With Christian's cold tone and the clear aggression in his words toward the two agents, the atmosphere grew tense, awkward even, as if the air itself had tightened.
But the woman in black, timely as ever, coughed into her fist again and stepped forward. "I apologize on their behalf," she said calmly, her expression professional as she tried to ease the tension.
Then, after a short pause, she continued, "Anyway… can you tell me who killed the monster behind you?"
Christian's expression softened, just a little, as he tilted his head and asked back, "Can't it be me?"
Alexis blinked at that, momentarily caught off guard. She ignored the audible scoffs of her two companions, and once again tried to probe the man's strength.
But nothing. She couldn't feel any kind of strength from him.
His presence, even seemed more faint than ordinary people.
Her brows furrowed in quiet confusion. But, Christian didn't bother to explain. He simply gave a small shrug and added, "You can believe what you want. But this corpse," he motioned to the abomination behind him " I'm taking it."
Then, as if they weren't even worth paying attention to, he turned his gaze toward the small crowd still lingering at a distance, some filming with their phones, thinking that they could keep whatever video they took, others whispering or staring in shock.
"And how long are you going to let this mess stay ?" he asked flatly.
Alexis was briefly dumbfounded by the way he completely dismissed them. Her experience still screamed 'civilian,' yet nothing about this man felt ordinary.
"Tch. Who the hell do you think you are?" one of the male agents finally snapped, stepping forward, anger flickering across his face. "You think you can just act like a big shot?"
Alexis didn't stop him. Instead, her eyes silently said, Let's see what this guy can actually do.
Christian looked at the man with calm disinterest… and began to walk toward him.
Each step was slow. Measured. Casual.
But in the next instant… it was as if he vanished from his spot and appeared directly in front of the agent… as if time had briefly skipped.
Before the man could react, Christian raised a single hand, and flicked his forehead with a finger.
But the moment the flick connected, the man's eyes widened in sheer pain. His body was hurled back as though struck by an invisible force, flying several meters before crashing to the ground with a thud, groaning in agony.
"What… what the hell?!" the other agent finally muttered, stunned.
Alexis's eyes widened slightly, lips parting as she tried to process what just happened.
Everything had happened so fast.
It was only now that she truly understood what they were dealing with.
This man wasn't someone whose strength couldn't be sensed because he was weak.
It was because he was on an entirely different level. So far above them that their ordinary experience couldn't even be relied on to gauge his strength properly.
"This…" Alexis stammered, now staring up at Christian's face, which was suddenly far too close.
His sharply defined features, honed further by continuous use of essence technique, combined with the Flawless Body skill, made her heart skip despite herself.
Realizing she was getting ahead of herself, she quickly averted her eyes, cheeks slightly red, and muttered, "It's… not a decision I can make. Any corpse of an abomination is supposed to be handed over to the government. No individual is permitted to keep one."
What kind of bullshit is that?
Christian frowned at her words and replied flatly, "You'll just sell them anyway, to hidden factions or ancient families. So what kind of bullshit are you spouting?"
Alexis blinked, caught off guard.
Are the corpses of abominations really handled like that?
She couldn't help but wonder. It wasn't something someone of her rank was supposed to know, after all.
As she became absorbed in her thoughts, a sudden commotion snapped her attention to the side… just in time to see the containment squad arriving at the scene.
Uniformed agents moved with trained efficiency, flooding into the perimeter, each of them carrying stun-barrel rifles.
People in the crowd began dropping unconscious one after another as the weapons discharged. Christian watched quietly as a few tried to run, only to collapse just beyond the line, their bodies hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Amid the chaos, Alexis's gaze lingered on the people who had attempted to flee. Then she suddenly realized something she hadn't noticed until now.
From the beginning, she had been strangely polite to this man. Polite in a way she was never like to a mere civilians. And it hadn't even occurred to her to question that until now.
She gave a quiet chuckle at her own behavior, then shook her head and stepped away to make a call. She kept her voice low, though she knew Christian with her power would hear every word regardless.
Christian, meanwhile, cast a glance at the two DSA agents now wisely keeping their mouths shut. They had finally realized their place.
In the end, it seemed that even though the government did sell abomination corpses, it still wasn't a topic that could be decided lightly in the open.
When Alexis returned from her phone call, she said, "My superior will be arriving shortly. You can talk to him yourself."
Christian stared at her for a moment, thinking it over. Then he raised a hand to his ear and said, "Connect me to Vincent."
Iris's calm voice rang in his ear. And he didn't have to wait long.
"Who?" came a short, blunt voice.
Christian responded in kind, "I still don't have an answer for your proposal. But for now… how about you call your people in the government and fix this problem? They want my corpse." He glanced behind him at the massive, twisted remains of the abomination.
"And I don't have any plan to hand it over."