Something was wrong!
Seeing that the subdued Xia Jie was still mocking him, Li Ji instinctively felt that something was amiss.
He frowned. Instead of stepping forward, he looked up at the forty-sixth floor of Shuguang Hospital with a dark expression.
Given Li Ji's status, he naturally knew the old director was recuperating here. He just wasn't sure where this sense of unease was coming from. For the sake of safety, he decided not to spread their forces too thin on Xia Jie's side.
Thus, he ordered:
“Secure the perimeter immediately and detain the criminal. The rest of you, return to your posts. Xia Jie's identity hasn't been fully confirmed yet. We must prevent him from having any backup, and watch out for anyone trying to fish in troubled waters inside the hospital.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Special Response Squad immediately took their orders and dispersed.
But just as they were about to return to the hospital, the agent leading the way suddenly noticed a fissure appearing out of thin air between the hospital and the front courtyard!
At first, it was merely a black streak, and the agent thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. In the next second, however, the black streak suddenly burst open, transforming into a space-tearing rift. It was as if a terrifying cliffside canyon had been planted in reality, splitting the hospital and the front courtyard in two.
Facing this uncrossable chasm, the agents stopped in their tracks and backed away in alarm, thinking a Nightmare Disaster had suddenly descended and pulled them in.
Indeed, when a Nightmare Disaster expanded, it did not only sweep in sleeping lives. If it was violent enough, all conscious lives within the expansion zone would be affected, immediately falling into a deep sleep and beginning to dream. Afterward, their dreams would be swallowed by the Nightmare Disaster, jumbled and fused together.
Dreamwalkers passively caught in a Nightmare Disaster would not remain awake, but they were still much more likely than ordinary people to realize they were in a dream.
Such was the case now. Looking at the highly surreal scene before them, many agents began checking their own states, terrified that they would be unable to distinguish between dream and reality.
Only Li Ji's eyes narrowed. Gone was his usual listlessness; his back tensed as his sharp eyes swept cold glances left and right, scanning the surroundings. In a deep voice, he uttered a name:
“Pompey.”
Hearing this name, the surrounding members of the Special Response Squad cried out in shock and anger.
“What? Pompey!?”
“Did Xia Jie really join the Disciples of Eternal Night?”
“They actually dare to come here to rescue him?”
“Do they really think our Eastern District is a pushover?”
“Let's fight them to the death!”
“Everyone, be careful! Everything before us is a Dreamlike Illusion. There could be hidden killing intent within it!”
“Fight your own battles, and do not let your guard down!”
Instantly, the atmosphere across the hospital's front courtyard grew tense. Everyone was on high alert for any danger that might emerge at any moment, and some even began casting suspicious glances at their teammates and colleagues.
They had to be cautious. After all, there were Dream Thieves among the Disciples of Eternal Night. No one knew whether those elusive Dream Thieves would show up, and they couldn't be certain if the comrades standing beside them were actually themselves or merely illusions.
The tension was escalating, and the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.
Everyone's nerves were wound tight. If even the slightest ripple broke this balance, the scene would instantly descend into bloody chaos.
And it was amidst this stifling atmosphere that the sun split open.
The colossal sun fell from the sky, dividing into two.
Amidst the splintering, splashing solar flares and the howling, roaring ionic storm, a figure stepped out from the corpse of the sun. The faint, fading light merely traced a pitch-black silhouette, concealing their facial features.
Stepping forward, he floated in midair and looked down from above at the agents in the courtyard. Clasping his hands over his eyes, he spoke:
“May you awaken and abandon the sun to enjoy the Eternal Night. May your dreams be all Nightmares, and your fears all be true. The messenger of my Lord, the Disciple of Eternal Night, Pompey, extends his goodnight greetings to you all. Mr. Li Ji, we meet again.”
Li Ji looked up at the figure and said coldly:
“Just pretentious antics.”
Pompey took another step down from the sky and smiled.
“Gods need no pretenses; they already exist. He will naturally expose the demons in the hearts of men. Only when one discards their prejudice against the divine and accepts the truth that mankind was born of God can one truly be considered human. You are all individuals who have received blessings from my Lord. Since you have already embraced fear, why do you spit upon my Lord? Is this not treacherous, a blasphemy against the divine?”
“The divine? Is the very existence of the divine not meant to be blasphemed?”
The moment these words were spoken, Pompey's face darkened.
But this had not been said by Li Ji, nor did the voice originate from the hospital's front courtyard.
Turning toward the sound, Pompey stared in utter astonishment as a blurry silhouette materialized within the interlacing flames sputtering from the falling colossal sun.
“It's you! How can you even... with the fire from an illusion...”
“...Even burn you to death?”
Suddenly, the blurry figure snapped their fingers. The dying colossal sun instantly reignited as a violent firestorm erupted from its surface. Sweeping and howling, it burned clean through Pompey's figure in midair in the blink of an eye.
As a pile of ashes fell from the sky, the billowing flames swirled back, clustering around a lady who appeared before everyone's eyes.
The most eye-catching feature of this lady was her loose, fiery red hair. She wore a snow-white suit paired with a striking red satin shirt underneath, a pair of white high heels, and held a square lighter with intricate patterns in her hand.
The lighter danced like a butterfly between her slender fingers. With a sharp clack, the cap flipped open, and a flame suddenly surged forth.
Holding the lighter between two fingers, she used the outer flame to paint her lips.
With every inch the flame passed over, her lips grew more translucent and lustrous.
Before long, she finished touching up her makeup under everyone's gaze, showcasing a pair of dazzling, fiery red lips.
Smiling slightly, she looked down at the crowd below but deliberately avoided looking at Li Ji. She greeted everyone, saying:
“I hope you don't mind my uninvited arrival.”
“...”
The reaction from the crowd was not as enthusiastic as expected.
For one, everyone knew Pompey wouldn't die so easily. The one burned to ashes in the sky was most likely just an illusion. The danger was still very real, and they didn't dare lower their guard.
For another, although the newcomer held a high status, her presence was highly awkward. The Eastern District agents looked back and forth at one another, completely at a loss as to who should be the first to return her greeting.
Seeing that no one was responding, the fiery lady in midair scoffed.
“Tsk, the people of the Eastern District are as boring as always. Just like a certain useless man.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
No one dared to name this useless man.
Yet the moment those words fell, almost everyone in the hospital's front courtyard turned their gaze toward the boss whose clothes were even more wrinkled than his brow.
Li Ji's expression remained unchanged, his guard still up.
Scanning the area for any sign of Pompey, he replied sluggishly:
“What are you doing here?”
The lady in midair acted as if she hadn't heard him. Ignoring his question, she continued to fiddle with her lighter and spoke to the empty air:
“Pompey, do you have the guts to drop your pathetic illusion and fight me face-to-face?”
The illusion in the courtyard warped, and another ripple surged from the shadow of the falling colossal sun. A figure stepped out once more, still as pitch-black as ink, obscuring his true form.
Looking at the lady, he smiled and said:
“I can do that, but I have a condition of my own.”
“You're in no position to make conditions,” the lady rejected flatly.
Pompey grew slightly displeased. “Then why are you allowed to demand that I don't use my Dreamlike Illusion?”
The lady replied:
“Because I'm a woman, and women don't need to be reasonable.”
“...”
Pompey laughed out of sheer exasperation, then retorted, “How do you know I'm not a woman?”
The lady squinted at him, saying with sheer disdain:
“Then you must be an ugly woman who can't bear the light.”
“...”
Pompey fell silent.
Only after a long silence did he say softly:
“Lady Tang Cu's tongue is as sharp as ever; I am truly impressed. Yet you fail to realize that the flesh is merely an exterior, while the soul is the true heart. The more one disguises themselves as cold and hardened, the more terrified and cowardly they are inside. I have seen too many people like that, and my intuition tells me you are one as well. Am I right, Lady Tang Cu?”
Tang Cu did not argue. Instead, she looked at the blurry dark figure with great interest and said:
“What, were you also exorcised by that old man? How does being exorcised feel? Is it really like they say, that you no longer want to be human?”
“...”
“Why aren't you saying anything? Did I strike a nerve? My apologies. Do you mind if I poke it again?”
“...”
“Looks like you really were exorcised. Tsk, how tragic. I was just wondering—even if our Bureau doesn't lift a finger, but relies solely on that turncoat old man of yours, will the Disciples of Eternal Night eventually be exorcised into a pack of completely harmless, walking corpses?”
“...”
“...”
“...”
The entire area fell silent, Tang Cu's continuous mockery about “exorcism” still echoing in the air.
Faced with such verbal assault, Pompey's face was dark, his eyelids twitching violently, completely unwilling to speak.
Women were simply beyond all reason.
...
Rate on N.U.
