Chapter 187
Chapter 187
At the same time, Zhang Ru woke up amid the rubble. She blinked, then moved her body in surprise.
“What happened?”
She looked around and picked up a mirror lying nearby. To her astonishment, she had taken control of Wang Weiwei’s body again-and this time, her control was complete.
“Why did this happen? Could it be…”
Zhang Ru realized something, then gave a self-mocking laugh. She had never imagined she would be resurrected for a reason like this.
Looking around again, she found Zhang Yanyan, Tong Qian, and the others unconscious in the ruins. Even Guo Xiaojun was lying among the rubble. Li Wei alone was nowhere to be seen. He probably would never return.
[Ding! Mission complete. Calculating settlement…]
The System’s voice rang out. In the next second, several beams of light enveloped them, and they vanished on the spot.
Not long after they disappeared, Wang Xu arrived. He walked over to the unconscious Zhang Shun. A pink orb of light rose from Zhang Shun’s body, then slowly entered the book in Wang Xu’s hand.
“Two left!”
With that done, Wang Xu turned and left.
The Fiend Investigation Bureau soon reached the scene and took away everyone who had survived in the ruins.
The Bureau’s hospital was packed to capacity once again. As the office staff watched the grievously injured agents being brought in, their hearts filled with the utmost respect.
The agents must have fought a bloody battle against the Illuminati’s Fiends to end up so badly wounded.
John and Xiaoshuai, in particular, had been injured more times than anyone could count lately.
Inside the ward, John and Xiaoshuai listened to the discussions outside and said nothing.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, all eight patients from those wards had survived too. Their minds, however, were no longer sound.
And it wasn’t just them. All across Huicheng, countless people suddenly woke from their sleep and descended into madness. After questioning Zhang Yanyan, the Bureau finally learned what had happened.
“Wait. If that’s true, then after they finished their training, who knows how many altered people made it back into the real world?”
“That should be the case. I think Mr. Huo said something similar,” Zhang Yanyan replied.
Everyone present paled.
That meant there might already be a great many Illuminati spies in the real world. These people had originally been completely trustworthy. Who could have imagined that their loyalties would change over the course of a single night?
To the Bureau, only one night had passed. But those people had lived through an unknown span of time. After being brainwashed for so long, even someone with the best character would have become twisted.
“Do you remember what anyone inside looked like?” Swan asked.
If Zhang Yanyan could recall even a few faces, the Bureau could put those people under special surveillance.
Zhang Yanyan gave a bitter smile.
“The Desire Potion clouded my mind later on. There are many things I can’t remember.”
Swan wasn’t too discouraged by the answer. The fact that Zhang Yanyan had returned alive was already a blessing.
“All right. Go get some rest. The information you brought back this time is extremely important. The Bureau will reward you for it.”
“Thank you.”
Zhang Yanyan spoke wearily, then returned to her room.
The moment she entered, she collapsed onto the floor with a thud, her eyes brimming with terror. The Bureau had injected her with the antidote, but the Desire Potion’s effects on her were far more severe than they had been on Swan and the others. Her mental resilience simply couldn’t compare to theirs.
She sat shivering uncontrollably on the floor. Where no one could see, a black shadow slowly began to grow from her body.
Elsewhere, Liu Ye trudged back to the apartment.
Click!
He opened the door. Yellow Hair, who had been watching television inside, jumped in fright when he saw Liu Ye and frantically scrambled toward his room. After two steps, however, he realized something was wrong.
Liu Ye might usually be a walking disaster, but he always came home full of energy and greeted them. Why hadn’t he said a word this time?
“Teacher?”
Liu Ye raised his head, and Yellow Hair froze in shock. It was the first time he had ever seen Liu Ye look so dejected. Liu Ye had always been brimming with vitality, yet now he looked like a completely different person.
“What happened?” Yellow Hair couldn’t help asking.
“I lost my job again,” Liu Ye said with a sigh.
“Isn’t that perfectly normal?” Yellow Hair blurted out.
Liu Ye burst into tears and ran back to his room.
Yellow Hair stared after him in silence.
Had he said the wrong thing?
Before long, everyone in the apartment gathered together. They had all heard that Liu Ye was unemployed again.
“It’s not like this is his first or second time losing a job. Why is he so devastated this time?” the Shadow Fiend asked in confusion.
“Maybe he really put his heart into this one. It’s a good thing, though. Now that he’s depressed, he won’t have time to torment us.” The Driver laughed as he frantically waved the fan in his hand.
“By the way, does it feel a little hot in here to anyone else?”
“It does. Old Wu, turn on the air conditioner,” the Shadow Fiend said, unable to stand it any longer.
The Old Man said nothing.
“Do you really think we need air-conditioning?”
All the Fiends fell silent.
That was true. They were Fiends. They only ever felt cold, never heat… Wait!
“Then what’s going on with the temperature now?”
Yellow Hair felt as if the room had reached at least fifty or sixty degrees Celsius, and it was still getting hotter.
More importantly, the heat was making them miserable.
“I don’t know either.”
The Old Man was panicking too. The house was his true body, so he was suffering worst of all. It felt as though a furnace had been lit inside him, leaving his entire body scorching hot.
The Driver reacted fastest and suddenly remembered something.
He hurried upstairs to Liu Ye’s room, only to find the door tightly shut and waves of white light spilling through it. The Driver barely drew closer before his soul was nearly obliterated.
“Holy crap. He gets depressed and this happens?”
The Driver had never imagined Liu Ye could be this outrageous. His first instinct was to run, but the moment he turned, he found the Old Master watching him gloomily.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The Driver fell silent.
“It’s too hot. I thought I’d go out for a walk.”
“Forget it. You’re not getting out. If it comes to it, we can all die together.”
The Driver had no answer.
There was nothing he could do. This house was the Old Master’s domain. If its Master didn’t want anyone to leave, no one was going anywhere-Liu Ye excepted, of course.
The Driver had no choice but to pull out a megaphone and shout, “Little Liu! Come out! Your big brother bought you your favorite Old Wang’s roast chicken!”
There was no response from inside, but the temperature seemed to fall a little.
“Little Liu, it’s just one job. Your big brother will find you another one. I have plenty of friends. This is nothing, so don’t let it get you down. Come on out. If you wait any longer, Little Bu will finish the roast chicken!”
Click!
The door opened, and Liu Ye stepped out.
“Big Brother, am I useless?”
“Of course not. You’re outstanding! You have no idea how much power is hidden inside your body!”
“That’s right…”
Everyone else nodded furiously. That part was certainly true. The amount of power inside him was horrifying.
“Then… can you tell me what I’m good at?”
Liu Ye looked at the Driver expectantly.
The Driver said nothing.
One second, two seconds… one minute, two minutes…
The silence grew unbearably awkward.
“Waaah!”
Bang!
The door slammed shut. The Old Man and the others glared furiously at the Driver, who scratched his head in embarrassment.
“I just couldn’t think of anything on the spot.”