Chapter 58: Ghost Controllers Are All Broke; There Is No Grease Left to Squeeze!

Under the gloomy sky, metallic and concrete building components blended into a chaotic mass.

Countless fragments of molten material, whose original forms were unrecognizable, were piled haphazardly in a giant crater more than ten kilometers in diameter.

Nuclear wastewater, emitting an eerie green fluorescence, pooled in puddles, soaking the grim, mud-soft skeletons within.

Aberrations mutated from rats and other small rodents darted back and forth recklessly among them, mercilessly trampling the final remnants of human civilization's glory.

Two hundred years ago, this place had also been a towering, modernized city standing amidst a lush grassland.

Highways, railways, airports...

Countless transportation routes connected this place, linking it with the outside world in every direction.

Yet now, the once-wide and solid highways were reduced to mere mottled gray asphalt fragments accompanied by dirt.

The rail tracks, which had carried the pride of countless workers, had even had their concrete sleepers removed to serve as material for patching together high walls.

Looking down from high above, the city had long since become a thing of the past.

The giant crater, mixed with city ruins, was filled with crystallized traces left by high-temperature scorching.

Surrounding this giant crater were seventeen smaller settlements, each about half the size of the Giant Bone Settlement.

Their locations were so scattered that they looked like the most unfamiliar of strangers.

"This Phantom Settlement... is it one of the seventeen below, or are they all part of it combined?" Lu Wenwu hovered in the air, holding an old-era atlas in his hand to compare. "The city's blown to smithereens, and the shelters on the edge look completely totaled too."

Anthony flapped his bat wings and flew beside him, gazing into the distance and saying, "They seem to belong to the same affiliation; their personnel move back and forth among each other."

Lu Wenwu asked in surprise, "You can see that far without binoculars? Is vampire eyesight really that good?"

"Not quite that," Anthony chuckled. "I can use blood magic to vaguely sense some blood aura movement, a bit like watching color blocks move on a satellite map."

"I see..."

Lu Wenwu frowned, staring fixedly at the distant Phantom Settlement that barely seemed connected as a whole.

"What is it?" Anthony asked.

Lu Wenwu shook his head. "I don't know, I just have an inexplicable feeling. This Phantom Settlement gives me a very uncomfortable vibe. It feels kind of like... like... an abandoned mental asylum that still has psychiatric patients wandering around?"

"You mean... Arkham?"

"Mm... Spot on. Those who truly understand me are none other than Brother Tony."

"Can you please call me Anthony? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were calling Dom."

"You even know about that? You're a vampire!"

"Vampires have physiological needs too, you know! I am very self-disciplined!"

"With your looks and your wealth, what kind of partner couldn't you get?"

"Are you referring to humans? Oh please, even if you love egg pancakes so much, would you ever do that kind of thing with a talking egg pancake?"

Lu Wenwu fell silent instantly.

A talking egg pancake...

It almost... sounded pretty cool?

Would this involve ethical and moral issues?

Seeing that this scoundrel Lu Wenwu was actually taking it seriously, Anthony instantly drove himself mad.

He really shouldn't have held any expectations for this bastard using normal human logic!

After the man-to-man conversation came to a bizarre end, the two analyzed a bit more before dropping down.

Lu Wenwu killed the giant tiger that had dutifully served as his mount for several days with a single punch, dug out its muscular flesh, and happily gained +150 attribute points.

On the way toward the Phantom Settlement, Lu Wenwu clearly looked somewhat lacking in interest.

He was a person who liked to act based on his preferences and interests.

Although he was quite interested in exploring the God of Glory and Eternal Life.

The Ghost Controllers and the Phantom Settlement made him feel thoroughly unenthusiastic.

This was probably somewhat similar to...

Fighting a normal person would give you a strong sense of accomplishment.

But fighting madmen and absolute idiots would only make you feel utterly bored upon winning.

Pretty much the same concept.

As the secret-exploration team walked closer, that bizarre feeling grew increasingly intense.

The frown between Lu Wenwu's brows had never relaxed.

The atmosphere here made him very unhappy, making him desperately want to smash a few heads open to vent.

The members of the Phantom Settlement were busy working away like industrious ants.

"These people don't look quite right in the head," Su Qinghong's pupils rippled with a trace of purple. "Why do I feel like their whole settlement has been mind-controlled? What do you think, little Kasan?"

Kasan shook her head blankly. "Too far, I can't sense their souls. But judging from Eagle Eye Vision, these people's eyes look very dull, um... just like those low-quality online game NPCs."

"Should we just use the Great Tyrannosaurus's old method and charge right in?" Su Qinghong pulled out her dharma sword, eager to try. "They were already mental before, and now they've directly become brainless psychos. I want to try out the feeling of mowing grass too."

"Benefactor Su, do not be rash!"

Old Monk Ruhuo glared furiously, his usually placid pupils reflecting a trace of horror.

The string of Buddhist prayer beads he often carried was trembling violently, continuously releasing wisps of golden Buddha light.

"There is a great demon ahead! A monstrous demon is brewing! This is a gathering place of ominous calamity! These people have almost completely lost their minds and are controlled by a ghost that is about to be fully born!"

Lu Wenwu twisted his neck and strode forward. "Since there is a great demon, we shall slay it before it is born! As long as we slaughter everyone here, that ghost won't be able to be born, right?"

The old monk's breathing hitched. "Slaughter them all? Isn't that a bit..."

"Master Ruhuo, you are still far too kind-hearted, and that is not a good thing."

Lu Wenwu's body was like a blazing furnace, his vital blood circulating and burning, causing his entire body's temperature to rise sharply like a volcano about to erupt.

A powerful aura surged upward, whipping up wave after wave of violent airflow.

"The minds and souls of these Ghost Controllers have long been corroded by the yet-unborn ghost; there is no need to save them."

[Ghost Territory Overlord in Gestation (B+)]: 916432/???

[Current Status]: Devouring and Gestating, Spiritual Fusion, Shallow Dormancy, Killing Method Condensation, Ghost Qi Release, Domain Rudiment...

[Flesh Puppet / Footprint Ghost (C+)]: 21434/???

[Current Status]: Growth, Ghost Territory Amplification, Flesh Disguise

[Flesh Puppet / Hanging Ghost (B-)]: 34375/???

Scanned by the Eye of Insight, the information of these fellows could not escape Lu Wenwu's eyes at all.

As far as the eye could see, whether ordinary people or Ghost Controllers, they had all become nourishment for that Ghost Territory Overlord.

They had long since died and were no longer human!

Once that Lord of the Ghost Territory finished gestating completely, it would undoubtedly reach Grade A!

Soon, a group of Ghost Controllers whose minds were dominated by ghosts discovered Lu Wenwu's trace.

They put down their work and shuffled toward Lu Wenwu like zombies, unleashing inhuman roars from their throats.

Some evolutionists held firearms and opened fire.

Some Ghost Controllers released the ghosts they rode, forming a Ghost Territory all around.

Even more powerful individuals manipulated the rules of killing arts, attempting to directly wipe out Lu Wenwu with the special powers of ghosts.

However, they did not know.

When power reaches a certain level, all resistance and tactics appear pale and feeble.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Every time the dark red iron fist swung out, a head was precisely blasted apart.

It was just a pity that, unlike usual, no attribute points were credited.

Lu Wenwu finally realized the main reason why he hated this place.

Damn it!

Ghost Controllers hijacked by ghosts didn't give any attribute points when killed!