First Meeting

Cleanup Team headquarters.

Inside Situ Shibai's office, Situ Shibai lightly tapped a finger against the office, and the entire room immediately turned black and white.

[Image Space: Permanently creates a special virtual space. Its maximum range increases with mental power. It can animate the images of others, forming controllable shadow people. Shadow people can only move within the Image Space.]

"Captain!"

A shadow Chen Ming appeared before Situ Shibai.

Situ Shibai lowered his head to study the map and asked, "Have you found out where the Investigation Team went?"

"Captain, according to my investigation, nineteen of the twenty-two Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches teams of the Investigation Team began leaving Mingzhu City one after another in April. The Shen Team, Xu Team, and Hai Team remaining in the city have shown no abnormalities so far," shadow Chen Ming replied.

Situ Shibai smiled meaningfully. "No abnormalities are the greatest abnormality. If I remember correctly, the Shen Team's captain is Xu Zheng. His ability is Death Scythe. Whenever someone dies anywhere in Mingzhu City, his scythe automatically absorbs the concept of death. So many people have died in Mingzhu City lately. Would he really remain unmoved?

"And the Xu Team—Wang Huashi is an exceptionally shrewd man. Even some adventurers have noticed what is happening, yet he has noticed nothing at all. Do you think that is reasonable?

"On the contrary, Su Su, captain of the Hai Team, remains in Mingzhu City because she was seriously injured and hospitalized. Chen Ming, investigate how severe Su Su's injuries are. Also check the records of her previous mission and see whether there are any suspicious points."

The Investigation Team was not responsible for Mingzhu City's security.

Their task was to gather information and data on Mutated Beasts and savages. In particular, whenever an unknown Mutated Beast was discovered, they had to investigate its abilities and upper limit of strength.

As an unknown Mutated Beast, the Heavenly Fox had appeared in Mingzhu City without a sound. If Zhang Ping had not exposed the matter, it would have taken the Cleanup Team at least one or two months to figure out the situation. By then, it would have been far too late.

Therefore, both the Investigation Team and the Patrol Team bore an inescapable responsibility for the Heavenly Fox's invasion.

The problem was that the Patrol Team had already been wiped out. That made the surviving Investigation Team extremely suspicious, especially the three teams that had remained in the city. Why had they survived, and why had they noticed nothing at all?

After Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan's first meeting, Situ Shibai had ordered shadow Chen Ming to investigate those three teams. Now, it seemed certain that there was something wrong with them.

After shadow Chen Ming accepted the order and left, Situ Shibai stared at the map, his gaze gradually deepening.

This did not feel like a beast disaster. It felt more like a man-made calamity.

His intuition was even sharper than Chen Ming's. He knew very well that Mingzhu City was not so easy to invade. Leaving aside the Investigation Team's activities on the outskirts, which themselves formed a line of defense against unknown Mutated Beasts, even the Patrol Team would not have been easy to infiltrate. Someone must have assisted from within.

"Could it be the remnants of the Zhu family?"

Situ Shibai suddenly recalled what had happened two hundred years ago, then turned his gaze toward the window.

"Since Sisi has returned, it is time for me to enter the city as well and take a look at that young man she claims has limitless potential."

He remained seated in his chair, but his body suddenly split into two. One body remained behind the desk, while the other stood and walked outside.

[Flesh-Splitting Clone: Can divide the body into multiple bodies. Each body shares the physical attributes equally. The more bodies created, the weaker each one becomes on average.]

When one of him opened the door, the other side was not the inside of the Cleanup Team headquarters, but a street in Mingzhu City.

[Shortcut Door: Consumes mental power and physical strength to quickly reach a destination by opening a door. Maximum distance: 100 kilometers.]

At daybreak, Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan set off for Mingzhu City.

During the two days they had been away, without the Moon King's interference, the Cleanup Team had been able to fully monitor Mingzhu City's situation. Other than being unable to stop Prince Yue from feeding, they had eliminated every Mutated Beast that approached Mingzhu City.

Liu Sishan now needed to temporarily take over Jin Bo's duties.

If other Mutated Beasts attacked Mingzhu City, she would need to lead a team in defending the city's safety, so Zhang Ping was free.

After bidding Liu Sishan farewell, Zhang Ping returned to Iron Soul. Qiu Qiang had not gone on any missions over the past two days and had been looking after Liu Tiefeng in the shop. When he saw Zhang Ping enter, he smiled. "Why are you back early? Didn't you say the training would take five days?"

Zhang Ping knew that Wang Jieming had used special training arranged by Beast King Fist Hall as the excuse for his leave, saying he needed to undergo closed training for several days.

He smiled and answered, "I learn quickly, so the special training ended early."

As he spoke, he prepared to go upstairs and put down his luggage.

But the instant he took a step, he sensed something was wrong. He looked at Qiu Qiang and Liu Tiefeng and found that both of them were completely still.

He abruptly turned around and saw an elderly man standing outside the shop door with his hands behind his back. The man's hair and beard were entirely white, yet his face bore few wrinkles. He was smiling kindly, but his eyes seemed capable of seeing straight through Zhang Ping at a glance.

[Relative Time Stasis: Pulls the target into a special space. This space is anchored to the time at which it is deployed. When the space is released, living beings inside return to the anchored point in time.]

"Who are you?" Zhang Ping put down his luggage and asked warily.

Situ Shibai chuckled and teased, "Don't you have the Appraisal Technique? Appraise me and you will know."

[Appraisal Failed]

[Appraisal Failed ×6]

[Appraisal Failed ×66]

[Appraisal Failed ×666]

Zhang Ping fell silent. The old man before him was even harder to appraise than the Solitary Testicle Pearl, but he already knew the old man's identity.

He had heard that voice through Wind Whisperer before. It belonged to Situ Shibai, captain of the Cleanup Team!

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Situ Shibai suddenly burst into laughter as he walked inside. He knew every time Zhang Ping used the Appraisal Technique on him, which was precisely why he found it so amusing.

Most awakened ones with the Appraisal Technique believed that appraisal left no trace, but that was not the case in his eyes.

To him, Zhang Ping's eyes were constantly emitting rays that scanned his entire body. However, those invisible rays were blocked outside his body, so no matter how Zhang Ping appraised him, he could never obtain a result.

[Information-Sealing Energy Membrane: Can create a layer of energy film invisible to the naked eye. Any matter covered by the energy film cannot be appraised or seen through.]

"Stop appraising me. I have an ability that blocks appraisal. Even if you appraise me ten thousand times or a million times, you will never get any result." Situ Shibai walked up to Zhang Ping and said with a smile.

He then passed Zhang Ping and headed upstairs. Zhang Ping was silent for a moment before quickly following him.

The two went up to the second floor and sat in chairs in the living room.

"How should I address you?"

Zhang Ping poured Situ Shibai some tea, then asked carefully.

Situ Shibai's hand stopped just as it touched the teacup. He asked instead, "Trying to be clever? A name is meant for others to use. Anything is fine. Do you truly not know this old man's name?"

The question was clearly a test.

Zhang Ping was testing whether he knew the secret that Zhang Ping had used Wind Whisperer to eavesdrop on the Cleanup Team's confidential matters.

However, he had no interest in playing riddles with Zhang Ping, so he exposed the matter directly.

But exposing it also meant that he would not hold it against Zhang Ping.

"Old Mister Situ, then this visit of yours..."

Seeing through his own little scheme, Zhang Ping also understood Situ Shibai's meaning. He became extremely cautious as he asked respectfully.

Though Liu Sishan's attitude toward him had eased considerably over the past two days and she had grown much friendlier, she had not completely lowered her guard.

Logically speaking, the Cleanup Team still should not have fully trusted him.

Other than the matter of Wind Whisperer uncovering secrets, he truly could not think of any other reason.

Therefore, he genuinely could not understand why Situ Shibai had chosen to meet him in this manner at this time.

"Zhang Ping, until you have an ability that blocks others from reading your mind, it is best not to think too much." Situ Shibai drank his tea and smiled faintly.

[Mind Reading: Reads the thoughts in another person's heart through eye contact.]

Zhang Ping immediately ordered himself to calm down and not think wildly, instantly clearing away every distracting thought.

"Since me, Mingzhu City has not produced another Infinite Tier ability in more than two hundred years. I even investigated whether someone had been interfering behind the scenes, but it seemed our luck had truly run out."

Situ Shibai paid no mind to Zhang Ping's change. After setting down his teacup, he spoke slowly.

[Fortune-Nurturing Seed: Can produce seeds of fortune. Placing one in a city forms the city's fortune, placing one within a faction forms the faction's fortune, and placing one on an individual forms personal fortune. By observing fortune, one can know whether it will prosper or decline.]

"Fortunately, after all these years, an awakened one with an Infinite Tier ability has finally appeared. Tell me, how could I not come and see you?" Situ Shibai looked at Zhang Ping and smiled faintly.

Zhang Ping had already understood why Situ Shibai had come to see him.

But because of the order he had given himself earlier, his face remained expressionless and his heart calm. He merely lifted the teapot and refilled Situ Shibai's cup as a gesture of welcome.

Situ Shibai lightly tapped his fingers beside the teacup to indicate that he had enough, then continued, "There is also something I am very curious about: can my ability copy an Infinite Tier ability?"

Since he had been the only Infinite Tier ability user in the past, every ability he had copied had been below Nation Guardian Tier. Not one had been Infinite Tier.

He did not know whether he could copy Infinite Tier abilities.

For that, he needed Zhang Ping's cooperation in an experiment.

"Of course, I will not make you participate for nothing. Regardless of the result, I will give you two gifts of thanks and answer every question you have." He looked at Zhang Ping, paused, then continued.

Zhang Ping had his doubts and asked, "Old Mister Situ, will your copying have any adverse effect on me?"

"Ha ha ha ha, no. My copying will not harm the other party. You may rest assured of that." Situ Shibai laughed.

Zhang Ping asked calmly but cautiously, "Then may I refuse?"

"Of course. But why not take a look at my offer first?" Situ Shibai nodded and said.

He stretched out his hand, and a black hole immediately appeared on his right. He took an exaggerated long-handled scythe from it, then took out a golden bracelet.

After placing both items on the table, he introduced them. "This scythe is called the Fear War Scythe. It can induce fear in other living beings and possesses the ability to drink blood and evolve itself. In my early years, I used it to slaughter more than a million Mutated Beasts and absorb the blood of countless Mutated Beasts. At present, both its hardness and sharpness are rare in this world. Calling it a divine weapon would not be an exaggeration."

"This bracelet is called the Golden Treasury. It was also equipment I often used in my early years. It connects to a 450-cubic-meter Storage Space. You should understand what that means."

After finishing, Situ Shibai drank his tea as he waited for Zhang Ping's answer.

Zhang Ping looked at the scythe and bracelet on the table. It would have been a lie to say he was not tempted.

Especially the Fear War Scythe. If paired with Underworld Mist, his strength would definitely rise by an entire tier.

"If you truly cannot make up your mind, why not try appraising them?" Situ Shibai said with amusement when he saw Zhang Ping tempted but desperately restraining himself.

Zhang Ping's eyes immediately lit up as he activated Appraisal.

After several appraisal failures, he successfully appraised the properties of both pieces of equipment.

[Fear War Scythe: This weapon can be bound to a user. Other than the user, all lifeforms within three meters will be affected by the Fear War Scythe and feel fear. At the same time, the Fear War Scythe can absorb blood to continuously evolve. The more times it evolves, the more blood it requires. Current evolution count: 159.]

[Golden Treasury Bracelet: When worn, can open a 450-cubic-meter Storage Space.]

As he appraised them, scenes appeared before Zhang Ping's eyes. A burly blacksmith forged the Fear War Scythe and threw dozens of people into molten iron. Amid screams, black energy even rose from the molten iron, forming the image of a skull crying out in midair.

The scene then changed. A handsome young man in a trench coat wielded a huge scythe as he slaughtered Mutated Beasts. Not far from those Mutated Beasts, men and women with blurred faces seemed terrified beyond measure.

The scene displayed by the Golden Treasury was even more horrifying. A woman was bound, then molten gold was cast over her body. Several awakened ones stood around her and activated their abilities together. Gradually, flames erupted from the woman's body, burning even the gold into smoke.

After the massive cloud of smoke dissipated, only this bracelet remained.

The visions ended.

Zhang Ping's expression was not very good after watching them.

The Assassination Ring, the Fear War Scythe, and the Golden Treasury Bracelet—these three special pieces of equipment had all been purchased with human lives.

Such actions were far too cruel.