President of the Animal Protection Association

"Xi Ba, Xi Ba —I told you there really are Raccoon! Those Xi Ba Raccoon that threaten to slit your throat!"

Looking at the Raccoon at his feet, Good Night shouted excitedly.

"I Hallucination Xi Ba! This Raccoon even bit me!"

Hearing Good Night's shouts, Xiao Nian's calm voice came through.

"I haven't doubted you anymore, okay? When those two ducks appeared just now, I already knew that this wasn't Hallucination."

"But... just who are these two Raccoon? Are they animal helpers raised and trained by an 'Animal Protection Association'?"

Joe's voice came through. "To be honest, I've never heard of such an organization... There doesn't seem to be a registered association with that name in City That Never Sleeps... Just the name 'protecting animals' sounds illegal, and if its purpose and program are about protecting animals, the Council wouldn't possibly approve its registration."

Xiao Nian said, "Then it might be some kind of illegal organization or secret Association?"

"That's possible, but I'm more inclined to believe that the person who attacked us created a fictitious organization," Joe Solence said. "Even if it were some kind of illegal organization, if it were operating covertly with such a ridiculous 'purpose,' I couldn't possibly have been completely unaware of it."

Good Night listened to their conversation and spoke up.

"Regardless, this Xi Ba does seem to be trained, and it's most likely sent by that Xi Ba attacker... Should I capture it Raccoon you guys study it?"

As he spoke, billowing black smoke rose from Good Night's body, and his power instantly increased to several times his previous normal level.

Several ferocious beasts that were tearing at Good Night were instantly shaken off by Good Night then immediately bent down, preparing to reach out and grab the Raccoon.

But...

The Raccoon sprang up the instant Good Night Ye set off.

"Whoosh!"

In that instant, Good Night saw the Raccoon pull out... a gun-shaped syringe from behind his back!

Then, the Raccoon pulled the trigger, and a syringe was injected into Good Night's hand, the drug instantly entering Good Night's skin.

The sharp pain rang out again, and Good Night belatedly realized what was happening.

"Xi Ba... So I wasn't bitten just now!"

He looked at his ankle and, sure enough, the wound there wasn't a bite mark, but a small, bleeding hole.

On the bleeding wound, the blood vessels had turned bluish-gray.

"Damn it, this Raccoon is Xi Ba killer!"

As Good Night spoke, he was about to loudly warn the two to be careful, but the moment he opened his mouth, he felt a wave of dizziness.

"Gulp!"

Good Night collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

Although Good Night's warning was not heard, Xiao Nian and Joe Solence did catch the sound of him falling to the ground.

"Comrade Good Night!"

Xiao Nian spoke loudly, but received no response.

As she watched Good Night's figure disappear into the mass of monster specimens, her expression turned grave.

"Joe... I'm sorry, my comrade has fallen, so I might not be able to hold back anymore."

"My next battle will probably... tear down quite a bit of this place."

As Xiao Nian spoke, Qiao immediately chimed in.

"This office isn't important—your companion is more important!"

"Go ahead and do it, Miss Huang!"

Even without Joe's permission, Xiao Nian had clearly entered a state of full-force attack.

She hurled her long sword, pinning one of the ferocious beast specimens that was locked in combat to the ground and knocking over several other ferocious beast specimens in front of her.

Then, Xiao Nian kicked another large ferocious beast away with a side kick, causing it to collide with the other ferocious beasts as well.

A "vacuum zone" of nearly half a meter appeared briefly around Xiao Nian, a zone in which no specimen could enter or launch an attack.

The "blank space" also brings about a "gap" in time.

This was the first time Xiao Nian had a chance to catch his breath since the start of the battle.

However, she chose not to catch her breath...

Instead...

Unlock [Exclusive item: Theseus’s Self].

As the [Exclusive item] was activated, all the Alchemy Component within Xiao Nian's body began to enter a kind of "overload" mode, starting to operate at excessive load and power.

Her skin instantly glowed with a rosy hue, and golden veins shone from beneath her skin. At the same time, wisps of white smoke rose from her body—alchemical mist formed by the overflow of excess pure Alchemy Energy.

Subsequently, Xiao Nian was in this state...

Take a step toward the Good Night.

The ferocious beasts directly in front of them had already passed the script that Xiao Nian had pinned to the ground, and seven or eight of them were once again baring their fangs and claws as they pounced towards Xiao Nian.

But...

"Bang!"

Xiao Nian clenched his fist, lowered his elbow, and twisted his waist, delivering a powerful punch that sent a ferocious beast flying six or seven meters into the air.

Then, before the beast even landed, Xiao Nian had already produced a longbow. She drew the bow from behind her back like a full moon, and the energy on the Gong Xian gathered into three sharp Light Arrows.

"Whoosh!"

He released the bowstring, Light Arrows shot out, striking the colossal beast in the air that resembled a sitting duck...

Then.

"Boom!"

The entire specimen exploded like fireworks, far more spectacularly than any of the ones Joe Solence had just detonated.

After taking down the nearest one, Xiao Nian turned the bow around again, aimed at the one in front of him, and drew it back to its full draw. The veins on his hands bulged like snakes and vines as energy poured into the bow and condensed into an arrow once more.

No... this time it was less of an arrow and more of a beam of blazing white light.

"Boom!"

Another deafening roar followed, and a white light shot off, completely melting the specimen in front of Xiao Nian, and even dissolving most of the floor!

A smooth road, like a river valley, appeared before Xiao Nian, leading directly to the side where Good Night had finally fallen—along with the wild animal specimens that had surrounded Good Night, most of which had been "cleaned up" by Xiao Nian.

Xiao Nian opened his mouth, and even more Alchemy Waste Vapor billowed out from his mouth and nose. His whole body emitted various "sizzling" and "crackling" sounds, like a war machine that had reached its limit and was operating at full power.

But that was only the limit of the Alchemy Component within her body, not Xiao Nian's.

[Theseus’s Self] allows her to maximize the use of Alchemy Component —the "redundant waste" that would be overloaded by normal Alchemical Implantation, and the effect of [Theseus’s Self] being able to "define the components that constitute the 'self'," allow Xiao Nian to easily remove them from her body.

Xiao Nian strode confidently toward the direction of the Good Night.

Mercury -like alchemical liquid flowed from her hand, condensing into a brand-new Alchemy Blade. She easily severed the limbs of the last few beast specimens that had just crawled out from under the floorboards and blocked her way, stepped over the giant beasts that had crashed to the ground, and approached Good Night's direction step by step.

"Hold on, Comrade Good Night —I'll be there soon."

Although she didn't know if Good Night could hear her, Xiao Nian still shouted it out.

And the moment Xiao Nian finished speaking.

A bright red flame appeared in her field of vision.

Once again, enemies have risen from the ground to block our path, but this time they are not specimens of wild animals...

Instead, it was a red-haired girl wearing a silver mask and a plain white, loose-fitting kimono robe.

"A pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency Count Arase Nian Toshi."

The young woman bowed slightly, giving the Count a perfectly standard salute.

"I am Darcy Morstan, President of the Animal Protection Association —I have come to offer my guidance."