57: Chapter 57 Nationwide Manhunt! Night Owl's Betrayal, Captain Jiang Becomes the Ultimate Frankenstein's Monster?
"Absurd!"
Saintess Lin Xinglan's anger flared. She slammed her golden scepter against the ground, sending a visible ripple of Holy Light exploding outward, splashing the pooled water on the floor.
She stared fixedly at Executive Jiang Xu, her voice cold and biting: "With the strongest Executive of the Great Xia present, would you allow a Strange Tales to recklessly destroy the absolute defense of the Sanctuary? You are incompetent yourselves; you failed to protect the node, and now you blame the Formation for not being strong enough!"
As the current Saintess, Saintess Lin Xinglan would never allow anyone to question the heritage of the Sanctuary.
"Then where were you?!"
A hoarse roar suddenly echoed through the empty pump room.
Ye Zhiwei took a sudden step forward.
This perpetually silent blind woman had her black blindfold already soaked through with blood.
She pointed at Saintess Lin Xinglan, her body trembling violently from extreme rage.
"When the Captain was facing that monster alone, where were you! When his ribs were broken, his entire left arm was completely crippled, and even his Soul was about to be crushed, where were you then?!" Ye Zhiwei's voice was nearly blood-curdling. "Now that everything has settled, you come out, stepping on clean ground, to point fingers? On what grounds!"
Saintess Lin Xinglan's Face turned livid. The Elders behind her all stepped forward, Holy Light flickering, ready to suppress them at the slightest disagreement.
Executive Jiang Xu suddenly took a step across.
His left hand, covered in dark gold bone spurs, grabbed Ye Zhiwei's shoulder extremely roughly, forcibly pulling her back half a meter.
"Enough. Shut up."
Executive Jiang Xu's voice was hoarse, filled with an irresistible chill.
Ye Zhiwei froze. She didn't understand why the Captain wanted to stop her, but the pressure of a superior forced her to swallow the rest of her words.
Executive Jiang Xu had his own sense of responsibility.
Failure was failure; failing to protect meant failing to protect.
The fact that others weren't here was no reason for him to shift the blame.
Ye Qingqiu and Su Qing, standing beside Chen Jianguo, exchanged a glance.
Both turned their heads simultaneously to look at the Sanctuary group opposite them.
Su Qing's brows, hidden beneath her owl mask, were knitted into a knot.
She had no affection for this group of white-robed charlatans; the humiliation of being ganged up on yesterday was still fresh in her mind.
Having her Face rejected by Ye Zhiwei, Saintess Lin Xinglan snorted coldly and haughtily raised her chin.
"Believe it or not, we at least protected the other two nodes." Saintess Lin Xinglan's gaze swept over Chen Jianguo and Ye Qingqiu, her tone carrying an undisguised mockery. "Besides, your Great Xia's Linhai City is truly full of hidden talent. Not only does it hide a top-tier wanted criminal like Bai Cang, but even the legendary Monster Hunter Night Owl, whom you are so proud of, turns out to be a member of the Salvation Society!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire scene fell into dead silence.
"Impossible!"
Su Qing was the first to bristle, blurting it out directly.
She took a fierce step forward, the power of shadows surging wildly around her: "That uncle is definitely not that kind of person!"
Su Qing's mind was filled with the image of Night Owl outside the quarry, slapping her into the ground for the sake of her brother. Although he didn't play by the rules, how could someone who could get so angry for an ordinary citizen be scum colluding with those world-destroying lunatics from the Salvation Society?
Saintess Lin Xinglan glanced sideways at Su Qing, a cold sneer curling her lips: "Are you qualified to question what I saw with my own eyes? Night Owl blocked my full-strength Holy Light Judgment for Bai Cang at the harbor. The two were acting like brothers, entrusting their backs to each other. If that's not an accomplice, what is?"
Su Qing froze in place.
She opened her mouth but couldn't find a reason to refute it.
Her eyes beneath the mask widened.
Night Owl was actually a member of the Salvation Society? This joke was too outrageous!
Executive Jiang Xu ignored Su Qing's shock.
He turned to look at Chen Jianguo, his tone extremely cold, as if he were issuing a mundane procurement list: "Chen Jianguo. Notify the whole country. Issue an S-class nationwide wanted order for the Monster Hunter Night Owl. If his whereabouts are discovered, no need to ask for instructions; execute him on the spot."
Chen Jianguo broke out in a cold sweat, immediately straightening his back: "Understood!"
Seeing Executive Jiang Xu issue the wanted order directly, Saintess Lin Xinglan's expression softened slightly.
Her gaze fell once again on the giant purple-black flesh web behind Executive Jiang Xu.
"The authorities can handle Night Owl's matter themselves." Saintess Lin Xinglan gripped her scepter. "But since Captain Jiang says our Formation is vulnerable, what about this Strange Tales that broke the Formation? Can the Great Xia's Firmament Squad not even contain a single descended beast?"
She wanted to regain some Face from Executive Jiang Xu.
However, Executive Jiang Xu gave her an unexpected answer.
"I failed."
Executive Jiang Xu gripped his dark gold spear, spitting out these three words extremely calmly.
No cover-up, no excuses.
"It wasn't a hard-fought battle; it was a one-sided crushing." Executive Jiang Xu looked directly into Saintess Lin Xinglan's incredulous eyes. "That monster didn't even fully manifest its true form and only used one move. Its power exceeds any level currently known to humanity."
Dead silence.
Inside the entire underground pump room, even breathing seemed to have stalled.
Su Qing swallowed. Her lips beneath the mask trembled slightly.
The Great Xia's strongest Executive, crushed in one move?
What level must that monster be?
Saintess Lin Xinglan's hand gripping the scepter tightened suddenly, her fingernails almost digging into the pure gold staff.
Even Lin Wanqing, who had been silent, had a flash of extremely profound horror in her eyes. She knew Executive Jiang Xu's strength too well: Peak S-rank, plus a sequence weapon—even facing a King-rank, he should be able to retreat unscathed, right?
"Captain Jiang."
Lin Wanqing stepped forward slowly.
Her disguised Face was shrouded in a soft halo, with golden threads faintly flowing in the depths of her eyes.
"The Psionic circuits in your body reveal the aura of the abyss."
Lin Wanqing's voice remained gentle, yet it carried an unquestionable determination. "To prevent you from being completely corrupted by the will of the abyss, I need to check your Psionic power."
"Don't touch the Captain!"
Ye Zhiwei stepped across, blocking in front of Executive Jiang Xu with her slender body. She had witnessed the strangeness of this monster and could never let the people of the Sanctuary take the opportunity to tamper with things.
"Let her check."
Executive Jiang Xu raised his right hand, pushing Ye Zhiwei aside.
He looked at the gentle-natured woman before him, a faint dark light flashing in his dark gold left eye.
"Trouble you, Former Saintess."
As soon as the words "Former Saintess" were spoken, the pump room exploded into chaos again.
Ye Qingqiu frowned deeply. The Sanctuary's Former Saintess, wasn't it rumored that she was already dead?
Su Qing even cursed inwardly.
This woman was actually the Former Saintess?
How many trump cards did the Sanctuary have hidden? At this rate, when would she ever be able to regain her Face from yesterday?
Lin Wanqing did not care about the vigilant gazes around her.
She extended her slender finger, lightly tapping on Executive Jiang Xu's left shoulder.
A point of golden light followed her fingertip, piercing into Executive Jiang Xu's meridians with extreme speed, heading straight for the Qi Sea.
The next second.
The gentleness on Lin Wanqing's Face vanished.
Her pupils contracted instantly, and an unprecedented sense of absurdity rushed to her head.
Deep within Executive Jiang Xu's Qi Sea, she did not see the broken scene of being swallowed by the power of the abyss that she had expected.
What she saw was an extremely terrifying, extremely perfect twin-fish vortex.
The ultimate rules of the abyss and the purest human Psionic power were operating in an endless cycle within Executive Jiang Xu's body in a state of absolute balance.
Rejection? Qi Deviation?
None whatsoever. That monster had actually used an extremely brutal method to nail the core rules belonging to a semi-King-rank Strange Tales onto this human's Soul, just like sewing clothes!
Lin Wanqing jerked her hand back, her footsteps involuntarily retreating half a step.
The golden light faded.
She looked at the man in the tattered trench coat before her, her eyes changed.
Shock, confusion, and even a hint of hidden fear.
Lin Wanqing took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her violently beating heart.
She suddenly laughed.
The laughter seemed extremely abrupt in the oppressive pump room, carrying a touch of absurd humor.
"There's nothing to be done." Lin Wanqing shook her head, looking at Saintess Lin Xinglan and Chen Jianguo. "I cannot purify him."
Before everyone could react to this statement, Lin Wanqing looked at Executive Jiang Xu again.
"Congratulations, Captain Jiang."
She said, enunciating every word with extreme clarity: "From today on, you are the only one in human history who has simultaneously mastered the Psionic Martial Artist and Awakened systems, and perfectly fused with the Strange Talk Sequence..."
"...hybrid monster."