Gao Ming and the God of Flesh and Blood were satisfied with Fan Li. The man would continuously provide high-quality will to the God of Flesh and Blood. The more humans struggled in despair, the happier God would be. Of course, from fate’s perspective, the Gods were struggling too.
“How come he always manages to locate people with such immense potential?” Situ An’s eyes reddened with jealousy. He witnessed the whole treatment process the God of Flesh and Blood conducted on Fan Li. “Is he fate? Gao Ming, fate… I’m thinking. Don’t move the chains.”
Situ An’s mother moved the chains, worried that the chains would hurt his son’s wounds.
“What a mommy’s boy.” Xia Yang held his brush and smiled at Situ An. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. There were more and more people inside the torture room, and there was barely enough space left.
“The people from the investigation centre are coming soon.” Gao Ming stretched. He took out a name list from his pocket. He burned the page that had Fan Li’s name. “Who is next?”
Han Hai's old city had a high population. Gao Ming and Zhang Ding didn’t dare to relax. They wanted to take over the old city before the investigation centre took over. Based on the name list provided by Gao Ming, they would use horror games to rescue people from nightmares. The success rate of Gao Ming fighting fate alone was close to zero. However, he managed to grab all the hope he saw in his future through multiple deaths. Those who could influence fate were all tied to his ship. The small ripples might combine to form a huge wave.
“The faith needed by the God of Flesh and Blood is far from enough. I need to find more like Fan Li…”
Gao Ming left the electrical supply neighbourhood, and he tried to contact Ah Fang’s parents. He received no response. However, he could sense their rough location.
“Ah Fang and his parents seem to have returned to the Li San Hospital. The hospital is now under the control of the investigation centre. It’ll be hard to return there…”
At the northern port, underneath the research centre, several researchers with white bands were jumping with excitement. Even the normally expressionless Jing Tuoshen had a smile on his face.
“Congratulations on passing the fourth stage of the ghost tattoo test and becoming the owner of the ghost tattoo, Malice.”
A few metres away from the researchers was a giant monster with multiple deformed heads. It was ugly and disgusting. Its blood vessels coursed with thick malice. In terms of appearance, it didn’t look like human beings at all. There was a trembling roar. The investigators and researchers in the safe zone were affected. Their internal malice was triggered. They hoped that the monster would charge through them and destroy everyone.
“Not bad. You can use Malice’s power even though you’ve just acquired the ghost tattoo. Bai Xiao, you did not disappoint me!” Jing Tuoshen’s wicked smile was scary.
After the crazy venting, the monster’s giant body slowly disappeared. The malice shrunk to eventually reveal Bai Xiao’s face. With the research centre’s aid, Bai Xiao managed to assimilate the different parts of the divine corpse of Malice. His whole body was taken over by the ghost tattoo.
“Wan Jie’s security team only has three members who have united with a divine corpse. You already have the potential to become the leader of a security team.” Jing Tuoshen said with great satisfaction.
Bai Xiao didn’t speak. His eyes shone with malicious thoughts. He gripped the blade Gao Ming gave him and resisted the discomfort. The divine corpse of Malice was brought back from Xin Lu. It was a confidential cursed object. To fully explore the maximum usefulness of the divine corpse, the research department had fed it more than twenty investigators under the excuse of science.
The ghost tattoo test was impossibly hard. A total of 47 people participated in the stage 4 test, and only Bai Xiao survived in the end.
“I know you have many thoughts, but everything we do is for the sake of Han Hai and to protect more people.” Jing Tuoshen ignored the safety warning and walked out of the safe zone to hand a new uniform to Bai Xiao. “This world is more complicated than you think, but now you at least have gained the lowest qualification to know the truth.” Jing Tuoshen glanced at the knife Bai Xiao refused to let go and waved at him. “Change into your new uniform and follow me.”
With the accompaniment of the other researchers, they left the ghost tattoo test zone. After they left, the cleaning crew entered the space to ensure that no trace would remain. ṝ
They entered the elevator. The booth ascended for more than a minute before it stopped. The doors slowly opened. After a long time, the sun finally shone on Bai Xiao’s face.
Bai Xiao subconsciously raised his hand. He looked at the light on his palm. It was warm and gentle. It was something he had been pursuing. However, he only felt revolted at that moment. After being given the ghost tattoo, he was more like a ghost than a human.
The employees stopped to greet Jing Tuoshen. Jing Tuoshen didn’t respond. He led Bai Xiao to the top floor.
The wall was made up of many screens. The investigators sent their reports back through the black bands.
“The anomalies are delineated into seven levels. The headquarters will only be involved when it’s above level four. However, something happened recently that shook even the headquarters.” Jing Tuoshen looked at the screens, but he seemed to be viewing something beyond that.
“Is there a Level Five Anomaly?” Bai Xiao finally spoke. As a former investigator, a Level Three Anomaly was already very dangerous for him.
“This is more troublesome than that. Even now, we can’t give it a danger rating.” Jing Tuoshen touched his white band. All the images on the screens changed. The scary images disappeared and were replaced by street cams between Han Hai and other cities. Through the screens, one could see clearly the thick black mist that had risen mysteriously on all the roads.
“Has Han Hai been surrounded by a fog?”
“That is not a normal fog. We’ve deployed a lot of investigators, but no one has managed to come out alive. Do you know what this means?” Jing Tuoshen used the calmest tone to narrate the scariest truth. “Han Hai has lost contact with the outside world for a few days. We’re an island.”
“Can the people come in from outside? Didn’t Wan Jie’s group come from Xin Lu?” Bai Xia was confused.
“The black mist appeared after they came here. To be more precise, the mist appeared on the night things went out of control at Li San Hospital.” Jing Tuoshen faced away from Bai Xiao as his eyes danced between the many screens. “What happened at Li San Hospital that night?”