Chapter 62: Recipient Forty-Four, Mask Online? (Please follow for more)

Pitch-black fog appeared out of nowhere, instantly shrouding the entire ritual diagram.

The central statue flickered with scarlet light; the corpses on the ground twisted and deformed into desiccated corpses, and the blood flowing out gathered into sinister symbols on the ground, drilling into the glabella of the forty-four "cargo."

A faint whisper came from the void, its tone eerie, evil, cold, repeating mechanically, not very clear, but feeling like a recording set in advance...?

It echoed endlessly in the "cargo"'s nao hai, as if imprinting some invisible yet terrifying power into the depths of their brain matter, sea of consciousness, and soul.

Luo Ji, blindfolded, was one of the cargo.

At this moment, he felt as if an invisible hand had pinned him to the ground, unable to move; the wet, cold blood on the ground was like a slippery swarm of snakes, coiling around his ankles, arms, and neck, tightening bit by bit as if to burrow into his skin, seeping into his muscles and bones.

His glabella felt as if bitten by a poison fang; a gloomy, bone-piercing chill gouged into his skull, drilling into his brain matter, making him feel pain and trembling from the depths of his soul.

"It seems like an evil sacrifice; we were caught to be sacrifices?"

"Am I going to die?"

Luo Ji's heart was full of terror; in the pitch-black despair, he heard a voice in his nao hai.

【Chosen Recipient, are you willing to become my believer, to be my eyes and ears, to be the blade in my hand?】

The eerie and cold voice shook his skull as if it would crack; Luo Ji wanted to scream, but his throat could not make a single sound.

The gloom seeping into his glabella eroded his pupils; suddenly a black mist appeared in his eyes blinded by darkness; Luo Ji felt his consciousness seemed to have left his body and entered a boundless darkness.

No direction, no distance, like a flat sheet of black paper spreading infinitely in all directions; he himself became a tiny ant, no matter how he crawled, he seemed not to have moved on the paper.

Time had no meaning here.

Perhaps one second, perhaps ten thousand years.

When the empty and lonely darkness was about to annihilate his consciousness, once again, he heard that voice.

Unlike the fear and trembling when he first heard it, this time the same voice seemed to have become heavenly music, a ray of light in the darkness, bringing holiness and hope.

【Chosen Recipient, are you willing to become my believer, to be my eyes and ears, to be the blade in my hand?】

As long as he could leave this dead silence of darkness, no matter what the voice said, he was a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times willing.

Besides, wasn't it becoming a believer rather than a sacrifice?

It was ten thousand times better than the endings in those evil sacrifice stories Luo Ji had heard before, so this "Deity" being sacrificed was probably a kind and lawful one?

Luo Ji comprehended the Dao; in his nao hai, in his soul, he shouted: "I am willing!"

The moment he agreed, a mysterious feeling appeared in his soul; from now on, his soul had been sewn with the threads of 【Destiny】.

As if inspired, Luo Ji blurted out: "Everything is a gift of destiny."

In the center of the void darkness, a cold Tie Wang Zuo slowly emerged; an indescribably great figure sat upon it, slowly condensing a blurry shadow.

Luo Ji knelt respectfully on the ground, not daring to look up, only daring to carefully scan the surroundings with the corner of his eye; he saw in the darkness, ant-like fellows one after another, all like himself, kneeling before the central Tie Wang Zuo.

One, two, three... forty-four believers who seemed to have been tormented and waiting in the darkness for ten thousand years, filled with awe, spoke in unison: "Everything is a gift of destiny."

Outside the ritual diagram.

A group of strangely smiling hooligan corpses were sucked into dry powder, turning into a layer of white ash falling to the ground, mixing with dried and solidified blood into black slurry.

The forty-four chosen Recipients had their consciousness connect to the statue to glimpse the great shadow; their bodies followed instinct, like puppets controlled by silk threads, forming a circle and bowing at the statue's feet.

The Black Hat man's pale eyes reflected the beautiful scene; he said faintly: "What a lucky bunch of guys."

Ma Bin stood at the side, the fanaticism in his eyes lessened somewhat, returning to his usual calm: "Being bestowed is a kind of luck; no longer living aimlessly and muddleheadedly, but sometimes I also think, perhaps living like a walking corpse is also a kind of luck."

Black Hat man: "The cargo were picked by you; what are you pitying?"

Ma Bin: "Just speaking from feeling; besides, the standards for this batch of cargo were set by you."

Ma Bin paused, adding: "Nine Districts natives, lower-class Blank Citizens, age limit before the College Entrance Exam, inferior bone quality, etc.; I just followed your standards, using Zheng Hang's death as an excuse, and happened to circle out a batch of suspicious students."

Black Hat man heard the questioning tone in Ma Bin's words; with the other's intelligence, eighty percent he had guessed something, but he would not answer.

Since 228, after the Organization suffered heavy losses and was restructured, all Party and member actions followed a strict confidentiality security mechanism.

This also meant that, except for the topmost Chief Arbiter and the Thirteen Seats, any other Party or member, in actions at various stages, could only know the part they were responsible for at the current stage.

This was what 【Destiny】 called—no one could glimpse the full picture of destiny.

Black Hat man would not answer Ma Bin's question; he just smiled: "Everyone only mistakenly thinks you are looking for the real culprit, thinks your target is a certain real culprit on the list, unaware that everything is a smokescreen; the people on the list are all circled targets."

Ma Bin glanced at Black Hat man, noncommittal: "What you see is only the first layer of smokescreen; there is a second layer of smokescreen—that I am taking advantage of the situation to remove Zheng Laoda and plot to rise to power, hmm... a certain sinister lame culprit sees just this layer."

Black Hat man was unmoved: "Let me remind you of one thing; besides the lame culprit you mentioned, there is also a black-faced E Corpse teaching member who has been watching you in the dark these past two days; however, before acting, I had someone lure him away."

Ma Bin frowned: "It's all because of that lame culprit who popped up from nowhere causing trouble; speaking of which, since you've come, why not help me solve all these troubles together."

Black Hat man refused decisively: "This batch of cargo is just a small link in my action; since it's confirmed correct, I should leave; your problems you must solve yourself."

Ma Bin's face turned slightly gloomy.

Black Hat man expressionless: "You have hidden very well; the current troubles are just small troubles to you; but if I solve problems for you, now it might be easy, but who knows later someone might spot clues and bring fatal danger."

Ma Bin also understood this principle in his heart, which was why he framed Zheng Laoda, made a big detour, using the Patrol Bureau's power to remove Zheng Laoda, complete his rise and control the Green Wolf Gang.

This was both to apply a smokescreen and complete the Organization's mission, and also to ensure the strength he revealed never exceeded the scope of a gang.

Ma Bin was just at this moment when dust was about to settle, recalling Xiao Wu's death, feeling somewhat sad in his heart.

Ma Bin touched the dense blood scabs on his head, sighing: "Xiao Wu is dead."

Black Hat man said nothing, also recalling the just-offline Squad 117; he coldly replied: "Using death in exchange for concealment is something that can't be helped; perhaps tomorrow you and I will die too, but our bones will eventually pave the stairs to the sky."

Ma Bin looked up, his gaze seeming to penetrate the wall, looking toward the huge ugly thing covering the sky; a faint hope and hatred flashed in his eyes: "Hmm."

Black Hat man lowered his head to glance at the time, saying faintly: "It's about time; the Bestowal Ceremony is ending; you take these Recipients away later; I'll handle the traces, then I'll leave."

Ma Bin nodded: "What is my next mission?"

Black Hat man shrugged, knowing not much either, only replying: "Go meet your online contact; you and these Recipients are the first batch of seeds the Organization planted in the Nine Districts; from now on you all answer to your online contact."

Ma Bin's expression slightly froze, not knowing what kind of person the new online contact was.

Black Hat man told Ma Bin the meeting place and time; thus his cargo inspection link was considered finished; he sighed in relief; at least one of this trip's tasks was successfully completed; next he should go to the Investigation Corps side.

In a good mood, Black Hat man thought for a moment, slightly in advance told Ma Bin a sentence: "About your online contact, I'm not very clear either; I just learned this information; his codename is 【Mask】."

Ma Bin licked his lips and muttered, repeating once more: "A mask?"

…….

Chapter End