Chapter 5: The Massacre
"Ghost Ring?"
Su Xiao's expression showed confusion. As the true leader of the Execution Agency, he had never heard of such a force. After all, the Execution Agency was an organization specifically tasked with dealing with wraiths or demons.
Thump, thump, thump...
Urgent knocking came from the door. Before Su Xiao could speak, the door burst open with a bang, and a man in a blue military-style trench coat, his face covered in blood, rushed into the room.
"Legion Commander, there's a wraith attacking civilians on the street!"
The man who had burst in gasped for breath. He was clutching his lower abdomen with one hand; from the looks of it, if he didn't hold it in, his intestines would spill out. Moreover, he addressed Su Xiao as Legion Commander, not Vice Legion Commander, which was quite telling.
"Attacking civilians in the street?"
After recalling the intelligence on Zuer City in his mind, Su Xiao was somewhat surprised. This was the empire's capital, the place with the fewest wraiths. An incident of a wraith attacking civilians in the street hadn't happened in at least a few years.
"A wraith driven mad by hunger?"
"No, it was big, at least 400 pounds, and... it had five eyes."
"You, are you alright?"
Su Xiao glanced at the Awakener who was clutching his lower abdomen. His name was Gesi, and he looked somewhat thin but was quite fierce, with an awakening degree of 60%, soon to be 'scrapped.'
"I'm fine."
Gesi spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, but realizing this was the Vice Legion Commander's office, he smiled somewhat awkwardly.
Su Xiao took a roll of bandages from his desk and tossed them to Gesi, then stepped out of the room. "Lead the way."
Gesi was definitely a tough guy. He pulled up the fabric of his lower abdomen, wrapped the bandages around it many times to prevent his organs from spilling out, then ran a few steps ahead of Su Xiao to lead him to the scene.
...
At eleven o'clock that night, on Xiaosai Street, soldiers in gray uniforms had sealed off the area. Civilians at the street corners and alleys peered into the cordoned-off zone. On the street, several white cloths could be seen, each stained with patches of red.
"Sir, we are Awakeners, we are professionals, we... hey hey, we're civilized people, don't resort to violence."
"Third Brother, form the formation!"
"Got it, Second Brother."
"Wait, don't do it here."
Three burly men in suits stood side by side. The few soldiers in front of them all swallowed hard. These three were too massive; with builds like that, it was a shame they weren't hauling manure. Moreover, all three were wearing flashy purple suits, giving off an inexplicable sense of pressure.
That's right, this was the dark force: the Three Brothers of National Football. They were also in Zuer City, or rather, all contractors were within Zuer City.
"You three got shut out too."
A man in a black vest spoke. If he hadn't spoken up, everyone would have overlooked his existence. Even when he did speak, the people around him would have a surprised feeling of 'oh, there's a person here.'
"It's you, Black Vest."
The old man of the National Football team raised an eyebrow at Black Vest, quite flamboyantly, and somewhat philosophical. Black Vest waved his hand and smiled; since he couldn't win a fight, he had to be polite.
"Don't block the way."
A male voice came from behind the Second Brother of National Football.
"Hmm?"
The Second Brother turned his head. His expression and movements underwent a staged change: surprise, a bit of happiness, stepping back two paces, pretending not to recognize the person, and showing fear.
"Eek."
The Third Brother of National Football looked as if he'd seen a ghost. The First Brother's mouth twitched. Then... the three brothers all stepped aside in unison.
"Long time no see."
Su Xiao just greeted them and quickly walked forward. Heaven knows why the National Football trio were dressed so flashily, it was almost an eyesore.
"Missed you dearly."
The First Brother of National Football said something that made his conscience ache. Only when Su Xiao walked into the group of gray-uniformed soldiers did he breathe a sigh of relief. The scene where Su Xiao had almost killed the three of them was still vivid in his memory. Even if they had cooperated later, that didn't mean they were allies.
"Who's that?"
Black Vest hadn't spoken before, mainly because the reaction of the National Football trio was too abnormal.
"Someone we've lost to."
The First Brother of National Football crossed his arms, looking as if he was reminiscing about something.
"Heh."
Black Vest smiled and said nothing. He didn't believe the National Football trio would be scared into that pathetic state by someone they'd merely lost to. That expression was clearly that of someone seeing their nemesis.
In fact, Su Xiao was indeed the nemesis of the National Football trio. They could heal each other, yes, but Su Xiao could burn their mana. Without mana, they could only stare helplessly.
Su Xiao walked into the cordoned-off area. Facts proved his choice was correct; having his current identity made things much more convenient.
There were dozens of white cloths on the street, and blood and flesh could be seen on the buildings on both sides. If it were daytime, patches of blood would definitely be visible on the asphalt street.
"How many dead?"
Su Xiao spoke. A female officer in a gray uniform stepped forward. They were not in the same chain of command, so she didn't bother with pleasantries.
"Thirty-six civilians dead, seventeen soldiers. This matter is best handled by our Alert Force. We know Zuer City better, and besides, we were the ones who killed this wraith."
The female officer handed over a document. From her words, it was clear she didn't have a good impression of the Execution Agency, especially since her unit had been the first on the scene.
In reality, it was normal for the Execution Agency not to arrive first. The Execution Agency was responsible for eliminating and capturing wraiths or demons, not for finding them. In other words, the Execution Agency wasn't a rapid response unit; they were a specialized combat unit that went wherever the danger was. Other departments called them the suicide squad, with an extremely high mortality rate.
"Just this one?"
Su Xiao's gaze shifted to Gesi, who was following behind him.
"Yes."
Gesi lowered his head. Getting injured by just a single five-eyed wraith was indeed somewhat embarrassing. But considering he wasn't carrying a weapon, it was actually normal. Tearing off one of that wraith's arms with his bare hands was already quite fierce.
A wraith's combat power was judged by the number of eyes. Wraiths with 1-3 eyes had average combat power, but they could still overwhelm ordinary people. Those with 3-5 eyes were somewhat strong, 5-10 eyes were elite wraiths, and anything above 10 eyes was extremely dangerous.
As for demons, their strength couldn't be judged by appearance. Only by fighting them could one understand how powerful they were. It could be said that every demon was a Boss-level threat.
"Save me... save me..."
A cry for help came from under a white cloth. The female officer was somewhat surprised; her subordinates had checked the bodies and confirmed they were all dead.
"Move aside."
Gesi growled. His eyes scanned the street a few times and quickly found a square stone.
Gesi rushed forward, tossed the square stone in his hand, took a deep breath, and then hurled it with all his might. The stone broke through a layer of air, smashing into the pleading civilian like a cannonball.
Bang!
Blood splattered everywhere, like an explosion of pulp. The civilian burst open, and a foul stench spread.
"Where did this wraith come from? Its behavior is too abnormal."
Gesi spat out another mouthful of bloody saliva and continued following behind Su Xiao. Su Xiao crouched in front of a white cloth. Underneath it was the wraith's corpse. He lifted the cloth.
The skin was uneven like rubber, overall a dark brown color. Its form was somewhat similar to a human's, at least it walked upright. It was about three meters tall, with a bloated abdomen. Its arms were more than 20% longer than a human's, and its claws were very sharp. The most noticeable feature was its face. The wraith's face had a layer of exoskeleton, with a row of eyes on top (five in total). At the mouth and nose area, there were a dozen round holes, with a horizontal slit between them, convenient for the wraith to open its mouth and feed.