The Major?
How could "Teacher Sun" be the Major?
Bai Zhou furrowed his brow, his gaze locked onto the nose on that face.
It was monstrously large, bulbous, and bright red, looking thoroughly comical.
The Major in Bai Zhou's memory possessed no such red nose.
"So, Luo Da, calling me back at a critical juncture like this means something has come up?"
"Teacher Sun" smiled at the big-headed man, reached into his coat to pull out a hideous mask, and put it on.
Shifting his steps, he slipped into the ranks of the other eight, falling in as the fourth from the left.
Identical masks, similar builds—if one ignored the wildly mismatched, deformed body parts each bore, the nine men looked virtually like the same person.
It was as if nine masked Major Luos had abruptly materialized before Bai Zhou's eyes.
Only, among these nine Major Luos, one had an oversized head, another an enormous mouth, one had tree-trunk arms, another had cone-shaped legs...
The tableau was grotesque and terrifying, their banter bizarre and echoing like a revelry of demons.
*Luo Da? Luo Si?*
Bai Zhou's heart stirred. He rolled the two names over in his mind, his expression turning pensive.
"The Ascension to Sainthood is about to begin."
"As for the birds in the cage, it is time to haul in the net..."
His voice wavered between high and low pitches. The big-headed man addressed as Luo Da raised both hands to steady his massive skull, as though his neck was aching from bearing its immense weight.
"I see."
Teacher Sun—or rather, Luo Si—nodded. "Understood. I will see to the arrangements."
"Good, very good! It's finally starting!" The man with thick, muscular arms swung his limbs, sending ripples shivering through the air. "We've waited so long and prepared so much... Father can finally achieve his Ascension to Sainthood!"
"Second Brother, do not let down your guard!" The big-headed man barked in warning, his expression turning solemn. "The closer we get to the finish line, the more cautious we must be. We cannot afford to falter at the final step."
The thick-armed man burst into hearty laughter. "Rest assured, Eldest Brother! With the nine of us running escort, the Ascension to Sainthood plan is foolproof! Who in Tinghai would ever suspect that Father still has the nine of us hidden away as his trump cards?"
"Luo Er speaks true." The man with cone-shaped legs nodded in agreement. "This is also what Father expects of us."
"Did Father not tell us? We are his proudest labor of love and his finest masterpieces."
"He hopes that one day in the future, we, the nine directors of the group, will become known to everyone in Tinghai as... the Nine Dragons of the Luo Family!"
At the mention of "Father," whether it was the cone-legged man or his eight masked brothers, every single one of them instinctively bowed his head and straightened his back. Even though the "Father" they spoke of was nowhere near the scene, they unreservedly radiated devotion, reverence, and longing. The loyalty coming from the depths of their hearts was not in the least inferior to that of the interviewees Bai Zhou had just seen branded with the Red Spider totem.
"Regardless, we can finally leave this cramped underground ant nest,"
the man with pupilless white eyes said. "I've always wanted to see the outside world, to see what the people out there look like..."
"What could they possibly look like? Two eyes, one mouth, one head, one nose—utterly plain, completely ordinary."
Luo Da shook his head with palpable disdain, patting his own enormous skull like a rubber ball with dull *thuds*.
"Those are nothing more than uncivilized primitives... Only beings like us represent the perfected forms of evolution!"
"Eldest Brother, I actually think Blind Eye has a point," the man sporting a pair of enormous fan-like ears grumbled impatiently. "Except for Fourth Brother, who shoulders a special mission, Father forbade the rest of us from stepping outside, ordering us to guard this place well as hidden trump cards."
"I have no objections to that."
"But you have no idea how much clamorous noise I have to endure here every single day."
He raised a hand to pick at his ear, casually hooking out a foul, grayish ball laced with streaks of blood. That only stoked his fury, making him roar, "It's deafening! Absolutely deafening!"
"Especially today, with everyone packing up, the clamor is worse than ever. It's all jumbled together... I'm going deaf! I can't distinguish a thing!"
"Every day spent here is torture! I have to wear custom earplugs just to fall asleep!"
Furious, crazed screeches echoed through the hall. Combined with the erratic pitches and eerie voices of the others chiming in, the underground cavern felt unmistakably like a den of monsters.
"Eldest Brother, Sixth Brother, Seventh Brother... bear with it a little longer. Everything will get better."
Hearing their complaints, the man with bare feet as broad as palm-leaf fans comforted his elder brothers:
"Father has already issued the evacuation order. We won't have to stay here anymore. I hear Father has prepared a new home for us."
"And what's more, Father is about to attain sainthood!"
As he spoke, the broad-footed man's eyes gleamed.
"Once the Ascension to Sainthood succeeds, the vast expanse of Tinghai and its tens of millions of people will be ours for the taking!"
"When that time comes, we can go wherever we please and do whatever we desire."
"It won't just be Tinghai, either—there will be vastly broader territories waiting for us to carve up!"
Pausing, he swept his gaze across his eight brothers, whose expressions were steadily turning solemn.
"I trust none of you have forgotten what Father said..."
"This glory is not something he intends to enjoy alone!"
High above, amidst the ventilation ducts coiling like colossal steel serpents, Bai Zhou—transformed into a black cat—did not make even the faintest sound of breathing.
His entire being melded into the metal ductwork, as though the tiny black shadow were nothing more than an inert component of the piping.
The masked men's grumbling banter below had not actually divulged an abundance of detail; to them, these matters were long-standing common knowledge, and hardly a secret to anyone involved in these brutal experiments for the third time.
Yet for Bai Zhou, simply laying eyes on the nine of them was already an immense intelligence breakthrough—to say nothing of eavesdropping on their conversation.
Ascension to Sainthood?
Father?
Nine Dragons of the Luo Family?
Bai Zhou narrowed his eyes.
Either the Major had nine grotesque, deformed younger brothers nobody knew about...
Or the Major himself was the "Father" they spoke of!
Bai Zhou's gaze drifted toward the nine empty incubation chambers in the distance, then swung back to the nine deformed monstrosities, each bearing distinct physical mutations.
The Human Material supply chain, the experiments scattered across the cages, the production of Black Warriors, and the nine incubation tanks...
Everything he had witnessed along the way seemed bound together by faint, intangible threads.
And at this very moment, all those threads converged upon these nine masked men who bore the Major's likeness.
"Anyone with a bit of worldly knowledge in Tinghai knows that the patriarch of the Zijing Group's Luo family has three sons."
Crow's voice drifted through the black ribbon on his wrist, softly circling Bai Zhou's ear with a slight tickle.
"I've never heard of the Luo family's Third Young Master having nine bizarrely deformed younger brothers..."
"These nine hidden directors of the Hongzi Group are rather unusual."
A hint of wonder crept into Crow's voice.
"For some reason, their emotional regulation is atrocious—nothing like what high-tier Extraordinaries ought to display."
"Yet because of that, the spiritual fluctuations triggered by their mood swings allowed me to gauge their depths."
"From what I can tell, going from left to right, the first through the third, along with that big-mouthed Luo Jiu... they are enveloped in Divine Intent. Every one of them is clearly at the level of a Rank 6 Titled Extraordinary!"
"As for the other six, when their emotions flare, their Intent disperses. They should all be high-tier Extraordinaries of Rank 5 and above."
"Even Luo Si, the latecomer who peeled off that human-skin mask—"
Crow paused briefly. "From what I observe, he seems on the verge of advancing to a Rank 6 Titled Extraordinary as well."
Three Rank 6 Titled, one quasi-Rank 6 Titled, and four Rank 5 Extraordinaries?
Bai Zhou's eyes slowly widened. He couldn't help stealing a few more glances at the nine figures, but to avoid alerting their supernatural senses, he hastily shifted his gaze back to the dim sheet metal of the duct in front of him.
What was the Major's aim in keeping such a cabal hidden away in this underground factory for so long without making a move?
Factoring in the three "Master Painter" titans of the Fine Arts Society, the Major's backing was indeed formidable enough to support his ambitions.
Ascension to Sainthood... what on earth was that?
"F-First Director."
Just then, an employee clutching a silver fountain pen and jotting down data in a notebook trotted over to the big-headed man on the supervisor's orders.
Shivering, he capped the pen, removed his hat, and delivered his report with trembling legs and a quavering voice:
"The production of the Type-3 Black Warriors is nearly complete. Do you wish to integrate them into the standard Black Warrior ranks as commanders, or organize them into separate units...?"
"Hmph!" The big-headed Luo Da let out a cold snort like a thunderclap. "Speak properly! What are you trembling for!"
"Y-Yes!" The employee's legs shook even harder.
"Hey!"
To the side, big-mouthed Luo Jiu watched the shivering worker, a childlike urge for mischief welling up inside him. He bellowed menacingly, "We are all standing right here, yet your eyes are blind to us—do you only see Luo Da?"
With that, Luo Jiu's expression darkened abruptly, and he took a step forward.
"Could it be... you look down on the rest of us?"
"No, absolutely not!" The employee waved his hands in panic, bowing frantically like a kowtowing beetle to each of them in turn.
"First Director, Second Director, Third Director... Ninth Director!"
"Good dog!"
Luo Jiu beamed with delight, then asked, "Then what are you shaking for?"
The employee stammered in reply, "In response to Ninth Director, being able to stand so close to the Nine Directors... I am simply overwhelmed with joy!"
"Then why is your face so pale?"
"It... it's too cold in here."
"Oh? It's too cold? Does that mean we should let you go back?"
"No, cold is good!"
The employee shook his head faster than a rattle-drum. "Only in the cold can I prove my burning, unquenchable passion to contribute to the group!"
"Good! Splendid!" Luo Jiu roared with laughter. Grinning broadly, he stepped closer and patted the employee on the shoulder.
"Tell your supervisor..."
"Never mind. From this moment on, you are the supervisor in charge of this project!"
As he spoke, Luo Jiu's mouth split wide open, grinning straight back to his ears.
His ghastly, razor-sharp teeth looked capable of devouring the employee's head in a single bite, bits of shredded meat still clinging between the gaps, reeking of persistent bloodlust.
"This time, we drained every last drop of material to churn out so many Type-3 Black Warriors in one go precisely so they could be organized into squads under our direct, individual command."
"What we need are true elites, not a bunch of useless trash that gets their heads chopped off for no apparent reason!"
At that point, Luo Jiu's expression clouded over, as though recalling some unpleasant memory.
"So do your job well, new supervisor—wrap up the loose ends here quickly and evacuate."
"I want to see those Black Warriors up and running immediately!"
"...Yes!" the employee—now the new supervisor—replied in a quavering voice.
This time, however, his trembling was no longer purely out of terror; it carried a faint hint of relief at having survived, alongside the delight of a promotion.
The big-headed Luo Da took in the entire exchange. He watched the employee's retreating back for a moment with an unreadable expression, then shook his head.
"Enough, Little Nine. You've had your fun, and our brothers have finished venting their grievances... Time to talk business."
"Alright." Luo Jiu turned back, his wide mouth still stretched in a mocking grin. "Enough idle chatter, let's get down to brass tacks!"
Accustomed to Luo Jiu's antics, Luo Da simply said in a low voice, "Father said we had best rush over as soon as possible to escort him."
"Therefore, I plan to take our brothers ahead... Little Nine, you're quick-witted and silver-tongued. Stay behind for now."
"Oh?" Luo Jiu arched an eyebrow.
Luo Da answered, "An important figure will arrive shortly to pick up an item. You will receive them."
"An important figure..." Luo Jiu blinked twice.
"Also, I've already had the past documents delivered to your office. Make sure you dispose of them thoroughly—leave no loose ends."
With that, Luo Da lowered his gaze slightly, scanning the entire expanse of the third subterranean level, taking in the cages, experimental apparatus, production assembly lines, and incubation chambers.
"From this moment on, everything that once happened here is over!"
"We are about to welcome our rebirth!"
"Understood." Luo Jiu's smile gradually faded. "I can't wait to regroup with you all."
"I hear a few pests have been scurrying about, disrupting Father's plans?"
"Indeed." Luo Da nodded his oversized head, a motion that made one dread whether it might roll right off his spindly neck.
"Little Nine, you were born not long ago, so naturally you wouldn't know—we've been sharpening our blades for quite some time."
"A pity we had to guard this place, bound by Father's prohibition from stepping into the light."
"Otherwise, we would have stepped in on Father's behalf long ago to crush those enemies from the Ruin Realm Auction, from Wancheng, and from Yuanmeng Middle School!"
With that, Luo Da flashed a chilling smile. "So, I hope every last one of them shows up this time."
"If they don't come looking for trouble, so be it. But if they dare show their faces, we brothers have quite a surprise in store for them."
"No matter their background or status, once the Nine Dragons strike, we will sweep them all away and wipe the slate clean!"
Those very enemies the nine monstrosities spoke of—from the Ruin Realm Auction, from Wancheng, and from Yuanmeng Middle School...
All of those foes were currently crammed into the ventilation duct directly above their heads, curled up tight and hardly daring to breathe.
Watching the other eight turn and leave while the big-mouthed Luo Jiu ambled toward an adjacent office, Bai Zhou, in the guise of the black cat, quietly stalked after him.
Inside the office, stacks of documents and file folders were piled as high as mountains.
Luo Jiu opened his colossal maw and shoved armfuls of paperwork and folders right into his mouth. His sharp fangs crunched rhythmically, moving up and down like a shredder, reducing the documents to confetti in the blink of an eye.
Bai Zhou stared, utterly dumbfounded.
*So this is what he meant by 'clearing out the documents'?*
*Talk about energy-efficient...*
Yet Bai Zhou also watched with an aching heart.
Without a shadow of a doubt, these were all confidential records belonging to this facility—the very objective of Bai Zhou's infiltration.
If he let Luo Jiu's enormous maw keep crunching away, every single secret would end up in his belly...
Yet striking against Luo Jiu here—against someone Crow had identified as a Rank 6 Titled Extraordinary?
Bai Zhou had no death wish.
However, Bai Zhou knew an opening should present itself.
That "important figure arriving shortly" would be his chance to catch a glimpse of those classified files...
And so, Bai Zhou lay in wait with the patience of a hibernating serpent. Every so often, he stole a pained glance toward Luo Jiu gorging himself, swallowing down stack after stack of text-laden paper in massive mouthfuls.
Yet after mere seconds, Bai Zhou was forced to avert his gaze, not daring to linger.
Highly perceptive Extraordinaries were not beings one could observe from the shadows for long... Bai Zhou was acutely aware of this.
Several agonizingly long minutes ticked by.
The mountain of paperwork smothering the office had already shrunk by nearly a third beneath that relentless crunching.
Finally, a knock sounded at the office door.
"Ninth Director, someone is here to see you!" an employee's voice called from outside.
His eyes darting about, Luo Jiu spat out several mouthfuls of shredded white paper with wet *ptooey* sounds, stretched his massive mouth back into a grin, and stepped forward to open the door.
His arrogant demeanor abruptly softened into deference:
"You're finally here. We have awaited you for some time... This way, please. Allow me to escort you."
The office door clicked shut. The voice of Luo Jiu attending to the distinguished guest gradually drifted away down the corridor.
*The chance is here!*
Yet having finally secured his opportunity, Bai Zhou experienced a brief moment of dazed disbelief, his mind struggling to process what he had seen.
Cold sweat drenched his back. He stared fixatedly down at the metal plating beneath him, his pupils contracting in uncontrollable tension.
Because just moments ago, the instant Luo Jiu opened the door to greet the guest...
Bai Zhou had caught a fleeting glimpse of the visitor.
Why did this "important figure" coming to collect an item, as spoken of by the Luo family's Nine Directors, look so strikingly like...
The figure beyond Rank 6 whom Bai Zhou had once seen at Yuanmeng Middle School—
Deputy Director Liu of the Anomaly Investigation Bureau?
Chapter 170