"Boom—"
Lightning flashed through the clouds, and thunderclaps spread across the sky.
The rain grew heavier.
Neon lights crisscrossed the asphalt road, which looked like a pitch-black lake.
Deep in an alley untouched by the lights,
a sudden slaughter was nearing its end.
Or rather, it was a one-sided crushing defeat.
Without using Light and Shadow Harmony, all it took was a Short Club rising and falling—eighteen strikes in three seconds, eighty in ten.
This Field team that had suddenly encountered Bai Zhou in the city—
had been completely "wiped out"!
They were merely two entry-level Transcendents at the level of Awakened Command, along with several veteran second-rank Commissioners.
Half a Section Chief Liu could have dealt with them.
—let alone the current Bai Zhou!
They lay scattered across the ground, their groans drowned out by the rain and thunder.
Some had broken arms, while others had twisted legs. Every one of them was injured.
But no one had died.
"Is this... me?"
Crouching by the roadside with the Short Club in hand, Bai Zhou read through the Wanted Posters they had dropped, his expression so complicated that words failed him.
Spying on organizational intelligence, assisting the Blood Worship Cult's invasion, killing Special Management Department officials, triggering a Black Box riot, fleeing with the Black Box...
Half a sheet of paper was barely enough to fit it all!
An A+ Fugitive? Ranked alongside senior officials of the Blood Worship Cult?
A chill ran down Bai Zhou's spine.
Only then did he realize that, without noticing, he had actually become a "big shot"?
—By which he meant someone with major crimes on his shoulders.
That Major had been even more reckless than Bai Zhou had imagined.
Fortunately, Bai Zhou had obtained his new equipment in time.
Otherwise, once the surveillance locked onto him and the Heavenly Net closed in from all sides,
he truly would have had nowhere to go, whether in heaven or on earth...
"Smack!"
A shadow fell across the ground.
Bai Zhou stood up, raised the black umbrella over his head again, and lowered his eyes to study the group.
"Are you the only ones nearby?" he asked casually.
"Bai Zhou, you can't escape!"
The leading Third-rank Commissioner lay on the ground, glaring angrily at this traitor of the Special Management Department and Blood Worship Cult spy.
Many of his close colleagues had died on the night of the Blood Worship Cult's invasion.
And now, he knew he was going to die too.
Yet the other man had deliberately left him alive, torturing him.
—Wretched Blood Worship Cultist!
"If the Sword Bearer who was originally stationed here hadn't fallen for your diversion and been sent to South City..."
He was so furious at Bai Zhou's cunning that his teeth itched.
"Then we wouldn't be the ones lying here now!"
...South City?!
Bai Zhou remained outwardly impassive, but his heart tightened.
—He had not lured anyone away!
He had merely come here to retrieve his equipment by sheer coincidence, which was why he happened not to be in South City.
It seemed Ya had been right.
The more prosperous the district, the more surveillance cameras there were on the streets, and the easier it was to analyze Bai Zhou's movements.
This place was different from Evening City.
In this technologically advanced city, people could never completely erase their traces, no matter what they did.
But Bai Zhou still had not expected the Special Management Department to narrow down the search area so quickly.
—Was this the efficiency of mobilizing the "Authorities"?
They had even directly transferred the Sword Bearer team there!
The Special Management Department's trump card, the unit Ya had mentioned with such solemnity...
The true elites personally groomed by the Major!
Fortunately—
South City was full of barren outskirts, with virtually no surveillance.
It was unlikely they could directly pinpoint Bai Zhou's stronghold.
Now that Bai Zhou had this information, he was even less likely to blunder into the Sword Bearer's ambush.
—Only when the prey knows nothing can it truly be called prey!
"..."
Thinking this, Bai Zhou found the Commissioner on the ground much more pleasing to the eye.
"If I said I had nothing to do with the Blood Worship Cult... you definitely wouldn't believe me."
"Even if I said anything now, in your eyes it would just be demagoguery and deliberate provocation."
After carefully considering his words, Bai Zhou faced the group and said:
"But just as you suspect me, you can try looking at everyone around you with the same suspicion."
"For example... if you have the time, why not go take a look at the Resting Mausoleum?"
"Seeing it with your own eyes will be more reliable than anything I say."
Bai Zhou slowly turned around, his profile hidden beneath the black umbrella.
"But remember—"
"It would be best if no one found out about this."
A Third-rank Commissioner probably did not have the qualifications to know anything.
All they needed to do was blindly follow orders from above and enjoy the benefits they were given.
Every one of them was an unwitting beneficiary being kept in captivity by the Major.
Bai Zhou did not want to kill them. He was not a real fugitive, nor did he want to make the entire world his enemy in the future.
Distinguishing who the true enemies were, and who deserved to die—
that was important.
—Still, he had not expected these people to accomplish much.
Whether they believed him or not was up to them.
Even if they learned the truth, what choice they would make remained unknown...
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was planting seeds of suspicion casually.
Once planted, they would spread.
Although, when people saw one cockroach, there would certainly be countless more behind it.
But likewise—
when people saw a spark appear,
the day it set the prairie ablaze
might not be far off.
His footsteps receded without the slightest hesitation.
The trench coat figure holding an umbrella vanished into the depths of the torrential rain.
Raindrops as large as beans poured down onto the ground with a roaring hiss.
The Commissioners, lying on the ground and soaked like drowned rats, looked at one another.
"He... isn't going to kill us?"
One Commissioner asked weakly in a small voice.
"He didn't do anything to us either?"
"What did he mean by what he said just now?"
"..."
The Commissioners began discussing among themselves.
The leading Commissioner frowned as if he were deep in thought, but after struggling briefly, his expression soon hardened with resolve.
"These are all the Blood Worship Cultists' usual methods of deception. Forget every word he said!"
"Then report it immediately!"
Scolding everyone in a stern voice, he shakily pulled a walkie-talkie from his coat and adjusted the channel.
"We encountered the fugitive Bai Zhou!"
"Attention all teams. The Field teams should coordinate their operations..."
"He's far more terrifying than we thought."
"We request that Headquarters change its investigation strategy. Bai Zhou is absolutely not someone an individual Field team can handle alone!"
"We request higher-level support."
After a brief pause, the leading Commissioner took a deep breath and gave his final report:
"—In this encounter, C201 Field team fought with all its strength and was completely wiped out!"
South City District, late at night.
The Scavenger camp.
Three unmarked vans blocked the building entrance.
But as the van doors were suddenly pulled open with a clatter,
a group of soldiers came out, armed to the teeth and as ferocious as wolves and tigers.
Before the dark muzzles of the guns, the rusty Steel Rebar could no longer provide the slightest sense of security.
The Scavengers raised their hands over their heads one after another and were driven from their warm stronghold into the rain-soaked open ground in front of the building.
The powerful beams of flashlights swept rudely across their faces.
The falling rain could be seen clearly within the beams.
Machine guns were set up on the building above.
A broad-faced officer wearing a Second Lieutenant's Military Uniform stood shoulder to shoulder with the armed, gas-mask-wearing Captain of the Sword Bearer.
"Where is Bai Zhou?!"
Standing on the steps, the officer looked down coldly at the crowd.
Perhaps because he had been sent out in such heavy rain, the officer's voice seemed laden with irritation.
His stern shout exploded through the downpour, leaving everyone's ears ringing.
"Bai porridge? What Bai porridge?"
"How long's it been since we've had porridge?"
"Sir, are you here to give us relief supplies? Thank you, thank you..."
The Scavengers began chattering over one another.
Every one of them looked genuinely bewildered.
"..."
Upon hearing this, the officer turned to the Captain of the Sword Bearer beside him.
The Captain shook his head, his voice muffled behind the gas mask.
"Bai Zhou must have been here."
In his hand, he gripped an ancient Mysterious Compass.
"The Ritual tracking shows that there was a spiritual reaction from him nearby."
"—He should have used spirituality to do something in the vicinity."
"Excuse me..."
Bearded Man Old Qiao slowly stood up.
The moment he opened his mouth, rainwater poured into it.
He struggled to lift his head and cautiously looked at the two officers.
"Who exactly are you looking for?"
"We're willing to cooperate with the investigation... but the rain's so heavy. Could you let us go back inside and take shelter first?"
The officer shot him a glance, his brows knitting slightly.
"Smack—"
A crisp slap immediately struck Old Qiao across the face.
The Commissioner beside him followed up by kicking Old Qiao to the ground.
"When did it become your turn to speak?"
"When no one asks you anything, just keep crouching!"
"..."
The Captain of the Sword Bearer looked at the officer, his voice tinged with concern:
"Shouldn't we still be mindful of the department's image when we're outside...?"
"--Don't worry. In weather this heavy, in a place this remote..."
"There isn't anyone else nearby. There's only this group of scavengers."
The officer's casual tone was utterly unconcerned.
He waved his hand, walked over, and lowered his voice.
"There's no need to be polite to them... Don't forget, the researchers need another batch of experimental materials."
"What could be more suitable as consumables than these scavengers, who have no ties and no one who cares about them?"
His voice was very soft, drowned out by the patter of rain. Only the Captain could hear him.
The Captain suddenly understood.
"Indeed... They're rare experimental materials."
"Even if we can't catch Bai Zhou, we won't be returning empty-handed. At least we can put the Major in a slightly better mood."
So, in a manner of speaking, they were "one of us." In that case, there was indeed no need to put on an act.
It was like going hunting.
They hadn't caught the fox they'd expected, but they'd found a nest of wild rabbits.
For the Special Management Department, which rarely ventured out, coming across such a large group of scavengers living together was at least a guaranteed consolation prize.
"Rumble..."
In the pouring rain of the dead of night,
the scavengers huddled together, drenched to the bone and panic-stricken.
Old Qiao's experience had frightened them even more, leaving them trembling like quails.
"We just received word that Bai Zhou appeared in the city center. Someone from the Sword Bearer has already rushed over."
After receiving the latest report from his subordinate, the officer frowned.
"Someone's already gone, so we won't be going."
"I think we should thoroughly investigate the area first before withdrawing--"
"Search! Spread out and conduct a carpet search! There must be traces of Bai Zhou nearby!"
After issuing the order, the officer slowly turned his head toward the scavengers.
"This man is Bai Zhou!"
Taking out a photograph, the officer had his subordinate Commissioner show it to the scavengers one by one for identification.
"He's a Class-A wanted criminal from Tinghai, vicious and utterly ruthless!"
"Anyone who knows something and fails to report it will also be severely punished and charged with harboring a criminal!"
Old Qiao was the first to see the photograph.
The moment he recognized the person in it, his whole body trembled involuntarily.
But he immediately suppressed his expression. In the torrential rain, no one seemed to notice.
However,
the Captain of the Sword Bearer, who had been observing him all along, slowly raised his eyebrows.
"--Bring him here!"
The ferocious subordinates dragged Old Qiao over.
"...Sir?"
In the rain, his beard and long hair were tangled together, mixed with the blood at the corner of his mouth. He looked especially bedraggled.
"Hm?"
The jowls on the officer's face twitched twice.
He stepped closer and stared down at Old Qiao, raising the photograph in front of him.
"Take a good look!"
In a low, hoarse voice, he asked with an imposing air of moral superiority:
"--You know him, don't you?"
"Tell me properly. Where is he..."
His voice was pressed low, his gaze like a blade gouging across Old Qiao and the scavengers behind him.
"You're going to give me a satisfactory answer, aren't you--I think you know how you should choose."
In the distance.
A pair of eyes slowly opened within the bushes.
They silently watched everything unfolding in front of the unfinished building.
As the carpet search began, Commissioners carrying briefcases and fully armed soldiers occasionally patrolled and passed through the area...
Yet no one noticed anything unusual about this clump of bushes.
Until Old Qiao was staggeringly dragged out of the crowd--
"Swish..."
The blinking bushes shook twice.
A head poked out from within.
His face, beaded with raindrops, was illuminated by flickering lightning.
His black windbreaker blended him into the rainy night, while the heavy darkness provided him with natural cover.
It seemed--
Bai Zhou had arrived at exactly the right time.
Before you continue