36: What kind of monsters came in Chapter 36?

Supernatural Bureau of Linhai City, Command Center.

A massive screen wall displayed the operation report for this evening.

The atmosphere at the scene was heavy; everyone wore a serious expression, and the air was filled with a stifling tension.

Zhao Zhenguo sat at the head of the table and asked in a deep voice, "Speak. How is the situation?"

Minister Lin Ruoxue, the head of the Intelligence Analysis Department, stood up, adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, and said in a cool voice:

"During tonight's operation, we successfully rescued a total of seventeen kidnapped women and children at the abandoned factory in the south of the city."

"All victims have been sent to the hospital for treatment. Their vital signs are stable, but their mental state is extremely poor and requires further observation."

Zhao Zhenguo nodded, his expression gloomy.

"What about the kidnappers?" he asked in a deep voice.

Minister Lin Ruoxue swiped her fingers rapidly across the virtual panel. The image on the screen wall switched, revealing photos of several corpses.

Minister Lin Ruoxue continued her report, "These are the corpses of the five human traffickers we found at the scene."

"Four of them died from the same cause; they were drained of all nutrients by some means and turned into mummies. One had a penetrating wound in the chest, but was also turned into a mummy."

A low murmur of discussion broke out in the command center.

"Drained of nutrients? What kind of ability is that?"

"What path could achieve something like this?"

Minister Lin Ruoxue pulled up another set of data, and an energy detection report for those five mummified corpses appeared on the screen.

"It is worth mentioning that we detected a special energy fluctuation on the wound of the corpse with the penetrating chest wound."

"After comparative analysis, the characteristics of this energy are completely identical to those 'Soul Puppets' that slaughtered three of the Zhao family's guards at the previous Transcendent gathering."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar!

"What?!" "The Gray-robed Masked Man's Soul Puppets?!" "That Gray-robed Masked Man has appeared again?!"

Discussions rose and fell, and everyone's expression changed.

Zhao Zhenguo asked in a deep voice, "Are you certain?"

Minister Lin Ruoxue took a deep breath, her tone firm, "Certain. The energy characteristic match rate is as high as ninety-seven percent. It can be confirmed to be power from the same source."

Once these words were spoken, the command center fell into a deathly silence.

That Gray-robed Masked Man.

He was the one who, at the Transcendent gathering, kicked Young Master Zhao Tianhao away with one foot and instantly killed three Tier 6 Awakened Ones.

He was the mysterious existence who made Zhao Family Head Zhao Zhenshan kneel and beg for mercy, and even forced Special Agent Liu Zhen, a Calamity Level agent, to voluntarily back down.

That Gray-robed Masked Man actually took action personally to deal with a group of lowly human traffickers?

In people's perception, the Gray-robed Masked Man's greatest characteristic was none other than those terrifying Soul Puppets.

Those three grayish-brown humanoid Servants had no facial features, no hair, and surfaces as rough as tree bark, yet they possessed the terrifying strength to kill Tier 6 Awakened Ones in seconds.

They came and went without a trace, without any aura fluctuations.

Afterward, the Supernatural Bureau specifically inquired with those major powers that possessed Soul Puppet technology, wanting to figure out what kind of background the Gray-robed Masked Man had.

But the replies they received were all—I don't know.

One must know that even for a top-tier power like the Ten Thousand Spirits Association, it is extremely difficult to refine a single Soul Puppet, and they are usually only assigned to core high-level members as guards.

Someone who could have three Soul Puppets as guards actually took action personally to deal with a group of lowly human traffickers?

Isn't that too strange?

Just then, a middle-aged man stood up; it was Captain Han Bing, who led the operation tonight.

"Director, I feel there is something suspicious about this matter."

Zhao Zhenguo looked at him: "Speak."

Captain Han Bing's expression was extremely grave, and he said in a deep voice:

"According to the intelligence from Special Agent Liu Zhen earlier, the Gray-robed Masked Man's strength far exceeds his own. Special Agent Liu is a powerhouse at the middle stage of the Calamity Level, so the other party is at least at the peak of the Calamity Level!"

"Or even, it is possible that he is a powerhouse above the Calamity Level—the Catastrophe Level!"

"For such an existence, I don't think he would care about such a trivial matter."

Hearing this, everyone present nodded one after another.

A Catastrophe Level powerhouse; would such a strong person be bored enough to manage the crappy business of a few bottom-tier human traffickers?

At this moment, Special Agent Liu Zhen, who had been listening on the sidelines, also stood up and said seriously:

"Moreover, according to the state of the corpses at the scene, the person who did it was very ruthless. All five human traffickers were drained into mummies and died on the spot."

"This style is completely different from that mature and steady Gray-robed Masked Man at the gathering."

"The person tonight was clearly more ruthless in their methods and more young and impulsive."

In the command center, everyone looked at each other, a flash of shock in their eyes.

Special Agent Liu Zhen was right.

Although the Gray-robed Masked Man at the gathering had terrifying strength, he acted with a sense of proportion.

Although Young Master Zhao Tianhao was severely injured, he did not die—of course, he was later killed by Zhao Family Head Zhao Zhenshan himself, but that was another matter.

Those three Tier 6 guards were also killed only because they initiated the attack, and they were not drained into mummies—that kind of cruel method.

But this person tonight, the moment they attacked, they drained the nutrients and killed with a single blow, giving no one a way to survive.

This difference in style was indeed very obvious.

"You mean..." Zhao Zhenguo frowned, "The one who acted tonight is not the Gray-robed Masked Man himself?"

Special Agent Liu Zhen nodded: "I don't think so; the style difference is too great."

"Furthermore, the Gray-robed Masked Man bought a huge pile of basic books on Transcendent knowledge at the gathering, ranging from introductory to advanced, having everything one could need."

"A powerhouse of that level could not possibly need to read those basic books. The only explanation is—he bought them for someone else to read."

Once these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the command center instantly became even heavier.

Everyone understood what Special Agent Liu Zhen wanted to say.

Buying basic books, for whom? Definitely for a younger generation or a disciple!

Combining this with the behavior style of the person tonight—ruthless methods, young and impulsive, leaving no survivors...

A terrifying guess emerged in everyone's mind.

"You mean..." Zhao Zhenguo's voice became deep, "The one who acted tonight is the Gray-robed Masked Man's disciple, or perhaps even his offspring?"

Special Agent Liu Zhen nodded heavily: "It is highly likely!"

"The Gray-robed Masked Man's strength is unfathomable. He came to Linhai City, most likely to do something, and his disciple or offspring followed him."

"That disciple or offspring is young and impulsive, couldn't stand the human traffickers' business of kidnapping women and children, so they acted privately and killed all those scum."

"This explains why a powerhouse of the Gray-robed Masked Man's level would get involved with a group of lowly human traffickers."

"Because he didn't act at all; it was his junior who acted!"

The whole room was in a deathly silence. Everyone was stunned by this deduction.

Thinking about it carefully, it really made sense. The Gray-robed Masked Man bought the basic books, definitely for a junior to read.

And the behavior style of the person tonight was clearly more young and impulsive, completely different from the mature and steady Gray-robed Masked Man at the gathering.

Combining these two, the directionality was already very clear.

At this time, even Minister Lin Ruoxue added:

"Moreover, we detected that the energy fluctuations remaining on those corpses are exactly the same as the energy fluctuations on the corpses of those guards at the gathering."

"This shows that the person who acted tonight also used Soul Puppets, and they were the same batch of Soul Puppets."

"A Gray-robed Masked Man who can have three Soul Puppets as guards, isn't it very reasonable for him to equip his disciple or offspring with a few Soul Puppets as well?"

At the beginning, they might have had some doubts. But now, the more they talked, the more true it seemed, to the point where they could no longer doubt it.

Zhao Zhenguo's brows furrowed even tighter. Everyone also gasped in unison.

What kind of monsters have come to this small place of Linhai City, anyway?