# 385
Chapter 385
Mental Contamination
Bell Cranel?
When Lin Qiye saw those two words, the reversed videotape, the hijacked airliner, and the tiny bug that had wriggled free of the crystal after the ritual instantly flashed through his mind.
He knew the incident all too well—he’d taken part in it.
Back then, they’d prevented the crash and beheaded the tavern owner, yet Bell Cranel had still completed the ritual and escaped the crystal. Before they could even begin tracking it, the Cangnan catastrophe erupted.
He’d assumed the overseas mystery had been wiped out by the Phoenix Squad, yet not only had it survived, a full year later it had shown up in Gusu City—right next to Cangnan.
A year… long enough for it to return to peak condition.
Lin Qiye’s gaze slid downward. The first half of the file recounted Bell Cranel’s initial appearance in Cangnan; he skipped it and jumped straight to the Gusu section.
“…At 23:16 last night, a sudden purple mist erupted from downtown Gusu and drifted outward. By 07:42 this morning its radius had reached ten kilometres.
Roughly 6,300 people are now inside the fog, and the radius keeps growing.
Night Watch Team 017 stationed in Gusu arrived promptly, sealed off a thirty-kilometre perimeter with a No-Rule Empty Domain, and took samples.
Analysis shows the mist carries extreme mental-contamination properties. Every human caught in it loses self-awareness, lapsing into stupor, frenzy, or derangement. Other life-forms appear unaffected. The process is reversible; severity correlates with mental strength.
Preliminary estimates: ‘Pond’-realm minds stay lucid about five hours; ‘River’ realm roughly twelve; ‘Sea’ realm about thirty.
After learning this, Team 017 left one member outside; the other six entered the mist at once to hunt Bell Cranel.
As of 16:12 this afternoon—over sixteen hours inside—the fog has not dissipated…”
When he finished, Lin Qiye’s face was grave. He glanced at the cabin clock: 19:10.
Nearly nineteen hours since 017 had gone in.
Attached were detailed profiles. Only the captain, Qin Kai, was Sea realm; the rest were all River realm.
Which meant that, barring accidents, most of them had already succumbed.
As Lin Qiye turned to the last page, his fingers twitched and his brows knitted. He looked up at Baili Pangpang, expression complicated.
“What’s wrong?” Baili Pangpang asked, puzzled by the stare.
Lin Qiye handed the file around.
“Molly?!” Baili Pangpang blurted when he saw the final photo. “Right—she was transferred to the Gusu Night Watch team… Then she—!”
He shot to his feet, rare panic on his face.
“Easy.” Lin Qiye soothed. “They left one member outside. Molly’s only been with them a year—practically a rookie. Odds are she stayed out.”
Baili Pangpang exhaled, but his brows stayed locked.
“Bell Cranel?” An Qingyu looked up. “Aren’t overseas mysteries Phoenix Squad’s job?”
“Commander Ye said Phoenix is tied up in another city; none of the other teams can make it in time. Right now we’re the only ones who can reach Gusu,” Lin Qiye answered wryly. “There simply aren’t enough special teams—that’s why headquarters is rushing to form the fifth.”
He pulled two more documents from the pouch and handed them to An Qingyu and Cao Yuan.
“Your admission papers—approved. Qingyu, that case should hold your Coat of Arms and the full set of scalpels you asked for, forged from Straight-Blade alloy.” He pointed to a black box. “Cloaks will be custom-made after we’re formally commissioned, so none for now.”
An Qingyu opened the lid: a gleaming Coat of Arms lay neatly beside a slim case of ghost-grey scalpels. He lifted one, eyes glinting slate-grey.
“Odd alloy… but it feels perfect.” He nodded, satisfied.
“What about me?” Baili Pangpang protested. “Where’s my paperwork?”
Lin Qiye shrugged. “No idea—probably rushed out before yours cleared.”
Baili Pangpang slumped back into his seat with a groan.
Lin Qiye swept the second black box with his mental power, brows lifting. Inside lay a necklace.
“Azure Guardian?” he exclaimed in surprise.
He’d traded for the mental-protection relic back in training camp with Blood-Boiling, but everything had been confiscated when he entered the asylum. Now Commander Ye had sent it back.
“Mission brief: enter the purple mist, rescue Team 017, and eliminate Bell Cranel. Questions?” He pocketed the necklace, slid his twin sabres into the box, and strapped it on, scanning the others.
Heads shook.
“Captain Lin, we’ll be over Gusu in two minutes. Ready?” the air-force officer asked.
“Ready. Set us down at the nearest airfield.”
“Land?” The officer blinked. “This bird never touches foreign tarmacs. The other teams just jump—don’t you have flight capabilities?”