Ark, after I died, the operators started to love me.

Mike ripped off the chain locking the sewer entrance, and a steel plate half a person's height rolled to the side with a loud bang.

He took a gas mask out of his pocket, put it on, and disappeared into the darkness.

……

Outer ring road of Longmen.

Hoshiguma took out the earphones, put them on, and pressed the switch. At that moment, she heard a noisy sound coming from inside, as if she had been subjected to strong signal interference.

“Report your location,” she asked.

After a short wait, a muffled, intermittent sound came through the headphones.

"Ursus Theme Resort"

30. Red can... no, you can't.

A clear address was sent to Hoshiguma.

However, the resort could not be found on the almost obsolete map in her hand.

"I told you there was a problem, but you wouldn't believe me."

Hoshiguma sighed, crumpled the map into a ball, and stuffed it into her pocket.

If it were a normal outer ring road of Lungmen, she would know where the Ursus-themed resort was, a place originally used by the Ursus people for entertainment.

One day, a series of tragedies occurred at the resort. Overnight, corpses littered the grounds, and no one survived. The resort gradually fell into disrepair.

Back when Lungmen was still in Ursus's hands, the Ursus nobles and privileged class enjoyed living and having fun in themed resorts, a stark contrast to the rather miserable lives of the Lungmen people.

After that, Ursus had some irreconcilable conflicts with the Eastern Kingdom, and the two sides engaged in fierce clashes. It was around that time that Hoshiguma entered Lungmen and has remained there ever since.

While joining the gang, she also conducted a detailed investigation of the locations where the Ursus people frequently appeared, just in case, so that if any problems arose, she could directly find the enemy's lair.

Unexpectedly, an unintentional act many years ago has become a crucial clue.

Even residents who have lived in Longmen for many years may not be able to find information about the resort.

and so……

"This is a trap, a trap that was prepared for me from the very beginning."

Hoshiguma slowly pulled her hand away from the long sword, and a long sword with a gleaming blade appeared in her hand.

Almost at the same time, a scorching heatwave enveloped Hoshiguma.

She recalled her conversation with the builder when she was on Rhodes Island.

"Oh dear, although I don't like people from the East, I can still make you a couple of knives. For Old An's sake, what kind of inscriptions do you want?"

"How do you think of the tattoo on my back?"

"No, it's too complicated. Doing it this way will only ruin the knife. Get a different one."

"Then carve my name on the hilt."

With both hands gripping the hilt, the heat emanating from the blade transformed into a blazing flame.

At the same time, black mist began to rise from Hoshiguma's pocket.

The figure hidden in the darkness seemed to be asking, "When did you see through it?"

“I buried Afa with my own hands. How could the dead possibly come back to life? By bringing him to me, aren’t you telling me there’s a trap here?”

Immediately afterwards, Hoshiguma drew a second sword, which was slightly shorter than the first, but was also crafted by an ancient artisan from Yan Kingdom.

When she handed the knife to her companion, she instructed her:

“I have no objection to you using these two swords. I have infused them with fire patterns, which you can think of as Yan Kingdom magic. They come in pairs, and there is a male and a female. However, they consume too much energy in your hands. You can usually use only one. If you use both at the same time, you must be careful to make sure there is someone nearby who can help you.”

The other person's instructions were still echoing in his ears, but Hoshiguma didn't care about them at all. Holding a knife in each hand, he pushed off with his legs and charged straight ahead.

The black mist dissipated upon contact with the two scorching blades, but this did not mean that the distortion point disappeared.

Hoshiguma swung her arms, unleashing two unexpected swords. Her swords seemed to strike thin air, yet she could clearly feel something retreating.

"You think I wouldn't dare to kill? The one standing here today is Hoshiguma, not the Hoshiguma of the Guard Bureau."

……

Deep within the outer ring of Longmen, only outsiders would settle down here. Even gangs rooted in the outer ring are unwilling to linger here for long.

Two figures were walking slowly, and the outsiders hiding nearby trembled with fear, not daring to look up.

"The number of people who entered the outer ring was eight... no, nine."

When the cold voice rang out, the people kneeling around lowered their heads even further.

The red figure beside her said equally coldly, "Doctor, didn't we take that into account?"

"No, and we don't need to. Let's just wander around. If he's angry, let him vent."

"Red can..."

"No, he's not a doctor anymore, at least not yet."

The red figure clearly showed disappointment: "Oh."

……

"Ah!"

Even with a gas mask on, Mike still managed to sneeze properly. There was no way around it; the fish balls produced in the outer ring factory were bound to smell terrible.

However, Mike had other ideas in mind.

Given his physical condition, it's highly unlikely he sneezed; in other words, someone is probably talking badly about him behind his back.

Don't let him know who it is, haha.

Gudong.

Something seems to have fallen down ahead.

Mike gripped his flashlight and moved slowly, his expression serious. He hadn't seen a single mouse along the way.

Is it normal that there are no rodents in a sewer, especially a sewer rich in food?

The beam of the flashlight swept across the room, and a discarded wardrobe lying upside down on the ground caught Mike's attention. He heard a whimpering sound coming from inside the wardrobe.

Mike cautiously approached the target, shining his flashlight directly at it, and asked in a low voice, "Which one?"

He spoke the Lungmen dialect.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The things in the closet were saying something that Mike couldn't understand at all.

He placed his hand on the edge of the wardrobe.

……

Ursus-themed resort.

Inside the brightly lit buildings, people dressed in fine clothes mingled and laughed, toasting each other.

A young man stood on the balcony and said in a hurried tone, "Longmen is completely under the control of the Empire. The only thing we need to be careful of is Wei, who is trying to challenge us."

"No, you don't need to worry. I've inquired through my friends in Yan Kingdom. Wei won't receive any support from the Yan Kingdom government. He can only rely on a few friends to fight alone in Lungmen. How can he be a match for the powerful Ursus Empire?"

The young man still looked worried: "But I heard that the Eastern Kingdom, which we have a grudge against, seems to be secretly contacting Wei. If they join forces, they could also harm us..."

“Witt, my dear friend, you have too many worries tonight, which is out of place with the cheerful atmosphere here. This is not a good thing. Cheer up. At least for now, Lungmen is still in our hands, isn’t it?”

The young man called Wie Te forced a smile, picked up his glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

He said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, I can't drink too much, otherwise my asthma will easily flare up."

His companion said with regret, "That's a real shame. You won't be able to enjoy the beautiful ladies here. Do you know Lady Rose? She's a famous beauty in Lungmen and even Ursus, especially known for her Rose Dew... What a pity."

Witt shook his head, showing little regret on his face. He put down his wine glass and hurriedly left the resort. He had made up his mind to return to Ursus that very night and head to the capital.

"Young people who don't know how to enjoy life."

The noble guests returned to the venue with their wine glasses, completely unaware of Hoshiguma below the balcony.

31. I am the devil, the mortal enemy of the devil.

Hoshiguma had been stationed at the Sentinel Bureau for a long time and had never heard of Ursus people being able to enter and leave Lungmen so easily, or to hold such a lavish party.

When she took out her portable spectroscopic glasses and put them on, the dazzling lights and bustling city before her eyes underwent a dramatic transformation.

The bright lights that I saw before are gone. In the special lens, all that is left are broken walls and ruins covered with dust and overgrown with weeds.

This place is severely distorted; what you hear and see may not be false, but most likely a phantom from the past.

Hoshiguma confirmed that she was also negatively affected. The twin swords in her hands continued to radiate heat, and the dark red patterns on the blades shone brightly, like rolling molten lava.

Thinking of this, she took something out of her pocket and casually tossed it into the air. With a whoosh, a dazzling red rose exploded in the sky above the Ursus Theme Resort.

"...I shouldn't have let Swire go shopping. Are these beautiful fireworks meant to warn the enemy to prepare?"

At first, I thought it was boring that the Doctor used Lungmen dialect so much to make sarcastic remarks, but after spending a lot of time alone with him, Hoshiguma actually found his words quite vivid.

“Dead things shouldn’t come back. I don’t mind sending you back myself.”

Hoshiguma took off his spectral glasses, dragged his twin swords backwards, and slashed at the resort's gate!

boom!

The long sword, carrying a scorching shockwave, shattered the exquisitely carved wooden door, sending wood chips flying everywhere, and a tall figure rushed in.

A waiter carrying drinks stared at her in disbelief, forgetting what he was supposed to do and wondering where this person came from.

Hoshiguma remained indifferent, as if she hadn't heard the other person's muttered words. She raised her twin swords and with a swift stroke, cut the man to the ground.

She transformed into a blood-soaked demon, her eyes fixed on the staircase leading up from the main hall. Guests who witnessed this quickly backed away, the ladies already terrified and fainting in their male companions' arms.

Some of the bolder Ursus nobles charged forward with sabers, but none of them were a match for Hoshiguma. In just a few moves, the demons of the East severed their tracheas, and thick blood gushed out.

As Hoshiguma walked toward the stairs, the Ursus people who were still standing nearby could no longer be seen. She suddenly felt unwell, opened her mouth, and a mouthful of golden light mixed with black mist surged up from her throat.

A ray of rationality shone overhead. Hoshiguma didn't understand what was happening, but it must be something good.