Chapter 130: Invasion of Dajing City, Capturing Ghosts for Advancement

After briefly checking a few possible futures, Zhang Hao sprang into action.

He looked at Yang Jian beside him, and in the terrified look on Yang's face, he reached out with a hand.

In an instant, Yang Jian felt the ghost inside his body completely lose its activity at that moment, leaving him without even the qualification to use supernatural abilities.

No, perhaps it wasn't just now that the activity was lost; it's just that Yang Jian now realizes the ghost inside his body didn't lose its resistance because of encountering a terrifying ghost.

This incomprehensible, inability‑to‑use‑supernatural feeling is just like the experience back in Huanggang Village—unsolvable and terrifying.

Having seized the Fierce Ghost inside Yang Jian, Zhang Hao shifted his gaze to Dajing City.

At this moment, Zhang Hao's eyes underwent a change without his noticing.

His previously pallid eyes turned completely scarlet at that instant, with only a single pallid pupil set in the blood‑red eyeball.

"Two hours left; act quickly."

Having previously stolen the newspaper ghost and the ghost coffin, he is quite familiar with this city, at least knows the locations of the more important places.

A gray, colorless Ghost Domain has completely shrouded Dajing City, and Dried Corpse Bride is now continuously controlling the Ghost Painting to invade the city, killing and creating new paintings.

"Let's go!"

Zhang Hao called out to the Ghost Bride and Dried Corpse Bride, and the next instant he was already at the Ghost Tamer Training Base.

When Zhang Hao first arrived at the Ghost Tamer Training Base, he didn't even search carefully; he simply gauged the surrounding positions.

He walked toward the distant playground as if he had found his target.

Before long, Zhang Hao encountered Qian Yi, who was wearing embroidered shoes.

At that moment, Qian Yi was holding a handgun, practicing shooting on the playground; upon sensing Zhang Hao's arrival, he abruptly halted his drill.

He turned his head toward Zhang Hao, but his gaze didn't linger on him long; instead it shifted to the Dried Corpse Bride and Ghost Bride standing beside Zhang Hao.

The Ghost Bride wore a pair of embroidered shoes at her feet; aside from being more vivid in color, they were hardly different from the pair Qian Yi wore.

Then, Qian Yi also noticed the Dried Corpse Bride on the other side.

At a glance, the Dried Corpse Bride now looks no different from the Ghost Bride; the only distinction is that her color isn't as vivid.

That should be because the Ghost Bride has harnessed Ghost Blood.

Qian Yi examined the Dried Corpse Bride, his gaze slowly moving down from the Red Cap on her head.

"No shoes!"

Qian Yi's pupils snapped shut; this bride, like a Fierce Ghost, had no shoes, while the other did.

Qian Yi couldn't help recalling the style of his own embroidered shoes; it seemed those shoes matched the outfit of the shoe‑less terrifying bride before him.

"Who are you?"

But considering this is the Headquarters' Ghost Tamer Training Base, home to countless Ghost Tamers, Qian Yi didn't appear overly startled.

Hearing Qian Yi's voice, Zhang Hao didn't reply, but raised his hand and waved at him.

The next instant, Qian Yi's body moved toward Zhang Hao of its own accord.

"Take the shoes away; we have many other matters to attend to."

Perhaps because of the Ghost Cabinet, although the Dried Corpse Bride hasn't followed Zhang Hao for long, her mental pattern is evidently stronger than the Ghost Bride's after she had mastered the Ghost Painting.

That should be due to the Ghost Cabinet granting her a more terrifying boost in communication ability.

After all, the Ghost Cabinet inherently possesses the ability to trade with living humans; even if its intellect is inferior to the Human Skin Paper Wish Ghost, it is far more bizarre than an ordinary Fierce Ghost.

Following Zhang Hao's order, the Dried Corpse Bride stepped forward, reached out and seized Qian Yi's neck; the Ghost Seeking Kin attack on the male's supernatural ability instantly snapped his neck.

Without the Ghost Tamer restriction, the leather shoes on Qian Yi's feet instantly split, and a pair of embroidered shoes fell off.

It was originally a Puzzle; with the Summon Ghost Technique, the embroidered shoes were restored quickly. After putting on the embroidered shoes, the Ghost Bride immediately seized control of the Puzzle thanks to her overwhelming Terror Level.

Zhang Hao completed the embroidered shoes, having no intention of attacking the ghosts here; he turned his gaze toward a golden building in the distance of the Ghost Tamer Training Base.

That is Wang Xiaoming's Laboratory, also the location of the Ghost Coffin.

"Professor Wang, something's happened!"

At that moment, inside Wang Xiaoming's Laboratory, Li Jun hurriedly found Wang Xiaoming.

"What's wrong?" Wang Xiaoming was researching the Ghost Coffin issue and wasn't paying attention to the outside.

"Dajing City was suddenly attacked by a Fierce Ghost; the whole city is shrouded by a Ghost Domain."

Li Jun said urgently, "We just received the latest news: the Ghost Tamer Training Base was attacked, and all its communication equipment has lost function now."

"It's a very bizarre Fierce Ghost, likely an anomaly among ghosts."

Hearing that, Wang Xiaoming frowned and said, "Show me the intelligence data."

"Let's not discuss this now; evacuate first."

Seeing Wang Xiaoming's demeanor, Li Jun hurriedly said.

"No need to worry; this Laboratory is forged of gold and has been sealed, that ghost won't attack us."

"Compared to outside, the Laboratory is much safer," Wang Xiaoming said calmly.

Hearing that, Li Jun also snapped back to his senses.

That makes sense; although this place is near the Ghost Tamer Training Base, the Laboratory is indeed safer than wandering outside now.

"Professor Wang, here is the data on that ghost."

"Based on Dajing City's current situation, we suspect this ghost may be the same one that attacked Dachang City."

Li Jun had someone bring over a document, his expression somewhat grim.

"Earlier Qin Lao said he would deal with this ghost, but now that this ghost has appeared in Dajing City—does that mean"

Li Jun didn't finish, yet Wang Xiaoming understood his meaning.

"A ghost that doesn't belong to the present is indeed troublesome."

Wang Xiaoming frowned; the Headquarters' hope now rests on Qin Lao.

If Qin Lao fails, it will be nearly impossible for them to resolve this ghost.

"Let's observe first; wasn't the starving Ghost solved successfully back then?" Wang Xiaoming walked to an emergency conference room in the Laboratory.

Inside the conference room were multiple display screens, each showing surveillance footage covering a total of two kilometers inside and outside the Laboratory.

However, as Wang Xiaoming and the others just entered the conference room, their complexion changed instantly.

In one surveillance feed, at an unknown time, two red and one white three Ghosts were already standing outside the Laboratory.

"Which Ghosts are these?" Li Jun's pupils narrowed.

Fortunately they were inside the golden house; otherwise, upon seeing the two new brides, they would likely have been killed.

"They've spotted us?" Wang Xiaoming said, looking at the feed, his complexion sinking a bit.

This Ghost seemed even more bizarre than the earlier starving Ghost, able to be sensed even by those inside the golden house.

"Is this the Fierce Ghost that can cross worlds?"

"I've been wondering, when a person rides a Ghost, does the Ghost also ride the person in return?"

"From the current situation, this Ghost likely has a Ghost's Action Logic not weaker than human intelligence."

Wang Xiaoming's words were left unfinished.

"Boom!"

The Ghosts that had just appeared outside the Laboratory caused a massive booming sound to echo through the entire Laboratory.

It sounded like a heavy object striking a wall, accompanied by an explosion.

"It came from the Laboratory's top floor."

Li Jun assessed and looked upward.

"Open the top-floor camera of the Laboratory!" Wang Xiaoming said.

However, after his words fell, the display showed no image.

"I'll go take a look."

Li Jun wore a composed expression and walked upstairs.

For some reason, he always had an ominous premonition.

"I hope everything isn't as bad as I imagine."

An otherworldly Fierce Ghost, apparently possessing intelligence; the Ghost Domain's scope was no less than S-level, and its danger even surpassed that of the starving Ghost.

This reminded Li Jun of the world's first Supernatural Incident ghost painting. Wang Xiaoming had once said that this Ghost's Ghost Domain resembled the description of the ghost painting's Ghost Domain.

Li Jun thought internally and soon reached the upper floor.

The moment he arrived at the Laboratory's top floor, a huge booming sound erupted, the noise of some heavy object exploding.

Li Jun looked up and saw, at an unknown time, the top floor of the Laboratory cluttered with dense vehicle wreckage.

The earlier boom seemed to be the sound of those cars exploding.

Moreover, the Ceiling on the top level, forged of gold, was riddled with holes.

These holes were largest on the top floor; the junction between the third and second floors also had a hole, but much smaller.

Later, the Ceiling between the first and second floors also had several holes, of unknown origin.

"Bad! Professor Wang!"

Li Jun's expression changed; he hurried toward the first floor. To speed his movement, he even employed the Ghost Domain; that Ghost had likely already made a Ghost's Invasion to the lower level.

However, when Li Jun returned to the conference room, he found only a few bodies dressed in Funeral Clothes, their faces sorrowful, continuously emitting wailing.

It seemed they sensed Li Jun's approach; the corpses turned their heads, crying while crawling toward him.

Li Jun looked at the faces of the corpses, and when he saw one of them, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Was that Wang Xiaoming's corpse?

"Professor Wang!"

Li Jun rushed forward, but Wang Xiaoming's face had long lost its former wisdom and calm.

At this moment Wang Xiaoming's gaze was vacant, tears continuously streaming down his face, and the murmured cries from his mouth seemed to carry an incomprehensible supernatural aura.

Li Jun tried to awaken Wang Xiaoming, but as Li Jun drew near, Wang Xiaoming fell headfirst and began to bow.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of forehead striking the Floor rang out, accompanied by terrifying cries, causing a hint of sorrow to appear on Li Jun's face.

Because the Fierce Ghost's Terror Level was extremely high, the Ghost Slave it killed inflicted an attack effect stronger than those of other Fierce Ghosts' Ghost Slaves.

Of course, after all, they were merely Ghost Slaves, and Li Jun was a Ghost Tamer who rode two Ghosts, so such an attack would normally have little effect on him.

The reason Li Jun was affected by the cries and kneeling was that, upon seeing Wang Xiaoming's death, his heart was already in an extreme state of sorrow.

Feeling his body affected, Li Jun also recovered.

Professor Wang was indeed dead, having become a Ghost Slave of a Ghost.

"Rest in peace, Professor Wang," Li Jun said hoarsely, turning his head away.

In the next moment, a pale green Ghost Fire suddenly ignited those wailing, kneeling corpses inside the Laboratory.

With the Ghost Fire burning, the corpses instantly turned to charcoals.

Li Jun clenched his teeth and looked at the Laboratory; that Ghost had entered here, destroying all the electrical equipment, and at this point Li Jun didn't know where that Ghost actually was.

"We should regroup with the others first; this Ghost is too terrifying. Facing it alone would be a death sentence, and the revived Ghost Fire might bring even more trouble,"

Li Jun, without impulse, immediately went to confront the Fierce Ghost.

His impulsiveness stemmed from his belief that he could desperately solve it.

One life for several lives, or imprisoning several Ghosts, he didn't consider it a loss.

But faced with such an unsolvable situation, he naturally wouldn't foolishly go to his death.

Meanwhile.

Zhang Hao burst into the Laboratory and immediately eliminated Wang Xiaoming.

Although Wang Xiaoming is just an ordinary person, when it comes to Fierce Ghosts this guy is truly exceptionally clever.

Whether it is developing methods for Fierce Ghosts, balancing Fierce Ghosts, or searching for the Killing Rule of Fierce Ghosts, he is highly capable.

Keeping this guy around might indeed cause Zhang Hao some trouble.

After all, Wang Xiaoming can devise so many ghost contraptions even without the Republic Era people's intel support.

If he had the backing of the older generation's sources, who knows what he could invent.

When Zhang Hao first met Wang Xiaoming, he even used the Human Skin Paper ability to glimpse many of Wang Xiaoming's endings.

Among them were several where Wang Xiaoming, forced by desperation, chose the path of becoming a Ghost Tamer.

Whichever of those Ghost Tamer routes he took, Wang Xiaoming ultimately achieved impressive results.

Only that the final outcomes all ended with him dying at Zhang Hao's hands.

But without Zhang Hao, this guy would surely blaze a terrifying path once he became a Ghost Tamer.

To deal with Wang Xiaoming, Zhang Hao paid little heed to Li Jun upstairs and went straight to the Laboratory where the Ghost Coffin resides.

He reached the Laboratory housing the Ghost Coffin and kicked hard; the golden Laboratory door swung open.

The main Laboratory door is rather heavy, so brute‑force entry is cumbersome.

However, the Laboratory doors of these small rooms are not so massive.

As soon as the door opened, a wave of darkness surged from within the Laboratory.

"Has the Ghostly Servant already been successfully birthed? No, it hasn't fully completed gestation yet, but it can already affect things near the Ghost Coffin to some degree."

Zhang Hao stared at the pitch‑black Laboratory, his face showing no hint of fear; the Unsolved Suppression of the Ghostly Servant had absolutely no effect on him.

Zhang Hao walked through the dark Laboratory to the Ghost Coffin; the coffin lid was still closed, indicating the Ghostly Servant was not yet fully gestated.

He lifted the lid, and seeing the utter darkness inside the Ghost Coffin, Zhang Hao lay down without any fear.

The darkness enveloped Zhang Hao; the Ghostly Servant inside the coffin tried to suppress him, yet whenever it approached, it was itself that got suppressed.

Facing Zhang Hao lying in the Ghost Coffin, the still‑supernatural coffin offered no resistance at all.

In a sense, Zhang Hao is also a Ghostly Servant, and a Fierce Ghost far stronger than the one birthed by this Ghost Coffin.

Confronted with a more powerful Ghostly Servant lying inside, the Ghost Coffin instantly changed its gestation target.

The supernatural power that had been continuously merging into the Ghostly Servant now began to flow into Zhang Hao's body, which was being gestated.

Deprived of the Ghost Coffin's power source, the Ghostly Servant at this moment lost all capacity to resist.

The Ghostly Servant now facing Zhang Hao was as powerless as Wei Jing against a Ghostly Servant, unable to inflict any useful damage.

Time drifted slowly; in less than a moment, Zhang Hao had absorbed all the supernatural energy from the Ghost Coffin.

Not only Zhang Hao, but even the Ghost Coffin he brought from the Reality World regenerated its lid at this moment.

While Zhang Hao absorbed the Ghostly Servant and the coffin's gestation, the Ghost Coffin likewise absorbed the supernatural energy from the coffin.

"The Terror Level has risen considerably; now this Unsolved Suppression's supernatural effect should have increased a lot as well."

Although the Unsolved Suppression of the Ghostly Servant is a rule‑based supernatural, its suppressive effect is somewhat weakened when confronting a Fierce Ghost with an excessively high Terror Level.

But now, this Unsolved Suppression's effect should be about one and a half times what it was before.

Emerging from the coffin, Zhang Hao, accompanied by the Ghost Bride and the Dried Corpse Bride, hurried to the Headquarters where Fierce Ghosts are imprisoned.

After gestating Zhang Hao, this coffin had completely lost its supernatural power, becoming an ordinary coffin with no need to carry it.

Even if some supernatural residue remained, once taken away it could at most be used in this world, offering no benefit to the Reality World.

Zhang Hao exited the Laboratory and in the next instant arrived at the Basement of the Headquarters where Fierce Ghosts are confined.

Having the Human Skin Paper and the earlier experience of stealing the newspaper Ghost, Zhang Hao spent little time searching for the Starving Ghost.

Although gold can block the perception of Human Skin Paper, once inside the Basement, Zhang Hao took only a second to pinpoint the Starving Ghost's location.

After all, Zhang Hao may not know what is sealed within the gold, but he can tell what he will obtain once he opens those golden holding chambers.

Zhang Hao reached a room at the deepest part of the Basement, grabbed an iron rod, struck a few times, and quickly opened the room.

Inside the room stood a Fierce Ghost with a protruding belly like a pregnant woman.

At the Fierce Ghost's forehead was a rust‑stained Coffin Nail.

Zhang Hao approached the ghost, removed the Coffin Nail, and at the moment the Starving Ghost was about to awaken, directly used the Ghostly Servant's supernatural to perform Ghost Control on the Starving Ghost.

Confronted with Zhang Hao's current Terror Level and Suppression Quota, the Starving Ghost had no capacity to resist.

It was swiftly suppressed completely, becoming part of Zhang Hao's supernatural.

Since the mysterious resurgence's impact on Combat Power has always been vague—one thousand people can discern one thousand versions of the mysterious resurgence—the author posted a combat‑power system outlining several Fierce Ghost traits that affect Combat Power; interested readers may check it out.

(End of Chapter)