Chapter 81: Devouring the Eerie Artifact, Wagering the Honor of the Gold Medal

The rain continued to fall relentlessly.

At the hospital’s top floor, puddles had formed, and leather shoes splashed water droplets in every direction as they stepped through. Sun Yaohai clamped an unlit cigarette between his lips, his hands dripping with fresh blood, and kicked open the battered iron door that sealed off the rooftop. The door slammed against the wall with a loud clang.

“Found it,” he announced, his voice carrying a faint chuckle, as he stepped onto the rooftop.

The air was thick with intense dream force fluctuations, and the sound of laughter—gleeful, eerie—echoed all around. Sun Yaohai had shattered his precious forbidden artifact, dragging the will of its strange entity into his body, forcibly breaking through the dream to arrive here.

As a seasoned Dream Ferryman and captain of the third elite assault squad in Jinling City, Sun Yaohai was well-practiced in handling dream calamities. He knew instantly what he needed to do, decisively breaking his invaluable artifact, for only this could lead him swiftly to the origin of the disaster.

Upon reaching the rooftop, Sun Yaohai stood beneath the pouring rain, his gaze sweeping across the mist-shrouded floor. At last, his eyes settled on a distant spot.

There—a blonde, blue-eyed Barbie doll sat quietly on the floor, smiling at him in the rain. Though it was merely a doll, it seemed almost alive, and its gaze sent a chill through Sun Yaohai’s heart.

“A sequence forbidden artifact—091? Someone’s using a sequence artifact to cause trouble? That’s… quite a move.” Sun Yaohai inhaled sharply around his cigarette.

His eyes shifted slightly, pupils contracting as he noticed a dark silhouette slowly rising behind the Barbie doll.

Countless raindrops poured down, forming a gauzy veil over the figure. By the neon lights of the city outside the hospital, Sun Yaohai could see the person wore a grotesque rat mask.

As the figure stood, it resembled a mutated rat climbing from the depths, baring its teeth and claws. The Plague Rat tilted its head; beneath the mask, two eyes glowed faintly red, fixed on Sun Yaohai.

“You actually broke through the dream created by sequence forbidden artifact 091?” the Plague Rat rasped, his voice hoarse yet calm, betraying little panic but a composed confidence.

Sun Yaohai grabbed his lighter, flicked it a few times, but the flame was snuffed out by the relentless rain as soon as it appeared.

No fire could be struck in the dream—and in reality, he couldn’t light his cigarette either.

“Looks like tonight… there’s no chance for a smoke,” he muttered, the cigarette still between his lips.

He shrugged off his black suit coat, raised his hand, and dream force rippled from his brow.

The Plague Rat chuckled lowly, and in an instant, vanished from his spot. He darted from behind the Barbie doll like a bolt of black lightning, wielding a long, conical spike—like the tail of a rat—piercing through raindrops as it stabbed toward Sun Yaohai.

“Since you’re here, then die,” the Plague Rat said, his eyes wild with frenzy, body bursting through the rain, unable to contain his glee at the sight of his prey.

“So disgusting—just like those rats from the sewers,” Sun Yaohai sneered. With a swift motion, he gathered countless raindrops in his palm, forging a mirror from water.

The mirror, sharp as a blade, sliced forward.

Clang!

Clang! Clang!

The two figures collided amid the rain, mirror and spike clashing over and over, emitting a shrill metallic screech. Sparks faintly flared in the storm.

Sun Yaohai knew exactly what he had to do: kill this vile rat, break the dream disaster wrought by the sequence artifact, and awaken all those trapped within.

But it was no easy task.

Rain exploded outward. Both figures retreated, breaking through the downpour, standing several meters apart atop the rooftop.

“High-tier Dream Ferryman,” the Plague Rat growled, his eyes behind the mask glowing scarlet and mad.

Sun Yaohai, cigarette in mouth, stared at the Plague Rat and realized he wasn’t a dream demon, but a Dream Ferryman as well.

“Dream Ferryman? No. You don’t deserve that title,” Sun Yaohai said coldly.

To call this filthy rat a Dream Ferryman was to insult his own profession.

Dream Ferrymen ferry souls, guide between worlds, deliver all beings—they are far above vermin.

The Plague Rat snickered darkly. “Such a miscalculation. Who would have thought a high-tier Dream Ferryman was hidden in this hospital? That golden badge… you must be from Jinling’s elite assault squad.”

“But you can’t change anything.”

“Your death will not affect our plans in the slightest.”

He laughed madly, then his mask twisted and contorted, his body swelling grotesquely, like a rat injected with mutant genes—ugly and monstrous.

Boom!

The rain at his feet scattered violently, forming a ring of vacuum as his speed and strength multiplied.

In a flash, he appeared before Sun Yaohai.

Sun Yaohai’s expression shifted as he raised the mirrored blade before him.

The Plague Rat’s claw fell. The mirror shattered.

Sun Yaohai spat blood, flung away by the immense force, tumbling far across the rooftop.

The Plague Rat shrieked with wild laughter. Behind him, a massive shadow twisted—a rat-shaped darkness, composed of countless rats writhing together.

“Fallen God’s Will!” the Plague Rat growled reverently.

His aura surged, body growing ever more powerful, madness filling his mind.

Sun Yaohai staggered to his feet, cigarette soaked in rain and blood.

“Fallen God? Godcore Organization…” Sun Yaohai’s eyes grew grim. As soon as the Plague Rat revealed such means, Sun Yaohai knew his identity.

“Trouble…” he muttered. “Godcore Organization, setting a trap in Jinling? What are they up to?”

He cursed inwardly, but wobbled to his feet, rain streaming down his body as he reformed the mirrored blade.

Yet the massive Plague Rat only grinned. “Do you know my codename in the organization?”

“They call me Plague Rat.”

“Do you know why?”

“Because I’m poisonous.”

He snickered.

Sun Yaohai’s face changed as he stared at his wounded hand—the flesh was rotting, the damaged skin spreading, a virus devouring his cells.

Slash!

The mirrored blade swept down.

Sun Yaohai acted decisively, without hesitation.

Blood sprayed, an arm fell to the rain-soaked ground, crimson seeping in rings.

Clutching his stump, Sun Yaohai growled low in his throat, pain nearly unbearable.

Even the cigarette between his lips trembled with agony.

“Damn, this is really tough!”

“This has near city-annihilation level power, doesn’t it?”

He took a deep breath, cursing.

If only he had a sequence forbidden artifact, perhaps he could fight back.

But he didn’t; only Zhang Changlin had that luck.

“Damn Zhang Changlin and his damned luck, why does he get a sequence forbidden artifact…” Sun Yaohai muttered, even now not forgetting to curse his rival.

“Go on, run. If you flee, I won’t kill you.”

“I can’t be bothered to chase you anyway,” the Plague Rat sneered, his massive body lumbering forward like a fiend from hell.

“You are, after all, an elite Dream Ferryman. If you choose to escape, I won’t waste time stopping you.”

He relished the sight of prey fleeing in terror like rats.

He lived for such moments.

Yet Sun Yaohai, missing an arm, slowly stood.

Rain soaked him, water dripping from his chin onto the ground.

Facing the enormous Plague Rat, cigarette stained with blood, Sun Yaohai laughed disdainfully, “I’m standing in a hospital, with thousands trapped in this dream disaster. You want me to run? If I flee, what happens to them?”

“I am a Dream Ferryman, guiding people out of dreams—that’s my duty. Not like you, a filthy rat skulking in sewers, clinging to life.”

“See the golden badge on my chest? As captain of the elite assault squad—”

“I will not run in panic!”

“Zhang Changlin isn’t worthy of making me run. And you? What are you, compared to him?”

Sun Yaohai smiled coldly.

In the next moment, he conjured a fractured mirror in his hand.

He drove it fiercely into his own chest.

“The only time I’ve ever been humiliated was that elevator fiasco with Zhang Changlin. I couldn’t beat him—do you think I can’t handle a filthy rat like you?”

The mirror pierced his heart, sinking deeper, completely embedded within.

Inside Sun Yaohai, shadows twisted and struggled. At last, amid his wild laughter and a storm of dream force, they faded away.

“You actually chose to swallow the forbidden artifact’s strange will?” the Plague Rat exclaimed.

This was a suicidal move—a path to mutual destruction. Was he mad?

Were there madmen among Dream Ferrymen?

Sun Yaohai, bloodied cigarette between his lips, grinned.

His remaining arm slammed onto the ground.

Countless raindrops seemed to freeze in time.

The rain trembled.

Each droplet, as if time rewound, hung suspended in the air.

Around the Plague Rat, the rain appeared to crystallize, eventually forming mirror after mirror, densely packed, covering every corner of the hospital rooftop.

Within each mirror,

The Plague Rat’s bloated, grotesque form was reflected.

Sun Yaohai’s body vanished, but from every mirror came a cold, chilling voice:

“Today, I’m staking everything—my golden badge and honor—to slaughter you, fat rat!”

...

...

A black luxury car roared through the streets.

Rain sprayed from its tires, settling on either side.

At last, it stopped in front of the hospital.

The door opened.

Zhang Changlin, Du Fang, Chen Xi, Su Jiuming, and other Wildfire Squad members stepped out.

“Establish perimeter, clear out civilians,” Zhang Changlin ordered, dressed in a black trench coat and holding a black umbrella. As captain, he issued instructions with grave seriousness.

Chen Xi, the logistics chief, moved quickly, setting up equipment with Zhao Lu and Si Nan to monitor the dream disaster.

Assistant Su Xiaoyu, seeing the black light shield enveloping the hospital, understood the mission’s severity and followed Chen Xi to assist.

Du Fang held little Luoluo’s hand, standing quietly beneath the hospital.

Luoluo was thrilled; she lifted her chubby finger, pointing at the rooftop.

“Daddy, daddy, the thing that laughs like Luoluo is up there.”

“She’s so happy,” Luoluo said cheerfully.

Du Fang gently rubbed her head, saying nothing, his eyes stern as he watched the rooftop through the dark barrier.

Beside him, Zhang Changlin’s aura began to surge, flickers of heat dancing in the air.

He too fixed his gaze on the rooftop.

There, he saw countless fractured, blood-stained mirrors.

In each mirror, he seemed to glimpse Sun Yaohai—bold, smug, wild and laughing with abandon.

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