Chapter 191 - 148: Book of Harmony

Chapter 191: Chapter 148: Book of Harmony

In this era, those at the Peak of Third Refinements Realm were a handful of powerhouses. They served as the sharp blades to conquer the Nightmare and the leaders to explore the Outer Domain.

As for the Extraordinary Realm...

Transcending the mundane, their power truly originated from within. They no longer feared firearms, sneak attacks, or assassinations, serving as the pillars of a city.

An Extraordinary could lead a team to the Outer City, guard a camp situated Deep in the Nightmare, or easily annihilate anomalies to resist the tide of gray fog flooding into the city.

It was often said, "But advancing to the Extraordinary Realm is incredibly difficult. Especially after the city-falling disaster, breaking through to Extraordinary is practically a near-fatal gamble!"

With Baijiang City’s foundation, there were indeed quite a few Captain Level figures who met the advancement conditions, but...

Suddenly, Director Zhou understood. It was still because of the Pseudo-Man disaster!

He thought, "Even an Extraordinary like me couldn’t protect my own team members, and a Pseudo-Man surprisingly appeared right in my own squad. So, what about Baijiang City, which has the most severe Pseudo-Man disaster?

"On my way here, Baijiang seemed calm and orderly, but it’s hard to say just how many Pseudo-Men are already lurking within the entire city!"

It wasn’t that the number of Extraordinaries in Baijiang City had suddenly increased. Instead, the entire Baijiang had reached a critical juncture, forcing Captains to take risks and lay their lives on the line for a breakthrough.

Thinking of this, Director Zhou sighed in melancholy. He could imagine that behind the birth of these two Extraordinaries in Baijiang City lay the sacrifices of Captain Level powerhouses. Baijiang City was far less glorious than it currently appeared, and the same was true for his Lindong City.

Director Zhou’s gaze fell on the Pseudo-Man Ghost that had been turned into an ice sculpture but hadn’t yet died. His eyes were calm, but within that calmness lay sorrow and fury—sorrow that Baijiang City had to let its Captains risk their lives to break through, and fury that he couldn’t protect his own team members.

"Damn Pseudo-Men!" he gritted his teeth.

Director Yan said, "Old Zhou, I understand your grief, but we can’t kill this Pseudo-Man yet. A Leader Level Pseudo-Man is the highest-level one we’ve managed to capture alive so far. Hopefully, we can extract more intelligence about the Pseudo-Man race from it."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "There’s another pressing matter: figuring out exactly when this Pseudo-Man replaced your team member."

The sacrificed Lindong City Dream Descender was a powerhouse in the Third Refinements Realm. He wasn’t a Captain, but that was only due to his lack of seniority and the limited number of vacant Captain positions in Lindong City. In reality, he was a Captain Level powerhouse, yet he had been replaced silently.

If this Dream Descender had been replaced long ago, then the situation in the entire Lindong City was probably even more dangerous than in Baijiang.

Director Zhou thought of this as well. He recalled carefully and said a moment later, "He was likely replaced on the way. We ran into some accidents while hurrying here. When the tide of gray fog covered us and Space shifted, we almost got lost, but because of that, we were separated for a while."

This was the danger of being Deep in the Nightmare. Even Extraordinaries didn’t dare guarantee their safety every time they traveled far.

This time, Director Zhou thought it was just a false alarm. Two hours later, he reunited with the lost Dream Descender. Someone was slightly injured, but it wasn’t a big deal.

"Only two hours?" Yan Xiangtian pondered. "Based on our understanding of Pseudo-Men, they can’t replace humans that quickly, especially someone of the same tier. So there’s only one possibility: an Extraordinary Pseudo-Man made a move."

Yan Xiangtian, Lu Qing, and Bai Yu exchanged glances as a possibility crossed their minds. Could there be a Pseudo-Man nest in that area? Even a simple stronghold would be significant!

"If we can find the Pseudo-Man nest..." The few of them grew excited.

The frozen Pseudo-Man Ghost was personally escorted by Bai Yu to the underground prison of the Countermeasures Bureau. Afterward, the Bureau’s Interrogation Department would use special props and Extraordinary Power to conduct the interrogation.

Director Yan hosted the guests from the two cities, discussing how to deal with the Pseudo-Men. Before they could finish their meal, an Elite from the Operations Department arrived to report troubling news.

After listening, Director Yan’s expression turned grave. "Are you saying that a lot of information about the Nightmare is currently spreading within our Baijiang City?"

***

"Shocking! The number of missing persons in Baijiang City over the past year has reached as high as..."

"The Nightmare isn’t just a rumor! What exactly is City Hall hiding from us? We need the truth!"

"Rumor has it that outside Baijiang City [BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP—]"

Baijiang City, Countermeasures Bureau Anping District Branch.

The few people in the office wore solemn expressions.

"How did news about the Nightmare suddenly spread? Obviously, someone is pulling strings in the dark. Is it those Cultists from the Nightmare Sect?" Jiang Yilu said. "Don’t they know what kind of disaster spreading the Nightmare will bring to Baijiang City?!"

Old Song spoke up, "It must be the Cultists, but I’m afraid it’s far more complicated than that."

"Right," Li Hao affirmed.

The group looked over. Even the clerks from Team Two next door dropped by to gather information. Everyone was generally aware that this chubby Li Hao had an unusual background; he likely had higher-ups in the Bureau backing him. His intelligence sources were extremely well-informed.

Rumors about the Nightmare had been tightly suppressed before and had never leaked. Was it because the Cultists didn’t want to spread information about the Nightmare?

Of course not.

It was simply because the Control Group’s management capabilities were extremely strong; they could trace any subtle clue back to its source. However, this time, even the Control Group couldn’t catch the source.

"Not only that..." Li Hao spoke deliberately. This was considered classified information, but it clearly wasn’t a secret in the eyes of the enemy anymore. "The blockade on the Nightmare information doesn’t actually rely solely on the Control Group and clerks like us. The real reliance is reportedly on some kind of Extraordinary Power."

Using Extraordinary Power to curb the large-scale spread of information, clerks like them would then fill the gaps—issuing warnings, calling people in for questioning, or erasing memories.

But now, it seemed...

However, Li Hao didn’t know much either. After all, it was classified, and his big brother Captain wouldn’t tell him the details.

"I see," Shi An echoed like a random bystander, his expression grave.

In reality, he knew much more. He knew that this sealing power came from a Foundation Level Curse Object at the Countermeasures Bureau Headquarters. An Excellence Level Curse Object of the Extraordinary Tier!

Of course, in truth, an Excellence Level Curse Object was bound to be of the Extraordinary Tier, with the exception of the two in Shi An’s hands. But one could imagine that an Excellence Curse Object raised by a Grand Tier and possessing a much higher Energy Level would contain incredibly unimaginable power.

And indeed it did.

The coverage of this Foundation Level Curse Object encompassed the entirety of Baijiang City!

He thought, "Curse Object No. 002, the ’Extraordinary, Excellent, and Harmonious Book’! Powerhouses of the Countermeasures Bureau write down relevant contents of the Nightmare in it, and consequently, all rumors and information about the Nightmare are seamlessly harmonized.

"Rumor has it that Lindong City, Chongshan City, and even Celestial South City all possess such a Book of Harmony.

"The Excellence Level Curse Object, the Book of Harmony, is merely a sub-entity. The true Book of Harmony is enshrined in the Capital City. It’s exactly because of the Book of Harmony that several cities, including Baijiang, have managed to maintain stability for over a year following the city-falling disaster."

Otherwise, how easy would it be for Cultists and anti-social Dream Descenders to spread Nightmare information if they were dead set on it? A blockade, no matter what, was ten or a hundred times more difficult than spreading information. The Book of Harmony’s blockade wasn’t omnipotent, but it could harmonize 99% of the news. The remaining tiny fraction was handled by human resources.

This set of methods maintained Baijiang City’s superficial peace.

Whether it was the numerous localized disasters in the city previously or the catastrophic event with far more tragic casualties over half a year ago, news of the Nightmare had never spread on a large scale.

Until now.

On the internet, in the streets and markets—suddenly, it seemed like everyone, everywhere, was discussing the Nightmare. This was, of course, highly abnormal.

"Could it be..." Shi An looked toward the Countermeasures Bureau Headquarter.

***

The Headquarter.

Underground, the Curse Object Containment Center.

This place didn’t just contain Curse Objects; it also possessed facilities that could amplify their power. Curse Object No. 002, the Book of Harmony, relied on the facility’s amplification to shroud the entire city in its power.

But now, exposed wires sparked with a BZZT BZZT, and many of the internal equipments had been violently destroyed. The doors and walls of this containment room were extremely sturdy; even an Extraordinary wouldn’t be able to blast them open in a short time.

However, the intruder had the key.

Director Yan looked at the slain Pseudo-Man. The corpse was still wearing the uniform of the Countermeasures Bureau’s Operations Department. Judging by the insignia, he was even a Deputy Captain.

"It’s the Deputy Captain of the Ninth Team, Ran Mo. He was probably replaced a long time ago."

"To think it was him!" Director Yan’s expression was ugly. He immediately figured it out. This ’Deception-Breaking Potion’ of theirs had actually just been developed. They didn’t have enough quantities for Bureau-wide use yet; he had merely brought the Potion out early because Director Zhou and Wang General Team had arrived.

Director Yan said, "I’m afraid the Pseudo-Men possess communication methods that we don’t understand.

"But even if I hadn’t brought out the potion today, the Pseudo-Man still would have taken action to sabotage things when mandatory Bureau-wide usage was implemented."

A Deputy Captain with real authority was already a bona fide higher-up who inherently had unimpeded access throughout the Bureau. If such a person decided to cause destruction without leaving a way out, it would be impossible to guard against!

"And this Ran Mo..." Director Yan frowned deeply. "Ran Mo once visited the Safe Zone and had his life saved."

But most likely, even if he hadn’t been fortunate enough to reach the Safe Zone, ’Ran Mo’ would have eventually been ’saved’ regardless. By that time, this Deputy Captain had probably already fallen victim to them!

"Because Ran Mo had been to the Safe Zone, I felt relatively reassured about him. But thinking back carefully, the Safe Zone didn’t have a Lighthouse at the time. Furthermore, Ran Mo seemed to have found excuses a few times afterward to avoid going to the Safe Zone again."

He had been too careless!

"Notify Xia Yuxiu first to conduct an internal review of the entire team. Additionally, inform the whole Bureau that all Captains, Deputy Captains, and Department Directors must undergo inspection and drink the Deception-Breaking Potion. That includes you and me," Director Yan ordered.

Lu Qing nodded. "I’ll issue the orders immediately, but..." She looked at the completely mutilated equipment room in front of them. "The most pressing matter is to repair this equipment room and reactivate the Book of Harmony. Otherwise, I’m afraid our Baijiang City will..."

"Yeah," Director Yan responded.

The only good news was that the Book of Harmony had not been damaged. Of course, someone in the Second Refining Realm didn’t have the capability to destroy the Book of Harmony anyway. But if the Book of Harmony hadn’t been firmly sealed—so securely that neither Deputy Captains nor even Captains could take it—it probably would have been stolen.

If it had truly been stolen, they would have been powerless to salvage the situation.