Deception and the Calamity Yin Spirit

"Azure Dragon 73 has gone unresponsive…"

"Azure Dragon 49 has gone unresponsive…"

"Azure Dragon 16 is retreating southeast. The target Titan is in pursuit… Azure Dragon 16 has gone unresponsive…"

"A new enemy has been spotted, suspected of being able to control air or summon tornadoes. Hurricane activity detected. It’s moving very fast, we…"

"Vermilion Bird 08 has gone unresponsive. No footage of the target was transmitted back."

A constant stream of communications flooded the channel, automatically recorded, archived, and relayed to the on-site commander—Tianjie—by high-level AI.

As Tianjie listened to one comrade after another lose their lives, his gaze remained as cold as iron. He removed the extraordinarily long special sniper rifle from his back.

Though he was not as skilled at sniping as Critical Sniping, nor could he perform over-the-horizon shots from hundreds of kilometers away, he had absolute confidence in one thing: the power of his shots.

Tianjie was the name of a stellar mansion, also known as Xu Mansion. With nearby constellations such as Crying Star, Weeping Star, and Broken Mortar, this star had been considered ominous since ancient times.

In antiquity, Xu Mansion governed autumn and carried an air of grim slaughter.

His choice of this codename for the Southern Heavenly Gate Project had always reflected his way of doing things.

The muscles in Tianjie’s left arm swelled explosively as he supported the stock of the slender Gauss Sniper Rifle. His eyes instantly turned a deep azure, shining like gemstones.

These were not particularly precious Mystic Eyes, but even ordinary modified Jewel Mystic Eyes, when paired with a specific build in the hands of a Reincarnator, were enough to kill many people.

He instantly gained farsight, X-Ray Vision, and a slight degree of Future Sight. Raising his sniper rifle, his entire body slowly floated upward.

A mana core on the special Gauss Sniper Rifle swiftly lit up.

It was not merely the rifle’s power. Mana also surged within his body.

As he shifted the rifle, his gaze had already locked onto the Reincarnator three kilometers away, who had wrapped themselves in something to interfere with imaging equipment.

After aiming for a moment, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The tremendous recoil forced Tianjie out of the air and back onto the ground.

The air before him caved in for an instant. Then, accompanied by a violent gunshot, the bullet tore through all the air in its path.

Not even a vapor trail appeared.

Empowered by mana, the Gauss Sniper Rifle’s electromagnetic round obliterated every tree along its path. A vast hollow carved a straight line through the forest, ending at the hurricane that had just appeared there.

Boom!

The hurricane shattered violently, revealing a woman with pale blue, finely tousled long hair. She was tall, and at first glance looked no different from a man.

Her features were also exceptionally rugged, with pale blue tattoo patterns covering half her face.

The arrogant smile had yet to fade from her face, but strength and warmth rapidly drained from her body.

She looked at the shattered barrier and talisman in front of her, then lowered her gaze to her chest. The enormous hole had nearly destroyed all her internal organs.

Moreover, a powerful surge of mana was suppressing her regenerative ability. Even without a special item, her regeneration could not have healed wounds of this severity, but that damned mana was exterminating her cells with an excruciating pain.

"Watch out, it’s Tianjie. The one attacking us is East Xia’s…"

Bang!

With the second gunshot, the woman’s head exploded completely. Having lost control of the hurricane, her corpse crashed to the ground.

You killed Reincarnator BV82154662 in the real world. Killing Points +1

Assessing the relative strength of both sides...

...

A series of messages refreshed across the Space Panel. Tianjie knew that woman was likely the Reincarnator codenamed Fengxi, a remarkably powerful Supernatural Ability User who had once caused immense unrest in White Elephant Country.

He pressed his earpiece and spoke.

"The enemy inside the hurricane has been eliminated. Vermilion Bird Squad, continue searching for the target."

The battle continued. The Titan had already been driven into a corner and was madly attacking everything around it.

Yet Tianjie did not fire again. Reincarnators without any special abilities were perfect for the Southern Heavenly Gate Project to use as training targets.

Only by developing a truly mature tactical system could they defend order and hunt other Reincarnators without relying on elite Reincarnators like him or Song Xian.

Even if the cost was death, this experience had to be accumulated.

Tianjie suddenly felt the air around him grow colder. Turning around, he saw a pitch-black shadow sink into the forest floor. He frowned and took out infrared equipment, yet still found nothing unusual.

Remaining calm, he adjusted the channel on his earpiece and spoke.

"This is Tianjie, on-site commander of the Southern Heavenly Gate Project’s first operation. A Yin Spirit, possibly a curse-type entity, has been observed. It exceeds our response capabilities. Requesting Ability User support."

"This is Heavenly Palace. Request received. Transferring you to the Ability User Dispatch Center."

"Ability User Dispatch Center has received the request. Reinforcements will arrive in approximately two hours. Please preserve your available forces."

He coldly scanned his surroundings, but the Yin Spirit made no further moves.

Was a third-party Reincarnator observing the situation…

Tianjie formed a guess. His eyes swept about, and he suddenly raised his rifle and fired in another direction.

Bang!

In a dense forest along the Kokang border, Bai Cangshu stood atop a tree canopy with his hands behind his back.

The black Yin Spirit emerged from the ground before entering his body.

He carefully savored the scenes he had seen from the other party’s spirit body when the Yin Spirit Possession took place.

Exoskeleton armor, combat robotic dogs, the Armored Titan from the Attack on Titan World, a Reincarnator controlling a hurricane, and an official Reincarnator wielding a special sniper rifle…

He began to gain some understanding of East Xia’s official combat methods. Clearly, this operation had been thoroughly prepared. They even had general preparations for the abilities and types of their target Reincarnators.

He suddenly clicked his tongue and revealed a strange smile.

With Reincarnators deceiving and scheming against one another, betrayal was indeed easy under such circumstances.

"How is the battle over there? Who has the upper hand?"

Li Qingzi tossed a Remote Control behind her. The drone she had prepared had already been destroyed, leaving her unable to observe the situation on-site.

Bai Cangshu merely smiled meaningfully.

"For now, East Xia’s special operations team has the upper hand. They can probably kill several Reincarnators, though they’ll suffer some losses themselves. But…"

"Battles between Reincarnators are not always so straightforward."

East Xia’s battle plan was effective enough, but not novel enough. At least for now, all of their tactics remained within Bai Cangshu’s expectations.

Exploiting the greatest weakness of Reincarnators—their dependence on video transmission—was practically the method every weaker party would choose when facing Reincarnators. After arriving in Northern Myanmar and learning of Grandpa Mo’s power, his first thought had likewise been to use this method.

This approach was naturally effective during intelligence gathering, but Reincarnators also possessed many strange abilities.

Just as Bai Cangshu had used the Calamity Yin Spirit’s characteristics to release the Yin Spirit in his body for reconnaissance, the forces over there had no better way to respond.

This led Bai Cangshu to two conclusions.

First, East Xia must have a second contingency plan. Or rather, the so-called Southern Heavenly Gate Project definitely had another plan for dealing with Reincarnators possessing special abilities, beyond this technology-based group combat approach.

Second, there was a mole within Great Sun of Finality!

That mole had sold East Xia intelligence on the Reincarnators responsible for receiving the teleportation in Myanmar, which was why they had been caught so off guard by the targeted attack.

Rumble!

A massive explosion erupted dozens of kilometers away. Red flames could faintly be seen soaring into the sky.

That location was the center of the Kokang Special Region, where the four great families were located.

Bai Cangshu shook his head, turned, and tossed out a long, narrow blue-and-white one-man skiff. He stepped onto it, and a powerful current surged from his heart.

The next moment, the Cloud Dial at the rear of the speedboat activated. Li Qingzi also stepped onto the back, and the two shot into the air, immediately rising with a trailing cloud behind them.

"Ha, at a time like this, we ought to get a share too!"

"Hongye, where the hell are you?!"

"We’re under attack from East Xia! The enemy has a formidable sniper—we need your reinforcements!"

The voice in her earpiece was anxious, but the woman simply removed the earpiece and casually crushed it.

She sighed and said, "Sorry, everyone. But I still have a whole family to look after…"

Then she raised her head. There was not the slightest guilt on her face; instead, she wore a smile.

That smile sent a chill through Ming Qichang’s heart.

"Miss Hongye, is something wrong?"

Hongye raised one finger, and flames ignited at its tip.

Seeing her use a supernatural ability right in front of him, Ming Qichang still did not understand what she meant. However, the other hired Reincarnator standing in the room, dressed in a suit, had his expression change drastically.

"Watch out, she’s going to…"

Boom!

Crimson flames exploded violently.