Free Web NovelProsperity Beijing, Si Ye Hui Headquarters, Conference Room One, the room was dimly lit.
On one side of the circular conference table, Nameless Book, Lord Bing, and Lord Huaiyuan, three Guardians, sat upright, with two scribes standing behind them.
On the other side, several projection screens displayed the faces of leaders from different Spiritual Energy organizations.
Fujiwara Daiguji, dressed in a miko outfit with an exquisite headdress, exuded an ethereal aura.
An old man with a wrinkled face and an orange turban, Doji Ten, whose injuries had not yet healed and was covered in bandages, stood behind the old man.
The leader of the Assassins organization, whose figure was hidden in the darkness, only a blurry outline visible, his face unclear.
The second commander of the White God Group, with a colossal build like a giant bear, almost filled the entire projection screen.
There were also several organization members who had never appeared around Yumen Pass but claimed that their organization members had died in the chaos at Yumen Pass, shamelessly joining this meeting.
All the details of the Yumen Pass incident, as well as various materials regarding the Calamity's confrontation with the Shaman King, after being shared and re-integrated, had already appeared on the desks of the leaders of major Spiritual Energy organizations a day prior.
After studying those materials, they all had the same feeling.
It felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on their chests, making it difficult to breathe.
Thus, to alleviate this discomfort, they quickly invited the Night Watch to join them in this meeting.
"...That's the general situation."
When Wu Yuhui, the scribe of the Night Watch, briefly summarized and reiterated the integrated data regarding the Yumen Pass incident, everyone fell into a brief silence. frёewebηovel.cѳm
A moment later, Agni, the leader of Aptya, finally spoke first, "From the data collected so far, it can be 100% confirmed that the Shaman King is a resurrected Extinction-Bringer of Old Days, and as for the Calamity who was able to kill him, I don't need to say much; I believe everyone can guess what kind of existence she is, right?"
He paused, his gaze drifting towards the three Guardians of the Night Watch, and continued, "To prevent further tragedy, my suggestion is to hand over the Calamity for all of us to handle..."
"Interrupting!" Nameless Book said expressionlessly, "As of now, the Calamity and the various urban legend incidents she has caused are confined to Z Country and still fall under the jurisdiction of our Night Watch. Handing her over to you might not be in line with the rules, would it?"
"Heh!" The second commander of the White God Group sneered twice, "As far as I know, the Calamity's other identity is Lu Yibei, an operative of your Night Watch. Let you handle her? I'm not at ease! To allow such an existence to become an # Nоvеlight # operative means you might be covering up her crimes!"
"I suggest handing Lu Yibei over to our Kasuga Grand Shrine." Fujiwara Daiguji said, "You all know how skilled we are at sealing urban legend and forming Shikigami contracts with them."
No one refuted these words. The Kasuga Grand Shrine had formed Shikigami contracts with over fifty high-level urban legend, including three known Calamity level urban legend, making them a leading force among Spiritual Energy organizations worldwide.
Their Fujiwara family's miko seemed to possess special techniques for taming urban legend.
"Please rest assured, given the sacrifice of Qinan Bamboo and the sacrifice of Unmyouki..."
"Mom—! You didn't tell me that just now!"
Fujiwara Daiguji's words were cut short by a girl's noisy shouting. Immediately after, a small hand reached out from the edge of the projection screen, grabbed her clothes, and tugged.
Fujiwara Daiguji looked embarrassed and said, "Excuse me, everyone, I need to handle some family matters first." Then she stood up and disappeared from the projection screen.
After a brief silence, a deep, hoarse voice spoke, "Regardless, starting tomorrow, the Assassins will pursue the Calamity."
The speaker was the leader of the Assassins organization, Old Man of the Mountain, who shared the same title as the original founder of the Assassins organization. This had been the case for all successive leaders, seemingly a special tradition of their organization, though there were also rumors that the original Old Man of the Mountain was still alive.
"Elder brother, the Calamity just prevented a terrible Disaster from happening!" Lord Bing couldn't help but interject, "Please reconsider."
Lord Bing knew how miserable it was to be targeted by the Assassins, because he had experienced it.
Before he obtained Calamity level power, he had once clashed with the Assassins due to an opportunity to visualize an ancient general. It was only after he gained Calamity level power and was given the title of Lord Bing that the endless assassinations finally ceased.
It wasn't due to his strength; the Nameless Assassin Group had records of assassinating Calamity level beings. The cessation of their assassinations was more due to him returning the visualization diagram and the Night Watch's guarantee.
Although the Nameless Assassin Group of the Assassins was not particularly strong on average, the critical point was that they would not engage in direct confrontation. Once targeted, there would be no peace.
As the saying goes, it's not the thief you fear, but the thief who keeps thinking about you. Those targeted by the Nameless Assassin Group would never know when or from where they would plunge a knife into your heart.
Passersby, mall sales assistants, food delivery riders... these were all assassinations Lord Bing had personally experienced. He even encountered an incident where, while using the restroom, the Elder brother in the adjacent urinal suddenly pulled out a weapon from an unspeakable place and stabbed him.
It was so ridiculous!
I believe all male compatriots know that when going to the toilet, it's an unwritten rule to stand one urinal apart. Who would come up and stand next to someone else and pull something out?
Simply unbearable!
"Did the Calamity prevent any Disaster?" Old Man of the Mountain retorted, "All I saw was a struggle between two terrifying urban legend due to their authorities, and the potential threat the Calamity might bring."
"And now, she must be nipped in the bud as soon as possible while there's still a chance."
"That's right!" Another Spiritual Energy organization leader echoed, "The Calamity is too dangerous; she must be eliminated quickly! Besides, did our people die for nothing?"
"You're right! Someone must be held responsible for this, either your Night Watch or the Calamity!"
"..."
"Bang—!" The conference room door was suddenly pushed open, hitting the wall with a dull thud, and the noise ceased abruptly.
An old man outside the door, holding a teacup, walked leisurely into the conference room like an old man strolling in a park, squeezed past Lord Huaiyuan, and sat down at the conference table.
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Everyone's gaze was fixed on this latecomer, but he seemed completely unconcerned, lowering his head to fiddle with the teacup in his hand, using the lid to push aside the floating tea foam on the surface, and taking small sips.
After a long while, seeing that no one continued to speak, the old man sat up straight and scanned everyone present, "Speak up, weren't you discussing quite intensely just now? Why are you silent now?"
Everyone: "..." You haven't spoken, who dares to interrupt?
This was the oppressive presence of the Black Emperor, the strongest of the Night Watch, and possibly one of the strongest Psychic in the current era.
After waiting for a moment, seeing that everyone was still silent, Zhang Huainan stood up and said, "If you don't speak, then this old man will!"
Saying so, he raised his hand and pointed at Agni, "Just now, you brat said you wanted to hand over the Calamity for everyone to handle? What, are you questioning our Night Watch's competence?"
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare!" Agni shook his head.
"And you!" Zhang Huainan squinted at the second commander of the White God Group, "Your White God Group sent someone who was misled by the Black God and defected during the great battle to act as an inside agent for the Shaman King, what was his name, Winter, right? Do you also deserve to talk about covering up?"
"You're not mentioning Winter's sneak attack on Doji Ten at all, are you? Why don't you ask Doji Ten if he minds?"
"What about Kasuga Grand Shrine? Didn't she come? I clearly heard her voice just now!"
Zhang Huainan was on a roll, ready to find his next target, but realized he had "lost" it. He looked around, pondered for a moment, then ignored Fujiwara Daiguji's temporary absence and continued his tirade.
"It doesn't matter, since we're on the topic, this old man will also say something. What did Fujiwara Daiguji say just now, something about the sacrifice of Qinan Bamboo and the promise of Unmyouki? Don't you know the real situation!"
"What sacrifice? Wasn't that forced by you and those guys? What promise? Wasn't it because you were beaten so badly that you pleaded with them to agree... and now you have the nerve to bring it up again?"
"And you!" Zhang Huainan swept his gaze over Old Man of the Mountain and the other Spiritual Energy organization leaders who were just making up the numbers, his face dark, "You say that the Calamity's actions were merely a power struggle between urban legend? Do you yourselves believe that?"
"Besides, didn't this old man warn you before not to approach Yumen Pass within forty-eight hours? You didn't listen to the advice, people died, and you still want our Night Watch to take responsibility? Then shouldn't this old man also hold you accountable for Psychic illegally entering the country?"
"Oh, and Nameless Book..."
"Hmm? I'm here." Nameless Book looked at Zhang Huainan.
"What did that report you shared with me say again?" Zhang Huainan asked.
"Oh, you mean that one!" Nameless Book nodded, her expression calm, "According to reliable intelligence, during the period when major Spiritual Energy organizations illegally entered Z Country, there were thirty-two Spiritual Energy attack incidents, eleven Spiritual Energy items were stolen, and seven detained Spiritual Energy criminals or urban legend escaped control..."
"After investigation, eight incidents had no identified perpetrators, suspected to be carried out by foreign personnel. Among them, the most serious incident was the theft of Long Xiang Army heroic spirits' energy near Sanlongsha..."
"Investigations suggest that someone secretly extracted the lingering souls and Spiritual Energy left behind when Nanling Prince Longxiang and a group of Long Xiang Army Armored Soldiers sacrificed themselves to seal the Shaman King over a thousand years ago."
What Nameless Book said was true.
When Dragon Xiang and a group of Long Xiang Army Armored Soldiers sacrificed themselves, the vow they made to a non-existent "god"—"sacrificing body and life, enduring three lifetimes of ten Disasters, seven misfortunes, and four sufferings"—received no response from any urban legend. Almost all the power they condensed through self-sacrifice was transformed into a seal, remaining with the Shaman King.
And when the Shaman King broke free, that power was also released.
However, when the Shaman King caused chaos, no one had time to deal with or pay attention to that power. After the incident concluded, when Nameless Book led a group of Night Watch operatives to investigate, they discovered that the power had already vanished without a trace.
Clearly, that power had been stolen amidst the chaos!
Now, if they couldn't catch the thief, they could only suspect these illegally entering individuals.
After listening to Nameless Book's explanation, Zhang Huainan nodded in satisfaction, looking at the projection screen in front of him, "Did you hear that! There were eight incidents, and the theft of Long Xiang Army heroic spirits... I now have reason to suspect your people did it."
"Apologies, this old man is not questioning the righteousness of major organizations, but no matter what organization, there will always be some bad apples, right? Just like our operative Lu Yibei."
"However, this doesn't mean you bear no responsibility. It's fine if you want to act against operative Lu Yibei, but before that, please provide a reasonable explanation to the Night Watch for these eight incidents."
"Black Emperor senior... aren't you being a bit unreasonable here? You're just speculating; you don't have evidence, do you?" A leader of a Spiritual Energy organization said, emboldened.
"What?" Zhang Huainan glanced at that person, his voice cold, "Are the accusations you've leveled against the Calamity not also speculation? Do you have evidence for those?"
For a moment, everyone was speechless, falling into silence.
When someone with a bigger fist and greater power than you says something you can't refute, you really have no way to deal with them.
"Black Emperor senior's words are reasonable." The second commander of the White God Group was the first to concede, "These matters, for now, all fall within the jurisdiction of the Night Watch and should rightfully be handled by the Night Watch first, however..."
"However what?" Zhang Huainan said, sticking out his neck.
"However, we should have the right to know the Night Watch's handling plan, shouldn't we?" The second commander of the White God Group tentatively asked in a low voice.
"Hmph!" Zhang Huainan snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over everyone, "Logically speaking, we don't have to tell you about the Night Watch's affairs, but this old man is a reasonable person. To prevent you from continuing to make trouble, revealing a little bit to you is no big deal."
Everyone: "..." Who's being unreasonable here?!
"Our method of handling is very simple. Three days from now, this old man will personally take action to eliminate the Calamity. I can personally guarantee you that within five days at most, the Calamity will no longer exist in this world." Zhang Huainan narrowed his eyes, revealing a benevolent smile.
"How about it, is this handling method acceptable? If there are no objections, then this old man will proceed! Who seconds, who opposes?"
Everyone: "..."
After a slight wait, seeing no one speak, Zhang Huainan nodded and said, "Very good, since no one objects, then... meeting adjourned!"
With that, he flicked his sleeve, turned, and strode out of the conference room.
