The Relic Scramble Begins!

Faint sounds of conversation drifted from a set of desolate ruins, their crumbling walls and rubble scattered across the landscape.

"How was your haul? Anyone injured?"

"We're fine. So far, we've gotten one 【Epic】 item and five pieces of 【Fine Quality】 equipment. What about you, Boss?"

"Keep it up. I've got three 【Epic】 items on me!"

"You're amazing, Boss!"

Baili Dao and Bei Lang chuckled, taking out their spoils to show Xiezhi. He looked on with a gratified expression.

They were quite satisfied with their progress. This place posed considerable risks, but the rewards were worth it.

In the outside world, they would have to brave an Instance with unknown dangers for a few meager rewards. Here in the 【Aiguyi Ruins】, they had acquired several powerful items in just a few short days. It was a massive gain.

Xiezhi cautioned his two subordinates.

"Be careful of the 【Twisted Resentful Spirits】 coming from the church. They're multiplying faster and faster."

"I predict this 【Relic Scramble】 will be over in a few days."

This was the 【Hidden Map】 of the 【Instance Scramble】, a place only members of the Abnormal Affairs Bureau could enter using a special method.

In previous years, only ten of the Bureau's thirty participants would secretly enter this Hidden Map. The other twenty would remain outside, fighting other organizations for the 【Contaminated Relics】. Meanwhile, the ten members inside would be reaping massive rewards.

But this year, things were different. Everyone from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau who entered the instance had been sent here to search for 【Relics】.

If they did this, however, the other players would never even see the Bureau's participants. The other organizations, and even the Rogue Players, would quickly sense that something was wrong.

It would only be a matter of time before they figured out the existence of the 【Hidden Map】. Why would the Bureau kill the goose that laid the golden eggs?

Xiezhi suspected something was wrong with the instance itself.

Perhaps this was the final 【Relic Scramble】. The higher-ups weren't killing the goose so much as going all in, trying to extract its final value before the instance disappeared for good.

Furthermore, every player from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau had received an order before entering.

【When you encounter a remnant of mysterious power, you must find a way to bring it back to the real world.】

The notice was reportedly from the department responsible for researching the nature of the 【Spirit Calamity Game】. They apparently needed this power for their work.

If their research succeeded, it might allow the Bureau's players to remain powerful even after the upcoming Open Beta.

The thought of the Open Beta agitated Xiezhi.

Anyone who had played a video game knew the difference. A closed beta had a limited number of players.

But an open beta meant registration would be available to all. More and more people would become players.

This was not good news.

Not everyone would remain peaceful and law-abiding after gaining power. Some would inevitably become arrogant, trampling on the law and the lives of others.

If the Abnormal Affairs Bureau wanted to maintain social order, they needed to stay far ahead of other players, becoming an insurmountable mountain.

Only then could they intimidate the growing number of players in the future. They couldn't just maintain their strength; their pace of advancement had to far exceed that of ordinary people.

Therefore, no opportunity could be missed.

This 【Relic Scramble】 could be the very foundation that allowed the Bureau to maintain peace in the new era.

Boom!

Just as Xiezhi's mind was racing, a loud bang pulled him back to reality.

Without hesitation, Xiezhi pulled a pair of gauntlets from his waist and put them on. The goggles perched on his forehead slid down into place.

Beside him, Baili Dao and Bei Lang immediately adopted a defensive stance, quickly equipping the gear they had just been showing off.

The effects of the instance were still in place.

The Bureau's players still had no levels and couldn't use their innate abilities upon entering the 【Aiguyi Ruins】. Fortunately, they could wear and use the 【Relics】 they found here without issue.

The reason they were equipping them now was simple.

Xiezhi roared.

"Five hundred meters, three o'clock! Two large 【Twisted Resentful Spirits】! I'll take the lead! You two provide support!"

He shot out like a cannonball.

Within the blink of an eye, two strange creatures appeared in his line of sight. They floated among the ruins like legless, bizarre specters.

One looked like a deep-sea anglerfish. Instead of a luminous lure dangling from its forehead, however, there was a human head, its mouth perpetually open in a desperate wail.

The other was covered in white feathers like a swan. A closer look revealed that each feather was actually a human finger, making its pristine white color exceptionally eerie.

These were the so-called 【Twisted Resentful Spirits】. The Bureau's players had not yet determined their origin.

The most persuasive theory suggested that the 【Twisted Resentful Spirits】 were the townsfolk who had died in despair from the mutations caused by the mysterious power.

The Aiguyi Town in the outside world merely shackled the souls of the townsfolk, forcing them to forever believe in 【Suffering】 and endure torment.

But where had their mutated bodies gone? If they weren't destroyed, they must have been sealed away somewhere.

This 【Hidden Map】, they theorized, was the dumping ground for those mutated corpses.

And the 【Twisted Resentful Spirits】 were the monsters formed from them.

The spirits had no physical form, no sense of pain, and no reason. Their only purpose was to eliminate any target that did not belong.

Only the 【Relics】 found here could harm them. For example, the very pair of gauntlets on Xiezhi's hands.

"Deal with the flying one first!"

Xiezhi's figure appeared beside the feathered Resentful Spirit. He threw a fierce straight punch that connected with its wing, then made a strange twisting motion.

The gauntlet spun a full three circles on the creature's wing.

Crack!

Strangely, the sound that came from the fleshy, finger-covered wing was as crisp as shattering ceramic. Immediately after, half of the creature's wing began to break apart, falling to the ground and shattering into fragments.

"Roar!"

The feathered Resentful Spirit shrieked miserably and tried to fly away, flapping its remaining wing.

But before it could leave the ground, a voice called out from a distance.

"Hey! Monster! I call your name, do you dare to answer?"

Bei Lang muttered the activation phrase for the 【Relic】 in his hand, a look of shame on his face.

The next second, the feathered Resentful Spirit froze in place, its eyes filled with confusion.

Xiezhi seized the opportunity, preparing to land another punch on its other wing.

But unexpectedly, the anglerfish spirit roared and charged over. The human head-lure on its forehead suddenly opened its eyes and stared at Xiezhi.

It wailed in agony.

"Pain… So much pain…"

As its voice fell, Xiezhi frowned and bent over, coughing violently.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

His expression contorted as if he were enduring immense pain. In an instant, the anglerfish's sharp teeth were above his head, ready to swallow him whole.

In this moment of crisis, Xiezhi endured the excruciating pain in his brain.

He bent his body backward with a flexibility no ordinary person could achieve, managing to throw a powerful uppercut at the anglerfish's chin.

Anyone who knew Xiezhi would have been shocked. He specialized in Charm Papers and mental abilities, so why was he so skilled in physical combat?

What they didn't know was that Xiezhi had a good friend, a brute who loved to drag him along for physical training.

That friend may not have had much intelligence, but in terms of pure combat skill, he was one of the best in Huaxia.

"Finish it!" Xiezhi shouted.

He knew his punch wasn't enough to kill the anglerfish. A 【Twisted Resentful Spirit】 of this size needed to be shattered completely.

But before Baili Dao could use his long-range attack 【Relic】, a figure quietly appeared beside the anglerfish.

Behind him, a nun in a black and white habit gently placed her hand on the fish's head.

Splat!

In an instant, the massive anglerfish dissolved into a pool of blood.

The feathered Resentful Spirit, which had been about to fly away, was pinned to the ground by a woman in a fiery red dress.

The man looked at the dumbfounded Xiezhi and laughed.

"Oi! Kid, things are heating up!"

He grinned.

"Having an Ultraman-versus-monster brawl and you didn't invite me?"

"I'm an expert in eighteen ways to cook fish heads and stew goose in an iron pot. Think I could apply for a chef position at the Abnormal Affairs Bureau?"