Chapter 150: I

When Wu Chang mentioned the quest that had gone out of control, Lei Hu's expression turned pale, his face filled with disbelief.

But he had been tortured beyond recognition, so Wu Chang didn't notice the change in his expression.

The instant he heard Wu Chang's question, his heart sank halfway—he was indeed prepared, not only deeply familiar with him but also able to uncover such a secret.

Probably, in the real world, he had been watched since long ago—even the fact that this year was his Benmingnian and that he wore two sets of red underwear might have been thoroughly investigated.

With such power and such concern over whether the quest had gone out of control, the opponent was almost certainly from the Bureau.

Lei Hu said, "We signed a contract; we cannot reveal any information about the client."

Wu Chang sneered, "You're quite loyal to the spirit of the contract. Then stay right there."

"Wait! What I mean is, if I confess now, will it count as meritorious conduct?"

"That depends on what you can tell me."

Lei Hu seized this last lifeline and said, "Although the client who hired us used a device to conceal their form, their movements and habits couldn't be hidden. I can tell—he's actually…"

Just as Lei Hu was about to reveal what he had deduced, his entire body suddenly froze as if under a petrification spell, and blinding light flashed across him.

"Fuck!"

Wu Chang's intuition screamed warnings, as if to ensure he couldn't miss it—Lei Hu before him had become a giant humanoid bomb.

He had no time to escape; he could only summon the Golden Throne and pull both Zhenwo and Brother Han Er into the Golden Realm.

The next instant, Lei Hu exploded.

The energy within the explosion was bizarre—under normal circumstances, changes in the real world could not affect the Inner World, especially the Golden Realm enhanced by the Golden Throne.

Yet the explosion caused by Lei Hu breached the Golden Realm; a massive electromagnetic cluster appeared above the Inner World and spread outward.

Wu Chang imitated the posture of Michael I, clasping his hands together and using spatial folding to continuously fold the space of the Inner World, trapping the electromagnetic cluster within the folded layers before it could expand further.

But the electromagnetic cluster wasn't contained—it wildly spread through the folded space, piercing and shattering every layer in its path; Wu Chang's speed of folding space could no longer match the cluster's rate of expansion.

In less than a second, it pierced through the spatial folds that Michael I had once used to immobilize Eileen for over ten seconds.

The electromagnetic cluster, like a compressed spring, erupted violently the moment the spatial folds shattered.

Faced with an explosion capable of shattering space, Wu Chang felt the threat of death for the first time in a long while.

He swallowed hard, wondering whether canceling the Golden Realm, switching the Golden Throne into Golden Armor, and retrieving the Four-Sided Flame Lamp would be enough to save him.

But if he did that, Zhenwo and Brother Han Er would surely die.

What should he do?

In the instant Wu Chang hesitated, a golden figure appeared before him; the figure unfurled its wings behind, forming a massive cross radiating light and warmth.

The light was brilliant but not blinding; the heat was warm but not scorching.

Bathed in it, Wu Chang felt profound peace—the shadow of death that had just enveloped him vanished completely.

The magnetic storm that could pierce space lost its former ferocity before the holy light, becoming docile—as if to entertain everyone, it transformed from a destructive explosion into a dazzling yet harmless firework.

After eliminating the explosion, Eileen retracted her divine true form, turned her head, and was about to ask Wu Chang if he was hurt—when she saw him launching himself at her, clinging tightly to her waist.

The situation had indeed been dire; he must have been truly terrified.

Thinking this, Eileen's face softened into the tender love of a saintly statue, gently stroking Wu Chang's hair.

"Don't be afraid—I'm here."

After soothing him for a moment, Eileen noticed Wu Chang's movements growing unbecoming; she sighed helplessly, "You should let go now—I can feel your emotions have calmed."

Wu Chang rubbed his face against her, feeling the elasticity of her abdomen, and said, "I don't think I have."

"Shall I give you an Heroic Status buff?"

The hammerhead of the Hammer of Steadfast Light glowed.

Wu Chang released his arms, stood up as if nothing had happened, and looked at Eileen with sincere eyes: "Just now, for a moment, I thought I was dead. I'm glad you're here."

Saying this, he prepared to use emotional tactics to openly embrace her again—after all, during his first tackle, Eileen hadn't yet landed from the air, so he'd only managed to hug her waist.

Eileen's cheeks flushed slightly; she stepped back two paces to avoid his bear hug and said:

"The explosion was too loud—it must have drawn attention from above the cathedral. We should leave."

"You're right—business comes first." Wu Chang sighed, his attempt failing; Eileen had learned to change the subject.

He dissolved the Golden Realm and returned to the fourth basement level of the Hunguangda Cathedral; only then did he fully grasp the power of Lei Hu's explosion.

The explosion covered the entire fourth basement level; everything alive within its radius had been reduced to ash.

The underground space of the Hunguangda Cathedral was larger than its aboveground portion, at least tens of thousands of square meters.

A single explosion had wiped out all life in the entire fourth basement level—even modern large-scale weapons couldn't achieve this.

The cause of this explosion,

Clearly, this level of power far exceeded the limits of the Wasteland Realm—it was impossible for Lei Hu to achieve it. Not even ten Lei Hus bound together and detonated could produce such an effect, let alone one that reached into the Inner World.

The explosion was triggered by Lei Hu violating his contract with the client, activating some kind of confidentiality mechanism—the opponent didn't just want to silence Lei Hu, but everyone who might know the secret.

Wu Chang, with a grave expression, asked Eileen, "Can you sense how strong the one behind this is?"

Eileen paused to think, then said, "The explosion just now was a trap set in advance by the opponent. It's hard for me to determine their exact strength from this explosion alone, but roughly speaking, they're no weaker than my divine true form."

Eileen's words shocked Wu Chang.

Eileen was a genuine god—furthermore, one who had ascended once—and the perpetrator of this explosion was clearly the mysterious client who had signed the contract with Lei Hu.

A player whose strength rivals Eileen, a god—what level could he possibly be?

Even if he wasn't from the Abyss Layer Three, he was at least among the absolute top of Abyss Layer Two.

Players reaching this level, at the Bureau's group dinners, would be toasted even when seated at the table of the big shots.

And unless something went wrong, Lei Hu's client was surely planning something enormous—not acting alone.

Thinking of this, Wu Chang began to sweat.

Shit—did I dig up something I shouldn't have? They always say pulling a radish drags up mud, but I pulled up a radish spirit.

When I first discovered this transaction through the Ronin's resentment, I vaguely suspected the forces behind it were extraordinary—I never imagined they'd go this far.

In a daze, he remembered the eyes he had seen through the Wasteland Realm's barrier before.

If he could have another chance, he would have killed Lei Hu outright and never dug into this conspiracy.

Now he could only hope Lei Hu broke the contract by triggering only the hidden thunder within it, and didn't send his final moments directly to the client.

Otherwise, his troubles would be enormous.

Forget it—this far gone, regret is meaningless. Even if the client really traced him through the network in the real world, with Ailin here, he wasn't necessarily afraid of them.

Worst case, he'd just follow the Painter's example and stay in the Wasteland Realm forever. If even a single player could make the Four Great Powers scramble, why should he fear them?

Putting aside his worries about the client, Wu Chang turned his attention to the cultivation technique he had taken from Lei Hu.

Though he'd stirred up some trouble, it wasn't entirely without gain.

"Item Name: Annotations on the Fragment of the Five Thunder Art"

"Item Effect: After the player's attributes reach Energy: 20; Inspiration: 20; Willpower: 20, the item can be activated to learn the Annotations on the Fragment of the Five Thunder Art."

Lei Hu's Annotations on the Fragment of the Five Thunder Art had far higher learning requirements than the Fragment of the Five Thunder Art itself—clearly a high-tier item. But time was urgent; he had no chance to learn this thunder art now. He tucked the technique away and, before the Hunguang Sect Sect's inspectors arrived, the group went to the lift platform and descended to the first underground level.

Upon reaching the first underground level, he realized he was too late—the Miracle Tree in the secret chamber, along with the Corrosion Core that nourished it, had already been removed. It seemed Hearing Zhanghuo's plan had reached its final stage and was preparing to conclude.

Using the lingering aura of the Miracle Tree, he closed his eyes and sensed it. With his powerful Inspiration, he faintly perceived vast amounts of devotional energy gathering above the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral—something was forming.

Wu Chang ordered Zhenwo, Ailin, and Brother Han Er to leave first and scout the situation outside the cathedral. His main body, using Social Anxiety and Advanced Concealment, followed a cart transporting bricks from underground into the core area of the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral.

On Zhenwo's side, after stealthily exiting the underground levels of the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral and returning to the surface via hidden tunnels, they found the outside in chaos.

During the time they had been underground, the Serina district had fallen under the assault of the undead. Nearly sixty percent of the district was drowned in the crimson glow of the blood moon.

Even at the entrance to the secret tunnel leading underground, undead figures were everywhere.

How could this happen?

Not far from them, several ordinary people were fleeing toward the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral, with four or five undead chasing them thirty to forty meters behind.

Under the blood moon's activation, the undead moved at incredible speed, catching up to the ordinary people in three or four seconds.

The undead opened their jaws to bite down on the people below, preparing to feast on warm flesh—only to find the flesh hard and bulky, cracking all their rotten teeth.

Why did it taste so strange?

The next instant, they knew why—a massive hammer had been shoved into its mouth, smashing its rotting skull clean off.

!

The flying skull saw Ailin's posture as she swung the hammer, and despite its gaping mouth, it cried out: "Good shot!"

Brother Han Er, as a longtime resident of Serina, acted even faster than Ailin. He darted through the undead horde, striking with precision and brutality, quickly dispatching several of them.

While Zhenwo used the Purifying Soul Banner to finish off the undead, Brother Han Er yanked one of the ordinary people off the ground and demanded urgently: "Tell me—what's happening outside!"

Through the man's halting account, the group pieced together what had happened during their absence.

As they had predicted, the city wall had indeed failed.

The note they had left had no effect—not because the knight guards were insufficient and the undead had broken through, but because sections of the wall had collapsed.

The cracks from the collapse were far too wide to repair. The undead poured through them into the district, and under the pincer attack from inside and out, the wall fell completely.

Hearing this, Brother Han Er's expression twisted into a savage snarl, and he cursed: "Son of a bitch."

Serina was considered a holy city by the kingdom's people. Its walls had been rebuilt thicker than even the capital of the Mikkel Kingdom, and pilgrims from across the land inspected the bricks for damage and repaired them voluntarily.

If no one had conspired behind the scenes, the wall would never have collapsed—and certainly not in such a convenient spot.

Someone had deliberately lured the undead together, then sabotaged the wall!

The rescued civilian continued describing the state of the district.

After entering Serina, the undead began indiscriminate attacks. Not even the churches of major sects—including the Spirit Medicine Sect—could stop them; instead, they became the undead's buffet halls.

The group they had rescued had originally worshipped the God of Wealth and intended to hide inside the Commerce Church.

But from afar, they saw undead swarming into the Commerce Church, blocking its gates. Inside, the faithful struggled desperately—but no one escaped.

Seeing this horror, they changed their destination.

They had heard that the only place still untouched in all of Serina was the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral.

The undead dared not approach the cathedral's surroundings—it was the only safe place left.

After hearing the civilian's account, the culprit behind the sabotage was obvious.

Upon hearing the current situation, Ailin's compassion surged, and she immediately prepared to reveal her divine form and purge the undead from the district. But Zhenwo acted swiftly, grabbing her arm.

"If you had acted when the wall first collapsed, it might still have been possible. Now the undead are everywhere. Even if you revealed your divine form, how could you possibly kill them all alone?"

Ailin tried to wrench free, but without revealing her divine form, she couldn't match Zhenwo's 200-point strength. If she revealed it, she feared hurting Zhenwo, so she said:

"But I can't just watch this tragedy unfold."

Zhenwo urged:

"By the speed at which the undead attack ordinary people, anyone who didn't hide has already been killed. Those who survived the first wave won't be in immediate danger. Come with me to the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral—ensure it's protected from the undead. That's how you save more lives."

"Besides, Hearing Zhanghuo is behind all this. If you recklessly unleash your power, you might drive him to desperation—sacrificing all his followers and escaping this plane. Only by eliminating Hearing Zhanghuo can you stop this disaster at its root—and prevent him from turning more cities into Serina."

Though Ailin didn't want to let the undead rampage, she had to admit Wu Chang's words convinced her.

A deity is not omnipotent, and within the Wasteland Realm, she was bound by its rules. Even if she transformed into an Angel of Might, she couldn't instantly eliminate every undead without letting Hearing Zhanghuo slip away.

After a brief hesitation, she held back and followed Wu Chang, Zhenwo, and Brother Han Er as they escorted the group of civilians toward the Hunguang Sect.

The group arrived at the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral and saw a dense crowd gathered around it.

The district surrounding the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral seemed to have a boundary line—the undead feared the cathedral and dared not step across it.

Occasionally, the dying collapsed and turned into undead, only to be suppressed by Hunguang Knights—reminding everyone that their safety depended entirely on the Hunguang Church's divine power.

The believers' faith in the Hunguang Sect had never been so firm.

Tens of thousands of believers knelt before the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral, fervently praying for a miracle to return—to dispel the blood moon and the undead.

On the observation deck high above the Hunguangda Sect's cathedral, Hearing Zhanghuo stood beside the Miracle Tree, gazing down at the crowd, utterly intoxicated.

He glanced at the swaying Miracle Tree beside him and felt the moment had come.

He waved his hand, and the Undying Soul Flame atop the church surged violently, accompanied by a majestic bell toll from the bell tower.

The bell toll and the Soul Flame caused every kneeling believer to lift their heads and gaze toward the church's upper levels.

Immediately after, they saw the Undying Soul Flame unfold like a spreading red carpet, slowly descending from the church's heights toward the center of the church square; the crowd parted outward, making space for the falling Soul Flame.

The Pope, Hearing Zhanghuo, walked down slowly upon the red carpet of Undying Soul Flame, like a god.

The believers had never seen such a sight—perhaps even the Great Sage of the Spirit Herb Sect ascending into the moonlit sky could not have surpassed it.

A chorus of praise erupted from the crowd, many even regarding him as the divine messenger.

Hearing Zhanghuo passed through the crowd and reached the outermost edge, facing the countless undead beyond.

He turned with a smile and said to the believers: "Do not fear—the Lord will protect us."

His voice was not loud, yet every believer heard it clearly; under Hearing Zhanghuo's lead, the people began praying together.

Meanwhile, Wu Chang's true body, riding a cart transporting bricks underground, arrived at the first floor of the Hunguangda Church and entered a special hidden passage.

After entering the passage, he understood why so few bricks on the church's exterior bore the Blood Moon's power, yet the entire structure radiated immense spiritual pressure.

The Hunguangda Church was in fact built in three layers!

Between the outer and inner walls lay a secret intermediate layer, whose every brick was forged from undead bodies corrupted by the Blood Moon's power.

The special bricks continuously produced underground were mostly transported via secret tunnels to this intermediate layer.

These Mikkelians, who once sought eternal peace, were buried in the kingdom's grand necropolis, corrupted by the Blood Moon's power into undead, then reforged by Hearing Zhanghuo into the church's bricks—witnessing Hearing Zhanghuo's ambition and how he gradually dragged Serina into the abyss.

If Wu Chang were one of these undead, he doubted their spirits would ever find peace.

He could feel these bricks pleading for true liberation.

Gazing at the nearly completed intermediate layer, Wu Chang withdrew the Soul-Purifying Banner.

Hearing Zhanghuo personally orchestrated all this—how could he hide in his shell, waiting idly for a miracle?

Only by placing himself in peril with no escape could one truly spur Hearing Zhanghuo, awaken his potential, and force him to conjure a miracle.

Through his True Self, he saw Hearing Zhanghuo lead the believers in prayer for a long time, yet never truly summon a miracle—each time the atmosphere reached its peak, it fell just short.

Plan not going smoothly?

Don't panic—I'll help you!

(End of Chapter)