Global Ghost Stories: I'm Investigating Ghosts in My Nightmare!

Chapter 57 Undercurrents and Gaze

Bai Yu's words plunged the conference room into a moment of silence. His boldness and determination to offer himself as a sacrifice to lure the gods sent a chill down the spines of everyone present.

"I disagree!"

Anmu was the first to slam his fist on the table and stand up.

His face was flushed, whether from anger or something else: "Bai Yu! Do you know what you're saying? Bait? What do you think you are? A disposable item? Your soul has only just stabilized! I will never allow you to risk your life in any way again!"

"Exactly! Lao Bai, are you crazy?" Mo Fei roared, his burly body leaning slightly forward with excitement. "You just came back from the brink of death! And now you want to step back in yourself? What do you take us for? Just decorations? You're our teammate! You're our friend! Have you ever thought about how we feel?"

Despite the doubts from his two companions, Bai Yu's expression remained unchanged. He continued to look at them quietly, his deep eyes as calm as an ancient well, without a ripple.

"Captain, Mo Fei, calm down." He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but very firm. "This is not just an adventure, but also our most effective way to break the deadlock right now."

He turned his gaze to Lancer: "Lancer, you just said that the 'Tower's' attack method is 'dimensional reduction attack.' We cannot compete with it in its dimension. So, the only way is to find a way to forcibly 'drag' it down from that high and mighty dimension and bring it to this battlefield that we are familiar with."

Lan Ce adjusted his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses flashing rapidly as he engaged in high-speed logical deduction. He paused for a few seconds, then finally nodded with difficulty: "Theoretically... it's feasible. If we can use your 'coordinates' as a medium to construct a reverse 'mental siphon,' it might actually be possible to interfere with the 'Tower's' connection to our dimension, and even... capture a portion of the energy trajectory projected by its main body when it tries to 'collect' you again. However... the risk of doing so... is almost equivalent to suicide. You will become a huge 'target,' facing the 'Tower's' core will directly."

“I was already a target.” Bai Yu’s tone was as calm as if he were stating a fact that had nothing to do with him. “From the moment this mark on the back of my hand became clear, I had nowhere to escape. Rather than passively waiting for it to attack again in an unknown way, we should take the initiative and take back the initiative on the battlefield.”

"And... I'm not fighting alone." His tone finally changed, and a smile even appeared on his lips.

His gaze slowly swept over everyone present, finally settling on Lu Yueqi, who sat beside him, clutching the hem of her clothes tightly the entire time, without uttering a word.

“You are all my support. The captain’s ‘Iron Wall of Kingship’ can protect me from the deadly corruption of the rules at critical moments; Mo Fei’s axe can sever any tentacles it tries to extend into the physical realm; Lan Ce’s technology can monitor and analyze every energy fluctuation of its for us; and Yue Qi…”

He paused, a hint of tenderness in his voice: "Her 'empathy' and the unique 'link' between us will be the last line of defense that pulls me back when I'm fighting against the will of the 'Tower'."

“We are a whole. This time, we are not fighting alone, but using the strength of our entire team to catch an unprecedented ‘big fish’.”

Silence fell over the meeting room once again.

Bai Yu's words were impeccable. He placed himself in the most dangerous position, yet cleverly woven the strength of the entire team into the equation, making everyone an indispensable part of this audacious plan.

This is no longer just his sacrifice, but a huge gamble for the entire team.

An Mu looked at him, his eyes churning with incredibly complex emotions, but in the end, they all turned into a heavy sigh.

He knew he could no longer stop this willful guy.

“Okay.” An Mu clenched his teeth, almost squeezing out the word. “I agree to your plan. However, all actions must be carried out under my supervision and command. Lan Ce, from now on, you need to monitor Bai Yu’s mental fluctuations 24 hours a day and immediately begin designing that so-called ‘reverse siphon’ device. Mo Fei, you and Lu Yueqi, from today onwards, will be responsible for Bai Yu’s personal security. You must not let him out of your sight for more than five meters at any time!”

“This is a top-level S-class mission. Mission code name…” An Mu paused, glancing at the huge black vortex on the holographic projection.

“...'Fishing tower'.”

……

The first step of the "Fishing Tower" project was not to immediately begin constructing any dangerous devices, but rather to conduct restorative training.

Although Bai Yu's body is recovering rapidly, his soul remains fragile. As "bait," he must ensure that he has the basic ability to struggle when the "fish" takes the bait, rather than being swallowed whole.

B-7 Simulation Training Room.

This place was once again set up as that familiar, eerie cemetery. But this time, standing in the center of the area was not Lu Yueqi, but Bai Yu.

He wasn't carrying any weapons; he was simply wearing a loose-fitting black training suit, his eyes closed, standing there quietly, adjusting his breathing.

"Are you ready?" Lu Yueqi's voice came from the control room's loudspeaker. This time, their positions had switched. She was now the one responsible for monitoring and providing support.

“Let’s begin,” Bai Yu replied softly.

The next second, the surrounding mist began to churn. A semi-transparent, humanoid shadow made of spiritual energy silently emerged from the shadow of the tombstone behind Bai Yu, and then silently lunged towards his back!

Bai Yu did not turn back.

Just as the dark figure was about to touch his body, a cold darkness spread silently from beneath his feet like a tide.

That power did not come from Hei Yan's original source, but from Bai Yu's own void sea of ​​souls.

The approaching shadow, upon contact with this darkness, was as if it had been dripped with concentrated sulfuric acid; before it could even utter a cry, it was completely erased by that nothingness.

"Beautiful!" In the control room, Mo Fei couldn't help but shout in admiration. "Old Bai, who did you learn that 'Bone-Melting Palm' move from? It's really cunning!"

Bai Yu, however, did not relax at all; he knew very well that this was just an appetizer.

Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen identical black figures emerged from the mist all around. They formed a simple battle formation and launched a simultaneous attack on Bai Yu from different angles.

Bai Yu frowned slightly. Although his soul power was pure, its quantity was severely insufficient. Dealing with so many targets at the same time was a huge burden for him.

He did not choose to confront them head-on. His figure was like a leaf blown by the wind, dodging and weaving with extremely exquisite footwork amidst the encirclement of more than a dozen dark figures.

Every dodge he made was perfectly timed, always avoiding the most fatal attacks with minimal effort and minimal impact. He was like a dancer treading on a knife's edge, seemingly fraught with danger, yet always managing with ease.

However, the attack did not end there.

Just as he dodged the claws of a dark figure, the figure's body suddenly expanded and exploded without warning! It transformed into an invisible net made of countless spiritual energies, which slammed down on him!

This is an unexpected tactic!
Bai Yu's pupils contracted sharply; it was too late for him to dodge.

Just as that large net was about to completely engulf him.

"Om-"

A ring of icy blue ripples suddenly spread out from the edge of the training field, precisely covering the invisible net.

"Crack!" The net formed by mental energy was frozen into a fragile ice sculpture the moment it came into contact with the chill, and then shattered into countless ice crystals.

It's Lu Yueqi.

Bai Yu steadied himself and glanced in the direction of the control room with some surprise.

"I...I'm sorry!" Lu Yueqi's voice was tinged with nervousness and apology. "When I saw you were in danger, I...I just instinctively..."

"Well done, girl!" Mo Fei's booming voice rang out again, "What do you call this? Telepathy? Hahahaha!"

A faint smile, unnoticed even by himself, appeared on Bai Yu's lips. He didn't reprimand Lu Yueqi for her "irregular" actions, but instead said softly, "Good coordination. Continue."

The training that followed was no longer a one-man show for Bai Yu.

It turned into a duet between two people.

Bai Yu was responsible for both offense and defense, using his soul power, filled with the power of nothingness, to eliminate and restrain direct threats. Lu Yueqi, on the other hand, acted as a reliable backup, spreading her "Deep Cold" power throughout the entire arena, using her chill to slow down the enemy's movements, using her empathy to disrupt their will to attack, and providing precise support when Bai Yu was in danger.

Like the sharpest black scalpel, it precisely cuts into the enemy's vitals.

A protective, ice-blue shield, as tough as the strongest, shielded his companions from all the hidden attacks.

Their powers, one being the "deathly silence" that leads to the end, and the other the "tranquility" that protects life, seem diametrically opposed, yet at this moment they are perfectly integrated together.

In the control room, Mo Fei was dumbfounded.

On Lance's tactical tablet, the waveforms representing the mental energy of the two were also fluctuating synchronously at an extremely harmonious frequency, forming a resonant spectrum that could be described as perfect.

“Truly… an incredible synchronization rate,” Lancer muttered to himself. “Their mental link is even stronger than we expected.”

By the end of training, Bai Yu and Lu Yueqi were both exhausted. They sat back-to-back in the center of the cold training field, panting heavily.

“Before… I always felt that my power was a curse.” Lu Yueqi looked at the ceiling and said softly, “It brought me endless trouble and fear. But now… I think… I’m starting to like it. Because it… can protect everyone… can protect you.”

Bai Yu was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Power itself has no good or evil. What determines its color is the heart of the person who uses it."

He turned his head and looked at the girl's profile, which was flushed from exhaustion. Her bright eyes reflected in his own, as if they were two tiny stars.

"Your heart... is very pure."

Lu Yueqi's face flushed instantly, even her ears started to burn. She looked away in a fluster, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

Just as a somewhat ambiguous atmosphere was quietly spreading between the two.

"Beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep!"

A sudden, extremely urgent alarm sounded throughout the entire Bureau of Investigation headquarters!

Immediately afterwards, Anmu's solemn and urgent voice was broadcast to every corner through the broadcasting system.

"All investigators of rank A and above! Assemble in the central command center immediately! Repeat! All investigators of rank A and above! Assemble in the central command center immediately!"

Something terrible has happened! And it's a major disaster!
Bai Yu and Lu Yueqi exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of seriousness in each other's eyes. They immediately stood up and ran towards the command room.

When they arrived, the huge central command room was already a scene of intense activity.

Dozens of intelligence analysts and technicians in different uniforms were working rapidly at their respective posts, with streams of information colliding on the huge holographic star map in front of them.

Mo Fei and Lan Ce had also arrived, and their expressions were extremely grim.

"What's going on, Captain?" Bai Yu asked directly.

An Mu didn't speak, but simply raised his hand and pointed to the huge holographic projection in the center.

That was a real-time monitoring video taken by a satellite from low Earth orbit.

At the center of the image is a secluded island deep in the ocean. At this moment, this island, which should be lush and green, is shrouded in an unimaginably huge black eye of a storm.

That's not an ordinary cyclone.

At the eye of the storm, the outline of a magnificent tower, constructed from countless ominous shadows, is gradually emerging from the void into this world!

“Fifteen minutes ago,” Lancer’s voice trembled slightly, “all of our ‘Deep Space Fluctuation Detectors’ deployed around the world simultaneously issued the highest level of alert. A massive ‘being’ that we cannot comprehend is forcibly tearing apart the spatial barriers of our world, attempting to project ‘a part’ of it into reality.”

“And its location…” Lance swallowed hard. “According to our intelligence department’s top-secret files, it is… the private island where Adam White, one of the founders and the first director of the Nightmare Investigation Bureau, retired and lived in seclusion. It is codenamed ‘Eden’.”

Tower of Ten Thousand Heads.

It finally came.

Moreover, its first target turned out to be one of the most core secrets of the entire Nightmare Investigation Bureau.

Just then, a sharp, burning pain, as if branded with a hot iron, suddenly shot through the "Eye of the Vortex" mark on the back of Bai Yu's hand!

A will filled with ecstasy and greed transcended time and space, resounding clearly in his mind.

"Come on, my most perfect 'material'."

"Come on, come back 'home'."

"A grand 'foundation laying ceremony'...is ready for you."

(End of this chapter)