As the birthday performance concluded.
Zhang Wei had no intention of lingering. With a casual wave of his hand, he transformed the corpses of the headless ghost and the ghost leader into two capsules, gifting them to Lu Lianxue as an additional birthday present.
Zhang Chao, standing nearby, watched with envy. These were two Ghost Kings, one of them a top-tier Ghost King. Exchanging them at the Guard Department would surely make him rich overnight. Zhang Chao couldn't help but sidle up to Zhang Wei, purring,
"Oh, Brother Zhang Wei, let me tell you, my birthday is coming up in a few days. I want a birthday gift too. I don't want anything else, just a Ghost King's corpse would be enough."
As soon as he spoke.
Zhang Wei pushed Zhang Chao away and chuckled,
"Oh? Your birthday is coming up, Zhang Chao? Then I wish you a happy birthday in advance. I'll send you a happy birthday greeting on QQ then."
"Huh? That's it? That's it? Damn it, Zhang Wei, are you even human? You'd rather have a girlfriend than a brother, wouldn't you? I'm going to cause trouble. I'm going to expose your favoritism towards your girlfriend and badmouth you on international forums and the Guard Department forums."
Zhang Chao cursed, but a smile played on his lips.
"Forget the birthday gift, but can I get some compensation for my hard work? You know I put in a lot of effort for you. To help you prepare a birthday gift for Lu Lianxue, I spent all night on the phone to get this intel. Shouldn't I get some reward for my troubles? Wunian, don't you think so?"
Wunian clasped his hands together.
"Amitabha, Zhang Chao, a monk does not lie."
"Damn it!"
Zhang Chao gave Wunian the middle finger.
Zhang Wei chimed in at the opportune moment.
"See? See? Even Wunian can't stand it. Speaking of which, Zhang Chao, I haven't treated you badly either. Didn't I give you a Digivice yesterday to give to your girlfriend? That counts as compensation, right?"
...
On the other side.
While the three were bickering and Lu Lianxue watched, giggling.
Several figures appeared in the underground parking lot of the abandoned building. They were members of the Heresy Association.
Just moments ago.
They had detected a large amount of ghost energy in the vicinity using monitoring artifacts from a nearby branch. The sheer quantity was the most they had ever seen in their branch's history. They immediately reported the matter to the Heresy Association.
Now, the Heresy Association had dispatched ghost exorcists of the Ghost King level for support, and they rushed to the scene.
However.
Upon arriving at the scene and seeing the ground covered in ghost blood, even though there were no ghost corpses, the residual ghost energy and the tragic state of the scene caused even the Ghost King level exorcists to change their expressions.
"What on earth happened here?"
At that moment.
Another supporting exorcist took out an artifact and sensed something, exclaiming in horror.
"Three hundred? There were at least three hundred ghosts here just now, and one of them was a top-tier Ghost King. No, it was a quasi-national level?!"
Before he could finish speaking.
His voice abruptly stopped, as he took another look at the tragic scene. Judging from the fight marks, it was clear that all three hundred ghosts were dead, including the quasi-national level one. Such a force, and yet it was resolved before their support arrived?
"Who did this?"
They murmured in unison.
Then.
The Ghost King level exorcist signaled the exorcists from the local branch to investigate nearby surveillance. This area was close to the port, and to control the import and export of goods, surveillance along the roads around the port was the most extensive.
Not long after.
They quickly identified a suspicious vehicle through surveillance. It was a rental car. Through road surveillance, they captured images of the people inside the car.
"Zhang Wei?!"
The Ghost King level exorcist immediately recognized Zhang Wei sitting in the back passenger seat. Even though there was not enough evidence to prove Zhang Wei had acted, nor were there any traces left at the scene, only a surveillance image of him passing by, he was one hundred percent certain that Zhang Wei was responsible.
"Only he has the ability to do this. It's impossible that it's just a coincidence that he came here and ghost activity also occurred."
As he said this.
The exorcists present were stunned.
"One person wiped out a ghost force? And one with a quasi-national level?"
"Is that even possible..."
"It's possible. Have you forgotten? Zhang Wei possesses our country's quasi-national level artifact."
Upon hearing this.
Even the Ghost King level exorcist fell silent, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
Soon.
News of Zhang Wei single-handedly annihilating the ghost force spread within the Heresy Association. The assistant to the president also received this information.
With the same view as the former, the president's assistant concluded that Zhang Wei must have used the quasi-national level artifact provided by the Heresy Association to wipe out the ghost force alone.
"Should we tell the president about this?"
An exorcist couldn't help but ask.
Assistant: "..."
Other exorcists present: "..."
Following that.
The assistant cleared his throat.
"Let's tell the president when he wakes up. Let him sleep well for now; he didn't sleep well yesterday."
...
On the other side.
At the Shouer Hotel, in a presidential suite.
As the saying goes, a cigarette after the act is better than being an immortal. At this moment, Zhang Wei and Lu Lianxue had finished their activities. However, he didn't have the habit of smoking. He was holding Lu Lianxue and watching the World Cup.
At the same time.
While Lu Lianxue was engrossed in the World Cup, Zhang Wei's gaze fell upon the system panel, specifically the item inventory, and the description of the newly acquired skill card, 'Upgrade'.
[Upgrade: Can elevate any artifact that is not of the national level by one major tier.]
Looking at the skill description, Zhang Wei's eyes gleamed, and he muttered to himself.
"To upgrade an artifact, and by a major tier. As long as it's not a national level artifact, it can be upgraded by one tier. So, a Ghost King level artifact can be instantly upgraded to a sect-level artifact. What about a quasi-national level artifact?"
Thinking this.
Zhang Wei's gaze fell upon the quasi-national level artifact feather fan he had brought, which was placed on the bedside table.
Just then.
"Zhang Wei, what are you looking at?"
Lu Lianxue noticed Zhang Wei's gaze and blinked her eyes curiously.
"I'm looking at that quasi-national level artifact. Xiaoxue, didn't you ask your grandfather about the information on this artifact from the Heresy Association the other day?"
"Yes, I was afraid the Heresy Association might trick us, so I asked Grandpa. Grandpa said this artifact has flaws. Although it's a quasi-national level artifact, it's actually damaged. On one hand, it's due to its age, and on the other hand, the Heresy Association of the former 'Stealing Country' used this artifact to deal with powerful ghosts, which caused damage."
Lu Lianxue recalled what her grandfather had said and relayed it.
"However, my grandpa said that even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. The artifact is damaged, but it's still a quasi-national level. It's just that if it were to fight against other quasi-national level artifacts, its effectiveness might not be optimal. It's still good for dealing with ghosts."
Upon hearing this.
Zhang Wei nodded, and then unexpectedly asked.
"What if I repaired this artifact, or rather, upgraded this artifact to the national level, would it be very powerful?"
Lu Lianxue: "Ah?"