Chapter 576: A New Actor

Boom—

Rolling dust rose into the sky.

At this moment, several kilometers away from the destruction point, the hem of a bright red opera robe was blown up by the gale.

"What an exaggerated destructive power..." Chen Ling looked at the ruins flattened in the distance and couldn't help but sigh.

If Wang Jincheng’s strike had truly been aimed at him, he feared that no matter how many abilities he had, he wouldn't have been able to escape. Even [Blood Garment] wouldn't have allowed him to recover from a pool of blood and mud; he would have ended up with the same fate as Li Ruohong.

It’s a pity that Wang Jincheng, at the cost of emptying himself and crushing an entire district, ended up using a cannon to kill a mosquito... I wonder if he would be so angry he’d drop dead on the spot if he knew the truth?

Previously, in the Skin Zone of the Opera Path Ancient Treasury, Chen Ling had discovered that it could generate the face of anyone in the world and possessed the same effect as [Thousand Faces]. At the time, out of curiosity, he had taken one of his own faces.

Originally, Chen Ling intended to wear this face for emergencies, but he didn't expect it to come in handy this time. Compared to turning himself into someone else, it was much more interesting to let someone else turn into him... It didn't matter if he used up one face; as long as he returned to the Opera Path Ancient Treasury, he could get another stack of his own faces.

[Heart 6] Chen Ling is hated by everyone, but what if one day the streets were full of [Heart 6]s? How would the world respond?

[Audience Expectation +3]

Chen Ling smiled slightly, like a demon wreaking havoc on the world, curling his scarlet lips.

He looked leisurely toward the ruins and walked straight into the Beidou Consortium’s manor. The birthday banquet, which had been bustling just minutes ago, was now dead silent. The guests had all fled in chaos, and the bodyguards had all gone out in full force to find Mu Chunsheng. The entire manor was so quiet that only the crisp sound of rain hitting the grass remained.

Under the pitch-black rain clouds, a red-clad opera performer stepped leisurely across the messy red carpet and slowly stopped in the center of the venue.

Chen Ling picked up the oil-paper umbrella from the ground, gently brushed off the mud and grass leaves, put one hand behind his back, and bowed with a smile, as if an actor were silently taking a final bow in an empty theater after a grand performance.

Only then did the curtain of the performance that Chen Ling had personally pulled open officially close.

Snap—

A soft sound.

The plain oil-paper umbrella opened under the dark clouds.

Chen Ling held the umbrella and walked alone toward the gate of the venue. Tiny raindrops hit the edge of the umbrella, making a light tapping sound.

Just as that lonely red figure was about to leave, a figure rushed out from the ruins of the building, holding several burnt and tattered contracts, shouting:

"Brother Lin, wait for me!"

Chen Ling stopped and saw the disheveled Li Qingshan, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"Brother Li, why are you still here? Didn't you run away just now?"

"I wanted to run, but then I thought it wasn't necessary... The manor was bombed like this, wasn't it all your handiwork, Brother Lin?" Li Qingshan shook his head with a bitter smile. "Since that's the case, I don't seem to have anything to fear... So I took advantage of the chaos and ran to Mu Chunsheng’s office to see if the contracts were all burned."

"Your courage is unexpectedly large... Did you find anything?"

"The contracts were basically all burned, except for one safe that survived the explosion, but it was also blown open with a big hole." Li Qingshan waved the charred paper scraps in his hand. "There were a few contracts left inside, but I couldn't read them, so I just burned them all."

Chen Ling looked at him with a strange expression, then smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Brother Li, you've got the right idea."

"Ah? What right idea?"

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"Speaking of which, Brother Lin, did you change your face again? Yours looks better than mine..."

"Oh, this is my original face, but when traveling, it's more convenient to use a fictional one. Anyway, we of the Opera God Path change faces as easily as flipping a hand."

"Makes sense... Then I'll change mine too."

"By the way, Brother Li, what are your plans for the future?"

"Not yet, but since I've signed with the Huang Consortium, I should probably go back to performing?"

"Since you're performing anyway, why not come to me? I just opened an opera house and I'm missing a male lead to perform with me... As for the Huang Consortium, I'll handle it."

"That sounds great! What’s the name of our opera house?"

The misty rain shrouded the mortal world. Two opera performers, one in red and one in green, walked side by side. As they both raised their hands to touch their chins, two thin layers of skin dissipated in the drizzle.

"It's called... Jinghong."

……

Wang Jincheng dragged his exhausted body along the ruined road.

He returned to the place where he had fought Zhong Qi, only to find that not a single shadow remained. Zhong Qi must have carried the unconscious Mu Chunsheng away after he left, though he didn't know where.

Just as Wang Jincheng was about to continue, three figures walked from the end of the road.

Seeing these three, Wang Jincheng’s expression tightened, and he immediately spoke respectfully:

"Police Bureau Chief Wang Jincheng, greets the three Hall Masters."

"You did a great job this time."

One of them nodded slightly. "From discovering the clues at the dance hall to further exploration, and then to your calm command and request for reinforcements in the face of danger, everything was quite outstanding... You deserve a lot of credit for our successful encirclement of the Twilight Society this time."

"You three are too kind. I only did my duty; the main credit belongs to you."

Wang Jincheng was, after all, a chief who had been in the game for many years; he handled social nuances quite well.

Another Hall Master chuckled. "Don't give us that. [Floating Life Painting] doesn't have such complex interests and human relations as you do. Credit that is yours is yours; we won't fight you for it."

"More than half a year ago, the Twilight Society provoked us. Today, we took out their stronghold in the main city, which can be considered a slap in their face... This matter is worth reporting well."

"I understand." Wang Jincheng nodded immediately. "Rest assured, everyone, tomorrow's headlines in all major news sections will be about the Twilight Society being defeated by us."

"There is one more thing."

"What is it?"

"We found something suspected to be a teleportation array at the dance hall stronghold, but it’s a product of the Witch God Path, and we can't make sense of it... You are the Chief of the Police Bureau and have a wide network of contacts; you can find someone from the Witch God Path to see where this thing connects to...

Remember the Twilight Society member who was rescued earlier? We suspect that [Heart 9] and [Spades 6] used that array to transfer him away. If that's the case, the other side of the array is likely a stronghold closely related to the Twilight Society, or even their main base."

Hearing this, Wang Jincheng’s eyes lit up slightly, and he nodded without hesitation:

"No problem, I will immediately find a friend to see if there is anyone from the Witch God Path in the main city and crack the connection point of the array as soon as possible!"