Returning Laden with Spoils, the City Appearance Bureau's Living Ancestor

An eerie silence hung in the air of Benevolent Heart Hospital's outpatient hall.

Bai Lan and dozens of elite officers from the City Appearance Bureau held their psionic guns at the ready, frozen in assault formation like a group of statues.

They had expected a scene of carnage, with a third-rank Anomaly's fury turning the building into a hell on earth.

But what did they see instead?

There was indeed a scene of carnage, but the ones being slaughtered one-sidedly seemed to be the Anomalies. The entire outpatient building and the entrance to the third basement level had been wrecked beyond recognition. Even a load-bearing wall had been smashed through by some unknown monster, and rotting remains and black ash littered the ground.

And in the middle of the ruins, the teenager who should have been torn apart by Anomalies was collecting protection fees without a shred of guilt from several exploration streamers who had pissed their pants... no, rescue fees.

"Captain Bai..." Zhang Lei swallowed and lowered his gun with trembling hands, his voice somewhat hoarse. "Are we... too late?"

Bai Lan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the shock churning like rivers and seas in her heart, and strode up to Su Bai.

"Su Bai!" Bai Lan's voice carried a rare note of severity and urgency. "What on earth did you do? Where's the third-rank director of Benevolent Heart Hospital?"

Su Bai turned at the sound of her voice. When he saw Bai Lan, he immediately beamed.

He put away his phone's QR code, stood up, and even made a show of dusting off his hands.

"Captain Bai, you're just in time." Su Bai pointed at the ruins beneath his feet. "In accordance with the requirements of your Safety Assessment Committee and the City Appearance Bureau, I went deep into the core area and conducted a practical combat assessment."

"As for that director... it wasn't very cooperative with my work and insisted on giving me a lobotomy. I got angry and used a little legitimate self-defense."

Su Bai shrugged, looking innocent.

"By now, it should have turned to dust and returned to the embrace of nature."

Turned to dust?

The corner of Bai Lan's eye twitched violently. That was a third-rank Anomaly on the verge of condensing a complete law prototype! And he fucking called killing a third-rank Anomaly single-handedly legitimate self-defense?!

"You... killed it on your own?" Bai Lan stared intently into Su Bai's eyes, trying to find the slightest trace of a lie.

"What else? Did it suddenly grow a conscience and disembowel itself?" Su Bai rolled his eyes.

The City Appearance Bureau officers around them all sucked in a breath of cold air.

The way they looked at Su Bai had changed. They no longer saw a high-risk suspect, but an ancient vicious beast wearing human skin.

A high school student had single-handedly flattened Benevolent Heart Hospital, one of Linhai City's three great forbidden zones, in less than an hour! If word reached those true god big shots in the city, even their jaws would probably hit the floor.

"Um... Captain Bai." Brother Long, the exploration streamer standing nearby, finally came to his senses and raised his hand timidly.

"We can testify. This young brother... no, this immortal not only killed the director, he also drove a bus glowing with an eerie green light and took all the mutated doctors in the hospital away... not even their corpses were left behind."

At Brother Long's words, Bai Lan's expression changed instantly.

A bus? Taking away corpses?

She immediately thought of the top-secret investigation reports on Su Bai's Divine Kingdom. This kid not only possessed terrifying dark matter contamination, but his Divine Kingdom also had such formidable devouring and transformation abilities!

This was a living, breathing urban legend production machine that was constantly evolving!

"Su Bai, what exactly is going on with your Divine Kingdom? Are you hiding some special talent?" Bai Lan stepped forward, her tone growing grave. "Do you know that devouring the origin of a third-rank Anomaly could very well cause your Divine Kingdom to go out of control and collapse in an instant?!"

Su Bai looked at Bai Lan's anxious expression and laughed inwardly.

Out of control? What a joke. My Divine Kingdom would love to eat third-rank Anomalies every day. They're a great tonic.

On the surface, however, Su Bai still put on a weak appearance, clutching his chest and coughing twice.

"Captain Bai, how can you say that? I had no choice. If I hadn't fought back, I'd be the one dead." Su Bai sighed. "To kill that monster, my Divine Kingdom's core was also severely damaged. It's a complete mess inside now, and I doubt it'll recover without at least six months to a year."

"Look, I passed this practical combat assessment with flying colors, right? Those people on the assessment committee can't keep calling me a dangerous element and insisting on forcibly removing my Divine Kingdom, can they?"

As Su Bai spoke, he pulled a thick medical records folder stained with black blood from his schoolbag and handed it to Bai Lan.

"Here are the second-rank Anomaly sample records you wanted. I even swiped the director's duty roster for you."

Bai Lan looked at the medical records folder, which gave off a powerful stench, and the corner of her eye twitched wildly again.

This kid's guts were as big as they could get, and his skin was as thick as it could be.

He had clearly come to stock up, yet he could still put on the aggrieved face of a victim.

"All right, stop pretending." Bai Lan took the medical records folder irritably and tossed it to Zhang Lei beside her. "Zhang Lei, take some people and seal off the scene immediately. Clear out the remaining contamination on the perimeter. Check for any Anomaly derivatives we might have missed."

"Yes!" Zhang Lei immediately took the others into action.

Bai Lan turned back to Su Bai, her gaze full of complicated emotions.

She finally understood why Principal Chen Tianxing was so determined to protect this student.

The potential Su Bai had displayed had already surpassed the scope of a so-called "genius." The power he wielded was exceedingly dangerous, but also exceedingly strong. If the authorities of the Great Xia Nation could guide him properly, he would definitely become the sharpest blade against the abyssal monsters in the future.

But if he went down an evil path...

Bai Lan dared not imagine what kind of disaster a fallen god who could casually create third-rank Anomaly urban legends would bring upon human society.

"Su Bai." Bai Lan took a deep breath, her tone softening somewhat.

"You passed your practical combat assessment. The City Appearance Bureau will issue you the highest-level safety certification. Starting today, no one but me can forcibly remove your Divine Kingdom on the grounds that it's a 'safety hazard.'"

"That includes the Gu Family and the education bureau."

Su Bai's eyes lit up at those words.

This was the protective charm he had wanted most tonight!

With the City Appearance Bureau's official backing, every means of pressure the Gu Family could apply openly would be utterly bankrupt. If they wanted to make another move against Su Bai, they could only resort to underhanded tricks in the dark.

"Thank you for enforcing the law impartially, Captain Bai!" Su Bai immediately put on a bootlicking smile and bowed to Bai Lan.

"Don't celebrate too soon." Bai Lan snorted. "I'm protecting you because you have value and haven't harmed society so far. But if one day I discover you've abused that dark power to hurt the innocent, I'll kill you with my own hands."

"Rest assured, I'm a five-good youth of the new era. No one abides by the law more than I do," Su Bai promised, thumping his chest.

"All right, enough of your lip. What do you intend to do with these streamers?" Bai Lan pointed at the four unlucky souls trembling nearby.

"That's not my business. It's the City Appearance Bureau's." Su Bai rubbed his hands together and changed tack. "But... Captain Bai, look, I nearly lost my life in the middle of the night completing the mandatory assignment you gave me. There's the overtime pay, compensation for emotional distress, and the maintenance fee for my severely damaged Divine Kingdom..."

Bai Lan looked at Su Bai's mercenary expression, her teeth itching with anger.

This kid had just killed a third-rank Anomaly, and the next moment he was haggling with the authorities! He was a living ancestor who valued money over his own life!

"The City Appearance Bureau's funds aren't for handing out red envelopes to private armed forces like you!" Bai Lan glared at him. "However, since you helped us root out the cancer that was Benevolent Heart Hospital, the bureau will award you a bounty of five hundred thousand. It'll be transferred to your account tomorrow."

"Only five hundred thousand..." Su Bai curled his lip in mild disdain. He had just gotten two million from Venomous Bee, so he really did look down on that amount now.

"What, too little?" Bai Lan raised an eyebrow. "Should I put the fact that you 'pocketed' a third-rank Anomaly's corpse at the scene in my report and have the higher-ups send someone to settle accounts with you over the loss of state assets?"

"No, no, no! Five hundred thousand is great! Thank you for your concern, boss!" Su Bai hurriedly quit while he was ahead.

In this world, the corpses of wild Anomalies nominally belonged to the state. Su Bai had packed up and taken away the hospital's entire elite force, and if they really pursued the matter, it would indeed be troublesome.

"Get home and go to bed. Go to school tomorrow and attend your classes like a good student. Don't cause me any more trouble." Bai Lan waved him away irritably.

As though granted an amnesty, Su Bai slung on his backpack and swaggered out of Benevolent Heart Hospital's gates, humming a little tune.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to turn around and call to Brother Long, whose statement an officer was taking:

"Brother Long, remember to transfer that hundred thousand to my account! If you don't pay, watch out for a school bus honking outside your house in the middle of the night!"

Brother Long shuddered all over in fright and nodded repeatedly, tears nearly spilling from his eyes.

Watching Su Bai's retreating figure gradually vanish into the night.

Bai Lan wearily rubbed her temples.

"Captain, this kid is a monster," Zhang Lei said in a low voice as he walked over.

"He's not just a monster. He's an extremely clever monster who knows how to use the rules." Bai Lan looked at the medical records folder in her hand and let out a long sigh.

"This time, the Gu Family has kicked a poisonous titanium-alloy steel plate. The stagnant waters of Linhai City are finally going to be thoroughly stirred up."