The floor of the Heroic Spirit Temple was littered with corpses, and only Gu Nan and Gu Zhaoyue walked forward slowly. Gu Nan stepped in the pool of blood but didn't create any splashes. This was because he'd wrapped shadows around himself—there was no deep meaning behind this; he simply didn't want to get his shoes dirty.
This was still a habit from back when Gu Nan played the game. The Evil God game's simulation was too realistic. Bloodstains wouldn't automatically disappear, so players had to find their own ways to deal with it.
Players were such contradictory creatures. On one hand, they reaped lives like they reaped the harvest, while on the other hand, they detested slaughter and bloodshed—they didn't simply pretend to go through the motions of disgust; they truly detested it.
Gu Nan walked out of the silence and came to a stop in front of the Heroic Spirit Mirror. Without another word, Gu Zhaoyue had already walked up to it and began to fiddle with it.
It wasn't much trouble to activate the mirror, but it cost quite a lot of resources. Even during the war, the mirror still couldn't be used frequently.
But Gu Nan didn't care. In any case, the mirror wasn't spending Gu Nan's money, and he also didn't care about money.
The Heroic Spirit Mirror quickly responded, and an image composed of countless lines gradually appeared in front of Gu Nan.
"My Lord, the moon thrall is indeed here!" Gu Zhaoyue exclaimed in surprise. He didn't expect for such a rare ancient Heroic Spirit like the moon thrall to actually appear in this world.
"Where is it?" Gu Nan didn't show any excitement and calmly asked. His goal was the moon thrall's child, not the moon thrall.
Gu Zhaoyue compared the mirror's patterns with a map and gave Gu Nan an address, but the latter frowned slightly.
Because he recognized this address. It was Lin Duo's No.4 High School in the capital…
'Why would the moon thrall appear in a high school?'
Just as Gu Nan's expression darkened slightly, Gu Zhaoyue's eyes widened as they stared at the Heroic Spirit Mirror. "My Lord… There isn't just one moon thrall… There's a lot of them…"
...
In the capital's No.4 High School, Lin Duo was walking on the school's field, holding hands with a boy and girl carved from jade.
The charm of the sun and moon spirits was too great. As a result, parading around the school while holding hands with these two porcelain dolls made a crowd of people surround Lin Duo, pestering her wherever she went.
Lin Duo's face was full of helplessness. She didn't expect this ending either, but these two little brats refused to stay at home no matter how she tried to convince them.
The sun spirit merely gave a pout and stared at Lin Duo with his big dark eyes, and Classmate Lin Duo immediately surrendered.
"Lin Duo! Who… Who are they?!" A shrill scream came from the rear. This was Tian Tian, Lin Duo's classmate and best friend. She was staring at Lin Duo's left and right sides, her eyes turning into hearts.
"They are my Heroic Spirits…" Lin Duo said weakly, having explained herself countless times.
"Ah? Isn't your Heroic Spirit that stiff-faced person?" Tian Tian was also in yesterday's classroom and naturally remembered the sensational King Level Heroic Spirit.
"Nonsense! Mr. Gu Nan isn't… Hmph, mind your own business!" Lin Duo wanted to defend her Heroic Spirit, but she could only let it go after some thought.
Tian Tian laughed, and Lin Duo became angry from embarrassment. She simply took the two porcelain dolls and walked away briskly.
Today was the opening of the Heroic Spirit Tournament. Although the official tournament wouldn't start until tomorrow, there was an opening ceremony and an exhibition match between two famous seniors today.
Tian Tian hurriedly ran up to apologize when she saw that Lin Duo was really annoyed, while the sun and moon spirits lagged behind them.
No one noticed that the two innocent-looking children were huddled together at this time, whispering about some appalling things.
"As expected, the Moon Thrall Calamity will originate from here," although the sun spirit had a cool expression, his indifferent tone lowered the surrounding temperature slightly.
The moon spirit, who often played the role of an ignorant loli, looked similarly indifferent. "This calamity is inevitable… We just need to protect our contractor."
The sun spirit nodded in silence.
Seeing him like this, the moon spirit's mouth raised slightly, and she recovered her usual charm. "When the time comes, I'll be in charge of killing enemies. I'll leave our contractor to you, Little Brother."
The sun spirit didn't remain silent this time. He glared back without hesitation. "I am your older brother!"
...
In the principal's office of No.4 High School, two uniformed police officers, a man and a woman, were standing in front of the principal.
"Principal Xue, we are members of the Special Incidents Team of the capital police department." The policewoman showed her ID to the principal and introduced herself, "My name is Jiang Xue, and this is my colleague Jiang Tian."
After checking the two's IDs, Principal Xue didn't doubt their identities but was a little confused. "Hello. Officers, what do you wish to investigate? Is there anything we need to cooperate with?"
Jiang Xue and Jiang Tian exchanged a glance, and Jiang Xue spoke up, "We want to secretly search all the research labs in the school."
"Research labs?" Principal Xue became more and more bewildered. It was impossible for high school laboratories like theirs to have any high-end research. How did they attract the police?
However, Jiang Xue answered with a deep voice, "Yes. We have received a report that some people are conducting highly dangerous Heroic Spirit research here."
...
In a research lab deep within No.4 High School, several staff members in white coats were running around quickly, transmitting experiment data to the center.
In the center of the laboratory was a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses. His head was slightly raised as he quietly studied the pod in front of him.
The pod was filled with light blue culture fluid that surrounded an odd-looking humanoid creature.
This creature was roughly as tall as ordinary humans, but it had sharp claws on its hands and no hair on its head. Only a pair of pointed ears grew on its bald head.
And there were fifty such pods in this modest-sized laboratory.
"Professor Tian, the 50th moon thrall is also in an active state, ready to be awakened at any time," a staff member stood beside Tian Yuan and reported in a low voice.
Professor Tian Yuan gently lifted his glasses and nodded. "Then let's start."
"Yes." The man clearly understood what he meant by "start" and immediately responded, turning around to give orders.
Tian Yuan's gaze never moved from the pod, quietly watching the moon thrall inside. An indescribable expression gradually appeared on his face.
Anticipation, longing, fanaticism…
With the operation of the laboratory staff, the 50 incubation pods lit up simultaneously. Under strong external stimulation, the moon thralls began to open their eyes one by one.
But before they could move, they were all pushed into a cramped secret room.
"It's been fifteen years. This day has finally arrived." Tian Yuan looked at the moon thralls who had fallen into a heap, and a strange smile appeared on his face.
"A child of the moon thrall—is there really such a thing in this world?" Tian Yuan murmured to himself.