Doomsday Spiritual Artifact Master
chapter-104-2

Chapter 104.2 – When the Roses Bloom (22)

◎The third puppet ◎

Mu City, in a private militia camp at a certain location.

A group of mercenaries was on their routine patrol. As they turned a corner and took a few steps forward, there was a slight “crack” beneath their feet. Without reacting in time, they stumbled upon hidden frost traps. Ice blades, solidified like whirling knives, slit everyone’s throats in an instant. With a muffled thud, the unfortunate squad fell neatly in unison.

In a camp several meters away, awakeners were idling away, playing cards.

“Double nines! Sweep! I win! Huh, what’s that smell?”

“Smells like rotten eggs…”

“Rotten eggs? Isn’t this hydrogen sulfide… Not good!”

Outside the camp, massive frost-wrapped shells plummeted from the sky. Upon impact, they burst open without any flames, releasing a green poisonous gas. The awakeners who accidentally inhaled it clutched their throats, writhing in agony.

The enemy assault alarm sounded, prompting mercenaries armed to the teeth to charge from all directions.

“Our feelings are like trapped in a weird loop~ The more we love, the more confused we become, the more we love, the more confused we become~”

A clear, soothing voice began to resonate, causing the mercenaries to lose focus. They were ensnared in a confusion debuff, dropping their weapons one by one, scrambling around like headless flies, clutching their heads in panic. Silent frost bombs relentlessly pounded the ground, and in a blink, the entire private militia camp fell silent once more.

From a distant high-rise building, hidden awakeners cautiously peeked out.

Xu Xing tied his headband, tiptoed to the window, controlling frost traps while coordinating with Su Cha and Irene to create “super frost poison gas bombs.” He became the most powerful offensive force in destroying the militia camp, no longer relying solely on hexagonal ice blades. His attacks were versatile and unpredictable, achieving a perfect balance between multitasking, visibly progressing through trials and tribulations.

“All done,” Lin Youyou glanced at the terminal, marking off another location on the map. “The operation at Rita’s end went smoothly. Mu Qin and Ruan Wenjun’s militia camps have been cleared. Only Miao Lun’s remains. We need to accelerate.”

As a covert team, their primary mission was to dismantle the armed forces of major warlords, preventing them from aiding Nai Kang. Thus, to minimize attention, Irene opted not to use more overt firepower but instead employed the newly developed frost poison shells.

“Something’s odd,” Su Cha, who had gone to scout ahead, emerged and said in a low voice, “The alarm at the Reunification Palace has been blaring for almost three minutes, yet there’s no movement at this camp.”

Lin Youyou paused, realizing that while the lack of defense when they initially attacked was normal, continuing to play cards calmly even after the alarm had been blaring for so long seemed too composed.

“Stick to the plan for now. I’ll contact Zhuang Qingyan’s team,” Lin Youyou decided after a moment of thought.

…

“Boom—”

A deafening explosion echoed from the direction of the Reunification Palace. After a few seconds, a piercing alarm sounded.

Miao Lun’s hand, in the midst of rolling a cigarette, paused. He squinted, gazing into the distance, half of his face obscured by smoke.

After a while, a newly transferred aide hurried in, softly reporting, “Sir, the General has been attacked.”

“Attacked…” Miao Lun repeated the words, “Has the General ordered me to reinforce?”

“Yes, there’s an order, but not for reinforcement. The General’s exact words were ‘stay put unless requested otherwise.'”

“Heh,” Miao Lun suddenly sneered, “Stay put unless requested otherwise. What a brilliant order.”

He fiercely stubbed out the cigarette on the table, leaving a grim scar, then stood up abruptly, striding out purposefully, with Godanwei and Hu Chao trailing behind him.

“Sir, where are you… going?” The aide knelt, wondering if Miao Lun was openly defying orders?

Miao Lun’s voice was chillingly cold, “Summon all the private militia, immediately return to the estate.”

“Sir! Something terrible has happened, sir!” A servant rushed in, scrambling and falling at Miao Lun’s feet. “Our militia camp has been attacked!”

“Where?” Miao Lun’s face turned ashen.

“Ev…everywhere…” The servant’s voice trembled, not daring to meet his gaze.

Everyone present knelt in genuine fear. Miao Lun’s fluctuating breath felt like an impending guillotine.

Suddenly, he pivoted, heading towards the backyard.

Zhang Wanyao and Marie were speaking softly when Miao Lun barged in without a word, slapping Zhang Wanyao across the face. “Bitch!”

Zhang Wanyao fell to the ground, half of her face swelling, lips bleeding profusely.

Marie snapped her eyes open, interrupting her telepathic conversation with Marsha, rushing to help her up, glaring at Miao Lun. “Why do you hit someone!”

Miao Lun’s face was incredibly dark. Step by step, he advanced, his immense shadow gradually enveloping Zhang Wanyao’s slender figure. Marie rushed forward to shield Zhang Wanyao but was kicked aside by Miao Lun and restrained by Hu Chao.

Gripping Zhang Wanyao by her hair, Miao Lun dragged her up from the ground. “I’ve raised you for so long, never thought I’d nurture a treacherous spy, a two-faced wench. The location of the militia camp was leaked by you.”

Zhang Wanyao coldly responded, “Yes.”

Miao Lun, enraged and without interrogation, had already concluded her guilt. No matter what she said, it couldn’t change his furious reality. The portraits Zhang Wanyao had given to Irene several times used her unique layering technique. At first glance, it depicted a girl trapped in the Rose Army, but beneath the surface, through a specific method, it revealed the map of the militia camp.

Furious beyond measure, Miao Lun kicked her abdomen, causing Zhang Wanyao to curl up in pain.

“Sir, should we still go to the estate?” Godanwei asked softly.

“Go,” Miao Lun wiped his hands, saying coldly, “Take them all.”

Several girls in the backyard had their eyes blindfolded, mouths taped shut, hands and feet tightly bound before being loaded into a transport vehicle.

Marie moved within the darkness of the rear compartment, trying to locate Zhang Wanyao by scent. She lay motionless on the ground, causing Marie to grow increasingly worried. She nudged her with her head, attempting to wake her up.

After a while, Zhang Wanyao slowly regained consciousness, lightly brushing against Marie. Sensing that she wanted to communicate, Marie turned around quickly. Their hands met, and Zhang Wanyao’s warm fingertips swiftly wrote a word in Marie’s palm.

Marai carefully discerned the word — “sister” in the local dialect.

Marie immediately understood her intention. She closed her eyes and initiated a telepathic connection, desperately calling out for Marsha.

As the sun gradually descended, following the last remnants of light along the horizon, hundreds of fully armed awakeners guarded a single person, hurriedly entering Miao Lun’s ancestral estate. The gates shut tightly behind them, the footsteps of guards on patrol becoming more vigilant.

…

Time passed second by second in the Reunification Palace.

The security detail had been cleared out, leaving only a few. Song Ke wiped off the blood splatters on her face, her eyes fixed unblinkingly around Nai Kang. She retained the last bit of her awakened energy, waiting for Zhang Ci’s signal. As soon as her senior brother succeeded, she would instantly deal with Nai Kang.

“The Special Envoy is estimated to arrive in thirty-five minutes,” Lu Xiaoyu reminded.

There was still time, and Song Ke felt slightly relieved.

The terminal lit up with a notification. Zhuang Qingyan glanced down, and his gaze froze instantly. It was a message from Zhang Ci: “Miao Lun has escaped.”

Zhuang Qingyan swiftly typed in response. Zhang Ci succinctly explained the situation: Shortly after the explosion at the Reunification Palace, Miao Lun led his group away from the estate. They found nothing, which either meant Miao Lun had a spy monitoring the General’s every move, or… he knew his puppet status, sensed danger, and retreated early.

Zhang Ci’s next message arrived: “Heading towards the estate. Help me locate Marsha’s position.”

Fortunately, Marsha was in the underground passage of the estate, maintaining telepathic contact with her twin sister all along. After Miao Lun fled, she followed Marie through the tunnel and relayed the information promptly. However, for some unknown reason, despite the surface sounds transmitting into the tunnel, the signals inside were exceptionally weak. Zhang Ci’s terminal couldn’t locate her.

Zhuang Qingyan tossed the terminal to Lu Xiaoyu. “Lu Xiaoyu!”

Lu Xiaoyu caught it and quickly started typing upon scanning the information.

“What’s wrong?” Song Ke asked, concerned.

Zhuang Qingyan squeezed her hand but before he could say anything, Nai Kang in the distance glanced at the terminal and burst into loud laughter. “I just said it, you can’t kill Miao Lun, nor can you kill me.”

Song Ke furrowed her brow, ready to hurl her swallowtail dart to silence him when suddenly, she became alert.

A familiar spatial rift appeared in the sky.

“Trouble,” Lu Xiaoyu said with a sigh as she located Marsha’s position, “The Special Envoy hasn’t arrived, but the Paw Squad has.”

One after another, towering figures emerged from the void, their powerful awakened energy causing intense fluctuations in the air.

Three of them. S-level awakeners.

Wait a minute!! Song Ke widened her eyes suddenly.

The person walking at the rear, over two meters tall, with the left side of their face burned and necrotic, muscles fused together, an eerie white eye, and the right side riddled with numerous knife scars, appeared neither human nor ghost.

This was… the Bloody Hunter, Punk.

…

Mu City fell into an eerie silence. Streets emptied, residents aware that something significant was underway, kept their doors and windows shut, huddled inside without daring to peek out. As for other warlords, merchants, and wealthy elites, they observed the situation from a distance.

Numerous high-level awakeners surrounded Miao Lun’s residence.

Due to urgency, Zhang Ci’s group didn’t even take the tunnels, instead traversing straight through the city, emanating a lethal intent as they zeroed in on their target.

In the vast night, Zhang Ci issued a cold command, “Prepare for a strong assault. Top priority: eliminate Miao Lun.”

The forceful and thunderous Divine Purge Invocation sounded the attack, Shaye’s awakeners exploded with awakened energy, shattering the mansion’s gates, engaging in a fierce battle with the pouring private militia.

Fang Zhixu closely followed Zhang Ci, wielding a triangular military dagger, fearlessly fighting the private militia. If knocked down, he’d rise again; if injured, he’d hastily administer rough self-treatment before charging forward.

Ayao, Ayao was still in Miao Lun’s clutches. He had to move faster, quicker to rescue her.

“Boom—”

Dazzling cannon fire leveled an entire row of buildings. The voices of Irene and Lin Youyou resounded, “We’ve come to help!”

With the addition of area-attack awakeners like Irene and Xu Xing, the assault on the mansion accelerated. Soon, flames crackled, thick smoke billowed, and scattered figures ran helter-skelter.

“Qiong Qi, northeast corner, someone’s trying to flee!”

Detection-type awakener Lin Mo noticed the disturbance and loudly warned.

Zhang Ci and the others turned to chase the fleeing figures at the northeast corner. Dozens of awakeners protected a portly figure in military attire, desperately trying to escape.

Su Cha acted the quickest, vanishing and reappearing among the group, a poisoned dagger swiftly bypassing the guards, relentlessly severing the fat man’s neck, almost simultaneously followed by Zhang Ci’s Soul Annihilation Curse piercing his brain!

With dual fatal injuries, Miao Lun was undoubtedly doomed!

The rotund figure froze, staggered a few steps, and slowly collapsed to the ground, the military cap tumbling off to reveal the entire face.

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their expressions suddenly shifted. This wasn’t Miao Lun at all!

Miao Lun wasn’t at the mansion; he’d used a decoy, successfully deceiving everyone.