The wind wailed through the abandoned streets like invisible hands brushing over the gray stones.Ethan and Karl walked along the empty, desolate road. The mission brief was vague, merely stating that strong residual nightmare energy lingered here and needed to be investigated.
"Another one of those vague assignments," Karl muttered, lowering his voice while gripping his gun. "Don't you feel it? Lately, our operations feel like someone's deliberately maneuvering us."
Ethan didn't respond. His mind was still trapped in the memory of last night's warehouse ambush.The trap had been too precise—so precise it was as if someone had been arranging the board, and they were merely the pieces being moved.
As they turned into a dilapidated alley, the air suddenly trembled. Faint blue spiritual light flickered in the darkness, and a vague figure slowly emerged.
Ethan instinctively raised his gun—but the next second, he froze.
The translucent face, bearing familiar features and expression…It was someone he had worked with in the real world: Helen.
"…Helen?" Ethan's voice caught in his throat.
The spirit raised her head, a smile of surprise and bitterness lingering in her eyes."Ethan… I didn't expect to see you again."
Her voice floated lightly, yet it reached them clearly. Karl blinked in surprise, suspiciously scanning the two, whispering, "You know her?"
Ethan nodded."She was my colleague in life. She… died in an accident several years ago."
Helen smiled wryly. "An accident? Ha, that's what the files say, right?"Her gaze darkened, and her voice carried a chill."But I'll tell you, it wasn't an accident."
Ethan's chest tightened, as if some dormant truth was being ripped open."You mean… someone killed you?"
Helen nodded slowly."I should have been taken to the peaceful Spirit Realm, but someone intercepted me mid-way and sent me to the Realm of Death. They wanted to exploit the memories I carried."
She lifted her gaze, locking eyes with Ethan. "And those people… are part of the Bureau you serve now."
The air instantly froze.Karl's face went pale. He spun toward Ethan, eyes wide with shock and suspicion.
Ethan's throat tightened; words wouldn't come.The Bureau—they were supposed to protect the dead and safeguard the human world.Why would they intercept a soul?
"They needed information," Helen's voice echoed softly. "The rift between the nightmare realm and the human world… it isn't natural. It was torn open deliberately."
The words struck Ethan like a thunderclap, shaking his mind to its core.Instinctively, he wanted to deny it—but deep down, he knew it wasn't a lie.
Helen's figure began to waver, as if she could vanish at any moment."I cannot stay long. Ethan… be careful of those around you. The true enemy has never left."
She reached out, her hand brushing Ethan's arm—but he could only feel the cold void, a chill that passed through him.The next moment, the spiritual light collapsed, and her figure vanished completely.
The alley fell silent once again, as if nothing had happened.
Karl slowly lowered his gun, his expression grave."Do you… believe her?"
Ethan remained silent for a long moment, then finally muttered two words:"I believe."
He recalled the Bureau Director's cold gaze, the attacks by the phantom assassin, and the name Ronan in the archives.All of it pieced together into a terrifying picture.
The Bureau—was not the "guardian" they had believed it to be.
The wind blew again, carrying the unfulfilled whispers of lost souls.Ethan lifted his head, eyes dark, chest burning with suppressed rage.He understood, from this moment onward, he had stepped onto a road from which there was no turning back.