The Eldritch Files

As Han Su desperately tried to run the Ghost Truck through with his spear, the truck went berserk.

’What rotten luck have I run into?’ it thought. ’To meet a madman who has no fear of death, who’d climb onto my body and wreak havoc?’

An intangible fear and the inescapable trouble on its back made it thrash about in the dense fog like a mad bull, trying to throw Han Su off its roof. But Han Su pushed his physical control and reaction speed to their absolute limits.

His left hand gripped the Ghost Truck like an iron vise, while his body swayed with the truck’s bucking, resisting the centrifugal force.

In the eyes of Xu Ji, who stood nearby, Han Su looked like a crazed Knight taming a wild stallion.

"WHOOSH..."

The surrounding gale tore and crashed, and countless faint howls and cries of panic drilled into his ears.

The Ghost Truck’s fear and anxiety affected the surrounding Chong Ghosts. They swarmed toward the Ghost Truck, clambering onto it until they covered the entire vehicle. Densely packed, they closed in on Han Su, reaching for him with their deathly pale claws.

"It’s time..."

But Han Su had no time to spare for them.

Blood from his right eye streamed down half his face, his expression turning vicious.

The Ghost Truck was too massive and its shell too thick. Melting through its exterior had already consumed too much of his Spiritual Power.

But thankfully, he had finally broken through.

Through his blurry vision, he could see what lay beneath the half-melted metal plating: a grotesque fusion of a metal engine, unknown flesh, and a cluster of human hearts.

It looked like a machine in operation, yet the hearts were beating frantically, powerfully pumping a blood-like substance through various pipes.

Staring at this mad construct, Han Su gritted his teeth, raised the Nail of the Dead Sea high, and viciously plunged it down.

"SHLICK!"

The tip of the Spear of the Dead Sea, crackling with a series of blue electric arcs, instantly tore through the shallow, half-melted outer shell and plunged straight toward the Ghost Truck’s core.

...

...

"What’s happening down there?"

Outside the dense fog, both up and down the slope, countless anxious eyes were fixed on the thick mist below.

The people outside could only hear the faint roar of an engine. If they listened closely, they could discern human-like gasps and howls mixed within the roar, along with a mysterious vibration and chanting Spells. The nature of the Ghost Truck made it difficult for them to see what was happening inside.

They only knew that some kind of duel was taking place inside, and they couldn’t help but feel the tension.

They even found it strange: after being paid so much money to come here, why were they just left here to maintain a blockade instead of gathering their forces to deal with that thing?

’This guy usually seems so simple and honest, always smiling at everyone, but deep down, he’s a ruthless one...’

Amidst the crowd, Secretary Cui Qiao, dressed in a black suit, sat in a camouflaged armored vehicle. Listening to the commotion from the dense fog below, she felt waves of concern:

’What a great opportunity...’

The Disaster Management Bureau had never been able to deal with the Ghost Truck because it was so hard to lure out. But now, they had succeeded.

’If I went down to help, wouldn’t we be able to handle this matter with ease?’

Unfortunately, Zhang Chiguo’s orders were merely for her to lie low among these hired hands and observe their movements, so she could only obey. She had no choice but to push aside such thoughts and wait patiently, casting an occasional glance into the fog.

’That person from the Xu Family spent three Ancient Gold Coins just to have me protect an Executioner of this level?’

While everyone else was focused on the roars and engine sounds from the fog below, in a convoy to the northwest, Wei Lan sat lazily on the roof of a car, her face hidden behind a cat-face mask.

Her long legs were wrapped in tight jeans. She held a phone in her hand with a game still running on the screen, but for some reason, she couldn’t get into it.

’I’ve seen countless confrontations like this, and the level of this one isn’t even that high. So why am I a little nervous?’

She analyzed her own feelings. ’Perhaps it’s because of the importance that gentleman from the Xu Family placed on him? Has that made me curious about this young man down there, fighting for his life against that mechanical monstrosity?’

Outside the fog, the wind howling across the wilderness began to take on a faintly eerie quality.

At the various blockade points, many of the more vigilant individuals suddenly looked up.

They weren’t here to watch a show; they had accepted a contract.

The contract stipulated that they were not to allow any surreal power to cross the boundary they were guarding. This meant that, in addition to ensuring nothing from inside got out, they also had to prevent anything from outside from forcing its way in.

For a moment, they couldn’t identify what it was, only vaguely sensing some kind of probing gaze.

It came from the northwest, from the direction of Qinggang City’s lights.

The gaze even carried a certain arrogance. It rode in on the wind, ignoring the various blockade positions as it tried to enter the area.

"There’s an anomaly!"

But immediately after, someone at the corresponding blockade point reacted.

This was the purpose of the blockade points. Once established, they formed a space sealed off from the outside world. For this arrogant, probing gaze to enter was equivalent to forcefully breaking through the barrier that all the people at the blockade points had collectively erected.

Countless people unleashed their own abilities, and various sealing powers instantly moved to intercept the probing gaze.

But the gaze from the direction of Qinggang City shifted with extreme speed. It seemed to have no intention of engaging anyone; if it couldn’t penetrate one spot, it immediately changed direction.

In the blink of an eye, it had already tried several locations, finally arriving at Wei Lan’s position. After a few attempts, he seemed to grow angry and, having chosen this spot, prepared to force his way through.

"Finally, something to do?"

A cold glint flashed in Wei Lan’s eyes beneath her cat-face mask. The right hand still holding her phone shot up, its slender, fair fingers quickly tracing a mysterious symbol in the air. The air was instantly filled with strange, semi-transparent traces, like cobbled-together shards of glass.

It was like a wall of mirrors, cutting across the night sky.

"TINGLE... CLANG..."

A strange collision sound rang out overhead, and the semi-transparent, cobbled-together traces instantly showed signs of collapse.

Wei Lan’s expression soured. ’The entity trying to invade this area is of a very high rank.’

This sense of alarm made Wei Lan subconsciously reach out and grasp an object in her shoulder bag. In her subconscious, she didn’t even consider whether this extremely valuable item was worth using here.

But thankfully, the gaze only made one attempt. It didn’t linger, quietly fading away and melting into the wind.

Wei Lan frowned slightly and slowly dismounted from her motorcycle. "It just tested the waters and left?"

The people at the other blockade points felt the same, and countless gazes turned questioningly toward the vast night sky.

A sense of unease began to grow in some of their hearts. ’This seemingly lucrative contract seems to involve some high-rank entities. It’s a good thing they were only probing. Otherwise, I don’t know if we’d even be able to earn this money...’

"CRACKLE... POP..."

Just as they breathed a small sigh of relief, a utility pole just outside the blockade suddenly began to flicker with dazzling electric sparks.

Then, it was a utility pole even closer to the blockade.

It was as if some fierce and terrifying power was rapidly invading along the power lines that stretched across the sky.

Under the night sky, the utility poles standing in the overgrown grass like gaunt giants seemed to become its avatars. The dazzling electric sparks leaped from one to the next, like footprints stepping through the air, rapidly advancing toward the location of the dense fog.

"This is bad..."

The first to react was Secretary Cui Qiao. When the probing gaze first appeared, she had already guessed something, and a storm had raged in her heart. She even felt a little grateful that Han Su had made such thorough preparations and arranged for all this manpower.

’Who does this probing gaze from Qinggang belong to?’

’Judging by rank, the owner of this gaze might be even more oppressive than those few Independent Investigators...’

’We’re in the wilderness now, so Miss Ai can’t provide enough protection. If this person...’

’...’

But before the thought could even finish, she saw the new development and understood that the probing gaze had not retreated at all.

Instead, it had gathered its strength for a moment and was now invading from a new direction, in a much more domineering and brutish manner.

"CRACKLE... SIZZLE... POP..."

As the electrical sparks rapidly approached, everyone at the blockade position nearest the utility pole felt an immense pressure. They heard the illusory sound of shattering glass, and then, one after another, their faces turned deathly white as blood seeped from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths.

Among them, two or three people collapsed stiffly to the ground without making a sound.

Their eyes were wide open, their pupils suddenly dilated and lost focus. All signs of life were gone.

They were dead, without a single trace of a struggle.

At that blockade point, those who didn’t die only survived because they had reacted quickly enough. Realizing that this invasion was far too powerful, they had immediately abandoned any thought of resisting it.

Their collapse in less than a second immediately caused the entire blockade point to fail. The probing gaze drove straight through, advancing rapidly toward the fog with no further obstruction.

But in that same instant, Secretary Cui Qiao leaped from her car. Despite her high heels, she moved with extreme speed. In a few flickers of movement, she was already beside the nearest utility pole, her palm pressed against it.

Dazzling electrical light, like writhing electric snakes, crisscrossed and shot out, sniping at the power that was invading toward the center.

With a CRACKLE and POP of sparks flying everywhere, the air lit up as if with fireworks.

Secretary Cui Qiao felt her entire body go numb, and her hair stood on end. An indescribably immense and formless power descended upon her from above. Blood immediately trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her Spiritual Power ran wild in her brain as if it had lost control.

’I can’t fight it!’

Her instincts immediately gave her the conclusion.

She didn’t know who this probe from Qinggang belonged to, but the difference in rank was too great. It was impossible to block, and she could only watch helplessly as he invaded the hunting ground.

’That kid is in trouble...’

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