Bai Zhou, What Are You Doing Here?

Was this really a Blood Worship Cultist? ...What a weak Blood Worship Cultist. Looking at the doctor thrashing on the floor, Bai Zhou could not help feeling a bit puzzled. Besides, for an atrocious, sinister, and cunning Blood Worship Cultist, how did this guy fight so... openly and honorably? Bai Zhou had clearly prepared himself against every underhanded trick in the book. Before coming in, he had used his wristband to turn invisible and deliberately spent ten minutes layering on every little ritual he had recently learned, all at once. Purification, mental clarity, strength enhancement, blessing of fortune... —Along the way, he had even picked up a bench leg and a handful of quicklime. Yet in the end, during their clash, Bai Zhou had only heard an unusual cicada chirp. In that instant, his spirituality had surged with unusual activity, warning him of the lethal crisis lurking behind that sound. Fortunately, a handful of quicklime had brought the cicada chirp to an abrupt halt. So... Was the underhanded one not the "Extraordinary," but himself? Blinking his clear eyes, Bai Zhou shook his head repeatedly. How could that be? It was all the fault of the Ruins civilization! "Y-Y-Y-You... are you going to bully me too?!" The doctor wailed and roared, his contorted face twisted with extreme resentment. Soon, however, his expression turned pathetic: "Don't kill me! I'm still useful! Keeping me prisoner will be of huge value to the authorities!" "I know a crucial piece of secret intel! It's... it's about the Special Control Bureau!" Babbling on and on to draw Bai Zhou's attention, his hand secretly crept backward... *Heh.* *Knowing how to launch a sneak attack does make him a bit more agile than the average Special Control Bureau agent.* *Still, that's all he's got.* *Seeing my pathetic state right now, you must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself, aren't you?* *Savoring the fruits of your victory, right? Just like a bully looking down on someone.* *Look at him, just standing there dumbly without moving...* *He must think the quicklime blinded me and left me helpless.* *Wet behind the ears, full of himself—just like all those other cockroaches in the Special Control Bureau.* *Someone like this... deserves to be taught a lesson.* *—A lesson in what real, brutal combat is!* Curses and resentful cries spewed from his lips, sounding like nothing more than the wails of a beaten cur. In reality, though, he had already quietly forced open his bloodshot, half-blinded eyes. Looking at the boy before him, a blurry silhouette came into view. *Whoosh—* A few glints of cold light burst forth. Right behind them, the doctor lunged upward with explosive speed. "Go to hell!" Faced with the doctor's sudden assault, Bai Zhou showed only an enlightened, knowing look. Yet the doctor felt that whatever Bai Zhou understood no longer mattered. His own movements were swift as a tiger's, and across such a short distance, no one could possibly dodge! "This was part of my calculations, too!" A savage grin already spread across the doctor's face. Yet in the next second, *Thud, thud, thud—* The throwing knives sank into the wall. The doctor lunged into empty air. His eyes went wide as his hands swept through "Bai Zhou," passing right through empty space. Yet the expression on Bai Zhou's face was clearly still shifting, like a phantom figure, bizarre beyond belief. —Then, five paces to the right, an identical Bai Zhou slowly materialized. His wristband gave off a faint glow. Optical camouflage cloaking plus the advanced variant of optical camouflage: intense-light projection. However, both required a bright environment; otherwise, anyone could tell the projection was fake at a glance. —That was why Bai Zhou had shattered the window and ripped down the curtains before coming in. Even in bright light, though, the colors of the projection usually had subtle discrepancies with the surrounding environment, making it easy to detect. —Except who told the doctor's eyes to be half-blinded by quicklime? Sufficient, cautious preparation had allowed Bai Zhou to flawlessly evade the ambush. Then, he drew his blade—drew his bench leg. He imagined a swallow darting past in front of him, just as he had in hundreds and thousands of practice swings. With near-instinctive speed, he swung his "blade." The wind howled as he struck down the mid-air doctor like cleaving a swallow from the sky. The doctor threw up his hands to parry. His forearms went numb, but he managed to block the bench leg. However, in the very next instant, A slender poisoned needle silently shot out from the wristband. "—There's more?!" The doctor only had time to gasp in disbelief before the pitch-black poisoned needle plunged straight into his forehead. The doctor collapsed with a thud. Staring with scarlet eyes scorched by quicklime, the black needle stuck in his forehead, he coughed up blood while clawing haphazardly across the floor. His traits as a "Devotee" hadn't even come into play, and he hadn't even fully unleashed a single secret art. He refused to accept this! —He was a Rank 2 Devotee! How could he die in such a humiliating, wretched manner? What was the deal with this kid? Finishing off opponents, ambushes, and all sorts of dirty tricks? Wait, that wasn't right! Was this the style of the Special Control Bureau? "The Special Control Bureau... *cough, cough!*" Those eyes, crisscrossed with dark-red veins, bulged as he lifted his gaze. His mouth, overflowing with black blood, curled into an eerie, chilling grin loaded with dark meaning. "You're a cockroach too..." Before he could finish, his head slumped to one side, and all breath left him. "..." Bai Zhou stood silently in place. He had actually won. One could say it was easy, but he had indeed pushed himself to the limit. A surge of accomplishment from defeating a Blood Worship Cultist welled up inside him, and he suddenly realized... After these days of grueling training, He truly was no longer that ordinary person. Unlike the prolonged, grueling combat he had imagined, real life-and-death combat was decided in an instant. Hesitation meant death. For that, he had spared no effort, even if it meant resorting to underhanded tactics. Knowing of the opponent's existence beforehand, he had prepared thoroughly. From the surprise assault to throwing the quicklime, and finally to unleashing that strike honed by thousands of repetitions... Behind what seemed simple was Bai Zhou's meticulous tactical thinking. Fortunately, the result matched his expectations. Still... he had killed someone. His first kill. The disgust and fear he had imagined never came. Looking at the gruesome corpse lying in winding trails of blood, eyes staring open in death, Bai Zhou felt an attitude bordering on indifference instead. Only his brain remained hyperactive, buzzing with near exhilaration under the surge of adrenaline. His blood rushed; his heart thudded hard. It took quite a while before that electrifying sensation stimulating every fiber of his being began to recede. In its place came an indescribably subtle sensation. That was... As if struck by an epiphany, he sensed he was on the verge of "advancing." He was just one final step away from completing the initial training of his secret art, stepping onto the true starting line of an Extraordinary, and becoming a Rank 1 Adventurer... Only the finishing stroke remained. ...Suddenly sensing something, Bai Zhou turned back to look. He saw Teacher Yuan staring at him unblinkingly. It was as though the pain in her shoulder had vanished; she uttered not a word, her blank gaze occasionally flickering with a whirl of stunned emotions. "Shh..." Bai Zhou raised an index finger to his lips and whispered to the teacher, "Keep it a secret for me, okay?" The moment the words left his mouth, Teacher Yuan saw a small, glowing symbol appear on Bai Zhou's finger. The ritual was triggered. With a soft *click*, Like a camera shutter snapping, A flash of white light flared before Teacher Yuan's eyes. Her gaze turned dazed, and she slowly went limp, collapsing unconscious onto the floor. "Phew..." Bai Zhou let out a sigh of relief. Luckily, he had prepared beforehand by drawing the primed ritual onto his hand. A ritual to seal the memories of ordinary people was mandatory coursework for an Extraordinary. —Those were Teacher Crow's exact words. As for Liu Huahua, there was no need to worry about her; she had been under the doctor's control all along and had fallen unconscious the moment the doctor went down. Now then... He turned his head toward the corpse at his feet and blinked. It was time for the "harvest." However, before inspecting the doctor's body— "Do as I say." Crow had appeared at the entrance of the infirmary at some point and spoke in a quiet voice. Looking at the trashed room and Bai Zhou standing untouched, Crow relaxed slightly, a glint of relief flashing in his eyes. "Before Section Chief Liu gets here, we need to disguise the scene." ... After working for quite a while, Bai Zhou suddenly let out a soft exclamation. "What's this?" On the doctor's body, Bai Zhou found a letter. Crow was also a little surprised and leaned closer. "What era is this, and people still write letters?" Yet once they saw the envelope's appearance, both Crow's and Bai Zhou's expressions grew solemn. It was an ashen envelope that seemed to be crafted from some peculiar leather, dotted with minute pore-like bumps and carrying the warmth and elasticity of a living creature. The writing on it was a dark brownish-red, like congealed plasma, and read: *To My Nephew.* Tearing open the envelope and unfolding the letter, a pungent, rust-like stench hit his nose, and the same scarlet writing appeared before Bai Zhou's eyes. [Three days from now, assemble at the Holy Grail Catacombs to discuss the specifics of a devastating invasion of the Special Control Bureau's Branch 36 at midnight four days from now. The blood moon will guide the way. Bring your devotees and do not be late. The difficult days are almost behind us. The raven praises the hour of tranquility; the day the blood moon returns to the earth!] Looking back at the envelope, the date signed was... today! Bai Zhou took a sharp breath in shock. The Blood Worship Cult had truly chosen Base 36 as their target for invasion! A devastating invasion! Four days from now! At midnight! So soon?! The doctor hadn't been lying at all—he truly possessed critical intelligence regarding the Special Control Bureau... —Right then, hurried footsteps echoed outside, rising one after another. The late-arriving Section Chief Liu and his men were all covered in grime and looking thoroughly battered. After all, among them, although fully equipped, Section Chief Liu was the only one who truly qualified as an Extraordinary... *Bang!* The infirmary door was kicked open by Section Chief Liu. The wreckage of the scene came into their view. "Huahua?!" Section Chief Liu's eyes turned instantly bloodshot. With a single stride, he rushed to Liu Huahua's side where she lay on the floor. His silver-white briefcase clicked and clattered, ready to latch onto his arm at any moment. Behind him, pistols clicked as rounds were chambered. Yet when they pushed past the curtain and took in the scene inside the ward, they were all struck dumb with confusion. Teacher Yuan lay unconscious on the floor, while the doctor's corpse sprawled faceup with a hideous grimace. A conspicuous, thick poisoned needle was stuck in his forehead. And leaning casually against the hospital bed, reading a letter, was... "Bai Zhou?!" Section Chief Liu's eyes bugged out as he shouted in shock: "What are you doing here?"