye and roaring!

Gu Jianlin felt the spirituality within his body evaporating rapidly!

Boom!

That primordial pressure was shattered and dissipated without a trace.

The Joker's soul vanished into thin air, and the pair of majestic vertical pupils in the blood-colored mist flickered and faded.

Finally, they dissipated into the night.

I performed a minor surgery and have been writing until now. This chapter counts as yesterday's; I will update two more chapters today!