Chapter 144: Ghost Cave's Exit

To show his goodwill, Gao Tian lifted his foot. He let the mutilated remains of the conjoined twin beneath his boot scramble across the floor on its hands, desperately fleeing toward its severed lower half.

He felt magnanimous, completely unconcerned that the conjoined twin might seek immediate revenge once it recovered. He had already proven his strength, and he hadn't even used his Memory Ghost abilities yet. Ghost Cave and the rest of the ghosts wouldn't dare make a move against him.

He was gradually getting into the zone. Controlling a major situation like this wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.

Once, he had been just a high schooler who accidentally joined the Chat Group and spent his time running from the Shattered Face Ghost. But in a world with no room for the weak, he had evolved into someone entirely different.

"If you want to know about the Altar," Ghost Cave said slowly, "I'll tell you.

"This Altar was built for me."

Gao Tian hadn't expected the usually rebellious and untamed Ghost Cave to actually bow his head to him.

It was a genuine surprise.

"The situation is simple.

"According to the tabletop simulations we ran before setting out, once Shanghai City falls, ghost hunters from all over Xia Country—and even from other nations—will swarm in to provide backup.

"It's simple logic. Without the lips, the teeth freeze. Even if some neighboring countries harbor their own ulterior motives and constantly try to weaken Xia Country's ghost hunters, they are still living people at the end of the day. That is merely an internal conflict among humanity.

"If a true Ghost Nation were to emerge right on their borders, mass-producing Fierce Ghosts, neither the neighboring countries hostile to Xia Country nor certain island nations would stand for it. Such an outcome goes entirely against their interests.

"Even though our Galan Society has the strength to eradicate the ghost hunters in Shanghai City, we aren't powerful enough to fight an entire state apparatus.

"The best strategy is to end the battle in an extremely short timeframe, before the rest of the country and the world can react.

"But because of Old Man Sun, that is an impossible task.

"Therefore, at the very beginning of the campaign, we need to completely envelop Shanghai City. We must erect a massive barrier along its borders to keep the outside ghost hunters from coming in, and the inside ghost hunters from getting out. Only then can we establish a numerical advantage and conquer this place before national reinforcements arrive.

"The function of this Altar is to amplify a ghost domain, magnifying its properties countless times over.

"As the price, the ghost who sits upon it will exhaust its entire lifespan in a very short period. Ultimately, it will lose its mind and completely degenerate into a mindless, chaotic Fierce Ghost.

"Memory Ghost, take a guess: who is going to sit on this Altar?"

Ghost Cave pointed a slender finger at Gao Tian, his tone almost provocative.

The answer was simple.

It was practically written all over Ghost Cave's face.

Even though Ghost Cave didn't have a face.

"It's you, Ghost Cave," Gao Tian said.

Ghost Cave's domain, the "Cave," ensured that people outside couldn't enter and people inside couldn't leave. It split the inside and outside of the Cave into two separate worlds. It perfectly matched the requirements for a barrier.

Back in the Jinhai Building, Ghost Cave's domain had barely managed to swallow the entire structure.

Expanding that domain to engulf all of Shanghai City was an impossible feat for Ghost Cave alone.

Thus, he needed the help of the Supernatural Item known as the Altar to magnify his domain's property countless times over.

The defining feature of the "Cave" was its coverage area. Once the ghosts finished setting up the Altar and Ghost Cave sat upon it, his domain would be magnified tens of millions of times, dragging the entirety of Shanghai City inside.

No wonder Xu Yuan had paid such a heavy price back at the Jinhai Building to ransom Ghost Cave and the Ghost Infant from Gao Tian.

It hadn't been entirely out of nostalgia. From the very beginning, Xu Yuan had calculated exactly how to maximize the utility of Ghost Cave's ghost domain.

It also explained why Ghost Cave had been acting so out of character tonight, suddenly trying to provoke him again.

He was about to die. If he didn't do certain things now, it would be too late.

This time, having his consciousness shatter and degenerating into an evil ghost meant true, absolute death. There would be no possibility of reincarnating into another form of life.

"Memory Ghost, does this answer satisfy your question?"

Faced with Ghost Cave's inquiry, Gao Tian nodded.

With things laid out so clearly, he had nothing left to ask.

He began to hypnotize Ai Ning. "Everything you have seen here is nothing but a nightmare.

"When you wake up, you will find yourself passed out in an abandoned building. Even though you have a splitting headache, the overwhelming stench of a corpse will arouse your curiosity—"

Aided by the Memory Ghost's power, the moment he spoke the final word, Ai Ning's eyelids drooped heavily. Unable to control herself any longer—

Her consciousness slowly slipped into a deep slumber.

The hypnosis was a success.

A dark red needle appeared in the Ghost Infant's hand. It emanated a faint, bloody glow.

The needle was incredibly thin. Guided by the Ghost Infant's rusted hand, it slowly, steadily pierced straight into Ai Ning's skull.

It sank until even the very end of the needle disappeared.

It was as though it had melted entirely into Ai Ning's scalp.

Gao Tian didn't know what that needle did.

But if the ghost hunters in the city center truly brought her into the Shadow Headquarters, the Supernatural Disaster Bureau would likely face utter annihilation.

After this was done, a long neck dangled down from the fifth floor above. The horse-faced man attached to it stopped beside Ghost Cave. "The Altar is ready.

"The first unit of ghost hunters providing backup to Shanghai City has already departed from the south. They will cross the border in half an hour.

"We must move quickly. We have to raise the barrier before they arrive."

Gao Tian tossed Ai Ning's head back over. Ghost Cave caught it steadily with both hands and reattached it to the headless female corpse.

They positioned the female ghost hunter at the stairwell entrance, arranging her in an unconscious posture so she would smell the nearby corpse stench the moment she woke up. Only after completing all of this did Ghost Cave finally turn around with peace of mind and head upstairs. "Gentlemen.

"I can no longer fight alongside you all.

"Even if I won't be able to witness the new world Boss Xu Yuan promised with my own eyes... I believe that after tonight, we will meet again in a world without darkness."

As they watched Ghost Cave's silhouette disappear at the end of the stairwell, the female face on the Ghost Infant's back—which had kept its eyes shut this entire time—suddenly shed a single trail of bloody tears from one eye.

They had handled countless paranormal incidents and skirted life and death time and time again. After dying, they had been granted new life within the Divine Tree.

Right here, the Ghost Infant would bear witness to Ghost Cave's second "death."

Which would also be his last.

Watching this scene unfold, Gao Tian didn't quite know how to react.

This group of "ghosts" was truly strange.

Even though they were clearly no longer human, they were still single-mindedly obsessed with ending the era of the paranormal.

Perhaps, much like Old Man Sun, they had never once doubted that they were the ones standing on the side of justice.

With Ai Ning situated and Ghost Cave gone, the remaining Fierce Ghosts in the Liberation Building stepped onto bizarre Supernatural Items. Transforming into black shooting stars, they flew out of the building's entrance, heading deep into the distance to back up the rest of Shanghai City.

This method of transportation was clearly another of Xu Yuan's masterpieces. It granted the Galan Society vastly superior mobility compared to the Supernatural Disaster Bureau tonight. No wonder the Supernatural Disaster Bureau's ghost hunters were constantly being suppressed on the battlefield.

As the Liberation Building grew completely deserted, Gao Tian turned around, preparing to leave as well.

"Memory Ghost, where are you going?"

The Ghost Infant, who hadn't left yet, stared at Gao Tian's back and asked.

Gao Tian glanced back at it. "I've already completed Xu Yuan's task. Can't I leave?

"What would I stay here for? To chat with you and reminisce about your past with Ghost Cave?"

The Ghost Infant slowly walked over to the slumbering Ai Ning and gazed at this final masterpiece that Ghost Cave had left behind before sitting on the Altar. "You and I still have one more task to finish.

"If we don't finish this, everything we've done so far will be for nothing."

Gao Tian forced himself to be patient and confirmed once more, "You... and me?"

Using its mannequin body, the Ghost Infant gave a stiff nod. "Walking from here to the city center on foot is virtually impossible for a normal person.

"Shanghai City fell long ago, and all kinds of Fierce Ghosts are running rampant. On top of that, there's the Woman in the Rain's indiscriminate contagion.

"This female ghost hunter is far too weak. Without an escort, it's impossible for her to survive the journey there.

"The escort mission falls to the two of us."

"..."

Gao Tian felt an overwhelming urge to retort. "Didn't you guys release the Woman in the Rain? How can you not handle her yourselves—"

The words reached the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back down.

He knew he had asked a stupid question.

The vast majority of ghosts were mindless killing tools. Just like newborns, they couldn't be communicated with, much less commanded.

Entities like Ghost Cave and the Ghost Infant had "resurrected" under the effects of the Divine Tree; strictly speaking, they were more like superpowered individuals.

For something like the Woman in the Rain that killed purely on instinct, perhaps only Xu Yuan could slightly influence her path. Most members of the Galan Society had no way of ordering around an S-Level Fierce Ghost.

If the Galan Society could truly control Fierce Ghosts, why would they bother trying to end the era of the paranormal? Wouldn't it be better to just use those ghosts as slaves?

This led to a rather absurd consequence—

The Fierce Ghosts rampaging through Shanghai City did not distinguish between friend and foe; they killed anyone they saw. Even the Galan Society members who had unleashed them could be attacked while walking down the street.

Gao Tian and the Ghost Infant's next mission was to push through the night parade of a hundred ghosts in Shanghai City and deliver Ai Ning alive to the ghost hunters in the city center.

Escorting a living person through a ghost zone alongside a ghost?

What a twisted scenario.

Gao Tian didn't have much of an objection. Look at Comrade Ghost Cave—he had just sacrificed himself. With that level of dedication around, what was a little escort mission? "On our way there, aside from some random wandering spirits, the one most likely to hunt us down is the Woman in the Rain, right?"

After all, almost everyone in Shanghai City—aside from the blind—had seen that video.

"What exactly is the Woman in the Rain's Killing Rule? Why does she only kill on rainy days, and where do the corpses of the people she targets go?

"Even if you can't control the Woman in the Rain, you must have some understanding of her killing methods.

"Don't tell me you don't even know that, Ghost Infant. Otherwise, this escort mission is complete bullshit."

Before the Ghost Infant could answer, Ai Ning let out a soft groan and slowly opened her eyes from her stupor.

Upon sluggishly waking up, she completely ignored the two people present. She climbed off the floor and followed the corpse stench directly to the bottom of the stairwell where Dr. Adam's body was hidden.

The memory implanted by the Memory Ghost was too potent. Right now, Ai Ning was merely following a powerful subconscious drive, going through the motions. She couldn't notice anything other than Dr. Adam; she was completely blind to everything else.

Just like how Gao Tian had stumbled mindlessly into the Living Apartment after his own memories were altered.

Watching Ai Ning spring into action, her next step was clearly to leave the Liberation Building and walk out onto the streets.

The Ghost Infant's tone sped up considerably. "Indeed, you need to memorize the Woman in the Rain's rule.

"Otherwise, once we hit the streets, not only will we fail the escort mission, but we might even be killed ourselves.

"First of all, that woman isn't actually killing people.

"At least, not from her own perspective."