Chapter 9: Exhausting Every Effort_1

Indeed, it was so!

From the reactions of the crowd a moment before, Fu Qian had felt something amiss, and now he finally confirmed the reason.

None of the four could see this part of the text—it was only visible to him.

Fu Qian didn't put much stock in explanations like being a "Chosen One". After some thought, the only explanation would have to do with the Inspiration he had gained previously.

Especially since he gained quite a bit of Inspiration after the last successful containment.

Inspiration was said to enhance one's perception of intangible things.

It must be the reason he could see the special content in the notes.

Fu Qian didn't waste words; amidst the complex looks from the others, he quickly sketched the content he saw on the ground.

For him, completing the mission against the clock was the most important thing—he couldn't afford to miss any clues.

The passage wasn't long, and Fu Qian finished drawing it quickly.

The group stared at what he had drawn, all of them exchanging confused glances.

"What is this?"

"Cuneiform script?"

"Seems like some kind of code?"

"No clue whatsoever..."

The captain was clearly just as baffled.

"Su Gao, what do you think?"

Unexpectedly, this girl turned out to be the tech expert of the team.

Fu Qian glanced at the porcelain-skinned woman.

"It should be a type of special cipher."

Su Gao pondered for a moment before giving her judgment.

"I have a few ideas about the direction to take, but deciphering it won't be easy. It requires ample time, which we absolutely don't have under the current circumstances."

Isn't that completely pointless then? Just a waste of time.

A wave of disappointment swept through the group.

"Let me give it a try."

Fu Qian suddenly spoke up.

"You understand it?"

Everyone turned to look at Fu Qian in unison.

"I don't, but I can learn."

Fu Qian said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world and turned to Su Gao.

"Tell me your guesses first."

"This..."

Su Gao wasn't completely stunned and murmured a few ideas.

"Learn my ass!"

It was then that the crew-cut man couldn't hold back his anger and burst out yelling.

He had found Fu Qian annoying for a long time now.

Never mind the unexplained origins, yet making everyone listen to him.

To slow the spread of the curse, they had turned into butchers, willing to slaughter their own kind.

And this guy still had the mood to fool around here.

Rage-fueled power gathered in his palms; the crew-cut man was now genuinely intent on killing.

However, before he could step forward, a sharp sense of danger rose in his heart.

Suddenly turning around, an Air Bullet grazed past his neck.

At the same time, blood splattered as another Air Bullet obliterated his left eye.

Everyone stood frozen on the spot.

This bastard had attacked without warning, evidently with the intent to kill.

They'd been deceived; this guy really was trouble!

Without concerning himself with what the others were thinking,

Fu Qian didn't hesitate to target the captain after attacking the crew-cut man, firing three Air Bullets in rapid succession.

With such a short distance between them, the captain had no chance to avoid them.

The next moment, a shrill scream echoed,

and a vibrant burst of electricity exploded from the captain's body, its brightness almost instantly blinding.

This blast of electricity hit Fu Qian squarely.

Fu Qian felt as if his body had instantly become liquid.

[Containment Failed]

So powerful!

He was indeed carrying a heavy weapon on him.

Back in the warehouse, Fu Qian didn't hesitate to take off his work badge from around his neck.

Just because Su Gao didn't have the time didn't mean he didn't.

From the moment he asked her, he was determined to restart. So, when the crew-cut man wanted to act, he didn't hold back either.

As for attacking the captain, it was simply common sense.

In such a dangerous situation, the captain still hesitated to order a retreat. Fu Qian intuitively felt he must be relying on something.

Those three bullets were just a handy test.

Now it appeared that he hadn't been wrong in his judgment; the captain did indeed have some kind of superweapon on him that had instantly killed him with a flash of lightning.

This was definitely good news, as it would surely come in handy when facing the boss later.

Fu Qian would never underestimate anything worthy of being called a descendant of the Evil God.

When he got home, he immediately found some paper and a pen.

After a long period of contemplation with his eyes closed, he began to write, drawing out the content he had just jotted down in his notebook again.

Memorizing these meaningless characters by rote was incredibly difficult, especially ensuring that there were no errors or omissions.

By the time he had written everything down, even Fu Qian, who ordinarily boasted of his exceptional memory, felt as though he was about to have a cerebral hemorrhage.

Finally, he knew how Huang Yaoshi's wife had died!

As he sighed, Fu Qian began the arduous task of decryption.

Thanks to his wide range of hobbies, he was half an enthusiast in this field on a regular basis.

But he wasn't a professional, and without Su Gao's hints, decoding this would have been akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Now that he had a direction, the workload had greatly diminished.

Even so, by the time he made any headway, several hours had passed.

[...amidst the grovelling multitude of followers, descending into the depths beneath the earth...]

...

A good while later, as Fu Qian looked at what he held in his hand, he put his work badge back on.

[Entering containment scene, current SAN Points: 27]

"The scene we're faced with now has exceeded our understanding," he said.

"Let's stop here—"

This time, when the group came to the hall, Fu Qian didn't even give the old man a chance to pull out his notes; he cut off the argument and looked seriously at the captain.

"Is there some deep space around here?" he asked.

"Deep space?"

The captain frowned, not understanding Fu Qian's intention.

"Amidst the multitude of followers, it descends into the depths beneath the earth," Fu Qian pointed forward, confident in his theory.

"This is part of a ritual, the two sentences I just recited are key steps in that ritual."

"An Evil presence will descend into the depths of the earth, we need to find it as soon as possible."

In truth, Fu Qian wasn't certain those two sentences meant exactly that, but in order to get the others to follow his arrangements, he had to maintain a professional image.

"I'm not familiar enough with this place, so I need to confirm with you if there's such a place here?" he asked.

This...

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Yes," said Su Gao, who until then had been silent.

She pointed downwards with her hand.

"Beneath this building by several dozen meters lies a high-security underground vault. Lots of people store their valuables in there."

You know that too!

Fu Qian silently praised her.

Such places are generally not cheap, sister, you seem to be quite wealthy.

"Do you know how to get down there?" he asked.

"I do."

Su Gao was indeed a hero among women; she answered and instantly drew her sword with a swoosh.

In the next instant, a flash of the blade split the crowd of Maggot People, cleaving a path through them.

Su Gao took the lead, striding forward.

Of course, her fierce and peerless slash had inevitably disturbed the Maggot People swarming all around.

Amidst the shrill buzzing that made one's teeth ache, the Maggot People began to turn in their direction, moving towards them with a firm yet slow convergence.

Luckily, they were indeed slow enough.

By the time the group led by Su Gao had opened a descending escalator, the entrance was already surrounded by a dense mass of twisted bodies.

...

As the escalator door closed,

Fu Qian noticed the old man quietly sighing.

The steadfast brother must be hating himself right now, which was completely understandable.

To be honest, he would have liked it if the group had just gone berserk and started an unstoppable rampage above, potentially racking up a considerable number of kills in the process.

But doing such a thing would inevitably have taken up a lot of time and might have delayed the completion of the mission.

Moreover, these four people clearly hadn't gone truly mad yet.

The passage downwards was nearly pitch black, and after an indeterminable amount of time, they finally saw some light ahead.

Suddenly, an intense smell hit them.

"Get ready!"

Without needing the captain to give orders, everyone switched to combat readiness.

It seemed they had found the right place.

Fu Qian followed behind Su Gao and sidestepped through a massive metal door—

Inside, the scene was something of a restricted nature.