The alarm blared loudly, with piercing red lights flashing in every area of the base.
In the lowest-level prison area, the entrances and exits were imdiately sealed after the alarm sounded. This was the rule here; no matter what happened above, order had to be maintained below.
In the middle-level area, a large number of ard personnel heard the alarm, all of them bewildered.
The main base gate was on their level. If enemies invaded from outside, they would be the first to engage, but clearly, no enemies had appeared.
"What's the situation now?"
"Did soone upstairs accidentally trigger sothing by mistake?"
A squad leader holding a walkie-talkie said, "Damn it, I can't contact Manager Han anymore. Sothing must have gone wrong on the upper levels. We need to get up there quickly!"
The ard personnel quickly gathered their equipnt and rushed towards the upper levels of the base.
anwhile, in the upper-level Ascendant squad dormitory area, the thick fog in the corridor had not yet dissipated.
Gu Fei and Chu Xiaoyuan, who had erged from their rooms upon hearing the noise, couldn't see the corridor clearly, but listening to the alarm and slling the bloody scent perating the hallway, they knew the trouble was happening nearby.
"Who's there? Get the hell out here!"
Gu Fei summoned his curved blade weapon, gripping it in his hand, cursed, and strode forward. He hadn't taken more than a few steps when he saw a tall figure wielding a large greataxe ahead.
This...
Whoosh!
The greataxe swung towards him. Gu Fei hastily bent down to dodge. The blade swept past his head, the powerful gust of wind making his heart race.
Fighting a warrior wielding a greataxe in such a narrow corridor was far too dangerous.
He knew this must be so kind of summon. As long as he eliminated the Ascendant who summoned it, its existence would be dispelled.
That guy must be hiding in the fog ahead!
Gu Fei made a decisive move. He threw his curved blade between the legs of the greataxe warrior. It spun forward at an incredible speed.
Thud!
A muffled sound. Did it hit sothing?
While quickly retreating to avoid a second attack from the greataxe warrior, Gu Fei tried to recall his curved blade.
To compensate for his lack of ranged attacks, he had recently developed the ability to throw and recall his curved blade weapon. But this ti, when he tried to recall it, the blade didn't return.
What's going on?
Gu Fei consud more Mind Power to activate the ability. This ti it worked. The curved blade successfully flew back, but following it was a mass of pitch-black shadow clinging to it.
Shadow...?
Seeing that mass of shadow, Gu Fei's mind flashed back to the painful experience on Holy Grail Island. He knew that was when his squad had encountered a shadow and were eliminated early.
He himself was also collectively ostracized by his squad mbers because of that crushing defeat. That guy surnad Zhang also believed he bore the greatest responsibility for letting his emotions run wild and giving poor commands, so he was ultimately stripped of his captaincy and kicked out of Squad Three.
If not for that incident, he would still be one of the official team captains, enjoying excellent treatnt and authority. How could he have fallen so low, skulking in this shady organization?
"Shadow! I, Gu Fei, ended up like this all because of you!"
Blood rushed to Gu Fei's head. In one breath, he took out and used all the items on his person to block the greataxe warrior. He himself quickly maneuvered past the warrior, determined to settle the score with the shadow's true body.
He leaped into the air, manipulating his curved blade to spin and release Sword Energy to sever the shadow. Gripping the hilt as he landed, he found a silver gun barrel aid at him from within the fog.
"Gu Fei, rember this? The thing that sent you packing on Holy Grail Island. Today, I'll send you off once more."
Guan Tong's voice ca from within the fog. Before Gu Fei could say anything, the forr pulled the trigger.
"BOOM!!!"
The power of Silver Hunt's Type 3 high-explosive rounds was as formidable as ever. The intense explosion and flas instantly engulfed Gu Fei.
Guan Tong hadn't used it earlier because he didn't want to cause too much commotion. But now that the base alarm was blaring, it didn't matter anymore.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!"
He didn't spare the ammunition, continuously pulling the trigger. The violent explosions made the entire corridor tremble slightly.
When the flas subsided, Gu Fei lay on the ground, barely clinging to life.
Just like when he was eliminated on Holy Grail Island, he had relied on defensive items to avoid being blown to pieces, but he no longer had the strength to fight back.
Guan Tong countered him, a close-combat fighter, far too effectively. He couldn't even get close enough to charge at Guan Tong.
"Cough..."
Gu Fei vomited a mouthful of blood, unwillingly trying to get up, but the greataxe warrior behind him had already raised its axe.
"Damn it..." Through the reflection on his curved blade, he also saw the warrior behind him. He cursed under his breath, "In the end, it's still..."
Whoosh!
The greataxe fell. Gu Fei was cut in half at the waist and died.
His other teammate, Chu Xiaoyuan, who could manipulate building blocks, died almost simultaneously.
Guan Tong had eliminated him using the Shadow's internal explosion thod.
This Ascendant squad, selected through the Qingi organization's selection process, was almost no match for Guan Tong, except for Jiang Ming.
But this wasn't surprising at all... because what they faced was "Shadow" Guan Tong, who had achieved the world's top ranking several tis.
After Guan Tong dealt with the three mbers of this squad, Chen Na was still hiding in her room, not coming out.
Listening to the commotion outside, he knew the ard personnel from the middle level were coming up.
That was fine too, saving him the trouble of going down.
Dealing with these gun-wielding foes was much simpler.
Guan Tong continued to mobilize his reserve Mind Power. A massive amount of shadow spread out from him, constantly branching into one shadow line after another, swiftly slithering outward.
The ard personnel who had co up from the middle level with their guns hadn't even located the intruder's trail when they saw nurous "black lines" rapidly advancing towards them along the floor and walls!
"What are those?!"
"Open fire!"
Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
They fired at the black lines, but it was utterly useless. They could only watch helplessly as the lines closed in, climbed onto their bodies, and coiled around their necks.
Then ca the tightening and suffocation.
"Ugh...!"
"H-help !"
"Run!!!"
A large number of ard personnel fell instantly. The rest were scared out of their wits and fled in panic.
But no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't outpace the shadow's speed.
Before long, all of them died from the shadow's lethal constriction.
Many died with their eyes wide open, so struggling and leaving several scratch marks on the floor with their fingernails.
Guan Tong erged from the shadows. Looking at the horrific scene he had created, his expression remained unmoved.
Ending up like this was these people's own fault. From the mont they chose to serve this evil organization, capturing people and seizing supplies, they should have expected this outco one day.
His appearance had rely greatly accelerated the arrival of that result.
After dealing with the threats on the upper and middle levels, he went to the lower level.
The doors here had long been locked, but Guan Tong had Han Ling's highest-level access card and swiped it open.
The guards inside soon t the sa fate as the ard personnel on the middle level, falling to the shadow.
Seeing the imprisoned Ascendants with his own eyes, Guan Tong felt a complex mix of emotions.
He opened all the cell doors from the monitoring and control room, but those who had been imprisoned for months, even seeing the doors open, didn't dare to leave imdiately, fearing it might be so kind of test.
Guan Tong didn't say anything to them. He knew that as long as one person stepped out, others would follow.
He returned to the upper-level area, knocked on Chen Na's door, and told her to co with him.
Chen Na followed Guan Tong out. First, she saw the corpses of Gu Fei and Chu Xiaoyuan in the corridor. Then, as soon as she left the dormitory area, she saw the ground littered with the bodies of ard personnel.
"Administrator Sister, did you... all of these..."
Guan Tong didn't reply, simply returning to the manager's office.
Han Ling, who had been knocked unconscious earlier, had now regained consciousness. Although her hands and feet were bound by shadow lines, preventing movent, she could still see and speak.
The mont she saw Chen Na behind Guan Tong, her face instantly turned icy cold. "Chen Na, was it you who betrayed the organization?!"
"I... Sister Han Ling, why did you lie to ? What you said..."
"Shut up! You little bitch, you little bastard! I really should have slit your throat back then, slaughtered you and your whore of a mother together!"
Han Ling, who had always been amiable before, suddenly tore off her mask and uttered such vicious, foul language, shocking Chen Na into silence.
"You ungrateful little bitch! If the organization hadn't paid for the dicine back then, your mother would have died from her illness long ago! And this is how you repay the organization? With betrayal and selling us out!"
Chen Na had now regained her composure. Looking at Han Ling's frenzied expression, she spoke, "Sister Han Ling, I am very grateful for the dicinal items. As repaynt, I joined and served the organization... But the premise for all this was that the organization was just as you described, Sister Han Ling—a mutual aid, self-help organization. You lied to
first! If I had known the organization hard people like this, I would never have agreed to join in the first place!"
"Well said." Guan Tong stated. "Han Ling, you know very well too. Without using the banner of 'mutual aid,' you couldn't deceive kind-hearted people into serving you. Given the circumstances now, how dare you accuse others of betrayal?"
"...It seems this base has already been destroyed by you."
Han Ling ignored Chen Na, her eyes fixed dead on Guan Tong, her gaze like that of a venomous snake.
"Shadow, you are indeed formidable. To infiltrate this heavily defended base silently, eliminate its ard forces... you live up to your reputation as the 'World's Number One Ascendant'... But I tell you, the Commander will definitely seek revenge. Just you wait. Not even the title of World's Number One can save you..."
"I'd actually like to chat more about this 'Commander.'" As Guan Tong spoke, he intended to retrieve the shelter that had been returned to the [Wordless Book], planning to use its properties to take Han Ling away for a thorough interrogation later.
However, Han Ling suddenly laughed maniacally, "Hahaha! Dream on if you think I'll betray the Commander! Shadow, we'll et again. I'll be waiting for you in the underworld, hahahaha—"
The laughter cut off abruptly. A bluish-black hue spread across Han Ling's face.
Sensing sothing wrong, Guan Tong hurried forward to check. Han Ling's head hung limply; she was no longer breathing.
He lifted her chin and saw a bluish-purple liquid trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Poison? Hidden in her mouth... no, in her teeth?
Guan Tong frowned.
He had heard that so agents hid poison in specially made false teeth. When needed, they could use their tongue to open them or simply bite down to shatter them, allowing for rapid suicide to avoid leaking crucial information under brutal interrogation.
...Han Ling actually had sothing like this in her mouth too? This organization, that Commander... demanded this level of commitnt from her?
"Sister Han Ling..."
Chen Na looked at Han Ling, who had died from poison, her small face deathly pale.
Even though Han Ling had just hurled so many vicious words at her, seeing Han Ling die before her eyes still made her feel deeply uncomfortable.
Guan Tong could do nothing about it either. No matter how powerful his shadow abilities were, he didn't possess the power to resurrect the dead.
Failing to obtain more information about the true mastermind, "Big Sister," was a pity in Guan Tong's view. But this operation, which had consud a vast amount of his Mind Power, wasn't entirely in vain.
"...Let's go, Chen Na. At the very least, this base is finished. You're safe now, and those imprisoned Ascendants have been rescued."
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