The Silent Council

The incident at Hailu Port several years ago was a nightmare for everyone. Dozens of elites, cultivated by headquarters for many years, died inexplicably in that event. Even Qing Long himself nearly lost his life there.

Afterward, the few investigators who managed to escape with Qing Long became deranged, their mental state extremely poor. They suffered from severe aquaphobia, seemingly a hydro-control syndrome, not only daring not to bathe but also not daring to drink water. If not for headquarters staff closely monitoring them 24 hours a day, it's likely some would have died of thirst!

Headquarters' benefits were excellent; water purifiers and beverage dispensers were everywhere. One could reach for a glass of water on a table or walk a few steps to a bathroom and enjoy a warm shower. But in this very place, those investigators were like being in the middle of a desert, nearly dying of thirst, truly the most ridiculous thing in the world!

However, no one found it funny; everyone was terrified. What kind of fear could make these investigators suppress their survival instincts, preferring death over touching a cup of water on the table?

After the incident, a portion of those who had seen the intelligence began to discuss the Dragon God at Hailu Port, and the result was... a series of staff disappearances at headquarters. Through investigative measures, headquarters discovered that the missing individuals all shared a common characteristic: they had discussed the Hailu Port incident and directly named "Dragon God."

Those people all disappeared when alone, mostly at home, in their bedrooms or bathrooms. Headquarters found no traces of struggle but discovered lingering water marks. Among them, three staff members seemed to have vanished in their sleep. When headquarters personnel arrived to check, their beds were still disheveled, and on the bedsheets remained a wet, human-shaped water stain, eerily identical in size to themselves.

Regarding this, Qing Long said... those people had melted, they had turned into water. The human-shaped water stains on the beds and at the scenes were their "corpses."

Hearing this, everyone shivered. Such illogical occurrences they only encountered when facing anomalies; they never expected that in reality, merely mispronouncing two words could lead to instant death, and in such an absurd manner!

At this moment, everyone suddenly remembered that one could not casually invoke or insult the titles of deities, for deities would sense it. From then on, those who knew the inside story learned their lesson, never directly calling the titles of evil gods but using metaphors instead.

"In short, the Silent Council needs to be a key focus."

"If we could reconstruct the battle situation at that time, perhaps we could more accurately analyze the Silent Council's strength. Unfortunately, the scene was interfered with by that evil god."

Shenzhou Headquarters, with its profound background, naturally had many superhumans and anomalous relics that could help them reconstruct the scene, but when it came to the Huan Xi God, they were somewhat at a loss. Videos of the Huan Xi God were all contaminating; if superhumans directly used their abilities to "see" the Huan Xi God, they would likely immediately become fanatics, shouting "Long live the Huan Xi God!"

As for anomalous relics? Headquarters once had a brave individual who risked his life to borrow a level eight anomalous relic to peek at the Dragon God's situation. The result was that the precious level eight item exploded on the spot, and the brave individual was severely injured by the backlash and fell into a coma. Headquarters had to use a large amount of Spirit Mushroom Meat to pull him back from the brink of death. Unfortunately, one night he suddenly disappeared. When headquarters personnel discovered him, the TV in his living room was still playing a movie, but on the sofa, only a human-shaped water stain remained.

After suffering multiple losses, Shenzhou Headquarters personnel treated matters concerning evil gods with utmost caution, fearing they might inadvertently fall victim. However, this did not mean the Shenzhou Investigation Squad gave up. If direct recollection was impossible, they could use a workaround!

Ci Min, who escaped, was temporarily detained and interrogated by headquarters due to her father's connections. To atone for her mistakes, she voluntarily shared her memories. In addition, the memories of over thirty lucky surviving investigators were copied and collected by experts using the anomalous relic "Memory Projector 6-11" and brought back to Jingshi Headquarters.

Shenzhou Headquarters' memory projector was naturally much better than a level three brain-drawing pen. It could not only extract and copy memories but also project them onto a screen like a movie. If anyone wished, they could even enter the "movie" to substitute for a supporting role, personally experiencing the "plot," thereby discovering details that even the memory owner had missed.

However, the side effects of this projector were not small. You couldn't choose which supporting role you would substitute for. Substitution meant your real body would fall into a coma, while your consciousness would be uploaded to the supporting role's body in the "movie." If the supporting role was just an ordinary person without superhuman abilities, then even if you were a level nine powerhouse, you would only be an ordinary person within it. At the same time, because it was a memory, the "plot" could not be altered. If the supporting role you substituted for died in the "plot," your consciousness would also dissipate, and your body in the real world would become a vegetable.

Because the memories of that level nine anomaly were too dangerous, Shenzhou Headquarters did not allow anyone to risk entering but chose the normal movie-watching mode. Therefore, people like Hei Jing, Lan Ni, Tu Si Zi, and Wang Quan came into headquarters' view. A group of elites meticulously analyzed every frame, constantly taking notes in their notebooks.

In a small farmhouse courtyard near the foot of the mountain, Zhao Yan Chun held a large broom, sweeping away the snow accumulated from the previous night, her movements swift, not at all like someone who had been severely injured. This was the strength of healing-type superhumans. Thanks to her, Wang Quan's injuries had also fully healed. At this moment, Wang Quan held her phone, watering potted flowers with one hand according to instructions. Although the flowers had withered in winter, she still believed that if well cared for, they would bloom more beautifully next year.

Wang Quan, having been involved in the gray areas, naturally had many hiding places. She had asked someone else to buy this house under their name to take refuge, never expecting to end up here under these circumstances. Hu Kai Liang was in the kitchen preparing lunch. After Tang Nian Ke and the others died in battle, he remained silent for a long time. In the superhuman world, the death rate was inherently high; even if you didn't provoke anomalies, anomalies would find you.

Suddenly, an old bus quietly appeared in the courtyard. Lan Ni, the blue-eyed, green-haired girl, stepped out, holding a deformed dead cat. She handed a bloody piece of meat to Zhao Yan Chun: "Eat this. I'm providing it for free, no points needed. Don't worry, this isn't a superhuman core, but an anomalous core I just dug out from an unlucky anomaly!"

Zhao Yan Chun swallowed it, her face immediately turning pale, her aura fluctuating continuously between human and anomaly. A moment later, she stood up, drenched in sweat. She had advanced to level three, but still couldn't save Lan Ni's cat because healing abilities had no effect on corpses.

Lan Ni was disappointed, hugging the cold corpse: "How far along are things?"

Wang Quan stepped forward to report: "We have leads. As per Sister Tu's request, we've selected the three most suitable organizations: the Qing Lang Squad, the Lie Jin Group, and the E Tu Society."

Wang Quan suggested taking over the Lie Jin Group first because she knew the inside story; the new leader, Hong Zhun, was a coward. The Qing Lang Squad was more righteous and had a level eight powerhouse. The E Tu Society was the most vicious organization, and its leader might be level nine.

Lan Ni smiled sweetly: "Choose? Why choose? Only adults hesitate; children naturally want everything! The first target is the Lie Jin Group. Go investigate their recent situation."

After Lan Ni left, Wang Quan and Zhao Yan Chun discussed reviving the dead. Although they knew resurrection was hard to believe, it was their only hope. They also mentioned the Huan Xi Cult and the thousand-zhang twin-headed evil god that had appeared in Jiu An City.

At Shenzhou Headquarters, Grandma Xuan Wu—one of the four level nine powerhouses—had just finished a divination session regarding Ye Yu, a missing investigator. She said tiredly, "That girl is still alive, but I can't be sure. In the divination, I saw her both revived and carrying the shadow of death. Moreover, whenever I tried to divine about her or those three high-level superhumans, I saw a pair of cold eyes staring back at me. Three divinations, three confrontations..."