After confirming that no one else was alive, Yue Shi picked up his phone with an expressionless face and dialed a number. Once connected, he said only one thing: "Target neutralized."
"Copy that!" a deep voice replied from the other end.
He casually cleared away the beeswax smeared on the carriage door to prevent it from being sealed shut.
A moment later, with a hiss, the doors slid open.
Due to the fatal incident, the subway had been temporarily suspended.
Yue Shi walked quickly out of the carriage. Several people dressed in hazmat suits came to meet him, carrying a specialized container designed for storing the corpses of supernatural creatures.
"Eliminating a C-grade supernatural creature on your own... your bonus will be credited soon," a burly man spoke up.
He had a full beard and a somewhat fierce appearance, yet his tone was very polite and gentle.
Yue Shi nodded, indicating he understood.
Just then, another team arrived and conducted a brief investigation of the scene. Their leader questioned sternly:
"What happened? It was just a C-grade supernatural creature. Why did it cause the deaths of so many innocent civilians?"
The burly man smiled and said, "Officer Liu, supernatural creatures are bizarre and unpredictable. Besides, in such a narrow, enclosed space, it's difficult for people to escape or hide. It's normal for casualties to occur."
The man called Officer Liu didn't seem willing to accept this explanation. His face remained grim as his gaze swept the area. Seeing some beeswax on Yue Shi's coat, he couldn't help but stare for a moment longer.
The burly man immediately stepped in front of Yue Shi. "This is a new employee recruited by our company."
"A newcomer? No wonder I don't recognize him at all." A flash of suspicion and wariness flickered in Officer Liu's eyes.
The burly man turned his head to Yue Shi and said, "You go ahead. I'll handle the subsequent trouble."
Yue Shi turned and left in silence. He wasn't very familiar with anything here and preferred to stay quiet whenever possible.
Behind him, the sounds of the burly man negotiating with Officer Liu continued.
It was mid-October, and the autumn air was crisp and clear.
Exiting the subway station, he saw a white transport van parked outside with a tulip pattern on the side.
This was a vehicle from the Tulip Security Company, used for collecting and transporting supernatural entities.
The world hadn't always been like this. It was only on a certain day many years ago that the supernatural suddenly descended.
Humans defined those abnormal phenomena, events, and individuals carrying sources of pollution as "supernatural creatures."
No one knew where they came from. They were infinitely varied—some had physical bodies of flesh and blood, some were similar to spiritual entities, and there were even conceptual existences.
Under the influence of supernatural auras, originally normal things could twist and mutate into supernatural creatures as well.
This included humans!
The appearance of the supernatural triggered a catastrophe, bringing earth-shattering changes to human life.
Those at the top remained high above, as if their lives had become even better; those at the bottom, however, were worse off than before, seemingly devoid of all hope.
The rich grew richer, and the poor grew poorer.
After surviving the apocalyptic turmoil, the remaining people slowly reconstructed order. The concept of nations had vanished, replaced by the singular Blue Star Federation, which was divided into different regions based on geography.
Yue Shi was currently in the Jinlong Continent, where those of Asian descent were the majority, specifically in a city called Amber City.
Yue Shi was an employee of the Tulip Security Company, having joined just two weeks ago.
The company's primary business was clearing supernatural threats within the city and collecting their corpses, remains, and leftover items.
The official agency responsible for suppressing the supernatural and guarding the city's safety was called the 【Investigation Bureau】.
The full name of the Investigation Bureau was the Bureau of Strategic Investigation, Control, and Logistics for Supernatural Incidents.
Due to certain historical issues, the Investigation Bureau had failed to achieve centralized power. The dispersion of authority led to the rise of various families and private organizations. After years of conflict and adjustment, private organizations could now be legally registered and intervene in supernatural incidents.
The Tulip Security Company was one such small-scale private organization.
Along with the arrival of the supernatural, some lucky individuals among humans were born with the ability to manipulate supernatural powers. This special group was known as "transcendents."
Transcendents were key recruitment targets for both the Investigation Bureau and various private organizations.
The Investigation Bureau had more rules and regulations; they would thoroughly investigate and record a transcendent's abilities and occasionally assign mandatory missions. However, the benefits were excellent, and one could even touch the reins of power.
Private organizations offered more freedom and mostly did not interfere with their employees' privacy.
The reason Yue Shi chose to join Tulip was that the company had only recently been established. Given his unusual identity, such a small private organization wouldn't investigate his background in detail.
Hailing a taxi by the roadside, Yue Shi got in and gave an address.
As the car drove smoothly, the greenery along the streets retreated rapidly.
Yue Shi closed his eyes.
Everything around him seemed to freeze. His consciousness became ethereal, and a thick mist poured in from nowhere, writhing and spreading like ancient marine life, instantly replacing the darkness behind his closed eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, Yue Shi's consciousness had left reality and arrived at a boundless wilderness.
A massive black stone tablet stood before him, with a full moon carved at its peak.
Several tentacles, like plant leaves guarding a flower, surrounded and protected this dim moon.
Most of the tentacles were static reliefs, but one was in an active state.
On this active tentacle, nine eyes were evenly distributed. The first three were fully open—golden and radiating an indescribable, grotesque beauty.
Since Yue Shi had crossed over into this world, the stone tablet had always accompanied him. It was an inseparable part of him, no different from his own heart or lungs.
This stone tablet could convert certain things into Yue Shi's transcendent power. It accepted sacrifices, though it was extremely picky about the offerings. In the past, Yue Shi had only found one patterned egg that met its requirements.
That sacrifice had awakened a tentacle on the stone tablet. The active tentacle could devour and plunder a mysterious aura from supernatural creatures.
This mysterious aura allowed the eyes on the tentacle to slowly open. Once a certain amount had accumulated and an eye fully opened, it meant Yue Shi had obtained a new ability.
At this moment, Yue Shi locked eyes with the three eyes on the first active tentacle. In his vision, lines of small golden characters emerged out of thin air, corresponding to three abilities—
【Raven's Secret Whispers】
【Words laden with magic】
【Beguile the heart, seize the will】
【Stir emotions, muddle the mind】
【“Take a guess? Do you believe me~”】
...
【Decaying Talons】
【Entwined with the scavenger's curse】
【Strength in five fingers, nothing is unbreakable】
【Crushing the enemy's head like piercing through rotten soil】
【“The hand is not a hand; it is a gentle knife.”】
...
【Shadow Soldiers】
【Shadows transform into crows】
【“A master shadow-mancer can command his own shadow”】
【“Extreme casting may lead to unpredictable consequences”】
【“Without a shadow, can you still stand beneath the sun?”】
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