In the West District, near the entrance of Bai Yuwen's residential compound.
Two burly men in plain clothes appeared. After scanning their surroundings, they walked briskly toward Bai Yuwen's building.
After the two went upstairs, inside a white sedan parked by the roadside.
A young man pulled out his phone. “Chief Xu, two men who don't match our photos of the residents have entered Bai Yuwen's compound. They're likely here for him.”
After a few seconds of silence on the other end, Xu Qiulan's voice finally came through: “Follow them once they come out. Round up your team and arrest them all. They'll make perfect food for Yuwen.”
“Understood!” The young man nodded, a devious smirk appearing on his face.
Although Chief Xu was a woman, her methods were far more devious than those of many men.
For instance, she had deliberately stationed personnel right outside Bai Yuwen's building just to clean up anyone with ulterior motives.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs, at Yangcheng Prison.
Prison transport vans from various surrounding cities were arriving one after another, delivering prisoners. Anyone serving a life sentence was being sent here.
Deep inside the prison, in a sealed room.
Five criminals, hands and feet bound in cuffs, were led into the room by prison guards, looking completely bewildered.
Inside the room, a man and a woman sat behind a single table.
After chaining the prisoners' cuffs to the iron bars on the wall, the guards stepped aside.
One of the men, a heavily tattooed forty-year-old, glared at the two sitting behind the table. “What's the meaning of this? I've never heard of lifers being brought to a place like this.”
However, the two completely ignored him. Bai Yuwen pulled a handgun from beneath the table and pulled the trigger under the terrified gazes of the five prisoners.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A rapid succession of gunshots rang out. From a distance of just a few meters, a bullet hole was blown into each of their heads, killing them instantly.
Suddenly, the shadows beneath them came alive and flew toward Bai Yuwen's body.
“1,031. It really is great working with you guys. I could never have imagined this feeling of being stuffed before,” Bai Yuwen said, unable to suppress his smile as he felt the slight vibrations radiating from his mask.
Behind him, the shadows writhed, concealing an unknown number of shadow monsters.
Moreover, every hundred shadows could fuse into a single, much stronger shadow.
A faint smile played on Xu Qiulan's face. “Yuwen, do not underestimate the power of the state. Many more criminals are currently being transported here. Grow as strong as you like.”
“No problem. With an arrangement where I only have to open my mouth to be fed, if I still can't secure the other six items, I might as well slit my own throat,” Bai Yuwen replied, his face filled with confidence.
Suddenly, the mask on his person emitted a strange fluctuation, and three distinct locations in different directions surfaced in his mind.
‘What is this?’ Sensing these locations, his face filled with confusion.
Then, a realization struck him: ‘Could it be that new supernatural items have appeared?!’
Bai Yuwen leaped to his feet and turned to Xu Qiulan. “Chief Xu, the other supernatural items have likely appeared. I can sense their locations.”
Xu Qiulan's eyes lit up, and she stood up immediately. “Then let's go. Having absorbed so many shadows, you should be much stronger than those newly emerged supernatural item holders!”
Just as the authorities prepared to make their move, inside a roadside jewelry store in the East District.
An obese man looked at Ding Long in front of him with utter contempt. “One hundred thousand dollars. That's the highest I can go. If you're not selling, get the hell out.”
Normally, merchants prioritized harmony to bring in wealth, but for some reason today, he just couldn't stand the sight of this guy with the pompadour.
“What?! You're only offering a hundred thousand for this gold ring? You're trying to rip me off, aren't you!” Ding Long snapped instantly, grabbing the owner by the collar, his eyes bloodshot as he roared.
The owner, who was no pushover himself, glared at the ring on Ding Long's finger and spat, “Damn it, you walked in here and refused to even take it off for me to look at! You don't even have a receipt—it's stolen goods, isn't it?
Offering you a hundred thousand is already giving face to your boss. Otherwise, I would've just confiscated your stolen goods directly, and a lowlife thug like you wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing about it!”
Ding Long's face flushed red. For someone in the underworld, pride was everything. Being so utterly belittled by the owner, he felt a surge of rage, and his entire body began to tremble.
“What, you got a problem with that? You're already forty and still living such a pathetic life. That just proves you have no spine. If you actually dare to lay a hand on me, I guarantee you won't walk off this street alive!” the owner barked in anger, incensed at being held by a bottom-tier thug.
Under the ring's influence, both men had completely lost their sanity, and their tempers flared uncontrollably.
Ding Long already had an inexplicable fury smoldering in his chest. Being lowballed so severely by the owner, he felt an intense heat surging through his body, as if he were about to combust.
Hum!
A burst of flame erupted from the top of Ding Long's head. The surrounding air temperature instantly spiked by hundreds of degrees, and it was still climbing rapidly.
The sudden flames began to scorch the owner.
“Ahhh!!!” The owner shrieked in agony, his body writhing and struggling violently.
His skin rapidly turned red and cooked, and his eyes burst from the extreme heat.
Hum!
The next moment, the owner burst into flames as well.
Seemingly feeling nothing, Ding Long had completely lost his mind, leaving only raw fury as he roared, “Give me the fucking money! Give me the money!!!”
Hum!
The fire swept through the jewelry store. Glass shattered, and gold began to melt.
Ding Long's body began to expand as flames burst through his skin. The wrath of the Lord of Evil required immense willpower to control.
Engulfed in flames, he stared at the burning jewelry store, then turned and walked out.
“Ah!” The moment he stepped outside, morning commuters took one look at him and began screaming in terror.
“Money! I want money!” Ding Long roared, standing at the entrance.
Pedestrians within a ten-meter radius of him caught fire, collapsing to the ground with agonizing screams.
A young man watched in horror as a woman right in front of him suddenly burst into flames. He screamed, “Ah! Stay away from him!”
Since it was close to rush hour, there were many pedestrians on the street. With this sudden outburst, Ding Long instantly set seven or eight unfortunate souls ablaze.
Some bystanders quickly called the police, while others raised their phones, exclaiming in excitement, “Guys, spontaneous human combustion! I'm actually witnessing spontaneous human combustion! And it's seven or eight people at once! This is absolutely insane!”
His livestream only lasted for a minute before being banned by the system.
The commotion was massive, drawing the attention of everyone on the street.
In the sky, a few crows appeared out of nowhere. Looking down at the burning crowd, their eyes locked onto the ring on Ding Long's finger.
Thud!
After burning for a few minutes, Ding Long's body collapsed and rapidly turned to ash. The flames quickly died out.
Only a golden dragon-head ring remained on the spot, buried in the ashes.
Around him, the several bystanders caught in the flames had long since turned to ash, lying scattered on the ground.
Step, step, step!
“Move aside! What happened here?!” a loud shout suddenly boomed.
Having received the report, a squad of inspectors pushed through the gathered crowd and made their way toward the jewelry store.
Rate on N.U.
