Chapter 40: The Plan

A few hours later, instead of the teammates they were waiting to support, Li Yela and his group were met by a powerful reinforcement force.

The Plague Doctor arrived with over seventy handlers freshly returned from the front lines, over three hundred Iron Guards, and a massive contingent of special operations and medical personnel, surging into the Black Prison in a grand procession.

While they escorted the wounded from the upper district, they also delved deep into the lower district to provide support for Yang Chen.

With their arrival, the exhausted members of Team One, who had been barely holding on, suddenly relaxed; several of them fell into a deep sleep immediately.

The continuous combat and their injuries had left them utterly spent; upon seeing the reinforcements, they could no longer hold on.

As for the dismembered Bai Yang, he was rushed into surgery. His arm had been severed for too long, so it would require significant effort.

It was said that the Plague Doctor captain was an expert in the Divine Governance Path.

Unlike other combat-focused branches of the Divine Governance Path, she specialized in healing the wounded.

With one hand mastering cell manipulation and the other a flying needle suturing technique, she had become the finest doctor in Border City No. 3, capable of reattaching almost any severed limb.

There were even cases where she had performed immediate surgery on decapitated individuals, successfully bringing them back to life.

She was the kind of person who could pull someone back even after they had passed through the gates of hell, perhaps even slapping the King of Hell on his way!

With the captain personally intervening, Bai Yang's arm should be out of danger.

Meanwhile, Li Yela, Cheese, and the others were transferred back to the rest area.

After his wounds were inspected once more, Li Yela was assigned to his own rest room, which served as a safe rear area.

It was then that Li Yela spotted familiar faces among the reinforcements.

It was Detective and Heavy Cavalry!

They were part of the reinforcement convoy but had not ventured deep into the lower district.

Li Yela immediately called out to them, "How is it outside? Is the family apartment safe?"

Detective and Heavy Cavalry were startled when they saw Li Yela, who was wrapped head-to-toe in bandages.

Although Li Yela was physically intact, the bandages covering his body and the crimson scars spreading across his chest indicated that he had survived a perilous battle.

As fellow newcomers, they were well aware of Li Yela's strength, but seeing him in this state...

Suppressing his shock, Detective responded quickly, "The incident occurred in the South City New District, which is far from our East City Branch family apartments; it wasn't affected by the chaos. However, a few family members watching the broadcast fell into extreme fanaticism. Fortunately, they were suppressed, and there were no casualties."

"Even watching the broadcast can trigger it?" Li Yela's expression changed. This was unexpected.

Li Yunyan had been constantly nagging about wanting an autograph from the Fantasy Band to sell for money; she might have been watching the broadcast at the time.

*Could she have been caught?* No, at that time, Li Yunyan should have been working on her manuscripts.

At the same time, the phrase "no casualties" allowed Li Yela to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

*As long as she's okay, it's okay.*

"That's right. Even the audio of a broadcast can cause people to be influenced by the power of the Void Realm. While it might not be enough to trigger an awakening into a psychic or cause a complete distortion and loss of control, people are still guided by the various forces of the Void and controlled by their desires. Murder, robbery, self-harm, humiliation... all kinds of chaos. It's even more chaotic than the Wilderness!" Detective said, gritting his teeth. "And the situation for the live audience was even worse!"

Li Yela looked grim. If a broadcast alone could drive people mad, the scene at the venue must have been a living hell.

Who knows how many people had distorted and killed their own kin with their own hands...

After a moment of thought, Heavy Cavalry spoke: "There are still some aftershocks of chaos on the surface, but things have generally stabilized. A supreme official psychic intervened and repelled that massive Void creature."

"A massive Void creature?" Li Yela was stunned. "Why is there a connection to a giant creature? Did the Calamity Forbidden Zone take the opportunity to attack the city?"

"No. According to the calculations of our seniors in the Zero Path and the analysis from the Handling Department, the opponent used a certain Grade B Forbidden Object. This caused people who heard the song to voluntarily provide psychic energy. That energy opened a Void channel, allowing a massive monster to descend into the physical world."

Detective sighed. "Fortunately, our Border City No. 3 has supreme powerhouses. They directly repelled the invader and brought the riot to a halt. Once the City Defense Force took over, we rushed to support you."

"The Fantasy Band... they are truly damned!" Li Yela hissed through clenched teeth.

To influence hundreds of thousands with song and use it to summon a terrifying entity from the Void—they even incited the Crown of Zhulan.

How many innocent people were caught in this disaster? How many handlers died heroically?

The opponent must have used at least two high-risk Forbidden Objects!

But for what? No, regardless of the reason, they deserved to die!

"All members of the Fantasy Band except for the lead singer have distorted and lost control; they have been cleared out. Only the lead singer, Qin Zhi, is missing. He is likely the mastermind behind this incident, or at least the mastermind we have identified so far," Detective responded. "The various branches are tracking Qin Zhi across the Megacities, but there is no news yet. He seems to be a psychic himself, and he has accomplices assisting him."

"We must find him!" Li Yela growled.

"Every handler has that thought, even the handlers from nearby Megacities," Heavy Cavalry interjected. "The nearest Megacities were also watching the broadcast, and the result..."

Indeed, the nearest Megacities—such as Border City No. 1, Border City No. 2, and the Lava Mining City—all shared signal connections with Border City No. 3.

They had also broadcast the event, leading to widespread chaos.

Qin Zhi had directly offended four Megacities by committing the ultimate taboo: attacking civilians!

To hunt down such a beast, all the major Megacities were conducting intensive searches!

At that moment, Li Yela felt the surroundings grow much quieter.

Cheese, from the adjacent rest room, had stood by the door at some unknown point, her eyes slightly red as she stared toward the plaza.

Following her gaze, the three of them saw that people were bringing the bodies of their fallen comrades back to the safe zone.

A large number of corpses had been laid out on the plaza of the rest area.

This caused everyone to fall silent, staring at the plaza in solemnity.

There were too many... handlers, Iron Guards, administrative staff—over four hundred bodies had been placed on the plaza, covered by white cloths that hid their faces and mangled remains.

It was only then that Li Yela saw the blood-soaked Yang Chen. He had returned from the lower district at some unknown time and had made his way back to the rest area.

His condition was poor; his eyes were bloodshot, and his body was covered in countless scars.

Those were wounds from the recent battle. Yang Chen was a Sixth-Sense psychic of the True Martial Path and had undergone the Heart of Slaughter enhancement three times.

His extremely powerful physical constitution allowed his wounds to heal and scar quickly.

But he stood there in silence, staring at the plaza and the bodies covered in white cloth.

His physical wounds could heal, but the scars on his heart would not disappear.

After a long silence, Yang Chen spoke calmly, "Is everyone here?"

"Over seventy are still missing; we are working hard to find them," a handler replied in a low voice.

*Missing?* Li Yela sighed inwardly. This wasn't "missing"—they were likely obliterated.

Many Forbidden Objects directly consume flesh or tear it into fragments that scatter across the ground.

The Black Prison usually housed over eleven hundred people; now, three hundred and seventy-two bodies had been found, and seventy were missing.

That meant over four hundred deaths, including fifty-six members of Team One.

This single incident had reduced Team One's strength by nearly a third.

A sense of desolation washed over Li Yela. He had only just begun to grow close to his teammates in Team One, and now he had lost them forever.

Yang Chen remained silent for a long time before speaking in a low voice, "Double the compensation for everyone, whether they were administrative staff or Iron Guards."

The logistics handler nodded slightly, clearly having already received instructions from the higher-ups.

"It should be so. Their last words have been backed up, and their names will be inscribed on the Heroic Monument of the Megacity."

Yang Chen nodded slightly. Then, his gaze swept the surroundings, pausing on Li Yela.

His cracked lips parted slightly. "Remember them. Vengeance must be taken for them!"

The handlers of Team One responded in unison, "Yes!"

Then, Yang Chen collapsed heavily to the ground.

The logistics team, who had been prepared, immediately stepped forward to carry him onto a stretcher.

He was too exhausted. Having faced the siege of two Grade B Forbidden Objects alone, even while most of his teammates were heavily wounded or dead, he had reached the absolute limit of his strength.

In the hours following Yang Chen's unconsciousness, a full-strength team of handlers returned to the Black Prison.

They replaced the wounded members of Team One and moved them out of the prison.

During this time, Li Yela met the last captain he had never seen.

The East City Branch had six captains.

Team One Captain, Yang Chen, True Martial Path.

Team Three Captain, Furnace, Myriad Manifestations Path.

Team Four Captain, Moon Shadow, Zero Path.

Team Five Captain, Pale, Spirit Eye Path.

Logistics Captain, Plague Doctor, Divine Governance Path.

The one appearing now was the Team Two Captain, Yin Huo.

He was also the strongest Nether Path psychic in the branch.

In appearance, he looked like a scholarly teacher, wearing black-rimmed glasses and appearing quite refined.

However, he exuded a chilling aura that made others hesitant to approach.

Strangely, after standing before the unconscious Yang Chen for a while, Yin Huo specifically sought out Li Yela, who was preparing to evacuate the Black Prison.

"I heard you have acquired a second Mask?" Yin Huo asked plainly.

"Yes," Li Yela responded. "I have obtained a second Mask."

Yin Huo continued, "That Mask is not in the database. Can you tell me who it is?"

"The Champion Marquis of Fenglang Juxu!" Li Yela replied.

The database would certainly not be able to find Huo Qubing, because such handsome figures in Peking Opera are usually played by *Wusheng* (martial male) or *Xiaosheng* (young male) roles; painting a mask on them often makes them look less handsome. But the Myriad Manifestations path didn't care about that.

"Huo Qubing? Is the ability the Shadow Army of the Nether Path?" Yin Huo asked.

Li Yela nodded slightly.

He knew that exposing his second Mask would inevitably attract official attention, so he decided to be honest.

Of course, he had to keep the existence of Mr. Shadow a secret.

Otherwise, the authorities might think Li Yela was a pawn of some deity...

*Tsk, it does seem like that, doesn't it? Both a sacrifice and a blessing. Isn't it?*

It seemed he couldn't expose Mr. Shadow, at least not yet, unless the authorities fully trusted him.

"The first Mask is Spirit Eye, the second is Nether," Yin Huo said with a smile. "Can you find the pattern for unlocking the Masks?"

Li Yela shook his head. He couldn't exactly say it was by offering sacrifices to a certain entity, could he?

"Never mind. Keep practicing," Yin Huo said, not pressing further. He smiled and added, "When you are strong enough, a mission will be assigned to you. You will be the best candidate for it."

"An important mission?" Li Yela was puzzled.

"It is related to this recent attack. You shouldn't know the rest for now, lest it become a burden." Yin Huo didn't explain much, but patted Li Yela on the shoulder. "Work hard to get stronger."

Then, he turned and walked into the entrance of the Black Prison.

Left behind, Li Yela felt a sense of confusion. *Related to this incident?*

*Do they intend to have me avenge my colleagues?*

Actually, he wouldn't mind. Li Yela would be willing to make a trade to avenge his comrades.

He could simply have Mr. Shadow slaughter the entire enemy group!

But hadn't they failed to find the target?

Furthermore, he was currently only at the Second Awakening. Even with the Mask ability, he was far from as powerful as the captains or Ye Bushou.

What kind of mission required him specifically? The authorities didn't know about Mr. Shadow; wouldn't sending him be sending him to his death?

"Even with the Masks, my strength isn't enough to be taken seriously. Besides being unlucky, what else makes me worth watching?" Li Yela mused.

Afterward, he left the Black Prison with Cheese.

On the other side, Yin Huo contacted headquarters.

"I didn't sense any external power on him, so we can likely rule out the possibility that he is a believer of some deity. But we must remain vigilant. That entity might have bypassed my perception. However, I am willing to trust Ye Jiang himself; he previously risked everything to hunt the Zhulan King and stood alone against the Zhulan Iron Cavalry."

Yin Huo continued, "Therefore, I believe we can make arrangements before long. Those from the past were too strong, and the Ark will certainly be wary. His special psychic ability is not highly awakened, but it is sufficient for self-preservation. However, we must ensure his safety. This incident was a heavy blow to Yang Chen; if his successor dies as well, he will likely lose control!"

"That is natural. This mission was designed to be carried out while ensuring Ye Jiang's safety. As long as he doesn't act recklessly himself," an elderly voice responded from the other end.

"Also, his Masks are indeed special—even eerie! If he acquires a third or fourth Mask, and they belong to other paths, his ceiling will be terrifying! Imagine a Myriad Manifestations psychic possessing multiple paths of ability!"

Yin Huo thought for a moment and smiled. "If it truly comes to that, my suggestion is that the Old Mad King should step down directly. As for that Little Mad King at headquarters, let's just forget about her."

"Hehe..." An elderly woman laughed on the other end. "You only distrust her because of the curse. Very well, since you say so, we will make contact with Ye Jiang later."

After hanging up, Yin Huo mused, "The Ark, oh the Ark... no matter how impressive it is, it's still just a vehicle, isn't it?"