Otherworldly Affairs Office

Pei Yan, situated in the vortex of the battlefield, couldn't imagine what kind of earth-shattering changes were occurring outside. He was experiencing his first true battle of life and death, where the forces were evenly matched.

Just after the Black-robed Man completed a series of bizarre and incomprehensible actions, the strange man injected with black water gradually rose from his stiff state and began to slowly crawl forward.

However, their subsequent actions baffled Pei Yan. After the injection of black water, there was a noticeable lack of reverence toward the Black-robed Man. Each one bared its claws and fangs, surrounding the Black-robed Man, with a couple daring ones even making motions as if they were about to attack.

Just as Pei Yan was wondering if the Black-robed Man had lost control over the creatures, he saw him slightly lift and clench the hand holding the black sphere. The group of strange men exchanged glances, uttered a series of gibberish sounds, and then reluctantly retreated and knelt on the ground once more.

Immediately after, the Black-robed Man swept his sleeve with his left hand, sending a cold wind from the wide sleeve, which instantly filled the entire ice pond space. As Shangxing shouted a warning to everyone to boost their internal defense levels against the cold wind, Pei Yan witnessed the icy hole, where he had previously fallen into the water, freeze over again in the blink of an eye.

At the moment the cold wind blew, the Black-robed Man tossed the black sphere into the air with his right hand, and it hung suspended above. He then straightened his arm, pointing directly at the investigators beside the pond.

"Pei Yan, Liang Qian! Gather the troops!" Shangxing shouted as he saw strange men rising and running towards him. Instantly, seven identical clones appeared around him.

Responding to the call, Pei Yan and Liang Qian stepped forward. Having already experienced fighting these creatures before, he decided not to hold back. He gritted his teeth, spread his legs, and steadied himself with his mechanical legs, which extended more than ten mechanical claws into the ground to secure his stance.

Then, aside from transforming his two arms into machine guns, Pei Yan's shoulders and back continuously surged with iron streams, quickly forming four additional Gatling guns. This was the most he could currently materialize. As soon as he finished, the six guns unleashed a torrent of bullets at the creatures charging up from the ice.

Meanwhile, Liang Qian stood at the pond's edge, lifting her arms. Red internal energy flowed like liquid, completely enveloping her arms.

Pei Yan glanced out of the corner of his eye to see what kind of attack Liang Qian would launch. Her arms swiftly moved backward, extending at the greatest angle in a blur, then clapped together with such speed that they left an afterimage. When her arms and palms collided, a flash erupted, and the red internal energy became a high-speed jet stream, instantly vaporizing to form red bubbles that hammered the ice surface.

"Pistol Shrimp!" The deafening explosion prevented Pei Yan from hearing Liang Qian's muttered words. At the moment the emitted red energy struck the ice surface before the creatures, it exploded, sending ice shards of various sizes flying and striking Pei Yan with a patter.

The creatures at the forefront, already battered by Pei Yan's relentless fire, were sent flying from the blow.

Yet, Pei Yan's joy was short-lived. Under his watch, the creatures that bore the brunt of the attacks stood up as if unaffected, their battered bodies swaying slightly.

What on earth are these creatures made of?! Even more shocking to Pei Yan was the ice beneath them. After Liang Qian's explosion revealed a deep pit, he realized that the Black-robed Man had casually frozen not only the pond's surface but the entire pond from top to bottom!

However, he had no time to marvel at the opponent's formidable power. Facing the regrouping creatures, he could only give his all to contribute to the team's efforts. His machine guns had not ceased firing since they began.

Under Pei Yan's frenzied barrage, the blue light on the fore-running creatures glimmered continually, gradually fading. Meanwhile, as the icy fragments dispersed, Liang Qian's right hand manifested a faint white internal energy alongside the red.

"Dust Explosion!" she declared, and with a wave of her hand, the white energy transformed into countless particles drifting into the air. As the ice fragments met these particles, they changed from being crystalline to particulate. Before long, a cloud of dust engulfed the creatures.

Liang Qian then snapped her fingers toward the dust, a speck of red energy diving into it!

Boom, boom! A mightier-than-ever explosion swept through the dust cloud. If not for Pei Yan's feet being anchored to the ground, he might have been blown away by the powerful shockwave. Even so, he swayed like a leaf on stormy seas, and to avoid friendly fire, he temporarily ceased his shooting.

When the remnants of the explosion diminished, Pei Yan's gaze toward Liang Qian changed! He finally understood why this usually gentle and adorable girl from Shanghai earned the nickname "Explosion." He gained newfound respect for Wang Wenze's courage—arguing at home might just get him overpowered!

After just a brief distraction, Pei Yan's eyes shifted back to the ice. With such an explosion, surely these creatures couldn't emerge unscathed!

Yet, as if on cue, from the lingering smoke emerged one, two, three dark silhouettes, leaping from the shrouded gloom. Despite repeated blockades, they had reached the pond's edge!

The rotating machine guns in Pei Yan's hands blazed again, all firepower focused on the leading creature, which was forced back by the powerful impact.

But then more creatures surged out. Pei Yan finally saw their current condition––Liang Qian's attack wasn't without effect. The creatures bore varying degrees of wounds, with the worst missing half a limb.

Unbothered by their injuries, the creatures, with no intention of letting their wounds heal, charged forward with claws swinging.

"Invulnerable!"

"Godly Possession!"

"Heavier than a Mountain!"

"Light as a Leaf"

Under Shangxing's leadership, the investigators awakened their special abilities. Wang Wenze shielded Liang Qian behind him, shouting the cry of godly possession. A green glow emerged from him, and the tall figure of Lord Guan, nine feet in height and with a red face, briefly flashed and entered his body.

Subsequently, Wang Wenze grabbed the air, and a Guan Dao materialized in his hands. With both hands gripping the blade, he leapt skyward, slashing down at the most severely injured creature.

Caught off guard, the creature raised its sole remaining arm to defend itself. Wrapped in green energy, the large blade cleaved from above. At the instant blade and arm met, the creature's arm emitted a blue protective array, which, weakened to the utmost, shattered on contact with the green blade. With a dull thud, the creature buckled under the force, its knees giving way. Amid the sounds of snapping bones and muscles tearing, the blade sliced into the creature's form.