160: Chapter 160 Real Estate Developers Engaging in Spiritual Energy Revival? This Formaldehyde-Contaminated Smog Damages the Lungs if Inhaled Too Much.

Gu Changan sat in the passenger seat while Chen Xiaobei drove the low-profile black SUV straight toward the eastern part of Donghai City.

The further east they went, the lower the visibility became.

By the time they reached the vicinity of the "Cloud Top Palace" development, the surroundings were completely shrouded in a thick, impenetrable white fog.

This fog was abnormally white; it didn't look like natural water vapor, but instead carried a pungent, cloyingly sweet fragrance.

Hundreds of elderly men and women had brought folding stools and thermoses, sitting cross-legged on the plaza outside the sales office, eyes closed as they inhaled deeply.

A few young people had even set up tents, with phone stands positioned nearby, frantically livestreaming.

Gu Changan pushed open the car door and stepped out, immediately feeling the sticky moisture in the air.

This humidity was absurdly heavy; in less than a minute, a layer of water droplets had formed on the surface of his clothes.

The sales office lobby was a cacophony of voices, filled with people queuing up to swipe their cards and pay deposits.

Standing in the very center of the architectural model was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, dressed in a suit and leather shoes.

Manager Zhang.

This name was quite famous in the Donghai City real estate circle, specializing in the business of renovating and flipping abandoned buildings. However, due to a break in his capital chain a while ago, he had been on the verge of jumping off a building. Now, seeing his ruddy face and high-spirited demeanor, it was obvious he had some kind of 'cheat' sustaining his life.

Manager Zhang held a microphone, his voice loud enough to rattle one's ears.

"Dear family members! Do you see this? This is our Cloud Top Palace's Feng Shui Grand Array!"

"After forty-nine days of excavation, we have successfully tapped into Donghai City's underground Spiritual Vein!"

"The concentration of Spiritual Qi in this residential area is now more than ten times that of the outside world!"

"Living here, not only will you prolong your life, but even if you are plagued by a hundred illnesses, you can be cured without medicine!"

Manager Zhang grew more excited as he spoke, spittle flying everywhere.

"Just yesterday, a wealthy businessman offered two hundred million to buy out the entire building, but I didn't agree!"

"Why? Because this kind of immortal fate is reserved for the destined people present here today!"

The crowd below was whipped into a frenzy, their eyes turning red as they brandished their bank cards and desperately squeezed forward.

Just then, a silver-haired elderly woman leaning on a cane emerged from the crowd.

With tears in her eyes, she grabbed Manager Zhang's hand.

"Manager Zhang, you are a living Bodhisattva!"

"My chronic leg pain has lasted for thirty years; whenever it's cloudy or rainy, it hurts so much I can't even stand!"

"But yesterday, right after I put a deposit down on a unit here, I spent half an hour inhaling the Immortal Qi in the neighborhood, and today I can throw away my cane!"

As she spoke, the woman actually tossed her cane aside and hopped twice on the spot, her movements as agile as a young man's.

The crowd instantly erupted.

"It really is a miracle!"

"Quick, quick, quick, give me a three-bedroom unit!"

"Full payment! I'll pay in full!"

As Manager Zhang watched the sales figures soar, the notification sounds of the "Special Effects Director System" in his mind were also ringing frantically.

As long as he continued to create visual and auditory special effects, he could harvest Shock Points, which could then be converted into lifespan and money.

His System had no combat power, but when it came to hoodwinking people, it was an absolute dimensional strike.

Gu Changan stood at the edge of the lobby, watching this farce with cold eyes.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint, almost imperceptible shimmer flashed deep within his pupils.

[Eye of True Appraisal] activated.

In Gu Changan's vision, the fairyland-like mist before him was instantly stripped of its disguise.

There was no underground Spiritual Vein.

In the residential area's green belts, hundreds of industrial-grade high-pressure dry ice nozzles were densely buried. Beside them were rows of heavy-duty ultrasonic humidifiers.

That cloyingly sweet fragrance that made people feel invigorated was actually high concentrations of chemical aromatics and trace amounts of stimulants mixed into the humidifier water tanks.

This stuff could indeed stimulate the nerves in the short term, making people feel as light as a feather.

But long-term inhalation—forget prolonging life—one would be lucky not to end up with heavy metal poisoning or pulmonary fibrosis.

Gu Changan turned his gaze to the hopping elderly woman.

Under the X-ray effect, tucked inside both of her pant legs were a total of eight high-heat military-grade heat pads, so hot that the skin on her calves had turned red.

Her legs weren't cured; she was stomping her feet because she couldn't stand the heat from the pads.

Gu Changan was amused.

He took out his phone and directly dialed several numbers.

"Hello, Environmental Protection Bureau? At Cloud Top Palace in the east, someone is illegally discharging a large amount of unknown chemical aerosols."

"Yes, and notify the Quality Supervision Bureau and the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Have them bring air testing equipment and seals."

"Bring more people; there's suspected false advertising and mass fraud here."

Gu Changan's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded exceptionally prominent in the noisy lobby.

Standing on the architectural model, Manager Zhang's ears were extremely sharp, and he instantly locked onto Gu Changan at the edge of the crowd.

When Manager Zhang saw that iconic uniform, his heart skipped a beat.

Arrogant as he was, he knew that a 'Living Yama' had recently appeared in Donghai City, specifically dealing with those pretending to be 'immortals'.

Just then, the System in Manager Zhang's mind issued a piercing alarm.

[Warning! High-risk law enforcement personnel detected nearby!]

[Target is immune to Elementary environmental interference!]

[Recommendation: Host should immediately consume 10,000 Shock Points to activate the S-rank special effect 'Divine Beast Manifestation' to deter the opponent with an absolute vision and maintain the legal sales price of this site!]

Manager Zhang gritted his teeth, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes.

Cutting off someone's wealth is like killing their parents; no one was going to stop him from selling houses today.

"System! Give me the special effect! Scare the crap out of this grandson!"

The next second.

The lights in the entire sales office lobby suddenly flickered and then all went out.

The surrounding thick fog seemed to be drawn by some kind of force and began to churn frantically.

Ang—!

A deafening dragon's roar seemed to fall from the Nine Heavens, making all the glass walls of the sales office hum and vibrate.

The crowd let out terrified screams.

Immediately after, the thick fog was forcibly torn apart by a blinding golden light.

A phantom of a five-clawed golden Dragon dozens of meters long, its entire body burning with golden flames, spiraled out above the development.

Its whiskers fluttered and its eyes glared; every scale shimmered with a suffocating pressure.

The massive dragon head slowly lowered, staring intently into the sales office lobby.

That sense of oppression, as if everything was about to be destroyed, made the homebuyers who were just scrambling for houses go weak in the knees, and they all fell to the ground with a thud.

"A Dragon! A real Dragon has appeared!"

"May the Dragon King protect us! May the Dragon King protect us!"

The elderly men and women kowtowed like they were pounding garlic, not even daring to lift their heads.

Manager Zhang stood in the darkness, looking at the crowd kneeling all over the floor, his grin reaching his ears.

It was done.

With this special effect out, the price of this development could double again tomorrow.

He looked triumphantly in the direction where Gu Changan had been standing, waiting to see the pathetic sight of this law enforcer being scared out of his wits.

However.

Gu Changan didn't kneel, nor did he run.

He had one hand in his pocket, while the other held his phone, aimed directly at the majestic golden Dragon in the sky.

He was recording a video.

While adjusting the focus, Gu Changan spoke unhurriedly to the camera.

"Take a good look, comrades. This kind of act—using large-scale high-intensity light pollution equipment within the city limits without approval—is a serious violation of urban management regulations."

Manager Zhang's smile froze on his face.

Gu Changan finished recording the video, tucked his phone back into his pocket, and then unclipped a fist-sized black cylinder from his belt.

A police tactical high-intensity flashlight.