"President Jun..."
Ming Yan looked around blankly. The surroundings were a vast expanse of lawn, with many agents belonging to the Capital's Spirit Hunter Guild scattered around.
But she clearly remembered talking to Jun Wuchen.
How had she suddenly appeared here?
At this moment, Jun Wuchen had no time to attend to her. He recalled the words spoken by the man in black during their negotiation.
"If the final operation fails, I will resort to extreme measures."
Undoubtedly, in the other party's eyes, his operation had failed.
"That bastard—!"
The echo reverberated, lingering endlessly.
"You guys..."
After a long while, Yan Qiu Ren still hadn't recovered.
She certainly knew Jun Youguang and Qin Youliang, but who were these people?
"Miss Yan, do you need us to introduce ourselves one by one?"
This familiar way of speaking, coupled with the arrogant demeanor and tone, allowed Yan Qiu Ren to blurt out a name based on her absolute intuition: "White? No, you should be Duan Chen!"
She cautiously took two steps back, but seeing the sea demons behind her, she was forced to move forward again.
She was in a dilemma.
"That's right, it seems you already know. Then we'll reintroduce ourselves."
After listening to the introductions by Jun Ci and the others, Yan Qiu Ren's eyes widened. Her first reaction wasn't "How did you escape the secret realm?" but rather...
"You two! You're indeed men!"
"I must say, while your absolute intuition isn't the strongest, it's very useful."
Duan Chen brushed away nonexistent dust from his body, his tone casual.
"You're a man, then how did you... with Chen Ao..."
Yan Qiu Ren looked at Jun Ci with an indescribable expression.
Jun Ci felt as though he couldn't wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
Fortunately, Duan Chen could help him clear his name. He directly explained the whole story to Yan Qiu Ren.
"No! How did you escape from the secret realm?!"
This girl only realized the problem now.
Duan Chen sighed.
Xieer tilted his head and asked doubtfully, "Is this difficult?"
"That's not the point. The important thing is that we must enter the secret realm, and you must come with us."
"I'm not going!"
Yan Qiu Ren decisively shook her head. She knew all too well the environment within that secret realm. Let alone her, even senior agents of considerable prestige in the Spirit Hunter Guild would face a near-certain death if they went in.
She wasn't stupid!
"That's also acceptable."
Duan Chen smiled faintly.
"Then you can take the crystal ball and keep these sea demons company."
"I don't want to either..."
Yan Qiu Ren shrank back, leaning against the wall.
"Come, ignore her. We're going in."
Duan Chen paid her no mind, placing the magnetic disk on the ground. Before long, the disk merged into the ground under Wilbenya's operation, which astonished everyone else.
"You can do it this way too?" Jun Youguang's eyes lit up.
"With this, we don't have to worry about not being able to return."
Xieer smiled.
"Wilbenya!" Duan Chen took out his tablet, displaying Wilbenya's mature face.
"Understood."
Swish!
A white light flashed. In an instant, Duan Chen felt a weight in his arms, and a faint smile curved his lips.
In the blink of an eye, they appeared in a ruined urban area. The surrounding buildings looked like unfinished skeletons.
Clearly, they had arrived in the secret realm.
"Weren't you not coming?"
Duan Chen felt the softness in his embrace, his eyes narrowing comfortably, and he smiled faintly.
Yan Qiu Ren tightly wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling awkwardly. "I thought... there's strength in numbers. What if I could help, right?"
Jun Youguang sneered and unhesitatingly exposed her.
"You're just afraid of dying!"
...
On the other side, the agents who had been in the secret realm for a long time were also encountering trouble.
Food and water had always been their concerns. Insufficient energy intake would lead to an inability to fully unleash their strength. Initially, some thought it wasn't a big deal, as long as there was spirit energy, spirit users could fight at any time.
But now, facing this group of anomalies, they felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
This group of anomalies was called Fierce Monkeys. They radiated intense heat. Even Yang Jian could only use sword energy and dared not directly touch the skin of these beasts with his sword.
"Sword Sweep!"
The sword energy swept out, sending a group of Fierce Monkeys flying several meters to the concrete ground.
"Too weak." Yang Jian's expression was grim.
If he were at his peak, this single strike would have decapitated the Fierce Monkeys. But now, they were merely sent flying a few meters.
"I'll do it!"
Qin Wuji took a step forward. His ability was mountains. He placed his hands on the ground and infused spirit energy, causing the concrete ground to rise instantly. Unfortunately, it was only thirty meters, which couldn't change anything. By the time the monkey group reacted, their climbing speed was terrifying.
Soon, they reappeared in everyone's sight.
"Next wave of agents, step up!"
There was no other way. Their current stamina and endurance were completely insufficient to fight the Fierce Monkey horde, even though these monkeys weren't particularly strong among the anomalies.
Other than a war of attrition, Yang Jian couldn't think of any other solution.
"This won't do."
Qin Youran stood beside him, her voice gentle.
"There's nothing we can do. We've all depleted too much stamina and endurance. Even with auxiliary spirit users present, it's difficult to turn the tide."
Yang Jian was quite frustrated. They had initially thought staying in a safe area was absolutely fine, never expecting the Fierce Monkey horde to suddenly appear and target them. With no way to escape, they could only fight to the death.
"I have an idea."
"What?" Yang Jian was stunned.
"Channel all the abilities of the auxiliary spirit users onto one offensive spirit user and go all out." Qin Youran spoke softly, but her words made Yang Jian's eyes widen.
"How can this be?! You know, the Fierce Monkey horde is the first to appear, but not the last. Their presence here means other anomalies can also come. Doing this would mean that for the next few days, the auxiliary spirit users and that offensive spirit user would be unable to participate in combat!"
That would greatly weaken the team's strength!
Qin Youran shook her head.
"We can leave today, so there's no need to worry too much."
"What are you talking about?"
Yang Jian found the idea increasingly fantastical.
Qin Youran frowned deeply.
"Please believe me."
Yang Jian furrowed his brows, pondered for a moment, and seeing the dispirited yet struggling agents, his heart wavered slightly.
He stepped forward, about to speak, but Qin Youran tightly held his wrist.
"I think, it's not necessary."
The next second, a voice echoed in the air.
"Everyone get out of the way!"