Chapter 956: Masked Man

The masked man silently watched him for a long time.“Then tell me, what does the future look like?”

“The future?” Chen Ling paused for a moment. “Soon, a world war will break out, and the global population will rapidly decline. Once the war subsides, a colorless, desolate world will drag Earth into the abyss… Three hundred years from now, the human population on Earth will not exceed one hundred million, and they will all be dispersed among nine realms.”

“A colorless, desolate world?”Hearing this description, the masked man was clearly taken aback.

“What’s wrong?”“…Nothing.”

The masked man’s gaze towards Chen Ling changed slightly. After a long moment of hesitation, he waved his hand, dispersing the dark clouds above Chen Ling’s head.

“You believe me now?” Chen Ling asked.

“Not at all,” the masked man replied flatly. “If the thunderclouds gather for too long, the ‘White Hands’ will quickly notice this place. It’s just a precaution.”

After speaking, he extended his hand to Chen Ling.

“What?”“My bell, give it back to me.”

Chen Ling glanced at the bell in his hand. After a brief hesitation, he shook his wrist, switching the bell and the magazine back.Regardless, the masked man was Senior Xiao Chunping’s friend, and as a member of the “White Hands,” he was willing to risk his life to save Chen Ling from the encirclement. This indicated that the masked man valued friendship highly. Since he had saved Chen Ling, it wouldn’t be right for Chen Ling to truly take his precious item.

The masked man looked down at the bell back in his hand, and his tense body relaxed slightly. He couldn’t help but ask:

“How did you do that?”Chen Ling didn’t answer immediately. After observing the masked man for a few moments, he countered, “Aren’t you also a twisted Theatrical Divine Path user? Can’t you do it?”

Chen Ling clearly remembered that before he last left the “Age Archive,” the masked man had said, “Your Theatrical Divine Path is also twisted…” Chen Ling had remembered that statement ever since, and it was one of the reasons he wanted to return to the Archive as soon as possible.All along, Chen Ling had believed his twisted Theatrical Divine Path was unique and strange. He urgently wanted to know if there was another twisted Theatrical Divine Path in the world.

“No… I’m different from you,” the masked man shook his head. “My situation is quite complicated…”“What a coincidence, my situation is also quite complicated.”

“I can tell. Having two souls trapped in one body is not a common occurrence.”

Hearing this, Chen Ling’s pupils slightly contracted!Even Yao, who had always been hidden deep within his mind, couldn’t help but let out a soft gasp of surprise.He actually saw it?One must know that even the Ninth-Tier Demigod, the Silver King, had not detected Yao’s presence… Just who was this masked man in front of him?

“Don’t look at me like that,” the masked man shrugged. “My divine path is a combination of ‘drama’ and ‘witchcraft,’ making my perception of souls quite acute… I noticed it the first moment I saw you.”

“A combination of ‘drama’ and ‘witchcraft’?” Chen Ling frowned deeply. “Are you a dual divine path user?”“Not exactly… As I said, my situation is quite complicated.”

Just as the masked man was about to say more, the roar of helicopter propellers approached from a distance. Pale, bright searchlights rapidly swept through the wilderness and forest, as if meticulously searching for something.Chen Ling and the masked man simultaneously turned their heads to look!

“Didn’t you say they wouldn’t be able to find us quickly?”“That’s certainly not my problem. Either you’re being tracked and locked onto, or there’s a diviner constantly calculating your position!”

The roar of the propellers made the surrounding leaves dance wildly, and the strong wind whipped up both their hair. As the pale searchlight moved directly towards them, a sense of danger surged into Chen Ling’s heart once more.“Let’s go!” The masked man pulled Chen Ling and ran wildly into the distance.

Seeing this, Chen Ling pointed a finger at the helicopter in mid-air.The next moment, the helicopter’s pale searchlight exploded, and even the speed of its propellers began to slow down. The aircraft descended slowly, out of control…

“B103 signal lost. Confirming ‘Ghost Mockery’ Doomsday is at the target location.”“Why is Shen Nan with him?”“Reason unknown, but orders have been given from above to eliminate ‘Ghost Mockery’ Doomsday at all costs. If Shen Nan repeatedly obstructs, he can be shot down along with him.”“Act quickly. Their tracking range is limited to Shanghai. If they leave Shanghai, it will be difficult to pinpoint their location again.”“Understood.”

After the first helicopter was forced to land, dark figures streaked across the sky, one after another, rushing in the direction Chen Ling and the masked man had departed.

Shanghai.A phone booth.A faint static hum sounded from the receiver. Yang Xiao pressed one hand against the phone’s surface, listening intently to something.Outside the phone booth, Lu Xun, wearing a mask and a baseball cap he’d acquired from who-knows-where, paced back and forth, occasionally glancing at Yang Xiao inside the booth, trying to discern Chen Ling’s situation from his changing expressions.

A few minutes later, Yang Xiao temporarily hung up the phone and pushed the door open to step out.

“How is it?” Lu Xun immediately walked up and asked.

“The good news is he’s escaped the first wave of encirclement.”“And the bad news?”“He’s being tracked… Until he leaves Shanghai, there will be a continuous stream of people pursuing him.”

Lu Xun’s expression was grim.“…It’s all my fault,” Lu Xun sighed deeply. “If I hadn’t asked him to come to Shanghai, if it wasn’t to save me from those people… he wouldn’t be in such a dangerous situation.”

“You can’t say that. Who could have known that the people from Bureau 749 would suddenly prophesy that he’s ‘Ghost Mockery’ Doomsday…”Yang Xiao comforted Lu Xun. He knew that given Lu Xun’s personality, he absolutely couldn’t bear to see others suffer because of him. Perhaps because everyone’s attention was drawn to Chen Ling, no one seemed to care about Lu Xun, who had escaped from the lab, anymore.

The two stood there on the late-night streets of Shanghai, watching the traffic flow past them, a sense of confusion and helplessness welling up in their hearts.

“…No, there must be another way to help him.”Lu Xun finally couldn’t hold back. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, found a phone number, and then walked straight into the phone booth.

“What are you doing?”“Calling the director of Bureau 749.”

“Him?” Yang Xiao’s first reaction was to shake his head, grabbing Lu Xun’s hand. “Have you forgotten they captured you for experiments? They’re not looking for you now, and you dare to actively contact him yourself?”

“I suspect Director Sun was unaware of my imprisonment,” Lu Xun replied calmly.“Yang Xiao, I’ve worked for Bureau 749 for a long time. I know many of their high-ranking officials, and Director Sun is not that kind of person… The reason I was willing to provide my blood samples before was because I trusted Director Sun’s character.”

“…This is too risky.”“Right now, only a risk can save Director Chen.”