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Translator's note: Wow, another mission with Shen Lingxue. Looking forward to seeing how she will react to Zhao Hao.
ED Note: tf was that fishy kiss.
"Fine, stop complaining. Those developers pressured me through their connections. Besides, the Green Mountain Mental Hospital is part of the Specter incidents; it has to be dealt with sooner or later. I plan to send Yang Kunpeng's team."
"Yang Kunpeng is a seasoned psychic; he should have no problem handling a Grade C Specter Zone. What about Fang Xiu? He's been to Green Mountain Mental Hospital before. Is he going with them?"
Wang Dehai shook his head. "Fang Xiu is a valuable asset. Besides, he's still a rookie. He should be gaining experience from Grade-Ds for now. Once he accumulates enough experience and his Spiritual Energy levels up, then we can talk about Grade C zones."
Yang Ming smirked. "Aren't you being overly protective? What's the difference between C and D?"
Wang Dehai's face darkened. "Idiot! For a third-tier psychic like you, C and D may seem the same. You have the power of luck; you're indestructible. So, you don't care. If you or Bai Qi were leading, then Fang Xiu could go to Green Mountain Mental Hospital or even a more dangerous Specter Zones. But neither of you can be deployed right now, so it's better to be safe than sorry!"
"A man should go through trials of blood and fire, not be coddled."
"Get out! Go bring Fang Xiu to me!" Wang Dehai roared, sending Yang Ming out of the room.
Yang Ming reluctantly scratched his ear and left to fetch Fang Xiu.
…
In Greenvine City's downtown, a group of men and women gathered on the rooftop of a tall building. From the way they were dressed, it was obvious that they were elites.
The leader was a tall man in his twenties, clad in a custom-made white suit. He held an expensive red wine glass in his hand and sipped it with a stern expression.
The others, too, wore a somber expression and remained silent.
Suddenly, the man in the white suit broke the silence. "Lin Ziyang has disappeared, the candlestick is missing, and my cousin has been assassinated. Who the hell did this?!"
SMASH!
He violently threw his wine glass onto the ground, shattering it and spilling wine everywhere.
Seeing the man in the white suit lose his temper, the faces of the others turned uneasy; some even showed a hint of fear.
"This is a deliberate attack on me! On Bright Club! Investigate! Dig deep!"
At that moment, a sultry woman in a burgundy long dress and high heels sauntered over. She sashayed her slim waist and sat on the man's lap.
"Come on, cool down," she said, offering him a wine glass marked with her red lipstick.
He took the glass, downed it in one gulp, and threw it to the ground again.
Swearing loudly, he said, "Did you eat fish? Why is there such a fishy taste?"
The woman giggled. "You know me. I don't like fish. I was just with some other guy and forgot to rinse my mouth, that's all."
The man in the white suit froze for a moment, his face contorted in rage, as if he'd eaten something disgusting.
He abruptly tried to push away the woman, but she had already anticipated his move, skillfully dodging with a playful laugh.
"You wretched woman, you—"
"Come on, don't be mad. You'll scare me, and I really do love you, you know."
The man in the white suit grew angrier, "You dare to say you love me while you've been kissing others?"
"Don't make it sound so nasty. Whatever happened with them was just for show. My real feelings are for you."
At this point, the man in the white suit seemed truly infuriated. He stood up abruptly, his face intimidating, his eyes fierce, like a tiger coming down a mountain.
Seeing him truly angry, the woman quickly changed her tune. "Darling, leave this mission to me. I promise you'll be pleased within a week."
She turned and ran toward the door, pausing to blow a kiss at him. Seeing him about to get angry again, she quickly dashed out with a giggly laugh.
…
At the Investigation Bureau, Fang Xiu entered Wang Dehai's office.
Wang Dehai looked serious.
"Fang Xiu, I've called you here for an important mission."
"If it's unrelated to Specter, I'm not interested," Fang Xiu replied calmly.
"Don't worry, the main focus of our bureau is to combat Specter. Your assignment is to investigate and resolve the Specter situation in Blackwater Village. This is a very important and dangerous mission, Fang Xiu. It's initially rated as a Grade C, but the rating was temporary, meaning it might even go higher," Wang Dehai said gravely.
At the same time, he secretly thought to himself that the rating could also go lower. In fact, the initial C rating for Blackwater Specter incident was downgraded to D after it was found that only one villager had died without further danger spreading.
Wang Dehai chose his words carefully, fearing Fang Xiu's youthful bravado might make him underestimate a D mission, especially considering his strong resentment toward Specters.
"Blackwater?" Fang Xiu looked somewhat puzzled, as he had never heard of the village.
"It's normal you haven't heard of it. It's a remote mountain village in the Greenvine area. Due to its inaccessibility, it's scarcely populated, so not many people know about it," Wang Dehai said.
Then, he began to explain, "Blackwater Village has a river with the same name, named for its dark waters. In recent years, many villagers have drowned in it. Initially, people thought these were just ordinary drowning cases, but according to the villagers, there's a water Specter in the river that grabs your feet while you're swimming. More bizarre incidents occurred later. One villager woke up to find himself half-submerged at the riverbank after going to sleep at home. Had he not woken up in time, he would have drowned."
Without a pause, he continued, "Given these numerous accounts of Specter-related activities and the actual deaths, the Investigation Bureau has provisionally determined that a Specter lives in Blackwater. The Specter is codenamed 'Diver'. Your mission this time is to investigate and resolve the Water Specter incident. Since it's your first mission and your abilities are top secret, Shen Lingxue, who is in the know, will lead the team. You, Zhao Hao, and another rookie psychic will carry out this mission."
"Understood," Fang Xiu nodded. He was eager to take on this assignment, having not encountered a Specter for a week now.
He relished the thought of driving a scalpel into a Specter.
Moreover, the fact that this mission was initially rated as C, with the possibility of being upgraded to B, pleased him even more.