Chapter Twelve: Rare

The bodies of the dead man and woman immediately began to change: their skin turned pale and swollen, with dense horizontal stripes appearing on the surface, writhing like worms.

Gasping heavily, Li Sheng steadied his breathing and stepped into the kitchen, turning on the faucet to wash away the slime and blood stains from the mantis-arm bone blade.

He then picked up a palm-sized plastic bag from the floor, emptied the nuts inside, and placed six blood amber beads into it.

After finishing these tasks, he scanned the scene to ensure he left nothing behind, tucked the plastic bag away, and turned toward the balcony—

With all the commotion, the neighbors nearby had likely already called the police. When the authorities arrived, they would naturally report the situation inside the room to the Special Affairs Bureau, which would then come to clean up the mess.

Therefore, Li Sheng did not knock on the master bedroom door to warn the two brothers inside that the outside was safe.

For their sake, it was better to hide and not witness the gruesome sight of their “parents'” deaths.

Suddenly—

Just as Li Sheng, aching all over, prepared to jump out the window, a gentle breeze swept through, and a figure appeared out of thin air on the balcony.

It was a short-haired young woman with delicate features, looking only a few years older than Li Sheng. She wore a brown wool coat and a gray fisherman's hat, with an adorably plump gray-white Totoro floating beside her.

Their eyes met in silence.

Hidden behind sunglasses and a hood, Li Sheng tensed, ready to spring his mantis-arm bone blade again for a fight, or to turn and flee through the door.

Unexpectedly—

“*Clap, clap, clap.*”

The short-haired girl glanced around the chaotic living room, then abruptly started applauding, nodding as she said, “Under the bed in the next bedroom, there are two children’s heartbeats. On the living room floor lie two bodies dressed in human clothes — escaped experimental subjects.

Judging from the family portrait on the TV stand, they are a family.

Let me guess: you intervened, protecting the children from these two disguised experimental subjects.”

“...”

Unsure if she was friend or foe, Li Sheng remained silent, cautiously adjusting his footing, his hand already on the doorknob behind him.

“Did you design this outfit yourself?” the short-haired girl tilted her head, her voice magnetic.

“Gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints.

You wrapped cloth around your shoe soles and taped them to avoid leaving prints, preventing the police from deducing your shoe type, height, weight, gender, or profession.

The hood prevents hair from falling during a fight.

The sunglasses stop surveillance cameras from capturing your irises, which could be enhanced by police software to identify you.

You also sprayed deodorizer to prevent police scent extraction devices from collecting human scent molecules at the scene.”

Her tone was admiring, her gaze appreciative.

“Considering you didn’t call the Special Affairs Bureau for help, you must be a rookie without their contact info. All of this you figured out on your own?

And you didn’t call the police either, likely fearing they couldn’t handle two escaped experimental subjects and would cause more casualties?

A rookie with brains, courage, ability, and—rarely—a conscience.

Tsk tsk tsk, in these times, such a person is truly a rare species.”

“Why rare?” Li Sheng asked in a raspy, deep voice due to his damaged throat cartilage.

“We are now in the fifth year since the Killing Grounds opened. Every country’s supernatural response organizations, the Global Supernatural Alliance, and underground guilds have matured. They all operate by protocols.”

The short-haired girl said, “Newly chosen ones like you are rarely as pure as a blank slate.”

Li Sheng’s heart stirred; she seemed to regard him as part of a group called “Chosen Ones,” speaking of the world’s common knowledge.

“According to regulations, newly discovered wild Chosen Ones must be reported to the Special Affairs Bureau. But since I’ve lived in this neighborhood, you could say you saved my neighbors, so I won’t report you.”

She pulled a gray plastic business card from her pocket and flicked it toward him.

Li Sheng didn’t reach out but used metal tweezers from the coffee table to catch the card midair and glanced at it.

The front bore six lines of text:

[Changsun Yao]

[General Manager, World Nuclear Peace House]

[Address: Room 408, Building 2, Saige Tower Technology Industrial Park, Yunjin Road, Puluo District, Yin City]

Below were phone, email, and website details.

On the back was a plump nuclear bomb icon and a business description:

[World Nuclear Peace House Services: Intelligence Trading, Security Services, Arms Procurement, Personnel Training, Equipment Maintenance, Engineering Contracting]

At the bottom, two lines of small print slogans:

[Precision, Standardization, Timely and Stable, Efficient and Loyal]

[Integrity, Reputation, Seeking Common Development]

Noticing Li Sheng’s cautious manner, Changsun Yao said lightly, “My World Nuclear Peace House isn’t far from here. Drop by sometime; maybe we can do business.

Since you’re a pure rookie, I suggest visiting the company website on the card. There’s a hyperlink to the Killing Grounds game forum.

The newbie guides there will answer your questions effectively.”

She paused and looked out the window as sirens wailed from below.

“The neighbors have already called the police. They’re arriving soon, and so will the Special Affairs Bureau. You’d better hurry and run.”

“...”

Hearing this, Li Sheng slowly put down the card, nodded to her, and leapt out the window.

Grasping the gaps between bricks and the drainage pipe on the outer wall, he descended swiftly to the first floor.

He had earlier disabled the neighborhood’s fixed surveillance cameras with small stones, clearing an invisible route. Li Sheng quickly fled the community, vanishing into the darkness.

Two minutes later, a squad of Yin City police officers rushed upstairs, smashing open the security door with a battering ram.

The lead officer, pistol raised, rushed inside to find a chaotic room, two grotesque bodies sprawled on the floor, and Changsun Yao standing calmly amidst them.

The senior officer immediately ordered his colleagues to stay out and pulled out his phone to call for backup.

Soon after, Tang Wenwei, captain of the first squad of the fifth mobile task force of Yin City’s Special Affairs Bureau, entered the room.

Behind her, men in black suits skillfully sealed the scene, took photographs, scanned the artificial bodies on the floor, and placed them in body bags.

Two black-suited agents pried open the bedroom door, found the brother and sister crouching under the bed, covered their eyes, and carried them out and downstairs.

One agent glanced at the scanner readings and reported, “Abnormal fluctuation index 68. Yellow alert level.

These two bodies were originally human but were parasitized and replaced by two worm experimental subjects infected by the Worm Lord, causing this tragedy.

However, no divine blight fragments were found inside them...”

Tang Wenwei turned her gaze to Changsun Yao, who met her eyes without fear.

“The item isn’t with me. The scene was already like this when I arrived.”

Tang Wenwei knew this well: Changsun Yao’s fighting style wouldn’t have left the living room in such disarray. If she had fought, these two low-level experimental subjects wouldn’t have survived even a second.

Someone else took the divine blight fragments.

What concerned her was that Changsun Yao had arrived so early without notifying the task force or activating the Shadow Realm to help track the first Chosen One who had arrived.

“Divine blight fragments are highly unstable factors threatening social security. This month alone, there have been over twenty yellow-alert-level abnormal incidents nationwide related to Worm Lord fragments,” Tang Wenwei said solemnly.

“Miss Changsun, it is every civilian organization’s duty to assist the Special Affairs Bureau in maintaining order. It concerns everyone.”

“*Hmph.* If I followed your wishes and activated the Shadow Realm to track that first Chosen One, what if he attacked me? I protect social security, but who protects me? Am I supposed to wait for you to come collect my corpse?”

Changsun Yao laughed and scoffed, flipping her hair disdainfully before walking to the balcony and disappearing with the wind.

“...”

Watching her departure, Tang Wenwei pursed her lips.

If anyone else had said that, it would have seemed like petty arguing and illogical quibbling—biting the hand that feeds you.

Without the Special Affairs Bureau maintaining order, society would have long since descended into chaos.

But coming from her... Tang Wenwei found herself unable to refute it.

The Changsun family, like the Xue, Lu, Wang, and Shao clans, had signed contracts with the Special Affairs Bureau to help the country establish a foothold in the Killing Grounds. In return, the government granted them many privileges, including business incentives and personal security guarantees.

Two years ago, the Changsun family suffered a catastrophe, wiped out entirely except for Changsun Yao.

The Special Affairs Bureau’s security guarantees had failed utterly, and they never uncovered the truth behind the family’s extermination.

So she lacked the confidence to argue.

Forget it—no point worrying about her.

Tang Wenwei turned to her subordinates and instructed, “That Chosen One left not long ago. Collect all trace evidence at the scene: handprints, footprints, blood, hair, bodily fluids, skin flakes, fingerprints. Also, check the neighborhood surveillance and question the two children about anything they saw or heard.”

Doing good deeds anonymously?

Heh, if it was truly just to do good, why take the dangerously harmful divine blight fragments?

“Keep a close watch on the black market circulation of divine blight fragments. We must find that Chosen One.”