In theory, the Amber City Investigation Bureau didn't need to do anything extra; they just had to wait for 【The Reveler】 to follow his original route and bypass the city.
But the world is never short of accidents.
At one point, the monitoring screen responsible for observing 【The Reveler】 suddenly went black.
“What happened?” Ling Xun's expression soured upon receiving the notice.
“Satellite photography is being interfered with by unknown factors. Drone signals are interrupted, suspected to have been shot down,” the technician's voice was tense.
Ling Xun frowned. He hated these unplanned sudden situations, but as the Section Chief of the Special Operations Section, his emotional control was always good. In an instant, he suppressed the irritability in his heart and immediately activated the emergency plan.
“Yue Shi, head to the periphery of 【The Reveler】's route immediately. Find the source of the interference and the cause of the image interruption within a safe distance. Focus on confirming if there's human intervention. Stay hidden and report back in real-time.”
“Bai Wanyang and Wei Siqi, head to the backup observation point immediately and be ready for long-range fire support at any time.”
“The rest of you, stay mobile and on standby, ready to deal with sudden situations.”
As orders were issued, everyone entered a new round of busyness. Ling Xun sat in the command center, coordinating information.
“This crappy Investigation Bureau is like some ragtag group. There's barely anyone here, yet he's got us all running around like spinning tops just to show off how capable he is. Then again, it's actually good to be busy; at least we can look like we're working hard so we don't get reported for being on the payroll without doing anything...”
As Yue Shi walked out of the office, he happened to hear Wei Siqi badmouthing the chief in a low voice, while Bai Wanyang stood by, awkwardly at a loss.
Yue Shi pretended not to hear anything, drove the Bureau's special car out of the city, and headed toward the vicinity of 【The Reveler】's route.
However, before reaching the designated peripheral area, he decisively stopped the car.
There was some kind of mental contamination around 【The Reveler】. Yue Shi couldn't risk himself by getting close to investigate personally.
The shadow beneath him writhed, and several ravens took flight silently. Yue Shi closed his eyes in the car, switching to the ravens' perspective while activating his own defense mode to block any possible contamination.
【The Reveler】's group was very conspicuous. Not only were there many people, but they were also shrouded in a churning thin darkness. It was this darkness that made the monitoring fail.
Through the ravens' high-altitude view, Yue Shi quickly found the target.
At the same time, he saw a group of mysterious people trying to contain 【The Reveler】. They were wearing uniform white protective suits, were well-equipped, and were efficiently unfolding operations around the Reveler's group.
These people seemed to understand 【The Reveler】's weaknesses very well, precisely weakening his contamination and forcing 【The Reveler】 and his puppets to retreat step by step. Their actions were organized and highly targeted.
Yue Shi's face gradually darkened. He... vaguely saw a familiar face.
People from Lab 0!
He would never mistake them!
Every face that had ever appeared before his eyes in that laboratory, he remembered clearly!
Cold killing intent began to spread. Yue Shi's expression gradually became ferocious, and only one thought remained in his mind—kill them!
Buzz—
The vibration from his phone temporarily interrupted the malice gushing from Yue Shi's heart.
It was a call from Ling Xun, his voice slightly hurried. “Yue Shi, what's the situation on the ground?”
Yue Shi took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and said, “Found members of an unknown organization attempting to contain 【The Reveler】.”
“Oh? Really? That's a good thing.” Ling Xun's tone suddenly became strange. “How's the opponent's strength? How certain are they of a successful containment?”
“They came prepared. It looks very likely,” Yue Shi replied. “I'm just not sure about their background or identity, whether they are an illegal organization.”
“Don't worry about such small matters as long as they can help solve the trouble,” Ling Xun said meaningfully.
“Keep an eye on them. You can step in to assist if necessary; I'm afraid both sides might suffer heavy losses. If they succeed in the containment, you can try to contact them in the name of the Investigation Bureau to figure out their background.”
“Okay, I understand.” Yue Shi felt he grasped the deeper meaning in Ling Xun's words—successful containment but with heavy losses...
The call ended, and the warmth in Yue Shi's eyes vanished. He pushed open the car door, his figure instantly blending into the air, activating triple hidden states—physical invisibility, presence erasure, and occult unobservability.
Like a true ghost, he silently and rapidly rushed toward the battlefield shrouded in darkness.
At this moment, 【The Reveler】 was in a desperate situation, but he was lucky—Yue Shi would help him escape.
Lab 0's containment work was nearing its end. The contamination around the Reveler was being suppressed to the limit, and the puppets' movements became slow and stiff.
A containment member walked step by step toward 【The Reveler】's main body, victory in sight.
Pfft.
A slight muffled sound, almost covered by the wind.
The member's body suddenly stiffened. Under the transparent visor of the protective suit helmet, his eyes widened suddenly, filled with incomprehensible shock.
At his throat, five bone-deep pitch-black claw marks appeared out of thin air. The edges of the wound festered rapidly as if corroded by strong acid. He couldn't even let out a scream before his body slumped down, his life force quickly dissipating.
“What happened?!” The nearby team members were startled and immediately turned around.
“Enemy attack? Or Subject 017's counterattack?!” The captain shouted sternly, looking around alertly.
The readings on various instruments were completely normal; there were no data fluctuations.
Crack.
Another soft sound came from the flank of the team. A containment member's head twisted 180 degrees backward at a bizarre angle, the sound of the cervical spine snapping clearly audible. His body still maintained a standing posture, his face filled with shock.
Death came without warning, and panic spread.
“What on earth happened?”
“Who's attacking from the shadows? Come out if you have the guts!”
“Everyone quiet down, don't panic! The more you panic, the faster you'll die!” the captain roared. “Contract the formation, back-to-back defense.”
“Captain, what about Subject 017?” someone asked.
“You're about to die, why do you care about him?!”
Just as the words fell, a “rip” sounded.
Another containment member suffered an unknown attack. His chest was clawed, and the flesh around the wound, along with the protective suit, festered rapidly, emitting a pungent stench. He opened his mouth, gasping for air, his eyes reflecting the terrified faces of his companions, before falling straight down.
An invisible enemy! An incomprehensible method of attack! Death that could strike at any moment!
“Retreat immediately! Give up the recovery mission for Subject 017!” the captain yelled in a breakdown.
Subject 017? Was that what these people called 【The Reveler】? Yue Shi felt like he had heard it somewhere before...
Suddenly, he remembered something, and the vertical eye on his brow opened.
The Insight vision brought up countless chaotic pieces of information, and Yue Shi keenly captured the key—【Emotion Manipulator】.
Rate on N.U.
