The highest level of Escape Artistry?
Involving the level of causality?
Yue Shi’s eyes shifted slightly.
This ability was indeed rare; on any transcendent, it would be worth paying attention to.
However, this was not enough to justify his intervention to save her.
A person with high-level escape abilities might be better suited as a new entry in the Record Bead, or simply as nourishment for his progress bar.
What truly made Yue Shi change his mind were the two lines of abnormal information that appeared immediately after.
【Curse of the Supernatural Game】 Countdown to first game entry: 01:26:45… 44… 43…
【Newbie Protection Period】: Blessed by an unknown existence. No matter what kind of damage is sustained, one will not die in a true sense.
The numbers on the countdown skipped along continuously, carrying a sense of unquestionable finality.
As for the description of the Newbie Protection Period, a flash of realization crossed Yue Shi’s eyes.
No wonder that woman was still hanging on to life despite such heavy injuries and being locked in a containment pod.
It turned out she was being protected by some unknown existence.
An Acrobat cursed by the Supernatural Game, possessing causality-level Escape Artistry and a Newbie Protection Period, would be a nuisance to kill.
Observation and utilization might be the optimal solution.
Yue Shi deactivated his Insight vision, and the golden light flowing from his brow faded.
The overhead lights cast a cold white glow. He and Ghost waited quietly, two lurking hunters waiting for their prey to wake.
About an hour later, accompanied by a suppressed gasp of pain, the woman lying on the floor suddenly jolted awake and sat up.
The movement agitated the wounds on her body. Even with the continuous healing from Spring Is Not Late, the pain still caused cold sweat to bead on her forehead.
Panic and vigilance filled her eyes as she quickly scanned the unfamiliar room, her gaze finally locking onto the long-haired man standing nearby.
Instinctively, she tried to take a defensive stance, but the intense pain in her body made her movements clumsy.
It was then that she noticed she was tightly clutching a vibrant green willow branch in her hand.
“I saved you.” Yue Shi took a step forward. His movements were not gentle as he directly pulled Spring Is Not Late from her hand.
“You should repay me.” This was the second sentence Yue Shi said to her. Looking down at her with indifferent eyes, he lacked the warmth of a benefactor, offering only a blunt demand.
The woman was stunned by this unmasked demand for repayment. She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, alarm bells ringing in her mind.
At the same time, she couldn't help but complain inwardly. She had used Causal Escape to break free from a predetermined death, but such an ability that forcibly interfered with causality would inevitably bring unpredictable subsequent trouble.
Out of the wolf’s den and into the tiger’s mouth?
No, the pressure emanating from the man before her was far more terrifying than any wolf’s den.
Still, at least she was alive.
Being able to avoid a predetermined death was worth it, no matter how great the price.
She comforted herself this way, forcing herself to calm down. Looking up again, she carefully scrutinized the man in front of her.
That handsome face, and that iconic long hair...
He looked a bit familiar.
Wait.
The woman’s face suddenly turned deathly pale, her voice trembling. “You… You’re Yue Shi?”
“You know me?” Yue Shi raised an eyebrow slightly, not surprised by her words.
“The famous new S-rank wanted criminal who single-handedly destroyed a city. Rumors and photos of you are everywhere on the internet; it’s hard not to know you.” The woman spoke quickly, her voice carrying the resignation of someone who had given up hope.
She had originally intended to deny this so-called “life-saving debt,” as ingratitude and burning bridges were the norm in the world of transcendents.
But the one who saved her was Yue Shi, a man with a terrifying reputation.
Regardless of whether he truly saved her or not, if Yue Shi said he did, she had to accept it. This was a debt she couldn't dodge.
The consequence of trying to dodge it would surely be death.
She took a deep breath and said resignedly, “Fine, I acknowledge the life-saving debt. What do you want me to do? Just say it.”
She tried to make her tone sound steady, but her slightly trembling fingertips betrayed her inner panic.
Yue Shi didn't beat around the bush and cut straight to the core. “What’s the deal with the ‘Curse of the Supernatural Game’?”
These words sounded like a thunderclap in the woman’s ears.
The color drained from her face entirely. She looked like a cat that had its tail stepped on, nearly jumping out of her skin, her voice changing pitch. “How do you know about the Supernatural Game?!”
“Answer my question,” Yue Shi said in a grim tone.
Feeling the chilling killing intent, the woman hurriedly spoke. “It’s a forbidden zone, an invitation to the Supernatural Game Show!”
“Once you receive that eerie invitation, you can’t get rid of it. No matter how you try to throw it away, it will always return to the invitee.”
“If you tear the invitation, you become a ‘Player.’ You have to periodically participate in the supernatural games held in that hellhole, and every single one is a life-or-death struggle.”
Yue Shi stroked his chin. Another forbidden zone?
He continued, “There must be many benefits to becoming a Player, right? Otherwise, why would you take the initiative to tear the invitation?”
The woman gave a bitter smile. “Benefits? There are indeed.”
“Every time you successfully clear a game, you receive a gift from the Supernatural Game Show. It might be an enhanced talent, a strengthened physique, a supernatural object, or even the direct awakening of a supernatural power.”
“But even so, ordinary people wouldn't tear the invitation to become a Player. Once you become one, you can never escape for the rest of your life. The mortality rate of the games is simply too high; no one wants to jump into the fire.”
“The reason I chose to tear the invitation was because I was backed into a corner by Iron Curtain Security. I was about to be killed.”
“And new Players of the Supernatural Game Show receive a Newbie Protection. That’s how I got a slim chance of survival and managed to hold out in their hands.”
“I see.” Yue Shi stroked his chin.
He reasonably suspected that the invitation itself brought a continuous stream of misfortune to the holder, eventually forcing them to tear it open in a desperate situation and become a Player.
At that moment, the woman struggled against the pain, trying to stand up, her tone anxious. “I have to go back to Iron Curtain Security. I still have something very important to finish!”
“Don’t waste your energy,” Ghost’s sinister voice suddenly drifted from a corner of the room.
“That pathetic company has already been wiped out by us. From top to bottom, not a single soul was left alive.”
“Ah!” The woman was startled by the sudden voice. She turned toward the source but saw nothing.
“What is your relationship with Iron Curtain Security?” Ghost’s voice rang out again, carrying a hint of scrutiny.
The woman feigned composure and said, “A member of our organization was captured by them and went missing. I went undercover in that company as an independent transcendent, hoping to find my companion’s whereabouts and stage a rescue. I didn't expect the company people to suddenly attack me last night.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is. Then your companion is almost certainly doomed. There’s no saving them. They’d be lucky to even leave a whole corpse,” Ghost said coldly.
The woman’s expression immediately became even worse.
“Which organization are you from? You’re quite unlucky to be targeted by them,” Ghost pressed.
“The Circus,” the woman replied in a low voice after a moment of silence.
“Every member in the organization uses a professional role within a circus as their codename. Mine is ‘Acrobat,’ and my supernatural power is also called ‘Acrobat.’”
“Wow, what a coincidence,” Ghost said in surprise. “The people in your organization… it can’t be that everyone is like this, right? Codenames and powers just happen to match?”
The woman shook her head and explained, “How could there be such a coincidence in the world? The roles are established first, and then the right people are found to fill them.”
“If someone awakens a supernatural power or creature related to a circus profession, they will be found by our Troupe Leader and recruited into the Circus.”
“I see,” Ghost understood.
“In your Circus, are there a Clown and a Beast Tamer?” Yue Shi suddenly asked.
The woman nodded. “Yes. The one captured by Iron Curtain Security was the Clown. He was injured not long ago and was in a terrible state, which allowed someone to take advantage of him.”
After a pause, she continued in a complex tone, “As for the Beast Tamer, he suffered a sudden illness—he insisted on intruding into someone else’s family and even stole the Troupe Leader’s supernatural object. He’s already dead.”
“You should have encountered both of them?” The woman’s gaze landed on Yue Shi.
Yue Shi watched her quietly, neither admitting nor denying it.
The countdown to her first entry into the Supernatural Game was nearly over.
He wondered what exactly would happen when the countdown hit zero.
Soon, Yue Shi had his answer.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Just as the woman finished speaking.
The next second.
Without any warning, she lost consciousness and fell into a faint.
Then, her entire being vanished into thin air.
“Whoa, that washed-up Acrobat ran away?” Ghost emerged from the light in the corner, a look of surprise on his face.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
The area where Iron Curtain Security was located was under martial law.
The Investigation Bureau had issued orders, and yellow police tape was strung across every intersection leading to the security company’s block.
Investigators and field units stood guard on the perimeter, dispersing onlookers and blocking any curious gazes trying to get close.
In the sky, reconnaissance drones occasionally buzzed past, scanning the area that had suddenly become dangerous.
The news couldn't be suppressed.
Many people on the internet were discussing the matter fervently.
The Investigation Bureau acted quickly.
Scene investigation and forensic examinations—all procedures were operating with high efficiency.
The conclusion was beyond doubt.
The killer hadn't bothered to hide his face at all.
The S-rank wanted criminal Yue Shi and his pet plush bear.
The Fluorite Valley Investigation Bureau swiftly identified the killer, but what followed was silence.
There was no large-scale manhunt, no dragnet search targeting Yue Shi, and no mobilization of high-end combat power for an encirclement.
At this moment, inside the Fluorite Valley Investigation Bureau conference room.
On the projection screen, Yue Shi’s wanted poster was enlarged.
Everyone present looked at it, yet no one easily issued an order for action.
“A powerhouse who can destroy Chijing City… with our meager manpower, are we even enough to get stuck in his teeth?” a veteran investigator whispered.
“If we push him too hard and he causes another destruction, what will happen to this city? Who will take responsibility for that?” another said.
Reality was like a mountain pressing down on everyone’s hearts.
Upholding justice was their duty, but the first thing to consider was the life and death of the entire city.
The price of provoking a monster they couldn't contend with was something they couldn't afford.
By the time the meeting adjourned, the group hadn't come up with a plan.
This silence and inaction were like a thorn piercing Li Hua’s heart.
He stood by the office window, looking at the street below, his hands clenched into tight fists.
In broad daylight, dozens of lives were brutally slaughtered in this city!
Was law and justice supposed to back down just because the killer was too powerful?
His blood was boiling, and anger almost burst from his chest.
He turned and rushed into the Section Chief's office of the Special Operations Section.
“Chief, are we really just going to watch and do nothing?” Li Hua’s voice was agitated.
“That’s dozens of lives. Just because the killer is an S-rank wanted criminal, we don’t even dare to attempt an arrest?”
The Section Chief looked at him silently without saying anything. Instead, he reached out, picked up a document from his desk, and handed it over.
“Look at this first.”
Li Hua took the document and flipped through it quickly.
As he read, his expression shifted repeatedly.
The document clearly recorded how Iron Curtain Security used generous benefits as bait to attract independent transcendents.
After signing them, the company used various insidious means to manufacture “accidents” or “failed missions,” secretly sending these transcendents to an unknown location.
At the end of the document were summaries of several missing person cases involving transcendents suspected to be linked to the company.
“How… How is this possible?” Li Hua’s face was full of disbelief.
The people from Iron Curtain Security usually seemed very friendly and often funded charitable activities.
Li Hua even suspected the document was forged, and the Investigation Bureau was just looking for an excuse for its inaction.
The Section Chief sighed, stood up, and walked over to him, speaking earnestly. “Li Hua, the document is real; you don’t need to doubt it. Iron Curtain Security has the support of big figures behind it.”
“And, to say something you won’t like to hear, those independent transcendents who refuse to join the Investigation Bureau are, in the eyes of some people, unstable factors. If they die, they die. That’s why the higher-ups have been turning a blind eye.”
The Section Chief patted Li Hua’s stiff shoulder. “This time, the ones who died are the security company’s people, and the one who did it is an even more vicious wanted criminal. To put it bluntly, it’s a case of dog eat dog. We haven’t reached that level yet, so we should stay out of it to avoid getting burned.”
“But even if the security company people got what they deserved, that wanted criminal…” Li Hua said unwillingly.
“We can’t afford to provoke him, do you understand? Do I have to be that blunt?” The Section Chief’s tone became a bit impatient.
“I want to catch wanted criminals too, but the problem is how!”
“If you have a perfect solution, you can propose it right now. I’d be happy to temporarily hand over the command of the Investigation Bureau to you.”
“Aside from talking about grand principles, preaching values, and speaking meaningless platitudes about justice, can you say something useful?”
“I…” Li Hua opened his mouth, but all his words were stuck in his throat, turning into a bitter taste.
Seeing him like this, the Section Chief’s tone softened. He patted Li Hua’s shoulder again and advised, “You haven’t been on the job long. You have drive and passion; I understand all that.”
“I was the same as you when I was young. I couldn't stand even a speck of dust in my eyes, and I wanted to sweep away all the injustice and darkness in the world.”
“But ideals and reality are different.”
“Against an S-rank wanted criminal who can destroy a city, even if we bet everything we have, what can we do to him?”
“If we provoke him and he vents his anger on this city, have you thought about how many people will die then? Will Fluorite Valley become a second Chijing City?”
Li Hua lowered his head, his expression gloomy.
“Alright, stop obsessing over it.” The Section Chief turned and walked back to sit at his desk.
Li Hua looked up, still very unwilling. “So this matter is just going to be left like this, ignored?”
“Great, you didn't listen to a single word I just said.” The Section Chief rolled his eyes.
“Then you tell me, what should we do now?”
“I… I don’t know.” Li Hua’s mind was a mess.
He could only raise questions and doubts, and he was good at picking faults, but he provided no solutions.
The Section Chief stopped paying attention to him, picked up the internal communicator on his desk, and reported the news of Yue Shi’s arrival in Fluorite Valley to headquarters.
Let the big shots at headquarters deal with the headache of what comes next.
Rate on N.U.
