After nightfall, the abandoned Yunhua City looked even more desolate.
Under the moonlight, the crumbling ruins looked like tombstones, engraved with the city’s former glory.
A slender figure appeared before a supply warehouse. The person kicked open the locked warehouse door, sending up a large cloud of dust.
This type of supply warehouse was built by North Star at the same time as the underground shelters. The purpose was to allow each shelter to transport supplies from nearby during sudden disasters, avoiding a situation where help is too far away to be of any use.
In the early stages of the "Earth Dragon Flipping Over" rule, the government organized the evacuation of coastal city personnel. Due to the tight schedule, they only had enough time to get the people out. There was no time to take the vast amount of supplies, so it was all left behind to be buried with the city.
There weren’t many supply warehouses as well-preserved as this one in Yunhua City. Most had collapsed after the severe earthquake or were destroyed by the subsequent tsunami.
The one before her was one such surviving supply warehouse.
Inside the warehouse were various daily necessities, including a large amount of food and water with extra-long shelf lives.
"There should be some all-metal cans here."
The person who kicked open the door muttered as they hurried inside. They scanned the food section and found several large wooden crates that had been nailed shut. Opening them revealed they were packed full of tin cans.
"Perfect!"
Her eyes lit up as she reached out and picked up a can to inspect it. Then, her movements paused, and without warning, she violently threw the can in her hand toward the doorway!
CLANG!
The can was blocked by a rising shadow and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
The woman stood up warily and looked at the person who had appeared at the warehouse entrance.
The latter’s figure was mostly shrouded in shadow, with only the hem of a trench coat fluttering gently in the night breeze.
"Who are you?" she questioned, secretly readying her personal item.
Guan Tong took a few steps forward, his upper body emerging from the shadows.
"You must be Wei Huo. I’ve been looking for you for a long time."
Hearing the name "Wei Huo," the woman’s pupils suddenly contracted. She hissed in a low, hurried voice, "Damn you, Han Qiu! You sold me out?!"
’Han Qiu?’
Guan Tong caught the name with his sharp hearing and immediately made his move, intending to subdue her first.
Multiple shadows under his control surged from around Wei Huo, attempting to bind her. However, they were all repelled a moment before making contact, blocked by a Psychic Power defense item.
"Shadow!"
Seeing the shadows, Wei Huo immediately confirmed Guan Tong’s identity. She gritted her teeth and said, "Right, Shadow found me! How should I know what’s going on?!"
Guan Tong could tell Wei Huo was using some kind of item to communicate with someone. He immediately urged his shadows to continue their attack, aiming to drain her defensive power and end the fight quickly.
Wei Huo, in turn, took out her weapon—a mirror that resembled one used for makeup.
She aimed the mirror at Guan Tong. "Look at this!"
Even though Guan Tong didn’t look at the mirror’s surface, he still felt a mental fluctuation, followed by a warm sensation spreading from the palm of his right hand.
His own "Mental Stability Anchor" totem was on his right hand. Its reaction meant that Wei Huo was using some kind of mental attack. This made him realize that Suzuki’s "suicide" was likely caused by this same kind of mental influence.
At that moment, while using her own item, she also pulled a Teleportation Item from her storage space and said, "I know, I’m pulling out now!"
"Pulling out? Did you ask for my permission?"
Hearing Guan Tong’s voice, Wei Huo’s face filled with shock. Her Illusion Mirror item could put its target in a trance for at least one or two minutes, leaving them unable to recover. ’Even if my opponent is Shadow, it shouldn’t have worn off this quickly!’
She subconsciously looked up at Guan Tong, but the moment their eyes met, she felt a jolt run through her entire body. A sharp pain erupted from within her brain, as if her consciousness was being forcefully ripped from her body.
Before she could even scream, she found herself in a bizarre, red space.
"This is... My body! Where did my body go?!"
Wei Huo discovered in horror that when she looked down, she couldn’t see her own body. It was as if only her consciousness existed in this space.
Immediately after, small red dots appeared before her eyes. They expanded rapidly, transforming into the terrifying scenes from the depths of her heart and engulfing her.
"No...!!!"
Time in the Consciousness Space was not synchronized with the real world.
When she came to her senses, she found herself limp on the ground, drenched in sweat. Her muscles were still spasming and aching from the overwhelming fear.
Before she could recover, several shadows wrapped around her arms and legs, immobilizing her.
Guan Tong walked over and looked down at her. "Your item’s ability is related to the mind. How does it feel to be on the receiving end of a mental attack? If you don’t want to suffer anymore, answer my questions honestly."
"What was that just now..." Wei Huo gasped for breath a few times before lifting her head to look at Guan Tong in terror. "Crimson Fear! It must be Crimson Fear! You killed the Demon Race and took their power?!"
News that "Shadow" had eliminated the demons and ended the seventeenth rule prematurely had already spread online, sparking a great deal of public outcry against him. Although Wei Huo had been in hiding during this time, she wasn’t cut off from the world and had learned about it online.
Connecting the identity of the person before her with what she had just experienced in that bizarre Consciousness Space, she naturally guessed that it was the power of Crimson Fear!
"I’m not a patient man, and I don’t want to waste time with small talk," Guan Tong said. "Who are you, did you kill Suzuki, who are your accomplices, and what is your goal? Tell me everything, down to the last detail. If you don’t, I’ll make you relive that space of fear until you die."