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Join the ServerOn a silent night, a raven the size of a human soared through the air.
“Everyone, pull her down!” Zhao Suyan sighed, gazing up at the Stowaway high above. “This Stowaway isn’t faking it; she’s genuinely weak.”
Hearing Zhao Suyan’s words, Li Sijia nodded in acknowledgment before giving a sharp tug on the silk thread in her hand.
High in the sky, the Stowaway, who had been contemplating her future, reacted too slowly. With a whoosh, she was yanked to the ground, creating a crater upon impact.
From within the shattered pit, the Stowaway wailed in agony.
“Honestly, this Stowaway is the weakest I’ve encountered since joining the Supernatural Administration Bureau…”
The trio approached the crater, Lu Ren marveling at the raven-transformed Stowaway with a click of his tongue.
“Weak or strong, if she’s a spatial Stowaway, we’ll arrest her all the same,” Li Sijia retorted, producing a pair of pristine white handcuffs and securing them around the raven’s leg after hearing Lu Ren’s comment.
Zhao Suyan nodded in agreement with Li Sijia’s words. “In any case,” he added, “it’s enough that we’ve caught the Stowaway.”
“Bastards, how did you find me?”
As the three conversed, the raven regained consciousness and reverted to her human form.
“Oh? You’re awake?” Lu Ren raised an eyebrow, observing the Stowaway with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
The Stowaway remained silent, attempting to channel all the magical energy within her, ready to fight to the death. Yet, after a few seconds, she sensed something was amiss; she seemed to have lost her connection to magic.
“There’s no need to struggle,” Li Sijia stated, realizing what the Stowaway was attempting. “The cuffs on your feet are special inhibitors from our world, designed for Stowaways like you. Your abilities won’t work.” With that, she produced another pair of handcuffs and secured the Stowaway’s wrists.
Upon hearing Li Sijia’s words, the Stowaway’s eyes widened, glaring at her.
Under the Stowaway’s intense gaze, Li Sijia merely shrugged. “You don’t have to look at me like that, as if I owe you millions.”
“Alright, enough chitchat with these Stowaways,” Lu Ren declared, snapping his fingers. “Let’s quickly take her back to the bureau for interrogation so I can get off work.”
“Indeed, let’s head back to the Yangji Branch,” Zhao Suyan affirmed, agreeing with Lu Ren.
With that, Lu Ren and Zhao Suyan pulled the Stowaway out of the shattered pit together.
One gripping a hand and the other a shoulder, the trio began to stride towards Central Park.
However, just a few meters from the pit, they abruptly halted.
The Stowaway had suddenly planted her feet, rooted to the spot like an ancient tree, making it impossible for Lu Ren and Zhao Suyan to push her forward.
“Do you genuinely believe you can arrest me like this? Ridiculous. I have other methods.”
Upon hearing the Stowaway’s defiant words, Lu Ren and the others immediately regarded her with heightened vigilance. They were eager to see what tricks she could possibly employ to escape, especially while restrained by inhibition handcuffs, from which very few had ever managed to break free.
“Hah! Ugh…”
The Stowaway’s eyes widened like brass bells before she bent at the waist, retching. Soon, a pool of bile lay on the ground where she stood.
“What’s going on?” Lu Ren furrowed his brow in confusion, observing the Stowaway, who had ceased retching. The bile she had expelled reeked terribly.
“Hah, hah, you won’t catch me,” the Stowaway gasped, turning back to grin at the trio.
As Awakened individuals, the trio possessed keen eyesight. They noticed a thumb-sized spherical object clenched between the Stowaway’s bared teeth.
Upon seeing the sphere, a surge of alarm ran through the three. Although they didn’t know its exact nature, her expression clearly indicated it was an item intended for her escape.
“Everyone, I will have my revenge.”
The Stowaway spat out the sphere, her gaze filled with resentment as she looked at Lu Ren and the others.
As the sphere hit the ground, tiny runes shimmered across its surface, then began to emit a dazzling light.
With a resounding boom, an explosion ripped through the air.
It was evident then that this was an otherworldly bomb.
Once the smoke from the explosion dissipated, the Stowaway, still wearing both pairs of handcuffs, had vanished, leaving Lu Ren and the others sprawled on the ground.
“Cough, cough, I can’t believe we were outsmarted,” Lu Ren rasped, dusting the grime from his face.
“Who would have thought this Stowaway would swallow a bomb?” Zhao Suyan replied. “Fortunately, we reacted quickly enough to activate the special protective gear issued by the bureau.”
“Gentlemen, our immediate priority is to find the Stowaway!” Li Sijia interjected, assessing the situation. “Also, such a loud explosion might have drawn public attention, so one of us needs to stay behind.”
“Understood. I’ll stay here while you and Lu Ren pursue her,” Zhao Suyan agreed, removing his tattered protective gear as he looked at Lu Ren and Li Sijia.
The two exchanged a glance, then nodded and departed. This was indeed the optimal plan: one possessed high combat prowess, while the other had tracking abilities.
Watching them leave, Zhao Suyan produced some tools and began restoring the crater to its original state.
****
In his rented room, Qi Lin, once again suffering from tinnitus due to the sound of an explosion, clapped his hands over his ears, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the window.
“Will this ever end?” Qi Lin raged, consumed by fury. Since transforming into a vampire, his hearing had become acutely sensitive, allowing him to perceive sounds from dozens of meters away.
The trade-off was that every sound reaching his ears was amplified to an unbearable degree, often causing temporary deafness or persistent tinnitus. This was a recent realization, formed over the past few minutes, and he now yearned to revert to his former self.
As for why he couldn’t control this heightened hearing, he scoffed, ‘How could a newly turned vampire possibly control such an ability?’
Driven by anger, Qi Lin cast all other thoughts aside. He yanked open the curtains, unlatched the window, and then… leaped out.
As Qi Lin plummeted, the cool wind rushed past his face, bringing him back to his senses… He suddenly remembered that he couldn’t fly.
“Holy shit!!”
With a cry of anguish, Qi Lin slammed into the ground, creating a resounding thud.
On the street outside the rented apartment, several unfortunate individuals, just off their night shifts, stared in utter stupefaction.
One person, snapping out of their daze, immediately pulled out their phone to dial emergency services, while others, eager for a spectacle, crowded closer.
Qi Lin, surrounded by the onlookers, opened his eyes, gasping for breath, having miraculously survived. His gaze met theirs.
“Ah!! A ghost!”
Those who met his crimson gaze shrieked and fled homeward, some even turning and running back the way they came.
Still lying on the ground, Qi Lin scratched his cheek awkwardly before slowly rising.
Observing the human-shaped dent he’d created in the ground, the blood pooling around him, and the people who had vanished from sight, Qi Lin nonchalantly walked away, as if he weren’t the one who had just fallen from a building and then risen to terrify everyone.
He had only taken a few steps before pausing. Just dozens of meters away, a woman, still wearing handcuffs and leg shackles and covered in grime, was running at full speed.
‘Is that… an escaped convict?’ Qi Lin mused, watching the figure, who seemed to be running with the wind, his mind beginning to churn.
‘Should I try to catch her and hand her over to the police? She’s clearly an important fugitive, given the handcuffs and leg shackles. This could earn me a bounty. Since I’m a vampire now, and falling from such a height didn’t harm me, catching an ordinary fugitive should be… feasible?’
Lost in thought, Qi Lin felt a surge of resolve and began to run in the woman’s direction.
As for any potential connection between the woman and the human-sized raven he had seen earlier, Qi Lin hadn’t even considered it. After all, he was still struggling to comprehend the supernatural and extraordinary aspects of his new reality.
Or, more simply put, he hadn’t yet been properly ‘beaten’ by experience, and thus lacked caution.
You’ve got to see this next! How to Avoid Regression will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : How to Avoid Regression
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