Global Ghost Stories: I'm Investigating Ghosts in My Nightmare!

Chapter 128 The Laws of a Shattered World

The wind has changed.

The mountain breeze, which was originally carrying the fresh scent of earth, was now mixed with a nauseating smell of rust, like countless rusty scalpels rubbing against each other in the air.

Bai Yu stood behind a boulder at the edge of the forest, one hand gripping a tree trunk, his chest heaving violently. With each breath, his lungs felt like they were on fire. It was a side effect of forcibly activating the second stage of the "Eye of Truth," the cracks deep within his soul silently protesting.

But he cannot fall.

Mo Fei was crouching in the bushes ten meters away. Although his battle axe was broken, his grip was still textbook perfect. Unlike usual, he didn't look around anxiously. Instead, he kept his body extremely low, perfectly concealing his massive frame with the surrounding shadows. His tiger-like eyes were fixed on the path he had come from, his ears twitching slightly, catching any discordant sound in the wind.

Lan Ce sat cross-legged in the hollow behind Bai Yu, his fingers flying across the portable terminal. The blue light from the screen illuminated his pale yet composed face, sweat trickling down his glasses and dripping onto the keyboard, which he wiped away instantly.

"Old Bai, the situation is worse than we thought." Lan Ce's voice was low, but his speech was extremely fast. "The global communication network completely collapsed a minute ago. All satellite signals have been lost, and the earth is now like an isolated island with its internet cut off."

“As expected.” Bai Yu adjusted Lu Yueqi’s position on his back, securing her more firmly to himself with a tactical strap. “Since Professor Su dared to overturn the table, it means he was prepared to cut off all communication. What about the local area network?”

“We’re trying to build a temporary cellular network, but there are too many sources of interference.” Lance pushed up his glasses, his brow furrowed. “There’s a high-frequency psionic noise in the air, like tens of thousands of radio stations broadcasting noise simultaneously. However…”

Lan Ce's fingers suddenly paused, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

"We've caught it. It's an encrypted shortwave signal, on an old frequency, the kind of 'dead letter' protocol that the old Bureau of Investigation used."

"Location?" Bai Yu asked immediately.

“To the northeast, 3.5 kilometers from here, is a backup safe house codenamed ‘Lighthouse.’” Lan Ce looked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “The encryption key for that frequency band is the captain’s bio-wave pattern.”

Captain Anmu.

Upon hearing this name, Mo Fei's tense back visibly relaxed for a moment before immediately tensing up again.

"The captain really did have a backup plan!" Mo Fei said in a low voice, his tone filled with excitement. "I knew that old smoker wouldn't die so easily."

"Let's go." Bai Yu didn't waste any words. The white light in his left eye slightly diminished, retaining only the most basic detection function. "Mo Fei, the same old routine, alternating cover. Lan Ce, send the route map to our tactical goggles."

"receive."

A three-person team quickly took shape. In this moment of collapse of order, they displayed astonishing professionalism. There was no time for grief, no room for fear; survival was the only rule.

……

The forest was no longer the forest they knew.

As the phantom of the blood-red eyeball in the sky watched, the surrounding plants were undergoing strange changes.

The once-straight pine trees began to twist and contort, the bark revealing patterns of pained human faces, and the branches swayed slowly in the air like tentacles. The weeds on the ground turned into dark purple thorns, which could easily tear the soles of tactical boots if one wasn't careful.

"Watch your step," Bai Yu warned. "These plants have been 'activated,' and they've developed a predatory instinct."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mo Fei suddenly stopped and raised his hand to make a "stop" gesture.

"There's movement at two o'clock." Mo Fei's voice was steady and powerful.

rustling.

The bushes shook violently, and then a dozen gray shadows suddenly darted out.

That's a wolf.

Or rather, it used to be a wolf.

Now, they are twice the size of ordinary wolves, their fur has fallen away, revealing bright red muscle fibers beneath. Their eyes have become four, arranged vertically, gleaming with a bloodthirsty green light. Most terrifying of all are their mouths, split open to their ears, filled with jagged, serrated fangs.

“Mutant creatures, number fifteen, danger level C.” Lan Ce reported the data instantly. “Their weakness is in the third vertebra, which is their psionic node.”

"Got it." Mo Fei grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "Perfect, I'll use you guys as practice."

The mutated wolf pack clearly had no patience to wait. The leader let out a piercing howl, and the entire pack surged forward like a tidal wave.

Mo Fei did not retreat a single step. He stomped his feet hard on the ground, his heavy body rooted to the spot like a mountain.

"come!"

Just as the first mutated wolf was about to bite Mo Fei's throat, Mo Fei moved.

Instead of swinging his battle axe, he sidestepped and rammed into the target.

This collision, seemingly clumsy, was in fact extremely skillful. He used the armor on his shoulders to precisely strike the mutated wolf's side abdomen.

Click!

The sound of bones cracking was clearly audible. The mutated wolf, weighing several hundred pounds, was sent flying like a rag doll, crashing heavily into a tree trunk behind it.

At the same time, Mo Fei finally swung his battle axe.

It wasn't a sweeping, powerful slash, but a short, precise sweep.

puff!puff!
The two wolf heads fell to the ground with a thud.

But this did not scare the wolves away; instead, it fueled their even more ferocious nature. The remaining dozen or so wolves scattered, attempting to bypass Mo Fei and attack Lan Ce and Bai Yu in the back row.

"Lan Ce, left side. Mo Fei, hold the front." Bai Yu's voice was as calm as if he were directing a game of chess.

He did not draw his sword.

Every bit of energy is extremely precious now, and Hei Yan's power cannot be wasted on these grunts.

Lance pulled a strangely shaped pistol from his waist, the muzzle crackling with blue arcs of electricity.

Noisy!Noisy!Noisy!
Three consecutive shots were fired.

Each bullet struck the spine of the mutated wolf that pounced from the left with pinpoint accuracy. The high-voltage current instantly paralyzed their nervous systems, and the three wolves convulsed and crashed to the ground while still airborne.

"Two are missing from the right side!" Lan Ce shouted.

Using the corpse of their companion as cover, the two cunning mutated wolves had already rushed to within five meters of Bai Yu.

Bai Yu stared at the two gaping, blood-red mouths, his left eye narrowing slightly.

In his view, the wolves' movements were broken down into countless frames. Muscle contractions, weight shifts, the trajectory of their pounces... everything was reduced to simple data.

"Too slow," Hei Yan thought dismissively in his mind.

Bai Yu turned sideways and took a step.

With minimal movement, he perfectly avoided the first wolf's pounce. Then, he extended his right hand, two fingers together, and thrust it out like a sharp sword.

puff.

The finger precisely pierced the wolf's ear cartilage, instantly severing its brainstem.

At the same time, he kicked his left leg backward, striking the second wolf squarely in the jaw.

Click.

The wolf's neck instantly snapped to an unnatural angle, and it fell to the ground, twitched twice, and then remained still.

Just three seconds.

Bai Yu dealt with two C-level mutated creatures without even putting Lu Yueqi down from his back.

"Is this the physical skill bonus brought by 'rule analysis'?" Lan Ce pushed up his glasses, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes. Bai Yu's movements were not fancy at all; they were purely using the optimal solution of the physical rules.

Mo Fei, who was ahead, had also finished his battle. The ground was littered with wolf corpses, none of them intact.

"This is what they call mutation? It's nothing special." Mo Fei flicked the blood off his battle axe. Although he spoke lightly, his slightly trembling arm betrayed his exhaustion.

"Don't be careless. This is just an appetizer." Bai Yu stepped forward and glanced at the corpses on the ground. "Their evolution speed is very fast. The last few were clearly more cooperative than the first one."

"We can't stay in this hellhole any longer." Lan Ce glanced at the terminal. "We're still two kilometers from the safe house. We need to speed things up."

Just as the three were about to continue, a series of hurried footsteps and suppressed cries suddenly came from the woods to their side.

"Who!" Mo Fei turned around instantly, his battle axe held horizontally in front of his chest.

The bushes were parted, and several disheveled figures stumbled out.

There were five people in the Bureau of Investigation logistics uniforms, three men and two women. They were covered in mud and blood, holding batons that served only as a symbolic defense, and their faces were filled with despair and terror.

Upon seeing Mo Fei fully armed, the middle-aged man leading the group was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost knelt on the ground.

"No...don't kill us! We are human beings!"

"Old Zhang?" Mo Fei recognized the man; he was the head chef from the cafeteria. "How did you guys get out here?"

"Commissioner Mo...?" Old Zhang recognized Mo Fei's face and burst into tears as if he had seen his own father. "That's great! We've finally seen the combat personnel! Just now... just now there were monsters over there, and Xiao Li and the others were all eaten..."

The remaining few people also gathered around, trembling and hiding behind Mo Fei.

Lan Ce frowned and looked at Bai Yu: "Old Bai, bringing them along will seriously slow down our march. Besides, our supplies are insufficient."

This is a very real problem. In this post-apocalyptic environment, every additional person increases the risk.

Those people had obviously heard Lan Ce's words as well, and their eyes instantly dimmed as they looked at Bai Yu with pleading eyes.

Bai Yu looked at them. His eyes remained calm, without the slightest ripple.

"Heiyan, what do you think?" "A bunch of burdens. Abandon them, or kill them and use them as bait." Heiyan's answer was as cold as ever.

Bai Yu ignored Hei Yan's suggestion. He walked up to Lao Zhang, took a spare tactical dagger from his waist, and handed it to him.

"Take it."

Old Zhang took the dagger with trembling hands.

“We are on a mission, and the journey is dangerous. We can’t protect you all the time.” Bai Yu’s voice was not loud, but every word was clear. “But I can show you the way.”

He looked at Lanze: "Give them the coordinates of the nearest civilian shelter."

Lan Ce paused for a moment, then nodded: "Understood."

He quickly entered a series of coordinates into Lao Zhang's terminal.

“Listen, go five kilometers west. There’s an abandoned air-raid shelter there. The entrance is well-hidden; it shouldn’t have been affected yet. There’s some food and water stored inside.” Bai Yu stared into Lao Zhang’s eyes. “If you encounter monsters on the way, don’t scream, don’t run, use the terrain to hide. If you can’t hide, use this knife to fight to the death. Understand?”

Old Zhang gripped the dagger tightly, tears streaming down his face, but a glimmer of light finally appeared in his eyes.

"Understood! Thank you... thank you, Commissioner Bai!"

"Let's go." Bai Yu waved.

Watching the group of people support each other and run westward, Mo Fei scratched his head and sighed, "Old Bai, you're still too soft-hearted. If it were the old Second Team, we would have kicked them into the ditch long ago."

“We are investigators, not butchers.” Bai Yu turned around and continued heading northeast. “In this messed-up world, if we can’t even uphold this basic principle, then we really are no different from those nightmares.”

Mo Fei paused for a moment, then grinned.

"Alright, that's the style of our team. We'll listen to you. With the captain gone, you're the boss."

……

Half an hour later.

They finally arrived at the safe house codenamed "Lighthouse".

This was actually an underground bunker disguised as an abandoned hunter's hut. The entrance was hidden under a huge, dead oak tree, and would have been impossible to find without Ranze's key.

Lance skillfully entered the password, and after iris scanning and biometric verification, the heavy, disguised door slowly opened.

A wave of dry air, carrying the smell of engine oil, hit me.

"Enter!"

The three quickly slipped into cover, slamming the door shut behind them to shut out the eerie sounds from the forest.

The lights come on.

This is a space of about fifty square meters. Although it is not large, it has everything you need. The walls are covered with all kinds of weapons, boxes of energy blocks and compressed food are piled up in the corner, and there is also a small medical table.

"Wow, is this heaven?" Mo Fei's eyes widened. He rushed to the weapon rack, picked up a brand-new heavy high-frequency battle axe, and swung it around a couple of times with great delight. "This feel is amazing! And it's the enhanced version!"

Lance went straight to the control panel and began connecting to the data center there.

Bai Yu carefully placed Lu Yueqi on the medical table and checked her vital signs.

The situation remains stable.

But strangely, there was a faint starlight flowing beneath her skin, as if a galaxy was hidden inside her body.

"What exactly is this girl?" Mo Fei leaned closer and asked curiously.

“I don’t know.” Bai Yu shook her head. “Hei Yan said she was a vessel, and Professor Su said she was the carrier of the new god. But whatever she is, she is our responsibility now.”

"Old Bai, come and see this!" Lan Ce's voice suddenly became excited.

Bai Yu and Mo Fei immediately surrounded them.

On the large screen of the control panel, a holographic video is playing.

In the footage, Captain Anmu is wearing his signature trench coat, with an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking serious and exhausted. The background is a chaotic wasteland, with the faint sound of explosions audible.

"If you can see this video, it means headquarters is finished."

An Mu's voice was hoarse, revealing a deep sense of helplessness.

"Professor Su's betrayal is more thorough than I imagined. He doesn't just want to create gods; he wants to pull the entire world into the 'Old Days' dimension. That thing beneath headquarters is just the beginning."

An Mu took a deep breath, took the cigarette off his shoulder, and crushed it.

“I am now leading the remnants to Linjiang City. There is a 'boundary marker' system there that has not yet been activated; it is our last line of defense. If that thing is fully activated, the rules of the world will be rewritten.”

"Bai Yu, Mo Fei, Lan Ce. If you are still alive, do not come looking for me. Your primary task now is to protect that girl named Lu Yueqi."

An Mu's gaze suddenly became incredibly sharp, as if he were staring directly at the three of them through the screen.

“She is the only ‘variable.’ Professor Su wants her because she has a lock inside her. As long as the lock is still there, the door cannot be closed. Remember, no matter what happens, you must not let her fall into the hands of Black Crow or any other nightmare.”

"Come find me in Linjiang City. But until then, survive."

The scene stopped abruptly.

A deathly silence fell over the safe house.

“Linjiang City…” Lan Ce pulled up a map, “It’s 300 kilometers away from here. Before, it would have taken three hours to drive there. But now…”

The current 300 kilometers is nothing short of a pilgrimage route to hell.

"Go." Mo Fei slung the new battle axe over his shoulder, his eyes resolute. "The captain is waiting for us over there. Even if I have to crawl, I'll crawl over there."

Bai Yu stared at the black screen, her fingers lightly tapping the desktop.

"Lan Ce, organize the supply list here. We need the best equipment."

“It’s already underway.” Lan Ce pointed to several boxes next to him. “There are three ‘Night Owl’-class tactical exoskeletons here. Although they are lightweight, they can save a lot of energy. There are also enough inhibitors and energy blocks.”

"Okay." Bai Yu turned around and looked at Lu Yueqi, who was still fast asleep.

Suddenly, Lu Yueqi's eyelids twitched.

"Um……"

A soft hum broke the silence.

The three of them immediately surrounded them.

Lu Yueqi slowly opened her eyes. Her pupils were no longer black, but a faint amber color, so deep they seemed to draw in one's soul.

She looked at Bai Yu, her eyes not showing the confusion of someone just waking up, but rather a strange clarity.

"They...are coming."

Lu Yueqi's voice was soft, but it was like a heavy hammer blow to the hearts of the three of them.

"Who?" Mo Fei gripped his battle axe tightly, tense.

“Those…faceless people.” Lu Yueqi pointed to the top of her head, “They are smelling…they can smell my scent.”

The words have not yet fallen.

boom!
A loud bang suddenly came from the ground above the safe house.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy metal ceiling began to deform, as if a giant hand was squeezing it from the outside.

"Warning! Warning! External pressure overload! Structural integrity down to 60%!"

The red warning lights were flashing wildly.

"Damn it! They caught up so quickly?" Mo Fei cursed angrily.

“These aren’t ordinary pursuers.” Bai Yu’s left eye opened instantly, and through the distorted ceiling, he saw the massive, twisted silhouette outside.

It was a giant as tall as a three-story building, its body made up of countless pale arms, with no facial features, only a huge mouth on its chest.

“It’s the ‘Thousand-Handed Corpse Demon,’ a peak B-rank Nightmare.” Bai Yu’s voice was as cold as ice.

He grabbed Lu Yueqi and tossed a tactical exoskeleton to Mo Fei.

"Put them on! Prepare to break out!"

"How do we fight?" Mo Fei shouted as he rapidly donned his exoskeleton.

"No fighting." Bai Yu drew "Ember," black flames instantly enveloping the blade. "Blow this place up, and we'll leave through the backup drain."

"Lan Ce, set the self-destruct program. 30-second countdown!"

"Understood! Thirty seconds is enough!"

In this crumbling world, every breath is a luxury.

Since there's no way out, let's blast our way out.

(End of this chapter)