Shay stared at the villa in the distance and said in a deep voice, "Once I was hired to join an adventure team... uh, a Tomb Raider Team, that's when I encountered a similar situation. We were walking through a cold and damp underground passage when, suddenly, someone went insane, and more and more followed suit. In the end, less than one-fifth of us escaped from the tomb."
"After careful consideration, I concluded that this was likely the work of some kind of curse, or it could be perceived as the influence of some intangible organisms."
"I can understand curses, but organisms..." Tang Yu raised an eyebrow.
He didn't say it, but Shay understood, "Not invisible creatures, but more like... like microorganisms, bacteria, parasites! There are countless of them, impossible to kill them all, and they continue to spread, covering the surrounding area."
Tang Yu suddenly realized and looked again in the distance at the Awakeners from the Ancestor Dragon, forming a battle array and desperately bombarding the outside, but to no effect. Whether it was due to panic or excessive exhaustion, beads of sweat dripped down the backs of these experts.
For a moment, he felt a chill run down his spine.
He channeled the Source Power inside his body, gathering it at the location of his eyes.
He closed his eyes, waited a second or two, and opened them again.
His pupils were now covered with a layer of dark red. In this state, his eyes could see much more.
His gaze fell on Xing Ling, whose body's Source Power was evenly distributed, appearing light blue, but her hands were drawing together more Source Power, becoming a deeper shade of blue, reaching an ordinary blue.
Turning back to the distant sky, it was a brilliant blue, with light blue, almost white Source Qi everywhere, darker in some places and slightly lighter in others.
However, near villa number three, continuing to the area where he was, his vision was marred by a disturbing light red.
The Awakeners from the Security Bureau and Ancestor Dragon in the distance seemed to be struggling in terrifying bloodied waters.
Their attacks were not completely ineffective, but fire could possibly evaporate a small part of the sea. Still, it was powerless to turn the entire sea to dry land.
One second they would blow away some 'bacteria,' and the next, the surrounding area would be quickly refilled by the spreading 'bacteria.'
At first, Tang Yu's burst of Source Power had driven away the chill because the 'bacteria' were very fragile, and his Source Power, like a raging furnace, burned all the surrounding bacteria to death in an instant.
However, this consumed a significant amount of power. Recalling the experiences learned from the Demon Swordsmen lineage, Tang Yu let his Source Power flow throughout his body, then through his pores, forming a layer of Source Power silk over his body.
Although the protective ability was weak, it was just enough to eliminate the approaching 'bacteria,' and the cost was much lower than that of a pure Source Power outburst.
Xing Ling and Xing Yue also put away their high-consumption defense barriers and, like him, formed a silk layer of Source Power outside their bodies. Among them, Boss Carmen, who possessed no Special Abilities and had very little total Source Power, activated his body's energy and circulated it rapidly, making it impossible for the 'bacteria' to invade his body.
Shay continued, "This curse isn't much of a threat to Advanced Awakeners. Once the life level is sufficiently high, even doing nothing, the 'bacteria' cannot invade the body. But for ordinary Awakeners, the threat is significant, especially since the curse is still spreading."
"The most direct solution is to cut off the source, or through containment measures, to dissipate the curse."
The source was undoubtedly inside villa number three.
Tang Yu looked toward Xing Ling, who currently held a swinging pendant in her hand.
Xing Ling's expression was grave as she shook her head, "The Divination results indicate there's danger inside the villa, and the level of danger is not low."
Rushing in recklessly would be unwise.
Tang Yu looked towards the front left.
The experts of the Ancestor Dragon Special Combat Team in the distance also realized their situation was deteriorating. They ceased their attacks in all directions, and while they unleashed a burst of Source Power to protect themselves, they quickly moved away from Villa No. 3.
Among the expert team, the minority who were not ability users—the Awakeners who could not unleash Source Power—were now infected by 'bacteria.' Bereft of their senses, they were knocked unconscious by their prepared comrades, hoisted onto shoulders, and carried away for evacuation.
The loss was not significant for the high-ranking officials from the Security Bureau and the expert team of the Ancestor Dragon.
However, the regular members of the outer Security Bureau had suffered heavy casualties by this time. Even the few Awakeners with 'high resistance' who were still able to maintain their sanity could not withstand the frenzied attacks from their former colleagues.
Their wounds weakened their mental defenses, and before long, they too could not resist the infection. Their eyes turned bright red, and they staggered to their feet.
All he could see through his dark red eyes was the strange curse power spreading to a distance of about a thousand meters from Villa No. 3 before it stopped expanding.
Yet within this range, not just the Awakeners of the Security Bureau, but also many residential inhabitants, had gone mad with crimson eyes, charging out of the apartment buildings like a horde of demons dancing chaotically.
If Tang Yu hadn't known that 'bacteria' was just a metaphor and that these people were actually affected by an enigmatic force, he might truly believe that a real-life biohazard crisis had erupted.
The experts from the Security Bureau and the Ancestor Dragon had retreated to their vicinity. This time, Tang Yu didn't negotiate the price first but directly shared their analysis with the people from the Security Bureau.
"Curse? Bacteria? Erosion?" Director Jin's brows furrowed into tight knots. "The artillery squad has been out of contact and hasn't responded. They must have been infected. Otherwise, they would've leveled the villa by now."
"Leveled it? If only it were that easy to deal with," Shay sneered. While speaking, he pulled out the long, staff-like weapon from his back, and with a series of clicks and transformations, it became a shoulder-fired cannon over two meters long with a muzzle big enough to fit a basketball.
The cannon tilted upward, and a crimson ball of molten lava erupted from it. It burst at the apex of its ascent, and small particles fell from the sky, tracing red arcs like a meteor shower.
Flames surged to the sky, and the sound of violent explosions echoed.
The entire villa shattered to pieces, and half-burnt fragments with dark smoke tails flew in all directions.
With just one strike, Villa No. 3 was blasted into nothing more than ruins and rubble.
Whether it was Director Jin or other Ancestor Dragon experts, they all stared dumbfounded at Shay... and the smoking cannon in his hands.
The Ancestor Dragon experts had thought about destroying the villa, but they had not known how to break the mysterious curse. Long-range bombardment was beyond their ability users' reach since Source Power weakened significantly over a certain distance.
Yet an Awakener from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall had demolished the entire structure with one shot.
The power was far stronger than the firepower Director Jin had prepared with five artillery squads.
They were left speechless, their eyes on Tang Yu and the others filled with both excitement and embarrassment... If not for the dangerous situation that had occurred, and their coincidental approach in this direction, they would have long forgotten the Awakeners from Extreme Martial Arts Hall.
But now it was the people from Extreme Martial Arts Hall who had informed them of the solution to the crisis and also they who had leveled the villa.
An Ancestor Dragon ability user who was barely holding on let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, the curse should dissipate now, right? Wait, why is the curse still—"
As he spoke, veins protruded from his forehead, and blood began to seep into the whites of his eyes. It was due to his insufficient Source Power and relaxing too early that he was suddenly invaded by the curse.