This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 56 Clues
It turned out to be the one who was involved in the cult.

Nie Weiyang thought.

He silently placed a mental mark on this person to identify his identity, but did not rush to do anything - the other party did not openly provoke the second administrator, and there was no need for him to sacrifice the dignity of this identity and actively attack a "delicate underage girl".

Although this guy's true form is actually a man.

Of course, he was well aware of the danger this person posed and would never let him go.

In his previous life, after the blood moon rose, this man and his accomplices made their fortune by borrowing some evil cults that were popular among the people and established a sect. Using banned drugs made from wild plants and religious brainwashing control, they soon stirred up a vortex of death in some chaotic areas - these things are inevitable in troubled times, but when the average value of individual martial power is raised, the upper and lower limits are greatly widened, and this becomes a huge man-made disaster.

The sect is called "Return", borrowing the names of some sects that have appeared in history. The doctrine of "Four Returns" claims that mankind should return to purity, return to their hometown, return to their true nature, and return to original love.

It takes advantage of people's need for spiritual support and tries to deconstruct orthodox religious beliefs in various forms. Its businesses range from prostitution to drug trafficking to murder, arson and pig farming. It can be said to have all the five evils. It was not eradicated until 20 years later.

The two leaders and five guardians of the Return Sect were one of the most dangerous mobile cancers in the New World. The man before him was exactly one of them. He was a member of a special profession called 'Crime Trafficker'. He could become stronger as long as he could gain profits from transactions that violated public order and good morals. The entire skill system of this profession was designed to deceive, induce, and harm. Moreover, this profession was the most populous special profession - although there were less than 500 of them in the entire New World, all of them were true public enemies.

Nie Weiyang closed his eyes. He hated cults and drugs.

I really hate it... no, it's better to say I hate it!

He had witnessed firsthand how a powerful partner he had collaborated with gradually degenerated into the person the other initially despised. Their first encounter, they fought side by side. Their last encounter, he had sold his limbs and himself for a piece of "medicine," hanging like an ornament among a wall of others who had suffered the same fate.

The man weakly recalled the past to him, recalled the times when he was full of vigor and vitality, and finally... asked him to help end his painful life.

The petite girl in the distance shuddered, feeling a little hairy all over. Nie Weiyang withdrew his gaze and walked in another direction.

As long as there is enough firepower, the people of Langcheng can handle the second wave on their own, and there is no need for the "Second Administrator" to intervene.

I just didn't expect this person to actually be colluding with Zhen Jiankang this time... Logically, Zhen Jiankang wouldn't have the guts to actively seek out a 'supply source' in the current world. Does this also prove that there's some sort of connection behind this?
……

Not long after, Nie Weiyang changed back into his original identity and came back riding a tattered motorcycle.

This original mount, which had been with him for three months, now seemed to be falling apart with every movement. Every time it crossed a bump, its entire steel frame groaned.

At this moment, the city of Lang was already illuminated by fire. Forty thousand people were outside the city, some of whom had set up temporary camps, while others were scattered around hunting the enemy.

Nie Weiyang rode his bike to the campsite and walked in quickly. Everyone who saw him on the road nodded and greeted him, and he nodded back. He opened the tent that had obviously just been pitched and asked Xiang Feng knowingly, "What happened? Why did your house burn down?"

Xiang Feng rubbed his brows. "There are parasites in there. 'New World' has directly placed a nest of parasites in the city. Shit." He paused, looked around, and added, "Administrator No. 2 just came again. It was led here by a spy... that Zhen Jiankang."

"I was just wondering," Nie Weiyang frowned behind his sunglasses, trying to let the changes in his skin and muscles reveal his 'doubt': "He's not an important character, so why is he still alive?"

"This situation is quite complicated." Xiang Feng lowered his head and whispered to Nie Weiyang, "At first I thought this guy was just an ordinary spy, but about two weeks ago, someone said he was always avoiding people and had a foul odor about him. The odor was very penetrating and you couldn't forget it. I sent someone to check it out, and they found that he was smoking marijuana.

"You know, we've all been transformed, with varying degrees of physical fitness. Most people are at best mildly sub-healthy, but this guy... is too thin, utterly frail. Combined with the smell, we suspect he's obtained some illegal drugs through other means. This proves he's connected to other criminal networks or individuals, and even in the New World, these connections persist."

Although this connection only appeared in the New World, there's nothing wrong with this conclusion...

Nie Weiyang suddenly realized that the foul smell he had smelled during the battle outside the city was probably also from Zhen Jiankang. That smell was completely masked by the smell of the battlefield.

He looked solemn, truly solemn. After all, neither cults nor drugs were trivial matters. "Are you following the clues?"

"Yes." Xiang Feng said solemnly, "Those who contact him can sell the goods... no, if they exchange them with him, they can exchange them with others. Now is a period of time. If a few high-lethality combat professions take drugs, the few people in Langcheng will not have to wait for natural disasters, but man-made disasters will be enough to deal with them."

Nie Weiyang nodded slightly. "Did you touch it?" he asked.

"No." Xiang Feng frowned, "The other party seems to have some degree of camouflage ability. Every time our people see him, they see a different appearance, but after a closer look, they find that the person is actually in another part of the city.

"We've been closely monitoring Zhen Jiankang to avoid alerting the enemy, but now he's dead, and many others have died too. There are probably fewer than 41,000 people left in Langcheng now. It's incredibly difficult to verify the identities of the living and the dead."

This is indeed difficult.

When a combat professional lives solely for destruction and harm, he will cause enormous harm, because doing evil is always easier, much easier, than being a good person—otherwise people wouldn't praise virtue.

But now, Nie Weiyang can clearly feel the direction of his spiritual mark. This most basic hunting mark can be deceived or erased in many ways in the middle and late stages of the apocalypse, but now, he is the only one who can do it.

"I will investigate this matter." Nie Weiyang said solemnly.

In fact, he had already thought about how that guy would die.

Xiang Feng knew nothing about this and just nodded: "I have information that I will pass on to you...if we can contact you."

Nie Weiyang runs around all day long and ordinary people can't see him at all. This has long been a consensus among the people of Langcheng.

"By the way, about that Administrator No. 2..." Xiang Feng suddenly remembered, "Did you encounter it before?"

"Yes." Nie Weiyang said. Even if he denied it, no one would believe him. Whether the two were in the same location or the way the monsters he led away died, it made sense that he met Administrator No. 2.

"How did you escape? We could see the explosion from the top of the city wall." Xiang Feng asked.

He couldn't help but ask, because the world boss, Administrator No. 2, was a strange and formidable enemy in the eyes of all mankind. Although his aggressiveness was not high, but... who could say that it would not always be high?
When Nie Weiyang heard this question, he just smiled helplessly and spread his hands to indicate that he couldn't say it.

Of course, he knew very well that he would ask Fenghui.

"Can't you reveal anything at all?" Xiang Feng asked, a pleading look on his face. "Just a hint? If it goes back and forth in the city a few more times like this, everyone will have a heart attack."

Nie Weiyang's face smoothly revealed a complicated expression: "Let me think..."

He was indeed thinking, but he was thinking about another question:
The BOSSes in the new world have no real intelligence or self. Everything they show is just mimicry at best. This is the experience humans have gained from challenging various BOSSes over the years.

Now, only Nie Weiyang knows about this.

And now, if 'Administrator No. 2' displays a state somewhere between having thoughts and not having thoughts, appearing to be following the rules, yet also appearing to simply not care about anyone...

Nie Weiyang pondered.

He would become the sole exception among the "leader-level hostile targets," an ambiguous outsider. This would make him the focus and target of the world for a long time.

but……

Is there a possibility that he can use this identity to help others avoid detours to a greater extent?
This might be a good choice. But before Nie Weiyang could say anything, a loud noise suddenly erupted from outside, interspersed with sharp screams.

Nie Weiyang turned around and rushed out of the tent without hesitation.

　P.S.: Zhen Jiankang is not a real Chinese painter. He is doing this just for, uh, his master's mission? ()

　　
　
(End of this chapter)