Room 107, Investigation Bureau Staff Dormitory.
There was no 'human' in the room; a creature of grotesque form occupied the space.
Its appearance resembled a crow, but its silhouette was stretched and alienated, saturated with a soul-stirring, macabre elegance. Its body was covered in dense, smooth, pitch-black feathers that seemed forged from solidified eternal night.
The edges of every feather shimmered with an elusive, ghostly light, tracing dizzying, complex patterns in the absolute darkness, like some kind of blasphemous star map.
It had four wings. The outer pair of main wings was disproportionately large, while a pair of exquisite auxiliary wings was tucked beneath its ribs. Additional pure black wing-claws extended from the wingtips, so sharp they seemed capable of slicing through space itself, glinting with a dangerous and cold luster.
Its head was long and narrow, with a beak that looked as if it were meticulously polished from the purest obsidian, its tip condensing a heart-stopping point of cold light.
Most striking of all, it had three eyes!
In addition to the two in the normal sockets, a third vertical eye was solemnly open above the center of its forehead, occupying half of its brow. The edges of the eyelids shimmered with a phosphorescence like stardust, and the eyeball itself was like liquid molten gold. What it reflected was not the scene in the room, but a flow of information incomprehensible to ordinary people.
This black demon bird was surrounded by an ominous aura, yet the presence of the third vertical eye bestowed upon this grotesque creature a beauty that was almost divine. Shuddering terror and blasphemous beauty were perfectly blended, achieving a strange harmony on a non-human scale.
It stood quietly in place, its eyes lively and swirling with the light of wisdom.
After a moment of silence, the change began.
The black feathers on the demon bird's body seemed to be scorched by an invisible flame, rapidly collapsing and dissolving inward into a bottomless, pitch-black fluid that covered its entire body.
From beneath the fluid came bone-chilling snaps and grinding sounds as its structure underwent a violent reorganization. The large main wings retracted and folded inward, the pair of clawed auxiliary wings transformed into arms, and the golden eye in the center of the forehead flared with light before slowly closing, turning into a long, faint golden vertical mark that finally vanished without a trace.
The pitch-black fluid was absorbed and receded, revealing the human silhouette beneath.
Ultimately, all the strange phenomena disappeared, and standing in the center of the room was a naked Yue Shi.
He looked down at himself. His skin was pale white, his muscle lines were smooth, and his originally neat short hair had grown to his waist. His fingernails had also grown significantly, as if his growth and metabolism had accelerated overnight.
The remains of his clothing, shredded into rags, lay scattered across the floor, clearly unable to withstand Yue Shi's morphological change and bursting apart.
In truth, Yue Shi had been awake for a long time; he simply didn't quite understand his current peculiar state.
In the mysterious space, that animated tentacle had detached from the stone tablet and completely fused with him, becoming inseparable.
In the real world, he found that he could freely switch between his human form and his Three-Eyed Demon Bird form. He could also manifest only certain demon bird characteristics while in human form—such as unfurling the large main wings from his back or opening the golden vertical eye between his brows.
The wings granted him the ability to fly, and the golden vertical eye also possessed two innate divine powers:
【Three-Eyed Divine Power: Anticipation】: Allows the user to see one second into the future.
【Three-Eyed Divine Power: Insight】: Reads information about all things, observes hidden existences, and analyzes abnormal phenomena.
Anticipation could only see one second into the future, which seemed trivial and couldn't make Yue Shi a prophet, but in combat, during clashes between masters, or in moments of crisis, that one second was enough to reverse life and death.
The utility of Insight was even broader. When focusing on a target, various pieces of information about the target would appear in Yue Shi's vision in the form of text.
Upon waking this morning, Yue Shi found himself in the demon bird form. It was by using Insight to observe himself that he had gathered a wealth of useful information:
【Black Demon Bird with Three Eyes and Four Wings】
【Phantom of Mind Control】
【Messenger of Filth and Death】
【Symbol of Concealment and Decay】
Yue Shi had guessed before that the various supernatural powers he had acquired were fragments stripped from a single whole.
Now, he could confirm that this guess was correct.
The nine supernatural powers he had acquired in the past were all part of this demon bird's innate talents: feathers with concealment and defensive effects, talons that spread decay and transfer diseases, a voice that bewitches the mind and declares death, spells to command shadow crows...
The stone tablet in the mysterious space had bestowed the demon bird's fragments upon Yue Shi one by one until the puzzle was complete. Yue Shi had become the demon bird, and the two had merged into one.
Only a complete demon bird could use the Three-Eyed Divine Powers.
At this moment, Yue Shi felt a sense of power filling his entire body; he was stronger than ever before.
He walked into the bathroom, picked up a pair of nail clippers, and began to trim and smooth his excessively long, sharp nails one by one. Then, he stood under the shower, letting the warm water wash over his skin.
Although Insight allowed Yue Shi to understand many things, he still had many unanswerable questions in his heart.
"What exactly am I now?"
"Am I still human?"
"What kind of existence is the Three-Eyed Demon Bird?"
"Was it a failed advancement... and I've become a supernatural creature?"
"When my consciousness entered the mysterious space and I used Insight to observe the space and the full moon stone tablet, why was it all ██ garbled code?"
The body wash gave off a fragrant citrus scent. Yue Shi dried himself and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
In the mirror, aside from his longer hair, he seemed no different than usual.
After tidying up, he pulled open the door.
The sight outside the door, however, made him pause.
The end of the hallway was completely sealed by a heavy alloy gate. The surface of the gate was etched with strange patterns and seemed to be electrified with high voltage, as a faint scent of ozone permeated the air. Various monitoring instruments and cameras were everywhere.
A golden vertical mark appeared between Yue Shi's brows. With a brief glance around, countless pieces of information immediately flooded his vision.
Clearly, the entire staff dormitory had been isolated.
"Hmm...? Is this targeted at me?"
Yue Shi pondered for a few seconds, considering the worst-case scenario.
If he were a supernatural creature now, could he successfully escape the Investigation Bureau?
Others were of no concern; he only feared the Director personally taking action.
Thinking this, several crows darted out from the shadows, instantly destroying all the nearby cameras.
A high-pitched, piercing alarm immediately began to blare frantically.
Just as Yue Shi was preparing to forcibly demolish the isolation gate, Ling Xun's voice came through the loudspeaker just in time, carrying a gentle, soothing quality as it echoed in the narrow space:
"Please remain where you are for the time being and do not make any sudden moves. I am going to ask you some questions. Please answer truthfully. The isolation will only be lifted once you pass the test."
"First question: Please state your name accurately."
"..." Yue Shi stopped in his tracks, completely bewildered.
"Please state your name accurately," Ling Xun repeated.
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