Chapter Thirty-Seven: Action and Support

"What is it, Dujuan?" Seeing the woman pause, Crow turned his head back.

Dujuan displayed a red silk thread to Crow.

Crow raised his eyebrows slightly. "This thing... could it be..."

Dujuan nodded faintly. "It's what Falcon and I have been searching for all this time. We finally found it today... but I never expected it to be in the hands of someone from the Investigation Bureau."

Crow frowned deeply. "The Bureau has always been strict about the containment of 'Sealed Artifacts.' They shouldn't have brought it out specifically for the 'Blood Cherry Society'..."

Dujuan’s eyes flickered again. "That’s what I thought, too. I suspect that the item was never actually contained by the Bureau."

"Oh?" Wu Yan narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying... someone stumbled upon it and kept it for themselves?"

A curve formed at the corner of Dujuan’s mouth. "Nine times out of ten, that’s the case. If it were already in the Bureau's possession, we wouldn't stand a chance of taking it back, but if it was stolen by an individual, we might actually be able to recover it."

"Today is the perfect opportunity."

Crow smiled. "You should know that the Investigation Bureau is notoriously protective of its own. You must be careful if you plan to act. I have to deal with Ning Hongying alongside Li Xueshu and the others, so I can't help you. You’d better call Falcon over."

Dujuan snorted coldly. "That kid Falcon has other business and won't be able to make it in the short term. But it doesn't matter. I’ve already confirmed the target; the brat hasn't even reached the Third Realm yet. I don't know how he managed to suppress the power of a 'Sealed Artifact,' but it doesn't matter..."

"Even if he can unleash a portion of the artifact's power, it won't be difficult for me to take him down. I just need to make sure no one else notices..."

The whites of her eyes turned blood-red in an instant.

...

Half an hour later.

The operation officially began.

In the dark streets, Lin Lei licked his lips and hid silently in the shadows.

No one expected that the Blood Cherry Society’s lair would be located right in the DC District.

At this very moment, the surrounding area had been completely locked down.

The Purple Dragon Gang, under the jurisdiction of the Grim Reaper, was responsible for sealing off the perimeter and evacuating the local residents.

Meanwhile, the reserve members of the Investigation Department, led by various Source-Energy users, were pushing forward from all directions to hunt down the members of the Blood Cherry Society.

To facilitate his own movements, Lin Lei had declined Li Xueshu’s order to lead a squad, choosing instead to act as support, roaming around to provide aid where needed.

"There is only one Fourth Realm member in the Blood Cherry Society, and there might be a few in the Third Realm. Unless that Fourth Realm leader shows up in person, none of them will be a match for me..."

His eyes burned with focus, yet his body remained quietly hidden in the depths of the darkness, not exposing a single trace of his source energy.

At the same time, he used "Source-Energy Sensing" to detect fluctuations in the dark. Possessing this ability made him far more mobile than the average person.

Just then, a voice rang out urgently through the earpiece Lin Lei was wearing.

"On Changying Road, a Second Realm Blood Cherry Society source user has broken through the blockade and is heading toward Hanguang Road. Requesting nearby source users of the Second Realm or higher to assist in interception!"

The earpiece was connected to other Bureau agents via two channels: a local channel and a general channel. The general channel was for important tasks and was usually kept silent. If someone encountered an emergency, they would call for help from those nearby.

Lin Lei was currently on Hanguang Road. He picked up his PDA, glanced at the map, sensed the source energy fluctuations in the general direction, and in the blink of an eye, merged back into the darkness, heading toward Changying Road.

...

In the dark street.

A middle-aged man in a blood-colored robe and with a deathly pale complexion was sprinting barefoot through a dark alley. His eyes flashed with a bloody light, and his face was twisted in ferocity.

"Survive! I must survive!"

Just then, a black shadow appeared abruptly in front of him. The figure held a blade and slashed down at the rushing man.

*Sshh!*

The black blade glinted with a sharp, cold light under the crimson moonlight, slicing the man in half at the waist before he could even defend himself!

The blade cut through him as if slicing through tofu, meeting no resistance at all!

The man didn't die immediately. A look of shock and despair flashed across his face, instantly replaced by resentment and madness as he glared hatefully at the figure not far away.

"The 'Mother of Flesh' will not let you go!"

"Why do you Blood Cherry Society people always love to spout threats before you die?" Lin Lei sneered, stepped forward, and stomped down hard, crushing the man's head.

However, after the man died, his body began to squirm, turning into a disgusting mass of flesh in the blink of an eye, with tentacles spreading across it.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*

They shot toward Lin Lei repeatedly.

Lin Lei sneered and swung his blade, hacking the tentacles into shreds of meat. He then flipped his hand to produce a pistol-like device—the "Ghost Fire" flamethrower. To counter the Blood Cherry Society, every investigator involved in the operation carried one.

This person was a Second Realm source user; after transforming into a "Child of Flesh," he was far more dangerous than the First Realm one Lin Lei had encountered before.

However, Lin Lei was far stronger than he had been back then, so dealing with this higher-level Child of Flesh was actually even easier.

Soon, the Child of Flesh stopped twitching under the roaring ghost fire.

Lin Lei did not hesitate to activate his "Plunder."

As a Second Realm user, the man's gluttony energy consumption was much higher than that of a Second-Order demon ghost, but it only yielded about sixty units of gluttony energy. It seemed his "Gift" ability wasn't very powerful.

After plundering him, Lin Lei was left with barely three hundred units of gluttony energy.

"Two thousand units of gluttony energy, and it's already about to run out..." Lin Lei couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

After "Plunder," he gained an ability called "Blood Curse," which imbued his blood with a curse that could deepen wounds. How to put it? The ability wasn't particularly bad, but its practical use was indeed limited.

"The fanatics of the Blood Cherry Society I've encountered all seem to have abilities related to blood. This can't be a coincidence!"

For normal source users, abilities varied wildly after awakening. The high level of consistency among the Blood Cherry Society members was likely related to the "Mother of Flesh" they worshipped.

In fact, these people's abilities fit the name "Gift" much better.

Of course, Lin Lei also wondered if the fact that abilities were called "Gifts" meant that the reason source users gained extraordinary power was truly related to some powerful will or entity.

He shook his head.

Suddenly, he heard a roar in the distance; it sounded like an explosion.

He raised an eyebrow slightly and leaped effortlessly onto a low-rise building nearby. In the distance, flames shot into the sky, burning fiercely. At the same time, Lin Lei could feel terrifying source energy fluctuations emanating from the direction of the explosion.

"To be felt from this far away, the source energy levels of both sides must be at the Fourth Realm or higher... Could it be that the leader of the Blood Cherry Society has been discovered?"

He licked his lips but had no intention of going to provide support.

After all, he was still only in the Second Realm. While he believed that few in the Third Realm could match his combat power, the Fourth Realm was a different story. Moreover, since they were clearly fighting others, there would be no kills for him to pick up even if he went. It was pointless.

He was better off quietly making his own fortune.

As the explosions and roars continued over there, Lin Lei suddenly turned his head to look in the other direction. He had sensed a burst of source energy fluctuations breaking out not far away.

The overall intensity of the fluctuations wasn't particularly high—not comparable to the place where the fire was rising—but the volume of the fluctuations was immense!

Lin Lei frowned and moved toward that direction at high speed. As he advanced, he heard the plea for help echoing in his ears again.

"Large-scale demon conversion ritual discovered at Guanghui Square! A large number of low-level half-demons have appeared, with up to Third-Order half-demons! Requesting support, requesting support!"

Along with the anxious voice, the sounds of gunfire and screams rang out.