Chapter 517
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Chapter 517: Red Eyes and Black Shadows
“Why are they moving so fast?!”
In the speeding 007 team, a girl wearing glasses exclaimed in shock.
“What’s wrong, Xiaoyu?” Vice Captain Han Qing asked.
Due to regulations, the 007 team leader, Guang Qingsheng, could not participate in this extermination mission, so Vice Captain Han Qing led the team to the East District.
Qi Xiaoyu pressed her right index finger against her temple, her eyes tightly shut.
“They must be using some kind of transportation, ignoring the terrain, and have suddenly moved close to the East District. They’re about to reach the theater.”
“It should be one of their team members’ abilities,” Han Qing pondered. “It’s fine; let them have a little head start.”
“Exactly, running a bit faster isn’t a big deal. We have Xiaoyu’s [Divine Perception Map]. As long as that ‘mysterious’ entity is still within the East District, we can instantly identify it and find it,” Zhao Kun said with a smile.
“Vice Captain Han, do we really need to take this so seriously?” Yang Letong hesitated to speak. “Since this is the assessment for the Fifth Reserve Team, wouldn’t it be better to ease up a bit and let them pass smoothly? It would be a win-win situation.”
Other team members nodded in agreement.
For them, this was just an ordinary extermination mission, but for the Fifth Reserve Team, it was crucial for their official transition. If this team stumbled here, it would create significant issues.
As long as they took a small step back, they could allow Daxia to have an additional special team while also building a good relationship with this special team. That would be the best outcome.
Han Qing glanced at them. “Do you think a team qualified to become the fifth special team needs us to ease up for them to pass the assessment?”
Yang Letong was taken aback.
“Since the higher-ups of the Night Watchmen have such high hopes for them, it means they must have exceptional qualities. This confrontation assessment isn’t meant for us to obstruct their path to becoming a special team; rather, it exists to gradually hone their brilliance through this process.
We are merely the sharpening stone.
Since we are the sharpening stone, we must fulfill our role. Only if we are strong enough can we sharpen a sharper blade… If we let them win too easily, they will only look down on us and think the 007 team is nothing special.”
“What if we win, though?”
“If this blade breaks the sharpening stone, it only shows that they are not yet qualified to become a special team,” Han Qing replied calmly.
……
East District.
Century Grand Theater.
“This is the place where the ‘Wuliang’ realm mystery was spotted?” Bai Li Pangpang looked at the dilapidated theater in front of him, skeptical.
“This theater has been around for nearly a hundred years. It was once the most prosperous place in Huaihai, but due to the diversification of modern entertainment and the opening of a more luxurious theater in the bustling area, it has fallen into disrepair. Even with scheduled performances, there are hardly any audience members,” Cao Yuan explained.
“Old Cao, you know so much?”
“I spent a year in Huaihai. I came here once when the tickets were discounted,” Cao Yuan shrugged.
Due to the sighting of the ‘mystery,’ the entire theater had been sealed off by the police. Fortunately, Guang Qingsheng had already coordinated with the police, allowing Lin Qiye and the others to enter the theater smoothly.
The interior of the theater looked even older than it appeared from the outside. Even though every corner was cleaned thoroughly, it still had a shabby feel, and the space was relatively cramped, with narrow distances between tables and chairs. Only a few booths on the second floor appeared more spacious.
“The place where that thing was spotted is right there,” a police officer following Lin Qiye pointed ahead.
Lin Qiye and the others looked in the direction he pointed, their eyes filled with surprise. “The stage?”
“Yeah.” The officer nodded. “For specifics, you can check the surveillance footage.”
He had someone bring in the theater’s surveillance footage and set it up on a table in the audience area, starting the playback.
The camera was positioned to the side of the stage, capturing the actors’ faces and the first two rows of the audience. However, during the performance, the entire audience area was empty, with no one present.
But even without an audience, several actors on stage were diligently completing their performance.
Suddenly, in a corner of the stage, a mass of black liquid seemed to flow out of thin air, running down a pillar and pooling on the floor, forming a shadowy figure.
Faintly, the surveillance footage revealed a crimson glimmer emerging from the center of that shadow, resembling an eye, scanning its surroundings.
Then, it silently slithered to the feet of one actor, suddenly surging from the ground like a ferocious black beast, swallowing him whole.
This scene terrified the other actors, two of whom scrambled off the stage, while the actress who was performing with the unfortunate actor fainted on the spot, her eyes rolling back.
After enveloping the actor, the shadow gradually faded, transforming into a thin layer of shadow covering the actor’s body.
The actor’s eyes were tightly shut, as if he were asleep.
In the next moment, a crimson vertical eye suddenly opened in the center of the actor’s forehead, emitting an eerie glow.
After being possessed by this crimson shadow, the actor ignored his unconscious colleague on the ground, calmly removed his costume, walked off the stage, draped a black coat from the audience area over himself, and picked a black top hat from the costume rack on the side of the stage.
Then, he lifted his head, peering through the low brim of the black hat, and glanced at the camera with his crimson vertical pupil.
A slight smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
He turned his head, casually picked up a prop cane, tapped it three times on the ground, and then vanished from sight.
The footage ended there.
“That’s it?” Bai Li Pangpang looked up in confusion. “He didn’t kill anyone?”
“No, the actors on stage all survived, but the male actor who was possessed is still missing and unaccounted for,” the officer replied.
An Qingyu raised his head, his gaze fixed on the stage in front of him, deep in thought.
“What are you thinking?” Lin Qiye walked over to him.
“Captain Guang was wrong,” An Qingyu slowly said. “It doesn’t have a high intelligence… it possesses extremely high intelligence.”
He extended his hand, pointing to the darkness in the upper right corner of the stage. “The position of this surveillance camera is very concealed. Even if one looks closely, it’s hard to discern its presence. Yet this ‘mystery’ saw through its position at a glance, and it naturally put on the clothes and hat. Its behavior and demeanor are nothing like a ‘mystery’…
But rather like a real person.”
