Infinite Nightmares

"What? Leave?" Hearing this, Zhang Wenda knew he couldn't possibly go. 'I had such a hard time finding this place. How could I just leave?'

He hurried forward and blocked the man's path, pleading, "Teacher, please, don't be so quick to push me away. My power has grown a lot since we last met. I definitely won't hold you back."

"I've already found two of the three colors—I just need the last one, yellow. And with this dumb cat's new ability, I've definitely earned the right to be a part of this."

With that, Zhang Wenda reached out and patted the armor that Black Cat had become. "Come on, show the teacher what you've got."

However, instead of obeying, Song Jianguo extended a claw and gave him a sharp scratch.

At these words, the Soviet finally stopped. He turned back around, scrutinizing Zhang Wenda with his empty, eyeless sockets.

The man didn't even have eyes, yet Zhang Wenda felt as if he were being seen through completely.

Zhang Wenda waited for him to say something, but the man remained silent.

Seeing the man turn and continue leaping forward without trying to send him away again, Zhang Wenda breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace to follow.

'It's not every day I get this lucky, running into a heavy hitter right after I get here. In a situation like this, I've got to latch on and not let go.'

"Teacher, didn't you already go back? Were they short on people this time? Is that why Old Tan called you in to help?"

'When you run into one of your own, the first priority should be sharing intel.'

Though Zhang Wenda had made his way here, he had absolutely no idea what Old Tan's actual plan was.

'It's hard to help when you don't know the plan. The three of us basically stumbled into this, and if our information isn't in sync, we could end up doing more harm than good.'

The man remained silent, just as Zhang Wenda remembered him.

Seeing this, he slowed his pace and whispered to Hu Maomao beside him, "Can you see what he's thinking? He was never one for words."

Hu Maomao, who was already floating in midair, frowned at the man's back.

After studying the Soviet's back intently for a moment, she slowly shook her head.

"I can't perceive his thoughts. He's too strong. I can't read him at all. His mind is completely sealed; there isn't a single opening."

"Of course. He's the teacher who set me on this path, after all. But this is good news. With another expert on our side, our chances of winning have shot up. Looks like Old Tan didn't just rush into this impulsively; he must have gone to a lot of trouble."

Since Hu Maomao couldn't help, Zhang Wenda had no choice but to brazenly try fishing for information again. "Teacher, what's the plan? Are we looking for someone?"

The man didn't speak.

"What's the situation? What exactly is Old Tan's plan? Is he safe?"

Still, the man said nothing.

Seeing the man's unresponsiveness, Zhang Wenda started to get agitated. 'If I hadn't regained my 'blue', I would've already started tearing into him for this silent treatment. You couldn't beat a peep out of this guy.'

"Seriously, Teacher, say *something*. I remember the Third Line's rules. Aren't we supposed to maintain constant information sharing during a large-scale operation?"

This time, the man finally spoke. "But I'm not with the Third Line."

"I know you're not, but you're the reinforcement Old Tan brought in, right? This is no time to be mincing words with me."

Just as Zhang Wenda said this, the man suddenly raised his right hand and swung it. To their left, a massive boulder the size of a small hill was sliced cleanly in two, toppling to either side with a deafening ROAR.

As the great rock fell away, a man who had been hiding behind it was revealed.

He was a handsome young man, but now he looked utterly wretched. The flashlight in his hand was broken, several fingers on his right hand had been severed, and his body was riddled with penetrating wounds of varying severity.

At first, Zhang Wenda didn't recognize him. But after studying the man's face for a moment, he froze. 'Wait, isn't that Old Tan's secretary? Right, what was his name again?'

"Uh... Secretary, you're here too? How's Old Tan? Is he safe?" Zhang Wenda called out as he walked toward him.

The man seemed startled to see Zhang Wenda, freezing on the spot, his pupils wide with shock.

"What's wrong? Don't just stand there stunned. Say something! Why is everyone acting like this?" Zhang Wenda reached out and clapped him on the shoulder.

The next second, the man's body went limp as a line of blood traced its way down from the crown of his head.

The man's body fell open like a book, exposing blood, brains, bone, and organs to Zhang Wenda's horrified eyes.

The man had already been dead the moment Zhang Wenda saw him, sliced in half by the same attack that had split the great rock.

Zhang Wenda had seen his share of dead bodies, but none had ever made him feel so utterly chilled to the bone. Staring at the corpse, a frigid terror shot up his spine and exploded at the base of his skull.

Deathly pale, he forced himself to turn and look at the scalped Soviet nearby. The man now looked like a complete stranger.

'He killed Tan Yougen's secretary. No! He came here specifically to find him! He isn't a reinforcement for the Third Line! He's been on the opposing side from the very beginning!'

With a soft hop on his one leg, the man faced Zhang Wenda directly for the first time. "I told you that you shouldn't have come here. But you wouldn't listen."

"I told you I'm not with the Third Line. But you wouldn't listen to that, either."

With his calm words, the atmosphere became intensely oppressive.

Under the man's powerful aura, Zhang Wenda could feel the Black Cat armor encasing his body trembling with fear.

"Why?" Zhang Wenda stared at this familiar stranger, his expression a mask of disbelief. "Why did you join the Big Circle? How could you *possibly* join the Big Circle?"

Hearing this, the man's voice grew deeper. "Do you think you know me so well? Why couldn't I become one of his people? You don't even know my name."

"So, remember this, young man. My name is Lakov, the last patriotic soldier of the Soviet Union."

As he spoke, the space behind him began to warp. Gargantuan shapes writhed within, as if about to smash through the fabric of reality itself.

The instant Zhang Wenda saw Lakov raise his right hand, he snatched Hu Maomao with one arm and shot backward, becoming a blur.

The next moment, with the sound of shattering glass and a melodious Holy Sound, three gigantic Angels, flapping wings covered in eyeballs, burst forth from the void.