Chapter 118 The True Form Descends, Blood River Plumes Down, Hundreds of Ghosts Bow Down, Feet Trample Corpses...

The system prompted: [Did the host not carefully examine the [Erosion of Authority] skill effect?]

It only answered the last question, smoothly bypassing the issue of the connection between the apartment cracks and the [Dead Zone Invasion].

Hearing what the system said, Zhou Fangdong opened the Evil God Disguise interface to take a look.

The skill descriptions were like instruction manuals for him; he would glance at them after acquiring the skills, learn how to use them, and then never look at them again.

In Zhou Fangdong's memory, the [Erosion of Authority] skill had always been a support/buff skill... such as reducing the randomness of [Disguised Evil God's Descent], being able to select the descent location through evil god rituals and main god dungeons, and eliminating the ghost coins consumed by [Modifying Oracle], etc.

After devouring the remains of the ancient gods and the cores of those evil gods, the progress of [Eroding Authority] has now reached 60%.

The newly added ability allows the [Disguised Evil God Descends] skill to be deployed into the Main God Dungeon via the [Main God Dungeon Map].

Zhou Fangdong opened the skill description and examined it carefully.

As if afraid he wouldn't see it, the system highlighted two sentences on the skill effect of [Eroding Authority].

[...devouring the evil god's faith and incense offerings in the native world, eroding the evil god's authority, taking its place, and completely preventing the evil god's power from growing in the native world]

[Devouring the core of an evil god's avatar allows for faster erosion of the evil god's authority, granting priority in responding to rituals.]

[Once the erosion of authority exceeds 50%, the host no longer needs to use [Disguised Evil God Descends]]

As the system's electronic voice sounded, Zhou Fangdong could detect a sense of eager anticipation in that cold, mechanical tone.

[What evil god's domain, what mirror world, what cultists... Host, this is clearly your domain, your mirror world, and the believers who have been deceived by false gods and are doing evil against your will!]

[Now it's clear who the true god is and who the false god is! Host, it's time for your true form to descend and clean house!]

"So, in other words, I've stolen... I've eroded the authority until now, and my power is strong enough to directly confront the original master?" Zhou Fangdong scratched his head and muttered under his breath, "Why does this evil god's power require absolute control, just like running a company..."

How can taking back what's ours be considered stealing? The evil god is the real thief, stealing power and swindling people!

"Yes, you're right, Master. So how do I use the [Erosion Authority] skill to descend in true form?"

The system's booming electronic voice suddenly dropped, becoming low and eerily silent, like a demon's whisper:

[Host, all tenants are extensions of your power...]

Just as the ghosts in the room can protect tenants with the room key, you, the host, can also protect the tenants who have signed a rental agreement with you through the rental contract.

When a tenant asks for your help... to be precise, you can briefly appear at any tenant's location whenever you want.

Zhou Fangdong nodded, then asked another question: "Is it okay to use [Dead Zone Invasion] immediately after landing? I remember that skill effect seems a bit dangerous."

[The host's body repair progress has reached 90%, and he can almost fully control this skill. After use, he can adjust the diffusion of Yin energy himself.]

With the system's guarantee, Zhou Fangdong was completely relieved.

"Let me see where my two tenants are now..."

*

After receiving the alert about the incident at the Supervisory Bureau Hospital, Hong Zhong rushed to the vicinity of the hospital as quickly as possible.

For such major accidents, there is no need to return to the supervisory bureau; personnel can go directly to the accident area and accept assignments on-site.

At this moment, Hong Zhong was truly grateful that he was a tenant of Liwan Apartment and could use the ghost bus.

Ever since the ghost bus got an extra driver, it's become much smarter. Hearing Hong Zhong's anxious tone, I slammed on the gas, taking him from the suburbs to the Supervisory Bureau Hospital in fifteen minutes.

The area around the Inspection Bureau Hospital had been cordoned off. When Hong Zhong arrived at the hospital, the head of the Operations Department and the head of the Research Department had already arrived with their teams. They had been in a meeting at the Inspection Bureau, and packing up equipment and researching plans had taken some time.

Hong Zhong looked at the location where the hospital used to be, inside the cordon, his expression grave.

The hospital building vanished into thin air, leaving only an empty space.

The head of the research department looked at the instrument in his hand and said in a deep voice, "The paranormal fluctuations here are similar to those collected from the missing citizens in the last case. Those citizens said they were chosen by the main god to participate in a dungeon in the mirror world. The sudden disappearance of the hospital is very likely related to the mirror world."

"So, is this incident because the main god has sent down another instance?"

“No, it has nothing to do with the main god. It’s very likely the Heirs of the Bone Society.” The head of the research department rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a hand made up of densely packed mechanical parts with a small display screen displaying green characters.

"Not only did I detect the supernatural fluctuations in the mirror world, but my left hand also detected the energy fluctuations of the summoning ritual used by that group of cultists. The evil god clone they summoned caused a very serious accident. In order to monitor it at all times, I modified this arm. I can be quite certain that there is the aura of an evil god clone in this space."

It's an old tradition for people in the research department to like modifying their own bodies, so everyone present was used to it and focused their attention on the bone-setting association he mentioned.

The head of operations nodded. "So it was the cultists who used unknown forces to drag the hospital into the mirror world? No wonder we haven't been able to find any of those cultists lately; they've all hidden in the mirror world."

After saying that, he turned to the investigator beside him and said, "Adjust the rescue plan and switch to equipment specifically designed for the Heirs of the Bone Society."

"The good news is that I can still connect to the protective equipment in the hospital, so the hospital should not have completely entered the mirror world."

The head of the research department snatched the equipment from an investigator and began putting it on himself while talking. This equipment was all developed by the research department, and he could put it on much faster than the investigators.

“I’ll go in with you this time too. The core protective measures inside the hospital need to be manually operated to be activated, which you wouldn’t understand. My team and I will operate the facilities simultaneously from inside and outside, which will allow us to bring the hospital back to reality more quickly.”

The Minister of Operations did not object, but tacitly adjusted the operation plan, assigning an investigator specifically to protect the Minister of Research.

After everything was ready, the two ministers personally led the team to the open space in front of the hospital.

Soon, their figures also began to become transparent.

*

Inside a hospital, caught between reality and a mirror image.

After separating from the doctor, Su Wan and Yin Xi constantly used mirrors to travel between the mirror world and reality in order to escape the pursuit of ghosts.

Yin Xi underestimated the allure of her blood; even with the help of the ghost granny, the ghosts continued to appear in droves.

The old woman's power, being wielded through a key, was neither as fast nor as strong as her physical presence. The speed at which the ghosts appeared quickly outpaced the old woman's cleanup efforts.

Fortunately, the ghost in Su Wan's room also made a move.

Just as the ghost was about to harm the two girls, Su Wan's short hair grew rapidly, weaving into a large black net in front of them, which strangled the escaped ghost.

As the two retreated to avoid the ghosts, they accidentally bumped into a mirror and entered the mirror world.

Then the two girls discovered that the ghosts moved through the mirrors much slower than they could, so they came up with the idea of ​​using the mirrors to escape their pursuit.

Because of severe malnutrition, Yin Xi's muscles atrophied, and her ankles were rubbed by shackles for a long time, causing her to limp when running.

Seeing that she was completely exhausted, Su Wan simply carried her on her back.

Su Wan, a timid girl who was initially paralyzed with fear at the sight of the Shadow Ghost, has become able to remain calm and composed even when faced with the most terrifying ghosts after wave of attacks.

As they fled, when they returned to the hospital through the mirror once again, Su Wan and Yin Xi were surprised to find that the exit of the mirror was actually the top floor of the hospital.

Previously, the mirror exits were always in the same room as reality; this is the first time a random exit has appeared.

Could it be that because they used the mirrors so frequently, the person who dragged the hospital into the mirror world discovered their actions and deliberately brought them to the top floor, a place without mirrors?

Both girls immediately felt a very bad premonition.

Just then, clumps of dark, mud-like substance, like shadows that had come to life, seeped out from the ground and walls.

At the same time that the black sludge appeared, a group of people suddenly appeared on the top floor.

This group of people was fully equipped and maintained a strict formation. Most of them were strong and tall, and they were clearly professional combat personnel. This group was the inspection team personally led by the two ministers.

However, when they realized they were inside a net of over a dozen evil god clones, everyone's expression changed.

...They underestimated just how insane the person who made the Supervisory Bureau Hospital disappear into thin air was.

Have those lunatics from the Bone Inheritance Society gone completely insane? How did they manage to summon so many evil god clones at the same time? There haven't been any supernatural events causing large-scale casualties recently, so where did they get so many sacrifices for their summoning ritual?

It's no wonder the inspectors are so nervous. An out-of-control evil god clone once caused thousands of casualties. They paid a heavy price to destroy that clone, and there are more than a dozen of them here now.

The Minister of Operations, with a grave expression, said in a cold voice, "Gentlemen, be prepared to sacrifice yourselves. We must save the Minister of Research and send him out no matter what."

"yes!"

The battle was about to break out when, just as the first clump of mud rose up, preparing to devour the investigator closest to it, a sudden change occurred.

Everyone felt the earth shaking violently; the entire building seemed to be shaking wildly, and the evil god's clone, which had just raised its body, was thrown directly against the wall next to it.

A terrifying crack suddenly tore open the sky above the hospital.

The sky, shrouded in an eerie red light, was like a fragile sheet of paper, with the enormous, endless gap seemingly dividing the entire sky.

Inside the crack, an even more terrifying crimson churned.

Unlike the unknown, plastic-looking bright red light that enveloped the hospital building, the blood in the cracks was deeper and more substantial, as if it were the blood flowing inside the body of some giant.

After the crack appeared, the entire space fell silent for several seconds, and everyone present involuntarily held their breath.

They all had a premonition of what might happen next.

Then, just as they had foreseen, the sky broke.

A raging river of blood burst forth from the enormous wound that stretched across the sky.

The artery of the entire sky was severed, and a river of blood poured down, shrouding the entire building in a deeper crimson.

The suffocating feeling of being swallowed by blood that I had imagined did not occur. The river of blood seemed to be an invisible thing that ordinary people could not touch.

Amidst this crimson scene, everyone on the hospital's top floor could clearly see what was floating and sinking in the blood river with the surging flow of blood—countless vengeful ghosts like silt!

Their appearance is ferocious and terrifying, but there is no fierce light in their eyes. Their expressions are numb and submissive, as if they really consider themselves as grains of sand in a river.

These vengeful spirits carried a huge shrine, flowing out of the crevice along the cascading river of blood.

The enormous shrine vanished abruptly after leaving the gap, replaced by a figure dressed in black.

The person hovered in mid-air, above the river of blood.

His appearance was somewhat blurred in the bloody light, but his lowered eyes were crystal clear.

The moment I met those dark, lifeless eyes, it felt like falling into a bottomless abyss.

Those eyes don't reflect any images; they're like black holes that devour everything. Not only can no light survive in that darkness, but when you look into their eyes, all your emotions are drawn away, leaving you in a strange calm.

He lowered his eyes and looked down at the dozen or so clumps of dark mud below.

The evil god's clones, which had been writhing wildly just moments before, were now all lying obediently and calmly on the ground, like ordinary shadows that wouldn't move.

In a suffocating silence, the black figure that the shrine had transformed into slowly descended from mid-air along the cascading river of blood.

The vengeful spirits in the river of blood, as if they had just lifted up a shrine, raised their hands respectfully and bowed their heads humbly.

The man in black seemed to be stepping on stairs, stepping on the hands of those ferocious ghosts, and walked step by step from the air to the top floor of the hospital, where he stood in front of everyone.

Only then did those on the top floor see clearly what the person who had descended upon the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood looked like.

The face that emerged from the blood-red light was delicate and handsome, but its pale skin gave it an almost frail appearance. This overly gentle appearance contrasted sharply with the terrifying scene of a hundred ghosts descending upon it, creating a surreal sense of disharmony.

He stood before everyone, with the stiff, evil god clone behind him and the blank-faced inspectors in front of him.

The vengeful spirits that had fallen from the river of blood all prostrated themselves at his feet, while the evil god's clones, any one of which could cause serious casualties, trembled like quails, not daring to move.

Life and death, redemption and destruction, were strangely unified in him at this moment.

He is both calamity and protection; he is the source of despair and fear, and also the god who bestows hope.

Among the group of people on the top floor with mixed feelings, only three tenants of Liwan Apartments breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

...His appearance was just in time; who can understand the sense of security that comes with the landlord's presence?

The people on the hospital's rooftop all recognized the man in black who had suddenly appeared—he was the landlord of Liwan Apartments.

Since the Penghu Homestead incident, when the landlord of Liwan Apartment first appeared, although it was impossible to photograph his face, the forensic artist in the Control Bureau still drew a portrait of him based on the description of the investigators present.

Afterwards, the portrait of the landlord of the Liwan Apartments was stored on the phones of all the investigators.

Now that we have actually seen the portrait of the person in person, and in such a shocking way, everyone feels a sense of unreality, as if they are dreaming.

I knew the situation at Liwan Apartments was strange, and I also knew that the landlord of Liwan Apartments was very powerful, but I never expected that he could go to such lengths.

...Dragging the fallen hospital building back to reality and suppressing the evil god's clone was as easy as breathing for him.

Yes, as the landlord of Liwan Apartments appeared on the hospital's rooftop, the hospital building, which had been dragged into a red void, slowly returned to reality.

The ghosts that appeared in the mirror inside the building were also disappearing rapidly, but in their place came fierce ghosts emerging from the river of blood.

Even after returning to reality, the enormous crack in the sky above the hospital did not disappear, and the river of blood flowing from the crack still shrouded the hospital building.

The Supervisory Bureau Hospital returned to reality in this bizarre state, appearing in the sight of everyone in Linjiang City.