The chilling truth unfolded like an unrelenting storm.
"Those evil spirits are not native to Xuan Huang Xing. They come from the Ghost Realm—a place where such creatures thrive. If my assumptions are correct, those spirits have escaped from there," Bai Yingxue declared, her frosty tone betraying no emotion.
"Spirits from the Ghost Realm?" a curious voice interjected. "Chief, you seem well-versed in this. Have you encountered them before?"
"Of course," Bai Yingxue replied, her gaze sharp and distant. "Once, a small, temporary space tunnel appeared elsewhere, releasing just two or three evil spirits. Even so, they devastated an entire small town, claiming thousands of lives."
Her voice held a haunting calm as she continued, "Despite dispatching hundreds of agents from the Special Affairs Bureau, we suffered catastrophic losses—more than half of our people either killed or gravely injured. Many were my friends."
Her recounting was devoid of theatrics, yet every word bore the weight of untold horror.
"In the end," she added, "it took every ounce of my strength, awakening the full power of my bloodline, to kill those three spirits. And even then, the cost was unimaginable."
The room fell into stunned silence, her tale settling like a cold shroud over everyone present.
"Three spirits… caused such devastation?" A younger agent's voice trembled, his face pale as his mind struggled to fathom the reality before him. "But now… there are hundreds of thousands. If they're heading for the sealed city at such speed, what chance do we have? Even evacuation would be impossible."
His voice cracked under the weight of his own imagination—visions of countless evil spirits tearing through the city, leaving nothing but carnage in their wake. He pictured streets littered with the dead, a place where even the brave dared not tread.
"You're not wrong," Bai Yingxue said bluntly, her voice as cold as her demeanor. "Let me be clear: the central command has deemed the sealed city lost. There will be no reinforcements. None. Any rescue attempt would only result in more meaningless deaths. The sealed city has been abandoned."
The weight of her words crushed the faint flicker of hope lingering in the room. Some clenched their fists, others averted their eyes, their breaths shallow as they wrestled with the harsh truth.
"If any of you wish to leave, now is your chance. Flee while you can," she said. "But know this: once the evil spirits reach the city, there will be no escape."
The stark reality hung over them like a guillotine, the silence punctuated only by the faint trembling of those unprepared for the nightmare ahead.