Yang Zicang traveled with an incredible speed. He tried to control the “miasma pollution ” imbued with distorted energy carried by the rain around him, but with minimal effect.

As he approached the center of the demonic energy storm, the density of this energy only grew, and even the temporal phantom flames surging around his body struggled to neutralize it.

｛White Shadow Mind Dragon!｝

The air behind him suddenly surged, and the phantom of the White Shadow Mind Dragon swiftly enveloped him.

Wisp-like twisted demonic energies smashed against it like raindrops hurtling onto a membrane, creating ripple after ripple of concavities. But it was effective; Yang Zicang’s mind finally snapped back to clarity.

“Caden! ” Yang Zicang clambered onto a rooftop, his gaze fixed on two figures beside a roofless horse shed below.

A scattered pile of straw covered a hunk of iron; nearby, Shirley, her clothes fluttering, knelt in anguish.

Beneath her collar and skirt billowing in the gale, veins bulged through her skin like thick earthworms writhing furiously as monstrous energy corroded her entire face, hands, and legs. The once-beautiful visage was now undergoing a horrifying collapse.

A few yards away, Caden, unable to get any closer, stood as if caught in a typhoon, his garments cracking loudly in the wind.

Caden turned his head briefly to search, then looked up toward Yang Zicang, who noticed that despite this man’s evident strength, he couldn’t even fix his location on the first try. The anger and resentment beginning to brew in Yang Zicang’s heart quietly dissolved.

“It’s you, hero! Can you save my daughter?! ” Carden said, pained and urgent.

No sooner had he spoken than a sudden “bang ” erupted. Carden whipped his head around to see a spear, trailing searing red phantom flames out of a swirling, hole of darkness, stab straight into Sherry.

It was as if something had struck Carden’s mind; his emotions detonated with a thunderous roar.

“Ahhh—! ” He struggled to get closer, but it was like treading on sheet ice—he could make no headway. “Who was that?! Was it you?! “

With that single strike, the girl’s skin shattered like a smashed porcelain vase, fissure after fissure creeping across its surface.

Yang Zicang’s eyes narrowed. From those cracked crevices, a viscous liquid like black tar erupted, writhing with eerie flecks of dark azure starlight. The filth energy flooded the gaping wounds, causing Sherry’s entire body to look as though it had swollen a full size larger.

The maidenslowly turned her head, her gaze locking onto Yang Zicang atop the adjacent roof.

Her voice grew low and horrific, spreading like the thrum of a war drum.

“Ee-yah! “

Boom!

The invisible aura around her instantly exploded outward, sending the gravitational arc light that Yang Zicang had struggled to control through sheer force of concentration flying in an instant. The sheer power of the blast lifted Carden—who was already fighting to keep his footing in the wind—clear off the ground by several inches before he came crashing down ten feet away.

In the aftermath of that stealth strike, the ‘eye of the storm’ eradicates the town had swelled, easily doubling in size.

｛He Yishu ponders about making an active investiture toward me.｝

｛He Yishu invested 0.5R for me.｝

Barely finishing his connection, in the room, He Yishu caught Ka Deng’s roar filtering through from this side.

“Yang Buchen! ” Caden’s growl oozed unspeakable wrath as he yanked a dagger over thirty centimeters long from behind his back. “Get down here this instant, you treacherous wretch! “

{What did you do? }

｛Nothing.｝ Yang Zicang simply turned his head aside.

Suddenly, a figure landed from the roof of another house, causing Cadden, who was about to seek an accounting with Yang Zicang, to halt his steps vigilantly.

Several pairs of eyes turned toward that figure,

The man who leaped onto the rooftop was wearing a trench coat and a black round-brimmed hat. A faint warping aura emanated from his body, and a dark red ring glowed on his chest. Yang Zicang sensed that the gloves he wore seemed to carry a faint gaze sizing him up—it was the Malicious Gloves.

Another Fogfolk! Cadden’s heart skipped a beat.

“You there, friend. “

The newcomer in the hat turned his head, revealing a broad, finger-thick, dense black mustache as he spoke:

“Don’t kill her. Demonic Qi can only be contained by a statue. By destroying her body, you are only helping the Demonic Qi erupt. “

That voice… It was the one who had earlier warned everyone to get inside.

“Only a statue can contain it? Then what about her? I’ve seen this woman before; she was just an ordinary person. “

Hearing Yang Zicang’s inquiry, Carden’s eyes narrowed slightly—it seemed continuing to deceive this “hero ” would no longer be possible.

A voice came from the roof across the way:

“You know, when indigenous people face the contamination of demonic energy, not every place happens to have Fogfolk of sufficient strength to handle it. “

The man pointed down at Shirley below, whose skirt was almost torn apart from straining, her body now utterly devoid of beauty, covered with shocking twisting veins.

“And there are a few indigenous people who, though not able to fully and thoroughly contain the demonic energy, can temporarily use their bodies to hold a Blood-line Circuit. Like her. “

Yang Zicang’s gaze fell on Shirley, an increasingly cold aura emanating from him:

“You mean she herself is a kind of ‘statue’? “

The man replied with a tone of slight admiration, “Yeah. Such people may ultimately be destined to die, but she can carry the ‘contamination’ that threatens countless lives away from populated areas, find a secluded place, and wait for death. Unfortunately, that young lady over there is trapped in this barrier… “

{But where did her Blood-line Circuit come from? }

Suddenly, a psychic phantom voice sounded.

“Ah, um… ” The man touched his chin with his gloved hand.

{You didn’t shave again today. }

“Cough… sorry, I was in a hurry this morning, but now’s not the time to worry about that kind of thing, is it? “

No sooner had the man finished speaking than he saw the figure on the neighboring rooftop suddenly fire a shot—a “bang ” sent an orange bullet flying like a grain of light, streaking down in an instant to strike the man holding the dagger below.

“Ka… you! ” Shirley cried out in pain.

Bang!

The bullet, carrying over a hundred thousand Amplified Chrono, struck beneath Carden’s left shoulder blade.

But in that moment, the man’s skin bristled with horrifying, tiny “worms. ” With a sharp crackle, his flesh exploded open into a bowl-sized gash, and amid the spray of blood and tissue, a stream of nauseating “worms ” tumbled to the ground.

“It’s… Bone-Eating Worms! “

The man on the roof quickly rose, drawing a short-barreled shotgun from his belt and aiming it below:

“Stop squandering Chrono, newbie! “

Staggering back two steps, Carden’s face twisted as a fierce aura of ｛Void Radiance｝ burst from his entire body.

Seeing Yang Zicang about to fire another shot, the man on the distant rooftop shouted:

“Don’t you see that thing? All your attacks are being warped for it! “

Standing in the wind and rain, he looked like a hunter looming high above, lecturing a rookie.

Indeed, most of the Chrono from that last strike had been neutralized, and the principal of four thousand Chrono vanished in an instant.

Twice stopped by others, coupled with the huge loss from a failed attack, a surge of stifled frustration welled up in Yang Zicang’s chest.

The White Shadow Mind Dragon behind him surged upward. Kaden below caught sight of the legendary, utterly unrivaled mental-force combat power; even though the aura of Stellar Yuan that only a three-ring powerhouse could birth radiated from him, he still felt despair.

“Whaa… ” Shirley let out a piercing shriek, making Kaden’s heart bleed as he turned his head to glance back.

After all this preparation, it still came down to sacrificing myself—and her—just to keep this man here?!

“The ones who attacked me on the old street before weren’t Steffen people, were they. “

Yang Zicang spoke. “Is all this for that Key? “

Key? Kaden’s face twisted hideously as he saw that black hole which had attacked Shirley appear before him once more. Damn it… they had absolutely no idea what level this man’s true strength had reached.

Suddenly, Yang Zicang moved. The White Shadow Mind Dragon shot out in an instant.

The thick bloodline aura made Kaden seem like a beast ready to unleash savage violence at any moment. He kicked off the ground, swiftly abandoning his spot to dodge the drifting, mist-like psychic monstrosity.

The very moment he moved, Yang Zicang had already shot to where he had just been standing. The faint energy threads that had risen from him fluttered and slammed into his body on the fierce wind.

—{Key… What does that mean… }

—{This man is still hiding a big secret… }

“So this is your plan! “

Kaden stared at Yang Zicang in shock, deliberately colliding with the strands of energy that kept drifting from his own body, using this to sense and feel the voices and emotions spreading within them.

The man watching all this from the rooftop couldn’t help but praise, “Nice move, friend.“

“He actually really doesn’t know about the key.“

Yang Zicang’s gaze flickered with doubt as he swept over Kaden, who was leaping and dodging all around, his legs charged with strength as he swiftly retreated.

“I told you, I’m not targeting you. If you have the ability, help me save Shirley.“

Kaden said in pain, “You should know. She had no irregularity throughout the entire journey. We were set up by others too.“

“Still pretending even now? Truly worthy of a special agent from the Contingent Transfer Bureau, Mr. Kaden.“

Yang Zicang stared at his ear, which was reddened by the surging flow of blood, and snorted coldly:

“For the sake of your disguise, you went so far as to cut off part of your ear. You’re fundamentally a Carp-woodian, aren’t you!“

Facing the charging White Shadow Mind Dragon, Kaden dodged once again. “If you kill me, you’ll die too. Wait!“

The White Shadow Mind Dragon was violently caught up and twisted by a sudden whirlwind. This allowed Kaden to breathe briefly, turning his head back as he gritted his teeth:

“I regret it! Shirley is not my daughter—she’s my colleague!“

In the storm—within the whirlwind—Shirley struggled to lift her cracked face, her eyes stained with blood, looking towards the figure that had become grievously unclear.

Kaden, face drenched entirely by the rain, screamed out his reply.

“You can feel it, can’t you, Hero? Those people, for the sake of this mission, want us all dead here! But besides an unjust death, what else can we gain? “

The blue energy emanating from his body swiftly coiled around Yang Zicang through the rain. Karden, their spirits somewhat dazed, could feel the despair contained within Karden himself. The White Shadow Thought-Dragon’s form trembled slightly.

Yang Zicang sidestepped to avoid the following blue energy filaments, but they were all around him; in an instant, he was struck by the broken fragments of consciousness from others who had been swept in.

“They only asked us to retrieve the Secret Box, and as a condition, they would take us in as their followers, using the Box to travel together to the Next Era Land! “

Karden’s hands trembled as he spoke. “But now they intend to have us die here! “

A faint rumble of thunder sounded in the sky, and an arc of lightning briefly illuminated the earth for a second.

Karden raised both hands to point at the transparent dome above. “These bastards! They deceived us too! “

Wave after wave of filaments gathered more thickly. Unable to withstand it through sheer will, Yang Zicang had an idea. The White Shadow Thought-Dragon vanished in the distance, then reappeared behind him, enveloping him completely.

As the urge to kill him briefly arose, Yang Zicang suddenly remembered that sheet in his coat pocket— “The Memoirs of Saint Svolnusimin. ” It recorded many events, among which there were several quite similar to this.

This carefully folded piece of paper, usually kept in with the soft, thin checks, was now soaked by the rain! But fortunately, the memoir was not afraid of ordinary water or fire.

Yang Zicang made a choice in his heart.

Carden watched him nervously.

“Although your intention might be to drag things out, making me lose myself among these constantly surging energy layers… But… “

｛Councilor No. 41 has sensed my will.｝

｛Councilor No. 41 is watching me.｝

Yang Zicang’s pupils flickered slightly—this was an unexpected move he had never counted on.

“Hey, hey, I’m talking here. “

The man in the round-brimmed hat on the roof fixed his stare on Yang Zicang.

“Brother, you’re not really going to let him go, are you? They are the culprits who plunged these thousands of townspeople into death! “

Carden was also shocked that Yang Buchen had actually let him off because of his few words. He recalled those parade reports in the newspapers and the countless people’s praise.

He hadn’t thought much of it before, just figuring that this Fogfellow｛Fogfolk member｝ had merely seized an opportune moment.

But now, facing the man the people called a ‘hero’, his violently shrinking heart felt that tremor for real.

“What else could I do, ” came a cold chuckle from Yang Zicang beneath the brim of his hat. “After all, he just made a plea to me! “

“Wh-what? “

The man in gloves holding the shotgun froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into loud laughter, bending over and slapping his knees.

“Haha, great, excellent, old pal! It’s rare to meet someone like you before dying. Truly something, so I won’t go looking for a fight with him anymore. By the way, what should I call you? My name is Qiao Bing. “

“I’m… Buchen. “

“Buchen. ” The man calling himself Qiao Bing muttered for a moment, then suddenly stared in shock at the man who stood proudly upright in the wind and rain, wearing a hat identical to the hero’s.

“So that’s it, then our hero. This storm is aimed at you, correct? Do you have any solution? “

Lost in thought, Yang Zicang was about to speak when He Yishu from the other end of the Telepathic Link said:

{President Buchen, there’s something I need to tell you. }

Yang Zicang tilted his head.

{Bloodline contamination can only be contained by a statue. The five people who were with me originally had a statue that could contain this contamination, but the man holding it was attacked and killed last evening, and the statue was stolen. }

“What happened? Who stole it? Are they still in the town? “

{It was a person in a white robe, holding a long wooden staff. }

The voices of the five came from behind He Yishu. They were all dressed in dated, elderly-looking tribal robes; two were even wearing their grandmother’s clothes, their hairy legs bulging grossly beneath the billowing skirts.

The hope that had been building in Yang Zicang’s heart was instantly extinguished by this news.