The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

Looking at Feng Chengxiu's pale face and immobilized injured arm, Tu Doupi wanted to persuade him to rest, but when he met the other's unquestionable gaze, he swallowed his words.

He knew the character of this man, known as the "Hell Instructor," and understood the significance of his return to the team—not only as a fighting force, but also as a banner to boost morale.

“…Okay!” Tu Doupi nodded emphatically. “The B-sector command node and backup communication hub are now yours. Seal off the team! That’s a strategic location, and one of the targets the attackers tried to destroy before.”

"Leave it to me." Feng Chengxiu didn't say anything more. Leaning on his cane, he turned and walked towards the door, his back straight as a pine tree.

Several of his teammates, who also had minor injuries, silently followed and blended into the headquarters' defense system.

Their return is like adding another layer of strong steel reinforcement to the steel wall of headquarters.

Meanwhile, Chen Qiming's extreme methods of "interrogation" finally yielded some progress.

Chen Qiming stared at the close-up of the grotesque corpse's temple bursting open on the screen, along with the constantly pulsating cells and residual data on the strange energy beside it, his face turning ashen.

Preliminary analysis results show that the cell structure does indeed have the typical characteristics of the twelve branches of the "Ke" generation modification, but an extremely weak and never-before-recorded trace of ghost energy pollution was detected in the ghost energy residue. Its energy spectrum has a low correlation with some sample traces that Shen Ge recently brought back from Australia.

"Damn it, they really are a den of snakes and rats!" Chen Qiming slammed his fist on the analysis table. "The Twelve Branches and the New God Cult have really gotten mixed up together. These bastards sent cannon fodder to their deaths, even thinking of suicide to destroy the 'sample,' just to buy time and create an opportunity for the East Lake side?"

His heart was filled with rage, but more than that, it was a cold, resentful anger.

The multi-pronged attack by the freak organization was clearly targeted and ruthless. They took advantage of the moment when Shen Ge was "trapped" and the high-end combat forces in Rong City were scattered, wanting to create chaos and possibly even take the opportunity to rescue "Yu" and others who were imprisoned, or to destroy key research facilities.

However, their plan completely failed!

With Lin Yin, the killing god, in charge of the Quanlong Mountain base, several cannon fodder were crushed before they even made a splash. Unless a captain-level monster is sent out, and not just one or two, but at least four captain-level monsters, it would be impossible to pose a threat to Lin Yin and the others.

But no one knows how long Donghuan Lake can hold Shen Ge. This strange incident in Rong City has already cost several captains their lives, as well as a leader's "double." If the captains sent out don't even have time to carry out the plan before Shen Ge returns, then every single one of them will die.

Upon receiving the message, Deng Yuqi immediately connected with Chen Qiming's hotline: "Old Chen, send me the analysis results simultaneously. It seems some people think Rong City is an easy target without Shen Ge. Let them remember the price they paid tonight. All the attackers' bodies, including cell samples, are to be listed as the highest priority research subjects. I want to know the secrets of every drop of their blood!"

"Understood!" A fierce light flashed in Chen Qiming's eyes. His curiosity as a scientist was completely ignited, mixed with the fury of revenge.

The weirdo organization and the New God Cult, the "gifts" you've delivered to our doorstep, our Rong City Research Department will "carefully" study them!

The recorder standing nearby couldn't help but shudder, momentarily unable to tell who the "villain" was.

……

……

In the center of the dried-up lakebed of East Lake, the huge bulge covered with a creeping fungal carpet, resembling living asphalt, went completely berserk after Shen Ge fired a probing "sniper shot".

The entire lakebed seemed to come alive, trembling violently, and the dry, hard crust covering it cracked and peeled off inch by inch like a rotten eggshell.

The viscous black fungal carpet, like erupting volcanic lava, surged out from the cracks and instantly covered the broken hard shell surface.

Even more chilling is that, as if boiling, countless thick, dark red "tentacles" that lie between flesh and blood vessels and rusted metal pipes grow wildly on the surface of the fungal carpet.

Xiaoqi controlled the blood spider to climb down into the groove and tried to detonate a few of them to blow off the tentacles, but they quickly grew back, with a healing ability comparable to a fifth-tier weirdo.

These tentacles twisted and danced, their tips splitting open into mouths covered with spiraling teeth, spewing out a dark green, highly corrosive, and strangely polluting toxic mist that made the already distorted air around them even more murky.

In the center of the bulge, as the hard shell completely peeled away, a bottomless "black hole" about two meters in diameter was clearly revealed.

The edge of the black hole churned with viscous fungal carpets and dark red energy flows, exuding a soul-chilling, pure sense of nothingness and engulfment.

A strange energy pressure, a hundred times stronger than before and carrying endless malice and blasphemy, surged out of the black hole like a tangible tsunami.

"Master, an ultra-high intensity spatial rift has been detected. Energy characteristics... cannot be identified at this time. Danger level... at least S+ or higher," Xiao Qi reminded.

The Rong City Special Operations Department classified danger levels based on the bizarre rating system, with levels S and above requiring the deployment of a team leader for combat operations.

S+ usually requires three or more team leaders. Of course, these ratings are meaningless to Shen Ge. It's just that Xiao Qi has been working part-time in the Special Strategy Department since Shen Ge's "return" to assist Deng Yuqi in team deployment and has habitually used the new ratings.

Shen Ge frowned slightly, not because these strange things looked "dangerous," but because the pressure emanating from the spatial rift made the primordial strange cells within his body feel an instinctive tremor and... an indescribable longing? It was as if there was something deep within that black hole that could attract it and complete it!
"System, perform a scan." Shen Ge activated the system to perform a deep scan of the surroundings, but the results were no different from before.

Shen Ge was used to the system malfunctioning at crucial moments, so most of the time he entered the strange space by using the "Strange Eye" and Xiao Qi's scanning.

However, the strange energy pressure emanating from the spatial rift this time felt very different to him. The system's reaction was so strong that he wanted to see if the system would give him a task to "lure" him into the spatial rift to find out more. But to his surprise, the system did not react at all.

Just then, the creeping tentacles of the fungus dancing wildly at the edge of the black hole seemed to receive a command. Like a barrage of arrows, they shot towards Shen Ge on the lake shore with a shrill sound and a nauseating stench. Each tentacle contained the immense power to tear apart steel and a strong, eerie corrosive energy.

Instead of retreating, Shen Ge advanced. As soon as he activated his Ghost Domain, a ghost energy field with an extremely strong stagnant aura instantly spread out around Shen Ge. The dozens of tentacles at the front were as if they had crashed into an invisible quagmire, their speed decreased sharply, and they were all frozen in place in the blink of an eye.

Shen Ge didn't rush to get rid of them. Instead, he approached them and had Xiao Qi collect some samples so that Li Xiang and the others could study them later.

Bringing back some "local specialties" from each trip into the eerie space seemed to have become a habit for Shen Ge. After extracting the samples, Shen Ge had Xiao Qi control the sniper cannon of the Red Mist Armor to "clear the field." The shoulder cannon of the Red Mist Armor continuously spewed out several dark red beams, accurately hitting the roots of several of the most threatening tentacles, instantly corroding and eroding the tissue structure of the target area and penetrating through the blood and flesh swamp at the bottom.

The base of the struck tentacle exploded, splattering dark green sap everywhere, and the entire tentacle drooped limply like a whip that had lost its power.

At the same time, Shen Ge moved like a ghost, weaving through the terrifying tentacles dancing in the sky under the influence of the "Immovable Ghost Domain," as if a disgusting, viscous rain of blood was falling wherever he went.

In less than two minutes, Shen Ge had cleaned up all the tentacles around the central spatial rift, leaving only a bare fleshy fungal carpet.

puff-

At this moment, the flesh around the black hole exploded, and the viscous blood plasma was sucked into the black hole. The surrounding space trembled violently, as if something was struggling to crawl out.

puff!

An indescribable giant claw slowly emerged from the black hole. The claw was covered with a thick, obsidian-like carapace, full of cracks and rust, and dark red light like lava flowed from the cracks in the carapace.

Its claws were as thick as palace pillars, with hooks at the top that gleamed with a cold metallic light, resembling giant scythes. Even with only a small part protruding from the black hole, it exuded a terrifying pressure that was enough to make a sixth-order monster grovel. A cold, deathly, and destructive will locked onto Shen Ge as if it were a tangible thing!
"Gulu."

"Gulu."

A deep, eerie swallowing sound, as if from the abyss, burst forth from the black hole, accompanied by terrifying sound waves, causing the entire eerie space to tremble violently.

A Silent Ghost Realm!

The next second, Shen Ge directly deployed the Silent Ghost Domain, easily neutralizing the sonic attack at the critical moment.

"Xiao Qi, analyze that thing and see what kind of weird thing it is." Shen Ge frowned, and couldn't help but think of the eerie tentacles that stretched out from the spatial rifts when the terrifying multi-dimensional space collapsed during the Australian Ghost Disaster.

You must know, that's something from a seventh-tier Ghost King!

If this spatial rift is teeming with a seventh-tier monster king, then Shen Ge absolutely cannot allow it to "hatch" and threaten Rong City.

The Silent Ghost Domain forcibly neutralized and eliminated the sonic attack that was powerful enough to shatter a person, and the air returned to its viscous stillness, leaving only the sound of the giant claw tearing through space.

Influenced by the Silent Domain, the giant claw appeared ferocious, but made no sound at all, which was quite... comical in a sense.

"During energy characteristic analysis, the carapace structure is extremely strong, containing unknown metallic components and high-intensity ghost energy crystals. The core energy fluctuations cannot be fully analyzed. Preliminary judgment: the target creature's level... surpasses the standard of a conventional seventh-tier ghost king. Danger level: S++ Calamity level." Xiao Qi, also affected by the Silent Ghost Domain, could only display this information in the field of vision of Shen Ge's battle armor helmet through text.

"Beyond the seventh rank?" Shen Ge's eyes narrowed.

He still vividly remembered the aura of those seventh-tier monster kings from the Australian Ghost Disaster, but the pressure of this monster, which had not yet fully revealed itself, was faintly above theirs.

This black hole must be the "gift" that the Twelve Branches gave to the Special Affairs Department. They created this thing just to play a game with them.

If Shen Ge is defeated and Rong City is in imminent danger, the Great Celestial Empire, and even the entire world, will not be able to escape the rampage of the Ghost King!
The twelve earthly branches... what are they for?
However, the strange king did not give Shen Ge a chance to think. The being in the black hole did not seem to be satisfied with just extending one claw.

The next second, the spatial rift twisted and expanded violently!
puff-

puff!

Accompanied by the chilling sounds of flesh tearing and metal scraping, a second, a third... a whole dozen terrifying giant claws, also covered in obsidian carapaces and topped with giant scythe-like claws, emerged one after another from the fungal carpet and dark red energy flow flowing through the black hole!

They frantically waved and scratched at the edge of the black hole, trying to tear apart the spatial barrier and squeeze that enormous body completely into this world.

The entire dried-up lakebed was turned into a boiling swamp by the churning of dozens of giant claws. Flesh and fungal carpets were torn apart, and the hard rocky ground was crushed like tofu.

"Fuck!"

Even though Shen Ge was used to bizarre scenes, he couldn't help but swear at this moment. His expression under the mask was extremely interesting: "Not again? Why do you high-level monsters all like to develop in the direction of octopuses? Does having more arms mean stronger combat power? What about aesthetics? Don't you understand the beauty of symmetry? Are you playing 'Thousand-Armed Guanyin' here? Or do you think that having more claws means you can get more wool in a fight?"

Despite the complaints, a single Ghost King exceeding the seventh rank would be enough to bring Rong City to its doom. Judging from the number and power of those outstretched claws, its true form is probably a super monster of the "thousand claws" level. If it were to descend in full force, not only Rong City, but the entire Great Celestial Empire would be doomed!

Stop it! We must stop it at all costs!

"Little Seven, unleash your Red Mist Ghost Energy at maximum power!" Shen Ge frantically absorbed the Ghost Energy from the Red Mist Armor, combining it with his own Ghost Energy. For the first time, he couldn't unleash his Ghost Domain at full power!
That's right!

He intends to use an invisible barrier to "block" the Demon King back into the black hole!
Stay within the realm of the uncanny!

open!

This invisible barrier is far greater than any before!
No longer an invisible, completely transparent barrier, but a tangible, giant barrier, like liquid dark red crystal!
It takes Shen Ge as its origin and extends, expands, and solidifies wildly forward!
The surface of the barrier was shimmering with the dark red glow unique to the Red Mist Ghost Energy, while inside, countless fine, vein-like golden patterns were interwoven, a manifestation of the "characteristic" power originating from the progenitor Ghost Cells!

The edge of the barrier rubbed violently against the fungal carpet and spatial rifts around the black hole, emitting a piercing shriek like billions of panes of glass shattering simultaneously. A violent surge of energy swept outwards, instantly annihilating and dissipating the broken tentacle remnants and shattered stones!
Shen Ge poured all his power into it, pushing this "ultimate barrier" that embodied his peak power, like pushing a burning dark red divine mountain, and crashing it hard into the black hole from which giant claws were surging out!

"Get back here!" (End of Chapter)