The hand that was about to plunge into his chest stopped.
Gazing at that rust-covered coffin nail, Zhang Sun knew that he had already failed.
The situation was set. Continuing to resist would only be delaying the inevitable; he still had more important matters waiting for him to attend to.
He pulled a satellite phone from within his kasaya. This phone had been recording the entire time, documenting all of his actions up until now, including this battle.
He pressed the send button. Then Zhang Sun squeezed with all his might, crushing the entire phone into pieces—he couldn't let the King's Organization obtain headquarters intelligence through this phone.
The next moment.
"Squelch—"
Zhang Sun's head fell back powerlessly. His entire body knelt half on the ground, without any further movement. Nailed plainly upon his forehead was a rust-covered coffin nail.
Zhang Sun was dead, without any room to struggle.
In the instant he crushed the phone, the person on the rooftop had attacked him. Facing the coffin nail, even he had been powerless to resist.
The scene began to slowly fade. The entire street seemed to be washed by clear water; everything was gradually being erased.
A destitute painter, dirty all over like a vagrant, was currently painting an oil painting on white paper. The location depicted in the picture was exactly the place where Zhang Sun had been attacked.
However, in reality, that street did not exist. Corresponding to it was only a wall.
Several blurred figures suddenly appeared beside the painter. As time passed, these figures slowly became real. A corpse with an ashen face was thrown out. Nailed to the corpse's forehead was a rust-covered coffin nail.
The Manor Lord stepped forward, still carrying a trace of surprise on his face.
"The headquarters' captain is indeed astonishing. Facing the siege of five of us, he actually still thought to kill one of us before running."
The old woman nodded thoughtfully.
"If you hadn't taken out the coffin nail at the end, I think he still had a backup plan and was preparing to stake his life in a desperate fight."
In that extremely short period just now, a top-tier supernatural collision in the current supernatural circle had occurred. Though it was extremely brief, battles between ghost wielders were often just like this—life and death decided in an instant.
But regrettably, Zhang Sun lost. Facing five core members of the King's Organization at the captain level, and with them even holding the coffin nail, Zhang Sun became a corpse.
Putting away his easel, the painter stood up, looking at the flames burning at the edge of the sky.
"We currently only know that those captains plan to raid us, but we don't know the exact time. Send someone to infiltrate headquarters, wait for them to move, exploit the time difference, and abduct Wang Xiaoming."
The Manor Lord nodded.
"Not a bad idea. If headquarters loses Wang Xiaoming, our plan will encounter much less resistance when implemented."
"But we should go. The Ghost Ship has been forced to remain there and cannot be used; we must deal with this great fire, otherwise we can't even advance the first step of our plan."
Headquarters.
Cao Yanhua looked at the audio playing on the screen, clenching both fists as he suppressed his fury.
At the final moment of his life, Zhang Sun had transmitted back this crucial intelligence.
Wang Xiaoming said, "All the information is here. The audio you just heard is the last message Zhang Sun transmitted back."
Cao Yanhua's eyes were full of anger. Those core members of the King's Organization had obviously come prepared; otherwise, Zhang Sun would definitely have been able to escape. Back then, headquarters had invested all its resources to cultivate him precisely so that he could infiltrate foreign lands and carry out secret missions.
Yet they hadn't expected that in just a few short months, he would be surrounded and killed by people from the King's Organization.
Wang Xiaoming opened his mouth and said, "I bear responsibility for Zhang Sun's death."
"This time, the Innovation Society infiltrated abroad and drew out that great fire, exposing Zhang Sun's whereabouts. But Zhang Sun isn't completely beyond rescue. As long as we retrieve his corpse, there are still ways to restore him."
Delight appeared on Cao Yanhua's face. He immediately pressed, "You're saying Zhang Sun still has a chance to revive?"
"You could understand it that way." Wang Xiaoming nodded.
"Very good." Cao Yanhua's expression eased slightly as he carefully looked at the report in his hands.
After a long moment, he continued:
"That ship has already been restricted there. The King's Organization can't activate the Ark Plan in the short term. In this raid, we can have the captains take retrieving Zhang Sun's corpse as the primary objective while also taking down several core members of the King's Organization."
Shen Lin opened his mouth and said, "I already have a rough draft of the specific plan changes here. Contact every captain now, assemble immediately, and launch the raid. We can't give the King's Organization any time to react."
"Then let's begin. Notify all captains: arrive at headquarters to assemble within one hour."
Dadong City.
The top floor of a tall building.
Wang Chaling held a satellite phone, currently in a call with Shen Liang.
"I understand. I'll arrive at headquarters within an hour."
After speaking, Wang Chaling hung up the phone and returned to the chessboard. The game had already reached its final stages. A woman sat across from him, currently holding a black piece and playing against him.
The woman asked softly, "Have you thought it through? Do you really want to agree to headquarters and participate in that plan?"
Wang Chaling's complexion was deathly pale, looking like a terminally ill person on the verge of death.
He pinched a white piece between his fingertips, yet his hand hung in midair, always hesitating, not daring to place it down.
"The incident of Dajing City falling out of control made me understand a principle."
He raised his head to look at the woman before him.
"In this era where the mortal world is like hell, once you become entangled with the supernatural, you can no longer withdraw unscathed."
The woman frowned at the chessboard. Killing intent lurked everywhere on it. If Wang Chaling's next move landed in the wrong position, she could win with a single decisive move.
She opened her mouth and said, "Why do you say that? Within the scope of Dadong City, supernatural incidents have been mostly dealt with by you. As long as you resolve that old mansion left behind by your parents, I believe that with your abilities you can completely stay out of it, at least guaranteeing yourself a peaceful old age."
"No." Wang Chaling shook his head.
"I've always wanted to break free from my family's curse, but now I've understood a principle. Previously, my horizons were too narrow. Blindly avoiding the problem cannot solve its root. My parents, grandfather, and grandmother all threw themselves onto the path of fighting the supernatural one after another."
The white piece was still pinched between his fingertips. Wang Chaling was still thinking about how to break through this chess situation.
"Their way was the correct one. I've been too naive all along. Since childhood I came into contact with fierce ghosts, believing that as long as I avoided supernatural incidents, I could remain an outsider. But only now do I understand my mission, what I ought to do."
"What thing?" the woman asked in confusion.
"No longer avoid supernatural incidents. Thoroughly investigate the existence of fierce ghosts, and ascertain their origins."
The white piece between his fingertips fell onto the chessboard without hesitation.
"I want to end the curse upon me, and let this supernatural force that has entangled my family for generations disappear completely."
After speaking, Wang Chaling's figure flickered and suddenly vanished from the spot, leaving only that woman sitting there in a daze, looking at the chessboard in surprise.
She had been completely sealed off by Wang Chaling's single move. Even though there was still an endgame with which to counterattack, victory and defeat were already decided; further resistance was utterly meaningless.