Otherworldly Affairs Office

After dinner and a soak in the bath, Pei Yan lay on the bed with a tablet, video chatting with friends in the hall. Seeing Pei Yan's current state was reasonably good, everyone's mind relaxed, and after a brief introduction to the training that could be discussed, Pei Yan asked about the situation in the hall: "How's the captain? Already discharged, right!"

"Discharged, but as soon as he was discharged, he was sent to carry out a task. Sigh! You have no idea after being gone for a month, everything's a mess now!" Upon hearing Pei Yan's question, Wang Wenze's previously smiling face gradually disappeared, replaced by a troubled expression.

Pei Yan asked in surprise, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Ye Jiumu, sitting beside Wang Wenze, leaned over and countered, "Do you still remember Song Mingyuan's case from a month ago?"

"Yes, I do! Wasn't he arrested? Didn't they say there were people from the Magic Realm controlling him? I even did a screening for this before my training. What went wrong?" Upon hearing Song Mingyuan's name, Pei Yan's heart sank instantly. How could he forget? He came for this special training because of him. Did something happen?

Wang Wenze sighed, "It's those two individuals you found that had issues!"

"Did I find the wrong people?"

"No, those two were indeed border crossers from the Magic Realm; the problem is that the Magic Department underestimated their strength. Sigh!"

Wang Wenze pursed his lips regretfully, "You can't really call it underestimation, considering that for those two, the Magic Department mobilized two squads, twenty-six people, but couldn't subdue them. The moment they met, an intense battle ensued, resulting in seven fatalities, including a squad leader, and multiple serious injuries. The middle-aged man exploded to death, and the young man was seriously injured and fled."

"That serious?" Upon receiving the news, Pei Yan was also quite shocked, recalling the figures of those two in the video. He hadn't expected them to be so formidable.

Ye Jiumu interjected through gritted teeth, "And that's not all. Misfortunes never come singly! During the hall's intensified manpower efforts to capture the young fugitive, the Divine Desire Min Mountain incident occurred; four days ago, a group of armed drug traffickers just crossed the border and engaged in battle with the border military police waiting there, resulting in the entire military police squadron perishing. It was later confirmed that this armed drug trafficking team consisted entirely of superhumans, all awakened to below third-tier powers."

"Though superhumans have involvement in crime in the past, this organized attack on national law enforcement is unprecedented! The occurrence of these two cases outraged the authorities, demanding the immediate formation of a special task force to clear the masterminds behind these cases as swiftly as possible, avenging the fallen martyrs! Currently, the entire hall is focused on these two cases."

After ending the video call that night, Pei Yan lay on his bamboo bed, unable to calm his mind, thinking about the recent events in the hall. Besides feeling anger and grief for the fallen colleagues, he also felt a bit excited internally. He couldn't wait to merge Song Mingyuan's abilities and reenter the fray. He found himself increasingly fond of this thrilling lifestyle; returning to a mundane life would be more unbearable than dying.

Shortly after Pei Yan's conversation with Wang Wenze, within a small city near China's southern border.

An SUV slowly drove into the city. In the back seat sat a young man dressed in local attire, cradling a large water pipe, happily watching the nighttime scenery outside the window.

"Boss, are you sure you'll use this appearance to attend the organization's internal conference?" Zhi Rou, seated in the passenger seat, turned to look at Su Xiang in the back seat and asked. At the moment, "Su Xiang" was nothing like his sickly self at the base; the youthful body gave him more vigor and sunshine.

The speaker was Pei Yan's counterpart on the night of the essence outburst, the burly man conversing with Su Xiang at the Divine Desire Min Mountain secret base; who would expect a man whose muscles were almost stretching his shirt to breaking would be nicknamed Zhi Rou?

The young man didn't turn his head, continued looking zestfully out the window, and replied casually, "What's wrong with this look? Does using an old decrepit body seem dignified? Let's treat this as a tour; fighting all day is so exhausting."

"This time, the organization's internal gathering isn't at a neutral place but was chosen by Han Lihu on his turf. What is he up to? Does he really think causing a big incident at the border gives him leverage over us? The upper management actually agreed; who knows what they're thinking!" Shanhe, another confidant driving Su Xiang, expressed discontent.

The youth withdrew his gaze from the window, bowed low, and inhaled the water pipe deeply. As the gurgling sounded, he exhaled smoke from his mouth and nose within the car's smoky interior, saying meaningfully, "How do you know this isn't an arrangement by the organization?"

Soon after, the car slowed down in front of a nightclub. Upon parking and disembarking, Shanhe looked up at the sign above the nightclub entrance, which clumsily twisted the large characters "Nine Immortals Island" in small seal script, sneering, "Pretentious."

Upon pushing open the nightclub doors, deafening sound waves greeted them. Under Shanhe and Zhi Rou's escort, the young man was brought to a booth and seated.

The youth watched the loud crowd in the dance floor with interest. Bodies full of youthful vigor twisted to the rhythm of the music. In dim corners, drunken girls were taken by sleazy old men, and others whispered to apparent minors, selling something.

Upon seeing a burly man pushing through the crowd with bodyguards heading towards him, the youth's brow furrowed as he leaned down and took another puff from the water pipe.

The burly man sat heavily across from the young man in the booth, arrogantly looking at the youth with a sneer, "Hum, Su Xiang, you're still so cowardly, aren't you ever going to show up in person for everyone to see? Don't always be like a turtle hiding in its shell."

Shanhe, standing beside the youth, stepped forward and admonished, "Han Lihu, mind your words; Su Xiang is still the head of the southwest district. Even you are under his jurisdiction."

Han Lihu extended a hand to restrain his excited bodyguards and raised his neck to smirk at Shanhe, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, "He won't be for long, Shanhe; I see potential in you. Don't align yourself with the wrong team."

This time, Su Xiang, who was smoking, raised his head and blew smoke in Han Lihu's face, blandly asking, "Is everyone here?"

Sprayed in the face with smoke, Han Lihu almost lost his temper but recalled something, arrested mid-action, then sat back down, swore, "That bunch on top never arrived earlier than us. Most of the heads from other districts are here."

"Then lead me to the venue." With that, Su Xiang rose and strode out without looking back. After a few steps, he turned back to gaze at Han Jinhua, still sitting in the booth, glaring at him, and asked with a smile: "Didn't you hear me?"