Price

Xu Ye walked past the two of them.

"Xu Ye, class is about to start. Where are you going?" Qin Yingying grabbed him.

"To save the world."

"Save the world, my ass. Don't act like skipping class is perfectly justified."

Xu Ye spread his hands and said innocently, "See? The reason you're alive and well right now is that I've been saving the world behind the scenes."

Qin Yingying: "..."

Hearing their exchange, Wang Yong's mother furrowed her slender brows and glanced at Xu Ye before lecturing her son. "Yong, you mustn't skip school like him. You don't need to worry about anything right now. I'll work several jobs to pay your tuition. Once you graduate, you can continue your studies at the research institute. I'm counting on you."

Xu Ye paused, looked at the woman, and said with a cheerful smile, "Ma'am, I may skip school, but I have the highest grades in the whole school. I have the privilege of not attending class."

"..."

Silence defined Wang Yong and his mother today.

After reluctantly waving goodbye to Wang Yong and his mother, Xu Ye arrived at the underground parking garage.

He drew a slight breath. Several unpleasant odors mingled in the dim garage.

Blood...

Xu Ye's heart sank. He walked over to Zhang Xuliang's car, where the door stood open. A pool of dark red blood had flowed from the back seat, down past the door, and onto the ground.

"This is bad." Xu Ye frowned.

"What happened? Did you find something? According to our latest investigation, the person with Zhang Xuliang was his underling, Qian Bing. Did you find them?" Li Yunyao asked warily.

Xu Ye put on a mask. "This garage was recently renovated. It reeks of formaldehyde everywhere. I'm worried it might cause cancer. Does our organization provide life and health insurance?"

Crash!

Xu Ye thought he heard a cup shattering on the other end.

He cleared his throat, looked at the blood-drenched figure before him, and described the situation.

A few minutes later, Xu Ye found another bloody corpse behind parking space C44.

An awful smell lingered in the air. Even a veteran investigator would have been startled by such a horrifying scene.

But Xu Ye realized that, compared to the first time, he seemed much calmer.

Was I really this adaptable?

"Little Ye-Ye, I'm so scared. Let's hurry out of this spooky-wooky place..." Alice lay across Xu Ye's shoulder, rubbing soft fur against his neck and whining coyly.

Xu Ye: "Alice."

Alice: "Mm~"

Xu Ye: "That's disgusting."

"Get lost!"

While Xu Ye and Alice traded barbs, Li Yunyao received more information. "Those two bloody corpses are probably Zhang Xuliang and Qian Bing. This resembles several cases that occurred in the Slum East District three days ago."

"This Aberrant likes skinning people, and only skins men. It's been hard to catch her because she operates in the slums."

"But we've identified the target now."

"The Aberrant is a forty-year-old woman. She works in the sex trade and moonlights as a seamstress. At twelve thirty this afternoon, she appeared at the entrance to the parking garage."

"Her current whereabouts are unknown, but the last surveillance footage placed her near the Harmony Club."

"I'll send her photo to your phone."

"We haven't found anyone polluted by her yet. She seems to be killing out of revenge, and only targets men. We're unsure how far her aberration has progressed, but she still retains much of her human reason."

"There are no signs of her losing control yet, and no indiscriminate pollution."

"Her danger rating is provisionally set at Terrifying Level."

"Our initial estimate puts her energy units between thirty and fifty. She hasn't fully completed her first aberration yet, but she might be concealing her strength. Don't let your guard down."

"The Aberrant isn't the biggest problem in this pollution incident. Zhang Xuliang's death is. I'll report to the higher-ups first." After saying that, Li Yunyao ended the call without giving Xu Ye a chance to speak.

Swift and decisive.

Xu Ye made a rough calculation.

A first aberration seemed to require more than a hundred energy units, which meant her strength might be about the same as that Aberrant stray dog's.

The mission wasn't difficult.

The main issue was that she hadn't caused widespread pollution, making her hard to locate. But for him, that might not be much of a problem.

Xu Ye placed his hand over his heart.

"If I head over to the Harmony Club now..."

[Following the clues, I arrived at the Harmony Club and waited at the entrance all afternoon. Every young lady here was a real talent. They were pretty and spoke so sweetly.]

[I stood firm and refused to sink into depravity.]

[But they called me handsome! I thought they were all pitiful women and that I should comfort them. That was what a hero ought to do.]

[In a single afternoon, I lost a thousand bucks!]

[Regret! Regret! Regret!]

[Once I catch the Aberrant and collect my reward, I'll come back and battle you for another three hundred rounds.]

[It had been ages since I'd felt the thrill of meeting a worthy opponent.]

[Playing chess was so much fun.]

[Only when I stepped outside did I realize it was already dark. A woman in red high heels walked past me...]

Xu Ye read through the lengthy passage speechlessly. Only when he reached the final line did he realize that waiting there a little later would yield results.

At seven that evening, people bustled to and fro.

After waiting a long time for his prey, Xu Ye was sipping milk tea when he finally spotted a woman in red high heels strolling out of an alley with a bulging handbag over her shoulder.

"Found her." Xu Ye checked her against the photo and sent Li Yunyao a message.

Li Yunyao quickly replied, "First, provoke an emotional reaction and confirm her energy units. If she's below a hundred, lure her somewhere deserted and take care of her. Try not to get caught on surveillance cameras, or cleaning up afterward will be a real headache for us."

"Understood!"

The woman walked in her high heels toward a less crowded area.

Suddenly, a figure bumped into her, making them both stagger.

Xu Ye cast an almost imperceptible glance at her handbag. Through the gap in its partly open zipper, he thought he saw a human face.

Human skin?

He looked around, making sure no one was paying attention, then leaned toward the woman and whispered, "How much? You know what I mean."

The woman, her face caked in powder, gave Xu Ye a disgusted look and sneered inwardly. She hadn't expected such a respectable-looking boy to engage in this sort of thing.

But she had already eaten enough human skin today. There was still some left in her bag, enough to last several days.

"Don't go, miss. Just name your price. I promise I won't haggle." Xu Ye chuckled.

The woman furrowed her brows so hard that some of her cheap powder fell off. Her scarlet lips curved slightly upward. "Five hundred a night."

Fine. I'll just stock up on food.

"That's a fair and reasonable price. Pay up front, then."

With that, Xu Ye took out his phone and motioned for her to transfer the money.

???

Confusion crossed the woman's face. "Young man, why would I be paying you?"

Looking as though she was being utterly unreasonable, Xu Ye raised his voice. "Are you trying to get me for free? I'm handsome, cute, and have a great body. Other rich women give me at least a thousand a night, and you won't even pay five hundred."

"Not only ugly, but broke too!"

"Pah! An average woman with delusions of grandeur. What a turnoff."