218: Chapter 218 World Upheaval

That night, blood-colored lightning intertwined beneath the dark clouds, lasting for only a little over an hour. Then the rain ceased.

To many people, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

But immediately afterward, several reports released by official media outlets across various countries were enough to exceed the limits of human cognition.

[Above California in the United States, a Void Realm rift spanning twenty thousand meters appeared, from which massive plumes of black fog surged, blotting out the sun and moon.]

[In the New City of the White Elephant Country, a towering giant tree reached four thousand meters into the sky, its massive shade covering the entire city, blocking out the light of day.]

[In Manchester of the Sunset Country, three black suns hung high, casting dark light and plunging several surrounding cities into eternal night.]

[In Central Huaxia, mountains rose and fell, and the earth cracked and expanded. Villages were split north and south, separated by four hundred sixty kilometers. Within this range, black fog billowed, and it was unknown what lay inside.]

[In the Laji Country, Mount Fuji erupted, and a giant stele ten thousand zhang high rose from within! Outside this giant stele, three hundred thousand smaller steles were scattered, occupying the entire island nation. Beneath the sorrowful clouds, ghosts seemed to wander, and the entire nation wailed.]

[...]

Over thirty countries around the globe experienced earth-shattering anomalies. Some small nations simply vanished, enveloped by the entire eerie spectacle, completely becoming forbidden zones where communication equipment could not connect at all.

When these reports were released by official media, even accompanied by relevant videos and satellite footage, many people still felt as if they were in a dream, unable to believe all of this.

"The current global situation is changing, and disasters are occurring frequently in various countries, but please rest assured, fellow citizens; our country's overall security situation is stable and controllable."

"To effectively protect the safety of everyone's lives and property, we advise against going out in the near future unless necessary. Please maintain firm confidence and believe that the national authorities can effectively deal with various challenges."

"As long as our vast masses of people are united as one and work together, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome..."

While many people were still asleep, major news media outlets were already at work, but they uniquely hid the fact of the Specters' existence.

In reality, Specters in various regions, which had originally been hiding and restraining their urge to feed for fear of being discovered, all became restless after the anomalies of this night.

Specter incidents occurred frequently in various places, and the Night Watchers were almost driven mad with busyness.

Until this moment, the Night Watchers in various places realized that the situation in other cities was no better than that in Haicheng.

"The core of the nation lies in order. If order is gone, the entire society will face collapse. Since this is the case... using the epidemic as a pretext, lock down cities and towns everywhere, further increase the power of the Night Watchers, and investigate the Specters in their respective jurisdictions!"

Several important documents were issued in succession. Policies that were originally only piloted in a few cities like Haicheng were implemented nationwide overnight.

"Haicheng's situation hasn't changed much; the incidence of Specter cases has stabilized. No Specters appeared during the investigation tonight, and there were only two reported cases, which have already been brought under control—they were just two D-rank Specters."

As the sky gradually brightened, He Jun remarked with emotion: "From this point of view, Ming Xiucheng... that is, Azure Dragon's contribution to Haicheng, is still commendable."

A young man accompanying him frowned and asked: "Director He, within the Haicheng Night Watchers, could it be that apart from Ming Xiucheng, there are really no other members of the Resurrection Society?"

This inspection team from the capital had many personnel, but there were only three Transcendent who had stepped into the God-Ascension Sequence. Led by He Jun, an 8th-level Transcendent, along with one male and one female 5th-level Transcendent.

The one speaking at this moment was a 5th-level Transcendent named Tan Ziming.

"If I were Azure Dragon, I would definitely develop my own influence within the Night Watchers, preferably developing everyone into subordinates for the Resurrection Society..."

"If everyone thought like you, how could Azure Dragon have hidden until now?"

Another 5th-level Transcendent named Xu Shuya spoke up at this time: "Azure Dragon feeds Specters with humans, then slays them to gain spirituality. Although crazy, he is clearly still extremely wary of the headquarters. He naturally has to hide himself deeper; otherwise, if he had gone too far, we wouldn't have arrived so late."

Speaking of this, Xu Shuya shook her head and sighed softly, then continued thoughtfully: "Originally, our purpose for this visit was ostensibly to inspect, but in reality, the true goal was to secretly investigate whether Ming Xiucheng had any issues and then report it to headquarters. As it turned out, before our plane even landed, he was finished off, blown into nothing but some residue. Isn't that a bit too coincidental?"

"Shuya, what do you mean?" Tan Ziming looked suspicious, frowning again: "The dead Azure Dragon, is there a problem with that?"

"I just feel it's a bit strange, perhaps it's just a coincidence... Based on our inquiries, investigations, and analysis during the day, given the Talent and strength displayed by Chu Xuan and Tang Zheng, they are indeed capable of killing Azure Dragon."

Xu Shuya shook her head, suddenly looked at He Jun, and smiled slightly: "My greater doubt lies in why Director He did not ask Chu Xuan first when we saw the anomaly composed of blood-colored lightning earlier, and then report it to the headquarters together. After all, given Chu Xuan's Talent, perhaps he sensed something through heavenly secrets."

He Jun raised an eyebrow slightly, then smiled: "Shuya, you are indeed meticulous. This was indeed my oversight. Subconsciously choosing not to trust Chu Xuan actually seems strange."

"In other words... Director He, you think Chu Xuan has a problem?" Tan Ziming looked at He Jun abruptly, somewhat incredulously: "Then why didn't you just take Chu Xuan down? You are an 8th-level Transcendent, and Chu Xuan has only just reached level 3."

He Jun sighed softly and patted Tan Ziming on the shoulder: "Little Tan, although you have added quite a bit to your spirit attribute, if you don't change the habit of not liking to use your brain, even if your spirit attribute reaches 100, you will still be a cute little fool."

Tan Ziming's face flushed, feeling very embarrassed.

"Shuya, you explain it," He Jun signaled.

Xu Shuya pondered slightly: "First, Chu Xuan is carrying an anti-detection item, which was purchased from the official free trading mall for quite a lot of points. He only has two reasons for doing this. One, he has too many points and is squandering them for fun. Two, in order to hide his strength. Which reason do you think it is?"

The last sentence was asked to Tan Ziming.

"Looking at it this way, he is indeed hiding his strength, but what can this represent?" Tan Ziming asked: "No matter how powerful he is, it's impossible for him to be stronger than Director He, right?"

"But what if Chu Xuan is Azure Dragon?" Xu Shuya said suddenly.

Tan Ziming was shocked.

"I'll make a bold hypothesis."

Xu Shuya said quietly: "Since Han Cheng and Ming Xiucheng are both identities of Azure Dragon, could there be a possibility that Chu Xuan is actually a Clone of Azure Dragon, and because he wanted to avoid our secret investigation, he performed another 'golden cicada shedding its shell' trick?"

Tan Ziming's face turned pale instantly.

"Alright, Shuya, stop scaring him."

He Jun said: "[Revelation] informs us that Azure Dragon is indeed dead."