Chapter 122 - 117: Our Baijiang’s Hidden World Powerhouse

Chapter 122: Chapter 117: Our Baijiang’s Hidden World Powerhouse

The disaster area, at the outermost cordon.

A young man wearing a Duckbill Hat appeared, striding forward.

"Friend, this area is off-limits."

An officer stopped him.

The man in the Duckbill Hat tipped the brim of his cap and said, "I’m here as backup."

His gaze swept over the area.

A Dream Descender identification card, certified by the Countermeasures Bureau, was held between two of his fingers, glinting in the sunlight.

A member of the Countermeasures Bureau’s logistics staff stared intently. "You’re...?"

"That’s right."

the man in the Duckbill Hat affirmed.

The logistics staffer hesitated. "The situation inside is dire."

Duckbill Hat: "I know. That’s exactly why I’m here."

He walked past the cordon.

The logistics staffer couldn’t help but call out, "Be careful."

The man in the Duckbill Hat waved a hand dismissively. "You’re underestimating me."

His retreating figure was cool and composed, like a warrior facing death without fear.

Ordinary Dream Descenders truly did just trade their lives to buy time when facing these aberrations.

But he wasn’t on a suicide mission.

...

Elsewhere.

"Tsk."

’I kept telling myself not to get involved, not to take any risks, but my legs seem to have a mind of their own.’

Yang Lina muttered to herself.

She was on vacation, and her home was nearby.

The moment the Countermeasures Bureau set up the blockade, she knew what was happening.

’My house is just around the corner, after all. I can’t let the disaster spread there. Just this once.’

She gazed at the officers at the distant cordon, but didn’t approach.

Instead, her figure blurred. She scrambled up a building like an ape, reaching the roof in a few simple leaps. Then, she began to bound from one rooftop to the next.

...

Only a few hundred meters from the beach.

The constant WHIRRING of the aberrations’ wings and the RAT-TAT-TAT of gunfire filled the air.

Mingled with them were the shocked cries of officers and agents.

The former were seeing these aberrations for the first time, getting a glimpse of another world hidden just beneath the surface.

As for the latter—the agents and logistics staff of the Countermeasures Bureau—many of them were also seeing aberrations for the first time.

Song Qiming had run out of bullets. He was now clutching a black coin in his hand.

Wisps of a chilling cold that ordinary people couldn’t see seeped from the coin, drilling into his body.

Old Song’s hand was trembling slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on the aberration in the distance.

Shi An walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Old Song, you’re not really thinking of fighting that aberration, are you? You don’t have to. Reinforcements have arrived."

Song Qiming replied, "But... but that powerhouse isn’t enough on his own."

...

"That’s... I think that’s a True Inheritance of the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall! A worthy disciple of their Hall Master!"

"But a total of five aberrations emerged with the Spreading tide. He can’t stop them all by himself."

"We’ll hold one back! We just need to stall until the True Inheritance is free. He’ll definitely be able to slay it. You with me, brother?!"

"Can I say no?"

The gazes of the two men in black trench coats gradually hardened with resolve.

They were afraid.

But aside from the Profound Sword True Inheritance, the two of them were the strongest people here. The rest were basically ordinary people or newbie Dream Descenders who were no different from ordinary people.

In the distance,

Director Tian, an ordinary human, hadn’t retreated. He was commanding everyone to stabilize the situation.

Firearms were having some effect, at least.

Profound Sword unleashed his full power, engaging the injured aberration in close combat, seeking to destroy it as quickly as possible.

He shouted at the same time, "Everyone, hold on! Reinforcements will be here soon!"

"Reinforcements?"

"There are more reinforcements?"

The two men in black trench coats were overjoyed for a moment, but then their expressions darkened.

As members of the Countermeasures Bureau’s operations team, they knew better than anyone just how short-staffed the bureau was on powerful individuals.

Headquarter, the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall, and the Wizard’s House were where the strongest experts were concentrated.

However, the total number of powerhouses capable of dealing with aberrations was pitifully small.

They knew deep down: there were no strong reinforcements left!

Even if the Bureau mobilized civilian Dream Descenders for support, there were very few minor experts even at the Control Stage among the populace. As for the Refining Stage or Senior Refining Stage experts capable of confronting an aberration head-on? You couldn’t find more than a handful in the entire civilian population.

In truth, Profound Sword didn’t know when the reinforcements would arrive either.

But when he had returned to the Present Realm, many members in the Safe Zone were also returning.

A few of them were preparing to head this way.

He firmly believed reinforcements would arrive soon.

Just then,

a Water Locust Dragonfly had already flown toward the perimeter.

The two men in black trench coats wanted to stop it, but they couldn’t fly and had no hope of catching up.

At that moment,

"BZZZZ—"

Purple energy interwove, solidifying into a figure.

This figure appeared in mid-air and stuck right to the aberration.

Flashes of blade light erupted.

They were sharp and profound, suffused with immense Curse Power.

She plummeted to the ground along with the aberration. It looked perilous, but it was clearly just a body made of energy.

"They intercepted an aberration with just a condensed energy body? Since when did we have a powerhouse like that in Baijiang?!"

From their perspective, this person had to be at the Refining Stage.

And one of the best among them, at that.

An expert of this caliber would typically already have a famous moniker, one that resounded throughout the Dreamfall Circle.

After all, they even recognized the Profound Sword True Inheritance, who had risen to prominence only recently. But this person... their signature Ability was so unique and eye-catching, yet it didn’t match any powerhouse they could recall.

"Watch out! An aberration has circled around behind the wall! It’s going for a sneak attack!"

A young man in a Duckbill Hat walked over.

The two men in black trench coats were startled.

Just as they were about to speak, they saw the young man extend a hand and raise his index finger.

A black glint the size of a grain of rice condensed at his fingertip, then rapidly expanded.

"Curse Missile!"

The black sphere shot out, pierced through the wall, and struck the head of the aberration hiding behind it.

A surge of Curse Power erupted, blowing the entire wall to smithereens.

The man in the Duckbill Hat nonchalantly blew away the nonexistent smoke from his fingertip.

He fixed his gaze on a nearby aberration. "Now, I’ll be your opponent."

In another location, a battle had also begun.

A burly man, his body covered in a tough, hardened hide, charged straight toward a Water Locust Dragonfly without dodging.

He bombarded it with heavy punches, lunging and biting.

His fighting style was savage, and he successfully intercepted the aberration.

The strong reinforcements had truly arrived!

Soon, all five aberrations were engaged.

The two men in black trench coats stared, dumbfounded.

They had already retreated to the side, completely unable to intervene in the fight.

Not that they were complaining.

Aberrations were never something that Ordinary Dream Descenders like them could contend with anyway.

It was just that...

"Besides the Profound Sword True Inheritance, who are the others?"

The other civilian Dream Descenders who had come to help might assume that these new arrivals were also helpers called in by the Countermeasures Bureau.

But the two of them knew full well that they didn’t recognize these mysterious powerhouses at all.

It was as if they had appeared out of thin air.

"So Baijiang has this many Hidden World Powerhouses? Is this still the Baijiang we know?"

...

In the distance, Director Tian murmured to himself.

"The Countermeasures Bureau is always saying its powerhouses are spread too thin, but look at this! Strong reinforcements, and right on time!"

He let out a huge sigh of relief.

...

Old Song also breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Shi An and said:

"You were right. I shouldn’t have tried to be a hero. I should have trusted the Countermeasures Bureau and the power of our Baijiang experts."

"The reinforcements really came!"

...

The members of the Safe Zone basically had the Ability to fight an aberration one-on-one.

The more experienced members could even kill an aberration if given enough time.

On the White River Beach battlefield, after Profound Sword slew the first Water Locust Dragonfly, he quickly rushed to provide support elsewhere.

Soon, the members worked together to slay the second, third, and fourth aberrations.

"You guys got here fast. Glad I wasn’t late, either."

said the member, Power King.

It was the first time the members had met in the real world. Their appearances and attire were very different from how they were in the Nightmare World.

But one thing remained unchanged.

Their Curse Arts! Their Lifebound Curse Arts!

The circle of powerhouses was small to begin with. Once a Curse Object or a Curse Art was used, everyone knew who was who.

"But the battle isn’t over. Let’s keep going!"

...

On battlefields across the area, the fighting grew white-hot.

Aberrations emerged from the invading Nightmare, attempting to spread out.

But powerhouses from the Safe Zone also arrived just in time.

Many of them had once been ordinary Dream Descenders, powerless in the face of aberrant disasters.

But now, they had the Ability.

On one battlefield, several civilian Dream Descenders who had answered the call stared in disbelief.

"The Countermeasures Bureau has this many powerhouses? How have we never heard of them?"

"No, I don’t think so. These few seem to be civilians. One of them is the administrator of the Wanmeng Dreams Black Market."

"Our Wanmeng Dreams Black Market... no, I mean, our civilian population has so many powerhouses? These experts are way too low-key!"

They marveled.

They don’t seek fame or fortune in their daily lives, yet they act decisively when Baijiang City is in peril. ’Is this the caliber of hidden masters?’

The group was filled with admiration.

...

On the outskirts of another battlefield, a few more civilian Dream Descenders were expressing their amazement.

However,

one of them, a young-looking Dream Descender who had only just entered the Fusion Stage, listened to his comrades marveling at the "Hidden World Powerhouses" and "Mysterious Experts," and gave a cryptic smile.

He began to introduce them as if he knew them personally.

"That one is ’Wolf King,’ that one is ’Mr. Chen,’ and that other one is..."

Seeing the wide-eyed looks on his older teammates’ faces, the youth was exceptionally proud.

’These are the powerhouses of our Safe Zone!’

...

...

On the outskirts of the White River Beach Disaster Area.

Shi An, along with Old Song and a few civilian Dream Descenders, was clearing out the remaining small locusts.

As long as one could get over their fear, even ordinary people could handle these little monsters.

Besides, the civilian Dream Descenders weren’t weak; each of them was a ’Senior Dream Descender’.

Old Song also possessed a Curse Object and had experience facing aberrations multiple times.

Shi An, for his part, was currently posing as a newbie Dream Descender.

Zhang Yuning, another newbie, was following close by.

However, the hot topic of discussion among the Dream Descenders was still the powerhouses who had just appeared and decisively slain several aberrations.

"That’s Deputy Captain Level combat power!"

An experienced, knowledgeable old Dream Descender said with certainty, "But aside from the Profound Sword True Inheritance, I’ve never even heard of the others. Baijiang is full of hidden masters!"

Old Song marveled.

Zhang Yuning and Li Hao looked on with longing.

A man in a black trench coat on the team was also full of praise.

Just then, a civilian Dream Descender spoke in a hushed, mysterious tone, "I happen to know where those mysterious powerhouses are from."

"Where?"

"A place called the Safe Zone."