Catherine said, "Cocktail, you just wiped out two squads from the Enforcement Department. Heaven's Punishment will stop at nothing to arrest you. Starting today, suspend all operations. Leave New York temporarily or lie low in a faction instance for a while."
Cocktail hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Works out. Time to get dead drunk and sleep for a few days."
Heaven's Punishment was, after all, the official authorities—the strongest Orderly organization in the contemporary world. If they truly got serious, Cocktail was still somewhat intimidated.
The reason his counterattack had succeeded this time was because he had received intel in advance, knowing the enemy's numbers, levels, and detailed deployment. Only then could he fight outnumbered and wipe them out completely.
Yet if New York's seed Saints made a move, equipped with top-tier items, Cocktail lacked the confidence to pull off another victory. Laying low was indeed wise.
"Bacchus, Hecate, Sect Master Tongtian, the three of you will handle this mission."
The other three raised their eyebrows. In particular, the masked member suspected of being a Siren scoffed coldly, "Catherine, even if you're the vice president, you can't play favorites like this."
In his eyes, a mission with such low risk and high returns was practically a perk handed out by the organization to its members.
How could such a prize be snatched away by a foreigner?
Catherine leaned back lazily against her chair and said calmly, "Hecate can force targets into slumber, while Sect Master Tongtian can kill within dreams. With the two of them paired together, practically anyone below the Dominator stage is guaranteed dead. So why on earth should I give this mission to you, Hydra?
"Of course, if you can convince the Five Elements Alliance members to take a sea cruise, I could give it to you instead."
*Hydra? Isn't that the name of the mythological sea serpent? This guy really is from the Sea God Church... well, or an unaffiliated practitioner,* Zhang Yuanqing thought.
The name Hydra made the masked man's class practically obvious.
However, Zhang Yuanqing doubted that Hydra was his actual Spirit Realm ID. Otherwise, it would be far too foolish, allowing someone to pinpoint his identity in minutes. Furthermore, names from mythology like "Hydra" were usually highly sought-after handles—the kind money couldn't buy.
"Cut the crap!" Hydra scoffed. "Sirens possess formidable combat strength on land just as well. I'm taking part in this mission no matter what. If we can't add another slot, then have this Dream Master step down."
"And what if I refuse?" Zhang Yuanqing stared at him with cold eyes.
Hydra gave a chilling sneer. "The Hunter Guild has a rule: disputes between members can be settled in the arena. Once in the ring, life and death are decided! That's the rule for most black-market rings as well."
He rose to his feet and glared down at Zhang Yuanqing past Cocktail. "Do you dare step into the ring?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he saw the Dream Master from the Second District suddenly stand up and point a finger gun straight at him.
Almost simultaneously, Cocktail, Bacchus, Hecate, and the other cloaked, masked figure stood up as one, aiming finger guns at Hydra.
In an instant, Hydra was surrounded by the peak Saints in the conference room.
He froze, standing rooted to the spot in bewildered shock.
Zhang Yuanqing's expression remained icy. "An arena? The moment you repeatedly brought up an arena, your heart already betrayed your fear. Because as a Siren, you only dare duel me inside a ring. But a real battlefield is never an arena! If life and death could be decided here, you'd already be a corpse."
This time, Hydra dared not utter another boast. He stood frozen, utterly terrified.
By then, Bacchus and the others had snapped back to their senses. They stared in bewilderment at their own raised finger guns, and when they looked back at Zhang Yuanqing, the contempt in their eyes was replaced by deep wariness.
Just a moment ago, they had completely viewed Hydra as a mortal enemy, filled with resentment and hostility, instinctively moving to strike alongside Sect Master Tongtian.
*Is this an Illusionist's ability to manipulate emotions? Making people fall under its sway without realizing it, needing only a single cue, a single spark, to make those emotions erupt?*
Catherine was momentarily taken aback as well. She had assumed her earlier warning had kept him quiet; she never expected Sect Master Tongtian had remained silent merely to brew this sudden demonstration.
It thoroughly terrified Hydra and intimidated the other Saints.
Catherine glanced at the stunned Hydra, her lips curling upward. "You can rest assured about the people I recruit—he won't fall short of any of you. The three assigned to the mission will stay behind. The rest of you, exit the Spirit Realm."
With a wave of her hand, Cocktail and the two cloaked, masked members vanished from the conference room.
*Who is the other one? Bundled up so tightly, they must belong to an Orderly class. I just don't know which organization...* Zhang Yuanqing thought.
Those two were likely Fallen operatives hiding within Orderly organizations, on a completely different level from low-tier spies like Emma.
He had originally considered planting emotional seeds in their seas of consciousness so he could track them in reality, but this was a Spirit Realm instance. Zhang Yuanqing worried his subtle tricks might be detected by the Hunter Guild's president.
He refused to take risks where the reward didn't match the cost.
"Discuss among yourselves!" Catherine's glistening eyes swept over the three.
Hecate spoke first: "Catherine, you should know that my sleep ability makes no distinction between states or physical forms. Anything conscious will be forced into slumber, even within dreams."
"You needn't worry about that," Zhang Yuanqing replied, maintaining his cold persona. "I am a master of the dreamscape. Your slumber curse can, at most, slightly weaken my state. If you want to put me to sleep, wait until you reach Dominator."
A Dream Master ruled the dreamscape.
Bacchus rubbed his bulbous red nose. "Folks, what we need to figure out is how to lure out the Five Elements Alliance squad. After successfully hunting Beast Haas, they'll surely turtle up inside the Heaven's Punishment building out of fear of retaliation from the Bio-Alchemy Society. As you know, no evil class can slip into that bank building undetected."
Zhang Yuanqing asked immediately, "Why?"
He had heard Catherine mention this before and had intended to investigate it within Heaven's Punishment, but it had slipped his mind.
Bacchus glanced at him. "Hand over a million federal dollars, and I'll sell you the intel."
Hecate sneered, "No, Bacchus. For intel this critical, you ought to charge two million."
Zhang Yuanqing frowned, sensing their contempt and disrespect.
Catherine interjected, "There is a rule-based item inside the Heaven's Punishment building called the Eye of the Sky. It remains dormant most of the time, but once awakened, it can survey all of New York.
"Its perception is terrifying. It can look directly at a Spirit Realm walker's character card to distinguish their true class. The Heaven's Punishment building is constantly under its gaze; the moment an evil class infiltrates, it sounds an alarm."
Zhang Yuanqing felt a chill run down his spine. It was his first time hearing of an item that could directly view character cards.
*Did the Eye of the Sky see that I'm actually a Night Wanderer long ago? Damn it, I'm even more dangerous than an evil class...* Panic surged within him, but he feigned composure and asked, "If it can observe all of New York, why isn't it kept active?"
Catherine explained, "The Eye of the Sky is jointly held by the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Inspector, and the Administrative Minister. Awakening it requires all three to be present.
"It can only be used for five minutes at a time, and the price is five days of blindness. Even for Dominators, losing their sight is extremely perilous. Unless it's an emergency, the three will not deploy the Eye of the Sky."
*So that's how it is. Good thing I didn't use the heart's ability to swap out my character card, or I would have been caught red-handed by the Eye of the Sky...* Zhang Yuanqing felt a lingering dread.
"So how do we lure out the Five Elements Alliance members?" he asked, subtly amplifying the arrogance of his two companions.
Hecate yawned lazily. "Simple. Have people stir up trouble in areas under Heaven's Punishment jurisdiction—the more, the better. When Heaven's Punishment runs short on manpower, the Five Elements Alliance squad will naturally be deployed.
"As long as they dare step outside, I'll create a sealed zone. Within ten minutes, we should be able to wipe them out completely."
"A simple plan, but whether it works remains to be seen," Zhang Yuanqing said, glancing toward Catherine. "Do we have insiders within Heaven's Punishment? We can have them help create an opportunity."
Catherine pondered for a few seconds before nodding. "That works. I'll arrange for someone to coordinate."
*Another spy to root out...* Zhang Yuanqing nodded inwardly.
Bacchus and Hecate then went on to discuss the detailed assassination plan, completely ignoring Zhang Yuanqing. Once they were mostly finished, Hecate turned her head toward him.
"Just follow orders. Don't worry about anything else. Catherine, I'm heading back to sleep."
Bacchus rubbed his nose and urged, "I'm ready for a drink."
Catherine looked at Zhang Yuanqing, who said flatly, "I have no issues."
Catherine raised her hand and gave a gentle wave.
The world rippled before Zhang Yuanqing's eyes before clearing again. He was back in the luxury private suite of the Japanese wellness club.
Catherine remained curled up on the single armchair. She hitched her dress up high, exposing her smooth, pale thighs, and said with a smile, "The moon is beautiful tonight, don't you think?"
"Indeed," Zhang Yuanqing agreed. Then, under Catherine's suddenly brightened gaze, he activated Dream Shuttle and added, "Which is why I'm heading out to admire it."
With that, he leapt into the dream realm and vanished, leaving the stunning beauty frozen with a stunned expression.
Leaving the wellness club, Zhang Yuanqing shuttled and jumped rapidly through dreams, emerging inside a master bedroom of a five-star hotel in Kings County.
On the plush king-sized bed, a man and a woman who had just finished an energetic tryst were sleeping soundly in each other's arms.
Zhang Yuanqing picked up the smartphone on the nightstand, grabbed the man's thumb to unlock the screen, dialed the President's number, and hit call.
The phone rang for a long time before it finally connected, and the President's voice came through: "Who is it?"
"The Lord of the Sun you invested in," Zhang Yuanqing said.
"You changed phones?"
"No, this is my avatar. The original has the phone. I request a meeting—I have critical intel."
The moment Zhang Yuanqing finished speaking, another figure appeared in the room. Wearing dung-yellow pajamas and a silver mask, it was none other than the President.
The President glanced at the soundly sleeping couple on the bed and shrugged. "This is the time meant for holding my wife to sleep. Say whatever you have to say quickly. And break that habit of calling in the dead of night."
Zhang Yuanqing shrugged in return. "For a Night Wanderer, the new day has only just begun. Mr. President, I hunted Beast Haas."
"I heard," the President replied with another shrug.
Zhang Yuanqing shrugged back again. "I obtained several crucial pieces of intelligence."
He relayed everything in detail regarding the evil faction biding its time, waiting for an "opportunity" to wipe out the Sea God Church.
After listening, the President remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking:
"So putting on a show of targeting the Merchant Guild was pure misdirection? They want to erode the strength of New York's orthodox faction, then wait for their chance to send every high-ranking Siren back to the Spirit Realm...
"Heh. Heaven's Punishment is too strong, the Merchant Guild is too slick, and they can't bear to ruin the Association of God of Beauty, so they settled on the Sea God Church?"
"So what is this opportunity the evil faction is waiting for?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
The President shook his head. "No idea. I'm a demigod, not a true god; I can't possibly know everything. Judging by their unhurried tempo, the opportunity they're waiting for won't arrive anytime soon."
Zhang Yuanqing then mentioned uncovering a spy and sighed with regret. "The Covenant of Freedom's spy network is thoroughly developed. Even if we catch one, it's hard to pull up the whole chain. From Emma's case, every evil Dominator controls several spies. We have to hunt Dominator-grade evil classes."
"Small fry aren't our targets," the President said. "Yuanshi, who you need to find are the big shots in the Covenant of Freedom, like Catherine. They are the true core members. These people are hiding right inside Orderly organizations, but they aren't necessarily elders; their identities within the orthodox faction might just be ordinary members."
Zhang Yuanqing mused, "Then my next goal is to uncover Catherine's true identity?"
The President asked, "Have you slept with Catherine yet?"
"Why ask that?" Zhang Yuanqing struggled to follow the President's train of thought.
"You just joined the Hunter Guild, and she's your handler. If she dies, you'll likely be discarded or sidelined by the guild. That's why she can't die yet—not until you've accumulated enough merits that the Hunter Guild will value you even without her. Only then can she die," the President explained. "Find a chance to sleep with her. Best if you make her addicted to you and place absolute trust in you."
Zhang Yuanqing's expression grew stern. "President, though I care deeply about the big picture, I cannot abandon my integrity for it."
"I'll find a way to waive your patron fees."
"President, for the big picture, I am willing to sacrifice my integrity."
The President nodded with satisfaction. "Use this opportunity to kill Bacchus and Hecate, and find their handlers. We won't kill Catherine; we'll hunt other Dominator-grade core members."
Zhang Yuanqing's brow twitched. "You want to escalate the war to the Dominator level?"
"Of course!" The President chuckled. "We can't let the evil faction dictate the tempo. They want to slowly bleed the orthodox faction dry while waiting for their chance to eradicate the Sea God Church. I intend to escalate the conflict and drag the Dominators into the fray."
*A pity I still have to wait until the end of the year to advance to Dominator...* Zhang Yuanqing thought.
The two plotted in secret for half an hour before the President snapped his fingers and vanished from the hotel room.
Zhang Yuanqing deleted the call log, placed the phone back on the nightstand, and listened to the breathing and snoring of the couple in bed as he contemplated the Hunter Guild's mission.
This was an opportunity to make the evil faction lose another two peak Saints.
New York was an international metropolis; the quantity and quality of its Spirit Realm walkers surpassed other states. Even so, peak Saints remained exceptionally rare.
Although the constant clashes between the two factions had drawn experts from all over to join the fray, with both official and evil organizations dispatching reinforcements, Zhang Yuanqing estimated that combined, the two factions had fewer than thirty peak Saints with over ninety percent experience.
And formidable fighters among peak Saints like Bacchus numbered no more than ten.
If he could turn the tables and eliminate Bacchus and Hecate, it might truly force the Dominators to step onto the stage.
*I can't report this to Winni, nor can I mobilize official forces for an ambush. Otherwise, the Hunter Guild will realize they have an insider, and the new member, Sect Master Tongtian, will be the prime suspect.*
*To eliminate Bacchus and Hecate while avoiding suspicion... I'll have to reveal a bit of my true strength. I can use some of Yuanshi Tianzun's items. After all, Yuanshi Tianzun's widow is in our squad, and the Five Elements Alliance support team answers directly to Fu Qingyang. Everyone knows Fu Qingyang was Yuanshi Tianzun's closest ally and inherited part of his legacy... It's completely reasonable for Jumang to use Yuanshi Tianzun's items!*
Having made up his mind, Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers, dissolving into starlight and fading from the hotel room.
***
The following morning, 10:00 AM.
After finishing breakfast, Zhang Yuanqing headed to the office area. As a top-tier Illusionist, he immediately sensed a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. The top floors of the bank building were virtually saturated with negative emotions.
Grief, fury, agitation, wariness... Everyone radiated negative sentiment.
The front desk receptionist, who usually slacked off browsing short videos and watching fitness routines, stood straight and solemn, her face tense, her posture anxious and cautious.
Bypassing the front desk, he walked into the Five Elements Alliance work area, where Yuan Ting approached with a grave expression. "Notice anything off about the atmosphere on your way in?"
Deacon Yuan deliberately kept him in suspense.
Zhang Yuanqing looked at him and said deadpan, "Two Enforcement Department squads were wiped out. Eighteen people total, seven Saints, including two Level 6 Wind Mages."
Yuan Ting froze as if he had swallowed a fly—unable to spit it out and nauseated to keep it down, his face contorting in frustration.
He gritted his teeth, silently bypassed Jumang, and stood at the entrance of the office area, prepared to ask his colleagues one by one in case someone didn't know yet.
Zhang Yuanqing poured himself a glass of water, opened his computer, logged into the Heaven's Punishment forum, and saw the announcement posted by the New York branch.
Chapter 698