Food God System: Wasteland

"What is the use of this array?"

Xia Na seemed to think the smell around was too unbearable, so she took out a mask and put it on, covering her mouth and nose, revealing only her beautiful eyes.

Xia Na's small face was already very pretty, but with the mask on, it added a kind of aloofness to her demeanor.

Sometimes, Chen Che quite liked Xia Na wearing a mask, somewhat reminiscent of a certain famous puppet figure in Hong Kong...

After putting on the mask, it felt much better. Xia Na continued, "This is a sacrificial array. It's said that in terms of research on the Witchcraft Calamity worldwide, only the Blood Archbishop is very deep into it.

I remember this array requires human sacrifices, extracting the power from these bodies to transfer it to others.

The person from whom the power is extracted will face death, and the person receiving the power will be covered with special red vines. It's said it's very painful, and the extracted person's wails of grief will often linger by their ears.

So, for those without strong spiritual power, accepting this array is also life-threatening."

Xia Na's explanation piqued everyone's interest.

Madam Li, holding her son's corpse, suddenly knelt before Master Chen with a thud, kowtowing loudly, and cried out, "Master Chen, please help avenge my son, he was just in his teens, he shouldn't have died so inexplicably!"

"I'm begging you, please!"

Hearing this, Chen Che exhaled, hesitated for a moment, and said, "This place is not suitable for her, Johnny, take her away."

Johnny nodded, helped Madam Li up from the ground, and comforted her before Madam Li got up like a walking corpse.

Xia Na only glanced at Madam Li a few times without much sympathy in her eyes. On the way, she had already learned the whole story from Chana.

People just have different destinies.

Chen Che carefully scrutinized the array, touched his chin, and said, "Blood Archbishop... Black Dragon Gang? Interesting, as far as I know, the Black Dragon Gang is involved in smuggling into the city, right?

So why is the Blood Archbishop making a big appearance in the Ninth Special Zone?

The Judicial Bureau has been sending people to investigate outside but has not found any trace of the Blood Archbishop. That being said..."

Chen Che's gaze suddenly shifted, and with a snap, he flicked his fingers, and countless crows ascended into the air outside the warehouse, becoming his eyes in the sky.

In an instant, the environment around the entire district was reflected in Chen Che's eyes, every alley and location surveyed from above.

After observing for a while and not seeing anything useful, Chen Che felt a bit bored, but not disappointed, as it was just a whimsical idea.

His instinct told him this was the enemy's territory.

As he was about to recall the crows, he suddenly caught a glimpse of someone in a tattered building wearing a black robe, who peeked out quickly before withdrawing their head.

With a linear distance of merely about 500 meters, Chen Che blinked, and his intuition told him this black-robed person was not simple.

A moment later, after gathering his thoughts, Chen Che looked up at Johnny and the others and said, "Bobby! Call home to send over some more people, Chana, Johnny, each of you take fifty people and block off these few blocks!"

Surprised by Chen Che's sudden instructions, they didn't know what he had discovered, but his orders were to be followed without question.

Xia Na curiously poked Chen Che's waist and asked, "What did you find?"

Chen Che touched his chin and said, "I'm not sure either, but let's stab it first. What if it turns out to be something big?"

Xia Na rolled her eyes, murmuring, "You men just like to stab randomly..."

…

Bobby quickly gathered another two hundred people from the base, and soon they had blocked all the entrances and exits of the area.

Chen Che and Xia Na personally led the team toward the decrepit building where Chen Che had noticed something suspicious.

Chen Che was not acting recklessly. He controlled a crow to fly through the alleys and land near the dilapidated building, trying to get a better look inside through the crow's eyes, but found every window and gap was covered with thick black cloth, making it impossible to see anything.

Only some strange sounds could be faintly heard from inside.

This made Chen Che's face show some surprise.

Listening to the sounds, it seemed like he might have accidentally stumbled upon the headquarters of a cult.

Thinking it might turn out to be a significant accomplishment, Chen Che instructed everyone to quietly surround the building.

Trained soldiers were adept in urban combat, and Chen Che's training manual included numerous subjects such as stealth, encirclement, and assault.

Moreover, with Chen Che utilizing crows as undetectable drones for intelligence gathering, any slight movement inside the building could be detected by him immediately.

The team silently approached the building.

Upon nearing the building, everyone could hear strange tunes from inside, with someone chanting in an incomprehensible language.

Chen Che gave a signal, gestured with a hand sign, and everyone immediately understood, silently taking out small explosives and setting them on the walls.

Going through the door without knowing what's inside is the dumbest move.

The best way is to blast a breach directly through the wall with explosives.

Having taken over the business in the Upper City District, Chen Che was far from short on money. Aside from greasing the palms of government officials, he invested heavily in weapons and equipment.

The Wildfire Gang might not have much heavy firepower, but it was certainly rich in special tools.

They even had plastic explosives and flashbangs.

This building surely harbored something peculiar, and Chen Che was determined to first take down whoever was inside.

If he was mistaken, well, in this age, what can be said?

It would simply be the bad luck of those inside the building.

In this era, there is not much reason and justice.

Without strength, without background, without power, sometimes it feels so powerless.

Explosives installed.

The assault team is ready.

Chen Che slowly extended five fingers, curling them one by one.

Countdown.

Five, four, three…

…

Inside the small building.

A dozen black-robed figures sat cross-legged on the ground, forming a circle.

On the floor, there was a special array drawn with an unknown red liquid.

Unlike others in black robes, there was one in a red robe, holding a skull staff in hand, the skull head atop emitting a crimson glow.

The Red Robe Mage was continuously chanting bizarre words, and with each chant, the surrounding black-robed figures followed suit.

Various red candles were lit inside the small building, under the candlelight, the surroundings seemed increasingly eerie and horrifying.

At the center of the array stood a cross, with a naked girl bound to it, her hair red, eyes full of tears.

Intricate and strange patterns were painted with an unknown red pigment on her tender white skin.

Her mouth gagged, she couldn't make a sound, her eyes visibly filled with despair.

She couldn't understand why she was experiencing this, her clear eyes like amber now brimmed with tears.

From birth till now, she had never faced such humiliation, never experienced such a crisis.

Father... Brother... Where are you? Save me!

The Red Robe Mage's chants grew faster, stepping into the array, waving the staff around the girl bound to the cross, with each wave the girl seemed to sense a foul wind.

Suddenly, red flames ignited in the array.

The liquid began to burn bizarrely.

Crimson flames continuously erupted, filling the entire array, inching towards the center-bound girl, her fear rendering her voiceless.

An odd smell lingered in the air.

A puddle had formed beneath the cross.

In extreme fear, the human body may lose control.

It's a very normal physiological phenomena.

The girl's fear intensified, the surrounding candles burned hotter, the cultists' chanting grew louder!

Those beautiful eyes now filled with grey and despair as the Red Robe Mage raised the skull staff high and brought it down towards her head.

The girl was utterly petrified.

The staff did not hit her head, but stopped about a centimeter away, yet it made her body go rigid, as if her soul had been shaken.

Her pupils rolled upwards powerlessly.

The surrounding candlelight flickered hotter.

Seeing this, a pale arc couldn't help but lift at the corner of the Red Robe Mage's lips, "Her soul is already burning... Let me personally complete the final part of the ritual!"

A sharp long knife was handed to the Red Robe Mage.

The Red Robe Mage stepped into the array, amidst the burning red flames, which couldn't scorch him, aiming the dagger at the strange runes on the girl's white chest, lifting the knife high, about to plunge it at the moment!

Boom!

A violent explosion sounded as several walls of the small building burst open simultaneously!

A cloud of dust surged skyward!

Before the cultists could react, a few flashbangs were tossed into the room.

Bam bam bam!

The flashbangs erupted with a powerful sound, a high-frequency sonic blast capable of rupturing eardrums.

Many learned about flashbangs through games, thinking they only temporarily blind and deafen without much lethality, but in reality, at close range, they're almost as lethal as grenades!

Capable of completely blinding a person.

Suddenly, the explosive props caught the cultists off guard.

The Red Robe Mage was the first to react to the shock, but in the flash of an instant, he thrust the skull staff into the ground, a red shield immediately enveloped him.

Shielding from harm.

As the Red Robe Mage opened his eyes, several armed figures rushed in, guns aimed at him, saying, "Don't move!"