With so many injuries, half were from the attacks of Ling Zhi and Yan Chong, and the other half resulted from him using power beyond his limit to deal with those two in one go.

Even the incomplete "Disaster Prevention Book" required the strength that only someone of Transcend Rank could muster. Before fully entering the Circle Realm, the only thing under pressure was his own spiritual soul.

Now, with every Matrix in his body overloaded and his spiritual essence dried up, his soul heavily wounded, it was proof enough that the Tong family was truly wealthy; all their life-preserving items were at full capacity.

As for those two Blessed Creations, which were already shattered and incapacitated in his effort to save his life, Ji Jue unceremoniously pocketed them.

Even if they're scrap, they can be disassembled and fed into Mechanical Descent as dog food. After all, aren't surgeries expensive?

"The situation is far from optimistic."

Amid the heavy silence, Tong Shan took the lead, "The scale of the Evil Cult this time may be even larger than we estimated. Those bastards might have all been deployed."

Disguising itself as numerous illegal churches, the Evil Cult has roamed for over a century between the Federation, Empire, Central Earth, and the Thousand Islands in the Endless Sea. Like flies in the sewer, they're found wherever there's a stench.

And now, they've managed to mobilize such vast resources to infiltrate Spring City quietly; claiming they're here for an annual team-building exercise requires belief.

Even the permanent investigation base was infiltrated and destroyed without a sound, and traps were laid with ease, waiting for follow-up support to deliver themselves into the trap.

How many had they sent out now?

Hundreds, if not thousands. When it comes to mass-producing mindless minions, the Evil Cult held an advantage over the Federation. The foul aura of higher Evils tainted them once; the dead served as sustenance, while the living naturally became minions. Paired with a mishmash of Matrixes, chances are they don't even have blessings, just handed an AK and sent into battle.

In just a few short hours, the previously vibrant and flourishing situation had deteriorated to this, leaving everyone speechless and a feeling of suppression in their hearts.

And in the midst of this silent stillness, Ji Jue coughed lightly, "The situation may not necessarily be so."

"Is there a chance for a turnaround?" Jiang Xuan asked in astonishment.

"No, I mean, it could be worse."

Ji Jue, after pondering for quite a while, finally reached into his pocket and pulled out the spoils he had scavenged from the ruins – a piece of skin peeled off the guy who played dead to launch a sneak attack.

Palm-sized.

But the black tattoo imprinted on it silenced everyone.

A cruel one-eyed emblem adorned with scaled-wing totems.

— Dragon Sacrifice Ceremony!

"Look on the bright side—"

Ji Jue said, "If it's not that the Evil Cult's HR went crazy trying to recruit from the Dragon Sacrifice Ceremony for sales targets, then there's a significant possibility that he was there to make extra money."

Of course, there was another, even greater possibility...

They were all unlovely and charmless villains; it was normal for them to communicate and join forces – the alliance of ugliness for sinister deeds and striving together for major goals, right?

If that was the case, it could explain the abnormal activities of the Dragon Sacrifice Ceremony in Hai Province in recent days, not just the Lawrence who was ground to dust by Sister Wen, but also the arrival of Shepherd Invisible.

Even in the hospital of the Time Ruins, Ji Jue could see the Vortex Planting Method, the lifelong love of Lawrence.

A Shepherd lurking in Hai Province for so many years wouldn't be conducting just one Dragon Blood project. Before that old ghost turned to ash, he might have been joyfully providing technical support to the Evil Cult...

But with the Dragon Sacrifice Ceremony present, what about the others?

The Evil Cult wasn't even keeping to themselves anymore; wouldn't they bring in a few others to shore up the ranks?

But what exactly did they want to do?

Limited by his abilities and perspective, beyond detonating Spring City and spreading contamination throughout the domain of Hai Province, Ji Jue couldn't think of any other objectives. But what would that accomplish?

Wouldn't it just lead to faster death?

The Federation, however bloated and corrupt it might be, remained one of the two poles of the world. Not to mention the numerous Heavenly People, perhaps even living Saints and dragons could be found in the shadows.

The Evil Cult followed Evils, not a path to certain death; the Dragon Sacrifice Ceremony chased the apocalypse and dragon transformation, not for the sake of early transcendence.

What was their end goal?

But that wasn't Ji Jue's problem – such a massive matter was beyond him, and even the forefathers of the Tong family couldn't handle it.

"It won't do, we must report this immediately."

Ji Liu understood the implications behind it, already drenched in sweat.

But apart from him, no one spoke.

Ji Jue and Tong Shan looked at each other in mutual silence, wordless, both letting out a sigh.

That was the most fatal part...

"What's the matter?" Ji Liu was puzzled.

Ji Jue remained silent, still not speaking.

"There's no need to worry, everyone in the team was personally selected by me. There's no way any of them could be colluding with the Evil Cult. Otherwise, I'd have been dead a long time ago." Tong Shan laughed softly in self-derision, "Is this some sort of misfortune turned into a blessing?"

But what about outside the team?

As an external craftsman, Ji Jue naturally felt obliged to point out some unpleasant truths, "The Security Bureau can no longer be trusted."

An entire resident investigation team, with so many members, was inexplicably wiped out.

As the commanding Lou Yanyue disappeared, aside from determining her life or death status based on the spiritual fragments at the scene, nothing was known. Such a significant event, yet there was no disturbance outside.

And Tong Shan's support team, on its way here, had already been targeted, drawing out Evil creatures and Evil Spirits to lie in wait.

The Evil Cult knew their route inside out.

This wasn't just outrageous—it was damned insupportable!

How could it be explained other than having a traitor inside?

And this wasn't just any traitor, but at least someone in the middle ranks, maybe even in the decision-making layer... But who was the traitor? Was it Lv Yingyue? Was it Zhou Fang from the Tide City Security Bureau? Or Yu Zhengze from Ship City? Li Wan'an from Jiang City?

Or was it the drooling, porridge-drinking Mr. Tao?

If those of them who were mere pawns made one wrong move, they might just evaporate from this world.

"The director is trustworthy."

Tong Shan declared firmly, assuring, "Absolutely."

After all, they were the Heavenly Listening Tong family. Although the head of the family rarely showed himself, it didn't mean that they were blind and deaf to what was happening. Tong Shan held the position of a ministry head, and the Tong family's collaboration with the Cliff City Security Bureau naturally needed no further discussion.

With the Tong family's assurance, this wasn't something to worry about. At least there was no need to fear approaching Director Lv to say that the Evil Cult had a traitor, and then having Director Lv give a faint smile, remove his mask, and ask, "Is the traitor like this?"

For a moment, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, at least their lives were safe.

Only Ji Jue silently sighed and took another look at Tong Shan, who was telling half-truths—only able to marvel at how Tian Yuan was truly Tian Yuan, masters of sweetening the deal with empty promises and juicy dates.

Effortlessly boosting morale.

But...

Director Lv may be reliable, but the prerequisite is that they had to actually get to see him!

Guys, we're still stuck in Spring City!

How do we get out?

The fixed routes? After the Evil Cult's slip-up, to avoid leaking any information, they may well have a Rebirth stationed to ambush every few kilometers on that road.

Xu Guan raised his hand, "There are still two alternative routes..."

"Alternative routes cannot be guaranteed either."

Tong Shan decisively shook his head, "All recorded routes must pass through the management of the outpost. With the exception of top-secret emergencies, the routes calculated by my fourth uncle will be duplicated four times: one copy is kept by the Tong family, one sent to the Cliff City Security Bureau, one to the archives of the outpost, and one to the hands of the team members."

Working with the Security Bureau, it was most important to follow the rules, and also where rules were most needed.

Leaving a trail behind after operations was essential; it was the key for shifting blame when necessary.

Now, one point of control out of the four had been lost, causing the scapegoating to backfire, with Tong Shan being cast out to Cliff City along with it.

In the subsequent silence, Ji Jue fiddled with the tools in his hand and, after pondering for a moment, suddenly asked, "If the Evil Cult realizes they have failed, they will definitely search for our tracks and won't give us a chance to send out a message, right?"

"They definitely will," Tong Shan nodded firmly.

"And they will surely send out many experts, right?" Ji Jue asked again.

"Exactly."

Tong Shan gave a bitter smile, consoling, "Don't worry, I need a few hours to recover. By then, there will always be a chance to fight our way out."

"Why confront them head-on?"

Ji Jue countered, causing Tong Shan to pause.

"The Evil Cult has been in Spring City for so long, set up such a large operation; they should know the local routes better than the Security Bureau, right?"

He took a deep breath and posed the final question, "After dispatching so many people, isn't their own defense at its weakest?"

In the quiet, everyone stood still, momentarily stunned.

Taken aback.

Holy shit, wait?

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