Chapter 196: Quancheng Shadow

It was as if overnight, a princess had fallen into trouble, and a tiger had fallen to the flatlands.

Lu Feng sighed at how helpless the outside world was while in his autistic state, but Ji Jue felt as if there was excitement everywhere.

After a round of pleasantries, he was considered familiar with everyone, and by the way, with Ji Xue's introduction and recommendation, he secured quite a few orders, which was considered settling his first wave of clients.

With Tong Shan's example in front, having experienced the goodness of Master Ji's "consecration," and then personally experiencing the equipment modified and maintained by Ji Jue, everyone naturally signed up enthusiastically.

These days, Heaven-Chosen are either dirt poor or filthy rich. Those working for the Security Bureau, who can enter the First Department and still serve in Tong Shan's direct team, are none of them poor.

The First Department is hard to enter and hard to leave; under the premise of high audit, high requirements, and high standards, there are naturally high benefits.

But no matter how rich they are, everyone is not a rich brother like Tong Shan who can use the entire Yacheng as a piggy bank; spending money also requires paying attention to the return.

It's not that they can't afford the artisans of the Third Department, but Master Ji is more cost-effective!

It can be called high quality and low price, with good work and high quantity.

Ordinary alchemical works can be processed with self-provided materials; if you bring your own blessings to seek production, the labor fee is directly 20% off. If you buy the weapon fine maintenance package now, you also get a free car wash and a full set of maintenance services!

Compared to those artisans who keep a straight face and haggle over every ounce, Master Ji smiles throughout, calling everyone brother and sister, directly maximizing emotional value.

Having been used to being simps for noble goddesses, where had everyone seen this kind of pitiful consideration and gentleness from Ji Jue?

*Brother, earning money is so tiring, no need to be so expensive, let's have some cheaper consumables? Sister, working so hard, don't be impulsive, the money saved can buy beautiful little skirts; how about this, I'll give you another 20% off... *

Even if the Society has regulations on selling prices and standards, it doesn't mean Ji Jue can't include maintenance packages, gifts, and trial sets!

"... Let's put it this way, see the machine gun on my car behind? Goodness Emblem engraving, structural reinforcement, supports all-weather combat, even in a sin-tainted environment, it won't be discounted. All-mercury warheads, dual blessing of the Great Crowd and the Desolate Ruins; now, just pay for the bullets, and I support free trials.

Brother Jiang Xuan, think about it, when the time comes to take this thing to bump into that bunch of dicks from the Evil-Transforming Sect, wouldn't it be a sure win?"

"Is it really that top-tier?"

Jiang Xuan pinched his chin, his eyes shining, his honest face full of expectation.

Until Tong Shan, who was driving, sighed helplessly: "Stop holding a trade fair, Ji Jue. You guys should at least calm down; if this continues, this kid is going to start selling membership cards."

"Do you need membership cards?"

Ji Jue's eyes lit up, rubbing his hands: "This can be done! If you top up now, top up 100,000 and get 10,000 free! Top up 200,000 and get 30,000 free!

First-batch clients can also get limited edition modified phlogiston grenades..."

Amidst the laughter of others, Tong Shan couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, helpless.

However, jokes are jokes, and Ji Jue wasn't so anxious that he had to set up his little stall in the team.

Doing business, after all, requires a long-term flow. After joking, he gave everyone two magazines of alchemical bullets and a mercury grenade. He said it was for trial, but in reality, it was just a meeting gift; anyway, it wasn't anything expensive.

The Society's market supervision and restrictions are too many; no matter how much you rack your brains to make money during the apprenticeship stage, it's all small-time. If you really want to get rich quickly, you have to get the artisan license first.

Just in the white mist, in the march that seemed to have no end, no one in the carriage spoke anymore. Everyone was seizing the time to rest and recharge their spirits or be on guard, looking for traces of anomalies.

The task of the advance investigation team is to clear the designated area and prepare for the entry of the main force later.

This time, Tong Shan and the others not only had to complete the detection of the originally scheduled area but also had to transport a batch of supplies to another resident investigation team deep in Quancheng.

Time is tight and the task is heavy; everything must prioritize efficiency.

Long before this, the squad had cooperated for a long time, executed many exploration tasks, and coordinated closely.

Team leader Tong Shan and Ji Xue are both of the Tian Tian Yuan lineage, Ji Xue's brother Ji Liu is a Great Crowd expert in frontal combat, Xu Zhao of the Ether lineage is for reconnaissance and support, and the biggest Jiang Xuan is of the Desolate Ruins.

Control, output, tank, and support are all not lacking; if you have to say, they are still missing a healer. Unfortunately, during the last exploration, the vortex-line healer in the team was accidentally polluted and couldn't enter a high-concentration sin-tainted environment for a short time.

Now with the two embers, Ji Jue and Lu Feng, joining the team, their logistics pressure was greatly relieved. After learning about Ji Jue's situation from Tong Hua, Tong Shan didn't think he would become a drag. As for Lu Feng, not to mention anything else, could he not know how strong the spiritual quality shaping combat power of the Lu family is and how good its versatility is?

Just at this moment, Ji Jue sat in the car, looking around, but was surprised to find—

Tong Shan, Rebirth Period Eighth Stage, Ji Liu and Jiang Xuan have been stuck at the Sixth Stage of the Metamorphosis Period for quite some time, Ji Xue and Xu Zhao are also Fifth Stage of the Metamorphosis Period...

And Ji Jue, an Invocation Period ember who had just stepped into the Third Stage not long ago, mixed in among them, as if a chicken standing among cranes, so conspicuous.

"Broken, could it be that I'm the weakest in the whole team?"

Ji Jue was shocked, subconsciously looking beside him, wanting to find some emotional value from Young Master Lu. But Lu Feng noticed his gaze, stunned for a moment, then immediately angry: "What are you looking at?!"

Saying that, the restrained spiritual quality revealed for a moment, and the complex and rigorous matrix aura of the four-fold blessing flashed and disappeared.

Fourth Stage, Metamorphosis!

After being beaten last time, Young Master Lu had worked hard after going back, and finally broke through the Invocation Period not long ago, advancing to Metamorphosis, no longer the same as before.

He achieved a crushing victory over Ji Jue in terms of training, completely overtaking him!

"Hmph!" Lu Feng snorted, showing the contempt of a strong person.

Holy crap?

Ji Jue was dumbfounded, only feeling that he had just been shown off by Young Master Lu right under his nose: *Broken, the weakest person in the team is really me! *

*Oh, it doesn't matter, at least I can still beat Old Lu! *

Ji Jue quickly straightened his mentality, calmly patted Lu Feng's shoulder, his smile warm and doting, making the veins on Lu Feng's forehead jump.

*Can't take it anymore, I'm going to explode with you! *

But just in the glare, for some reason, his eyes suddenly blurred for a moment.

Like a hallucination.

On Ji Jue, who was also wearing protective clothing, a phantom vaguely appeared, like some kind of thin and weird white clothes.

But soon, the hallucination disappeared quickly.

He tried hard to blink, and when he looked over again, he saw Ji Jue's puzzled gaze; his eye sockets jumped, and in the end, he didn't say anything.

And in the blind spot where he couldn't see, Ji Jue's palm was already resting on his lower back, pressing down; the Compassion Bone Knife in the scabbard was vibrating, ringing silently, as if it had returned to a familiar environment, unable to wait.

The white mist outside the window dissipated without a trace instantly.

Replacing it was a ruined city with no color or light under the dark sky.

Even the noon sun could hardly shine through that layer of heavy clouds, only a faint ray of light was stingily sprinkled down, barely illuminating a little bit of the outline, instead making the dark corners between the ruins look even darker and more gloomy.

In the dark clouds shrouded like an iron curtain, dazzling electric light flashed and disappeared, flying through the air, but no thunder or loud noise could be heard.

Between the flashing electric lights, the outline of the city seemed to change faintly, different from just now.

And when Ji Jue lay in front of the window, trying to look back, he could only see the Little Niu Ma connected by two tow ropes following behind, and could no longer see the heavy white mist on the road they came from.

When he was traveling in the white mist, he still felt a little depressed, but now after leaving the white mist, he began to miss that layer of protection.

"Officially entering Quancheng, everyone perk up, get ready."

Tong Shan raised his head, his originally warm expression now replaced by seriousness, "Ji Liu get in the car, Ji Xue get ready, Jiang Xuan rest first, take good care of the artisans.

Xu Zhao, from now on, maintain overlapping observation with me, and report any situation at any time.

Under any circumstances, it is forbidden to leave the team; even if you go to the bathroom, you must be in the car, understand?"

The response was uniform.

Under his command, the atmosphere in the team suddenly became cold, and even Ji Xue didn't dare to giggle anymore.

Ji Jue only felt invisible waves spreading from the driver's seat, and then, the surrounding light dimmed faintly; the two cars traveling in the ruined streets, in the waves, their silhouettes suddenly blurred, as if they were there or not, blending into the dark city.

Even the engine sound disappeared.

Ji Jue looked up curiously at Tong Shan; others seemed to have been used to it long ago and didn't feel surprised, as if this was just a small matter.

Lu Feng didn't care much at first, until he noticed that the camouflage effect was not formed by any mirror-type blessing creation, and his expression couldn't help but change faintly.

At this moment, they were all within the coverage of Tong Shan's telekinesis, not just the cars in front and back, but the movement within a radius of one kilometer in front and back was also covered by invisible waves.

If it was just simple light refraction, although troublesome, for a Tian Tian Yuan who is good at interfering with all intangible things, as long as they practice diligently, they can also do a similar effect.

But while camouflaging like a chameleon at any time during the march, and also performing negative wave cancellation on all engine noise, and even fixing the raised dust on the ground, this amount of operation is too much.

Even if it is known as the most versatile and omnipotent telekinesis among all abilities, being able to micro-manage to such an outrageous degree when speaking lightly is really too shocking.

It is also Tian Tian Yuan, and it is also Matrix·Myriad Control. The woman Ji Jue met in the Time Ruins before was directly knocked down by a ghost fetus, but even if it is the same rank, I am afraid Ji Jue would not even find a chance to make a move in front of Tong Shan. No, just the thought of putting these two people together for comparison is probably already looking down on Tong Shan.

"Awesome." Ji Jue gave a thumbs up without hesitation.

Tong Shan just nodded: "If you have any needs or opinions, you can tell me at any time, but in Quancheng, for the sake of the mission and everyone's safety, I hope you can follow orders and rules. Otherwise, for the sake of the mission, I can only send you out."

"Don't worry, even if it's a joke, it won't be out of place." Ji Jue nodded without thinking, "You're the thigh, you speak, just order if you have any needs."

Beside him, Lu Feng also nodded.

Seeing the two of them so sensible, Tong Shan nodded slightly; it was not in vain to show a little bit just now—it couldn't be called showing off or deterrence, there can only be one voice in a team, more will cause chaos, he as the captain must be responsible for everyone. He was actually more at ease with Lu Feng, mainly Ji Jue... In Tong Hua's description, there were too many outrageous operations.

To be honest, he was a little afraid he couldn't hold it.

Just after emphasizing many precautions, looking at the two people's familiar appearance, Tong Shan suddenly understood: "You two should have experience in Rift Realm exploration before, right?"

Lu Feng: "..."

Ji Jue: "..."

Silence, sudden.

In the awkwardness, Ji Jue swept a glance at the Young Master Lu beside him without leaving a trace, and Lu Feng's expression twitched. After glaring at this guy, he finally squeezed a voice from his teeth: "Yes."

"... Both have?"

Tong Shan was puzzled, why the atmosphere suddenly changed.

"Um, cough cough, both have." Ji Jue turned his head, trying hard to restrain his expression, forcibly suppressing the arc of his mouth, looking solemn: "We two, um, cooperated, quite tacitly, uh, right?"

*Is it you!!! *

Lu Feng's teeth were about to be crushed.

"Shh—"

Xu Guan, who was sitting quietly with his eyes down, suddenly looked up, signaling everyone to be quiet. No one knew what he actually saw, but the two cars instantly turned off, pulled over, and under the coverage and concealment of layers of telekinesis, blended into the decadent streets.

Under Tong Shan's wave, everyone seemed to be petrified, sitting in the car, without any movement.

Everything decadent outside the window, broken bricks and tiles, did not change at all.

Ji Jue and Lu Feng exchanged glances, but were confused. Until Tong Shan suddenly raised his hand, his right hand clenched.

In the carriage, everyone's spirit and body were instantly tense.

And then, Ji Jue heard the sparse sound, like the sound of soft rain, falling on the ground, dense and soft, from afar, slowly permeating.

What he saw was the shadow surging like a tide in the darkness.

He couldn't see the body, nor could he feel any spiritual quality fluctuation.

The shadow that seemed to be a living thing slowly swept through the ruins; the shadow like mercury pouring on the ground covered everything it passed, and the sound of breaking was endless.

In the telescope, Ji Jue saw a wriggling worm crawling out of the sewer, and before it could react, it was swallowed by the shadow.

After the fine breaking sound, it turned into flying ash.

Lu Feng didn't know what he saw, sweating profusely, his face pale.

After noticing Ji Jue's curious look beside him, his expression changed immediately, as if *I'm not having a good time, you damn well shouldn't either*, and reached out to press his shoulder.

On his index finger, a blessed relic like a diamond flashed with phantom light, silently giving a blessing.

Then, it was Ji Jue's turn to have cold sweat seeping out.

On that wriggling and changing shadow, a half-blurred outline vaguely emerged, like limbs.

When the shadow wriggled, twisted limbs limped forward.

Sometimes, in the moment of staggering, a complete outline would gradually emerge, just like a giant beast's corpse that had rotted halfway, with rugged bones, dragging vague internal organs under the broken abdomen, rotting and swelling...

The huge body like a building passed through the ruins lightly, without any obstruction, like a phantom. Only the viscous shadow spread from under its feet, hungrily swallowing any life it touched.

On the blurred body, tentacles like parasites poked out, wriggling in the air, sniffing, searching for the breath of all living things.

The head with half-exposed bones hissed silently.

At this moment, as if noticing something, it suddenly turned its head and looked straight at the advance team under the coverage of the illusion.

Eyes ferocious.

Immediately, it seemed to be stunned again.

The shadow swept across like a tide, but it didn't touch anything.

Just like a hand reaching into a snack jar, repeatedly groping, carefully picking at every corner, but in the end, it found it was just in vain.

Here, there was nothing.

For a long time, the shadow finally contracted again, and from the wriggling of the hungry giant beast, it went to the distance.

Disappeared.

Until ten minutes later, Xu Guan nodded, and everyone in the car let out a sigh of relief in unison.

The two cars hovering in mid-air slowly landed on the ground.

No dust was raised.

"Hurry up and get on the road, with that guy sweeping, there shouldn't be any trouble on the road for a while." Tong Shan started the car, accelerated, and galloped out between the ruins.

"What is that?" Ji Jue finally couldn't help but poke his head out and ask the front row: "Disaster beast? Aberration? Some sin-thing bred locally?"

"Not clear, after all, we haven't encountered it before."

Ji Xue replied: "Although that guy is a bit big, it's still easy to fool. As long as the place covered by the shadow can't find you, it can't do anything to you, it's not too troublesome, just hide and walk, it's fine."

"Are there many such things in Quancheng?"

"After so many explorations, the types are different, big and small, I'm afraid there are eight or nine?"

Ji Xue herself was not very sure: "Sometimes they will appear inexplicably, and disappear inexplicably, and there is no time for classification and observation.

The team on the Ship City side encountered more troublesome ones, as big as a whole block, without an external shape, just a mass of thick fog, and those who went in dissolved unknowingly, dying without knowing how they died.

It is said that it may be a ghost thing that ran out from under the vortex, causing a lot of casualties, and it was only expelled after the director took action. In contrast, there is no such big trouble in the area we explore, so thank God."

"Stop planting flags."

Her brother reached out from outside the sunroof and knocked on her head: "There are still many tricky things, Master Ji, you guys be careful too, if not necessary, don't get off the car.

Ahead is the anomaly dense area, everyone be careful."

In the silent gallop, for a moment, Ji Jue's eyes seemed to light up, the afternoon sun was blazing, illuminating the storefronts and signs on both sides of the street.

Traffic was like a dragon, people were like weaving, noisy and prosperous.

Years are quiet and good.

Under the scorching sun, the smiles on the pedestrians' faces were so bright, they turned back, looked at the outsiders, looked at Ji Jue, and waved to call.

But immediately after, everything disappeared quickly.

Like a bubble that doesn't exist.

Only between the broken walls, the gloomy darkness wriggled silently, and no living things could be seen.

The stale wind blew from afar, lifting the broken curtain on the doorway.

In the darkness behind the curtain, blurred faces raised, full of exaggerated smiles, looking at them, waving, arms dancing lightly as if without bones.

Enthusiastic call.

Auditory hallucinations appeared beside every pair of ears.

"Quancheng snacks, exquisite light meals, truck add add add add water... Quan Quan City snacks... light meals... meals... meals... hungry hungry hungry... come come come come in and sit sit sit sit sit..."

The vehicle galloped, without stopping, and even accelerated the throttle.

But every corner, it passed by the same broken doorway again.

The blurred sound still followed closely, as if it were right behind, getting closer and closer; every time Ji Jue looked at the rearview mirror, he could see that face.

Smile enthusiastic.

But in the pupils, there was only a piece of darkness, empty, looking at him.

In the end, the galloping vehicle braked sharply.

The deep broken doorway had appeared right in front, and the face behind the curtain was getting closer and closer, the exaggerated smile pressed against the car window: "So hungry so hungry so hungry, come in and sit, just eat something, eat eat eat eat... just eat something, okay okay okay..."

At that moment, the hollow pupils looked at Ji Jue, and the smile became more distorted:

"Let's eat together, okay?" ===== CHAPTER 197 =====