Chapter 729
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Chapter 729: Mysterious Video Recording
“Have An Qingyu and Jiang Er been found?” Jia Lan asked curiously. “Where are they?”
“Cao Yuan didn’t elaborate, but he said they would contact us soon,” Lin Qiye paused for a moment. “From his tone, it seems like they’ve done something quite significant together…”
“Significant?” Wei Dong raised an eyebrow. “What could be more significant than becoming a legend in the underworld and taking over the entire Japanese underworld? Are they planning to rule the country?”
Lin Qiye thought seriously for a moment. “If it’s those two, there is indeed that possibility…”
Wei Dong’s mouth twitched slightly as he rolled his eyes silently.
If you two are going to rule this country, what do we need the Xie Society for? We might as well just be unemployed.
“Returning to the country…” Shen Qingzhu looked out the window, his brow slightly furrowed. “Isn’t your cult supposed to eliminate this ‘human circle’? What will happen to the people living here?”
“There’s nothing we can do; we can only relocate five hundred thousand people in advance. The rest won’t be our concern,” the Knight said calmly. He glanced at the person sitting next to him, Yu Gong Qinghui, and switched to Japanese. “Of course, if they have a way to save themselves, we won’t stop them.
After all, what we want to destroy is just the artifact that accommodates the ‘human circle’ itself.”
Yu Gong Qinghui looked out at the night sky, remaining silent.
Although both the Xie Society and Yu Gong Qinghui aimed to destroy this country, the former sought destruction for its own sake, while the latter aimed to save through destruction. Their positions and philosophies were different, and thus their methods would inevitably differ.
But at least, in certain aspects, their goals were aligned, such as first destroying the theocratic foundation of this country.
“So how will you choose those five hundred thousand people?” Shen Qingzhu continued to ask.
“Choose those of value,” Wei Dong replied without hesitation. “For example, prioritize those with expertise in engineering, agriculture, chemistry, and other knowledge beneficial for survival and development. Then, there are traditional cultural inheritors, such as priestesses and craftsmen… even cowherds.
Next are top talents from various industries, engineers, chefs, and capable light novelists and manga artists… They carry the culture and symbols of life in this country, and they are the sparks we, the Xie Society, will preserve out of humanitarianism.”
Valuable people, huh…
“So, the underworld doesn’t make the cut?” Shen Qingzhu slowly spoke.
“Not at all,” Wei Dong hesitated for a moment before continuing. “We won’t allow gangsters and thugs, the scourge of society, to enter the ‘Utopia.’”
Shen Qingzhu sat in the passenger seat, not saying anything further.
He simply stared silently at the pitch-black road ahead, his deep eyes lost in thought.
…
[Pure Land].
“Qingyu, Cao Yuan just called and said he got in touch with Qiye and the others!”
Jiang Er, dressed in a white dress, floated silently from a distance, her eyes filled with excitement.
“So soon?” An Qingyu was taken aback. “Cao Zai’s efficiency is quite high…”
“He said Qiye is currently with Shen Qingzhu, Jia Lan, and Pang Pang in Hokkaido,” Jiang Er couldn’t help but exclaim. “With this, everyone in our small team is gathered!”
An Qingyu wasn’t surprised by this; he smiled slightly and said:
“With Qiye around, even if the trajectory of fate has diverged, everyone will gradually converge around him, as if there’s an unseen force connecting us oddballs together…
He is destined to be our leader.”
“You, a great scientist, are starting to believe in these metaphysical things?”
“There are some things that you really can’t help but believe,” An Qingyu replied helplessly. “Look at the people in our small team; is there anyone simple?”
“That’s true.”
An Qingyu stood by the window, silent for a moment, as if he thought of something. He turned to Jiang Er and said:
“Jiang Er, show me that video… one more time.”
“Again?” Jiang Er asked in surprise. “You’ve watched it nearly thirty times over the past few days, right?”
“Things that are hard to understand must be watched multiple times,” An Qingyu paused. “By the way, you didn’t show that video to Cao Yuan, did you?”
“No, a couple of days ago he asked me if I had found that video from back then. I remembered your instructions and told him no, so he didn’t ask again.”
“Good, that’s good.”
An Qingyu nodded and walked to the large electronic display screen, his expression gradually becoming serious. “This thing… it’s better not to let him see it.”
Shhh shhh shhh…
Under Jiang Er’s forbidden domain effect, the surface of the display screen began to fill with snowflakes. Moments later, a video began to play automatically.
This was a surveillance video from two years ago in a certain road in Hachiman-dai City, with the camera facing a wide road. There were no pedestrians on the road, and several cars were haphazardly parked in the middle, their doors open, but the people inside had vanished, as if they had fled.
“Still that corner, zoom in,” An Qingyu instructed.
Jiang Er manipulated the screen, magnifying a corner of the video several times. Beneath the blurry image, one could vaguely see several figures in colorful robes surrounding a menacing figure emanating black flames in the center of the road.
The black figure was retreating under the siege of the many Oracles, the dark flames on its body growing fiercer.
Suddenly, a blinding beam of light fell from the sky like divine punishment, precisely striking the black figure, directly incinerating its head, chest, and torso, with most of its body disappearing along with the road beneath it.
The black figure, having lost most of its body, did not fall but stood rigidly, like a bizarre stone statue.
Just as the many Oracles relaxed their vigilance, a pillar of black fire erupted from the broken body, shooting skyward!
The radius of that fire pillar was several hundred meters, instantly engulfing all surrounding streets and buildings. The surveillance equipment nearby was reduced to ashes; had this particular camera not been positioned just outside the edge of the fire pillar, it would have likely been affected as well.
Even so, at the moment the black fire pillar shot up, the surveillance footage became violently distorted.
The subsequent images were nearly impossible to discern, but An Qingyu did not stop Jiang Er. He stood before the screen, his eyes fixed intently on it, the grayness in his gaze flickering as if searching for something.
The blackness in the footage gradually faded, and amidst the flickering screen, chaotic light and shadow intertwined with images of the street, dazzling the eyes.
At that moment, An Qingyu suddenly spoke:
“Stop!!”
The image froze.
“Increase the brightness to the maximum, that spot, zoom in!”
The image brightened again, and Jiang Er followed An Qingyu’s instructions, enlarging a corner of the blurry screen. In the dark image, a vague outline began to emerge.
It was a face without pupils, grinning sinisterly, as if it came from hell, eerie and terrifying.
That was Cao Yuan’s face.
