Chapter 629 - 368: Prey

Director Eagle Tail tossed aside his cane and rose from his seat. He walked over to the head of the table.

A bloody hole had appeared in that director’s skull. He was slumped halfway across the table, blood pooling from the wound. His open eyes were filled with absolute terror.

He bowed to the man, then reached out and pushed the body off the table. After fumbling for a moment, he found a sound-source controller inside a hidden compartment in the main desk.

This device could emit a special sound wave. Any one of them could use it to transmit simple instructions to Wu Qi by speaking certain fixed syllables into it.

Just then, the heavy sound of military boots approached from outside and stopped at the door.

It must be the guards. But they clearly didn’t dare to barge right in. Instead, one of them asked in a tense voice, "Directors, do you have any orders for us?"

Director Eagle Tail walked over and pressed a button. The conference hall’s main door slid open slowly. He stood there and said, "Captain An Guang, is there a problem?"

"Director Eagle Tail..."

The guard captain quickly took a step back and bowed in greeting. At the same time, his eyes furtively swept across the conference hall, only to find all the directors sitting properly in their seats, their heads now turning in unison to look at him.

He quickly bowed again. "My apologies for the disturbance. I just heard the alarm. Please forgive me."

Director Eagle Tail smiled. "Someone probably bumped the alarm button by accident. It’s happened before..."

The guard captain lowered his head even further. In truth, if it weren’t for that very possibility, he would have broken down the door just now.

Director Eagle Tail said, "Captain An Guang, your timing is perfect. I have something to inform you. The board of directors has decided to retreat from here shortly. You and your men will escort the directors out."

The guard captain’s expression turned solemn as he declared loudly, "Yes, sir!"

Director Eagle Tail continued, "I will remain here to coordinate subsequent matters. You are to set out after I have departed."

Hearing this, the guard captain was momentarily stunned. He involuntarily felt a trace of pity for the man, and also a hint of admiration.

He knew there weren’t many people left outside to hold the line, and Wu Qi likely wouldn’t be held back for long. Otherwise, the directors wouldn’t be leaving. To dare to stay behind at a time like this was a truly heroic act.

He gave Director Eagle Tail a respectful salute. "I understand, sir. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

Director Eagle Tail smiled and nodded.

The guard captain backed away a few steps before straightening up and leaving with his men.

After the captain left, Director Eagle Tail walked out from the submarine alone. He glanced at the passage above, a strange light glinting in his eyes. He brought the sound-source controller to his lips and spoke a single syllable in a Foreign Language.

In the hall, Wu Qi once again tore through the net and broke free. However, several new holes were visible on its body, and parts of the snapped ropes were still embedded in its flesh.

But if this head-on confrontation continued, it was only a matter of time before it was restrained, as the team members grew more adept at using their tools.

But then, it suddenly made an abnormal move. It stopped defending its territory and instead charged forward, catching everyone by surprise.

As its massive body charged in at extreme speed, the force it carried was immense. Several team members instinctively scattered.

Only Xu Chan didn’t dodge to the side. Instead, he leaped backward, retreating from inside the building directly onto the plaza outside, all while remaining face-to-face with the creature.

The next moment, radial cracks spread across the skyscraper’s curtain wall. With a thunderous crash, Wu Qi’s massive body burst out of the building like a bulldozer, sending a shower of glass shattering outward.

It clearly didn’t understand things like Emitting Force. Or perhaps its non-human structure prevented it from creating a dedicated combat system from scratch. But it didn’t need to. With its immense size and weight, the Power it generated was nearly as strong as any Heart Force.

As it charged out, it let out a shriek. The powerful sound wave vibrated through the surroundings, traveling through the air to more distant buildings. Windows there developed cracks, and many car windshields shattered outright.

At the same time, intense waves of Spiritual Power began to radiate outward. The squad members felt dizzy and light-headed, struggling to stay on their feet. In the reaction force that had retreated further back, large numbers of people collapsed stiffly to the ground.

An Airship had been hovering relatively low to the ground, providing real-time Domain information to the rear command. But now, it suddenly drifted away with the wind, its altitude clearly no longer under control. Without a doubt, the pilot and crew aboard had all lost consciousness.

On the plaza outside the skyscraper, only Xu Chan remained standing firm. He lowered his center of gravity, assuming a charging stance.

He knew he couldn’t let Wu Qi run rampant in the open plaza. If that happened, they would never be able to restrain the massive Consciousness Body again. If it charged into the troops behind them, the close-range Spiritual Shock wouldn’t just knock people unconscious—it would kill droves of them on the spot.

Furthermore, if it entered the city proper, not only would it cause more casualties and destruction, but the difficulty of fighting it would increase exponentially.

So, after gathering his strength for a moment, he stomped hard on the ground, causing a ring of cracks to erupt. He then shot forward, his single hand glowing faintly as he slammed it onto the exoskeleton of Wu Qi’s head!

Despite the vast difference in their sizes, the force of his blow actually stopped it in its tracks, forcing it to stagger backward.

Xu Chan landed on both feet, let out a great shout, and charged forward again. He unleashed a flurry of phantom fists, hammering the massive creature with a storm of blows.

Its center of gravity thrown off by the initial impact, Wu Qi couldn’t escape his barrage and could only retreat to parry. It had already charged outside, but now it was being forcefully pushed back by Xu Chan, retreating step by step.

Just then, the other squad members finally recovered. Seeing this, they all rushed forward to join the siege.

Working together, they managed to force Wu Qi back to its original position. In the end, it seemed to lose its footing, stepping into empty air and falling back down the shaft it had climbed out of.

In the space at the bottom of the shaft, Director Eagle Tail stood leaning on his cane. He watched as Wu Qi fell from above, crashing down in front of him with a BOOM. A strange light glowed in his eyes.

He seemed to want to reach out, and a massive black shadow stirred behind him. But he immediately held back, muttering, ’Not yet. It’s not time yet.’

’To successfully seize this body, I have to weaken it to a certain point. Otherwise, the struggle between our Consciousness Bodies will leave me unable to deal with the outside world for some time.’

The black shadow behind him slowly faded. Under his gaze, Wu Qi got back up and began to climb the ladder in the shaft once more.

Aboard the Sky Shark Airship, after consuming Pure Essence for over an Hour, Chen Chuan noticed that the substance was becoming scarce again. He concluded that the second phase must be over.

He hadn’t been able to concretely verify the growth in his body’s potential from this absorption, but he could clearly feel that communicating with the entity on the other side had become easier and more effortless, as if some kind of barrier between them was disappearing.

He checked the time; it was almost his appointed meeting with Specialist Liang. He brought the Snow Monarch Blade before him, drew the blade from its sheath, and began to slowly wipe it with a special cloth.

He could feel that the Snow Monarch Blade was better suited for dealing with this type of Consciousness Body and the entity on the other side.

’Although the blade is still dormant, I just need to awaken it when the time comes,’ he thought. ’This blade has absorbed so much since the fighting began. It’s time for it to pull its weight.’

According to the plan, he had been entrusted with delivering the final blow primarily due to recommendations from several departments.

One of them was the Esoteric Bureau. Ever since Director Lei was attacked, he had been leading teams to inspect the Ferris Wheel daily and had even established an inspection post at the Ferris Wheel Company.

This was not without purpose. Under Director Lei’s supervision and instruction, they used a new type of Esoteric Material from Headquarters to set up a ritual.

This ritual was designed specifically to target active consciousnesses, capable of causing a powerful impact on an active Consciousness Body in an instant.

And if that other entity managed to seize the living Wu Qi as a vessel, it would also be affected by the ritual at that moment.

Director Lei believed that Chen Chuan, with his deep understanding of Esoteric Rituals and his own special talents, could resist the corruption from the other side to a certain degree, making him the perfect candidate for this mission.

Almost in unison, the General Affairs Bureau also recommended him.

The General Affairs Bureau’s recommendation was purely from a security standpoint. They believed the person delivering the final blow had to have a clean background and an impeccable record, with no ties to other factions. Ideally, it would also be someone who had cooperated with the General Affairs Bureau before.

Besides, there was another important reason: he was still a student at Wuyi Academy. Therefore...

At that moment, a red light suffused the air behind him, dancing and swaying.

Chen Chuan paused his movements, rose from the ground, and turned around, blade in hand. Amidst a flutter of red clothes, a phantom figure holding a Yanling Blade appeared before him. Above its veil, a pair of lively eyes watched him.

Hong Fu, the active Consciousness Body of Wuyi Academy.

To ensure the success of this mission, Wuyi Academy was having Hong Fu transfer and bestow a portion of her power onto him through the Domain.

The greater his rapport with Hong Fu, the more power he would be able to wield. And among all the departments, from the Defense Department on down, there was currently no one else who met all the above criteria.

...

...