I Am No Hero of Justice

That feeling still clung to him like a shadow.

A furry, multi-legged creature crawled onto him and slipped right into his clothes.

A wave of bone-chilling cold shot from his tailbone through his entire body.

He broke into a frantic, jerky dance on the spot!

More and more people followed suit.

"Aaaah!"

Fear spread like a plague, and the crowd's screams rose and fell in an unbroken chain.

The terror on their faces, the convulsive twitching of their bodies—the frantic madness of people trying desperately to shake something off—made those behind, who didn't understand what was happening, panic as well.

They started screaming and stumbling backward in fear, but the crowd was packed tight. Those in the back, hearing all the screaming up front, thought something exciting was happening and pushed forward to get a look.

So the people in front frantically tried to retreat, while the people in back frantically shoved forward.

Those caught in the middle were squeezed breathless, unable to move an inch!

Xu Zhou felt that aura and shouted in shock and disbelief: "How is this possible? Is this Brother Bai's Ghost Domain?"

The Aberration Association was a well-established and massive organization. To prevent Contract Anomalists from abusing their powers and losing themselves in their strength, they had enacted numerous regulations to restrain them.

Among them, the Human Principle Protection Regulation clearly stated that Contract Anomalists must not attack ordinary people without cause.

If an anomaly was present on-site, and a Contract Anomalist harmed civilians while dealing with it, that could be excused.

Ji Wu desperately tried to push his way onto the altar platform.

But the panicked, packed crowd left no gap for him to get through.

Xu Zhou clenched his fist. He raised both hands and formed a gesture.

Seeing this, Ji Wu immediately tried to stop him: "Stop! When there's no anomaly on-site, a Contract Anomalist can't just use their abilities!"

Xu Zhou's expression was resolute: "My life was saved by Brother Bai in the first place! If they keep shoving like this, there'll be a stampede. Once casualties pile up, the Association will pass judgment on Brother Bai!"

If another Contract Anomalist did something like this, they might be excused due to anomaly influence—at worst, merits and demerits would cancel out.

But Bai Zuo was already under supervision, serving as a Contract Anomalist while still bearing the stain of his crimes. The punishment the Association had handed him was to spend his life containing anomalies, upholding human order, and atoning for his past sins.

When Bai Zuo committed his offenses, he wasn't yet a Contract Anomalist, so the Association treated him with relative leniency. At least he enjoyed all the same benefits as other Contract Anomalists—aside from being watched over, he was fairly free.

It was a chance to redeem himself. If Bai Zuo performed well, they might even lift his supervision.

But this time, Bai Zuo had suddenly expanded his Ghost Domain in front of so many people, dragging countless ordinary people into it.

Xu Zhou didn't dare imagine—when news of this reached the Association, would they send someone to eliminate Bai Zuo outright?

Xu Zhou steadied his mind and communicated with his contracted Ghost Hand.

Under the pressure, Xu Zhou felt that controlling the Ghost Hand was easier than last time.

Soon he summoned it and directed it to separate the packed crowd.

To stop them from being crushed into a can of meat.

The sky gradually darkened.

If anyone in the crowd had a special constitution—an Adaptive—and looked up at the sky, they would be horrified to see an enormous spider standing above them.

Its massive figure blotted out the sunlight.

On the ground, layer after layer of sticky spiderwebs began to appear. A single layer was easy to break free from, but piled one on top of another, they formed an impenetrable sheet of white cloth!

The powerful stickiness and toughness were enough to trap any prey standing on them, unable to escape.

Such a commotion could no longer be hidden!

Ji Wu stared, dumbfounded. He couldn't understand it!

Why would Bai Zuo do something like this?

Bai Zuo was willful, sure, but every mission assigned to him, he completed perfectly.

Had he been faking it all along?

"Bai Zuo! You bastard! Stop! Withdraw your Ghost Domain! Before anyone gets hurt!"

Ji Wu's shouts were drowned out by the surrounding screams.

Ji Wu knew in his heart—it was already too late!

With such a huge disturbance here, even if they could blame it on the unknown Ghost Domain at the Abandoned Bridge, the fact that Bai Zuo had expanded his Ghost Domain in public and marked so many people with his ability couldn't be erased.

It was over!

Once the Supervision Department and other Contract Anomalist teams arrived on scene and detected no trace of another anomaly's residual presence, Bai Zuo's use of his ability on ordinary people without cause would be exposed.

The Association would strip him of his contracted anomaly and turn him into a disposable resource for containing anomalies.

There was... no way to save him now.

Ji Wu unholstered the weapon at his waist—a special pistol issued by the Association. The bullets inside could harm anomalies, and it was also a powerful tool against Contract Anomalists.

The reason supervisors were equipped with such weapons wasn't really to give them the power to fight anomalies.

Rather... after the Contract Anomalist under supervision lost control, a single bullet quickly ended them, preventing the harm from spreading further.

Standing on the platform, Bai Zuo cast a glance at Ji Wu, a malicious smile hanging on his face like a vicious, inhuman demon.

The corner of his mouth curled as he taunted Ji Wu: "I'm not the partner of justice."

Ji Wu's pupils contracted.

His finger trembled involuntarily, and the trigger was pulled.

Bang!

Bai Zuo turned his head, the bullet grazing his face, leaving a trail of blood.

"Ah!!!!"

The deafening gunshot sent the already panicked crowd into even greater chaos, with people already shoving others or trampling over them in their desperate escape.

Xu Zhou struggled to control the Ghost Hand, lifting those who were pushing and trampling others, tossing them into empty, open spaces.

There were too many people!

The frightened masses were like headless flies, devoid of any rationality.

As long as one person fell, the others would trample over them without hesitation—they had lost the ability to think.

Consumed by fear, they did things utterly unimaginable in normal times.

Xu Zhou was drenched in sweat; with his strength, he simply couldn't stop the impending disaster before him!

Ever since Xu Zhou became a Contract Anomalist, his increasingly sharpened senses allowed him to see from afar a small, frail girl being shoved by several people, losing her balance and beginning to fall to the ground.

It all unfolded before his eyes like a slow-motion film.

Xu Zhou strained with all his might, but he couldn't make the Ghost Hand save that person.

Xu Zhou roared, trying to make them stop!

But his voice was drowned in the sea of people, barely audible.

Tragedy was about to strike!