Southern Ocean City, a tall building.
Creak.The door slowly opened, and Zhao Kongcheng walked in, looking dejected, sighing occasionally."Old Zhao, what's going on with you?"The five people sitting inside looked at Zhao Kongcheng with surprise."Did you get hurt last night?""Looking at your expression, it's more likely you got dumped...""Fuck, Old Zhao, is your wife leaving you?""Stop talking nonsense."The five of them made guesses one after another. After a long pause, Zhao Kongcheng sighed deeply."Am I really... that unattractive?""..."The five of them rolled their eyes in unison, pretending they didn't hear that, and continued with whatever they were doing. Some were sharpening knives, some were wiping guns, some were playing with their phones, and others were sleeping."No, I'm asking you seriously!" Zhao Kongcheng got anxious.Seeing that no one was responding, Hong Ying, who was wiping a gun, sighed. "Are you feeling down, Kongcheng?""Kind of," Zhao Kongcheng paused. "I met the owner of the Golden Forbidden Ruins last night."At this, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him with shining eyes."The guy suspected to be the agent of the Seraph?""Yeah.""Is he strong? Who is he?""You guys are overthinking it." Zhao Kongcheng shook his head. "He's just a normal high school student. That 'Klein' level energy fluctuation is probably just residual power left by the Seraph on him. He's still a newcomer who just stepped into the 'Light' realm."Hearing this, some of their eyes showed disappointment."We thought a 'Klein' level powerhouse had arrived in Southern Ocean City...""Though, if that extremely dangerous god really chose an agent and they reached 'Klein' level, the higher-ups would definitely know."A man sitting on the couch narrowed his eyes slightly. "No matter what, the Seraph choosing an agent and granting the Forbidden Ruins is a big deal. We need to report this to the higher-ups immediately.""By the way, Old Zhao, since you met him, where is he? You didn't bring him back?""He ran away..." Zhao Kongcheng said in a low voice. "He told me he was going to get his backpack and ran off while I was distracted.""..." Everyone was speechless.Just as they were about to start mocking him, the door to the room opened again.A man, still wearing a dark red cloak, walked in. Bloodstains were still on his face, and his steps were as heavy as if filled with lead.Seeing this man, everyone, including Zhao Kongcheng, immediately stood up."Captain!""Captain, are you okay?"The captain waved his hand, took off his bloodstained cloak, and sat down on a small stool by the door. There was an undeniable exhaustion in his expression."I'm fine, but... the Ghost Face King ran away."Everyone's expressions immediately became serious.The captain continued, "Last night, I chased the Ghost Face King to the suburbs to the north of the city and fought with it. It was severely injured. Later, it forcibly damaged its own essence to escape.""So you're saying, the Ghost Face King has likely escaped Southern Ocean City?""No, not necessarily," a man sitting on the couch suddenly spoke.Everyone turned to look at him, and the captain raised his eyebrows slightly. "Go ahead, Xiangnan."Wu Xiangnan slowly stood up, took out a map of Southern Ocean City and its surroundings, and spread it out on the ground."Southern Ocean City is quite remote, and the nearest city is dozens of kilometers away. Captain, you fought the Ghost Face King in the northern suburbs last night, and the nearest city there is still far away," Wu Xiangnan drew a circle on the map."So what?" Hong Ying asked, puzzled.At this point, the captain's eyes began to light up. "The Ghost Face King was severely injured, and before it recovers its strength, it won't be able to cross such a great distance."Wu Xiangnan continued, following the captain's lead. "The Ghost Face King can only recover its strength by eating people, meaning...""It will definitely return to Southern Ocean City?""Exactly."Zhao Kongcheng furrowed his brows slightly. "But Southern Ocean City is so big, we won't know where it will appear.""Underground tunnels," Wu Xiangnan pushed up his glasses and drew a curve with a red pen on the map. "The Ghost Face King loves to crawl through tunnels, and last time, it escaped through the underground tunnels. There's only one tunnel that connects to the northern suburbs, which means the place where the Ghost Face King appears could be anywhere along this tunnel.""Immediately send people to search along this tunnel. This time, we can't let it escape!" The captain's eyes flashed with coldness as he issued the order."Understood!""By the way, there's one more thing." Wu Xiangnan turned to Zhao Kongcheng. "We must bring back the Seraph's agent. His potential is enormous. We can't let him fall into the hands of the Ancient God Church! In some ways, this mission is even more important than dealing with the Ghost Face King!"Zhao Kongcheng stood up straight. "Leave it to me. I'll personally catch this kid!""He ran away, though. Can you still find him?" Hong Ying muttered softly."He was wearing a uniform from No. 2 High School. I'll be waiting for him at the school gate today. I don't believe I can't catch him!"A confident smile appeared on Zhao Kongcheng's face...."Bro, why aren't you going to school today?"Yang Jin looked at Lin Qiye, who wasn't wearing his uniform and didn't have his backpack, curiously."I have some things to take care of, so I'm not going today," Lin Qiye replied, putting on his shoes and opening the door. "Is Aunt still asleep?""She just got back an hour ago.""I see. I'll go to school later, and don't copy me.""Okay."Lin Qiye closed the door and silently took off the black satin from his eyes, putting it into his pocket.His eyes had returned to normal, but he hadn't told his aunt or Yang Jin yet. The reason was twofold: First, his aunt had worked the night shift last night, so they hadn't seen each other.Second, Lin Qiye had just received these eyes, and he still couldn't fully control the power within them. Sometimes, the golden light still flickered out from his eyes, though it wasn't very noticeable. But if his aunt saw it, she would definitely make him get them checked again, and that would waste money.He planned to wait until he could fully control the eyes before revealing the truth.But since he was already out, Lin Qiye didn't need to keep the black satin on anymore. It would attract too much attention.Taking out the sunglasses Yang Jin had bought for him, he put them on and walked towards the bus stop.After more than an hour of bumpy travel, Lin Qiye finally arrived at his destination.Sunshine Mental Hospital.The last time Lin Qiye came here was ten years ago.Over the past decade, a lot had changed. The hospital had undergone a major transformation. The old walls had been renovated, the gate was twice as wide as before, and two modern high-rise buildings replaced the original three-story structure. Even the six big characters of "Sunshine Mental Hospital" were now gilded and embossed!Standing at the entrance, Lin Qiye couldn't connect the modern hospital in front of him to the small building from his memories.The only thing that hadn't changed was probably the old man who guarded the gate.He was just a lot more hunched over, and his hair had turned gray.The old man seemed to spot Lin Qiye and squinted, lifting his right hand to point at him...Just when Lin Qiye thought the old man remembered him and was about to greet him, the old man shouted:"Hey, you silly kid over there! You're blocking the cars behind!"