Shadow Person

Luo Wendi looked surprised, and Bai Ge couldn't help but feel astonished as well.

"Danmu was stolen? How is that possible? The Chinese Academy of Sciences can't even guard a flower?" Bai Ge wondered how a thief could have broken in, given how tightly guarded the place was.

Then, Luo Wendi exclaimed in even greater shock, "Ah! Look at that!"

Looking over, Bai Ge's expression grew even stranger.

Because he and Luo Wendi both saw a Shadow Person running from a distance, heading right towards their building.

The reason it was called a Shadow Person.

was simply because there was no better term for it.

Bai Ge could hardly believe his eyes. It was a humanoid shadow, with only its eyes and teeth showing white, the rest of its body pure black, darting rapidly like a ghost, using the darkness of night.

If it were just that, it wouldn't be that strange.

But when the on-duty personnel chasing behind the Shadow Person shone their flashlights on it, it remained pitch black, as if it had always been that way, which was truly extremely bizarre.

Luo Wendi murmured beside him in surprise, "A bodysuit?"

Bai Ge shook his head inwardly. You could actually tell if someone was wearing a bodysuit.

The Shadow Person before him looked as if it were nude, as if its skin itself was pure black.

It looked just like... the Shadow Character from 'Conan'.

In every episode, before the criminal was revealed, they were depicted as a shadow in the anime.

Except for the eyes and mouth, any part of the body, even in broad daylight, was pure black.

To put it bluntly, it was merely a stylistic choice, a way to prevent readers from knowing the culprit when depicting the crime.

How could such a bizarre thing possibly exist in reality?

If it were in the past, Bai Ge would rack his brain trying to figure out the opponent's criminal methods and seek a reasonable explanation.

But now, the thought that popped into his mind was...

Absolute Trait!

He realized a terrifying possibility.

The Shadow Person was caused by the energy that had escaped from his brain hole.

The reason he thought this was because, to this day, Bai Ge still didn't know why the escaped mysterious energy hadn't destroyed the world.

"I had guessed before if the escaped energy might also be used to realize fantastical traits... Now that I think about it, could the Shadow Person be caused by an anomalous trait?"

"No way..."

"Wouldn't that make it a containment object?"

Bai Ge stared at the approaching Shadow Person, his heart filled with surprise, when he heard the chasing on-duty personnel shout, "He stole the Danmu, stop him quickly!"

With no time to think further, Bai Ge strode forward, stepping in front of the Shadow Person.

The Shadow Person's strange eyes flickered towards Bai Ge. It held the Danmu in one hand and, as if swatting a fly, swung its other hand at Bai Ge.

The strike was swift and fierce, and Bai Ge could feel immense force coming his way.

Calmly, he braced himself, his stance firm, and quickly wove his hands forward, executing a smooth "four ounces deflect a thousand pounds" move, sending the Shadow Person tumbling to the ground.

The entire process was incredibly fluid. The Shadow Person only reacted after falling.

"Hmm?" The Shadow Person let out a soft sound.

An ordinary person would be incapacitated for a while after such a fall, but the Shadow Person seemed unharmed and immediately flipped back to its feet.

After a brief exchange, Bai Ge immediately sensed many anomalies.

It was too quiet. Apart from that one voluntary "hmm," the Shadow Person made no other sound.

When Bai Ge threw it to the ground, despite its considerable weight, it made no noise whatsoever.

Even the dust on the ground remained undisturbed, leaving no trace.

Thinking about it carefully, the Shadow Person had run across the flower bed earlier, which was muddy ground, yet it hadn't left any footprints.

"Silent... traceless... faster and stronger than an ordinary person."

"Careful!" Luo Wendi, seeing Bai Ge's calm reaction to the Shadow Person's counterattack, thought he hadn't reacted and quickly warned him.

But Bai Ge had spent two full months studying martial arts. In terms of combat skills, no one in the world was more knowledgeable than him.

He didn't need to think to deal with such an attack; it was instinctive.

To defeat him, it was possible, but only through overwhelming force.

Clearly, the Shadow Person's strength wasn't enough.

Although the Shadow Person's strength was considerable, it was still within human limits, perhaps slightly higher than a top heavyweight boxer.

"Hiss!" Luo Wendi watched, captivated.

Bai Ge repeatedly threw the Shadow Person down. The visual spectacle of its repeated falls made it seem less terrifying.

No matter what it did, Bai Ge could deflect its attacks and counter them.

It was a pure skill mismatch. The Shadow Person couldn't even stand, constantly being thrown down or subdued by Bai Ge.

If it weren't for the Shadow Person's body ignoring joint locks, he would have been immobilized long ago.

"Are you a Mos?" the Shadow Person asked urgently, having been thrown down more than twenty times.

"Are you local?" Bai Ge countered instead of answering.

He could tell from the Shadow Person's accent that he was from the area.

The Shadow Person grinned, his white teeth gleaming menacingly, as more and more people gathered.

His eyes turned fierce.

The Shadow Person put his hand in his mouth and inexplicably pulled a small knife from his throat, lunging directly at Bai Ge's face.

The entire process was silent and quite disarming.

In the darkness, the knife was like a streak of silver light, heading straight for Bai Ge's eyes.

Luo Wendi watched with bated breath. In a blur of motion, the Shadow Person was thrown down by Bai Ge again.

And the knife that had been aimed at his face had vanished.

Bai Ge pinned the Shadow Person to the ground, twisting one of his arms behind his back until it was at an impossible angle.

However, the Shadow Person seemed unfazed and instead asked in surprise, "Where's my knife?"

Saying that, he slipped free with surprising agility and tried to escape.

"Here!" Bai Ge smoothed his hair and produced a small knife, decisively slicing across the Shadow Person's arm.

Yet, the blade left no wound, not even breaking the skin. It was unclear if the Shadow Person even had skin...

The knife had narrowly missed Bai Ge's temple just moments before.

Feeling the blade graze his skin, Bai Ge's mind moved, and he stored it in his brain hole. Now, he retrieved it from the back of his head, turning it into his weapon.

The process was so fast, and it was dark, so everyone assumed Bai Ge had taken the knife with some incredibly swift technique.

Bai Ge's methods seemed plausible enough.

But the Shadow Person's body was far too strange.

Immunity to bladed damage?

A knife couldn't even hurt him!

Ignoring Bai Ge's knife, the Shadow Person finally realized he couldn't keep fighting.

"You're strong, but you're still just a normal person. You can't stop me."

The Shadow Person grinned, his white teeth shining. He pulled a drip bag and a lighter from his mouth.

His mouth could open incredibly wide, easily accommodating half an arm.

At first glance, it looked like a drip bag, but it had a rubber stopper and a very short fuse, and it was filled with...

"A homemade bomb?" Bai Ge immediately retreated as the Shadow Person ignited the bomb.

The bomb exploded instantly in the Shadow Person's hand, scattering shrapnel.

It was impossible for a normal person to use explosives like this, as it was essentially suicide.

But the Shadow Person was different; he completely ignored the bomb's force and laughed heartily.

"I am immortal!"

After saying that, he suddenly froze.

Because he saw Bai Ge lower his guard-blocking hands, his expression indifferent.

During the explosion, he had created some distance and blocked the shrapnel with his arms.

"Bai Ge..." Luo Wendi looked at Bai Ge in astonishment.

Three nails were embedded in Bai Ge's arms, but there was no bleeding. The high temperature had already cauterized the torn flesh.

For such injuries, a normal person would be screaming in agony.

However, Bai Ge didn't even flinch at these wounds; his breathing rhythm remained undisturbed.

The forced calm command allowed him to maintain his state regardless of external stimuli.

"Hmph, what's the point of enduring it?" the Shadow Person sneered.

By this time, security guards were closing in from all directions, at least twenty of them.

"My God, is that even human?"

"What in the world is that thing?"

"Where's Danmu?"

The security guards stared at the Shadow Person, hesitant.

Bai Ge said calmly, "Danmu should be inside him."

"Inside him?" Everyone was confused.

The Shadow Person was surprised, saying, "You know about that too? That's right, I've already eaten it."

"Are you human or ghost?" No one was surprised that he had eaten Danmu; what surprised them instead was that the Shadow Person could speak human language.

The Shadow Person smiled, not bothering to answer.

Instead, he looked deeply at Bai Ge and said, "You're very strong. I thought I was invincible, but you've shown me my shortcomings and the importance of skill... Very good, I'll remember you... I'm leaving!"

With that, he turned and charged, heading straight for the crowd.

He ignored the security guards surrounding him and sprinted in one direction.

The security guard who blocked his path in front was greatly alarmed. Just looking at the enemy's appearance was enough to make his courage falter.

With a silent impact, a security guard was sent flying, vomiting blood in mid-air before falling to the ground, unconscious.

The Shadow Person was about to leave in such an arrogant manner.

However, in the next second.

Bai Ge, taking advantage of everyone's attention being focused on the Shadow Person, swiftly pulled a rope from behind his head.

The rope already had a noose tied, forming a loop.

With a casual toss, the direction was incredibly off!

But in mid-air, the noose spun, tracing a bizarre arc as it headed straight for the Shadow Person.

The Shadow Person also noticed the approaching rope and immediately changed direction, dodging rapidly.

However, the noose became even more erratic, changing its landing point once again in mid-air.

This time, it made an unbelievably sharp turn.

"Huh?" The onlookers were stunned.

Even the Shadow Person was greatly surprised. Seeing that he couldn't dodge it, he simply reached out to grab the rope.

But at this moment, the rope changed direction for the third time.

With a strange bounce, the noose wrapped around the Shadow Person's hand and directly encircled his neck.

The noose immediately tightened, and that wasn't all.

Bai Ge rushed forward, kicked the Shadow Person over, and the rope twitched repeatedly.

The rope moved nimbly in his hand, like an arm. In just a few seconds, the Shadow Person was securely bound.

In the eyes of others, this was skill honed to a perfect art.

"This is impossible!"

The Shadow Person yelled, but Bai Ge stomped on him.

Now, his limbs were all restrained, bound in a complex knot.

"Help me! He can break free from the rope!"

Seeing everyone frozen in place, Bai Ge hurriedly reminded them.

This was just an ordinary Earth rope stored in his brain hole. The Shadow Person's strength was immense, far exceeding the rope's breaking point.

However, if a dozen people rushed him together, the Shadow Person would be helpless.

"The police are almost here. Let's lock him in the lounge first."

"He has so much strength... It still feels unreal to me..."

A group of security guards arrived and pressed him to the ground, their expressions strange.

Just looking at the Shadow Person was incredibly odd. Touching him, one could feel as if he were completely naked, as if he had been born this way.

In reality, seeing a person without any hair, with a slender build, and every inch of their body pitch black.

What would that feel like? Especially with those snow-white teeth and large eyes, making him look like a ghost.

As the security guards dragged the Shadow Person indoors.

Luo Wendi suddenly walked up to Bai Ge and looked at him seriously, saying, "Your combat skills are the best I've ever seen. That monster was completely defenseless against you!"

"How did you do that with the rope? It was too bizarre."

Three unexpected changes in direction, as if the rope were alive.

Bai Ge had actually secretly attached an abnormal setting to the rope in his brain hole.

Forced restraint, with a duration of thirty seconds.

Bai Ge set the target, and as long as the target didn't destroy the rope immediately, the binding process was irresistible.

No matter how much they dodged or resisted, the rope would eventually bind them.

The entire process was actually completed automatically by the rope, while Bai Ge merely pretended to manipulate it, going with the flow.

However, in the eyes of others, this was Bai Ge's mastery of rope manipulation reaching a divine level.

Bai Ge said, "This is a rope-controlling technique, an art passed down from our ancestors, and it's... almost lost."

Nonsense!

But Luo Wendi believed him. What else could he do? For an ordinary person, this was the most reasonable explanation.

Compared to many ancient magical tricks, this rope skill didn't seem too outlandish.

"Oh, so it's rope control... You know how to do this too?" Luo Wendi pretended to understand.

Bai Ge chuckled, "I know a little bit about everything..."