That towering, iron-tower-like body loomed forward, and the large fan-like hand gripped forcefully, making the joints crackle:

"Still trying to be slippery? If you don’t come clean now, have you ever tasted a fist as big as a sandbag?"

"I’m innocent!"

Grey Eagle’s legs went weak with fear, nearly kneeling into the mud:

"It’s not that I don’t want to talk, I honestly don’t know!"

"The employer has always contacted us through an encrypted channel on the dark web. The only time we met, he not only wore a mask, but his voice was heavily altered with a voice changer."

"We’ve never seen his true face; if you don’t believe me, you can ask them!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly pointed to the six assassins standing behind him.

"Yeah, that’s right!"

The group nodded in unison, terror-stricken, like pounding garlic.

"By the way, the organization that recruited us is called ’Black Tide,’ said to be powerful in Xia Country."

Grey Eagle, desperate to save his life, remembered and hurriedly threw out a name.

Black Tide?

Fang Cheng’s eyes flashed slightly as he silently repeated the name in his mind, having no recollection of it.

Behind him, Ma Donghe and Hou Peng exchanged glances, shaking their heads as well, apparently having never heard of it.

The surroundings fell into a brief silence, with only the rustling of leaves in the cold wind.

Fang Cheng stared at Grey Eagle for a full five seconds. His gaze was penetrating, as if peeling away layers of the other’s lies.

Until Grey Eagle felt his back prickle and his legs tremble, Fang Cheng then threw out another question:

"Why did Black Tide choose you for this task?"

Seeing Fang Cheng not pursuing the identity of their superior, Grey Eagle’s tense nerves slightly relaxed and he confessed:

"To be honest with everyone, the reason I could become the leader of this squad isn’t just my skills, but most importantly because I have a special constitution."

"I’m very sensitive to high-dimensional energy and spatial fluctuations. Within a kilometer of a space rift, my blood accelerates, and I hear a buzzing sound in my head, like an electric current."

"With this natural radar instinct, Black Tide chose me."

"And this..."

As he spoke, he carefully unzipped the inner vest of his camouflage outfit, taking out a palm-sized black device emitting a faint red glow:

"Once I find the general area with my intuition, I use this specially designed nuclear radiation detector to confirm, locking in the entrance coordinates precisely."

As Fang Cheng looked at the device, his gaze instantly turned cold:

"So, why did you kill those examinees?"

Grey Eagle’s face turned ghastly pale, and he quickly explained:

"The killing... it was ordered by that person!"

"He taught me a summoning array, claiming it could establish a connection with the world of ancient civilization relics."

"But, this array needs high-intensity Life Energy as a catalyst."

Facing Fang Cheng’s icy stare, Grey Eagle could only force himself to continue:

"The physical energy of police academy students and mutants participating in the assessment is far more vigorous than ordinary people. By killing enough, and drawing the array with their spilled blood, it resonates strongly with the nearby relic energy."

"That way, I could perceive it more clearly and find a more precise entrance location."

As Ma Donghe and Hou Peng heard these words, a chill ran from the soles of their feet to the backs of their necks.

Not far away, the three police students, with cropped hair, had eyes red with rage, clutching their short knives tightly, wishing to charge forward and tear these scoundrels to shreds.

Using living human lives to draw arrays and act as treasure pointers — these guys are more inhumane than mutated beasts.

"Sounds quite like a Western demonic blood ritual summoning."

Fang Cheng nonchalantly commented, then squinted slightly, focusing on the most crucial question:

"Since you’ve found a way to locate the relic entrance, how do you get in?"

Grey Eagle wiped the cold sweat from his forehead:

"I don’t know the specific entry method, but he guaranteed that once we provide the exact coordinates, he will personally step forward and lead us through the space barrier into that New World."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng lightly raised an eyebrow:

"Is he among the examinees?"

Grey Eagle nodded repeatedly, swallowing more frequently, evidently at his breaking point with nerves. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He instinctively glanced towards the thick fog around.

As if the masked mastermind was standing in the shadows nearby, watching their every move.

"He must be..."

Grey Eagle’s voice trembled slightly:

"Since he has to wait for us to send the coordinates and provide the location, he’s definitely hiding in some corner of this area."

Fang Cheng keenly noticed that Grey Eagle seemed to still be holding back on critical issues.

He was just about to press further.

Suddenly, a chilling scream interrupted their conversation.

"Ughhh—"

The sound came from behind Grey Eagle.

Everyone was startled and turned to look in the direction of the sound.

They saw one person in Grey Eagle’s team, painfully rolling on the mud.

His hands desperately clawed at his throat, with such force that his nails broke, blood oozing out.

Under the horrified gaze of all, his body started to twist in an eerie way.

Accompanied by the ’crack’ of bones shattering and reorganizing, his limbs unnaturally elongated, tearing his uniform to shreds.

Large patches of purple-black blotches surfaced on his skin, and his fingernails grew, hardened, transforming into beast-like black claws.

Fang Cheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of gold in his pupils.

This person was the assassin who had completed the task first and returned to the team.

However, the faint black aura around his neck had thickened to ink-like blackness.

Countless tiny black threads, like leeches, frantically burrowed into his blood vessels and muscles, seemingly taking control of the body.

"Old Dog, what’s wrong?"

Grey Eagle shouted uncertainly.

Old Dog on the ground stopped rolling, slowly raised his head.

In the darkness, everyone fixed their eyes.

The face had completely twisted and deformed,

The jaw exaggeratedly dislocated and elongated, mouth corners stretching to the ears, viscous saliva dripping from sharp fangs.

Those originally human eyes now only had pale whites, filled with crimson blood vessels.

Grey Eagle was first shocked, then a flash of realization hit him.

He stared at Old Dog’s mutated body, fear in his eyes replaced by a hint of ecstasy:

"He’s deeply infected by high-dimensional energy! This means the entrance to the relic must be nearby!"

"We’ve found it, ha, we finally found it!"

However, before Grey Eagle could fully express his joy.

The laughter abruptly stopped.

Old Dog let out a violent roar, his limbs pushed against the ground, like a hungry beast, instantly pounced on the closest companion.

"Ah! Get off!"

The assassin was caught off guard and directly tackled to the ground by Old Dog.

Old Dog opened a bloody mouth and bit down on the companion’s neck.

Blood sprayed out like a fountain, splattering Old Dog’s face.

He greedily sucked, making a horrifying swallowing sound.

"Help! Boss save me!"

The bitten assassin screamed wretchedly, his hands pounding on Old Dog’s back.

The other two assassins saw this and rushed forward, grabbing Old Dog’s arms from both sides, attempting to pull him away.

But the mutated strength of Old Dog was astonishing, with a sharp swing of arms, he flung the two companions meters away.

Listening to increasingly weak screams from his men, Grey Eagle’s face turned livid, a vicious glint in his eyes.

"He’s already a monster! Kill him!"

The remaining two assassins held military daggers, looking at the blood-covered "companion," their legs trembling, none dared to approach.

"A bunch of cowards!"

Grey Eagle cursed loudly.

He knew dragging this out, once the creature’s thirst for blood was satisfied, they would be next.

So he picked up a discarded three-sided military dagger, quickly circled behind Old Dog, aimed at the back of the heart, and stabbed with all his might.

Poof!

The dagger pierced through the camouflage uniform, emitting a muffled collision sound.

The tip penetrated barely half a centimeter and was stopped by the tough muscles on the monster’s back.

Old Dog stopped the blood-sucking motion.

Then, he slowly released the already deceased prey, with that blood-covered twisted face, turned his head a hundred and eighty degrees around.

Staring at Grey Eagle holding the knife handle, sweating profusely, he suddenly grinned and let out a hair-raising eerie laugh.