49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 325: Chapter 302: Midnight Raid

Mask: "I found the information you wanted. I’m sending it to you now. The commission is complete."

After saying goodbye to Guan Tong, Shangyuan Zi also remained in Sakura Prayer.

Guan Tong went to the forest, while she went to the border between Antu and North Star, where she found an abandoned house to settle in.

She then sent the files Guan Tong had given her to Mask online, commissioning him to search and analyze them.

Now, seeing the message from Mask, she immediately downloaded the attachment.

Inside was the information on the parents she had been searching for. The file also stated that this data had been collected by an official department only after the Apocalypse Rules came into effect.

And the reason Sakura Prayer’s official intelligence department had collected this intelligence was because of her.

The contents of the file were as follows:

[CONFIDENTIAL FILE · NO. A18201]

[ACCESS BY UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL PROHIBITED]

[Target Shangyuan Zi has been chosen by the Lord Divine Son. The investigation into her blood relatives has been archived.]

[Father: Noda Ken. Suffered from a blood disease. Deceased.]

[Mother: Shangyuan Guangmei. Confirmed to be a clerk in a large shopping mall. As of the time of this report, the target has been secretly arrested and handed over to the Mizusawa Clan.]

[Investigation reveals that Shangyuan Zi was abandoned by the pair as a child and later adopted by a private institution. Upon questioning, Shangyuan Guangmei stated the reason for abandonment was the child being born out of wedlock, leading to familial pressure they could not handle.]

[Given that the pair have had no contact with Shangyuan Zi for years, no emotional bond exists. The captured Shangyuan Guangmei is unlikely to be an effective threat against the target.]

After reading the short, single-page file, Shangyuan Zi felt a wave of emptiness.

’So the reason was that simple.’

She had always thought her parents must have had some difficult, unspoken reason for abandoning her.

Or, like in the movies, that it was all because of some coincidence or mistake.

But the truth was so mundane.

Born out of wedlock. Abandoned because they couldn’t handle the pressure.

It wasn’t a new story in any country, nor was it the least bit dramatic.

She looked at her parents’ names on the file. Her surname, Shangyuan, had undoubtedly come from her mother.

’Even as she chose to abandon me, I was still her flesh and blood. Maybe that’s why she let me keep her surname.’

As for her mother’s record, the intelligence department stopped gathering information after handing her over to the Mizusawa Clan.

The Mizusawa Clan was the Divine Son’s family. The file had already mentioned why the clan had taken Shangyuan Guangmei.

They wanted to use her as leverage against Shangyuan Zi at a critical moment.

Given what Shangyuan Zi knew of the Divine Son’s methods, this wasn’t surprising.

But the intelligence department had already noted in the file: "no emotional bond exists... unlikely to be an effective threat."

And that was indeed the case.

The effectiveness of using a mother who abandoned her child at a young age as a threat was questionable, to say the least.

But even so...

Shangyuan Zi looked at her mother’s photo in the file. She was unremarkable, just an ordinary woman.

Even so, she still wanted to meet her. Just once.

After a moment’s hesitation, Shangyuan Zi picked up her phone.

...

Guan Tong had been using his Shadow to lie in wait in the dungeon beneath Luoying Mansion for over twenty-four hours.

During that time, no one new had come down from above. The same dozen or so Ninja guards simply rotated shifts.

He had gained nothing all day, but Guan Tong wasn’t anxious.

He believed that with enough patience, he would eventually find a crucial clue.

He hadn’t been idle, however. He used the time to carefully observe the prison’s population.

Aside from the former Andai People, the rest were all Yingqi People.

’Imprisoned, not executed. That meant these people were still useful.’

’And their imprisonment in the Mizusawa Clan’s private dungeon, rather than an official Sakura Prayer prison, meant they were useful only to the Mizusawa Clan.’

’Take the Sheriff named Suzuki, for example. She had been tortured, likely because the Mizusawa Clan wanted information on me, but they had clearly gotten nothing.’

’They couldn’t possibly release her now. If she returned to the Sheriff’s office and told the others she’d been brutally tortured, how would they react?’

’But executing her would be a waste. Her Profile ability had no combat application, but it was highly functional and might be useful to them someday.’

’So the Mizusawa Clan had no choice but to keep her locked up here, ready to be brought out whenever they needed to use her ability.’

But people aren’t tools or machines. From what Guan Tong observed, Suzuki had spent the entire day with a dull expression and empty eyes. She was probably on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Besides her, several other cells held groups of prisoners, with ten or twenty people crammed into each one.

These prisoners had been tortured far more severely than Suzuki, yet their wills were unyielding. They showed no signs of breaking, instead shouting defiantly and pounding on the cell doors, the very picture of intransigence.

’They must be opponents of the Mizusawa Clan,’ Guan Tong guessed.

He also paid close attention to the Snake Servant.

It had been banging its head against the wall since yesterday. A full day later, it hadn’t stopped, though the force of the impacts had lessened considerably, likely due to exhaustion and lack of sustenance.

’What I don’t understand is, why would the Mizusawa Clan imprison it?’ he wondered. ’It’s a monster created by Shangyuan Zi’s ability. No one else can control it.’

As he was pondering this, he suddenly received a message from Shangyuan Zi.

It contained the file she’d gotten from Mask, as well as a plan of her own.

She planned to approach the Mizusawa Clan, the Divine Son’s family, to investigate the whereabouts of her biological mother, Shangyuan Guangmei.

Guan Tong read the file. ’What a coincidence,’ he thought.

’The place I’m watching right now is the Mizusawa Clan’s private, secret dungeon.’

’If Shangyuan Zi’s mother was imprisoned by the Mizusawa Clan, she would have to be in this very dungeon.’

He told Shangyuan Zi what he’d discovered. She replied instantly, saying she wanted to go to the dungeon immediately to find her mother.

Guan Tong told her to be patient and wait for a key figure to appear before they made their move.

So Shangyuan Zi decided to go lie in wait somewhere near Luoying Mansion and rendezvous with Guan Tong on-site when he gave the signal.

Two more days passed. Just as Shangyuan Zi’s patience was wearing thin, she received a call from Guan Tong in the middle of the night.

"Time to move."

"Has the key figure appeared?"

"It’s the Divine Son’s personal bodyguard."

"Got it."

Guan Tong hung up. Through the vision shared by his Shadow, he clearly saw someone enter the underground dungeon.

It was the same person who could turn invisible from his assassination attempt on the Divine Son.

For this man to be the Divine Son’s personal bodyguard, he had to be extremely knowledgeable about the Mizusawa Clan’s affairs, even if he wasn’t a member himself.

He was like the chauffeur or butler of a high-ranking official or a wealthy tycoon—you wouldn’t place anyone but a trusted confidant in a position with access to your secrets and your family.

He activated Body Shifting. The next moment, Guan Tong appeared just inside the main gate of Luoying Mansion.

He opened the gate. Less than two minutes later, Shangyuan Zi arrived, dressed all in black.

"I didn’t expect us to meet again so soon," Guan Tong said.

The last time they parted, he’d heard her say something that made him think it was a final farewell. He never expected fate to be so fickle, giving them a chance to work together again this quickly.

"Yes. The guards here have been removed," said Shangyuan Zi. "It seems to be a diversion, meant to make people overlook this place."

"Exactly. This way, outsiders would never suspect the existence of an underground dungeon."

"How do we get in?"

"I’ve been watching for several days and have figured out the mechanism to get downstairs. But as soon as it’s triggered and the stone slab opens, the guards inside will hear it. So, you’ll go through the main entrance. I’ll use another way in. While they’re distracted by you, I’ll launch a surprise attack."

"Understood."

Guan Tong led Shangyuan Zi to the room with the mechanism, an incense chamber where a statue was enshrined.

"The trigger is the statue’s right ear. Twist it, and the stone slab behind it will open. The stairs lead down to the dungeon."

Shangyuan Zi nodded, leaped onto the statue, and reached for its right ear.

Guan Tong saw her haste and knew she was anxious to confirm whether her mother was in the dungeon. He said no more and used Body Shifting again, this time swapping places directly with a Shadow Line inside the underground prison.

The next moment, he appeared in the shadows beside the stone steps.

Clad entirely in his pitch-black Shadow Armor, he blended perfectly with the darkness, becoming impossible to see with the naked eye.

GRIND... GRIND... GRIND...

The grinding sound of the entrance slab reached the bottom. A few guards immediately emerged from their room, whispering to each other in confusion.

Just then, the key target—the Divine Son’s personal bodyguard, Xin—also stepped out of the room.

The man was clad in a tight-fitting suit, wearing a hood and mask that left only his eyes exposed.

And right now, those eyes were glinting with vigilance and a sharp, dangerous light.

The moment the entrance slab slid open to reveal Shangyuan Zi’s figure, the guards let out startled gasps.

A flicker of shock and suspicion crossed Xin’s eyes. At that exact moment, Guan Tong attacked.

SHK! SHK! SHK! SHK! SHK!

Countless Shadow Thorns erupted from all directions, shooting toward the guards.

Xin reacted fastest, instantly drawing his black blade from a storage container and slashing away the Shadow Thorns that came for him.

The other Ninja guards, however, were run through and died instantly.

Shadows were inherently fast, and since Guan Tong had timed his ambush for the moment their attention was focused on Shangyuan Zi, their instant deaths were no surprise.

As for the guard the Divine Son called "Xin," he vanished after a few slashes, activating his Invisibility Ability.

Guan Tong immediately deployed his Shadow Realm.

’I have no way to see through Invisibility,’ Guan Tong thought, ’but if I fill every corner with attacks, what’s the point of being invisible?’

Within the Shadow Realm, a sky-blotting rain of Shadow Needles fell from above.

Guan Tong had prepared this specifically for invisible opponents. If a single one touched Xin’s body, he would be able to pinpoint his location.

"To move in darkness is a ninja’s fundamental skill."

Before the last of the Shadow Needles had fallen, a cold voice spoke from behind him.

Xin slashed down, aiming to split the back of Guan Tong’s head in two.

The blade fell, cleaving the Shadow Armor in two, but it was empty inside.

"I won’t make the same mistake twice."

Guan Tong’s voice rang out from above.

He had already experienced Xin’s Invisibility Speed Slash once before. Even with his triple defenses of Shadow Armor, Psychic Power Shield, and Gilded Guardian—not to mention the Life-Saving Pendant, his ultimate trump card—he was unwilling to take that risk again.

Realizing his missed attack had exposed his position, Xin didn’t hesitate for a second. He immediately took out one of his Teleportation Items, intending to escape.

"You think you can get away?"

The Shadow Realm switched to Small Space mode, appearing in Guan Tong’s palm. An instant later, he used Body Shifting to swap places with a Shadow Thorn right in front of Xin.

As Guan Tong suddenly appeared before him, a trace of contempt flashed in the ninja’s eyes, as if to say that he was already prepared, having been briefed on Guan Tong’s "Instant Teleportation + spatial attack" combination.

But his preparedness, along with time itself, froze for a split second.

’What’s happening?!’

By the time Xin snapped out of it, Guan Tong’s hand, holding the Small Space attack, was already pressed against his waist. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he glimpsed a tiny hourglass in Guan Tong’s other hand.

The silent, unstoppable Small Space attack nearly bisected him at the waist. His right arm, holding the Teleportation Item, was simultaneously severed by a skin-close Shadow Blade and fell to the floor.

The combination of excruciating pain and the sudden loss of sensation in his lower body almost caused Xin to pass out on the spot.

He fought to stay conscious, trying to move, but when he raised his head, his eyes met a pair of slitted pupils.

Instantly, his vision flooded with hallucinations. His brain, unable to withstand the successive shocks, gave out. With a muffled groan, his head slumped, and he fainted.

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