I Scattered It

After confirming their direction of advance, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Jack adjusted the feed in his eye. This prosthetic eye was a crucial prototype developed by their organization, requiring further refinement after every use.

And resisting electromagnetic interference was one of its functions.

Just as he was about to step forward, a thick, sturdy hand reached out, clutching a high-energy battery. It was the burly man named Burst Bear.

"Boss, backup power." Burst Bear's voice was muffled and concise.

"I just swapped in a fully charged one before we set off." Jack patted his arm and pushed the battery back. "Keep it. On this job, we might have some big guys to deal with later."

Burst Bear didn't insist, silently putting the battery away.

Jack took the lead, guiding the group along the path locked in by his prosthetic eye, heading straight for the mountain peak.

This time, they encountered no further obstacles.

Finally, the moment they stepped onto the edge of the summit, a thick stench mixing burnt flesh and blood hit their faces, making even these battle-hardened agents feel their stomachs churn.

The scene before them was like a painting of hell.

Centered around the peak, as far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with corpses.

A corpse hung from every charred piece of wood.

Those charred spikes ruthlessly pinned the bodies to the trees.

The corpses were in various postures, but without exception, they all maintained expressions of extreme terror from before their deaths, burned beyond recognition by high temperatures.

Seeing this, Jack and the others couldn't help but gasp, subconsciously averting their eyes.

Heipi's mouth fell slightly open. A curse word reached his lips, but he just couldn't bring himself to spit it out.

What kind of terrifying power could create such a tragic scene in an instant?

Was it an unknown treasure losing control? Or some inhuman existence?

Jack's mission was to investigate this. If it was a treasure, bring it back; if it was a person, it was best to bring them back too.

His mechanical prosthetic eye rapidly scanned the entire summit, quickly recording and analyzing the condition of every corpse.

If it weren't for the electromagnetic interference, he definitely would have sent a message to headquarters immediately.

"Everyone, combat formation. Advance towards the center."

Jack's cold voice broke the dead silence.

The group immediately snapped out of their shock, quickly fanning out and slowly walking towards the very center of that forest of corpses.

Everyone's hands were already resting on their weapons, muscles tense and ready to strike.

The closer they got, the tighter Jack's brow furrowed.

He noticed a detail.

All the corpses, no matter where they were pinned, were facing the exact same direction.

What exactly was at that center position?

Pushing aside the last damp bush, a bizarre sliver of light finally pierced through the murky air.

As they drew near, the sight before them brought the men to a halt.

It was a naked teenage boy. Under the illumination of the multicolored light, his skin flowed with a jade-like luster. He sat cross-legged, looking peaceful, as if the surrounding corpses and devastation had nothing to do with him.

And right in front of the boy stood a banner.

That banner emitted a brilliant, multicolored light, much like the scattered radiance of Buddha in Buddhist tales. It was holy and majestic, painting this bloody land to look like a divine realm.

Jack's pupils shrank slightly.

He first cast a quick glance at the boy's fair skin and distinct Asian features, and then his gaze locked onto that banner.

That thing wasn't planted in the ground.

It simply floated quietly a few centimeters above the earth, moving without wind. The ancient runes on the banner flickered, exuding heart-palpitating energy fluctuations.

This was absolutely a treasure beyond common sense!

He turned his head and signaled Onitake beside him with a look.

"What is this?"

Others might not have seen it, but he clearly noticed that this flag-like object was hovering a few centimeters above the dirt.

Onitake narrowed his eyes, carefully examining it for a long while. In Nihon's sacrificial rituals, artifacts of a similar shape were not uncommon.

He lowered his voice and gave his assessment in English: "Looking at its shape, it should be a magical artifact used in our Nihon rituals, called a 'Hata'."

To help Jack understand, he specifically used Japanese for that last term.

Clearly, Onitake believed this banner was an item used for Nihon rituals.

Just as his words fell.

The boy who had been sitting quietly with his eyes closed suddenly twitched his eyelashes and abruptly opened his eyes!

Those eyes were as black as ink and bottomless. The peacefulness from a moment ago vanished without a trace, replaced by a trace of offended irritation.

"What the hell do you mean, a Nihon ritual artifact! This is my traditional Huaxia Human Emperor Banner! Do you even understand the value of the Human Emperor Banner!"

This loud scolding startled the birds in the forest, causing them to flutter up in all directions.

Originally, Lin Mo wanted to act cool, but these people came up and immediately called it some Nihon ritual artifact.

You're from Nihon, not South Korea, why do you love stealing things so much!

This sudden shout made Jack's heart skip a beat.

A Huaxia person?! No, not necessarily. He could be from Singapore or Malaysia.

Jack took a step back and frowned. The country of Luzon was located in Southeast Asia, where there were many Asians around, and many who could speak Chinese.

He immediately took another half step back. The atmosphere of the entire team instantly froze, and everyone subconsciously pressed their hands against the weapons at their waists.

The air suddenly thickened.

Lin Mo, however, ignored this tense atmosphere and slowly stood up.

He didn't have a single piece of clothing on his body. His well-proportioned and powerful body lines were fully exposed under the multicolored brilliance. He showed no bashfulness at all; instead, he exuded a primal and open sense of oppression.

It was for no other reason than that his clothes had been torn to shreds by lightning during his tribulation, including his underwear.

"Wait!"

Jack immediately raised his hand, stopping the actions of the people behind him.

Looking at the imposing teenager before him, he knew very well in his heart that once they made a move, their squad might not be able to leave this island in one piece.

He took a deep breath, trying to communicate in his Chinese, which was so broken it could serve as a tongue twister.

"Nee how... We, mean no harm."

Jack spoke while using gestures to assist himself. "We just want to know, the typhoon... the one called Jebi, why is it... gone?"

To show his sincerity, he pointed to the surrounding corpses wearing Luzon soldier uniforms.

"These people, they are not with us. We... come from the United States."

He nervously observed Lin Mo's expression, trying to find a trace of communicability on that overly young face.

However, Lin Mo merely glanced at him. The anger in his eyes had faded, replaced by a playful scrutiny.

After a good while, Lin Mo finally spoke lazily, his tone carrying the slight hoarseness of someone who had just woken up.

"Oh? The typhoon."

He rolled his neck, letting out a series of crisp bone-cracking sounds.

"I found it too noisy, so I smashed it apart."