The Eldritch Files

'Whose Disaster Management Bureau is this, anyway? Drunkard's, or my Uncle Zhang's?'

Han Su slipped the phone into his pocket, his cold gaze sweeping forward as a chill rose in his heart.

Right now, the Disaster Management Bureau was backlogged with incidents and no one to handle them. If he hadn't spent the last three days breaking records, all of Qinggang would probably be in chaos. And yet, here he was, looking at a dozen or so people, all of whom he could tell were of considerable standing just from their demeanor.

'You can't find anyone to handle anomalies over there, yet you can casually dispatch a dozen people to stand guard over some artifacts here?'

'Or rather, are they guarding that file for Drunkard—the one that must absolutely not be exposed?'

'No wonder Investigator Bai Yang's attitude changed the moment he was out of the city. After all, he has so many helpers around!'

'Judging from their murderous gazes, and adding in Miss Crow's reminder, they've probably even received orders to kill me on sight if I get close to that file, haven't they?'

In essence, they were practically Drunkard's private soldiers.

Or rather, private soldiers of the Red Light District Group, for whom Drunkard's orders took precedence over the Disaster Management Bureau's.

Now that the two sides had come face-to-face, killing intent was already brewing.

It was like a room piled high with explosives, where the slightest clash of gazes could trigger a confrontation.

"Hm?"

But just as the atmosphere grew extremely tense, Rong Qiyue's eyes shifted slightly, and he instantly figured out what was going on.

Just as the guards were staring daggers at Han Su, with some even quietly reaching for their guns and knives, he suddenly cleared his throat. Then, with a furious and dissatisfied expression, he roared, "Bunch of good-for-nothings, get the hell out of my way!"

"Huh?"

The men, who had been brewing a murderous atmosphere, were suddenly stunned, their attention forcibly shifted from Han Su to him.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this contamination is? And you're all just standing guard here? Aren't you afraid of being contaminated yourselves?"

Rong Qiyue scolded them with a frown. The men, not understanding the situation, stood up awkwardly, repeatedly glancing at Bai Yang as if to ask who this man was.

Investigator Bai Yang had no time for them, saying nervously to Rong Qiyue, "Dr. Rong, about these items..."

Rong Qiyue said, "Is this everything?"

"The source of this contamination is named on the No. 01 Scroll. A World-Destroying Level disaster is the kind that either doesn't happen at all, or when it does, it destroys cities and nations, even dooming the entire human race. I must go over every suspicious item to ensure nothing is missed."

"..."

Investigator Bai Yang nodded repeatedly, so nervous that cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

Seeing Bai Yang's attitude, the men guarding the artifacts realized this Doctor's background was extraordinary, and they subconsciously felt a sense of awe.

'It had to be said, Rong Qiyue's usual persona was quite effective.'

'Any normal person would assume that for someone so arrogant to have not been beaten to death yet, he must have a very powerful background.'

Rong Qiyue said no more, immediately lowering his head to inspect the artifacts laid out there.

Unlike Investigators, who typically used simple and crude Spiritual Power tests to detect contamination, relic experts could determine an item's purpose from its appearance, shape, patterns, and age, and thereby identify which one was the true source of the contamination.

This was also why, as threat levels grew higher and higher, the role of relic experts would become increasingly important.

Crude methods, after all, couldn't be applied to every situation.

Investigator Bai Yang's heart was in his throat the entire time.

'He hoped Rong Qiyue would take his time with the inspection, stalling until Drunkard arrived. Then he wouldn't have to worry about this anymore.'

But to his surprise, Rong Qiyue finished his inspection in just a few minutes, then stopped and frowned.

"Are you sure this is all of it?"

Cold sweat dripped from Investigator Bai Yang's forehead. He stammered, "Th-there's... there's also a box..."

Rong Qiyue's icy gaze shot toward him. "Investigator, are you playing games with me?"

Finally, Investigator Bai Yang steeled himself, climbed onto the truck, and personally carried a box down.

When the box appeared, the crowd of men grew nervous. They subconsciously wanted to stop him, but since it was Investigator Bai Yang carrying it, they could only restrain themselves. Even so, many of them hurried forward to surround the box, keeping a wary eye on Han Su.

Rong Qiyue, indifferent to the others' reactions, opened the box and looked slightly surprised.

The items laid out on the ground, marked with numbers, were mostly cultural relics of unknown purpose and varied patterns.

But what was in this box looked more like stacks of lab reports.

Rong Qiyue scanned a few pages, and his expression turned grim.

Investigator Bai Yang noticed his expression, and his heart leaped even further into his throat.

Thankfully, Rong Qiyue only gave them a cursory inspection before saying, "These documents are research materials from who knows how many years ago. Their origin is strange; even I can't determine the source. But I can confirm they're unrelated to the current contamination. Just set them aside!"

Investigator Bai Yang was stunned. After a long moment, he asked with difficulty, "Then the source of the contamination is..."

Rong Qiyue turned his head, looked back at the artifacts he had just inspected, and his gaze landed on a black notebook among them.

He said flatly, "Isn't it right there?"

"What?"

Hearing this, the crowd was in disbelief.

The notebook was of an unknown age. It looked like it had been soaked in water, leaving it wrinkled, and the black leatherette cover was cracked.

Compared to the other items, which at least looked like artifacts, this one looked like it had been pulled from a garbage can.

This was the thing that caused the red-eye incident, a threat that could potentially escalate to S-Class?

Most importantly, hadn't he already looked at it? Why did he need them to bring out the box?

"This notebook should contain records of a pre-Reconstruction era case of this World-Destroying Level Divine Tree contamination."

Rong Qiyue ignored the others' gazes, slowly rose to his feet, and said:

"Moreover, someone opened it and read it. That person was likely the first one infected in this red-eye incident."

"The act of it being recorded, and then the act of it being seen, opened a fissure for this disaster to enter reality. Once there was a first, a second followed. The shadow of the Mother Divine Tree appeared in the Spirit Worlds of these infected individuals. When their numbers grew, that shadow was cast into reality!"

"..."

Investigator Bai Yang had no choice but to nod. Staring at the box in his hands, he said in a low voice:

"It's good that you found the source. Then, the other things..."

Rong Qiyue's eyes shifted slightly. He handed the box back to him, patted it lightly, and said, "Move them out. Immediately."

Investigator Bai Yang was taken aback. "Move them?"

"And you call yourself an Investigator? Don't you have any common sense?"

Rong Qiyue immediately let him have it. "I'm about to start processing this black notebook. Who knows what kind of Spiritual Activity it will trigger?"

"To prevent any accidents during the procedure, all items I've deemed safe must be promptly moved thirty kilometers away or be properly sealed. Otherwise, we might fail to seal the Mother Divine Tree and end up with some other disaster on our hands!"

The harsher he cursed, the faster Investigator Bai Yang made his decision. He nodded at once. "Move them out!"

One of the men nearby hesitated and stepped forward, but before he could speak, Rong Qiyue bellowed, "Useless fools, shut your mouths!"

The guards were so frightened they didn't dare speak.

Investigator Bai Yang waved his hands frantically at them, motioning for them not to anger Dr. Rong. He quickly directed his men to load all the artifacts onto the truck. He hesitated again, glancing at Rong Qiyue, wanting to ask if they could wait for Drunkard to arrive before moving the items.

Rong Qiyue said, "Scram!"

Investigator Bai Yang immediately waved to the others. "Quick, move them to Containment Center No. 4, thirty kilometers away!"

"This is a matter of grave importance! If anyone tries to stop you, kill them on the spot!"

"..."

He spoke with grim finality, even shooting a sideways glance at Han Su.

Han Su paid him no mind, however. He was too busy being baffled by Rong Qiyue's act.

'This guy isn't acting... is he? Did we really run into some kind of World-Destroying Level contamination?'

...

...

As the items were loaded onto the truck and driven away, most of the people guarding the area, including Miss Crow, went with the convoy. However, three men remained behind. They stood unmoved, their eyes fixed solely on Han Su, their gazes filled with killing intent.

Nearby, Rong Qiyue crouched before the black notebook, muttering a Spell.

The atmosphere was mysterious and deadly silent.

Just as everyone was feeling the oppressive silence, the faint thumping sound of helicopter rotors could be heard in the distance.

"They're here?"

Investigator Bai Yang was the first to react. His face lit up with pleasant surprise. Enhancing his vision with Spiritual Power, he could clearly see the Disaster Management Bureau's logo painted on the helicopter. It seemed Mr. Drunkard knew the situation was critical and had come directly by helicopter.

'He might even have used the A Level mission as a pretext to bring all four lead Investigators with him.'

Over on the side, Rong Qiyue heard the helicopter overhead, and the corner of his mouth immediately curved into a smirk.

He secretly glanced at Han Su and winked.

His expression screamed, 'Hurry up and praise me!'

What could Han Su say? He could only admit that his performance was... acceptable.

Slowly, he pulled his gaze away from the helicopter, the last weight in his heart finally lifted.

With a faint smile, he turned to leave.

But just then, one of the men stepped forward and said in a low voice, "The items can be moved, but Mr. Butcher will be staying here."

As he spoke, the other two men also stepped forward, forming a triangular containment position around Han Su. In the circles of the supernatural, this was the tightest possible defensive formation—they were treating Han Su himself as a source of contamination.

Once the three of them recited the Encrypted Spell, Han Su would be hopelessly trapped here. No matter how powerful he was, as long as the three of them weren't dead or broken, he couldn't hope to leave easily.

Han Su saw their intention and said, "And what if I don't want to stay?"

The man's face darkened slightly. He slowly crossed his arms and said, "Then I'm afraid we'll have to apologize."

"Everyone knows you're the star Investigator of Qinggang. What they don't know is, how much of that reputation did you earn with your own skills?"

"..."

Han Su frowned, drew his gun, and aimed it at the man. The man's expression sank, but he showed no fear.

He sneered and said, "Is Mr. Butcher really going to point a gun at a colleague..."

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Han Su fired—BANG.

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