Nightmare Despair

Chapter 102, codenamed "Werewolf"

As the oil lamp went out, Ding San's senses were also greatly weakened, and he could no longer clearly perceive Zhou Kai's presence as before.

She weakly reached out and pressed her hand against the cold wall beside her. After catching her breath for a moment, she staggered out of the fading nightmare.

Li Xiangqian and the others, as well as the ordinary people who were trapped, should indeed have been rescued.

If that werewolf was truly a third-realm martial artist, he had no reason to deceive himself on such a matter... Although most martial artists were unruly and disobedient, they generally stood on the same side as the authorities.

Not long after arriving at the open area outside the factory, Ding San could no longer hold on. He first knelt on one knee, and then simply lay down heavily on his back.

The combined bodily fluid is the most obvious characteristic of these level-three enhanced individuals, and also their most crucial weakness.

They're like AD carries with a bit of tankiness, but not too much; like a glass cannon, powerful but with their armor and defense capped by technology. Of course, if there's a major technological breakthrough soon, then with ample funding, that's the fastest way to improve in the short term.

"Hey, Third Sister, you've worked hard... Looks like we weren't even needed to make an appearance?"

The roar of an engine grew louder as it approached, then faded away, followed by the sound of light footsteps. Ding San strained to look back.

Qi Tong and his team members were walking slowly towards them.

"Thank you for your hard work, you did a great job."

Qi Tong reached out and pulled Ding San up from the ground, his eyes serious: "There were a total of six survivors, and they have all been safely evacuated."

"Leave the finishing touches to us."

Qi Tong was a high school senior who had just graduated a year ago. During that summer vacation, he was unfortunately infected with nightmares. After being discovered by Ding San, he was recommended to become an official nightmare walker.

Now, he is the captain of the Special Operations Team One of the Xishan City Bureau of Extraordinary Events, and his overall strength is equivalent to that of a second-stage Qi Refining martial artist.

"Third sister, it's been a long time."

Behind Qi Tong were two women and one man.

Apart from one unfamiliar girl who was a disciple of the Broken Wing Sect, the other two were Nightmare Walkers who had been discovered and introduced by Ding San's second team.

Looking at these familiar faces, Ding San's expression softened slightly, but his eyes still held a lingering sense of melancholy.

Similar scenes were far too numerous in Ding San's memory. Qi Tong's predecessor, and the one before that... all seemed to have said similar things to him.

In less than five years, she has witnessed the captain of Special Operations Team One change three times.

Each city's special operations team, while enjoying the government's unreserved resource support, must also pay the price of potential sacrifice at any time.

In Ding San's memory, these captains and team members who were on the front lines, unless they were non-Nightmare Walkers, had an average lifespan of no more than two years.

Those who can live for four years or even longer are either ridiculously powerful monsters or incredibly lucky chosen ones.

Ding San shook his head and stopped the group that was about to enter the Nightmare Domain: "No need to go in... it's over."

"Just seal this place off and wait for the nightmare invasion to completely dissipate."

Qi Tong's tired eyes lit up instantly: "Third Sister, did you deal with the Nightmare Core here?"

Ding San sighed and gazed wistfully into the deep darkness in the distance.

"not me."

"He is a... third-realm martial artist."

When Ding San said this, a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Now that she had calmed down, she began to doubt the identity of the werewolf at the third level of martial arts.

Although the appearance is correct, it is indeed the avatar form that can only be achieved at the peak of the third realm of physical cultivation.

But that power, speed, and even aura... looking back now, compared to the records of those true third-realm experts I saw in the internal documents, they all seemed excessively weak.

At most, he is at the level of a top-tier second-realm martial artist, far from being a true third-realm expert.

But if he's not a martial artist who practices physical form, then what kind of being is he?

A Qi-cultivation martial artist can only achieve partial physical transformation at most...

Perhaps... he just didn't want to go all out and deliberately held back.

Ding San quickly came up with a reason in his mind.

Otherwise there is no way to explain it.

"Three realms warrior?"

The girl from the Broken Wings Sect frowned and asked in confusion, "Which senior from my sect is it?"

Ding San replied, "A beast incarnation. Judging from its form, it should be the Blue Leopard style... a wolf-type lineage."

Upon hearing this, it was discovered that it wasn't the Broken Wing Stream from the south, but rather the Blue Leopard Stream from the north.

The girl's expression immediately turned ugly: "These northern barbarians are becoming less and less 'martial virtue'... I will report back to the sect later!" The three major sects each have their own territories to manage.

It's not a big deal to appear in the territory of other factions without permission, but it's very impolite to interfere with the Nightmare Invasion without any notification or reporting.

Qi Tong felt a bit overwhelmed and advised, "Xu Kuang, let it go. At least he helped you get rid of your real-life nightmare."

Xu Kun waved her hand. Her fingers were slender and sharp, like eagle claws, and her knuckles were covered with fine, waxy yellow scales.

This is a common physical mutation characteristic of Qi-inducing martial artists of the Broken Wing Stream. If Zhou Kai were here, he would have noticed that her mutation was even more severe.

This is not just a matter of appearances and substance.

Her voice was sharp and brooked no argument: "Captain, you don't understand. Once a third-realm expert takes action, it will inevitably be related to those A-grade nightmare items... And for us martial artists, this is equivalent to a struggle for the Dao! We cannot yield an inch!"

……

On Red Star, warriors are the second largest armed force, after the official Nightmare Walkers, in dealing with Nightmare events.

Local governments in most areas maintain fairly friendly cooperative relationships with local martial arts factions.

The Xishan City Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs has a very good relationship with the Broken Wing Martial Arts School and other martial arts schools in the province, and they can exchange things with each other.

In the early hours of the morning, shortly after the Xinhui Industrial Park was completely sealed off, Xu Kun's request report was already on the desk of Deputy Director Zheng Wen.

"Requesting the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs' assistance in investigating the Blue Leopard Stream Realm Three-Level Martial Artist from the North?"

Zheng Wen's expression remained calm and composed. As a genius disciple at the Qi Refining Realm, Xu Kun could have bypassed him and contacted his own sect directly.

Now that they were asking for his permission first, Zheng Wen understood that this was a common way for the Broken Wings Sect to show friendliness and respect to the authorities.

He couldn't very well remain silent about this.

He beckoned to the clerk beside him and instructed in a deep voice, "Create a new file, tentatively codenamed 'Werewolf.' Immediately contact our sister units in Mingjiang, Donghe, and Dakang... Closely monitor the records of all suspicious individuals, and immediately notify Broken Wing Gate if anything is discovered."

A martial artist at the third realm... Zheng Wen's eyes revealed endless emotion.

For most people, beings of this caliber are practically legendary figures. But as the deputy director of the Xishan Bureau of Strange Events, he knew very well that, whether openly or secretly, the number of martial artists at the third realm was not so small as to be like an urban legend.

On average, each province in Chixing has records of two or three such individuals.

For example, in Jiang Province, there are two martial artists of the third realm who are clearly recorded in official archives.

One is Deathwing of the Broken Wings School, a rising star of the Three Realms who mysteriously vanished during a C-level nightmare invasion incident and whose fate remains unknown. His codename is "Deathwing".

The other one is the most prominent figure in the Broken Wings Clique of Jiang Province, and also Xu Kun's biological father.

Xu Ya, the "Golden Eagle".

After arranging everything, he was left alone in the office.

He grabbed his hair in frustration, his breathing became rapid, his face turned pale, and he was no longer as calm as before.

"Although there was a slight mishap, overall it's alright... I still have something to report. A mere E-level Reality Nightmare, only about thirty people died..."

"As long as it's not the subway line 1 that has a problem, then it's a stroke of luck amidst misfortune..."

He gasped for breath for a long time before he gradually calmed down. He had a chronic problem: he tended to hyperventilate when he was anxious.

……

The Xishan City police system hasn't yet discovered that an entire district's surveillance system has been hacked. Even if it is discovered later, it will most likely be considered a side effect of a mirage or a nightmare intrusion.

After all, the power of nightmares can easily damage or malfunction electronic devices.

And so, Zhou Kai, his hunched figure flickering like a ghost in the dappled shadows cast by the streetlights, ran wildly to the foot of the Xishan Hotel.

When he stopped, his armor-like muscles, his steel-needle-like black fur, and the rest of his beastly features slowly faded away.

Accompanying this is a tremendous feeling of weakness, as if one's energy and vitality have been instantly drained.

This kind of extraction is far more domineering than activating the engravings... If the engravings are a way of gathering Zhou Kai's power and using it all out...

So, by transforming into a werewolf through the wolf hair, he stripped away all his power and physical strength and replaced them with a completely different kind of power.

"call……"

Zhou Kai opened the door of the hotel car and collapsed onto the back seat, too weak to move a single finger.

Even with the life-giving effects of Gastrodia elata circulating in my body, the deep-seated emptiness lingered for a long time.

Without the life-giving effect of Gastrodia elata, just ten minutes of beast transformation would have been enough to cripple Zhou Kai on the spot.

"Be careful with how you use it from now on... If using the wolf hair brush doesn't solve the problem, it's like sending yourself to the chopping block!"

(End of this chapter)