Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Information Gap
The rain fell again.
With the release of the Abyss Court Heavy Domain, the torrential downpour once again filled the 10-meter vacuum zone.
Jiang Nan lowered his head, looking at the black silhouette beneath his feet that had been completely reduced to a 2D paper cutout.
The Starving Wraith—once the creature that had wiped out the entire Sakura Nation squad and sent Extraordinary Ones fleeing in terror.
Now it looked like a flattened sticker, stuck to the muddy ground.
Though it still wriggled with an extremely faint motion, it had clearly lost all of its threat.
Without a word, he reached out directly, pinching the edge of the paper cutout.
Riiip!
A crisp tearing sound like ripping cloth.
The Starving Wraith was peeled off the ground by Jiang Nan as casually as tearing up a piece of scrap paper, then crumpled into a ball with one hand.
"……"
In Guo Shuai's mind, the previously insufferable Albert fell completely silent.
"Hey, old man."
Guo Shuai went absolutely wild inside, his tone brimming with undisguised smugness.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Who was it that called my boss a weakling? Who said we were going to die?"
"A bet's a bet—hand over that secret trick of yours!"
"Hmph…"
After a long pause, Albert finally let out a conceding grunt.
"This Divine One…accepts the bet."
"To think that a man with no Ability Fluctuation whatsoever could possess such terrifying power…"
"I misjudged him."
"Listen closely, boy. This ability is a forbidden technique I invented back in the day to combat—oh no, to study eerie creatures. Its name is…"
Albert's voice in Guo Shuai's mind dropped low and mysterious.
A few seconds later.
Guo Shuai's voice turned excited.
"No way?!"
"This thing…is absolutely insane?! But I love it!!"
Though the specifics were unknown, judging by how Guo Shuai looked like he was practically drooling with excitement—
Whatever this hidden ability was, it clearly had tremendous value.
At this moment.
Jiang Nan paid no attention to his raving subordinate. He gave him a tap on the shoulder—the meaning was obvious.
‘Call them over.’
"Yes! Boss!"
Guo Shuai ran back to summon the others.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Not long after, the motorhome crushed over the rubble and bones on the slope and pulled up at the school gate.
Jiang Nan boarded, glancing at Liu Yuqing.
She had already spotted the crumpled black paper in Jiang Nan's hand. Habitually pushing up her glasses, she activated her Appraisal.
In the next second, every trace of drowsiness vanished.
【Item】: Void Stomach Pouch
【Grade】: A
【Type】: Material
【Information】: The core organ of the A-Grade eerie creature "Starving Wraith," possessing unparalleled elasticity and durability.
Its interior features a built-in miniature folded space, making it ideal for crafting spatial storage equipment.
【Note】: Having once shown potential to evolve into an S-Grade eerie creature, it died never understanding why the rain had been so heavy.
"Amazing find!"
Liu Yuqing wrote the Appraisal information on paper and handed it to Jiang Nan, her eyes filled with admiration.
"Boss, this is top-tier material for crafting spatial equipment! Wang Meng will definitely be able to turn this into something incredible!"
Jiang Nan glanced at the information and gave a slight nod.
An A-Grade eerie creature, an A-Grade material.
This meant Jiang Nan had very likely just claimed the top spot on the Newcomer Leaderboard for both the 3rd and 4th days.
Which meant he no longer needed to deal with any more of these monsters.
Jiang Nan put away the material and looked up through the window at the gloomy school building not far away.
Behind the 2nd floor windows, faint figures were moving.
But he had no interest in dealing with those people.
Whether they were survivors or Extraordinary Ones from another faction—as long as they didn't block his path, they were all the same to him.
Jiang Nan turned and closed the door, issuing a command on the Smart Control Panel.
【Head to the red dot's location.】
Since the obstacle had been cleared, there was no need to waste any more time.
The Terminal Signal Tower's red dot was showing somewhere inside the school. Opening the map was the priority.
……
Class 3, Year 3.
Lu Shiyan and Yekaterina had not come downstairs.
The two stood in the shadow behind the curtains, using night-vision goggles and their abilities to silently observe everything unfolding below.
"Can't make out the face clearly…"
Lu Shiyan lowered his night-vision goggles, brow tightly furrowed.
"Just from build and skin tone, he's a typical Asian."
He glanced at Hoshino trembling in the corner, then looked back at the domineering silhouette below and shook his head.
"That girl's reaction to him was completely that of a stranger—and she was clearly afraid."
"Which means this person absolutely cannot be the Sakura Nation commander 'Muraguchi Kazusu.'"
"If he's not Sakura Nation, then the only ones left on Eerie Island are from home…"
Lu Shiyan stroked the stubble on his chin.
"That leaves only 2 options."
"Either it's 'Silk-Stocking Desperado.'"
"Or…it's that enigmatic former number one who just dropped off the leaderboard—'No Words Needed.'"
"I'm leaning toward the latter."
Lu Shiyan exhaled a smoke ring, his gaze complex.
"That aura of tearing apart an A-Grade monster like paper—'Silk-Stocking Desperado' doesn't sound like someone with that kind of ability."
"But unfortunately…"
Lu Shiyan glanced at the black motorhome starting up and let out a sigh.
"The truly terrifying thing about this Ghost Middle School was never that 'Starving Wraith' guarding the gate."
"They're going straight in like this—they're in for a world of pain."
Beside him, Yekaterina had said nothing the entire time.
Her beautiful eyes seemed glued to Jiang Nan.
Even after he had already boarded the vehicle, her gaze remained fixed hard on the motorhome.
"Yekaterina?"
Lu Shiyan noticed his companion's unusual state. "What's wrong? Did you fall for that cool guy?"
Yekaterina didn't answer.
Her golden vertical pupils tried to see through the vehicle's interior structure.
However.
The instant her gaze made contact with the hood of the black motorhome—
Bzzzm!
A grotesque Scarecrow face suddenly surged up from the vehicle's surface, locking onto her line of sight and flashing a sinister grin!!
"Ugh!"
Yekaterina's face instantly drained of color. She instinctively stumbled back several steps, clutching her chest, nearly collapsing to the ground.
She swiftly shut off her vertical pupils, gasping in heavy breaths, cold sweat seeping from her forehead.
"What happened?"
Lu Shiyan quickly steadied her, his expression tense.
"That…that vehicle is wrong…"
Yekaterina's voice trembled, pointing at the motorhome that had already driven deeper into the school grounds.
"It gave me an extremely terrifying feeling…that was the suppressive pressure of an S-Grade superior entity!"
"That vehicle's exterior…is very likely made from the skin or remains of an S-Grade monster!!"
"What?!"
The cigarette butt dropped from Lu Shiyan's hand.
An S-Grade monster's skin used as a vehicle wrap?
What kind of background does this person have?!
"It seems this group…is no ordinary bunch."
Lu Shiyan's brow furrowed deeply, his gaze turning more serious than it had ever been.
They currently had no Leader Tablet from the Shelter System.
They had no idea that Jiang Nan hadn't appeared on the Newcomer Leaderboard—yet had claimed the top of the Boss Kill Leaderboard.
‘Could they not be newcomers? Are they veteran players, or 'Divine Chosen' from above?’
‘But that doesn't add up…according to our intelligence, Eerie Island should currently only have new arrivals.’
‘Forget it.’
Lu Shiyan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his chest.
"Regardless of who they are, as long as they're not here to kill us."
"We'll wait for tomorrow's leaderboard settlement. Everything will become clear then."
He glanced at the wall clock pointing to 4 AM, his expression solemn.
"Right now the most important thing is to prepare for the crisis at '4:44 AM.'"
"Mm."
Yekaterina sat on the floor, catching her breath for a moment.
"You've worked hard, Lu."
"Remember to have those Sakura Nation students in the classroom tend to their wounds. The blood smell is too strong—the 'Principal' will be displeased."
"If they come to class injured, things will get troublesome."
"Understood."
Lu Shiyan gave a nod.
He picked the half-finished Huazi back up off the floor, not bothering to care about the dirt, blew off the ash, and lit it again.
Then he turned around and walked toward Hoshino in the corner.
Hoshino was hugging her knees. Seeing this terrifying older man walking toward her, she immediately shrank her neck like a startled quail.
"Lu…Mr. Lu?"
Lu Shiyan looked down at her from above, exhaling a smoke ring.
Then, with a completely expressionless face, he said—
"Hey, little girl. Take your clothes off."
"Whaaat?!?!"