Chapter 25: The Bane of Specters
Normally, a superior officer would suspect some high-level pollution entity with bizarre abilities was at work. Who would immediately think of pollution Specters?
Although Sentinels couldn’t perceive pollution Specters higher than their own level, high-level Specters weren’t exactly common.
Shen Yu lifted the scabbard at his waist.
“No rush. Itās not dark yet. Let’s sweep the area one more time.”
“No problem, Commander.”
The Sentinels urgently began a city-wide search. Chi Wan pretended to help follow along, but in reality, she was groping around for the Purification Stone under the System’s sneaky guidance.
[Over there, Host!]
[Ah, no, no, wait. It seems to be over there.]
Chi Wan ran left and right. Finally, after circling around and stopping outside a restroom, she began to question it.
“System, do you actually have an item-finding function?”
She was deeply skeptical.
[Umm…]
[It shouldn’t be wrong, Host. This is a basic skill of mine!]
[It’s right inside. Thereās no one in there. Host, hurry up and go in!]
Chi Wan looked at the male symbol beside the restroom door, then glanced around.
It was quiet; not a soul in sight.
She steeled her heart, hunched over, and dashed inside.
[There, there, there. Southeast corner, the second pit.]
Chi Wan stood before the squat toilet, staring at the flush drain with her small face crumpled in a frown.
This was too ridiculous…
[Damn it, it changed direction again!]
“???”
[It went out, Host!]
Chi Wan now seriously suspected the System was playing her.
[Iām really not playing you, Host.]
The System’s voice sounded aggrieved.
Chi Wan decided to leave this place first.
…
From a high building, Shen Yu caught a glimpse of someone dashing out of the men’s restroom like a thief. His gaze shifted from disbelief to disdain.
“Commander, we’ve searched everywhere. There are indeed no remaining pollution entities in Thorn City.”
He withdrew his gaze. The twilight finally added some color to this devastated city shrouded in pollution fog. Even the usually gray, lifeless gravel shimmered with a hazy halo under the afterglow.
“Notify everyone to enter the barrier.”
“Yes.”
Everyone in the city quickly received the message.
Sentinels and ordinary humans alike stopped their work and entered the barrier zone early.
The small barrier zone was packed. Sentinels crowded inside, looking out through the transparent shield.
On the wasteland, Shen Yu stood alone, sword in hand.
Shen Yu, the second young master of the Shen family, disliked firearms and was extremely skilled with the sword. He inherited the Shen family’s ancestral swordsmanship, and his teacher was none other than the Shen family patriarch, Shen Xingyun, known as the Sword Immortal.
The light vanished inch by inch.
In a corner, Chi Wan, exhausted from running around, panted as she looked at the ground before her.
[It stopped moving. Host, it’s really right here!]
“You mean to say there’s a weird underground creature drilling through the earth carrying the Purification Stone?”
Chi Wan questioned the System in her heart, but the hand holding the stone hesitated to smash down.
Smashing the ground for no reasonāno normal person would do that.
[Ay, that’s about the gist of it. But I can only sense the location of the Purification Stone. I’m not sure what’s underground either.]
Chi Wan decided to trust the System.
She raised the stone in her hand high. Just as she was about to smash it down, she heard the crowd behind her shouting excitedly:
“Itās dark! I see a lot of Specters. There must be at least a thousand!”
It was an SS-rank Sentinel speaking.
Sentinels below S-rank, however, couldn’t see a thing.
They only felt that despite the barrier’s protection, the mental pressure remained immense. It was like giant mountains crushing the breath out of them, or like massive hands stirring their Mental Landscapes.
Chi Wan looked up beyond the barrier.
That single glance shocked her to the core.
The Specters outside the barrier could no longer be described as just “a lot.”
Endless, massive high-level pollution Specters were packed densely together like a besieging army, making her scalp tingle. Many high-level Specters were even relentlessly ramming and attacking the barrier.
Judging by the volume, there were nearly ten thousand of them!
“There are too many high-level pollution Specters. Shen Yu might be in danger.”
She spoke urgently. The Sentinels of N9 Base looked at her nervously upon hearing this.
“Guide Chi Wan, are there more than a thousand Specters?”
Not only could they not see the Specters, but in the darkness, the pollution obscured everything, preventing them from even seeing their Commander’s figure.
Chi Wan nodded heavily. Just as she was about to speak, the optical computer of the lead Sentinel lit up.
Shen Yu’s calm voice transmitted from it:
“Ten thousand high-level Specters. There may be many pollution entities lurking nearby. Notify the main force to be ready to evacuate at any time.”
Now, the faces of all the Sentinels turned panicked.
What was the concept of ten thousand high-level Specters? Even a medium-sized Lost City district only had a little over a thousand high-level Specters in total.
“Will the Commander be okay?”
Although they asked, they were currently powerless.
For them, who couldn’t even see the high-level Specters, going out would undoubtedly be sending themselves to their deaths.
The lead Sentinel remained relatively calm.
“Stay calm. Don’t forget the Commander’s ability is Light.”
“Light-attribute abilities are the bane of Specters.”
“Go notify the others to prepare for evacuation first.”
“Roger.”
The Sentinels got busy. Chi Wan turned her head to look outside the barrier.
They couldn’t see.
But she could.
Amidst the layers of high-level Specters, a massive White Tiger wrapped in pale golden light lunged into the pile of pollution Specters, its tiger claws tearing violently alongside bites from its massive jaws.
And beneath the giant tiger, the young man in a white combat uniform wielded his long sword with sharp, free-spirited grace. The blade shone with brilliant golden light.
Among ten thousand pollution Specters.
One man, one tiger, and one sword fought like mad.
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