“All eyes on me!”

“I have an announcement to make!”

“I am Sss—”

BOOM!

Before Wu Wang could finish, a loud explosion erupted nearby.

He shot Mary a helpless look.

“Handle it.”

She smiled faintly. The next second, she vanished from her spot, leaving a fiery red trail like a meteor streaking through the air.

A few moments later, the commotion died down.

When Mary reappeared, she was clutching a grenade-like object. Fresh blood dripped from it, staining her hand a vivid crimson.

The surrounding members of the Abnormal Affairs Bureau stared, their expressions wary. They were stunned by the terrifying power of this elegantly dressed woman.

Weren’t player powers supposed to be sealed?

How the hell can you do that with just a【Relic】?

Little did they know, Mary wasn’t a player to begin with. Her powers had not been sealed. They were merely restricted on the cruise ship; otherwise, she would have been even stronger.

The Rogue Players and the members of the Tower of Order, however, looked on as if this was completely expected. Having come from the same cruise ship, they were well aware of how terrifying the polite, elegant, and noble lady could be.

Their expressions seemed to boast, See that? We’re the ones who made it out alive from under her. Impressive, right?

“Alright, everyone, let me reintroduce myself,” Wu Wang said, his voice carrying over the crowd. “I am Yan Shuangying.”

“To save time, I’ll get straight to the point. I’ve gathered you all here because I want to sweep the entire ruins for【Relics】.”

He paused, a slight smile on his face.

“I wonder if any of you are interested?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the players in the【Dedication Square Ruins】exchanged bewildered glances.

A man from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau immediately frowned.

“What does this have to do with us? You think we can’t find【Relics】on our own? How ridiculous!”

Wu Wang didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked at Xiezhi, who nodded helplessly.

Evidently, the man who had spoken was one of the few who couldn’t stand Xiezhi. He was the direct blood relative of a high-ranking official, and his default state was one of arrogance, constantly looking down his nose at everyone.

The current situation was a result of Xiezhi’s decision to give Wu Wang’s method a try. The Abnormal Affairs Bureau’s ultimate objective was also the【Mysterious Power】, and he knew that searching the same way they did every year would yield nothing.

It was better to try something new.

So, Xiezhi had used his earpiece to summon all the Abnormal Affairs Bureau squads to the square. Meanwhile, Wu Wang had the nun use a【Miracle of Suffering】to notify the other players.

Now, a sprawling crowd of seventy or eighty people was gathered below.

Aside from a few low-level players from the Bureau, these were all high-level players, frequent topics of discussion on the【Spirit Calamity App】. And now, all of them were listening to Wu Wang, who was, in reality, just a level-ten small-timer.

If word of this got out, people would think they were dreaming.

“Good! You want to know what this has to do with you?” Wu Wang’s expression was friendly. “Simple. If you don’t join, the Rogue Players and Tower of Order members present won’t need to use the【Rock Paper Scissors Rule】on you. They’ll just take your【Relics】by force.”

The face of the Bureau member who had spoken turned a furious shade of red. He gritted his teeth.

“Are you inciting a war with the Abnormal Affairs Bureau?”

Hearing this, Wu Wang feigned surprise and shook his head.

“Please listen carefully. I said ‘you.’ Y-O-U. This does not include the other members of the Abnormal Affairs Bureau. With them, we’re all still pals. The Rock Paper Scissors rule is fine.”

The man was utterly humiliated. This targeted threat was tantamount to roasting him over an open fire, its meaning perfectly clear.

He grew so angry that he turned and pointed to his companions.

“If you deal with me, will the other members of the Abnormal Affairs Bureau just stand by and watch? This is still a provocation and a declaration of war!”

Smack!

The words had barely left his mouth when Mary’s palm struck his face. The stinging slap echoed throughout【Dedication Square】, leaving everyone dumbfounded. No one had expected her to strike so directly.

The man who was hit glared with wide, furious eyes. He opened his mouth, about to scream that he would grind Wu Wang’s bones to dust.

But Wu Wang just shrugged.

“I wasn’t the one who hit you, so what’s the use of getting angry at me? Her name is Mary. She’s an Instance NPC. You ran your damn mouth and pissed off an NPC, and now you’re blaming me?”

Then, Wu Wang’s expression grew grim.

“But I am indeed targeting you,” he said slowly. “If, because of you, the Abnormal Affairs Bureau ends up fighting the Tower of Order and all these Rogue Players, who do you think is responsible? You’re destroying the friendship between players!”

“When we get out, I’ll be sure to put you on blast on the app! Let’s see who the community sides with!”

The man was just some scum who acted unscrupulously because he had the Abnormal Affairs Bureau as his backer. Wu Wang had no idea why he’d been chosen for this expedition, nor did he care about the Bureau’s internal strife.

He only knew that this punk was trying to corner him with a moral threat, asking if he could bear the responsibility of starting a war.

Unfortunately for him, Wu Wang was a master at this game. He skillfully seized the moral high ground and turned the tables, doing it with dazzling flair.

“Alright! Cang Qiong, shut up!”

Finally, another man from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau stepped forward with a frown.

Xiezhi whispered to Wu Wang, “That’s【Duke】. He’s the level-thirty player leading the Bureau this time. His attitude will decide whether this cooperation succeeds.”

Wu Wang had a sudden realization. Oh. Never heard of him.

Duke took a step forward.

“Comrade Yan Shuangying, I’ve read Xiezhi’s report on you, but meeting you in person is certainly a different experience. Could you elaborate on the benefits of this cooperation for both sides?”

He hadn’t stopped【Cang Qiong】earlier because he wanted to test Yan Shuangying. Now, it seemed the man was just as Xiezhi had described. His rhetoric was airtight, his strength was unfathomable, and he was shrouded in mystery.

Especially that NPC named Mary and the High Priest of Suffering. Why are they following him?

There were simply too many mysteries surrounding this man.

Hearing Duke’s question, Wu Wang smiled.

“If it was only your Abnormal Affairs Bureau exploring this place in previous years, then you’ve never actually tried to clear out all the【Twisted Resentful Spirits】, right? You never had enough people.”

“Now that we have this opportunity, why not give it a try? If nothing else, our efficiency in collecting【Relics】will improve significantly, won’t it?”

Duke had naturally thought of this as well. He just wanted to know Wu Wang’s true purpose. Was it for the【Relics】, or was it for…

“My goal is the same as yours,” Wu Wang said abruptly. “As for the【Relics】, we can collect them all first and distribute them slowly later. I can promise on behalf of these Rogue Players and Tower of Order members that they won’t hoard or snatch anything. We’ll trade for them at the【Spirit Calamity Plaza】after we get out.”

With that, he turned his head to look at the players behind him.

The Poet of the Myriad Springs Division and the others nodded repeatedly. Are you kidding? How could we dare to offend this master? We’re all still in his debt!

This display made Duke regard Wu Wang in an even higher light. To make promises on behalf of so many high-level players… this guy’s influence runs deep.

“Alright,” Duke said, no hint of indecision in his voice. “I agree on behalf of the Abnormal Affairs Bureau.”

But unexpectedly, the moment his voice fell, Wu Wang waved his hand. Pulling a conductor’s baton from who-knows-where, he bellowed to the players below.

“Come on, let’s go! The brothers from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau have more【Relics】, so you’ll be on damage duty. Ranged DPS stand here, melee over there! Yes, just like that.”

“Poet of the Myriad Springs Division, take ten people with scouting-type【Relics】and clear the way! Those without【Relics】, go get some from Mary and the High Priest! Let me sort out the formations and teams first…”

Watching this guy arrange troops and formations, Duke and Xiezhi found the scene absurd. Two of the three strongest organizations in the game were gathered here, along with dozens of high-level Rogue Players.

And now they were all taking orders from some guy who had appeared out of nowhere.

Who the hell would believe this if word got out?

A cleanup operation, the likes of which had never been seen in the【Aiguyi Ruins】, was slowly unfolding.

In the center of a boundless Sea of Filth, a grayish-white being wore a mocking expression. The being gently stirred the water with one hand, creating ripples.

The being chuckled softly.

“【Hope】, oh, 【Hope】. To think you meddled in this behind my back all those years ago. If Little Penguin hadn’t detected your aura today, you might have actually gotten away with it.”

“But you’d better be careful now. This not-so-pious Holy Son of mine, with his methods and his inherent strangeness, just might snatch your prize away.”

“He will uncover your true face and let the world know that【Hope】does not represent goodness.”

“In a sense, you are the greatest despair of all…”