The organization I founded has been exposed by the reborn!

As the battle subsided, the rampant red mist and black frost in the hall receded like a tide.

The oppressive, maddening magnetic field in the air dissipated.

"call……"

Luo Qingyan swayed slightly and exhaled a long breath.

The previous battle seemed to be overwhelming, but it had consumed nearly 70% of her mental energy.

Especially the final move, "Exile to the Underworld," which forcibly opens the gates of hell to seal the clown.

This is an extremely heavy burden for her at this stage.

Just as she was about to turn and leave.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something had appeared in front of the broken dressing table where the smiling clown had been standing.

It was a retro hand-cranked music box, roughly square in shape and about the size of a palm.

The box's exterior is made of mottled, blackened brass and decayed dark red wood, with a surface covered in faded, peeling red and yellow stripes.

Right above the lid of the box is a grotesque clown face painted with cheap oil paint, its mouth split to the roots of its ears.

On the right side of the music box is a rusty, solid iron hand crank.

Even though it wasn't wound up, the handle made a faint "creaking" sound as it turned in the air.

A hint of surprise flashed in Luo Qingyan's eyes, and she quickly stepped forward.

"It's a strange creature..."

Having spent ten years struggling in the apocalypse in her previous life, she recognized the origin of this thing at a glance.

Luo Qingyan stared at the clown box in her hand, and information about this strange object from her previous life quickly surfaced in her mind.

"【Clown Box】..."

"Simply turn the handle clockwise to unleash the indiscriminate mental pollution of a clown's dry laughter. It can not only greatly weaken the enemy's mental defenses, but also plunge them into terrifying hallucinations of self-harm."

"And at the moment the clockwork is fully released, it can also condense invisible threads of power to forcibly pull and control the target's joints, interrupting its movements..."

Luo Qingyan murmured to herself, her fingertips gently brushing against the hideous clown's smiling face.

This bizarre object is a deadly weapon in team battles and in terms of control.

But the price it comes at is equally chilling.

"Extremely averse to pleasure, feeds on despair..."

Luo Qingyan clearly remembered the cost of containing this thing.

Every seven days, the holder must offer a high concentration of "real sadness" to it.

Whether it's tears of despair or sobs of fear of death, they must come from the bottom of one's heart.

If the sacrifice is not offered before the deadline...

The box will then open automatically in the middle of the night. The skin of the holder's face will be forcibly peeled off and hung on the lid, and their lips will be torn off, causing the holder to suffocate and die a gruesome death amidst endless laughter.

"Leave the sadness to the tin box, and wear the mask on the stage."

Luo Qingyan's eyes remained completely calm.

For the weak who cannot control their emotions, this thing is a death warrant.

But for someone like her, a reborn soul who crawled back from the depths of apocalypse...

Controlling grief and pain is just routine for them.

Luo Qingyan tore off a piece of insulating cloth from her tactical belt and wrapped the clown box tightly.

Then she turned around and walked towards the door.

……

"Creak—"

The tightly closed mahogany gate slowly opened to both sides.

Outside the door, Li Zhengfeng and more than thirty special agents instantly leveled their guns, staring intently at the widening crack in the door, their breaths completely stopped.

Every second of waiting felt endlessly long. Everyone's heart was pounding in their chests, and the cold sweat on their palms made it almost impossible to grip the gun handles.

Their eyes were filled with a complex mix of fear and anticipation.

The noise that came from inside the door just now was truly terrifying.

Is such a cataclysmic event truly something that human beings can resist?

in case……

What if it wasn't Director Luo walking out of that door right now, but that grinning, terrifying clown?

Does that mean that Director Luo has... perished here?

Does the Dragon Kingdom still have a future?

No one dared to consider this possibility.

……

Click, click, click.

The sound of steady footsteps echoed from the dark corridor.

Li Zhengfeng's finger was pressed tightly against the edge of the trigger, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

The next moment, a slender white figure broke through the remaining red mist and strode into everyone's sight.

It was Luo Qingyan.

At this moment, Luo Qingyan's face was pale, and her brows showed undisguised fatigue, but her cold and dignified aura remained undiminished.

The thin white trench coat was spotless, standing out starkly in the dim and dilapidated environment.

A cold wind swept by, and Luo Qingyan stopped in her tracks.

Her cool gaze swept over the agents who were on high alert, and she said calmly, "The monster has been sealed. Retreat."

There was a deathly silence in the corridor for two seconds.

Immediately afterwards, someone let out a hoarse shout, and the emotions that had been suppressed to the peak burst forth instantly.

"We won...Director Luo won!"

"We survived!!"

A deafening roar of cheers erupted throughout the corridor.

More than thirty elite agents who had narrowly escaped death no longer cared about discipline.

Some people collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, while others, with red eyes, hugged each other tightly, venting their overwhelming joy at surviving the ordeal.

Seeing this scene before him, Li Zhengfeng's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and tears welled up in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and swung the rifle behind him. His feet came together, and his boots slammed into the ground with a thud.

"Attention, all! Salute!"

Swish-!

The agents who were cheering just a second ago fell silent instantly, their bodies ramrod straight. Everyone raised their right hand in unison.

More than thirty fervent and awe-inspiring gazes were fixed on the slender figure ahead.

The euphoria faded, replaced by a solemn military salute.

There were no superfluous words, only reverence for the absolute strongman and gratitude from the depths of his soul.

Tonight, in this abandoned amusement park, they fired the first shot of their bizarre counterattack with near-perfect victory.

Luo Qingyan nodded slightly and turned to look at Li Zhengfeng behind her.

"Bring the containment box over here."

Two agents immediately stepped forward and placed a heavy metal box, made entirely of pure gold and engraved with intricate sealing patterns, on the ground.

A faint yellow light flickered in her eyes as she formed a hand seal.

With a distortion of space, a red balloon, which was tightly wrapped by the River of Oblivion and was struggling wildly, was peeled out from the void of the Yellow Springs Road.

That is the sealed true form of the [Smiling Clown].

"Hehehe... Let me out!!"

As soon as it broke free from the absolute suppression of the underworld, the human face protruding from the surface of the red balloon twisted wildly and emitted a shrill, ear-piercing, and maniacal laugh.

Even if only a slight aftershock was leaked, the surrounding agents still felt a sharp pain in their brains, and even had terrifying hallucinations of self-harm faintly appearing before their eyes.

Only at this moment did they truly realize just how terrifying this vengeful ghost, suppressed by Director Luo, was!

Luo Qingyan remained expressionless as she flipped her wrist.

The continued suppression of [Exile to the Underworld] requires constant depletion of her mental energy. At this stage, sealing her in a physically isolated golden container is the safest approach.

"Go in."

With a flick of her wrist, she stuffed the Water Prison containing the clown into the golden box.

"Click".

The heavy, pure gold lid slammed shut, sealing it tightly.

The nauseating, shrill laughter stopped abruptly, and the hall outside returned to complete clarity.

Luo Qingyan looked at Li Zhengfeng and gave the order: "Send half of the Iron Guards to immediately escort this box back to the Paranormal Bureau headquarters and store it in the underground warehouse."

"Furthermore, mobilize personnel to completely seal off this abandoned amusement park and establish a cordon!"

Li Zhengfeng was taken aback: "Director Luo, wasn't the monster already sealed away?"

This place once gave birth to the D-Class Joker.

"The eerie atmosphere is extremely intense. With just a little modification, it could become an excellent place for awakening."

Li Zhengfeng suddenly understood and immediately nodded, "I understand!"

Heavy troops were assembled, and alarm whistles were sounded.

Several armored vehicles escorted the gold box, roaring away from the abandoned amusement park and disappearing into the night of Yanjing.

Meanwhile, a large number of armed troops who received orders are rushing to the outskirts of the amusement park.

……

Night completely enveloped Yanjing.

The convoy drove smoothly on the main road.

Outside the car window, neon lights flickered, but a layer of cold, smog, imperceptible to ordinary people, swirled above the buildings.

Having escaped the high-dimensional ghostly shield of the clown's house, my cell phone signal was back to full strength.

Luo Qingyan leaned back in her leather seat and had just taken out her phone when a series of shrill ringtones began to sound.

A prompt appears on the screen.

"15 missed calls".

They all came from Director Qin Zhenguo.

The clown's house is a fragmented, nascent ghost realm where no signal can get in, so phone calls can't be made.

Luo Qingyan pressed the redial button.

The call connected instantly, and Qin Zhenguo's slightly anxious voice came through the receiver:

"Director Luo! You finally called back! How's the situation at the clown house?"

"Director Qin, I have successfully completed my mission."

Luo Qingyan's voice was calm: "I have successfully suppressed and sealed the D-level vengeful ghost 'Smiling Clown'. Its main body has been placed in the golden box and is being escorted back to the station. You should send someone to receive it immediately."

A series of rapid gasps came from the other end of the phone.

Immediately following were heavy exhalations and the sound of the body rubbing against the back of the chair.

Qin Zhenguo, who had been on edge for several hours, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great...great! That's fantastic!" Qin Zhenguo's voice was filled with excitement, and his speech quickened. "Director Luo, this is a great achievement! You take the team back to headquarters to rest, and I'll handle the cleanup."

"Remember, the area must be sealed off."

Luo Qingyan's tone was solemn as she instructed, "The eeriness around the clown's house is extremely intense, even more so than the abandoned bus station. With a little modification and arrangement, it can become an excellent natural setting for awakening. Make sure to take good care of it."

"I understand. I will immediately mobilize the engineering troops to carry out the isolation and modification!" Qin Zhenguo solemnly agreed.

"Furthermore, no repairs are needed."

Luo Qingyan flatly rejected Qin Zhenguo's suggestion.

She turned her head, her gaze passing through the car window as she stared at the increasingly deep and dark night in the distance. A hint of worry flashed in her eyes: "When I was reviewing the files earlier, I noticed something unusual about the art academy. I suspect that a vengeful ghost has also been spawned there. Time is of the essence; I must lead a team there to confirm the situation."

Qin Zhenguo felt a slight tightness in his heart upon hearing this.

He was well aware of the seriousness of the matter, but in the vast Supernatural Bureau at present, the only one capable of handling such a high-risk incident was Luo Qingyan, an awakened individual.

An unprecedented sense of urgency rose in Qin Zhenguo's heart.

The official reserve of Awakened Ones is far too scarce!

We must make use of natural spaces like abandoned bus stations and clown houses as soon as possible, at all costs, to cultivate more awakened individuals.

Only in this way can we cope with the impending catastrophe.

"Okay, I understand. Since you've decided to go, please be careful." Qin Zhenguo composed himself and solemnly instructed, "The terrain around the art academy is complicated. You must have exhausted a lot of your mental energy dealing with the clown just now. If things really can't be done, just back out. Don't push yourself."

I know what I'm doing.

Luo Qingyan hung up the phone.

She put away her phone, tapped her knuckles on the bulletproof partition glass in front of her, and her cool voice echoed in the carriage:

"The convoy turned around and sped towards the South Suburbs Art Academy."

……

8 PM.

The abandoned campus of Yenching Academy of Arts.

Several black SUVs stopped in front of the tightly closed iron gate.

The art academy was shrouded in darkness, the outlines of buses and dilapidated school buildings resembling distorted monsters in the moonlight.

There was no wind, yet the withered yellow leaves swirled eerily on the ground.

Li Zhengfeng led his men to establish a tactical defensive line.

Having gained valuable experience from the Clown House incident, the agents were on high alert this time, equipping their guns with low-light night vision devices.

"Go in."

Luo Qingyan waved her hand and led the way across the iron gate.

According to the Paranormal Bureau's records, every night at this art academy, the corridors would echo with the crisp "tap, tap, tap" sound of high heels.

But at this moment, the entire building was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

There were no supernatural occurrences.

Li Zhengfeng, holding a gun, kicked open the door of the first-floor teaching building.

The beam of the powerful flashlight instantly illuminated the dark corridor.

The ground was in mess.

"Director Luo, there's a situation! Monster corpse found!" the scout reported in a low voice.

Luo Qingyan strode forward, her gaze falling on the floor of the lobby on the first floor.

Two completely different ways of dying were clearly presented to everyone.

She crouched down and examined the remains of two ghouls that had been pierced through the ground on her left.

The monster's chest cavity was mercilessly pierced by some kind of sharp blade, and a layer of black, viscous substance adhered to the edges of the wound.

The substance was emitting a faint hissing sound as it corroded, radiating a cold, lifeless energy fluctuation.

"The wound was smooth, and the internal life force was instantly crushed."

Luo Qingyan stretched out her finger, sensing the lingering aura in the air, her eyes narrowing slightly: "This wasn't caused by physical firearms, but by highly condensed primordial power! The person who did this must control the dark elements."

She stood up and walked to the right.

Those were two other remains.

One of them had long since turned into a pile of charred ashes on the ground, clearly having been burned and purified at extremely high temperatures before its death.

On the other side, the entire body was deeply sunken into the cracked load-bearing wall.

The sternum completely collapsed, and the lumbar vertebrae were shattered inch by inch.

"A punch to the head carbonizes it, a heavy kick shatters the spine."

Looking at the charred wall and feeling the lingering, domineering heat in the air, Luo Qingyan said with certainty, "There's no trace of magical fluctuations; this is pure, violent blood fire!"

"This extremely powerful and masculine aura... it's Feng Gang! It's his fiery, yang energy!"

A glint of light flashed in Luo Qingyan's eyes.

Feng Gang has been here!

Moreover, another powerful dark attribute awakener accompanied them!

He could very well be a member of Dawn!