After watching the surveillance footage sent by his subordinate, Xu Qiang remained silent for a long time, seemingly adjusting his intensely fluctuating emotions.
The footage was simply too exaggerated; it couldn’t be brushed off with mere words like “good skills.”
Xu Qiang had seen, or rather, his subordinates included experts from special forces who were masters of close combat, but even they couldn’t handle a few monsters so effortlessly.
Lu Bai’s relaxed performance in the surveillance footage was practically comparable to the superhero movie he watched with his son last weekend.
And what was with that katana that appeared out of thin air like a magic trick?
Xu Qiang took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his inner shock, trying to appear calm.
He zoomed in on the photo and compared it with Lu Bai: “Is this you?”
“It’s me.”
“Is it?”
Lu Bai glanced at the phone screen and nodded confidently: “I was still very thin back then.”
“Good that you admit it.”
Xu Qiang swiped his finger on the screen: “Illegally stealing others’ property, driving a hot air balloon without a license, multiple assaults on classmates during senior year leading to expulsion…”
By the end, Xu Qiang couldn’t hold it together.
However, this resume made Lu Bai’s image more three-dimensional in his mind; at least he was still human.
“I was your senior student, does Jiangyu High School educate students like this now?”
To be honest, this identity background… Lu Bai had only just learned about it.
Wasn’t this Deathmatch System deliberately screwing people over?
He was stunned for two seconds, then showed a polite smile: “This isn’t me.”
“You’re saying it’s not you?”
“No, this isn’t me at all.”
“Then what exactly happened?”
Lu Bai clenched his fist and swung it emptily in indignation a few times.
“I want to know what happened too. I only acted out of a sense of justice to kill a few more monsters—who did I provoke? And now I’ve got all these criminal records.”
“As long as you can correct your mistakes, it’s fine. To put it bluntly, this matter can be big or small for you.”
Right in front of Lu Bai, Xu Qiang deleted the illegal resume from the message column, composed his expression, and said: “I want to invite you to join the Special Affairs Bureau.”
In Xu Qiang’s view, Lu Bai’s high school results weren’t great anyway; rather than letting him idle around and become a social instability factor, it was better to arrange a job that made full use of his talents.
It would also help figure out how Lu Bai performed that magic trick of summoning a knife out of thin air.
“What do I need to do?”
“Become a member of the Special Affairs Bureau’s Field Operations Department, responsible for handling incidents involving parasitic organisms. Same pay as others, same treatment as regular team members; if you perform outstandingly, you can get promoted.”
“Then I accept.”
Lu Bai had no reason to refuse this invitation.
Compared to becoming a fugitive suspect on the run, having an official background identity made everything much more convenient, no matter what he had to do.
Creak~
The ajar hospital room door was pushed open.
Tong Shujuan stared at Xu Qiang with bloodshot eyes, saying word by word: “You’re the ones who specifically deal with monsters, right? I want to join too.”
……
Jiangyu County.
Tonight’s moonlight was somewhat hazy.
The thoroughfares and alleys under the night were free of urban clamor, eerily quiet.
A black sedan driving from the urban area suddenly flashed its hazard lights and pulled over to the roadside.
In the driver’s seat, an exceptionally handsome man turned to the woman in the passenger seat and asked softly: “What’s wrong?”
The man’s voice was low and magnetic.
Under the dim light, it added a touch of amorous atmosphere inside the car.
The woman looked at the man with eyes almost dripping water, but the faint unease surging from deep within kept her from completely losing her reason.
She tugged at her collar, acting fragile: “Baby, I’m a bit scared. How far is it to your house?”
“If you’re in a hurry…”
The man gave a wicked smile, turned off the vehicle, opened the car door, and stepped out: “Then get out first.”
“Where are you going?”
The woman hurriedly got out, the high heels on her feet making crisp sounds.
She quickened her pace to catch up with the man, linked her arm with his, and cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
The dilapidated houses in front of her didn’t look livable at all.
“Baby, are you worried I’ll dislike your place? I’m not that materialistic girl. Let’s still go to your house; I’m not used to doing it outside… it’s so dark, I’m scared.”
The woman chattered on at length, but the man didn’t respond, not even slowing his steps.
Soon, they arrived at an abandoned shop. The ground was littered with tissues and human excrement, the air filled with a foul smell, and the wall had a big “Demolish” character on it.
“Right here.”
The man observed the surroundings and seemed very satisfied.
The woman instinctively covered her nose and mouth, complaining: “Baby, please, I don’t want to do it here.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick.” The man reached up and undid the button at his shirt collar.
Hearing this, the woman was both shy and annoyed; if not for her high heels, she might have already stomped her feet.
However, the next second, all her emotions turned to terror.
Rip~
The man’s face bloomed open like a peony flower.
Numerous tentacles connected by thin flesh strips; under the distant dim streetlight, it conveyed a bizarre horror.
The woman was so frightened she fell backward, too panicked to notice her supporting hand pressing into a sticky puddle.
She only flailed her legs wildly, instinctively trying every method to get away from this monster.
The parasitic organism approached her unhurriedly.
“Get away! Get away from me, don’t come closer! Help!!”
Extreme fear made her tears stream out uncontrollably.
Unintentionally, she saw a figure appear at the shop entrance at some point.
Backlit, she couldn’t see the face clearly, but like a drowning person spotting a lifeline, her voice turned shrill and hysterical: “Help! Save me!”
Lu Bai narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
“Has it evolved to the point of perfectly imitating human speech?”
A voice suddenly spoke from behind—even for the parasitic organism, it was like a horror story.
It instinctively turned its body, wanting to see which fool was so suicidal.
“Hello, I’m Lu Bai. How should I address you?” Lu Bai waved in greeting.
Whoosh!
A flesh strip with a sharp bone blade at the end whistled toward him.
“Tch.”
Lu Bai crouched to dodge, advanced, and deliberately pulled his right hand back.
Then his right hand swung diagonally with an empty grip, following his body’s momentum.
The slender blade flashed through the air.
Pfft~
Thud!
The indescribable flesh ball of the parasitic organism was tossed into the air.
In an instant, the monster was decapitated.
Lu Bai patted the nonexistent dust off his hand: “Why are they all so irritable?”