As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.
What did she mean by that?
She was actually just a victim, and that disaster-level urban eldritch creature had vanished right under their noses?
Xu Xiaoyou did not lower her raised hand; instead, she leaned forward.
The members of the association present felt the residual aura of an urban legend on the girl and reflexively took a step back. One of them, a man with a sturdy build, acted as if facing a great enemy, aiming his mimicry weapon directly at Xu Xiaoyou's face. "Back up! Back up!"
Xu Xiaoyou looked helpless. "Is this really how you treat a victim?"
Her face was pale, her lips had a bluish tint, and her tone was weary and weak. No matter how one looked at her, she appeared to be a victim of an accident.
Suddenly, Xu Xiaoyou's breathing became rapid, as if every breath was a heavy burden. Sweat seeped from her forehead from time to time, and she looked as if her body was about to give out, as if she were on the verge of collapsing.
Bai Nian'an pondered for a moment. Then, the space to the left of her head fluctuated, and a creature that was pale gold all over with a pair of pure white, broad ears like palm-leaf fans appeared out of thin air. It circled in the air, emitting a pleasant "heng-wei, heng-wei" sound while shimmering sparkles trailed in its wake.
Looking at this creature that resembled a pig yet had rodent-like features and certain characteristics of a lop-eared rabbit, Xu Xiaoyou felt a sense of unease, though her expression remained calm.
Bai Nian'an dropped a bead of inspiration into the vertical slit on the creature's forehead. As the inspiration fell in, dollar signs drifted across the pale gold creature's eyes. Its fan-like broad ears spread open as it flew upward, and a pillar of golden light descended upon Xu Xiaoyou.
"I am asking you, you just said you were a victim. Did you encounter an attack from an urban eldritch creature?" Bai Nian'an stared into Xu Xiaoyou's eyes.
"Yes, I was attacked by an urban eldritch creature..."
Under this golden pillar of light, the unease in Xu Xiaoyou's heart grew restless. She suddenly had a premonition that she could not lie. If she told a lie, although she didn't know what would happen, it certainly wouldn't be anything good.
She thought of Bai Youyou's mind inquisitor, an ability targeted at the mind. Was this creature the ability of the woman in front of her, or was it some kind of trait-based item?
She suppressed her thoughts for the moment. The current situation didn't allow her much time to think. If she didn't want to be treated as an urban eldritch creature and killed on the spot, she had to pass this investigator's test first.
The creature did not react. It flipped over, belly toward the sky, and with dream bubbles floating in the air, it drifted off to sleep.
Everyone present exhaled in unison, and the solemn expression on Bai Nian'an's face softened slightly.
She walked up to Xu Xiaoyou, her voice turning a bit gentler. "I apologize, but I must ask you to come back with us to make a statement. We need to understand some of the details of the incident."
"Understood. Thank you for your hard work," Xu Xiaoyou nodded.
In the distance, Jian Liu watched the blonde girl walk away with the group and smiled with narrowed eyes. "A-Ning, things are starting to get interesting."
A-Ning rolled his eyes at the youth and chose to ignore him. It wasn't the first time this guy enjoyed playing the riddler.
Outside the holographic window, the city scenery flew by below. Snowflakes hit the car body with faint sounds, condensing into a thin layer of frost on the surface.
Two association members sat opposite Xu Xiaoyou, cradling their firearms against their chests. Although they were expressionless, Xu Xiaoyou could still see their nervousness in the small details.
"It's a bit hot, isn't it?" one association member said, tugging at his collar, his combat boots tapping against the metal floor of the car.
"Yeah, and it's stuffy too," the other association member replied, looking down.
This was already the fifteenth time in three minutes he had checked the gun in his hands. It was a shotgun utilizing high-speed rotating magazine technology, equipped with a shield generator beneath the revolving muzzle. At such close range, the firepower it could unleash was like a roaring metal beast, enough to easily tear through the armor of an old-era tank—it was the latest generation of military firearms from Universal Heavy Industries.
Even in the harshest environments, covered in mud, its firing performance wouldn't be affected much. Since its inception, this shotgun model had been through tens of thousands of battles, yet reports of malfunctions were fewer than ten.
The body of this float-car was made entirely of Eka alloy, which bullets could not penetrate. Even the impact energy from high explosives would be absorbed and converted by the properties of its surface coating.
Rather than a float-car, the current scene felt more like a small prison transporting an extremely dangerous criminal. Looking through the holographic window, one could see several float-cars following steadily behind.
Xu Xiaoyou closed her eyes to rest.
"Hey man, do you remember last time?" the association member on the left suddenly asked.
"Hmm?"
"That time. The two of us had perfect coordination when we cornered that grade 3 out-of-control person."
Hearing this, the association member on the right had a flash in his eyes. "Oh, I remember! Terulun Pasture! We were heroic and divine, charging at the very front to deal with that out-of-control person..."
"Achoo!" Xu Xiaoyou sneezed, and the shoulders of both association members jerked.
She looked at the two association members acting as if they were facing a mortal enemy and raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Xu Xiaoyou let out a breath. "You two keep bragging. Don't mind me."
The two association members: "..."
The float-car soon pulled up in front of the tuner's office. Across from them, they could see association members and tuners walking out of the main entrance.
Following Bai Nian'an into the tuner's office, many association members were still working overtime. A young staff member's eyes lit up when she saw Bai Nian'an arrive. She stood up from her seat and jogged over, carrying a stack of files.
"Sister Bai," she said.
Bai Nian'an chuckled softly. "Why haven't you gone home yet? It's so late."
"Well, everyone else is still here, and I want to do my part too."
"Look at this."
The young staff member handed over the documents. Bai Nian'an glanced at them, looking thoughtful.
The top sheet contained information on an urban eldritch creature called the 'Dye Thief.' Its trait was the ability to vanish without a trace in 'black' environments. It often appeared in red-light districts, following patrons and launching attacks to steal the 'dye' from human brains.
"Dye Thief?" Bai Nian'an read aloud.
"According to the description of one victim, the Dye Thief is humanoid with rat-like features on its face. Its body is covered in fur, it has a slender snout, and, uh... no ears. Its claws are very sharp."
"He specifically mentioned that the rat-like creature thrust its sharp claws deep into his brain and pulled out a mass of multicolored material."
"He said he lost a segment of his memory. Every memory from after that multicolored mass was removed from his brain was gone. He only realized what had happened after he got home."
Xu Xiaoyou, listening to their conversation from behind, felt her eyes flicker when she heard about the memory loss.
"Did he fall unconscious?" Bai Nian'an asked with her arms crossed.
"He was very certain that he didn't black out. He was conscious when the 'dye' was removed."
"Didn't those sharp claws leave any external injuries?" Bai Nian'an asked.
The young staff member shook her head and pulled out a CT scan from underneath. "There were no surface wounds."
"We gave him a CT scan, and his intracranial area had developed a lesion. A tumor grew in the lower right part of his brain."
"It's tragic. The doctor said this tumor would take his life within a month."
"Where is he now?"
The young staff member's expression was complicated. After a long pause, she spoke slowly. "He... committed suicide by overdosing not long ago."
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