Chapter 64: Monster Modification Gang?
Ox Master is renowned for his great strength, skewering one Abyssal Monster with each thrust of the steel fork in his hand without a sound.
Master Ma’s methods are relatively milder, but not by much; sometimes he uses the Mystic Eye for Transcendence on Abyssal Monsters, sometimes he directly stabs with a shot, purely depending on his mood.
Over a dozen Abyssal Monsters in the vicinity were cleanly dealt with by Ox-Head and Horse-Face in no time, successfully promoting Master Ma to Two-Star.
Now looking over at Du Yifan and the other two.
Du Yifan easily took down three Abyssal Monsters relying on the Soul Devouring Ghost King, while the Fat and Skinny Duo had only just finished off two Abyssal Monsters.
It could only be said that without comparison, there is no harm.
“What a pity we couldn’t join the Ghost King Club.”
The Fat and Skinny Duo regretfully mocked themselves, their eyes full of envy.
“No harm done, it’s just the first batch,” Du Yifan comforted. “As the club develops later, there will definitely be more recruitment.”
Hearing this, the Fat and Skinny Duo rekindled their fighting spirit.
Then, under Wu Xian’s lead, they swept through all the way.
Wherever they went, Abyssal Monsters had nowhere to hide.
And while the crowd of Painted Spirits were clearing out Abyssal Monsters, Wu Xian vaguely sensed something off.
These seemingly ordinary Second and Third Order small Abyssal Monsters all seemed to contain a bit of rare Spirituality.
It must be known that rare Spirituality only appears on some special individuals or Elite Monsters.
Yet the Abyssal Monsters in Rat Alley District right now were all common small monsters typical of the Abyssal Dimension.
This made Wu Xian involuntarily think back to the three Insectoid Monsters he had casually taken care of earlier in Rat Alley District, which also seemed to have rare Spirituality within them.
At the time, he thought it was because the Mother Insect that nurtured them was special.
Now it seemed that it probably wasn’t that simple.
Or rather, these so-called “Dimensional Leaks” recently weren’t simple.
Most importantly, Du Yifan and the other two were also examining the Yin Souls left behind after the Abyssal Monsters died, each frowning deeply, seemingly thoughtful.
“These Abyssal Monsters seem a bit abnormal. Do you know something?” Wu Xian asked gravely.
“Uh,” Du Yifan and the other two were awkwardly stunned, looking at each other, “You’ve noticed it too?”
“What’s going on?” Wu Xian said seriously.
“We’re not entirely clear on the specifics either,” Du Yifan said thoughtfully. “It’s just that the Research Institute side instructed us to hand over any monsters with abnormal Spirituality to them for research.”
“Research Institute?”
“Yeah,” Du Yifan nodded. “We don’t have the qualification to know exactly what they’re researching, but from our observations, the Dimensional Monsters leaking in recently are indeed off—they’re clearly stronger than normal monsters.”
Wu Xian was thoughtful; asking further probably wouldn’t yield anything.
They continued clearing Abyssal Monsters in Rat Alley District.
Unknowingly, they arrived near Tattoo Brother’s small clinic.
From afar, they saw Zhang Mazi and a few henchmen guarding the clinic entrance, with Tattoo Brother cautiously poking out his shiny bald head from the door, looking terrified.
Upon sensing Abyssal Monsters approaching, Zhang Mazi and the others immediately activated their Spiritual Power, turning into human fighting machines.
Zhang Mazi had now advanced to Tier 4 Spiritual Power, and the tattoo patterns on his arm had become clearly visible; he grabbed a Yin Soul Abyssal Monster barehanded like picking up a chick and smashed it into the ground.
This scene left Wu Xian and Du Yifan and the other two stunned.
“Whoa, isn’t that the fierce brother we met last time?” the short fat team member said in surprise.
“You’ve met Zhang Mazi?” Wu Xian was surprised.
Du Yifan nodded and explained, “We ran into that brother during the Dimensional Mirage before. He fought back and forth with the mirage monsters purely on Spiritual Power Cultivation, protecting the surrounding neighbors very well, though he wasn’t too keen on dealing with us.”
“Whoa, he just took out the Abyssal Monster like that?” the tall skinny youth exclaimed in shock. “Even the battle fiends in the barracks aren’t much better than that, right?”
“How did this brother train to get like this?”
As the three marveled, Zhang Mazi and the others also spotted them.
Wu Xian’s side directed Ox-Head and Horse-Face to enter the fray, forcefully clearing the surrounding Abyssal Monsters.
“Yo~ Brother Gongming?” Tattoo Brother enthusiastically leaned out, his gaze drawn to Ox-Head and Horse-Face. “Are these two Painted Spirits your new works?”
“Yeah,” Wu Xian nodded with a smile. “How’s Tattoo Brother doing with his recent studies?”
“Feels like it’s still a bit off,” Tattoo Brother Lin Yang awkwardly scratched his head. “I keep unconsciously veering off in my drawing, but weirdly, I’ve made pretty good progress in tattoos.”
“…”
Wu Xian was amused and helpless.
Maybe this guy was just born with talent for “Human Scroll Painting Art.”
Moreover, art style and drawing habits are like a person’s handwriting—once a personal style forms, it’s hard to change.
“How’d Brother Wu end up with the Defense Team?” Zhang Mazi asked with a strange expression.
Ever since learning from Tattoo Brother that Wu Xian was a Scroll Painter, Zhang Mazi’s attitude toward him had clearly become much more respectful.
“Just happened to pass by and lend a hand.” Wu Xian smiled.
“Lend a hand?” Zhang Mazi’s expression was odd; he seemed very resistant and wary of the Defense Team. “As long as they don’t scam you, it’s fine.”
“Brother, we don’t like hearing that,” the short fat youth got a bit heated. “Do you have some misunderstanding about our Defense Team?”
“Misunderstanding?” Zhang Mazi sneered. “Does your Defense Team even need misunderstanding?”
A henchman nearby grunted in agreement: “In my view, this Dimensional Leak was caused by you guys!”
“Isn’t that slandering good people?” the tall skinny youth said emotionally.
“Alright, everyone say less.”
Du Yifan hurriedly smoothed things over.
Though he really didn’t want to admit it, their Defense Team’s reputation in Rat Alley wasn’t great.
Those old team members strutted around Rat Alley District, bullying men and women, which they didn’t approve of either.
For instance, this wave of Dimensional Leak was accidentally discovered by a few old team members while whoring around in Rat Alley, and one of them died miserably.
“At least these three young officers are pretty sincere.”
Wu Xian also knew the Defense Team’s reputation wasn’t good, but Du Yifan and these three young people were pretty decent.
Seeing Wu Xian speak up, both sides finally quieted down.
“Protect Tattoo Brother well; we’re off to handle things first.”
After bidding farewell to Tattoo Brother and the others, he continued leading Du Yifan and the trio to clear Abyssal Monsters.
Rat Alley District wasn’t huge, but not small either; it was just that the people and buildings were too densely packed, making cleanup troublesome.
Unknowingly, Master Ma was the first to promote to Two and a Half Stars, and the range of the Yin-Yang Dharma Eye had expanded quite a bit.
Along the way, they encountered some scattered Defense Team members, who were dazzled by Ox-Head and Horse-Face’s formidable performance and all joined the team.
“This is pretty much cleaned up already?”
Seeing they were about to sweep the entire Rat Alley District, the Defense Team crowd felt like they were dreaming.
“Thank you so much, young comrade!”
An old team member excitedly shook hands with Wu Xian to express thanks.
“No need to be polite; just doing a good deed along the way.”
As they spoke, Wu Xian and Du Yifan’s phones both rang with message notifications.
Pulling out their phones, it was a message from the club group:
President of Beauty and Wisdom: “@everyone, just got news from the Association: a Abyssal Dimension Leak event in San Zai Gang’s Rat Alley District. Our Ghost King Club is perfectly suited for this—everyone hurry over to provide support.
This is undoubtedly a great chance to boost the club’s reputation and Reputation, and also show the public the power of Ghost King Scroll Paintings.
Oh right, keep an eye out for the on-site media and get in front of the cameras more.”
Zhou Qi（ Special Contract Scroll Painter）: “Rat Alley District? Got it, heading out now.”
Xue Qingyang: “Little aunt, rest assured, mission guaranteed~!”
Seeing the club members responding one after another, Wu Xian and Du Yifan hurriedly chimed in.
Wu Xian（ Vice President）: “Uh, no need anymore. I’m with Du Yifan right here.”
Du Yifan: “Vice President is too fierce; we’ve pretty much handled the situation here.”
Li Xiangyang: “Huh? Real or fake?”
Du Yifan: “Why would we lie? Mainly, our Vice President’s new works are super strong—one use of the talent skill and nearby Abyssal Monsters have nowhere to hide.”
With that, he turned on the camera, took a group photo with Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and sent it to the group.
This sparked a wave of excited discussion among the club members.
President of Beauty and Wisdom: “Good Disciple did well. Is there media on site? Don’t forget to promote our club. If media interviews you, remember to have the Soul Devouring Ghost King stand next to you—best to get some close-ups from the media.”
“…” Wu Xian was amused and helpless, silently sending: “Got it.”
After putting away his phone, he turned to Du Yifan: “Leave the follow-up media interviews to you.”
“Uh, Vice President doesn’t want to be on TV?”
“I’m not good with words and have no interest in TV.”
“Alright then.”
Amid the joking chit-chat, a middle-aged man in his fifties wearing a senior Defense Team uniform walked over. “Weren’t you told to clear Abyssal Monsters? What’s this?”
Upon learning the Abyssal Monsters had been completely cleared, the middle-aged man was stunned for a good while.
Du Yifan and the other two took turns praising Wu Xian to the skies.
“Captain Wang, this is our Ghost King Club’s Vice President, Wu Xian—President Wu, and also our President’s disciple.” Du Yifan eagerly introduced him to Captain Wang.
“As expected of Master Scroll Painter, young and promising~!”
Captain Wang solemnly thanked Wu Xian and took a strong interest in Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
“Officer flatters me,” Wu Xian smiled modestly, then casually probed: “How’s the leak point situation?”
“The Research Institute people have taken over; we can’t get involved afterward.”
“From my observation, these leaked Abyssal Monsters seem abnormal,” Wu Xian pressed. “Is there something wrong with that leak point?”
Hearing this, a strange glint flashed in Captain Wang’s eyes.
But thinking it over, it was normal for a Scroll Painter to notice this anomaly.
“Master Scroll Painter has sharp eyes. The monsters appearing in the city recently do have issues,” Captain Wang said thoughtfully. “Very likely artificially modified, and this leak point today indeed shows signs of human intervention.”
“Modified?” Wu Xian was shocked. “Monsters can be modified?”
“I’m not clear on that; the Research Institute has been deeply researching it.”
Wu Xian inwardly clicked his tongue. “Did you catch anyone?”
“They ran off long ago,” Captain Wang sighed helplessly. “But from my judgment, it’s definitely not just one or two people—most likely an organization or gang.”
Du Yifan and the others couldn’t help but speak up. “Key question: what’s the point of modifying monsters? What’s the goal?”
“Who knows?” Captain Wang shook his head. “Yesterday, Mine Area No. 7 mysteriously depleted, like it was haunted. I even suspect these two incidents are the work of the same group.”
Hearing this, Wu Xian felt inwardly awkward.
