Two Liu Qians!

"Liu Qian?"

Bai Xuan looked puzzled. Why was she here?

She should have been in the Safe House with Bai Yu right now.

"You... How do you know my name?!"

Liu Qian looked just as confused. The man wearing the Slime Mask had somehow called her by name!

And her reaction was exactly like the Liu Qian he remembered.

Apart from where she had appeared and what she was wearing, everything about her—her looks and her personality—was identical!

"It's nothing."

Bai Xuan shook his head and said no more. He turned and left with Xilin.

Watching them walk away, Liu Qian tilted her head in confusion.

Then a colleague called from a distance, "Liu Qian, all the injured are in the vehicle. We should go!"

"Okay, coming!"

After returning home, Bai Xuan turned in two quests first.

[World Quest: Rock Golem (Completed)]

[Quest Reward: Equipment—Rock Core Pendant (Green)]

[Rock Core Pendant (Green): Generates a shield that blocks one instance of damage.]

"A defensive item? Pretty useful." Bai Xuan nodded, satisfied enough.

[World Quest: Venomous Giant Rat (Completed)]

[Quest Reward: Item—Venomous Potion ×1 (Green)]

[Venomous Potion (Green): A highly toxic potion.]

But the quest rewards concerned him less than one question: why had Liu Qian appeared in White Sea City?

And she hadn't looked like a public security officer. She'd looked more like a medic...

If that really was Liu Qian, then who was the "Liu Qian" who had been staying with Bai Yu?

Twin sisters?

Or... had someone disguised herself as Liu Qian?

Bai Xuan wanted to investigate further, but he had noticed that Liu Qian's uniform wasn't standard hospital attire. It was the uniform worn by Investigation Bureau medical staff.

Could Liu Qian actually be with the White Sea City Investigation Bureau?

"There's just too little information..."

Bai Xuan frowned. He couldn't draw any conclusions from so few clues.

What was her goal?

Who was she really?

Why had she suddenly appeared in Ninghang City, hundreds of kilometers from White Sea City?

Why had she even joined the Ninghang City Public Security Bureau as an officer?

One thing was certain: since Liu Qian had joined the Investigation Bureau's medical team, her personal records would have been encrypted and sealed.

The identities of everyone connected to the Investigation Bureau were strictly protected, even if they weren't official Investigators.

In other words, Liu Qian must have had the Investigation Bureau's permission to join the Public Security Bureau.

"Is this a little scheme by the White Sea City Investigation Bureau?"

Bai Xuan suspected the bureau might have set a trap, using Liu Qian as bait to draw out a target.

As for the "Liu Qian" beside Bai Yu, Espers who could change their appearance did exist in this world.

But if he wanted more information, he would probably have to start with the Liu Qian in Ninghang City.

As for the one in White Sea City, her innocent expression made Bai Xuan more inclined to believe she knew nothing about any of this.

"Master, I'm done bathing."

Xilin stepped out of the bathroom and spoke softly.

Ever since moving into Bai Xuan's home, she had grown to love baths.

It wasn't the feeling of hot water flowing over her body that she loved, though. It was the quiet time afterward, when she changed into her pajamas and could be entirely herself.

In those moments, she felt she could let down every guard and relax completely, body and mind.

The Holy Robe now felt more like a shackle binding her.

Bai Xuan glanced at the time. It was already eleven at night.

"Forget it. I'll think about it tomorrow."

At that moment, inside a building in Ninghang City.

A middle-aged man in a suit sat in an executive chair, slowly turning two oddly patterned spheres in his hand. His expression was grave.

On the desk beside him, his phone was still on a call.

"Wang Ling, you still haven't caught her? The biological experiment urgently needs a sample from her."

"Are you certain she's the one?" the middle-aged man asked in a low voice.

"She's Liu Mufei's niece. The blood test showed that, apart from Liu Mufei, only her blood can activate the experiment," the voice on the phone continued. "We can't complete the Life Vessel research without her!"

"The Investigation Bureau still hasn't realized our true objective. They think we only want to use Liu Qian to threaten Liu Mufei, so we must bring her back now!"

"This is our only chance."

"Failure is not an option."

"All right. I understand." Wang Ling hung up and looked at a file on his desk.

According to the file, Liu Qian had been moved to the Military Base in northern Ninghang City. The Public Security Bureau had also recently tightened its security arrangements.

And yet...

He pulled out another file: the medical examination report from when Liu Qian had joined the Public Security Bureau.

They had identified Liu Qian because the blood sample she left during her entry medical exam a month earlier had unexpectedly revealed her unusual bloodline.

She shared a bloodline with Liu Mufei, deputy director of the White Sea City Investigation Bureau. Her organization was using Liu Mufei's blood to advance a project called "Life Vessel," which aimed to grant humans immortality.

But two questions continued to trouble Wang Ling:

First, why had information on Liu Qian been nonexistent for so long, only to appear suddenly of late?

Second, what exactly was Liu Mufei's Superpower? How had she become White Sea City's deputy director, and why was she a crucial sample for Life Vessel?

Despite all his doubts, he had to follow the organization's orders.

"The Corpse Army is still in the experimental stage, but... deploy every last one of them. Bring her back to me!"

"Bai Xuan, were you sick yesterday?" Zhao Fan asked curiously.

Bai Xuan nodded. "Yeah, a bit of a cold."

"That's too bad." Zhao Fan patted his shoulder, sounding disappointed. "You missed the desserts that transfer student bought for the whole school."

"What?"

Bai Xuan stared at him. "The whole school? Is she that rich?"

"She sure is. I heard her family's the richest in Ninghang City," Zhao Fan said. "She's beautiful and comes from money. I can't imagine who in this world could possibly be good enough for her."

"The richest?" Bai Xuan raised an eyebrow. That was quite a claim.

As they spoke, the bell rang for class.

A teacher entered the classroom and smiled at the students. "Everyone, I have good news to announce today."

"There's been a change to the policy for the second group of people admitted to Ideal City. Anyone who places among the top thirty in the citywide selection exam this year will have a chance to study in Ideal City as an outstanding student..."

Bai Xuan listened intently.

Ideal City was the only S-Rank City currently under construction. Built jointly by the world's five major powers, it was seen as humanity's future and the final line of defense against Anomalous Calamities.

Of course, no S-Rank Calamity had appeared so far.

The worst had been three A-Rank Anomalous Calamities.

One had occurred in Huaguo. Several senior Investigators had sacrificed their lives to seal that A-Rank Anomaly.

But that had been years ago.