Potential Risks

Tonight, the clear sky turned to light snow.

In a certain tenement building in the old district of Forging City, the alleyways were as cramped as an intestine.

The streetlights illuminated the falling snowflakes, which gathered in a thin white layer on the ground.

A cordoned-off area had been established around a particular residential complex.

Red and blue warning lights rotated silently, tinting the falling snow particles.

Shadowy figures moved quickly through the streets, their flashlight beams cutting through the darkness as the sound of footsteps echoed between the buildings.

Yu Duanhong slipped out from a side door of one building, his cap pulled low, his hands empty of any detector.

His mission tonight was not screening, but hunting.

The air smelled of blood.

It was thick.

He moved against the base of the wall, rounding a corner before coming to a sudden halt.

Before him was a back alley, less than three meters wide. The rear walls of residential buildings flanked both sides, cluttered with discarded furniture and broken flowerpots.

At that moment, a large patch of dark red spread across the ground, looking exceptionally jarring against the gray-black earth covered in thin snow.

A person lay face down in a pool of blood. There was a hole in their back with irregular edges, looking as though it had been hollowed out by force.

Blood was still gushing out, and the heat condensed into white mist in the cold air.

Another person knelt beside the corpse, head bowed, shoulders twitching as they made a crunching, chewing sound.

Yu Duanhong's gaze fell upon the kneeling person's hands.

They were pulling a mass of blurred internal organs from the corpse's wound, stuffing them into their mouth and tearing at them greedily.

Blood dripped from their chin, carving small pits into the snow.

The chewing person seemed to sense a gaze and slowly turned their head.

Their face was covered in blood and filth, but their eyes were an eerie, glowing green. Beneath the skin, fine, root-like patterns seemed to be swimming.

Their mouth split open in a grin, revealing teeth covered in meat scraps as a hoarse, guttural sound escaped their throat.

Yu Duanhong didn't wait for the other to pounce. He simply raised his right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and gave a light knock toward the figure.

Knock.

The sound of a door being knocked echoed through the alley.

There was no door, yet it sounded as if one had truly been struck.

The sound carried a bone-chilling coldness that rippled out instantly.

The kneeling figure froze.

In the next second, they slumped down as if their bones had been removed, the organs in their hand slipping out to land in the pool of blood.

The glowing green eyes dimmed rapidly, and the swimming root-like patterns beneath the skin stopped moving.

They were dead.

Lying side-by-side with the first corpse, blood seeped slowly from their seven orifices, merging into the existing pool.

The blood flowed even more freely now.

The sound of the knock echoing in the narrow alley quickly drew others.

Several flashlight beams swept in from different directions, landing on Yu Duanhong before shifting to the two corpses on the ground.

“Problem solved over here,” someone announced.

Footsteps approached as three people in investigator uniforms jogged over. Their expressions soured when they saw the scene.

One of them, a slightly older man, knelt down and used a gloved hand to pull back the sleeve of the second corpse.

Beneath the skin of the arm, dark green, stem-like objects were clearly visible. They looked like worms parasitizing the blood vessels; though they no longer moved, they were still hideous.

“Another one,” the old investigator said, standing up and wiping his face. Exhaustion leaked through his voice.

“There have been many similar incidents over the past two days.”

He looked at Yu Duanhong. “Good work, Xiao Yu. Quick and clean.”

Yu Duanhong didn't speak, only offering a nod.

Another young investigator stared at the corpse and muttered a curse under his breath. “What is wrong with these people? Are they all from Hu City?”

“The ID says Hu City.” The old investigator pulled an identification card from the corpse's pocket and glanced at it.

“Probably part of that first wave that escaped.”

Ever since the environment in Hu City began to mutate, people from the residential areas closest to the center of contamination had been fleeing one after another.

At that time, the authorities hadn't realized how serious the problem was, and control measures hadn't kept up.

By the time they discovered that some of the escapees had been contaminated and turned into potential mutants, it was difficult to track them down.

Subsequent residents fleeing Hu City had undergone strict screening; even if they were contaminated, it could be caught and treated early.

In contrast, among that first wave of escapees, some had completely mutated and were beyond saving.

The only saving grace was that these mutants generally had low combat power; they were just exceptionally resilient.

Their attack patterns were also similar: first, they displayed abnormal behavior and became aggressive; then, botanical parasitic traces appeared under their skin; and finally, they lost control completely and attacked living creatures.

In the past forty-eight hours, there had been no fewer than ten similar cases in the old district.

The Anomaly Management Bureau had no choice but to deploy a large number of personnel for day and night patrols.

“Thanks to you, Xiao Yu.” The old investigator patted Yu Duanhong's shoulder, his tone grateful.

“Your ability is really effective against these things. They have stubborn vitality and are a pain to handle with conventional means, but they go quiet the moment you knock.”

Yu Duanhong's face remained expressionless, his lips twitching into what might have been a smile.

“Just doing my job.”

He knew his colleague's praise was sincere.

But he couldn't bring himself to be happy.

Every time he knocked on a door, the ghost inside him became a bit more active.

The icy coldness seeped from the depths of his marrow, and the corpse spots beneath his skin were slowly spreading. Many of his normal human physiological activities had ceased.

He could feel the ghost reviving, slowly bringing death to his body.

He had to solve this problem as soon as possible.

Yu Duanhong looked up, gazing at the night sky cut into a narrow strip by the buildings.

The snow continued to fall, fine and cold, melting the moment it touched his face.

Where exactly was that mysterious long-haired man?

...

Hu City.

At this moment, Jiang Kun was sitting in a meeting room adjacent to the Hu City Anomaly Management Bureau's temporary command center.

The room was small and simply furnished with a table and a few chairs; the walls were painted white.

Outside the window was the sky of Hu City.

It wasn't the gray, smoggy sky of Forging City, but a sickly green, as if it had been pickled in greenery.

Distant high-rises were submerged in vines, looking like ruins swallowed by a forest.

Two people sat across the table from him.

One was the current acting manager of the Hu City bureau, surnamed Zhou. He was in his forties, with deep bags under his eyes and stubble on his chin; his uniform was somewhat wrinkled.

The other was the Chief of Technical Analysis, wearing glasses, with a laptop open before him.

Jiang Kun didn't beat around the bush.

He took out the storage chip he had removed from the camera and pushed it to the center of the table.

“Inside this, there is suspected to be a complete recording of the core source of contamination that caused the mutation in Hu City. At the very least, it's likely one of the culprits,” Jiang Kun said steadily.

“It includes how it appeared, its movement characteristics, and how it kills.”

Manager Zhou's eyes instantly turned serious.

The technical chief reached out to take the chip, inserted it into a card reader, and began to operate the computer rapidly.

A few minutes later, a segment of footage was projected onto the white wall of the meeting room.

The shaky camera, the screaming crowds, the eerie colored light emerging from the darkness, and the process of that light instantly turning people into mummified corpses.

The footage finally froze on that mass of indescribable, chaotic color.

The meeting room fell into a dead silence.

“We have sent three teams into the core contamination zone to investigate,” Manager Zhou said, his voice hoarse.

“Three times, the entire teams were wiped out. We couldn't even find complete corpses. Remote observation equipment fails and transmits garbled code once it gets within a certain distance.”

He turned to Jiang Kun, his gaze complex. “How did you film this? And how did you survive?”

Jiang Kun had already prepared his explanation.

“I am an outsourced investigator from Forging City. This footage was filmed by a news team; unfortunately, by the time I arrived, they had already been killed.”

“As for surviving, it was just good luck. That thing seemed to have its attention drawn by something else at the time, giving me the chance to withdraw.”

Half-truths were enough to suffice.

Manager Zhou didn't press for details; now was not the time for deep probing.

“We are very grateful for the critical clues you've provided to the local bureau. we will pay you a reward.”

Jiang Kun smiled. He knew the local bureau wanted to send him away with money.

“The video just now was only a part of it. I know even more information.”

Manager Zhou stared at Jiang Kun for a few seconds. With the situation in Hu City so dire and urgent, he didn't want to waste time. He skipped the negotiation phase and asked directly:

“What do you want?”

Jiang Kun leaned forward slightly.

“I don't lack money.”

“I need status. A formal investigator status with high clearance, belonging to the Anomaly Management Bureau, the kind that can call upon resources and go to the front lines when necessary.”

“You are already an outsourced investigator for the Forging City bureau,” Manager Zhou noted.

“As you said, ‘outsourced’,” Jiang Kun shrugged.

Formal and outsourced—the difference of a few words was as wide as heaven and earth.

Outsourced investigators were essentially similar to auxiliary police; they generally didn't have administrative or institutional standing.

In Forging City, Jiang Kun had used money and connections to get an outsourced investigator status, but that was as far as he could go.

Manager Zhou advised, “An investigator's job is very dangerous.”

Jiang Kun replied, “I have confidence in my strength.”

The technical chief looked up and pushed his glasses. “Are you a mechanical cyborg?”

“Deeply augmented.” Jiang Kun raised his left hand. The synthetic skin receded partially, revealing the precise metal structure beneath.

“All four limbs are mechanized and can be equipped with standard tactical modules, adaptable to various anomalous environments.”

“In terms of actual combat and survival capabilities, I might be stronger than many ordinary investigators.”

Manager Zhou and the technical chief exchanged a look.

The current situation in Hu City could no longer be described as merely “bad.”

Manpower was extremely short, experienced investigators had suffered heavy losses, and support from above was slow to arrive.

Now, they had an outside helper who came with his own equipment, had decent abilities, and held critical intelligence...

“The clearance can be given,” Manager Zhou finally spoke, his words quick.

“Formal standing takes time to process, especially since you were an outsourced investigator in Forging City.”

“But we can give you a temporary high-level investigator authorization, treating you as a formal member with the corresponding clearance and resource support during missions. If your subsequent performance meets the standard, permanent status won't be an issue.”

“However, we need you to start work immediately. If we decide to take the initiative and strike, you will need to participate.”

Jiang Kun thought for a moment and nodded.

With a divine survival skill like Hidden and the system at his side, he did not fear danger.

He didn't put on airs or try to make excessive demands.

Because he knew exactly what he needed now: a legal, high-clearance official status that allowed him to openly interact with various supernatural incidents.

It would effectively rid him of those bloodsucking parasites clinging to him; he really didn't want to continue modifying his body.

Furthermore, the system's future missions would certainly not be easy. With this official status, things would be much more convenient.

While the Hidden ability was good, he couldn't always rely on being sneaky.

If he could do things legally, why take risks?

The technical chief had already begun his operations. “You can keep a copy of the chip; I'll take the original for analysis.”

“The relevant authorization documents and equipment can be ready within two hours.”

Jiang Kun stood up and extended his hand.

“A pleasure doing business with you.”

Manager Zhou shook it firmly, his palm calloused.

“Welcome aboard. Though saying that at a time like this feels a bit ironic.”

Jiang Kun's lips twitched, but he said nothing.

He withdrew his hand and looked out the window at the city being devoured by green.

The system interface unfolded silently in his field of vision. In the mission log, the status of 【Mission One】 was still completed.

A new mission had not yet refreshed.

...

In the early morning, light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, scattering across the room.

Yue Shi sat up in bed. A snow leopard cub curled in the crook of his arm, its ears twitching slightly as it purred.

He got out of bed barefoot and headed toward the bathroom.

The snow leopard woke with a start, stretched, and flicked the tip of its tail.

The bathroom door was locked from the inside, and strange noises drifted out.

Yue Shi remained expressionless, turning to head toward the guest bathroom on the other side of the room.

A moment later, Ghost emerged from the master bathroom, still maintaining his cold and aloof demeanor.

Seeing Yue Shi in his pajamas, drying his hair with a towel, Ghost raised an eyebrow.

“You actually slept last night? Don't you not need rest?”

“I'm practicing being a proper human.” Yue Shi tossed the towel aside and walked toward the kitchen.

Ghost clicked his tongue, feeling as though he were being mocked.

He spotted the silver-gray ball of fur at Yue Shi's feet.

“Is that... a snow leopard?”

“Yes, an important pet. It's very comfortable to sleep with.” Yue Shi bent down, scooped up the little snow leopard, and placed it on the dining table.

Breakfast was already laid out on the table. The snow leopard used its paw to bat at a lemon sitting next to the fruit plate.

Ghost let out a light chuckle and sat on the other side of the table. “How old are you? Can't you sleep independently?”

Yue Shi took a bite of a perfect soft-boiled egg. “When do I not sleep independently?”

“Since the day I met you, you've never slept alone. You always have to find a companion before you can fall asleep,” Ghost said leisurely.

Yue Shi glanced at him. “Is something wrong with your memory? Stop making things up.”

Ghost spread his hands. “You misunderstood. I meant that in the past, when you went to sleep, you always had to have a few ravens around.”

“Now you've switched to a snow leopard. Sometimes I even see another you walking out of your bedroom.”

Yue Shi said calmly, “It's all to ensure safety during sleep.”

Ghost's lips twitched into a disdainful expression, and he didn't pursue the topic further.

His gaze fell upon the food on the table. The edges of the fried eggs were slightly crispy, the soup dumplings were translucent with oil, and the steamed buns were soft and white; everything looked delicious.

A strange emotion suddenly surged within him.

How truly enviable.