Rules of the Strange: I Became a God in a Bizarre World Through Taoist Arts

"Captain Guan, could it be... that we're overthinking it?"

Assistant Xu walked to Guan Shanyue's side, noticed her hesitation, and asked carefully.

Guan Shanyue turned to look at him and gently shook her head.

"In the countries where the third type of chosen ones reside, it cannot be confirmed that all of them are involved, but at least some of them have reached some kind of agreement with the supernatural tales."

She raised her hand and split the light screen in front of her into three parts.

The largest section displayed a star map of the entire interstellar space.

Those once bright galaxies are now mostly shrouded in a gray-black haze, like pieces of rotting skin. Only a few star systems still shine—the last bastions of peace for each nation.

The other section released statistics on the progress of the ghost stories devouring real-world cities.

"Look."

Her fingers traced the glaring yet straight red line on the screen.

"At the beginning of the ghost stories, the number of cities in each country that were invaded remained relatively stable at 3%."

She paused, then continued.

"This data, though very large when viewed from the perspective of the entire interstellar space, still maintains a strange balance."

Guan Shanyue pointed sharply at the turning point.

"And the turning point... happened precisely when Xingzhuo became the new Chosen One and appeared in the ghost stories."

"This data initially rose but has now stabilized. This is practically impossible unless there's some eeriness behind the ghost stories at play."

Assistant Xu frowned in deep thought.

"But we already knew that the ghost stories were targeting Xingzhuo, didn't we?"

Guan Shanyue nodded, pacing back and forth as he shared his thoughts.

"We did have our suspicions, but—"

Her voice deepened.

"Motivation is very important!"

"Is the reason why the ghost story has become so confrontational because Xingzhuo has won every battle, or... has it been waiting for Xingzhuo to appear?"

The difference between these two is significant, and it could even lead us directly to the reason why the ghost story occurred!

Assistant Xu was stunned upon hearing this, his eyes trembling.

"Yes, yes..."

"Didn't the legendary chosen one, Long Qingyue, also clear five of the ghost stories before? But the ghost stories didn't have this much of a reaction back then!"

Upon hearing this, the entire command room fell silent.

The answer is obvious, isn't it?

……

In ghost stories.

Pei Xi's devouring process has completed its first round.

Shen Xingzhuo's task panel displayed—

[Ensuring the survival of all nine children - 5/9]

Three more human faces grew on Pei Xi's chest.

He now has six mouths to feed, and four babies are still unhatched.

Shen Xingzhuo only needs to use the painless experience once more to complete this task and bring Pei Xi to her peak condition.

"How are you feeling? Can you continue?" she asked Pei Xi with concern.

Pei Xi nodded and patted her slightly swollen belly.

His size stopped growing. But the suction power of those six mouths was more than twice as strong as before.

Shen Xingzhuo gently touched the top of his head.

After taking out the three longevity locks, he used the stone he had placed on the table to smash the hollow locks into sharp hairpins.

She inserted the hairpin into Pei Xi's little bun.

It can be said that his sister's life was also merged into Pei Xi's destiny.

As for the form of the longevity lock... it's not important.

"Mother believes in you."

Shen Xingzhu encouraged it.

Pei Xi opened her mouth again and began to absorb the remaining four fleshy orbs.

Shen Xingzhuo looked at Madam Pei, who was staring in disbelief.

"Mother, come with me to empty the incense burner and take a look."