Wang Xiaoming operated the projection screen, opening an image. On it was a man with an ashen face, looking like a corpse.
"Your mission objective this time is to retrieve Zhang Sun's corpse, as well as any Coffin Nail that might be on the body."
Shen Lin asked, "What if we encounter the so-called King Organization?"
"Kill them. Kill every single one you encounter. As long as you can enter foreign territory, Lu Zhiwen will erase all traces of your operation. To the outside world, you will only ever be a support squad."
"How do we evacuate then? We're not a suicide squad."
Liu San stared at Wang Xiaoming as he spoke, clearly still dissatisfied with Headquarters' earlier order to have his paper puppets garrison most of the city districts.
Cao Yanhua hurriedly explained. These captains had unpredictable tempers, liable to turn on a dime, and he didn't want any internal arguments breaking out before the plan was implemented.
"After retrieving the corpse, Li Jun will open a door to bring you back—a door that can return you to Headquarters from any location. We have always been on the same side. It is simply that the capable must bear a greater burden. After the mission, there will be corresponding extra rewards. Rest assured, captains are elites that Headquarters intends to cultivate by pouring in all available resources. Headquarters will absolutely never abandon a single captain."
Liu San let out a cold laugh and said no more. The wrinkles on his face bunched together from the smile, looking extremely terrifying.
Seeing that none of the captains had further questions, Cao Yanhua spoke, "Then everyone, rest up. We depart in ten minutes."
Li Jun stood up and turned to leave.
Liu San walked up to Yang Jian and greeted him, "Captain Yang, long time no see."
Yang Jian still maintained a deadpan expression. "Liu San. Is something the matter?"
Wang Chaling extended his hand toward Shen Lin.
"Captain Shen, I hadn't realized it had been so long since we parted in Dajing City."
Shen Lin also smiled and reached out his hand in response.
Back then in Dajing City, Shen Lin and Wang Chaling had faced the rampaging Starving Ghost together. If the Ghost Painting hadn't invaded midway, the two of them might truly have been able to suppress the Starving Ghost without relying on the Coffin Nail.
A military aircraft crossed the border, and the captains officially entered foreign territory.
The stench of corpses. An overwhelming stench of corpses.
Even tens of thousands of meters in the air, separated by the thick fuselage, everyone could still smell the pungent odor of bodies burning in a crematorium.
Inside the plane, everyone stared out the windows at the living hell below.
The gloomy sky hung low. Billowing black smoke hung deathly still, shrouding the daylight like a sheet of deathly black covering the city.
Beneath this endless darkness, flames surged into the sky, devouring the entire city skyline.
Looking down from the cabin, dilapidated high-rises swayed precariously amid the fierce flames, their outlines reflected as crimson silhouettes in the firelight.
The plane flew over an elevated bridge completely burned into two pieces, the fractured deck slanting down into the burning sea.
Countless charred vehicles lay scattered and mangled. In some seats, half a charred corpse remained, consumed by flames until only a pile of carbon was left.
The entire city showed no signs of life.
Liu San's sallow face stared out the window as a hoarse voice emerged from his throat. "That's Wang Xiaoming for you. Once he decides to scheme against you, you won't even know how you died."
Shen Lin lowered his head, fingers tapping against his seat as he thought.
"The so-called 'strike first to gain the upper hand,' huh? That very much fits Wang Xiaoming's character."
Wang Chaling adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. The lenses reflected the dark red firelight, making his expression impossible to read.
"Choosing to enter foreign territory at this juncture—Headquarters' intention is obvious. They want to beat the King Organization into submission and deal them a devastating blow in one go."
Yang Jian glanced at Shen Lin. The man had always given him an approachable impression, yet there was something unfathomable about him. Even during the Dajing City incident, Shen Lin had maintained a calm head, and had even been able to restrict the Starving Ghost's movements.
By contrast, Wang Chaling had changed greatly. When Yang Jian first met him, the man seemed to have only just harnessed a ghost, yet he could already manipulate two terrifying old entities.
Those two old entities seemed to possess an extremely high level of terror, giving Yang Jian a sense of oppression akin to facing the Starving Ghost. Even now, he remained deeply wary of them.
Clearly just an ordinary person who had only recently harnessed fierce ghosts, yet he possessed two extremely terrifying ones. Every captain-level figure transcended common sense and couldn't be judged by normal logic.
At that moment, Li Jun walked out from the cockpit. His entire body was incomparably stiff. Judging from outward appearance alone, he would die from fierce ghost resurgence within a week at most.
"We'll land here. Everyone, don't resist."
After speaking, a sinister deep-green ghost fire slowly enveloped everyone. The next second, the entire plane abruptly vanished from the sky.
Ground level.
Even within Li Jun's ghost domain, everyone could feel scorching heat waves assailing them from all directions. Their skin faintly burned, their throats parched, as if they might be roasted dry at any moment.
Yet what was bizarre was that within these flame-devoured ruins, the air was permeated with a thick, bone-chillingly cold stench of decay.
This odor was completely different from the smell of burning. It was more like long-decayed corpses being dug out from cold earth and exposed to the air.
Black smoke mixed into the air slowly permeated everywhere. Some even penetrated Li Jun's ghost domain, clinging to everyone like maggots gnawing at bone—impossible to shake off.
Li Jun silently crouched down, slowly taking out a blood-red spoon from within his coat and gently placing it on the ground.
The instant the spoon touched the earth, as if pulled by some irresistible force, it violently began to spin.
The spoon's speed grew faster and faster, transforming into a blurred blood-red afterimage. It even caused the surrounding ashes to scatter, and within them, one could vaguely see a deathly black figure emerge.
At the moment the spinning reached its extreme, the spoon abruptly stopped. Its handle steadily pointed in one direction.
Li Jun lowered his head to look and said,
"Let's go. My ghost domain is restricted here. We can only proceed on foot."
Yang Jian looked at the sea of fire that Li Jun had isolated outside. He had just tried to expand his own ghost domain as well, but the moment it extended beyond his body, he distinctly felt an abnormal burning sensation. Worse, the edges of his crimson ghost domain showed signs of igniting.
A ghost domain being set aflame—this had never happened in previous supernatural incidents. Even when facing an extreme terror like the Ghost Painting, a ghost domain would at most be suppressed. This situation had never occurred.
Yang Jian could confirm that a deeper-level ghost domain might forcibly resist this strange sea of fire, but that was far from the optimal solution. In their current circumstances, the ghost Li Jun harnessed had very high compatibility with this sea of fire. Since Li Jun could guide the way, there was no need to waste energy unnecessarily.
Yang Jian silently followed the team, walking through the ruins filled with raging flames, but he constantly felt something was off. From the moment they landed, there had been a strange sensation.
In supernatural incidents, Yang Jian had always been especially sensitive. This irrational atmosphere continuously surrounded the group. Even Liu San had begun frequently turning back to observe the path they had walked.
"Yang Jian... something's wrong..."