The Eldritch Files

’So, no matter how careful Bai Shi has been or why he created this massive contamination, the outcome is already set!’

’Miss Ai has already made the necessary arrangements!’

Han Su thought to himself with a soft sigh, ’But in truth, even Miss Ai’s arrangements are unnecessary.’

’This guy doesn’t know it, but he’s going to die just by running into me!’

’When it was still hiding in a world of shadows, it could still be a threat, a source of fear. But from the moment I learned his identity, I knew I could kill him at any time!’

’No matter how high his standing or how powerful his abilities, once his identity was exposed, he was destined to be no match for me!’

’...’

He looked up ahead.

An earth-shattering crash echoed from outside as Zhang Chiguo shattered the steel wall of piled-up Mechanical Ghosts with a single punch. At that same moment, the dense whirring of machinery enveloped Han Su. He instantly tensed, his body shooting forward in a flash.

The scene before him seemed to rush toward him, the speed so fast it was like a fleeting shadow.

For a split second, it was as if he saw countless familiar yet distant images, one Crystal Skull after another.

He also saw the environment where he’d grown up before he was ten, saw the Black Cat Duke, and saw a tall, slender woman with an elegant figure, leaning quietly against the windowsill, smoking. She watched the sea of city lights outside, a scene of unreal prosperity.

But all of it vanished even faster than it had appeared.

Before Han Su could even form a thought, he felt an endless, oppressive pressure bearing down on him.

It was an abnormal Spiritual Activity that possessed a tangible mass, like an ocean tide submerging him wave after wave. A buzzing filled Han Su’s mind, and his own will felt like a machine being switched off and on in an instant.

He struggled to stay on his feet. Through the flickering of the bizarre scenes around him, he saw that Miss Ai had sent him into the severe contamination field of the Mother Divine Tree.

The Mother Divine Tree was more real, more towering, standing just a few hundred meters ahead of him.

Compared to its previous contaminated state, the Mother Divine Tree now seemed as if it were truly growing in reality.

But he had no time to dwell on it and slowly took a step forward.

BUZZ!

In an instant, an even more intense wave of contamination assailed him.

His own Spiritual Power already had extremely high Activity—71%—and had stepped into what the Mysterious Circle called the Divine Domain.

Spiritual Activity of this level was not so easily suppressed by abnormal contamination.

But in this contamination field, it was as if all conventions were broken.

He could feel his Spiritual Power instinctively resisting, but within a few short seconds, his own Activity was nearly extinguished.

Everything before him turned bloodred. His own eyes had begun to turn red as well.

”Ghost Flame!”

Without a second thought, the large, flame-shaped burn scars on Han Su’s right arm and shoulder began to exhibit an abnormal Activity.

The scars traveled across his body, severing all contamination.

He regained a moment of clarity, raised his head, and fixed his gaze on the Mother Divine Tree ahead. Then, he forced himself to stride forward once more.

But after just one step, his head roared again as the contamination assaulted him once more, and his vision turned red again.

Not only that, but his Spiritual Power was also beginning to show signs of depletion.

He had fought too many times tonight.

Even after the recovery from Wei Lan’s Spiritual Massage, his power was proving insufficient.

”So...”

A thought flashed through his mind: ’This is an opportunity...’

As the thought passed, Han Su gritted his teeth, and his Spiritual Power suddenly unfurled.

A new segment of his Spiritual Range—a new battery, so to speak—was incorporated into his own spiritual domain.

His original Spiritual Range expanded from ten years to twenty.

His overall Spiritual Activity dropped as a result.

But as he advanced rapidly toward the Mother Divine Tree, every step was met with immense contamination.

Again and again, he used the Ghost Flame to sever the contamination, only to endure it once more.

And in this repetitive process, his recently fallen Spiritual Activity began to rise rapidly again.

The contamination here was so powerful that for Han Su, nearly every step was like experiencing an entire contamination incident under normal circumstances.

In this short distance, he endured more contamination than many Investigators would in a year, or even two or three.

Han Su’s first few steps were extremely difficult; he almost came to a halt with each one.

But after a while, his steps began to steady and become fluid. He even lifted his head to look directly at the Mother Divine Tree.

His Spiritual Range had now become twenty years, and he had stepped into the Divine Forbidden Area.

His underlying strength had doubled.

Of course, this was only the beginning.

He had a full two hundred years’ worth of Spiritual Range waiting to be integrated into his life.

His steps grew more resolute. On his body, the Ghost Flame burned and faded time and again, until finally, it was as if real, surging flames were dancing upon him, helping him fend off the wisps of alien Spiritual Power drifting down from the Mother Divine Tree.

With composed steps, he finally walked slowly to the front of the Mother Divine Tree and came to a firm halt.

He looked at the white figure before him, whose back was turned as it kowtowed to the Mother Divine Tree, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

That transmuted white monster was finally there, no more than seven or eight meters away from him.

Countless blue arcs of electricity were Flashing across his body, connecting him to the Mother Divine Tree.

And now, the contamination he was enduring was growing so severe that the blue arcs had almost turned a dark red.

’So, he...’

”I knew it...”

But before he could take that step, he heard a suppressed laugh.

The white monster’s shoulders trembled slightly, as if holding back laughter. ”I knew they would send you in...”

”I knew that only under these circumstances could we have a fair conversation...”

”...”

Han Su fought back an extremely heart-wrenching impulse and asked in a low voice, ”How did you get out?”

After confirming his identity, Han Su was no longer thinking about how to defeat him or anything else. His mind was filled with too many questions:

’How did you get out? When did you get out? How many people know you’re out?’

’And to think I was desperately searching for evidence to prove the kidnapping case even existed. I never imagined that right here in Qinggang, there was a child from the Ancient Castle, and he’s been watching me from the shadows all this time.’

’The child I rescued will no longer appear in anyone’s memory.’

’That means this white monster and I are currently the only two survivors of the Ancient Castle kidnapping case.’

’More importantly, since he got out of the Ancient Castle and remembers what happened there, whether he hates me or despises me, why has he been hiding in the shadows and spying on me instead of coming to talk?’

As Han Su, unable to restrain himself, took a step forward, a strange coldness and venomous hatred appeared on the white monster’s face.

”How did I get out?”

”You ask me how I got out?”

His voice grew louder, and he suddenly spun around, his face contorted with malice. ”I was fucking thrown out! The Ancient Castle despised me and tossed me aside!”

”And today, I’m going to take back everything that belongs to me! I want you all to pay back everything you owe me!”

”...”

Every word he spoke was filled with fury and venom. As he finished, he thrust one hand out, grabbing for Han Su’s throat. His voice vibrated the air like a beast’s Howl: ”I will take what is mine—the right to be the Heir!”

”...”

”BZZZ...”

Amidst a dense vibration of Spiritual Activity, Han Su felt his entire body being enveloped by an equally dense Spiritual Power.

The most critical thing was that his opponent’s Spiritual Activity was high to an extremely terrifying degree.

Every strand, every wisp, possessed an Activity that bordered on madness.

With no time to think, Han Su abruptly raised his arm to block.

Before entering this contamination field, he would have been utterly powerless to resist this casual grab from Bai Shi.

But on the short path he had just walked to reach the Mother Divine Tree, his own Spiritual Activity had been sufficiently enhanced.

Yet even now, with his foundational power greatly increased, he still seemed so inadequate before Bai Shi.

He managed to block it at first, but the white monster’s eyes grew cold. Its Spiritual Activity instantly surged to an unimaginable level, and its white, palm-print-less hand seemed to blot out the sky, crushing Han Su’s Spiritual Power inch by inch.

The palm pressed straight down, aiming to seize Han Su’s head in a humiliating gesture.

’Can’t block it!’

Han Su made an instant judgment. He abruptly tilted his head, raising the briefcase in front of him to absorb most of the surging Spiritual Power from his opponent.

He then pulled the electric baton from the briefcase and, with a ’Fuck!’, jabbed it against Bai Shi’s body.

Bai Shi froze, his outstretched hand stopping mid-air.

He glanced down at the electric baton Han Su had jabbed him with. Sparks were still flickering on it, and Han Su was squeezing the trigger hard.

It was clear the electric baton wasn’t hurting him much, but the insult was significant.

Han Su squeezed the baton’s trigger a couple more times. Seeing it had little effect, he raised his head with a cold expression, looked Bai Shi in the eyes, and said:

”Calm down!”