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Yue Shi carried Zhu Qunqing's head, his steps somewhat unsteady as he found the Investigation Bureau pickup truck parked in a secluded spot.

Bai Wanyang had been waiting in the truck. Seeing Yue Shi's figure, he immediately pushed the door open and jumped out.

"Brother, you're back!" Bai Wanyang's voice was filled with the joy of relief. He believed in Yue Shi's strength, but the agony of waiting had not been lessened by that faith.

Yue Shi didn't speak. He simply tossed Zhu Qunqing's head, the blood on it already dried and crusty, to Bai Wanyang. "I killed him for you."

Bai Wanyang caught it instinctively. The cold, sticky sensation made his stomach churn, but the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably, and a surge of gratitude welled up in his heart. After all, Yue Shi had said he specifically went after Zhu Qunqing for his sake.

He was completely unaware of the manipulation in Yue Shi's words, nor did it occur to him that Yue Shi had been acting for his own benefit from start to finish; killing Zhu Qunqing was merely a convenient byproduct.

Looking at the undisguised gratitude in Bai Wanyang's eyes, Yue Shi said nothing more. He pulled the car door open and threw himself heavily into the passenger seat.

"You should rest. I'll drive back to the Bureau." Bai Wanyang saw that Yue Shi was in bad shape, so he immediately shoved Zhu Qunqing's head into the back seat and took the driver's seat.

Yue Shi closed his eyes and gave a barely perceptible nod.

Bai Wanyang took a deep breath and started the engine. His driving skills had been taught to him on the fly by Yue Shi when they were heading to Peace Alley. He was very inexperienced, but he kept Yue Shi's driving tips firmly in mind, boldly flooring the gas pedal to charge ahead.

The truck jerked forward as it started, then bounced and swayed along the uneven road, nearly hitting roadside obstacles several times.

But it didn't matter. It wasn't his truck anyway.

Yue Shi leaned against the back of the seat with his eyes tightly shut. His consciousness had already detached from reality, sinking into that boundless wasteland.

The massive black stone tablet stood before him, the dim full moon at its peak, guarded by tentacles, emitting an eerie light.

Yue Shi was shocked to find that the thick, animated tentacles were tightly coiled around him, wrapping him into a "cocoon." He wasn't sure if he was currently a conscious entity or a soul, but the cold suckers brought a strange, adhesive sensation.

Above the tentacles, the ninth golden eye had fully opened, flowing with a cold and grotesque radiance—

【Feedback】

【In the name of the mother, select a target and forcibly establish a parent-child relationship with them.】

【Do not provoke the strong; it may result in a backlash.】

【Long cooldown period.】

【“Come, be my child!”】

This...

This was a bit bizarre.

This new ability seemed capable of imposing a mental imprint. Once activated, the lifelong bachelor Yue Shi would suddenly and quite literally become someone's father.

He really didn't know what to say.

In a sense, this ability was extremely powerful, provided the child was obedient and didn't start shouting, "A true man born into this world cannot dwell for long in subservience."

Unfortunately, after using this ability once, it would enter a long cooldown period. Otherwise, he would have tried to become the father of everyone in the world no matter what.

That's right, he would be the Blue Star's Father!

What a pity.

Since the ability had a cooldown, he couldn't just test the effects at will. The first target would have to be carefully selected.

Yue Shi's feelings were very complicated.

However, he soon had no time to think about such things. The source provided by the S-rank supernatural creature, The Crucible of Life, was simply too massive. It didn't just light up the ninth eye; it triggered a mutation in the tentacles themselves.

The tentacles coiled into a cocoon, wrapping Yue Shi inside. The nine open golden eyes were no longer independent; they began to move toward Yue Shi at the core. Their edges blurred, overlapped, and blended as they touched, as if nine beads were about to merge into one.

Even more heart-pounding was the fact that this merging golden ball of light was penetrating deep into Yue Shi's consciousness with an irresistible force, entangling itself with his soul.

A chaotic sense of repulsion and tearing suddenly erupted at a certain moment. Yue Shi felt his cognitive structure twisting and deforming, and the form of his conscious entity began to fluctuate unstably.

In his vision, countless phantom-like black raven feathers grew uncontrollably from the surface of his conscious entity, spreading to cover his entire body.

A strong, non-human sense of alienation enveloped him from all sides.

Inside the truck in reality, Yue Shi's eyes were tightly shut. His body was as still as a corpse, his brow furrowed, and fine beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Bai Wanyang was focused on driving and did not notice this subtle change.

The pickup truck drove into Amber City late at night. The sound of the moat's water rushed loudly. After the sentries on the bridge carefully checked that they weren't bringing in any outsiders, they were allowed to pass.

By the time they finally arrived outside the Investigation Bureau building, it was nearly midnight.

Ling Xun had been busy all day and hadn't finished work even late at night; he was waiting in his office.

Seeing the Bureau's specialized vehicle return in such a battered state, he thought Yue Shi and Bai Wanyang had encountered an unexpected situation and had been in a fierce conflict.

The car door opened. Seeing that the two only looked pale but weren't seriously injured or missing limbs, Ling Xun's tensed nerves finally relaxed.

"It's good that you're back safe." Ling Xun approached them, his tone carrying a hint of reproach but mostly relief. "You were too reckless. Once you located the Hive, you should have withdrawn immediately. The suppression work could have been outsourced to qualified private organizations; there was no need to handle it yourselves."

Bai Wanyang, however, looked excited, eager to share the encounters of this field mission. "Section Chief Ling, you have no idea how much stuff we ran into..."

Even though he had awakened a powerful supernatural ability, he was still just a high school student. It was his first time leaving the city to enter a Chaos Zone, and he had even overachieved his mission goals, so it was inevitable that he would show some youthful exuberance.

He spoke animatedly about the monsters blocking the road, the Bee Woman running a milk tea shop, the massive but fragile Queen Bee, his experiences in Peace Alley, and the escaped Bai Qingyu and Zhu Qunqing... The twists and turns were far more bizarre than any ordinary field mission.

While Bai Wanyang spoke lightly and cheerfully, Ling Xun listened with a pounding heart. He keenly realized just how much killing intent had been hidden within Yue Shi and Bai Wanyang's journey!

He couldn't help but look at Bai Wanyang with astonishment. This kid's luck...

"Here, this is for you." Bai Wanyang handed Ling Xun a spherical object.

Ling Xun took it and looked down, coming face-to-face with Zhu Qunqing's empty, gouged-out eye sockets.

His hand jerked, and he almost dropped the sphere.

"The warrant for his arrest was only issued at noon. I didn't expect him to be so thoroughly dead so soon." Ling Xun looked at Bai Wanyang with feigned composure, thinking that the boy seemed to have picked up some bad habits.

"Well, the world is unpredictable," Bai Wanyang said with a wave of his hand.

An unstable ripple emanated from Yue Shi, and only then did Ling Xun notice that he had been asleep with his eyes closed the entire time.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He might just be too tired. He hasn't woken up since we left."