“Dong Quan, 34 years old. He has the loyal persona. He was once a captain of the transport team.”
Han Fei put down the document and looked at the unsmiling man before him. “Loyal persona? Can you tell me the exact details about your ability? Don’t misunderstand me. As the leader, I just wish to know all my members.”
“Never betray and never give up.” Dong Quan stood very straight.
“I like your personality but I hope you won’t intervene in my business. After all, you’re not my match.” Han Fei was very direct. He walked past Dong Quan and sat on the office chair. After the team 13 expansion, the center gave Han Fei an office. This was just a trial team, but it was now the strongest combat team within the center.
“Doesn’t the center trust you? Why would they send someone to monitor you?” Yan Lan’s metallic spine cracked. She only moved her muscles, but it made the members very nervous. Honestly, Yan Lan was a charming woman, but her charm was not the soft kind.
“I have the same ideals as the center, but my style of doing things is rather extreme.” Han Fei didn’t expect Yan Lan to join Team 13. She seemed to have found some secrets in the headmaster’s black box, and this was her chance to move around the center freely.
“The center members have come back from the Village of Longevity. They said no villagers have survived.” Crow wore a pair of glasses. His persona required his eyes to trigger. To avoid trouble, he put on glasses. “They told you to investigate the village, and you killed the whole village. Is that how you handle things?”
“Everyone there has been taken over by Pure Hatred. I had no choice.” Han Fei shrugged. He noticed that his members would openly go against him.
“I can vouch for him.” Ah Nian was firmly on Han Fei’s side. “Under the threat of death, humans would be chained by ghosts until their values are emptied.”
“Alright. You should get to know each other. In the future, we’ll be going out on missions together.” Han Fei opened the city map on the table. “With our ability, it’s no issue for us to take down a normal Black Building. We’ve already taken all the missions related to Black Buildings the center has.”
Dong Quan, “…”
Crow, “…”
Ah Nian, “What is a black building?”
“A black building is a building taken over by Pure Hatred.” Han Fei explained it patiently to Ah Nian. After all, Ah Nian was the only one supporting him. “Not all Black Buildings are as scary as Third Mental Hospital. There is variance in Pure Hatreds too. Some Pure Hatreds don’t even have a black flame, so we don’t need to be afraid.”
“Leader Gao, do you know what you’re talking about?” Dong Quan couldn’t stand it anymore. His job was to look over Han Fei so he wouldn’t do anything too dangerous. Ah Nian’s memory was too important to the center.
“Do you think I’m crazy?” Han Fei revealed a cruel smile. Black mist rolled behind him. “To awaken the greed persona, I need to eat more ghosts! With each Black Building, I can consume at least one Pure Hatred, to make them part of me. In the past, I wasn’t strong enough, but now, it’s different. I will make these ghosts feel fear.” Han Fei’s voice echoed in the room. The members didn’t think Han Fei was crazy, but they thought the world was crazy.
“If I hadn’t met the other members of the center, I would think this place is an evil organization aimed to destroy the world.” Ah Nian joked. He admired Han Fei.
“Are you serious?” Dong Quan’s eyes twitched. He realized Yan Lan and Crow both accepted Han Fei’s thoughts. “Both of you are fine with this? Are we going hunting Pure Hatred at Black Buildings?”
“He has done crazier things than that.” Yan Lan pointed at the black mist. “I’ll give you a reminder. The last superior who stopped him is now lying in his abyss.”
“I’m not that cruel.” Han Fei quickly explained himself. “The headmaster became a monster. That was why I had to eat him.”
“So you admitted it.” Dong Quan frowned. He was a very principled person.
Han Fei smiled politely and then changed the topic. He circled a black building between Zone C and B. “Wan Jia Mall, this Black Building has a lot of supplies. There are signs of survivors around it as well. Due to its distance from the center, the center hasn’t done any in-depth investigation into it. Our target is this place.”
Han Fei wasn’t discussing this with the team. He was informing them. “I’ll give you twenty minutes to get ready. We’ll meet up downstairs.” Han Fei grabbed ghost blood, put away the map, and walked out of the office.
The other members looked at each other. Han Fei had just escaped from a Strange Building that morning. His wounds hadn’t even recovered, but he was already going hunting at a Black Building.
“You still have 18 minutes left!”
Soon, the sound of the engine sounded inside the center. Han Fei drove his members away from the safe zone. They headed to the Black Building. Dong Quan received messages from the center’s higher-ups. The higher-ups sent him over to stabilize Han Fei, but his arrival appeared to push Han Fei further into madness. While Dong Quan communicated with the higher-ups, Yan Lan, in the passenger seat, handed a list to Han Fei, “The night before last, Crow and I opened the headmaster’s black box. It’s surprising, but he has a connection to Hope City too.”
“I know some people at Hope City have dealings with ghosts.”
“It’s more serious than you think. Pure Hatred has infiltrated the top management layer. They plan to turn Hope City into a large altar and use the whole citizens to sacrifice to God.” Yan Lan said solemnly. “The ritual needs many things. The people have been collecting them. Most of them are kept in Black Buildings. They’ll move them to Hope City on God’s birthday.”
“The ritual is happening on God’s birthday?” Han Fei’s pupils trembled. He didn’t have much time left. Han Fei might be getting stronger, but he was still no match for an Unmentionable.
“This has been going on for some time already. The center higher-ups should know about this,” Yan Lan lowered her voice. “But the strange thing is the center doesn’t mean to stop them.”
“Perhaps they’re doing work behind the scene.” Han Fei knew that Li Xue and part of the center members had gone to Hope City. The center wanted to cover up Li Xue’s absence by forcing an attack on a Black Building.
“The tragedy is not yet over, but humans fight with each other. This is sad.” Ah Nian heard the conversation, shook his head, and looked out the window. Team 13’s car came to the edge of Zone C. They had entered the ghost’s territory.
“Some unique Lingering Spirits are worth eating. We won’t ignore the Red Buildings around Wan Jia Mall.” Han Fei found a parking spot. No matter what, he wouldn’t park the car right before the door of a Black Building. The other members were highly alerted. They had great fighting experiences. They didn’t need Han Fei’s reminder. Han Fei was about to park when there was static on the black band. There were many signal disrupters nearby.
“This is the work of human disturbance!”
The ground trembled, and a black truck came over from the mall.
“It’s the symbol of Hope City’s patrol teams. Why would they be here?” Dong Quan was confused. Normally, when a large base attacked a black building, they would announce it. After all, every battle would be a chance to raise morale. The people in the truck didn’t know why Han Fei’s group was there either. They had a standstill on the road. Ten minutes later, another modified car from Hope City paused behind Han Fei. They pinched Han Fei’s car in the middle. The truck door opened. A man with an eye patch walked out. His uniform was still stained with live human blood.
“You sure are courageous. A single investigation team dares to enter deep into the city. Aren’t you afraid of being killed?” The man dropped his gloves. He seemed to be warning Han Fei.
“Get down of the car. We won’t trouble you. We have the same goal even though we’re from different bases.” Another man came out of the car from behind. His skin was pale. A picture of a scale was painted on his shirt. This person appeared to be a member of the judges in Hope City. More people from Hope City descended. They were stained with blood. It was clear that they had just butchered their own kind.
“We’re quite lucky. At least we don’t need to go to Hope City to smoke them out.” Han Fei scanned the people. He soon had something after comparing them to the ghost card case.
The single-eyed man and the pale man were both on the cards. The single-eyed man was Red Eye. He was once a gangster. He killed multiple people and finally disappeared into the forest; the young man came from a family of lawyers. He was called the Flower Lawyer. His family was very influential. His parents had high demands for him. He was a kind person on the surface, but he loved to torment others. He later became a chesspiece of a criminal organization. Flower Lawyer was unimportant in the ghost cards, but the person who led him down the criminal path was a very dangerous madman. He was called the Judge. He liked to kill the innocent.
“We’ve received a rescue signal, so we came here at first notice.” Han Fei used masterful acting. He looked so naïve and innocent.
“Thank you, but the danger has been solved.” Red Eye exchanged a look with his people. “Which team are you from? Your team is small, and this place is close to a Black Building. You need to be careful!”
“We are a temp unit. There are only five of us.” Han Fei acted as if he had just noticed the danger. He immediately wanted to turn around.
“Don’t leave in such a hurry!” Red Eye showed the desire for blood. “We need more sacrifices. You are the perfect addition!”
The eyepatch fell. A black ghost arm reached out of Red Eye’s missing eye. It wanted to grab Han Fei’s neck. However, when it got close, it was cut off. Han Fei looked at Red Eye in shock. “This is such a coincidence. I’m looking for sacrifice too.”
Yan Lan got out of the car. The metallic tattoo on his back cut into her spine. “Do we need anyone alive?”
“We don’t. I’ve recorded their memories.” Ah Nian held his chin. The people he saw started to collapse mentally. He had seven awakenings. He was strong enough to be a team captain, but he was only the vice-captain of Team 13.
“Don’t think about escape.” Crow removed his glasses. He sighed. “Even I’m afraid of my teammates, so you should just commit suicide.”
Dong Quan followed Crow down the car. He was even more silent than before.
