Shen Liang hung up the phone.
"Wang Chaling will arrive here within an hour. The other captains have all been notified as well."
Wang Xiaoming nodded and said, "I'm going to meet someone. I'll be back soon."
With that, Wang Xiaoming walked out.
Shen Liang was startled, then immediately realized who Wang Xiaoming was going to meet—that old man from the Innovation Society. There was a deal between him and Wang Xiaoming, and now the old man had returned to demand his payment.
After a moment's thought, Shen Liang followed.
In a dim room, a hoarse voice sounded.
"We have already led the fire there. According to our agreement, you must grant us permission to enter the Hurricane."
"A fair trade."
As he spoke, Wang Xiaoming handed over a document. On it were the four large characters "Access Permitted," and at the bottom was signed Wang Xiaoming's name.
An old man holding a rotting sphere of flesh reached out, took the document, and looked it over. He turned his gaze toward Wang Xiaoming with a hint of anger.
"Professor Wang, are you joking? Dismissing me with a mere piece of paper? You should know very well what I want."
Wang Xiaoming's expression was as calm as ever. He said, "I am not joking with you. You can break through Old Qin's seal and enter the Hurricane at any time—you simply don't dare. I can tell you right now: Old Qin will not interfere in this matter."
A horrifying smile appeared on the old man's face, and his tone carried a threat. "Professor Wang, breaking the seal will also deplete us. I believe our first cooperation should involve some good faith. Your approach here can easily get people killed."
"Is that so?" Wang Xiaoming stared at the old man with a blank expression, showing no fear toward those man-eating eyes.
"If you can do it, by all means try. I'll stand right here. If you make a move, I won't last a second."
"You!" The old man pointed at Wang Xiaoming viciously, the killing intent in his eyes intensifying, but he didn't dare make any other move.
He had only dealt with Wang Xiaoming once, but the impression this man left on him was far too profound. Ever since he left the Hurricane, Wang Xiaoming had sought him out, and from that moment on, Wang Xiaoming had been scheming right up to the present.
Facing Wang Xiaoming, he didn't dare gamble. He was afraid Wang Xiaoming had some contingency in place that could kill him in an instant.
The killing intent in the old man's eyes gradually dissipated. He crushed the document in his hand and turned to vanish into the darkness.
Shen Liang slowly walked out and looked at Wang Xiaoming.
"Is this really alright? None of that Innovation Society crowd are easy customers."
"They are remnants of an old era. Having chosen the wrong path, they should have died long ago. He Yiner's intel shows they are trying to open a passage in Taiping Ancient Town. After the raid, I will deal with them."
Although he spoke this way, Wang Xiaoming hadn't pushed the Innovation Society too hard; he still left them some leeway. At the very least, the Innovation Society could now rest assured about breaking through Old Qin's seal to enter that place, so things wouldn't completely break down.
After speaking, Wang Xiaoming sat down. In the dim room, the harsh white light overhead shone down, casting shadows across his face that made his expression impossible to read.
He didn't speak again, nor did he do anything. He simply waited for the captains' arrival.
Time ticked by minute by minute, and the captains were each making their way to headquarters by their own means.
A man with a sallow complexion walked into the room and glanced at those seated. He seemed to be the last to arrive.
The entire room was silent, everyone waiting for the meeting to begin.
He casually found a chair and sat down. Two turbid eyes stared blankly at the young man across from him, from whose forehead protruded a scarlet eyeball.
The scarlet eyeball exuded an air of wickedness as it observed an utterly ordinary-looking man to the left front.
What was bizarre was that whenever one's gaze shifted away from that man, his figure would be erased by the world, instantly vanishing from memory.
Beside him sat a military officer with half his body charred, the burnt flesh pressed tightly against his uniform, sitting rigidly straight before the conference table.
Across from him, a young man in casual clothes whose figure seemed somewhat unreal was smiling as he looked at a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses diagonally opposite him.
Faintly, behind the man with the gold-rimmed glasses, two lifeless silhouettes flickered in and out of view, hazy and bizarre.
The entire conference room was sealed and oppressive, the air carrying a faint stench of corpses, as though a dead body had mixed in among them.
The dead air was suffocating, and the lights overhead flickered slightly, casting broken shadows across their faces.
Wang Xiaoming stood before the conference table, and the large screen behind him slowly lit up.
"This is the intel Zhang Sun sent back before his death."
Wang Xiaoming slowly spoke, his tone as calm as ever.
"We can determine that the King Organization is planning an attack on us codenamed Ark. But we have never liked being passive."
Beside him, Shen Liang leaned forward slightly, his gaze sweeping across the captains seated before the table as he added, "Recently, a Class S supernatural fire broke out abroad. Within today, the foreign side will request our assistance, and you will enter foreign territory as a support team..."
"What if the foreign side doesn't contact us..."
Liu San stiffly opened his mouth, cutting off Shen Liang.
Wang Xiaoming adjusted his glasses.
"That won't happen. I started that fire. I can even explicitly tell the foreign side that we did it. Regardless, the outcome won't change. They have no choice."
"What about the method to resolve that fire?"
"It doesn't need to be resolved. The support team is merely a legitimate channel for you to enter foreign territory on the surface. If necessary, you can even let that fire burn larger."
Liu San looked at Wang Xiaoming, the stiff corners of his mouth pulling into a bizarre arc.
"Compared to us, you're more like a ghost controller on the verge of death."
Wang Xiaoming ignored him and continued, "Among you, someone is carrying a Coffin Nail, but regarding his identity, I am unable to retain that information. However, I can tell all of you that the Coffin Nail can be put to greatest use in his hands."
Hearing this, everyone turned slightly toward Wang Xiaoming.
The Coffin Nail—a paranormal item capable of pinning even the Starving Ghost. For Wang Xiaoming to produce a Coffin Nail for this operation indicated that its danger level had exceeded the norm to the point that even a group of captains needed to carry one.
Every person here was someone who could single-handedly confront Class A or even Class S supernatural threats. Not one of them was a mindless brute. After hearing Wang Xiaoming's words, they all fell into silent thought.
"This is the intel on the King Organization's members."
Shen Liang distributed a thick file to everyone.
"Of course, some of it is outdated, or even deliberately fed to us as misinformation by the foreign side. Correspondingly, the foreign side also has files on everyone seated here."
Cao Yanhua immediately followed Shen Liang's words and said, "Rest assured, everyone. I guarantee that the vast majority of intel held by the foreign side is inaccurate. However..."
At this, Cao Yanhua glanced intentionally or otherwise in Yang Jian's direction.
"Except for a few particularly conspicuous individuals."
Cao Yanhua's meaning was obvious—he was saying that every time Yang Jian acted, his ghost domain would cover an entire city first. It would be hard not to be noticed.
Yang Jian didn't care. On his pale, cold face, no emotion could be seen. The scarlet eyeball on his forehead stared at Cao Yanhua. He looked exactly like a corpse.
He spoke coldly, "I didn't come here to listen to your nonsense. Get to the point."