Bureau headquarters.
An unknown space.
Several projections with obscured faces suddenly appeared, standing in a circle.
Their gazes were fixed simultaneously on the center.
There, a massive 3D light screen floated in mid-air.
The screen clearly displayed miniature landscapes of mountains, continents, and oceans.
Suddenly, a green point of light lit up in a certain area of the screen.
The green light flickered and grew brighter.
Accompanying the flickering green light, an invisible wave rippled out, causing the surrounding areas to dim.
One of the projections standing around the screen reached out and pointed at the green light.
Immediately, a holographic image appeared above the green light.
The footage played at high speed, looping over and over; it was the man-made disaster that had recently occurred in Yujing.
The projections exchanged whispers.
“They actually couldn't even hold Yujing?”
“The captains selected by headquarters are truly terrible. This is easily the worst batch ever!”
“The opponent was too strong. Don't be too harsh on them.”
“Four out of the nine captains have already fallen. That really is too many deaths at once.”
“It doesn't matter. They were just cannon fodder anyway.”
“The Resonant Daoist wasn't cannon fodder. His ability was actually quite useful.”
“So what? He was never willing to share any occult knowledge. He was no different from a useless piece.”
“I just didn't expect the Longevity Demon to have such a trump card. She hid it remarkably well.”
“That old fogey never trusted headquarters.”
“Are we really just going to let this go?”
“Let them do as they please. As long as we are the first to reach Rank 5, all problems will be solved easily.”
“Well said. If any of you can't stand it, do as the Silent Silhouette did and take action yourselves. Don't interrupt my seclusion for advancement over such trivial matters!”
“Regardless, we should at least extinguish that candle first, shouldn't we?”
“Notify those below. Authorize the use of ‘Blind Folly.’”
“Agreed.”
“I agree as well.”
The projections spoke for a moment longer before vanishing one by one.
On the miniature landscape of the light screen, the green light continued to shine.
...
Yue Shi walked through the Chaos Zone, clutching a fleshy-brown irregular fragment in his hand.
This fragment was something dropped by one of Boss Pi's clones, and it felt cold and greasy to the touch.
He activated his 【Trace Seeking】 ability. Through this fragment, he could roughly locate targets related to it.
A faint, indistinct pull emanated from the fragment, pointing in a specific direction.
There were no precise coordinates, only a vague directional guide.
But that was enough.
That was likely where Boss Pi's main body was located.
Regardless of whether it was Boss Pi's true body or not, Yue Shi decided to pay a visit.
He had to find a way to track down this disgusting thing and kill it!
Yue Shi moved rapidly, his form flickering as he performed continuous spatial jumps.
Before long, the silhouette of a city appeared in his vision.
Unlike the solemn prosperity of Yujing, this city had a heavy high-tech atmosphere.
Everywhere on the streets were advertisements for various medical beauty clinics.
These ads manufactured appearance anxiety on one hand while promoting high-tech customized perfect faces on the other, even guaranteeing a lifetime without the need for touch-ups.
There were also many bionic prosthetics institutions, which seemed quite advanced as well.
Beyond that, the hospitals in the city center were openly advertising organ transplants.
The air seemed to be permeated with the scent of disinfectant.
Yue Shi's goal for this trip was clear: find Boss Pi, not cause trouble.
So he kept a low profile this time. To avoid unnecessary complications, he hid his form and slipped into the city silently.
Holding the fragment, he wandered through the city, guided by the sensation provided by 【Trace Seeking】.
Eventually, he locked onto a location.
It was an unremarkable factory warehouse.
The perimeter of the warehouse was quiet, even somewhat desolate.
But as Yue Shi approached, the surrounding light grew mysteriously dimmer.
It was as if he had stepped into a strange, groggy state of isolation from the outside world.
Without hesitation, he walked straight toward the heavy warehouse doors.
He raised his hand and forced the door open.
Bang!
The lock, along with part of the door frame, was twisted and torn apart.
The heavy doors swung inward.
The interior was very dark, with only a faint glimmer of light visible in the far distance.
Yue Shi could vaguely see that the warehouse was filled with hanging objects.
Like freshly slaughtered pork, they hung in mid-air from iron hooks.
A salty, fishy stench wafted toward him.
Yue Shi frowned slightly and stepped inside.
The moment his foot landed, the sensation was strange.
It wasn't a hard floor, but something soft and slightly elastic.
At the same time...
“Ah, it hurts, hurts, hurts!”
A shrill woman's scream suddenly erupted from beneath his foot.
Yue Shi's eyes narrowed, and he instantly retracted his foot.
The scream cut off abruptly.
He stepped down again in a different spot.
“Ah, the pain! Move it, quick!”
This time, it was a man's low-pitched cry.
A strange light flashed in Yue Shi's eyes. This was very interesting.
He lifted his foot again and chose a new place to step.
“Oh~ oh~ harder! Step on me harder~”
The third cry was a mix of pain and pleasure, sounding somewhat ecstatic and quite lewd.
Following that lecherous moan...
Click, click, click.
The crisp sound of a series of old-fashioned switches being flipped echoed in the darkness.
Across the ceiling of the warehouse, hanging incandescent bulbs suddenly flickered to life.
Pale light dispelled the darkness.
The light itself was a normal white, but the warehouse was revealed in a nauseating shade of red.
It was as if the entire space had been plated in a layer of wet blood.
With the help of the light, Yue Shi finally saw the scene inside the warehouse clearly.
The horrific floor and the things hanging in mid-air were like something straight out of a horror movie.
Beneath his feet was neither concrete nor wood, but sheets of human skin that had been peeled off entirely!
The human skins were spread flat, dense and innumerable, covering the entire warehouse floor and extending to the edge of his vision.
These skins still maintained the contours of their former lives, with facial features clearly discernible.
Their expressions varied. Some looked curious, some confused, and some even had faces full of joy and excitement.
Even though Yue Shi was in a hidden state, the empty eye sockets of these skins all turned in unison to look at the spot where he stood.
The one Yue Shi was currently stepping on was the skin of a man with sharp features and bright eyes.
His mouth happened to be pinned down by the sole of Yue Shi's shoe; his expression was one of agony, yet he could make no sound.
Besides the floor covered in human skins, there was an even more gruesome sight.
The things hanging in the air were all people!
Bodies without any skin!
Like livestock waiting to be processed in a slaughterhouse, they were hung upside down by metal hooks pierced through their ankles.
Bright red muscle, yellow fat, and white fascia were all exposed to the air.
Every single one was dripping with blood. It was because of this that the originally white light reflected back a crimson hue.
Yue Shi's gaze calmly swept across these skinless corpses one by one.
Rate on N.U.
