144: Chapter 144 Stepping Out of the Mystery

"The A-Rank Specter you should all have encountered by now is the Night Demon!"

The expression on Zhang Qiang's face was extremely complex.

"This fellow is incredibly difficult to deal with. Its true body never appears; it always sends Clones out to hunt humans. We practically watched it grow from a C-rank all the way to an A-Rank Specter. Who would have thought its original self was just a college student who loved playing werewolf kill..."

As Zhang Qiang spoke slowly, Luo Xiaotian couldn't help but clench his fists.

Chu Xuan's heart stirred slightly.

He hadn't felt much before, but now, through Zhang Qiang's explanation of the power comparison between human Transcendents and Specters, he finally grasped the reality of the situation.

Brother Zheng was actually that fierce, jumping a 10-level gap to beat down the Night Demon. The [Fighting God] talent was simply too exaggerated!

Qin Shaowu suddenly cried out in surprise, "The Night Demon you're talking about... it's not the culprit behind the closure of Building 4 at our school, is it? Didn't the news report that it was a fire caused by a student smoking? Could it be because of this Night Demon..."

"Idiot, you're only realizing it now? Otherwise, how do you think Chu Xuan and I ended up like this?"

Tang Zheng rolled his eyes, then curled his lip at Zhang Qiang. "You guys aren't that great either! It's just a mere Night Demon. Give me another chance, and I'll definitely blow its head off..."

"Kid, you're getting cocky again, aren't you? I saw it all in the Playback Recordings. You were the one who slacked off at the end and missed the best opportunity to kill the Night Demon. That's what led to the series of tragic events afterward where everyone almost died."

Zhang Qiang's words immediately made Tang Zheng's face flush with stifled frustration; this was clearly a hurdle in his heart that he couldn't get over.

"If the Night Demon hadn't suffered a massive backlash from a failed advancement, you wouldn't have dealt with it so easily. Besides, you should have felt just how hard it is to kill.

In its peak state, as a top-tier A-Rank Specter protected by a Forbidden Domain, combined with its various attributes and the tenacious vitality of a Specter—unless it stood still and let twenty rockets and 1,200 rounds from a 30mm chain gun from a fighter jet blast it head-on—only then might it be killed."

To emphasize his point, Zhang Qiang pointed at the nearby attack helicopter.

"Uncle Qiang, don't exaggerate so much, okay? If they were really that powerful, there would have been massive riots in society long ago. How could we ordinary people not have heard even a whisper?" Qin Shaowu asked suspiciously.

"This isn't an exaggeration at all."

Zhang Qiang said slowly, "The explosion at a chemical plant in the harbor not long ago was actually our operation to purge an A-Rank Specter. That monster could not only burrow underground but also fly!"

"Our entire team was almost completely deployed. The Captain led the charge personally, with two Vice Captains assisting nine official members, plus 120 Armed Special Agents. We mobilized six attack helicopters and fired 30 air-to-air missiles alone. In the final moment, it was suppressed by my Smoke, and the Captain seized the chance to slay it. That battle nearly cost me my old life..."

At this point, Zhang Qiang took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled a long breath. The thick white Smoke swirled around his weathered face, making him look somewhat melancholy. After a pause, he continued:

"Then there was the serial explosion of the 100-meter underground gas pipeline last week, the kitchen explosion and fire at a fish banquet restaurant the day before yesterday, and the hotel explosion across from the Small Commodities Market yesterday. These three explosions and fires were all damage caused while dealing with B-rank Ghosts..."

"The public reports for these incidents are, of course, labeled as various safety accidents. Combined with the handling of personnel involved and the narrative guidance in the media, how could ordinary people possibly know?"

Hearing Zhang Qiang's words, Chu Xuan immediately recalled the "Stepping Out of Mystery" program he had heard Old Wu and the others discussing in his dream.

There was no signal on the bus at the time, so he hadn't had a chance to watch it. Now, with Zhang Qiang mentioning it, Chu Xuan immediately took out his phone and clicked on the currently popular short video headline app.

The top five trending topics were all, surprisingly, from "Stepping Out of Mystery."

[Shocking! Giant monster remains discovered in a mountain village. Could it be a prehistoric creature?! (Expert research reveals it was actually an elephant struck by lightning.)]

[Terrifying! Ghost soldiers passing through! Corpse-drivers reappear! (Actually a theft ring dressing as ghosts to evade capture; easily handled by the police.)]

[Stunning Secret! ...]

[Would you believe it? ...]

[Major Event!! A mythological demon appeared above the Haicheng International Plaza, leaping a thousand feet! Pictures inside for proof! (Our country's drone technology reaches new heights, shocking the world!)]

Chu Xuan felt the description of the fifth trending topic looked familiar. He clicked to view it. It had been posted after 2:00 AM, and it wasn't even 6:00 AM yet, but it had reached the fifth spot in just over three hours.

The footage first showed a video posted by a netizen.

The audio in the video was a bit noisy and the footage was shaky, but it was clear enough.

In the night sky, a massive creature with wings on its back, at least ten meters tall, hovered in the air above the International Plaza.

Its entire body was covered in black scales that emitted a cold, metallic luster under the moonlight. Its eyes were blood-red, looking exactly like the image of a demon from myths and legends.

In the next moment, it spread its wings, soared higher, and vanished in an instant.

Chu Xuan immediately remembered—wasn't this the Specter he had seen last night through the window before going to sleep in the hotel?

At that time, the Phantom Demon had even mocked it, saying the fellow was brainless for daring to bring its true body into this world.

The video posted by the netizen on the phone was less than ten seconds long. Then the scene shifted to the program crew arriving at the site. A beautiful female host explained to the camera and began an on-site investigation.

At this point, the background music started to become unusual. Under the host's deliberate guidance and dramatization, it felt very eerie and hair-raising.

As the progress bar was quickly dragged forward, the crew eventually found a drone performance team, which finally revealed the answer. It turned out to be a show composed of three thousand drones combined with fireworks.

The team members not only pointed out several "flaws" in the netizen's video but also gave a friendly reminder to that netizen not to use AI software for Late Stage production just to grab attention, as it was wrong.

Finally, they performed a live demonstration for the host.

Three thousand drones took off simultaneously and began to assemble rapidly. As lights flashed, a massive figure appeared once again in the city's night sky, even striking several poses.

A drone team member smiled at the camera and said:

"Tonight was just a rehearsal for our team, so we didn't release an announcement. For the official performance later, we will use drones to perform traditional mythological stories like 'Havoc in Heaven' and 'Nezha Conquers the Dragon King.' Everyone is welcome to come and watch then."

Then, to a burst of stirring background music, the beautiful host gave an impassioned speech.

She emphasized that there are no ghosts or monsters in this world and urged everyone to believe in science. She praised the development and prosperity of the motherland, the beauty of the people, and the harmony of society.

This episode ended there.

The video was less than five minutes long. While Chu Xuan watched it at 3x speed, the others also turned their gazes over.

Once the video finished playing, Zhang Qiang cleared his throat and spread his hands. "It's basically like that."

Tang Zheng muttered, "I thought these were all clickbait, just some silly science popularization show acting all mysterious. Turns out they're all Specter incidents."

Luo Xiaotian explained, "Of course, there is also genuine science content, like villagers treating blue ice from the sky as holy water, or the female host analyzing Lingzhi on-site. These things are a mix of truth and fiction..."

Qin Shaowu couldn't help but ask, "Since these Specters are so terrifying, why hide it from ordinary people? If it were reported openly and everyone worked together to protect one another, wouldn't we be better able to resist?"