What Do You Think Humans Are?

Seeking benefit and avoiding harm is a human survival instinct.

Under terror, people struggle to control their emotions and may even do irrational things.

But this person shattered that understanding.

In his eyes, human emotions seemed like something that could be controlled.

The screaming, panicked crowd, upon reaching his side and meeting his gaze, actually calmed down.

Thus, around him formed an absurd drama of extreme motion and stillness.

After Zhang Lin met the boy's dead-eyed gaze and the frivolous smile that showed utter disregard for human life, he faced the boy's essence head-on—a convergence of an abyss that could devour everyone!

"Ding! Character Perfection increased by 10%!"

"Unlocked special ability: Telepathy (Superior)!"

Zhang Lin wanted to open his mouth to question him.

Manipulating others like this, wantonly using such a dangerous ability—what exactly do you take humans for!

Yet he couldn't make a sound, only standing frozen in place like a puppet controlled by someone else.

Bai Zuo walked past him toward those who had been knocked down.

He bent slightly to observe the abnormalities on their bodies.

"Contamination pathway: contact, wound infection. Contact source at the back of the neck. Mutation manifestations: skin color change, increased strength, agitation, low deformity, plus residual Weird aura. It can be determined that this is the lowest level of Weird, rank: Wandering Soul."

With just one glance, a flood of information was captured and analyzed by his brain, thanks to Bai Zuo's superior observation skills and perfect analytical ability.

Before him, as long as something had existed, it would inevitably leave traces, and every seemingly insignificant mark would be caught by his eyes, ultimately yielding the intelligence he wanted.

No matter how clever the crime, he could see through it at a glance. Conversely, if he wanted to commit a crime, he could surely pull off a perfect one where no one could find any evidence.

"Ding! Character Perfection increased by 1%!"

Zhang Lin didn't know where this mysterious young man came from.

The faint, dangerous aura emanating from the boy kept setting off Zhang Lin's internal alarm, marking him as undoubtedly a very dangerous person—that unique scent of a criminal, steeped in darkness and soaked into the bone with bloodlust.

As a patrol officer, Zhang Lin had encountered a few such people, and without exception, they were all heinous murderers!

Who is he?

What are Weirds?

He seemed to know these things very well, even classifying them into specific ranks based on their threat level.

What organization stands behind him?

Is he good or evil?

Zhang Lin had too many questions stuck in his throat, unable to be asked.

Seeing Bai Zuo reach out toward the people lying on the ground, Zhang Lin's heart tightened.

If Weirds exist in the world, and there are organizations like Bai Zuo's that specialize in dealing with them, how do they resolve the Weirds?

Kill them?

Bai Zuo's hand stopped just before touching them, seeming a bit disgusted, then he beckoned to Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin felt his body being controlled again, step by step moving closer to Bai Zuo, crouching down, and turning over the seven people lying on the ground—the passengers and the driver—so they lay face down.

Zhang Lin lifted the clothing covering their necks.

Revealing the swollen bumps on the backs of their necks, with a sharp, thread-like black object poking out from the center of each bump.

His hand touched it, and the black thread actually writhed as if alive.

The controlled Zhang Lin grabbed it expressionlessly, seized the black thread, and pulled hard.

The black thread struggled violently, causing the body of the parasitized passenger to twitch along with it.

With a "plop" sound.

It was pulled out by Zhang Lin, bringing out a lot of yellow-red pus.

The black thread moved a few times in Zhang Lin's hand, then went still.

Zhang Lin pulled out the things parasitizing the passengers' necks one by one. A thick stench of rot filled the air—under normal circumstances, he would have been unable to bear it and gone off to vomit, but under control, even this normal physiological reaction was suppressed.

Bai Zuo watched leisurely from the side. "Only the driver is left. Sure enough, it's hidden here."

The driver was the first to be contaminated, so the chance of the Weird hiding on him was the greatest.

Zhang Lin was controlled to walk toward the driver.

The driver's mutation was the most severe. The back of his neck was arched high, like a huge tumor had grown there. Lifting it revealed pus constantly oozing from the bump, with over a dozen black threads writhing inside—a nauseating sight.

Zhang Lin's hands were steady, like someone who had gutted fish at a supermarket for ten years. He pulled out all the black threads in quick, decisive motions.

Suddenly, the bump squirmed from within, and a black, shapeless thing crawled out from the opening. It poked its head out and looked around.

When it touched the air, it shrank back slightly. Low-level Weirds had almost no intelligence, only a hunting instinct. Sensing someone nearby, it tried to leap onto Zhang Lin and repeat the trick of parasitizing him.

Zhang Lin grabbed it fast, accurately, and ruthlessly.

Shen Yu asked in his mind, "System, how do I contain a Weird?"

"Beep! Issued 10 Weird Cages, can seal a Weird for 24 hours. To permanently contain a Weird, you need to build the Headquarters Building and unlock the Anomaly Containment Facility."

"How many Construction Points does building the Headquarters cost?"

"Requires 100,000 Construction Points."

"Oh, never mind then."

He was still ten thousand in debt!

Bai Zuo reached into his pocket and, using the fabric as cover, took out a Weird Cage from the system.

The Weird Cage was a black, fist-sized sphere. Its surface wasn't smooth; it had some scale-like patterns.

This shape, this size—if the color and appearance were different, the sense of déjà vu would be even stronger!

"Poké Ball, is that you?"

Bai Zuo made a small joke, knowing full well it couldn't be a Poké Ball.

He held the Weird Cage and had Zhang Lin set down the Weird in his hand. As soon as the Weird touched the Weird Cage, a crack opened in the cage, sealing the Weird inside.

Zhang Lin was still conscious at this point. He heard this mysterious and dangerous figure seem somewhat troubled as he looked at the people lying all over the floor.

"What do I do about this? I don't want to write a report! How about I erase their memories and pretend this never happened?"

Bai Zuo clapped his hands, satisfied with his idea. "Alright, that's settled!"

"Ding! Character Perfection increased by 2%!"

Zhang Lin: Wait...

His consciousness involuntarily sank, and he fell into a deep sleep.

After containing the Weird, Bai Zuo went on to hypnotize everyone who had witnessed the scene, blurring their memories and fabricating traces at the site.

He also hacked into the surveillance system and altered the footage.

After doing all this, "Ding! Character Perfection increased by 5%!"

Good, good! A born villain, huh?

No, I need to set a limit. Otherwise, to increase this Character Card's Perfection, I can't actually have to commit murder and arson, can I?