Infinite Nightmares

I didn’t recognize one of the men, who had a square face and was wearing a camo vest. But seeing him step freely on the transparent water’s surface, it was obvious this invisible water was his ability.

Though he was a stranger, I recognized the other person. It was my direct superior at Bureau 507, Ouyang Shuangdian!

This was the first time she manifested a head in my presence, and it looked just like the giant skull I’d witnessed in that other state. But she didn’t just have one.

Seven giant, semi-transparent heads expressing a range of emotions floated around her. Like massive Buddha heads, they slowly rotated around her body. With each change, the weather in this area would shift constantly.

When Zhang Wenda appeared on the battlefield, he instantly drew the gazes of the three others present.

"Hey! What are you doing here, kid!" Ouyang Shuangdian yelled down at Zhang Wenda from midair.

Gazing at Qianxi, who was trapped right in front of him, Zhang Wenda took the gradient-blue scythe and slashed hard to his left.

He reached his hand inside and, with a fluid motion, yanked. He pulled out a colossal, irregularly shaped red spear that looked even taller than Qianxi.

Seeing Qianxi was clearly on the ropes, how could Zhang Wenda pass up the chance to kick an enemy while they were down? He yelled excitedly, "Of course I’m here for revenge!"

Zhang Wenda kicked off hard from his thought cluster, charging straight for Qianxi. The instant he moved, the other two attacked Qianxi as well. Suddenly, Qianxi was under attack from three sides.

However, just as Zhang Wenda used his superior speed to reach Qianxi first, two giant computer arrows materialized and clicked toward him.

Yet Zhang Wenda was already familiar with these mysterious attacks from past encounters. Bent on revenge, he had mentally rehearsed this moment countless times.

He flicked out a hand. The black cuff of his sleeve, formed from the Black Cat, instantly shot out and wrapped around a disappearing thought cluster below. With a hard pull, he yanked himself downward, dodging the arrows’ clicks.

He paid the computer arrows no mind. After dodging, he immediately resumed his reckless charge toward Qianxi.

More arrows flew in, surrounding him from all sides and leaving no blind spots. There was no longer any room to dodge.

Facing this hopeless situation, Zhang Wenda slashed again, spun around, and used his Inner World to slip away from Qianxi’s attack.

The arrows, as if sentient, simply hovered in place, waiting.

A few seconds later, the rift reopened. A black shadow shot out at incredible speed, lunging toward the water’s surface below.

The arrows gave swift chase. But just as they pinned the dark shape in place, they found it was merely a decoy—the silhouette of Zhang Wenda, formed by the Black Cat.

Just then, Song Jianguo’s excited voice rang out from above, "Haha! Fooled you, didn’t I? Ninjutsu! Cat Clone!"

By the time the arrows turned back, it was too late. That brief moment was all Zhang Wenda needed to break through their blockade and get close to Qianxi.

Face to face with his sworn enemy, Zhang Wenda raised his spear and thrust. A rapid series of THUDS rang out as a flurry of yellow error pop-ups appeared, forming a wall of shields that blocked his attack.

But this time, Zhang Wenda wasn’t fighting alone. Hu Maomao’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind, "I’ve pulled you all into my neural network. Behavior sharing is on!"

Immediately, Zhang Wenda could clearly sense every move Ouyang Shuangdian and the square-faced man were about to make, as if they had become a single, cohesive unit.

The square-faced man stomped hard on the water’s surface. Ripples spread across the invisible liquid, and a massive, transparent, and completely un-selectable wave surged toward Qianxi.

The instant he moved, Ouyang Shuangdian and Zhang Wenda attacked in unison. As Ouyang Shuangdian’s "anger" head came into focus, the rules of their surroundings grew unstable—and that included the solid wall of yellow bug-report pop-ups.

The red spear passed effortlessly through the pop-ups and plunged directly into the giant Qianxi’s abdomen.

Strangely, even though the spear in Zhang Wenda’s hands was much longer than Qianxi’s body, the entire shaft was now embedded inside it, yet the tip had not pierced through the other side.

The next second, Qianxi’s massive body began to swell. Then, it burst open, unleashing a dense swarm of computer viruses, each with a different expression.

If Zhang Wenda hadn’t dodged in time, he would have been smashed by a virus that was burning incense.

"Fuck me!" With a clench of his fists, Zhang Wenda recalled all the red energy from within the viruses. The entire viral army instantly went limp, sliding helplessly down toward the transparent water.

But just then, Zhang Wenda noticed something wasn’t right. A few of the viruses, despite having no red energy left in them, were still moving off into the distance.

Ouyang Shuangdian’s voice reached Zhang Wenda through Hu Maomao’s network. "This is bad! Those are trojans! Qianxi must be in one of them—it’s trying to escape!"

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda immediately stomped on a thought cluster named "Don’t Even Think About Escaping" and took off, running through the air in hot pursuit. The cloak on his back transformed into a giant paraglider, giving him additional lift.

He was incredibly fast, but Qianxi’s viruses were faster. After a few clicks from the arrows adjusted some of their parameters, they became a nearly invisible blur, rapidly pulling away.

"Keep chasing! I’ll send my water ahead to block its path!" With that, the square-faced man’s body liquefied, falling like a single drop of water with a PLOP into the invisible expanse below, and vanished.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wenda and Ouyang Shuangdian gave chase, flanking Qianxi from the left and right.

Amid the tense atmosphere, Ouyang Shuangdian’s voice sounded in Zhang Wenda’s ear. "Where did you get that red stuff? It’s quite interesting."

"It’s a built-in feature," he replied. "What about Old Tan? How’s he doing?" Zhang Wenda finally asked the question that had been bothering him.

"He’s safe." Ouyang Shuangdian said nothing more.

"Come on, can’t you give me more than that? How is Old Tan’s plan working out, using himself as bait? I’ve been a piece on this chessboard for a while now, why do I still not understand a thing?"

Ouyang Shuangdian shot him a look from across the way, seeming somewhat surprised he knew so much. "Your clearance level is too low. All I can tell you is that the plan is proceeding."

"Playing the mysterious type, huh? Fine. If you’re not talking, then I can’t be bothered to listen." Now that he knew Old Tan was safe for the moment and the plan was still afoot, Zhang Wenda decided to drop it.

’Old Tan’s plan is one thing, but Qianxi is what matters now. My sworn enemy is right in front of me!’

Suddenly, the viruses slowed drastically, as if they were moving through water. As Zhang Wenda sprinted forward, he ran right into a vertical surface, only then realizing it was a wall of water.

The completely transparent water parted quickly, making way for Zhang Wenda and Ouyang Shuangdian. The three of them moved as one, finally cornering the bizarre, eight-armed computer virus that was Qianxi’s disguise.

Seeing that it was caught, Qianxi dropped the pretense. Like a blooming flower, its true form sprouted from the virus’s body: a figure with a computer for a head, dressed in a white suit. The virus then withered away like a spent blossom. "Congratulations, congratulations. You’ve caught up to me."

"But I won’t be taken so easily. Aren’t you curious how I killed Big Circle Leopard? I’m no mere brute who only knows violence. This world runs on more than just brute force now."

TAP... TAP-TAP... A familiar sound echoed once more. Zhang Wenda whipped his head around and saw a familiar figure: Lakov.

No, it wasn’t just Lakov.