Elegant dance music filled the hall, and warm light bathed everyone. Dressed in their finest attire, the guests danced in pairs.
Those without partners mostly found good vantage points to sip expensive drinks, waiting for the right moment to strike.
In such a setting, every heart harbored countless calculations.
From her seat on the third floor, the view was excellent, allowing her to see almost the entire first floor. Qiu Shubai pretended to sip her tea leisurely, as if enjoying the calm before the storm.
She was not a good drinker, and the mission she carried today did not allow her to touch alcohol.
She simply sat there in silence, waiting for the moment.
Occasionally, someone would sit across from her, attempting to strike up a conversation, but she politely declined them all.
Everyone here was sharp-eyed; after enough people were rejected, few others went to her to invite a snub.
On the rare occasion someone recognized her identity, they would only come up for a few pleasantries, trying to leave a good impression.
Qiu Shubai knew very well that they weren't trying to impress her, but rather the Ability Bureau behind her.
However...
A self-deprecating, bitter laugh echoed in Qiu Shubai’s mind.
On the surface, she was the Vice Section Chief of the Second Combat Section of the Yuanxing City Ability Bureau.
But in the shadows, she was an active agent of the Special Incident Operations Section.
Or, based on the missions she actually performed, she could be called a “killer.”
Most people in the Special Division were like this—holding a respectable position in a legitimate institution to facilitate their work and provide cover. The higher-ups called it “deep cover.”
The grueling wait did not last long. As the final cadence was played, the noble pairs' dance came to an end.
The predicted attack would arrive at this very moment.
Who would it be, and how would they make their entrance? After waiting for so long, Qiu Shubai finally sharpened her focus and began to scan the surroundings seriously.
She just hadn't expected the opening act of this attack would be the shattering of the hall's ceiling.
“Ah—!”
The screams of countless people echoed through the hall. Explosions erupted one after another, and walls and fixtures were continuously destroyed. Those not yet caught in the chaos scrambled to escape, only to find the doors had long been locked tight by some mysterious force.
Some tripped over their elaborate gowns, but in such a moment, how could humans consumed by the need to survive care about anyone else? Fortunately, the total number of people wasn't large; those who fell were merely stepped on and struggled to get up, rather than facing life-threatening injuries.
“What a grand feast...”
Moonlight shone through the gaping hole in the ceiling. A man whose name no one present could call out stepped over the rubble, slowly approaching the center of the dance floor.
His left hand held three leashes connected to canine-like creatures shrouded in darkness. The naked eye could only discern their rough outlines, like manes fluttering in a cold wind, their pitch-black silhouettes emitting pulses of eerie light.
A human head was clamped in the jaws of one of the hounds—Zhang Ke. His face frozen in the same expression of disbelief he had held at the moment of death, eyes wide as if he never understood what had happened.
“May I... join in?”
The man's bizarre voice was a tone that could never emerge from human vocal organs. His flat statement seemed to carry a faint, lingering hint of laughter. Everyone could feel the dangerous aura radiating from this man—no, this was not a human.
“It seems I’m not very welcome. Is there really no one willing to invite me for a dance?”
He walked casually toward a noblewoman who had collapsed on the ground in terror, attempting to reach out and help her up.
She watched him approach, but she was so paralyzed by fear she couldn't even manage a scream.
“What do you say, Madam? Would you—”
Before he could finish, the man’s brow furrowed. A small knife glowing with white light had somehow buried itself in his back, piercing through his exquisite white suit.
“It seems there is someone willing to communicate with me after all...”
His previously normal face was instantly engulfed in bottomless darkness. The basic outlines of his eyes and mouth remained, but their interiors were filled with pure white, the intense, incandescent light creating a stark contrast against his pitch-black face.
The white knife was dissolved and melted at extreme speed until it completely vanished into the darkness.
Standing by the railing on the third floor, Qiu Shubai’s expression shifted slightly as a term surfaced in her mind.
A Heterosequence. And at least Shadow rank.
There were no detailed records of the origin of Heterosequences; it was only known that they were sudden enemies of humanity, born from fallen Punishers. Whenever a Punisher died, there was a chance a Heterosequence would be born.
It was currently a common belief among humans that Heterosequences were the abilities originally within a Punisher’s body that, after losing their physical vessel, did not completely dissipate for some specific reason. Instead, their energy sequences and architectures were twisted, turning them into these monstrous energy-based entities that were neither human nor ghost.
Heterosequences were categorized by strength based on their energy architecture and total volume. From weakest to strongest, they were divided into seven ranks: Dust, Ash, Dark, Shadow, Nether, Erosion, and Profane.
A Shadow rank Heterosequence was roughly comparable to a level five Clear Heart Punisher. This was clearly not an enemy Qiu Shubai could handle. Even the regular armies of the world’s major powers wouldn't dare move against such a thing without a Punisher. Conventional forces might be able to defeat a Shadow rank Heterosequence at a significant cost through meticulous planning and efficient combat, but they could not truly destroy it—they could only “expel” it. After a period of time, it would return from the planet’s sea of energy.
To completely eliminate a Heterosequence, a team of Punishers of comparable strength was required for specialized containment.
Logically, Qiu Shubai’s most rational choice now should be silence. This Shadow rank Heterosequence clearly hadn't discovered she was the one who had ambushed it, as she had hidden herself well.
But her character would not allow her to gamble with the lives of others.
“So, who is it that... invited me to dance?”
The Heterosequence’s voice grew increasingly raspy, and even the high-quality white suit was gradually torn to shreds by its own energy fluctuations.
Qiu Shubai did not hesitate. With a flash of milky-white light, the ornate sword was already in her hand. The tip of the blade, pointed directly at the Heterosequence, answered its question.
“Oh, this young lady... very good, very good...”
The pure white mouth split into a nearly pathological smile. Even a sidelong glance from the ordinary people nearby was enough to make their hair stand on end.
“Hmm—? Level five Core Consolidation? Hmph... seems a bit weak. But it seems there are no stronger humans here?”
“Fine, you’ll do.”
The entire third floor of the venue suddenly collapsed. The exquisite architecture and elegant decor were all reduced to rubble. Crushed along with them were the bodies of nearly a hundred people.
As one of the top geniuses of the younger generation, Qiu Shubai naturally wasn't harmed by such a simple tactic, even if it was unexpected. She quickly stabilized her form amidst the falling debris and maneuvered to a safe position.
But the ordinary people weren't so lucky. After the collapse, dozens more were buried under the ruins, their fates unknown.
“This bastard...” Her eyes began to redden.
“A very fine... dance, young lady.”
“Using death as the background music is truly... exquisite beyond compare. Only such a movement is worthy of you...”
Qiu Shubai desperately wanted to save people, but logic kept telling her that those ordinary humans could not have survived such a disaster.
She had enough strength to protect herself, but trying to save others meant taking immense risks. She had tried to catch one or two people as they fell, but whenever she was about to grab them, they seemed to be subjected to multiple times the force of gravity, falling rapidly and hitting the ground to become a sickening pulp.
Being buried might be their only chance of survival.
She could tell this Heterosequence was toyng with her on purpose. It wasn't hunting, or even truly killing; it was playing, entertaining itself in an incredibly base manner.
Though not all of them, most Heterosequences of Dark rank and above possessed human-level intelligence. They would inherit some behavioral traits from the Punisher they were born from, including personality and various senses. This led to every Heterosequence having a completely different style and personality.
But she had never seen one treat human life quite like the creature before her.
Why a Heterosequence would appear here, and why her superiors had sent her here—Qiu Shubai no longer had the time or the capacity to ponder these questions.
Surging energy and intense emotions battered her senses. Now, only one thing was clear in her mind: do what is humanly possible and leave the rest to fate.
For a level five Core Consolidation Punisher to think they could stand against a Shadow rank Heterosequence comparable to a Clear Heart level Punisher was nothing short of a pipe dream.
By the same logic, escaping from its grasp was likely impossible as well.
What to do next was simple.
Fight. A fight that would likely be one-sided, but a fight she had no choice but to engage in.
“It seems you can’t wait? Heh, then... let us begin officially.”
Rate on N.U.
