I Contracted Myself

Sweep Team Headquarters.

Inside Situ Shibai's office, he lightly tapped his finger on the desk, and the entire office instantly turned black and white.

[Image Space: Permanently creates a special virtual space. The maximum range increases with mental strength. It can animate the images of others, forming controllable shadow people who can only operate within the image space.]

"Captain!"

A shadowy figure of Chen Ming appeared before Situ Shibai.

Situ Shibai looked down at the map and asked, "Have you figured out the Investigation Team's whereabouts?"

"Captain, according to my investigation, nineteen out of the twenty-two teams of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches have gradually left Mingzhu City since April. The remaining Shen, Xu, and Hai teams in the city have shown no abnormalities," Shadow Chen Ming reported.

Situ Shibai smiled meaningfully, "No abnormalities is the biggest abnormality. I remember the captain of the Shen team is Xu Zheng. His ability is the Scythe of Death. Whenever someone dies in Mingzhu City, his scythe autonomously absorbs the concept of death. So many people have died recently, and he remains indifferent?

And the Xu team, Wang Huashi is exceptionally astute. Even some adventurers can sense things, but he remains oblivious. Does that seem reasonable to you?

As for the Hai team captain, Su Su, she stayed in Mingzhu City due to severe injuries. Chen Ming, investigate the severity of Su Su's injuries and check the last mission record for any suspicious points."

The Investigation Team is not responsible for the safety of Mingzhu City.

Their task is to gather data on Mutated Beasts and wild humans, especially discovering unknown Mutated Beasts. They need to investigate the abilities and level limits of these beasts.

The Tianchang Fox, as an unknown Mutated Beast, appeared silently in Mingzhu City. If it weren't for Zhang Ping uncovering it, the Sweep Team would need at least one to two months to figure things out. By then, it would be too late.

Therefore, both the Investigation Team and the Patrol Guard bear unavoidable responsibility for the Tianchang Fox invasion.

The problem is, the Patrol Guard has been completely wiped out, making the surviving Investigation Team highly suspicious, especially the three teams remaining in the city. Why did they survive, and why are they unaware?

After Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan's first meeting, Situ Shibai ordered Shadow Chen Ming to investigate these three teams. Now it seems these teams definitely have issues.

After Shadow Chen Ming left, Situ Shibai stared at the map, his gaze growing deeper.

This doesn't seem like a beast disaster but rather a man-made catastrophe.

His intuition is stronger than Chen Ming's. He knows Mingzhu City isn't that easy to infiltrate. Besides the Investigation Team operating on the outskirts as a defense against unknown Mutated Beasts, the Patrol Guard alone isn't easy to penetrate. Someone must have helped from within.

"Could it be the remnants of the Zhu Family?"

Situ Shibai suddenly thought of events from two hundred years ago and then looked out the window.

"Since Sisi is back, I should head into the city and meet that young man she mentioned with infinite potential."

He sat in his chair, but his body suddenly split into two. One body remained seated behind the desk, while the other got up and walked out.

[Flesh Split: Can divide the body into multiple parts. Each part shares the body's attributes. The more splits, the weaker the average strength.]

When one of him opened the door, it wasn't the Sweep Team's interior outside but the streets of Mingzhu City.

[Shortcut Door: Consumes mental and physical strength to quickly reach a destination by opening a door. The maximum distance is 100 kilometers.]

……

At dawn, Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan set off back to Mingzhu City.

During their two-day absence, without interference from the Moon King, the Sweep Team managed to fully monitor the situation in Mingzhu City. Except for being unable to stop the Moon Prince's hunting, all Mutated Beasts approaching the city were eliminated.

Now, Liu Sishan needs to temporarily take over Jin Bo's duties.

If any other Mutated Beasts invade Mingzhu City, she must lead the team to defend the city's safety, freeing Zhang Ping.

After bidding farewell to Liu Sishan, Zhang Ping returned to Iron Soul. During these two days, Qiu Qiang hadn't gone on any missions and was taking care of Liu Tiefeng in the shop. When he saw Zhang Ping enter, he smiled and said, "Why are you back early? Weren't you supposed to train for five days?"

Zhang Ping knew that Wang Jieming had helped him take leave, claiming that the Beast King Boxing School had arranged special training, requiring a few days of closed training.

He smiled and replied, "I learn quickly, so I finished the training early."

Saying this, he prepared to go upstairs to put away his luggage.

But as soon as he took a step, he sensed something was wrong. He looked at Qiu Qiang and Liu Tiefeng, finding them both frozen in place.

He turned sharply and saw an elderly man with white hair and beard but few wrinkles on his face, standing at the shop door with his hands behind his back, smiling. His eyes seemed to see right through Zhang Ping.

[Relative Static Space: Pulls the target into a special space. This space anchors the time when it unfolds. When the space is lifted, the creatures inside return to the anchored time point.]

"Who are you?" Zhang Ping put down his luggage and cautiously asked.

Situ Shibai teased with a smile, "Don't you have the Appraisal Skill? Just appraise me, and you'll know."

[Appraisal Failed]

[Appraisal Failed*6]

[Appraisal Failed*66]

[Appraisal Failed*666]

Zhang Ping remained silent. The difficulty of appraising the old man in front of him was higher than the Lone Testicle Pearl, but he already knew the old man's identity in his heart.

He had heard this voice through the Wind Whisperer before. It was the captain of the Sweep Team, Situ Shibai!

"Hahaha."

Situ Shibai suddenly laughed as he entered. Zhang Ping's attempts to appraise him were all known to him, which he found amusing.

Most Awakeners with the Appraisal Skill believe it's undetectable, but not to Situ Shibai.

To him, Zhang Ping's eyes continuously emitted rays scanning his entire body, but these invisible rays were blocked outside his body, making it impossible for Zhang Ping to get any results.

[Information Blocking Energy Membrane: Creates an invisible energy membrane. Anything covered by this membrane cannot be appraised or seen through.]

"Stop appraising. I have an ability that blocks appraisals. Even if you appraise a million times, you won't get any results," Situ Shibai said, smiling as he walked up to Zhang Ping.

Then he walked past Zhang Ping and headed upstairs. Zhang Ping, after a moment of silence, quickly followed.

They went up to the second floor and sat in the living room.

"How should I address you?" Zhang Ping poured tea for Situ Shibai and cautiously asked.

Situ Shibai, just touching the teacup, paused and asked back, "Playing tricks? Names are meant to be called by others. You really don't know my name?"

This question was clearly a test.

Zhang Ping was testing whether he knew the secret that 'Zhang Ping used the Wind Whisperer to eavesdrop on the Sweep Team's secrets.'

But he had no interest in playing riddles with Zhang Ping, so he directly revealed it.

But revealing it meant he wouldn't hold it against Zhang Ping.

"Mr. Situ, what brings you here this time?" Zhang Ping, realizing his little trick was seen through, also understood Situ Shibai's meaning. He asked cautiously and respectfully.

Although Liu Sishan had become more friendly and close to him over the past two days, she hadn't completely let her guard down.

Logically, the Sweep Team shouldn't fully trust him yet.

Besides the 'Wind Whisperer eavesdropping' incident, he couldn't think of any other reason.

So, he genuinely couldn't understand why Situ Shibai would meet him in this manner at this time.

"Zhang Ping, before you have the ability to block others from reading your mind, it's best not to overthink," Situ Shibai said, sipping his tea with a faint smile.

[Mind Reading: Reads the thoughts of the other person through eye contact.]

Zhang Ping immediately ordered himself to calm down and not to think randomly, instantly clearing all thoughts.

"Do you know, after me, Mingzhu City hasn't seen another Infinite Grade ability in over two hundred years? I even investigated if someone was sabotaging it, but it seemed like we just ran out of luck," Situ Shibai said slowly after putting down his teacup, not minding Zhang Ping's change.

[Seed of Luck: Can generate seeds of luck. When placed in a city, it forms city luck. When placed in a force, it forms force luck. When placed on an individual, it forms personal luck. Observing luck can reveal its rise and fall.]

"Fortunately, after so many years, an Infinite Grade ability user has finally appeared. Do you think I wouldn't come to see?" Situ Shibai looked at Zhang Ping with a slight smile.

Zhang Ping understood why Situ Shibai came to see him.

But due to his earlier command, he remained expressionless and calm, simply pouring more tea for Situ Shibai to show his welcome.

Situ Shibai lightly tapped his finger beside the teacup, indicating it was enough, and continued, "Moreover, I'm very curious whether my ability can replicate an Infinite Grade ability."

Because he was the only Infinite Grade ability user in the past, he had only replicated abilities below the Nation Defense Grade, none of which were Infinite Grade.

He didn't know if he could replicate an Infinite Grade ability.

This required Zhang Ping's cooperation for an experiment.

"Of course, I won't experiment for nothing. Regardless of the outcome, I'll give you two gifts and answer all your questions," he said, looking at Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping, with doubts in his mind, asked, "Mr. Situ, will your replication have any adverse effects on me?"

"Hahaha, no, my replication won't harm the other party. You can rest assured," Situ Shibai laughed.

Zhang Ping cautiously asked, "Can I refuse?"

"Of course, but why not see my offer first?" Situ Shibai nodded and continued.

He extended his hand, and a black hole appeared on his right side. He took out an exaggeratedly shaped long-handled scythe and a golden bracelet from the black hole.

After placing the two items on the table, he introduced, "This scythe is called the Fear War Scythe. It can induce fear in other creatures and has the ability to evolve by absorbing blood. I used it to slaughter millions of Mutated Beasts in my early years, absorbing countless amounts of their blood. Currently, its hardness and sharpness are rare in the world, worthy of being called a divine weapon."

"This bracelet is called the Golden Treasury. It was also a piece of equipment I used frequently in my early years. It connects to a 450-cubic-meter storage space. You should understand what that means."

After speaking, Situ Shibai sipped his tea, waiting for Zhang Ping's answer.

Looking at the scythe and bracelet on the table, Zhang Ping couldn't deny his interest.

Especially the Fear War Scythe. If paired with the Nether Mist, his strength would definitely increase by a rank.

"If you're unsure, why not appraise them?" Situ Shibai, seeing Zhang Ping's interest but hesitation, said amusingly.

Zhang Ping's eyes lit up, and he activated the Appraisal Skill.

After several failed attempts, he successfully appraised the attributes of the two items.

[Fear War Scythe: This weapon can bind to its user. All life forms within three meters, except the user, will feel fear due to the scythe. It can also absorb blood to evolve continuously. The more it evolves, the more blood it needs. Current evolution count: 159 times.]

[Golden Treasury Bracelet: Wearing it opens a 450-cubic-meter storage space.]

As he appraised, images appeared before Zhang Ping's eyes. A burly blacksmith forged the Fear War Scythe, throwing dozens of people into the molten iron. Amidst their screams, black gas emerged from the molten iron, forming a skull in the air.

The scene then changed to a handsome young man in a trench coat, wielding the giant scythe to slaughter Mutated Beasts. Not far from these beasts, several men and women with blurred faces seemed extremely terrified.

As for the Golden Treasury, the scene was even more horrifying. A woman was tied up, and molten gold was poured onto her. Several Awakeners stood around her, using their abilities. Gradually, the woman's body ignited, burning the gold into smoke.

After the smoke cleared, only the bracelet remained.

The scenes ended.

Zhang Ping's face turned pale after watching.

The Assassination Ring, Fear War Scythe, and Golden Treasury Bracelet were all created at the cost of human lives.

Such acts were too cruel.