Chapter 739: Encirclement Hunt

Chapter 739: Encirclement Hunt

The members of Eclipse Moon didn’t head to Linhai City—they showed up in Tianhai City, right in front of Zhang Ye and his team.

This scene immediately shook the upper echelons of Blizzard City.

Inside the Operations Command Center, Zhu Zheng and the others, who had previously acted like everything was under control, were now clearly panicked.

“How could this happen?!”

Zhu Zheng shot up from his seat, his sharp gaze sweeping across everyone present.

“Our operation plan was top secret. No information about splitting the teams was leaked to the outside.”

“Then how did they know Zhang Ye’s Celestial Hound Squad was in Tianhai City?!”

This mission was strictly classified. Apart from the three deployed teams, only personnel in the command center knew about it.

At this point, it was almost certain—someone inside had leaked the intel!

Lan Xincheng's gaze shifted to a section of the room—specifically, the intel group in charge of communication with the Celestial Hound Squad.

With a cold expression, he strode over.

He stopped in front of the team leader, Lin Caidie.

“What’s going on here? How did the intel get leaked?”

Lin Caidie was a refined woman.

Even as Lan Xincheng confronted her, she kept a composed smile on her face.

But as the smile lingered, her complexion suddenly turned pale.

A stream of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and she collapsed to the ground.

Gasps of shock echoed around the room.

Lan Xincheng gently pried open her mouth, then turned helplessly to Zhu Zheng. “She had a cyanide capsule in her mouth. She’s taken her own life out of guilt!”

The truth was now obvious: someone within had definitely leaked information to Eclipse Moon.

What Zhu Zheng couldn’t understand was—why would someone choose to die for betrayal?

What was all this really about?

But right now, Zhu Zheng didn’t have the time to dig into those questions—because Zhang Ye was in grave danger.

Eclipse Moon had teamed up with the Dragon Pirate Crew to set a massive trap—just to hunt them down!

“Can the Samsara Squad go provide backup?”

Lan Xincheng replied, “They’re in Linhai City. Even at top speed, it’ll take at least thirty minutes.”

“Tu Yunlie and his team are already engaged in combat—they can’t provide support either.”

Zhu Zheng gritted his teeth and said to Zhang Ye, “Zhang Ye, stall for as long as you can. I’ll send the Samsara Squad to back you up right away!”

Zhang Ye’s eyes turned ice-cold.

He realized there was a mole.

In the end, he had probably stepped on some people’s toes. They wanted him dead.

But killing him? It wouldn’t be that easy.

Zhang Ye didn’t trust anyone now—not even Zhu Zheng.

So, he abruptly cut off communications with headquarters.

This sudden move stunned Zhu Zheng for a moment. But in the end, he had no right to be angry.

Even a fortress like Blizzard City had been infiltrated by Eclipse Moon.

That was his responsibility as the commander.

If Zhang Ye doubted him, it was justified.

After severing the link, Zhang Ye immediately addressed his team:

“Headquarters has a mole from Eclipse Moon. From now on, follow my orders only. No more contact with them!”

The situation was crystal clear now.

This was a trap—waiting for Zhang Ye’s team to walk right in.

They couldn’t trust anyone but themselves.

Gao Changkong was still on comms, saying, “We’re rushing over now! Hang in there—don’t get yourself killed!”

Zhang Ye didn’t respond. He cut off Gao Changkong’s connection too.

He couldn’t tell who was human and who was a traitor.

First, win this battle—then talk.

Phoenixin Ren stood atop a low hill, lighting a cigarette.

“Let’s begin.”

Eclipse Moon and the Dragon Pirate Crew had joined forces.

With such strength, wiping out one investigation squad was entirely feasible.

Especially since the Celestial Hound Squad was considered the weakest among them all.

Their captain, Zhang Ye, had an official ability rating of only 8200 points.

The team itself was hastily assembled.

Back in Blizzard City, Zhu Zheng ordered Lan Xincheng to investigate the possibility of more moles, while also commanding the Samsara Squad to rush to Tianhai City.

But what could he do personally?

Nothing.

He couldn’t use missiles or the Reaper of Love’s indiscriminate strike—because Zhang Ye’s team was there too.

All he could do was wait and hope Zhang Ye held out until reinforcements arrived.

Meanwhile, the enemy had already launched their assault.

The first to attack was Shinguuji Seiichiro.

He pulled ten paper charms from his pocket and tossed them into the air, forming a hand seal with his right hand.

“I call upon the gods and all the Buddhas! Bestow the divine body! Obey the heavenly law!”

Ten white charms emitted a white mist in mid-air, then transformed into ten black hunting hounds.

These were shikigami Zhang Ye had never seen before—inky black, radiating malevolence and dread.

The ten demon hounds charged straight at him, snarling.

Zhang Ye didn’t know what their abilities were, but as long as he activated the Dimensional Gate, any attack would become void.

In a flash, the ten black hounds were absorbed into his alternate space.

But at that moment, he saw Shinguuji Seiichiro smirk.

“An alternate dimension,” he said.

“It can absorb all things—but its capacity is limited. Overload it with energy, and it’ll collapse.”

He pressed his joined middle and index fingers to his lips and shouted, “Detonate!”

Zhang Ye suddenly felt a powerful disturbance from inside his alternate dimension.

The ten demon hounds exploded violently.

These were shikigami designed specifically to counter Zhang Ye’s space manipulation ability—Self-Destruct Hounds!

Sensing the explosions, Zhang Ye was visibly shaken.

The energy contained within those hounds was terrifying.

He realized one more thing:

All his ability info had been leaked to Eclipse Moon by the mole.

This was a hunt—targeting him.

Just like the one that had targeted Deng Shentong before!

Someone had wanted Deng Shentong gone from Jiangnan District.

Now, someone wanted Zhang Ye gone as well.

Zhang Ye’s eyes grew colder than the snow and ice that blanketed the land.

But after unleashing the Self-Destruct Hounds with full confidence, Shinguuji Seiichiro was shocked to find that Zhang Ye was completely unharmed.

He staggered back in disbelief.

“This… how is that possible?! The explosion talismans I used had an output equivalent to two tons of TNT!”

That kind of explosive force would make even a squad captain back off—not try to take it head-on.

“Could the intel… have been wrong?”

A rare bead of sweat rolled down Shinguuji Seiichiro’s forehead.

This situation was no longer under his control—and it was making him panic.

Author's Note