Chapter 182: The Blue Jay

The white figure that rushed out was wearing a robe, commonly seen within the Revelationist Sect.

As the white figure drew near the Midian group, a melancholic blue-purple light erupted from the attacker, causing all those struck by the glow to relax involuntarily, their previously tense defensive postures collapsing into listlessness.

Sensing something was wrong, several rookie spies tried to rally themselves and resist, but their movements resembled game characters with 300 ms latency.

Facing the attacker's assault, they had no time to defend—they could only watch helplessly as the attacker's fist slammed into their faces, then slipped into infantile sleep.

In the blink of an eye, all the tracked rookie spies lay sprawled on the ground; only the spy leader and the four surrounding agents remained combat-capable.

The attacker had no intention of striking the four—he merely maintained the blue-purple glow.

As the group remained uncertain of the attacker's intentions, wary of his next move, they protected the spy leader and sprinted toward the upper deck.

Just as they neared the second-level cargo hold, a massive shadow lunged from the shadows beside the stairs, directly toward the spy leader.

It was a giant black wolf—more accurately, a giant werewolf.

Seeing the werewolf charge, the panicked spy leader suddenly halted; one of his companions, whose suit suddenly burst open, transformed into a three-meter-tall stone giant, charging forward with a flying shoulder tackle to collide with the werewolf.

The werewolf and the stone giant collided—the stone giant staggered back three steps, while the werewolf only retreated half a step before steadying himself.

In raw strength alone, there was clearly a gap between them.

But the problem was, the spies were not fighting alone.

Another spy extended both hands, summoning a golden rope with a circular lasso at its end; he swung it like a cowboy, aiming to noose the werewolf's neck.

The third spy spat freezing breath toward the ground; ice spread from the floor toward the werewolf, ready to freeze its legs.

The final spy, appearing to be a close-combat specialist, danced on his toes, closing the distance in three quick steps until he stood before the original attacker, then swung a punch.

While the Revelationists and Midian spies clashed in chaos, Wu Chang and the others watched from afar.

Although Sword Star and the Negotiation Master had loudly claimed these Midian spies were all novices, out of respect for the spy profession, Wu Chang chose the most covert operational plan.

He did not station everyone inside the cargo hold; instead, he placed Li Yubin's team and Big White Shark on the third-deck deck, with Big White Shark holding a communication talisman—upon hearing the signal, he would immediately lead his team in a pincer attack from both ends.

Wu Chang and his group, having infiltrated the first-level cargo hold, were all within the skill of Shadow Curtain.

While enveloped by Shadow Curtain, as long as they did not move their bodies, they remained concealed indefinitely—equivalent to immobile advanced stealth.

Shadow Curtain could not move, but its advantage was that it concealed not only their forms but also blocked most sound; as long as they controlled their volume, they could speak freely within the curtain without being detected.

Wu Chang gave this feature a five-star review: watching Blood Thorn and the Midian spies tear each other apart was already entertaining, but being able to watch and comment simultaneously greatly enhanced the experience.

The moment the werewolf appeared, Sword Star whispered: "That's Blood Thorn!"

Wu Chang asked Sword Star via True Self: "Who is Blood Thorn? Is he famous?"

Sword Star replied: "Judging by your build, even the Vultures of Iron Armor Clan wouldn't dare bother you—you wouldn't know him, that's normal. Blood Thorn is the leader of the third elite combat unit of Iron Armor Clan. His raw power isn't that strong, but he's a nuisance."

When Wu Chang heard Blood Thorn was from Iron Armor Clan, his eyes narrowed instantly—he had noticed Blood Thorn's hostile posture during his earlier conversation with Yin Junhao, but he had ignored it to lure the Revelationists into the trap.

Now that he knew Blood Thorn was from Iron Armor Clan, Blood Thorn had already sealed his own death warrant.

Iron Armor Clan—those three words were the very ones Wu Chang could no longer tolerate.

A bunch of toxins bullying solo players was bad enough, but now they'd allied with a dangerous organization, deliberately causing dungeons to go out of control—especially Lei Hu, who nearly took Wu Chang down with him in his dying moments.

In Wu Chang's mind, the status of Iron Armor Clan members had sunk below that of the Revelationists and the Quietist Sect; eliminating any wild Iron Armor Clan member was akin to cleaning toxins and maintaining the Abyss's environment.

He asked in a gossiping tone: "Can you tell me, how exactly is he a nuisance?"

Sword Star said: "Blood Thorn's hidden class is Berserker, a common variant of the Warlord class—he grows stronger and recovers faster the more damage he takes, and he resists nearly all abnormal states."

"A Berserker alone isn't too troublesome, but Blood Thorn also acquired a mutated werewolf bloodline, granting him super regeneration and limb reattachment."

"The combination of both effects puts him in a near-immortal state—he's worn down many players stronger than himself using this setup."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, recalling what had happened the night he met Cui Chengze—no wonder Blood Thorn had been dominated by the Mystical Ritualist, barely able to fight back, yet never tried to flee.

So Blood Thorn was a legendary tank, trying to outlast the Ritualist through sheer recovery speed, draining the Ritualist's energy.

A bit troublesome—he seemed to have no real counter for this kind of cockroach player.

As the two spoke, the battle involving Blood Thorn reached a stalemate.

Blood Thorn's neck was already looped by the cowboy's rope; the cowboy was pulling hard, attempting to subdue him.

Blood Thorn's body was coated in frost, his movements sluggish; slowed down, he was slower than the stone giant, who now pounded his head repeatedly.

The situation for the first attacker was also deteriorating—he was being held by the martial artist and could no longer sustain the blue-purple glow.

As the glow dimmed, the four spies on the spy leader's side grew bolder, clearly on the verge of subduing Blood Thorn.

Awooo!

With a wolf's howl, Blood Thorn's body swelled violently, growing to four and a half meters tall, his black fur hardening like steel.

He shook his body like a canine, instantly shedding all ice shards and nullifying the slow effect.

Then, with his head absorbing the stone giant's blows, he yanked the rope, dragging the cowboy forward, enduring a barrage of revolver shots to his chest before slashing the cowboy's ribcage with a claw, sending him flying far away.

Breaking free from the rope around his neck, Blood Thorn, enduring the stone giant's punches, exchanged head blows with him—less than half a minute later, he crushed the stone giant's skull, reducing him to his original form.

After clawing the ice user and forcing him to retreat, Blood Thorn, single-handedly defeating three opponents, stood before the spy leader.

Wu Chang, watching nearby, shook his head—three against one and still got flipped? Can these guys even play?

Blood Thorn spoke in a guttural, almost roaring tone: "Come with me, or you'll regret it."

The spy leader let out a scoff—next moment, a brilliant magical array erupted beneath his feet, unleashing a barrage of spells that instantly blasted the werewolf backward.

"Mystical Ritualist!" Sword Star whispered—he hadn't expected the spy leader to be a Mystical Ritualist in disguise. If he hadn't informed his boss and instead chosen to act directly with the Negotiation Master…

The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Wu Chang, who had spent the entire journey pretending to be a dungeon native, finally slipped his True Self into the player group and transformed into a curious child, asking:

"So who exactly is this Mystical Ritualist?"

The existence of the Mystical Ritualist was not valuable intelligence—if one searched the wanted notices issued by the four major organizations, it would be easy to find.

Sword Star spoke, whether to himself or to Wu Chang's True Self:

"As a critical node approaches, the Daxieshen Sect's Quietist Sect is cultivating a Holy Son—the Mystical Ritualist is the third candidate for that Holy Son."

"He is extremely powerful, a genius in the field of mysticism; though he has only been level-capped for five months, his combat strength ranks him among the top 200 in the Wasteland Realm."

Wu Chang asked smoothly: "If we don't consider recovery ability, where would Blood Wolf rank?"

Xiang Jianxing sneered, "Without recovery ability, he wouldn't even make the top thousand. Even with recovery, it's hard to break into the top five hundred."

What would it look like if a top 200 player brutally beat someone ranked outside the top five hundred?

The Mystical Master demonstrated live for everyone.

Facing the previous four players, Blood Wolf in Black Iron state could not be controlled by the Ice Man, nor shaken by the Stone Giant's heavy punches—as if he had activated Invincibility.

But under the Mystical Master's endless magical bombardment, Blood Wolf's Black Iron state shattered in just a few seconds.

As before, Blood Wolf once again clashed in stalemate with the Mystical Master.

But unlike last time, when he had been tailing the Mystical Master, who was caught unprepared and forced into stalemate, this time it was reversed.

This time, the Mystical Master, with forethought and prepared countermeasures, used multiple spells to suppress regeneration, leaving Blood Wolf in a dire state.

Blood Wolf grew desperate—if this continued, he would truly die.

In panic, he bit off his own left arm and hurled it at the Mystical Master.

A simple severed arm made the Mystical Master recoil as if avoiding a venomous snake, retreating rapidly and refusing to let it near.

The severed arm hit the ground and instantly transformed into a bloody flesh monster, charging at the Mystical Master. The Mystical Master shifted all his firepower onto the monster, clearly determined to keep the flesh beast at bay.

Blood Wolf seized the opening created by the Mystical Master's focus on the monster, rushed to the attacker clad in the Revelation robe, grabbed him, and dashed into the second deck. The moment Blood Wolf escaped, the Mystical Master had already destroyed the flesh monster.

"I'll chase him—today, he won't get away again!" The Mystical Master called to those around him, then was lifted by a magical array and pursued Blood Wolf's escape route.

The cargo hold, moments ago filled with furious combat, instantly fell silent.

After about half a minute, a rookie spy, originally knocked out by the attacker, slowly sat up from the ground.

He rubbed his nose and murmured, "The Revelation guys are total idiots. They clearly set a trap to lure you in, and yet you still walked right into it."

"Did you hear that? He's talking about you."

In the silent corridor, a second voice suddenly sounded.

"Who!" The rookie spy whirled toward the sound—and saw, at some point, five silhouettes had appeared behind him.

He tried to call for backup from his own players, but realized that Cowboy, Stone Giant, Ice Man, and Fighting Master all now wore a layer of black shadow over their heads.

A towering man, over two meters tall, punched one after another—before any of them could react, they all sank into unconsciousness.

!

The five formed a pincer formation, surrounding him at the center.

The familiar composition made the rookie inexplicably think of "One White, Five Black. jpg."

If nothing went wrong, he was in for a world of pain.

He cautiously looked toward where the voice had come from and saw Wu Chang's true form, Li Zaisi, teasing Xiang Jianxing and the Negotiation Master.

The rookie spy, pale with fear, whispered to Wu Chang: "Director Li?"

Li Zaisi shrugged and said, "I didn't expect to run into you here. How should I address you? Agent Gray, or Puzhu Sect?"

The rookie spy froze, his panic fading, and replied in Park Changmin's voice:

"How did you find out?"

Wu Chang said casually, "Intuition."

The spy disguised as the rookie was, in truth, Park Changmin.

As the head of Midei's espionage network and leader of a faction, his public status could not be low.

Only a higher position could gather sufficiently vital intelligence and justify the title of head.

You can't realistically expect a bunch of low-ranking nobodies to steal valuable intelligence.

From the dungeon's perspective, a prestigious title also makes it easier to recruit players to your faction.

In multiplayer confrontation dungeons, unless your ability is exceptionally outstanding, choosing a strong faction matters far more than sheer effort.

This specifically refers to Xiang Jianxing and the Negotiation Master—both barely lifted a finger, yet somehow became the top faction.

In contrast, players who joined Midei or Li Yubin's factions, no matter how hard they worked, remained mere participants.

Once we confirmed the high status of Midei's spy chief, the list of suspects shrank dramatically.

Add to that his ability to command Mystical Masters, and the spy chief's identity became obvious.

That was Park Changmin.

This result would first strike anyone as absurd—how could the chief of Xinyuzhou Sect, a high-ranking member of the Serenity Sect, possibly be a spy?

But upon reflection, it made perfect sense.

This sacrifice would be the final offering of the Mystical Land, and the ultimate aspiration of Xinyuzhou Sect's followers.

If even the Patriarch of Xinyuzhou Sect and Zheng Taimin, the president's son-in-law, failed to claim it, why should it fall to Park Changmin?

Wu Chang had long been puzzled: whether in arranging mystical rituals, enforcing their completion through force, or by status and experience, Park Changmin had no apparent necessity to be present.

But if he represented not only Xinyuzhou Sect but also Midei, then his very identity became necessary.

Moreover, espionage was his job; faith in Xinyuzhou Sect was his personal life—no conflict. To Xinyuzhou Sect, he was effectively a powerful new patron.

After a brief silence, Park Changmin said:

"Director Li, I have no desire to oppose you. You must know that although I am a spy, your father and Xingtian Group have always cooperated with us—we should be family."

In Gao Mu, defecting to Midei isn't shameful—after all, the president's proudest moment was publicly singing "Midei Pai" in English.

If the president himself will perform for free to please Midei, at least a spy gets paid—compared to that, he even seems more dignified.

Wu Chang waved to the Negotiation Master, then turned to Park Changmin and said:

"Precisely because we're family, we should resolve issues through negotiation, not violence."

"Puzhu Sect, I advise you to cooperate. Don't waste time. If we haven't reached an agreement before your people return, I'll have to take you with me."

Park Changmin forced a smile and said:

"What do you want to know? I'll do my best to cooperate."

In front of Park Changmin, Wu Chang asked the Negotiation Master:

"How do you need him to cooperate so that he'll answer whatever you ask, and forget everything that happened tonight once you're done?"

The Negotiation Master took out a pre-written parchment and said, "All he needs to do is sign this contract with me."

"Item Name: Contract of Peace"

"Item Type: Special"

"Item Description: Once both parties voluntarily sign the contract through agreement, it will take effect unconditionally and cannot be violated in any form."

"Note: The prerequisite for the contract to be observed is that both parties must be willing. As for how to make the other party willing—that's something you need to figure out."

The contents of the contract had all been discussed in advance by Wu Chang and the others. They included revealing the storage location and usage method of the communicator, the truth behind the mysterious number, and—after the contract was fulfilled—forgetting the fact that Wu Chang and the others had appeared.

The part that Wu Chang and the others promised in the contract was that, once it took effect, they would not directly or indirectly harm Park Changmin within 24 hours.

The contract was ready. Next, they had to make Park Changmin willing.

Wu Chang looked at Park Changmin and gestured for him to go ahead.

When the knife is on the block and I'm the fish on the plate, Park Changmin had no choice but to take the contract and sign it.

The Negotiation Master shook his head and said, "He's shielded by a special power that's blocking the contract from being judged a success. He has to voluntarily lower his inner defenses before the contract can be signed."

Park Changmin said helplessly, "This is the Lord's blessing. There's nothing I can do about it either."

The Negotiation Master said from the side, "If the Puzhu Sect can't suppress his resistance, we can only crush his will first, then find a way to get him to sign the contract."

Wu Chang took the cue and asked, "How do we crush it?"

The Negotiation Master pulled a baseball bat from behind him and said, "Physical crushing will do."

Watching the two of them play off each other right in front of him, cold sweat broke out on Park Changmin's forehead. The baseball bat in Wu Chang's hand had two obvious dents, and bloodstains were still caught in the gaps of the indentations.

If he wasn't mistaken, this was the very bat that had smashed Jiang Junxi's and Li Yuanzhi's heads.

Recalling the scene that had unfolded before his eyes two days ago, Park Changmin immediately changed his tune: "Director Li, I just thought of a way!"

Three minutes later, having finished his questions, Wu Chang looked at Park Changmin and said:

"Puzhu Sect, the contract's forgetting clause requires you to fall into a brief unconsciousness. Should I help you, or will you do it yourself?"

Park Changmin didn't waste any words. He planted his foot hard against the floor, launched his whole body forward, and slammed headfirst into the wall.

As Park Changmin lost consciousness, the contract in the Negotiation Master's hand dissolved into a shower of light.

Taking advantage of the ritual master not yet having returned, Wu Chang and the others left the first-level cargo hold under the cover of shadows. Ten minutes later, in a certain room on the fifth level of the Star Leap, Wu Chang found a strangely shaped camera.

Looking at the camera's attribute panel, he couldn't help but throw a punch—he'd found the way to save the passengers on the ship!

If nothing unexpected happens, there'll be one more update in a bit. If something unexpected happens, then it'll be past midnight.

(End of Chapter)