Infinite Nightmares

Song Jianguo and the Black Cats secretly tailed Zhang Wenda, keeping their distance.

The Black Cats stayed close to Song Jianguo, using their powerful shapeshifting abilities to disguise themselves as giant vases or wall decorations, trying to slip past everyone unnoticed.

However, the moment Song Jianguo appeared, she was scanned by Bureau 507’s surveillance. But after a background check revealed she was one of Zhang Wenda’s contract workers with a clean record, they dismissed the alert.

Song Jianguo followed Zhang Wenda all the way to the Security Department building. She saw that he didn’t go inside, but instead stood by the iron gate at the entrance, rapidly tapping on his phone as if waiting for someone.

’What’s he waiting for? An enemy? Why isn’t he going in?’ Song Jianguo wondered, watching curiously from a distance.

Just as her curiosity peaked, she saw a young woman with a high ponytail walk out of the building and stop in front of Zhang Wenda.

The Black Cats saw this. Their eyes shot wide open and their mouths formed perfect O’s. They glanced at their master before slowly raising their paws to gently cover their gaping mouths.

"What do you want? I have nothing to say to you." Wang Xiaohua crossed her arms, glaring coldly at Zhang Wenda.

"Even if you won’t acknowledge me as family, I’m joining the Security Department soon. That’ll make us colleagues, won’t it?" Zhang Wenda said, looking at his cousin. He really wanted to get on good terms with his uncle’s daughter.

"There are thousands of people in the Security Department. I don’t need to be on a first-name basis with all of them. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving."

Wang Xiaohua started to turn, but Zhang Wenda moved in a flash to block her path. Instantly, two beams of red light shot from her hands.

Zhang Wenda took a slow step back, showing he meant no harm. "I don’t know why you hate our uncle. Maybe he really was a bastard when it came to his relationships, but he’s him, and I’m me. You don’t have to transfer your hatred for him onto me."

"Then why are you wearing his face!" Wang Xiaohua retorted, her white pupils instantly turning a brilliant gold.

He didn’t know what was happening, but Zhang Wenda’s instincts screamed danger. He quickly moved to the other side of the iron fence, facing off against Wang Xiaohua through the mesh.

Just as the tension was about to snap, a stern-faced, middle-aged man in camouflage emerged from the building. He walked right up to Wang Xiaohua and slapped her squarely across the face. "Wang Xiaohua!"

Though her cheek was already visibly swelling, she showed no sign of resentment. Instead, she snapped to attention. "Sir!"

"Answer me! Did the unit issue you a thought weapon so you could point it at your teammates?!"

"It’s not that serious! We were just messing around," Zhang Wenda said, rushing over to de-escalate the situation. Neither of them even looked at him.

"No, sir!" Wang Xiaohua shouted in response. All the girlish softness had vanished from her face, replaced by a hardened resolve.

"Now get back inside and copy the unit regulations fifty times! And twenty sets of drills!"

"Yes, Captain!" Wang Xiaohua immediately spun around and ran back into the building. The stoic middle-aged man followed her inside.

Watching them leave, Zhang Wenda felt a wave of helplessness. He’d had a glimmer of hope, but now he’d well and truly burned that bridge.

’Oh, well. So be it. Plenty of people don’t get along with their relatives. If we can’t make it work, there’s nothing I can do.’

Zhang Wenda sighed and walked through the doors of the Security Department.

Before Zhang Wenda could even head to Ouyang Shuangdian’s office, his phone rang. It was her. "Your mentor is in training room B31. Get there now. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting."

A minute later, Zhang Wenda stood before the door to training room B31. He took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and walked inside.

The moment he stepped inside, Zhang Wenda saw a white man sitting cross-legged in the center of the vast, empty room. His eyes were shut tight. He had been scalped.

He seemed to have made no effort to treat the wound, leaving the ghastly injury exposed to the air.

"Uh... hello?" Zhang Wenda asked, approaching him.

The white man with his eyes closed raised his head. "My apologies. I am a Soviet. My English is not very good. Could you speak Chinese?"

"Sure, that works." Zhang Wenda sat down across from him. Before he could say anything, the man spoke first.

"I’ll be direct. My mission is to assist you on the Path of Ascension as best I can, but how far you progress is ultimately up to you."

’The "Path of Ascension" again,’ Zhang Wenda thought. ’Why does everyone have a different name for it? Can’t these people get their terminology straight?’ He quickly nodded.

"Thank you. To be honest, my head’s a mess right now. I have a lot of questions I hope you can help me with."

"You may. Speak freely."

"Most importantly, what’s the upper limit? How strong can I become on this Path of Ascension? Strong enough to surpass Qianxi?" He’d asked this question many times, but it was still his primary concern.

"You can. But it will be incredibly difficult and arduous."

"I’m not afraid of difficult, and I’m not afraid of arduous. Tell me how to start," Zhang Wenda asked eagerly.

"You are already on the path." The Soviet gestured toward Zhang Wenda’s twisting Tri-Core.

"However, before we proceed, there are some things you need to understand first."

"Go on."

With a light wave of his right hand, the air before the Soviet shattered. Once again, Zhang Wenda saw several different currents of thought manifesting before him.

"The bizarre nature of these currents, their rules, their very existence—it all depends on us. Humans. The world became this way because the power contained within our bodies overflowed."

"This is not a good thing. When the energy inside a person overflows into the world, that person becomes an empty shell." At these words, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but think of the Prefabs.

"Colonel Aleksey Savin’s 10003 Psychic Corps... their initial experiments were never meant to change the world. They were developing the potential of the human mind for psychic warfare. No one expected this outcome."

’Another new explanation,’ Zhang Wenda noted silently.

"Our world has been polluted and twisted by the human psyche. This is wrong. The material and the spiritual were never meant to coexist. Matter should be matter, and spirit should be spirit."

"This is both a curse and a blessing. If you can walk the Path of Ascent, you can resonate with the spiritual pollution of the world. Master it, and you can wield a portion of the world’s twisted power."

"Resonate with spiritual pollution?" Zhang Wenda thought he must have misheard.

Suddenly, the man before him opened his eyes. Zhang Wenda saw only empty, hollow sockets. It felt as if the man was looking right at him, and at the same time, gazing into some impossibly distant place.

When he spoke, the entire training room began to resonate with his voice, and his words exploded in Zhang Wenda’s mind.

"Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!"

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