141 Trump Card

Evening.

Shu Nan received a somewhat unexpected piece of news.

Sanya was not an ordinary person; she was even connected to the Golden Spiral organization and to himself. To put it bluntly, Sanya should call him uncle.

She was the daughter of the former leader of the Golden Spiral organization. Kaixiu, the original owner of Shu Nan's current body, had once held Sanya in his arms. However, as time passed, everything had changed, and neither of them remembered the other clearly.

What piqued Shu Nan's interest in the matter was this:

The current leader of the Golden Spiral organization, White Smoke, seemed to be Sanya's sister-in-law, though Sanya refused to acknowledge it. Shu Nan knew that all the members of the original Golden Spiral organization were dead, including Sanya's older brother, the heir.

A simple relationship chart formed in his mind.

Originally, the Golden Spiral organization was thriving. Sanya's brother, Baiya, was the organization's heir, and Baiya was in a romantic relationship with White Smoke. But for some reason, the Relic Organization launched a campaign of slaughter against the Golden Spiral organization.

All the original members of the organization died, including Baiya.

Yet White Smoke miraculously survived and awakened an immensely powerful superpower, the Dead Space. Using the name of the Golden Spiral organization, she built a faction to oppose the Holy Flame Society.

She was secretly plotting to take revenge on the Relic Organization.

Meanwhile, outside the Golden Spiral organization, Sanya—who had always been kept in the dark about her family's inner secrets—luckily escaped the disaster. Since all her family members and elders had perished, Sanya cautiously concealed her identity and secretly investigated the truth behind the incident.

Perhaps misunderstandings or disputes arose between the two parties during the investigation, which was why their relationship was not on good terms.

For the entire night,

Sanya, whom Shu Nan had casually brought back, kept arguing in White Smoke's office, while many senior executives chose to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

It was not until close to dawn that White Smoke seemed to have unleashed her ability once. A moment later, Sanya walked out looking utterly haggard, clutching her chest and sobbing.

White Smoke also walked out with slightly red-rimmed eyes and arranged accommodations for both herself and Sanya.

It was clearly perceptible that

the lingering hostility between the two sides was gradually dissolving.

In the Pale Laboratory, inside an alloy-sealed chamber.

Shu Nan absorbed the last bit of evolutionary points from the Mask of Despair and placed it aside. On the tabletop lay three counterfeit Death Masks.

The Mask of Despair, the Mask of Malevolence, and the Mask of Fury.

The effect of the Mask of Despair was quite simple, somewhat similar to the Mask of Fury. It could stimulate the fear emotions of intelligent beings within a certain range and produce an illusion that felt both real and false, lasting until the victim fell into utter despair.

Shu Nan glanced at the culture dish not far away.

Inside it were the bronze bone fragments capable of nurturing the miraculous creature, the Daughter of Calamity. The effects of the two were somewhat alike.

Both brought despair and fear to people...

"Beep!"

The alarm clock on the desk rang.

Shu Nan raised his head and glanced at it; it was exactly twelve o'clock.

He stood up and walked over to a metal instrument.

This instrument was a metal drum-shaped object, about the diameter of two adult men and roughly three and a half meters tall.

There was a platform beneath the instrument, and Shu Nan quickly stepped onto it. Instantly, a series of mechanical operations began inside the instrument.

A metal syringe mechanism extended from within.

Shu Nan clicked the button to adjust it.

He cranked everything up to the maximum.

Then he reached out his hand, lowered all defenses to the minimum, and had his wrist locked by a clamp-like tool.

"Click, click, click..."

Having found the precise position, the syringe sharply contracted inward.

Then, with a whoosh, it darted forward!

Clang!

A clear white dot was left on his skin.

Shu Nan pressed the button several times in succession.

The alloy steel needle finally pierced the skin.

Jets of blood were rapidly drawn out.

A moment later, the steel needle retracted with a snapping sound. It was clearly visible that its sharp contour had almost been worn smooth.

Shu Nan broke free from the clamp and withdrew his hand.

The puncture hole instantly returned to its original state.

Except that patch of skin was slightly paler.

Having too strong a defense also had its drawbacks; now, drawing blood from himself required a great deal of effort. Specially customized alloy blood-drawing equipment was not cheap.

"Beep!"

Shu Nan pressed a switch.

The metal instrument quickly started operating.

The sound of liquid churning could be heard from within.

A moment later, the red light on top turned green.

Shu Nan turned and walked over to the metal culture dish.

He flipped the switch.

Immediately, a pipe connected to the interior of the culture dish released its restriction, and a gush of glowing blue liquid poured in. The air was instantly filled with a pungent odor.

The pungent odor faintly carried a bloody tang.

He pressed the switch again.

The rubber hose connected to the gas stabilizer clicked shut.

Pale red mist slowly settled.

Above the metal culture dish, the glass cover lowered.

The red mist, blue liquid, and bronze tiles seemed to be undergoing some kind of reaction—slow, but steady.

Half an hour later, the glass cover opened again.

Shu Nan peered inside. A piece of bronze tile was wedged in the base, emitting a faint, moist glow.

Upon closer observation, one could see that many blood vessels seemed to have appeared on the tile, looking somewhat like runic circuits.

These blood vessels occupied about half the surface area of the tile.

"Not enough yet, let's continue."

Shu Nan pondered for a moment and put the cover back on.

Early the next morning, the sky was clear. Cotton-white clouds drifted with the wind, swaying like falling leaves.

With a soft puff,

the laboratory doors opened.

Shu Nan walked out, looking completely unwearied, followed by a petite figure.

This person was enveloped in a black cloak, making it impossible to see their face or guess their gender, carrying a mysterious air for no apparent reason.

The laboratory staff cast glances over from time to time.

It wasn't until Shu Nan left with the robed figure that the researchers erupted into discussion. Some said the Knight had fought in the sealed chamber for a day and a night, some said that was the boss's secret weapon, and others claimed the person was actually a witch.

Opinions varied, with all sorts of rumors spreading.

On the mountain villa, in the understated yet luxurious living room.

Shu Nan sat at the long table eating breakfast, while the robed figure stood behind him. To his left were two witches wearing black and white striped maid uniforms, occasionally sweeping glances his way.

Sunlight streamed into the living room through the luxurious floor-to-ceiling windows.

Having just finished breakfast, Shu Nan received a phone call.

"Alright, I understand."

He put down his phone and wiped his mouth with a wet wipe.

"I shouldn't be returning to the villa for the next two days..."

The two beautiful witches on the side nodded and made a mental note.

Five minutes later.

Shu Nan straightened his overcoat in front of the mirror and reached out to tuck the teardrop-shaped pendant around his neck into his clothes.

"Let's finish all the tasks in one go tonight..."

He left the villa with the robed figure.

Nilodo, West District, Dennett Stadium.

This was a circular stadium with a large playground area, and the open-air dome offered a view of the azure sky.

Right now, at least several hundred people had gathered here.

"Hn, the momentum looks good."

In the seats, the mask looked at the personnel below and spoke.

"Can you stop talking to me with this flashy face? If all else fails, you can change to a pretty woman's face; I could actually barely accept that..." Shu Nan said coldly.

Whether it was because of the great battle half a month ago or not, the mask had directly turned its face into the appearance of polished gold. It had a head of golden hair like a lion's mane, matched with a majestic and angular face.

When they first gathered and met at the stadium,

Shu Nan had almost thrown a punch at that face on the mask.

He had thought that Polished Gold had recovered and come looking for trouble.

"Alright." The mask gently pressed against its face.

Instantly, it switched to the face of a muscular bro.

It looked at least seventy percent like Platinum.

"To be honest, Platinum would definitely beat you up if he saw that..."

Shu Nan shook his head.

"It's fine, he's in the East District."

The mask wore a completely fearless expression.

Today was the very day predicted for the miraculous creature to appear in Toronto (now Nilodo), at midnight. It could appear anywhere in the city.

Therefore, the Golden Spiral organization decisively split its forces into four directions.

The main team leaders were respectively: leader White Smoke, Boxing King Haimeng, Platinum, and Knight Shu Nan. These four possessed the strongest combat power, each commanding a combat force of several hundred people.

The other senior council members were scattered along the four borders; the Golden Spiral organization had deployed its entire force with no one left behind at headquarters.

Accompanying Shu Nan's side was the mask.

Similarly, the other two supernatural factions—the Ice Bird Sanctuary and the Lust Club—each had their own strongholds. Their subordinate forces had also dispersed just like the Golden Spiral organization.

The Holy Flame Society was probably doing much the same.

As evening approached, the people in each stronghold would have to disperse further, distributing themselves across the city streets at regular intervals.

By then, a fierce melee was bound to take place.

This time was different from half a month ago.

Back then, the Holy Flame Society was overly aggressive, pushing the three major factions back step by step. Thus, the three parties shared a bitter hatred of the enemy and inflicted massive losses on the Holy Flame Society in that battle.

Now, first of all, the Holy Flame Society had been weakened.

The three major factions would not cling together as tightly as before; they would inevitably harbor their own agendas.

Moreover, there was only one miraculous creature, the Night-Stalking Crow, and whichever faction obtained it would face a siege from the others. Thus, this battle was destined to be a melee.

However, the leaders of the three factions had reached a brief verbal agreement: if the Holy Flame Society obtained the Night-Stalking Crow first, the three of them must cooperate wholeheartedly.

They would drive the Holy Flame Society away before fighting over ownership rights.

Such was the general situation in Nilodo right now.

"It's two in the afternoon now, you can take a nap..."

Shu Nan glanced sideways at the mask.

He seemed somewhat listless, constantly in a state of absent-mindedness and occasionally yawning.

"No need." The mask massaged his forehead and shook his head.

"Oh, right, Knight. I've recently been busy with work over at the Red Deer Antique Company. According to professional detective investigations, we've already made some headway..."

"What did you find?" Shu Nan's interest was piqued.

After acquiring the three masks of Despair, Malevolence, and Fury, he had developed an even stronger interest in the Death Mask and the remaining five counterfeits. It was not just because of the evolutionary points attached to the masks, but also their inherent abilities.

The three counterfeits Shu Nan had obtained all possessed bizarre powers capable of influencing human emotions, and the principles behind these items were more mysterious than runes. The only other thing that gave Shu Nan this kind of occult feeling was the Ninefold Thorn Flower Rune.

The mask pondered for a moment, then said, "The company retrieved a mask yesterday and captured a member of the thieves. They are currently interrogating him. The guy is tight-lipped, so we haven't gotten anything out of him yet..."

"Hmm." Shu Nan nodded thoughtfully.

Being able to capture someone was already a considerable progress; as for prying open that person's mouth, there were plenty of methods. Shu Nan could even accomplish it himself using the mask.

"When this matter is over, I'll go with you to check out Red Deer." Shu Nan stood up and walked down the steps.

Clouds rolled and unrolled, and the sky gradually darkened.

A thin line of orange-red fire slowly burned along the underside of the cloud layer, and the better part of the sun had already dipped below the horizon.

In the stadium, densely packed members of the Golden Spiral organization stood ready; they had rested for most of the day. Now, with full bellies and alcohol, their energy was at its peak.

"The combat plans have already been distributed to each squad captain, nothing more to say, let's move out..."

Shu Nan gently waved his hand.

In an instant, the hundreds of people broke down into smaller units, dividing into five-man combat squads heading in all directions of the West District.

Meanwhile, Shu Nan, the mask, and some liaison personnel remained at the stadium. They needed to assess the situation in various locations to issue orders and coordinate with headquarters.

In the main hall, the lights on the ceiling were exceptionally bright.

Over a dozen clerical staff members wearing the uniform of the Golden Spiral organization were pacing back and forth, the noise somewhat bustling.

All around the walls, display screens lit up. Some were monitors showing the conditions of various roads. Others were covert devices carried by squad captains, which could record frontline situations and alter established tactics accordingly.

"Squad C7! Two five-man teams from the Holy Flame Society are heading in your direction, watch their movements..."

A communications officer spoke rapidly while holding intelligence reports.

"Squad B2, watch your rear! A team from the Ice Bird Sanctuary has appeared around Rundak Square..."

"Mask-大人, Squad C10 has suffered casualties. One dead, one wounded, the opponents are the Holy Flame Society. Squad B3 is two hundred meters away on Wenlang Street, should we call them for support..."

A female member walked over and asked.

"Send quick reinforcement, remember to bring the wounded back."

The mask issued orders with a stern expression, while Shu Nan sat on the sofa drinking tea. In the heat of battle, he would not involve himself in such brain-taxing decision-making tasks.

Another two hours passed.

The mask sat down beside Shu Nan, sweating profusely.

"The battle hasn't even fully broken out yet, and it's already this chaotic. Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night..."

He took a dry-throated sip of tea.

"Five, four, three..."

Shu Nan suddenly started counting down.

"Damn, I forgot to check the time."

The mask slapped his forehead and quickly looked at his watch.

"Two, one, zero!"

The moment his voice fell, Shu Nan instantly appeared on the rooftop.

Whoosh...

Layers of purplish-red ripples rolled outward, continuous and endless like tidal sea waves.

Even the pristine moon in the sky was dyed red.

The massive phenomenon directly enveloped most of the city district.

Some citizens picked up their mobile phones and frantically filmed it.

Shu Nan turned his head to gaze toward the east, where the low-hanging cloud layer seemed to be deforming. Two pairs of pitch-black, wing-like objects wrapped around a certain area.

Even across a distance of several thousand meters, it could be seen clearly.

"Beep!"

Shu Nan frowned and answered the phone.

"Knight! Quickly bring your team to my side!!!"

"The Night-Stalking Crow has appeared, and the host is Sanya!"