The shadow that fled

With her skills, escaping the wilderness wouldn't be difficult for her. She waved to Ye Jiang on the eagle-man's back for two reasons: first, to convey human friendliness to the monster, showing that humans didn't consider him a villain; second, to find a peaceful way to take Ye Jiang away. She didn't feel comfortable leaving the Waiter with the monster. The former was already accomplished, but the latter...

Xiao Pei got off the car at the entrance to the wilderness area. She only dragged the still unconscious Yun Hua away. As soon as they left the wilderness, the personnel from the Ability Control Bureau were waiting outside surrounded them.

"How is it? Is it him?"

Is it really related to Yun Hua?

"Yun Hua..."

Xiao Pei tossed Yun Hua in front of them and said calmly, "It's him. He confessed."

"Damn! I knew this guy was a problem!"

"This guy levels up so fast, turns out he's been killing people, disgusting!"

Xiao Pei listened to the complaints of the Bureau of the Ability Control Bureau, but her gaze was fixed on the wilderness, where a monster was talking to Waiter, its smile innocent and bright, just like a human teenager.

Xiao Pei looked away.

Ultimately, she chose not to interfere.

Hopefully, she won't make the wrong decision.

A massive earthquake struck the city, and the culprit behind the disappearance of over a hundred contestants during a competition was apprehended. The perpetrator turned out to be Yun Hua, a star superhuman with the reputation of being the "Child of Light"!

The labels attached to Yun Hua —movie protagonist, cheat code, A-Rank promotion in a year—are false. He used the lives of his compatriots to gild his own reputation.

Yun Hua has been arrested and is awaiting trial at the Ability Control Bureau.

"That damn scumbag, how could he deceive me like that? I liked him so much!"

"He's a complete scumbag. He committed the crime himself and then framed others, even leading a group to attack them. That boy was so pitiful; he almost got mistaken for the murderer!"

"Fraud!"

The celebrity with superpowers has become a vicious criminal, and the whole city is cursing him. Yun Hua's surroundings have turned into garbage, filling up all the city's trash cans. The deeper the love they once had, the more they now hate each other.

The news quickly spread beyond City A, and soon the whole world knew that a certain human hero was a fraud, a villain who disregarded human life.

"I knew he was no good all along. Real heroes, like those people from the Ability Control Bureau, would they manage their own heroic image? No, only Yun Hua, only this guy, puts on layers of packaging. It's obviously fake!"

"True heroes are those titles bestowed voluntarily by the citizens, not self-proclaimed! This scoundrel probably even hired someone to promote him!"

"Waaah, I'm so sad and disappointed, I really like him..."

"I just want to know when he's going to die?"

In the underground isolation room of the Ability Control Bureau, blinding white light filled the air. Qin Daichuan, the captain of the branch's Operations Team, sat outside the isolation room, his cold gaze piercing through the glass and landing on the man inside, without uttering a word.

Footsteps came from behind, and Xiao Pei walked over.

"He hasn't confessed yet?"

"No."

Inside the specially reinforced glass partition, a once-prominent figure huddled dejectedly in a corner, head bowed as if afraid of the light, muttering something in a daze.

Qin Daichuan glanced at the man inside, then couldn't help turning back to look at the woman who had brought him back.

"What did you do to him? Why is he like this?"

It was as if his spirit had been completely shattered, almost like Pollution reaction. Could the head of the Ability Control Bureau, a human, possibly release Pollution?

Xiao Pei's lips twitched slightly as she looked away. "I just chatted with him for a bit."

She shifted the blame, saying, "Who knew that an A-Rank ability user like him would be so mentally fragile? It's his fault."

Qin Daichuan: "..."

Yun Hua has confessed and should have gone through the trial process, but it hasn't yet because the Ability Control Bureau still has some doubts about this man. Yun Hua is A-Rank ability user who rose to the top by killing people. He climbed to the top of A-Rank by committing brutal crimes in this competition. So, how many people has he harmed in the past few years? How did he do it?

There's a major flaw here. If Yun Hua leveled up using Green Peach, then the Green Peach in the Green Forest Exclusion Zone had been in a state of stagnation for the past three years. Where did he get the Green Peach he used? Even if the Green Peach he used were from the Green Peach before they died, where did he acquire such a large quantity of Green Peach? Before becoming famous, Yun Hua was just an ordinary person with an ordinary ability level and an ordinary family background. How could he possibly have the ability to obtain so many Green Peach?

Yun Hua has other problems, the Ability Control Bureau concluded, but

The investigation couldn't uncover anything, and Yun Hua wasn't cooperating. He seemed to be mentally unstable, completely absorbed in his own world. Even the healing-type ability user had come, but it was useless.

"He's faking it, isn't he?" Xiao Pei smirked, squinting at the person in the cubicle. "He's putting on quite a convincing act."

She slammed her hand on the glass of the cubicle with a sudden thud, but the person inside didn't react at all.

Xiao Pei: "..."

She withdrew her hand out of boredom.

"You talked so much nonsense back in the wilderness, how come you've become mute now?" Xiao Pei wasn't interested in interrogating the prisoner, and said with drooping eyelids, "Captain Qin, you continue the interrogation. Let me know when you have any results, I'm leaving now."

She left without warning, genuinely uninterested in the interrogation. Qin Daichuan didn't stop her, continuing to keep an eye on the people in the cubicle, waiting it out.

As soon as Xiao Pei returned to the ground, she bumped into the spiky-haired guy from the branch office. She had been with this kid for a few days and knew him well. She scolded him, "Walk properly! What kind of behavior is this, so reckless?"

Zhao Yi said, "I was just about to go find Brother Chuan. Captain Xiao, it's fine if you're here too. Something's happened, come with me quickly!"

After saying that, he grabbed Xiao Pei's arm.

Xiao Pei: "."

This kid is really...

She pulled away, "Tell me what it is first."

Zhao Yi's nose was sweating. "That Miao Family, her superpower has dropped again, down to D-Rank!"

Xiao Pei's expression turned serious.

Chapter 72 The Shadow That Flees.

Hospital 1, ward.

rustle--

A breeze rustled the treetops, and sunlight cast shadows onto the window, landing on the face of the woman sitting opposite her. The shadows swayed gently, blending into the shadows beneath her eyes.

The woman sat blankly, her thin hands resting on her knees, the Blood Moon mark on her fingers dim and lifeless.

Suddenly, her eyes moved, and a ripple of emotion flickered in them.

As if struggling, after a long time, she activated her Ability System. For a moment, the waves in her eyes surged, then slowly returned to calm, becoming a stagnant pool.

She forgot to retrieve the system, leaving it there, turning it into a puppet.

Following her first downgrade a few days ago, her superpower has been downgraded again, this time to D-Rank.

She is losing what she has; she is falling from her position of privilege, and it will be a long process.

It's cruel.

Miao Qiao sat facing the window, her eyes lifeless.

rustle--

The wind picked up.

The wind blew the shade of the trees outside the window to one side, creating a gap that allowed sunlight to stream in, falling on Miao Qiao and casting a long, thin shadow on the floor.

Suddenly, the shadow on the floor moved.

The wind stopped, the shade returned to its place, the sunlight was blocked, and something quietly escaped into the shadows during this process.

Ye Jiang was taken to the hospital and saw the woman in the ward. Only then did she realize why Xiao Pei had called her there. The woman in the patient's gown, looking utterly lost, saw Ye Jiang's stiff body, which hadn't moved for a long time, and slightly shifted. She raised her dim eyes and said with a sour tone:

"Player Ye."

Ye Jiang said to her, "I heard your superpower has been downgraded again?"

Miao Qiao's lips moved slightly. "... Yes."

Ye Jiang said, "Boss Xiao asked me to treat you, but it's just an attempt, and I can't guarantee it will work."

She wasn't a traditional healing-type ability user, and she didn't know much about it. She had always used it casually, and she had no idea how effective her ability really was.

"I know..." Miao Qiao forced an awkward smile, "Thank you."

Ye Jiang glanced at Xiao Pei, who had pulled her over. Xiao Pei nodded to her, and Ye Jiang then went to the Miao Family Qiao's side, placing her hand on Miao Qiao's shoulder. A few minutes later... a dozen minutes later...

"That's enough." Miao Qiao, who was being treated, called out to stop. Ye Jiang paused, then withdrew her hand.

Everyone looked at Miao Qiao, Miao Qiao gently shook her head, looking as if she were about to break.

"It's no use," she said. "Nothing has changed."

Xiao Pei's eyes flickered, she had some idea of what was going on. It concerned the level of one's superpower, which involved the very foundation of power and couldn't be cured by ordinary treatment. She knew this, and Miao Qiao knew it too, but she still felt disappointed.

"Can you tell us?" Xiao Pei shifted from treatment to investigation, "Did you notice anything unusual before your ability was downgraded this time?"

"... No." Miao Qiao looked down at her ability indicator, "I just suddenly felt weak, and when I checked my ability, I saw that I had been downgraded."

Zhao Yi scratched his head, puzzled as to why a person's superpower would be downgraded for no reason.

Xiao Pei asked, "Who did you meet today?"

Miao Qiao said, "They are all regular doctors and Nurse, and Healer from the Ability Control Bureau also came by once."

Xiao Pei.

Miao Qiao lowered her head deeply.

Ye Jiang glanced at the two of them. She didn't understand investigation, nor did she have the brains to investigate anything complicated. Her thoughts lingered on the matter of her power being downgraded for two seconds before she let go of it. Her gaze unconsciously swept over the fruit plate in the ward—she had been hurriedly pulled here by Xiao Pei and hadn't eaten yet.

"Hedgehog head," Xiao Pei said.

Zhao Yi took a moment to realize he was being called, then grinned and asked, "What?"

Xiao Pei pouted, "Let's take our Healer out for a meal."

Zhao Yi: "... Ah, okay."

Ye Jiang refused. "I can go by myself."