192: Chapter 192: Yamata no Ketsushin

On the coastal expressway leading from Jiangzhou to the East Sea Port.

A jet-black george patton SUV was speeding wildly through the night.

The twelve-cylinder engine erupted with a beast-like roar, crushing the standing water on the road into a sky-filling mist.

Driving the vehicle was Helena, who had changed into a tight black tactical leather suit.

Deputy Captain Chu Hongyan sat in the passenger seat, holding a military tactical tablet and gravely reviewing the real-time combat situation transmitted from the port front lines.

Meanwhile, in the spacious and luxurious rear compartment.

The vibe was starkly different from the tense, swords-drawn combat preparation atmosphere in the front.

Lin Ye leaned comfortably in the leather aviation seat.

Holding that specially made phone, he was relishly browsing the hot posts in the ‒Global Ghost-Seeing Exchange Center‒.

‒Tsk, the netizens nowadays really don't know how to behave. If you want to compliment someone, just do it properly. Why must you use sneaky methods like anonymous posting? It makes me look like some unspeakable underground dark mafia force.‒

Lin Ye swiped across the screen, looking at those wildly exaggerated posts, revealing an undisguised smugness.

He casually typed a line of text in the comment section: ‒The original poster is right, the boss of that Funeral Shop is indeed shockingly handsome, practically the Jiangzhou version of Daniel Wu himself.‒

Click send.

After finishing this shameless self-boasting, Lin Ye put down his phone, picked up a glass of iced sparkling wine from the small table beside him, and took a sip.

Leng Yue sat next to him on the left, holding a small white jade porcelain plate.

She was using a delicate small silver fork to feed peeled lychees one by one into Lin Ye's mouth.

‒If Husband likes hearing others praise you, tomorrow I will go capture those keyboard-tapping mortals and make them line up at the entrance of the Old Street to sing hymns for you. They won't be allowed to leave until they sing for three hours.‒ Leng Yue said in a calm tone.

‒No, no, no, how many years has the Qing Dynasty been dead? We need to stress being low-key and introverted.‒

Lin Ye hurriedly stopped this dangerous thought, and took the opportunity to hold Leng Yue's boneless, tender hand, squeezing it in his palm.

‒I want to eat lychees too!‒

Frost Star, sitting on the right, refused to let it go and burrowed into Lin Ye's arms like a nimble mermaid.

Without using a fork at all, she directly opened her mouth with cute little fangs, waiting eagerly to be fed.

Helpless, Lin Ye could only pinch a lychee himself and stuff it into her mouth.

...

Deputy Captain Chu Hongyan, sitting in the front passenger seat, took in this absurd and decadent scene through the rearview mirror.

This notoriously decisive female captain of The Ninth Bureau felt her chest churning with blood at this moment.

She clenched her back teeth tightly, forcibly suppressing the urge to draw her gun and riddle that pair of scumbags in the back with bullets.

‒Manager Lin!‒

Deputy Captain Chu Hongyan deepened her tone, attempting to attempt to pull the atmosphere in the carriage back on track.

‒We are currently going to execute a mission to intercept an ancient grand demon! On that amaterasu, there are at least several thousand flesh-and-blood puppets infected by demonic qi.‒

‒Can you have a little bit of a sense of tension? Don't act like you're going on a seaside vacation!‒

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow, lazily leaning back in his chair.

‒Captain Chu, you don't understand this. Fighting a war relies on foundation, and it's all about a sense of relaxation.‒

‒You guys at The Ninth Bureau keep a string taut every day, writing suicide notes and shouting slogans at every turn. This is called pre-war mental internal friction.‒

He pointed at the pitch-black night outside the window.

‒Besides, that bunch of little days from Sakura Country drove a boat all the way here to deliver a package to me. As the host of Jiangzhou, if I don't dress myself up a bit more handsomely, how can I live up to their 'deep affection' of crossing the ocean?‒

Deputy Captain Chu Hongyan was left speechless by his crooked logic and absurd theories.

She took a deep breath and handed the tablet in her hand to the back.

‒This is the thermal imaging map just transmitted back by the Skynet radar. The situation is even worse than we anticipated.‒

Lin Ye took the tablet, his gaze falling on the screen.

The image showed that the entire Number 3 Deep-water Wharf of the Jiangzhou Port had been completely shrouded by a dark red demonic fog.

That ‒amaterasu‒ was parked quietly at the berth like a dead giant steel whale.

The cruise ship's deck, bulkheads, and towering radar antennas were densely wrapped with countless thick, crimson, fleshy tentacles.

The surfaces of those tentacles were covered with human-face-sized suction cups, which were regularly contracting and expanding.

‒According to intelligence, this ship originally carried core members of the four major financial chaebols of Sakura Country, as well as a large number of escorting high-tier Onmyoji. They brought their family's centuries-old foundation and magical instruments, attempting to escape to Great Xia to seek refuge.‒

Deputy Captain Chu Hongyan pointed at those tentacles on the picture, her voice trembling slightly.

‒However, on the high seas, the remains of an ancient grand demon sealed at the bottom of Mount Fuji, the Yamata Blood Mirage, sneaked into the cabin.‒

‒It devoured the flesh, blood, and spiritual power of everyone on the entire ship, turning this vessel into a huge demonic monster lair.‒

‒Right now, several thousand workers at the port are all trapped in the demonic fog. The First and Second Squadrons of The Ninth Bureau have already launched three charges, but they were all beaten back by those tentacles and demonized puppets.‒

After listening to Deputy Captain Chu Hongyan's report, the carriage fell silent for a few seconds.

Frost Star suddenly sniffed, a fierce glint like that of a starving wolf erupting in her heterochromatic pupils.

‒Brother-in-law! This big long strip looks just like octopus tentacles! If we chop it off and make teppanyaki squid, or directly make sashimi and dip it in mustard to eat, it must be very chewy!‒

The Nether Empress's train of thought had always been simple and crude. In her world, all demons and ghosts were divided into only two kinds:

Delicious ones and not-so-delicious ones.

Lin Ye was amused by her and reached out to rub her twin tails.

‒Octopus tentacles are too rough and easily get stuck between teeth. However, that grand demon's demonic core is a heavily nourishing item, just right to take back as a snack for you and Leng Yue.‒

Lin Ye threw the tablet back to Deputy Captain Chu Hongyan.

‒Alright, Captain Chu, put your heart back in your stomach. It's just right that those little devils on this ship are all dead, saving us the trouble of processing their entry formalities.‒

‒As for the magical instruments, funds, and demonic cores they left behind, my Lins Funeral Shop will take them all in today.‒

‒Helena, slam the accelerator to the bottom. Laozi is going to the port to restock tonight.‒

‒Yes, Boss!‒

Helena slammed the accelerator down to the floor.

The SUV turned into a black flash, heading straight for the Jiangzhou Port...

Jiangzhou East Sea Port, the outer perimeter of Number 3 Deep-water Wharf.

Air raid sirens resounded through the clouds.

Dozens of heavy armored vehicles from The Ninth Bureau were linked end-to-end, constructing a steel defense line on the outer perimeter of the wharf.

The beams of searchlights intertwined in mid-air, attempting to pierce through that layer of viscous dark red demonic fog.

Deputy Director Gao Guoliang of The Ninth Bureau stood atop an armored command vehicle holding a megaphone, his eyes bloodshot from strain.

‒Firepower support company! Fire incendiary bombs in for me! We cannot let those demonic fogs continue to spread toward the urban area!‒

‒Armored Third Squadron, prepare the spiritual energy flamethrowers and charge in one more time! You must rescue the workers trapped in Warehouse Number 3!‒

The sound of gunfire and artillery roared at the scene.

Streaks of fire tongues spat out, driving special cinnabar incendiary bombs into that red mist.

However, those incendiary bombs, which were sufficient to burn ordinary zombies into ashes, were like clay oxen entering the sea the moment they contacted the demonic fog, raising only a wisp of faint white smoke before completely extinguishing.

‒Director! It won't work!‒

The roar of the special operations team captain came from the frontline walkie-talkie.

‒The tentacles on that ship are conscious! They are devouring our firepower! Less than thirty meters after the Second Squadron rushed in just now, the armored vehicle was overturned by tentacles drilling out from the ground. Brothers... Brothers can't hold on much longer!‒

Deputy Director Gao Guoliang punched the steel plate on the roof of the car, his knuckles bleeding profusely.

Great Xia's firepower was indeed fierce, but facing this kind of cross-dimensional remains of an ancient giant demon, the lethality of physical weapons had already been weakened.

Must they really deploy tactical nuclear weapons to flatten these several thousand innocent workers along with half the port?

Just as Deputy Director Gao Guoliang fell into a desperate choice.

‒Hum—!‒

On the road of the rear blockade line, a beast-like engine roar came.

A black SUV ignored the checkpoint set up by The Ninth Bureau, directly knocked away the roadblocks, and rushed into the frontline position.

‒Screech!‒

With a beautiful drifting tail-flick, the SUV stopped steadily beside Deputy Director Gao Guoliang's command vehicle.