Even if I said that wasn't me... no one would believe it anyway.
Looking at his red-backed ID photo taken back at the Special Control Bureau, with an expression as stiff as a corpse, Bai Zhou muttered inwardly.
Couldn't she see that Fang Xiaoxia next to him was looking like she'd seen a ghost?
Just who on earth am I running away with... Did I just become his accomplice?
Fang Xiaoxia muttered inwardly.
This long list of titles, rattling off like items on a menu, sounded even more intimidating than the Gem Witch's lengthy epithets, making Bai Zhou's handsome face look cold and mysterious under the stormy night.
What did they mean by heinous and vicious? What did they mean by pursued in vain by the authorities?
What did they mean by a twisted serial killer responsible for a string of bombings—so the massive explosions reported on the news every day were your doing all along?!
Fang Xiaoxia's mind was in total chaos.
If not for the reliance and trust forged just moments ago in the Maserati and on the paper airplane, Fang Xiaoxia probably would have instinctively taken several steps back. But she didn't.
Instead, her stunned gaze darted between Bai Zhou and the masked witch in suspicion, wondering whether this woman, who looked like a cosplayer, was lying.
An inherently evil female cosplayer! She must be slapping baseless labels on him, trying to drive a wedge between comrades fleeing for their lives!
She must be in cahoots with those monsters—
"Although there are plenty of inaccuracies in between... theoretically speaking, the Bai Zhou on that wanted poster is indeed me."
Yet, Bai Zhou admitted it.
He admitted it openly, nodding with an odd look on his face.
This made Fang Xiaoxia shudder like a startled hamster, her face filled with utter disbelief.
No wonder this guy drives without a license! And runs red lights!
Because he's an outlaw in the flesh! A top-tier fugitive playing with life!
But no matter who Bai Zhou was, it was already too late. She had sat in the same speeding Maserati in plain view of everyone, looping through half of Tinghai, and then swaggered off into the distance on the same paper airplane.
There was... no going back.
No matter how she looked at it, she was branded an accomplice. There was a saying about following whatever rooster or dog you married; while not entirely fitting, the logic seemed the same.
"Ha, looks like you truly have no intention of repenting."
The Gem Witch rubbed her palms together.
"Speak. Will you surrender with your hands up, or will I be carrying your head back?"
"Don't tell me you haven't heard my name."
With a mix of pride and annoyance, the witch lifted her chin slightly: "Not long ago, an old toad with a bounty even higher than yours was taken care of by me."
Her words sounded terrifying, making Fang Xiaoxia involuntarily worry for her partner in crime.
No, not partner in crime.
Accomplice seemed more appropriate...
However.
"Sounds pretty scary."
Cornered in the alley, this super-fugitive merely blinked twice in the face of his ill-intentioned pursuer:
"But... you're finally here."
Bai Zhou cleared his throat twice, looking thoroughly composed:
"—I made such a swaggering spectacle precisely to draw you here as Bai Zhou the fugitive."
"Fortunately, it seems your grappling hook really is handy. You found me before anyone else."
"...What do you mean?" The witch frowned. "You were waiting for me?"
Bai Zhou nodded. "For a long time."
"You knew I was looking for you?"
"I heard you mention it once."
"...What do you mean, heard me mention it?"
The witch's gaze hardened, her tone turning grave. "If I recall correctly, this should be our first time meeting."
"Our first time?"
Bai Zhou blinked.
Then, under the Gem Witch's watchful eye, Bai Zhou reached into his coat, groping for something.
Fang Xiaoxia's tense, expectant gaze drifted over.
He reached into his coat again!
Bai Zhou's mysterious coat was like a four-dimensional pocket. One moment it was a long saber, the next a paper airplane that could expand—nobody knew what was hidden in there.
Even if Bai Zhou cackled wickedly in the next second, said, "Witch, you've fallen into my trap," pulled out a locomotive molded from plasticine that expanded in the wind while blowing its whistle, and barreled past to send the witch flying... Fang Xiaoxia wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.
Yet, under the tense gazes of two pairs of eyes, Bai Zhou pulled out—
A K-something-FC Family Bucket. A large, empty one at that.
The red-and-white bucket was brightly colored, but it made the Gem Witch give an involuntary shudder.
Then, under both of their gazes, Bai Zhou placed the Family Bucket right over his head.
The white-bearded old man printed on the bucket was upside down, his radiant smile and deep eyes gazing down like an ancient god staring back.
Fang Xiaoxia: "?"
Gem Witch: "?"
The Gem Witch's expression changed abruptly.
At that moment, Bai Zhou lowered his voice intentionally, speaking muffled through the bucket:
"Now, do you still think this is our first time meeting?"
The Gem Witch drew a sharp breath.
That voice!
That Family Bucket!
"You, you, you... It's you!" Standing atop the wall, the Gem Witch teetered, nearly tumbling down.
"It's me." Bai Zhou nodded, resting his hands behind his back.
"Grandpa KFC has returned!"
Fang Xiaoxia stumbled where she stood.
Where did this Grandpa KFC come from?!
Come to think of it, she had just eaten a Family Bucket this past Thursday...
But this was supposed to be a serious life-and-death standoff! What was with this sudden comedy act?
However.
The witch's reaction far exceeded Fang Xiaoxia's expectations—she looked as though she had truly seen a ghost.
"How could it be you?!"
Her voice was thick with incredulity, yet she knew full well that no other Extraordinary would ever place this familiar, absurd Family Bucket over their head.
The KFC eccentric—mysterious beyond measure, backed by an ostensibly colossal faction, and privy to countless secrets—was Bai Zhou the fugitive?
Then, right in front of the witch, Bai Zhou drew his purple-gold saber. The rampaging edge sliced every raindrop in midair into two halves. "Tinghai Park, under the third bench past the entrance... But as you can see, I don't have time to check there right now, nor any way to go meet you." Bai Zhou shrugged, speaking of secrets known only to the two of them. "That's why I had to resort to this."
The purple-gold saber!
Tinghai Park!
The witch was completely certain of Bai Zhou's identity.
Then her expression shifted again. Glancing around at their surroundings, she lowered her voice:
"This isn't the place to talk."
"People might have seen where that plane landed. Let's get out of here before talking!"
The witch's concern was justified.
About five or six minutes after they left:
*Patter! Splash!*
Figures bounded and landed, footsteps splashing through puddles as a group of Extraordinaries tracked their way to this spot.
In the distance, several late-arriving security cruisers wailed their sirens, speeding down the road to reinforce the expressway.
Soon, however, the sirens faded away, leaving only the rushing sound of rain in the world.
Dotted with dim yellow streetlights, the neon-lit city gradually quieted down, shrouded in the violent deluge, devoid of pedestrians and with barely any traffic.
A small city enduring a heavy rain.
Great sounds are silent. The rain seemed noisy at first, yet listening to it long enough brought a strange sense of quiet.
Running around behind the two of them, Fang Xiaoxia felt completely dazed.
She didn't quite understand what had happened. How had two people ready to tear each other's throats out a moment ago suddenly turned friendly, acting like spies meeting in secret?
Still, this probably wasn't a bad thing.
Could it even be understood this way: there was another story behind the wanted poster, and Bai Zhou the fugitive wasn't as heinously wicked as the witch claimed? At least in Fang Xiaoxia's eyes, though this boy in the black trench coat was crazy at times, he truly didn't seem like a villain deserving of all those charges. The girl believed in Bai Zhou.
"How has your investigation gone?"
Having slipped through several streets to another secluded alley, Bai Zhou turned to look at the lavishly dressed girl.
The gemstone at her waist faintly glowed, keeping the downpour away from her.
Yet Bai Zhou also keenly noticed a weakness she couldn't hide beneath her gallant and ornate exterior.
The chin and cheek beneath her half-mask had an unhealthy pallor, and her breath seemed faint when she spoke.
Faintly, beneath her perfume, Bai Zhou caught the masked scent of blood and medicinal herbs.
...It seemed the injuries she sustained last time were more severe than he had imagined, and her recovery rate was nowhere near as fast as Bai Zhou's, who possessed Tears of Moonlight.
—Yet she had been dragging this wounded body around, secretly investigating the Major's secrets without pause?
Bai Zhou pursed his lips, his expression gradually turning solemn.
Unlike the graceful witch strolling leisurely in the rain, Bai Zhou held an umbrella honestly against the storm.
The black folding umbrella, straight as a short sword, was one of the five pieces of gear Crow had left behind at the restaurant.
Equipped with an internal mechanism, it served in both sun and rain, hiding a sharp, slender blade within. Opened by Bai Zhou, it tilted slightly toward Fang Xiaoxia. As the trio walked through the storm, their tracks were quickly washed clean by the misty downpour.
"Um..." The Gem Witch glanced at Bai Zhou holding the umbrella, then at the girl in the white dress beside him, hesitating.
"Don't worry," Bai Zhou said, shaking his head. "She's not an outsider."
Right, not a bystander.
"Fang Xiaoxia may just be an ordinary person, but she's crucial to that Luo's plan—though I still haven't figured out where that importance comes from."
"So, I think she has the right to know."
Hearing this, Fang Xiaoxia looked bewildered yet nervous.
"No wonder..." The witch raised an eyebrow slightly, then looked back at Bai Zhou, who was solemnly holding the umbrella, hesitating again.
"What I actually wanted to say was, could you take the empty bucket off your head before talking? It looks really awkward..."
Mr. KFC, solemnly holding his umbrella, still hadn't taken off his Family Bucket.
Bai Zhou: "..."
What difference does it make... Bai Zhou muttered inwardly, taking the Family Bucket off his head and returning his expression to normal.
Then the witch asked, "So, you just escaped the pursuit of his subordinates?"
"Pretty much. Over by the expressway, including Picasso, whom you ran into last time."
Bai Zhou nodded. "I told you, there's a very close connection between the Fine Arts Society and Luo!"
Picasso!
Recalling her previous battered state, the Gem Witch felt a jolt in her heart. The way she looked at Bai Zhou shifted once more; his calm, nonchalant demeanor now seemed profoundly enigmatic.
"It seems your means are even more formidable than I thought..."
Noticing Bai Zhou showed little interest in boasting, the Gem Witch quickly steered the topic back:
"After these past two or three days of covert investigation and staking things out, I did find some leads."
At the mention of Luo, the Gem Witch's face darkened:
"That man named Luo definitely has issues... big issues!"
"To think the Special Control Bureau actually harbored such an enormous cancer!"
"Though speaking of which, it's thanks to you,"
the witch added. "Perhaps because he had to deploy people against you, personnel movements were unusually frequent, which allowed me to spot some... well, traces of those 'Old Blacks' you mentioned."
Bai Zhou blinked. "Actually, they're called Black Warriors. At least, that's what Luo named them."
"—Though I'm more used to calling them Old Blacks."
Rain splattered across the alley, puddles deepening as if the narrow passage were about to be flooded by the deluge.
Under the black umbrella where lamplight could not reach, the quiet conversation of the three was masked completely by the sound of rain.
"By the way," Bai Zhou added after a thought, "I think the groups you saw probably weren't deployed against me."
"At least the Black Warriors I encountered tonight didn't come from the Special Control Bureau."
Those Black Warriors were special, each possessing an astonishing size, brought directly from the Major's secret factory.
As for the ones hidden within the Special Control Bureau...
"Such frequent mobilization is likely for Major Luo's new plan."
Bai Zhou recalled the second subterranean floor of the factory, currently being evacuated in total disarray.
"As far as I know, he built a massive base beneath a private middle school, and he's going to execute a major operation in the next day or two."
"Those Black Warriors were probably sent to guard that place."
After all, they were the Major's most trusted bioweapons.
The most fitting royal guard imaginable.
"A private middle school? A major operation?"
The witch started in horror. "What is he planning now?"
Only now did she realize that she wasn't the only one laboring in secret with an injured body; Bai Zhou hadn't been idle either during their time apart, and had even uncovered findings that bordered on terrifying.
Staging something under a school was practically taking the entire faculty and student body hostage. This was by no means trivial, and whatever Major Luo intended to do was likely beyond imagination.
—And you managed to find out even that?
Bai Zhou's image grew increasingly enigmatic in her eyes.
Major Luo had covertly constructed a horrifying industrial chain, weaving a web of interests that quietly enveloped countless people, expanding silently over years until he was on the verge of realizing his grand blueprint.
Until Bai Zhou burst onto the scene.
According to this fugitive's wanted record, he had made the Major suffer setback after setback right from the start, growing stronger in the process and displaying ever more capabilities, appearing bottomless.
And that was merely on the surface.
The witch had no doubt that behind the scenes, Bai Zhou and Major Luo had clashed countless times, to the point where even the Major's core secrets were now laid bare before him.
She was truly curious just how many perils Bai Zhou had braved in secret to be able to recount such chilling secrets with such nonchalance right now.
This man was simply... the Major's fated nemesis!
His veritable bane!
"—I must report this immediately!" The witch felt she could not sit idly by while the Major's plot unfolded.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Bai Zhou's gaze turned dark. "Major Luo's operations are spread wider than we thought. Just so you know... Deputy Director Liu of the Anomaly Investigation Bureau is one of his accomplices!"
"The Anomaly Investigation Bureau... Deputy Director?!" The Gem Witch's eyes widened. "A being above Rank 6, willing to be Major Luo's lackey?"
"How could that be?"
"Hardly a lackey. It's likely a partnership; everyone bustles about for profit."
Recalling what he had seen earlier, Bai Zhou added, "Though Major Luo definitely seems to hold the upper hand."
"Fine, you're right..." The witch seemed to recall something and suddenly slumped.
"Branch 36 of the Special Control Bureau is practically a solid wall from top to bottom. We have no way of knowing how many accomplices Luo still has, or how many top officials are untainted!"
As she spoke, her expression grew grim:
"Ever since your incident, the Special Control Bureau sent down an oversight team, but frankly, they didn't dare make a move. They've just been slacking off, eating and drinking at the base."
"Yet that's precisely what's so suspicious!"
"By all accounts, every official department is supervised and guided by the Statute Hall. When the explosion happened at Base 36, the Statute Hall should have leaped into action and sent people to investigate."
"—Yet they haven't!"
The witch's gaze turned profound. "After all this time, even the fiercely protective Special Control Bureau went through the motions and sent an oversight team, yet not a single soul from the Statute Hall has mobilized."
"This Major Luo... has connections that reach the heavens!"
Compared to the Gem Witch's heavy tone, Bai Zhou didn't find this surprising at all. He even felt like joking:
"That's why I'm an on-the-run fugitive saddled with so many charges... Otherwise, I'd have reported Major Luo to the higher-ups long ago to clear my name."
"Thank goodness you didn't." The Gem Witch imagined the scenario and suddenly felt a chill of dread. "Any report ultimately ends up consolidated at the Statute Hall."
"If Major Luo has accomplices across the Special Control Bureau, the Statute Hall, and even higher departments, reporting recklessly would lead to only one outcome."
The witch's eyes grew distant:
"'Slandering an exemplary official hero; a malicious accusation from the villainous Blood Worship Cult that must be struck down with iron fist!'"
"People would naturally prefer to believe the generous, noble-born Major Luo over a criminal from Wancheng fleeing with a Black Box, who can't shake his ties to the Blood Worship Cult no matter what."
"You might hand in the report one second, have your location leaked to the Major the next, and then get swatted to death by the big shot taking your papers..."
The Gem Witch's voice trailed off, growing so quiet she could hardly bear to continue.
For a bounty hero who championed justice like her, nothing was more agonizing than being forced to face the cruel, dark reality right before her eyes.
Bai Zhou chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not foolish enough to report him like an idiot."
"However—that is precisely why we're forming an alliance."
Bai Zhou looked intently at the Gem Witch.
Through the seed of battle intent, he sensed an elusive, righteous aura emanating from her.
A person like this would never act against her own conscience, for doing so would ruin her path as an Extraordinary.
"I need you, just as you need me."
"Certain things carry no weight if they come from me, but as an official 'hero,' your words have gravity."
"You will find trustworthy people within the Special Control Bureau and lay out everything regarding Major Luo."
"And this time is different."
Bai Zhou's gaze burned brightly. "Previously, all I had was an encrypted ledger, but this time, I hold concrete, comprehensive evidence proving the Major is compromised."
"Provided you find the right people."
"The right people..." The Gem Witch's eyes flickered as she pondered deeply.
"Most importantly,"
Bai Zhou continued,
"Major Luo's final plan is about to commence. His opening move starts tonight at midnight."
"I will make as much noise as possible to expose the place to the public."
"And what I want you to do is ensure that people with sufficient standing and integrity show up there at the right time."
"As for this..." Bai Zhou asked her, "what do you think?"
"I can't make any guarantees, nor do I have the standing or authority to promise anything..." The Gem Witch shook her head, yet her voice was decisive and firm. "But whatever you need me to do, I will do my utmost."
"—As long as you trust me, leave this to me!"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Bai Zhou said softly, "Since we're allies, if you trust someone, you don't doubt them."
"Midnight tonight, then tomorrow and the day after..."
The Gem Witch murmured, calculating the timeline in her head, before sighing softly amidst the rain.
"Time is so tight."
"Still, knowing in advance and having a chance to fight is far better than regretting it too late when disaster strikes."
The Gem Witch took a deep breath. Beneath her half-mask, her pale, frail cheeks flushed slightly with intense focus.
"Let's do it!"
She lifted her head, looking past the low eaves of the alley walls toward the dark clouds and streaming curtain of rain:
"I don't believe Tinghai's sky is completely dark."
The witch's voice was low, as though speaking to Bai Zhou, or perhaps comforting herself:
"No matter how heavy the rain, the skies will clear one day!"
"Agreed." Bai Zhou wholeheartedly endorsed her sentiment.
"We'll definitely have to turn that Luo guy into a sunshine doll and hang him from a streetlight to pray for clear skies!"
The witch: "...?"
Is that how the skies clear up?!
Could the wanted poster actually be right on the money...
The Gem Witch suddenly felt that she ought to be called the Gem Saintess.
And you, my friend, are the real witch who should be tied to a cross!
"In any case..."
The sudden downpour kicked up a chilly mist. The Gem Witch raised a hand to rub her strangely burning cheeks.
"With the whole world hunting us, an alliance of just two people taking on such an immense shadowy faction... sounds unexpectedly thrilling!"
Though her words were dramatic, there was no nervousness; instead, a gleam of excitement lit her eyes.
Bai Zhou nodded. "And within the next two days, the victor between us and Luo will be decided!"
The alliance's first battle would be the decisive one!
*Splash...*
Her cape billowed in the wind as the witch took two steps, stepping out from the darkness of the alley.
The dim yellow glow of a streetlight fell over her, outlining her silhouette through the thick curtain of rain.
"What comes next will be spectacular. Neither of us better die on this rainy night."
She turned back to Bai Zhou, who remained in the deep shadows, speaking as if making a pledge:
"No matter what, this world shouldn't be completely rotten just yet."
"Once this is over, I promise I'll help you reclaim the innocence and honor you deserve!"
Chapter 186