Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Enemy Within

“You’ve worked hard, let me treat you to this meal.”

In a small restaurant near the Bureau of Anomaly Handling, Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man sat together after wrapping up the sorrowful firefly case. The latter, generous as ever, insisted on paying.

The real reason was that he’d heard Qi Chen had given almost all of his bonus to the young boy who’d been orphaned because of the old beggar.

He hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but he couldn’t help himself:

“Couldn’t you at least keep a bit for yourself? The boy will be looked after by the Administration Hall from now on—his food, clothing, and everything else are taken care of. You don’t need to worry. I even heard he wants to join the Special Task Force. Given his background, so long as he stays out of trouble, he should be fine.”

“Hurry up and order, what’s the point of this lecture?” Qi Chen grinned, taking none of it seriously. “Doesn’t the bureau cover all my room and board? I hardly need to spend on anything. Might as well give the money away, so I don’t have to fret about what to buy every day.”

He had been excited when he first got his bonus, but the thrill faded quickly. Qi Chen realized he had little use for money, especially with the generous benefits the Bureau provided. In his day-to-day life, there was simply no opportunity to spend large sums.

“But I do have a few questions for you. How many kinds of anomalies are there, really?”

Qi Chen finally voiced the question that had long puzzled him.

From the blood-red high heels he’d encountered at first, to the guillotine of repentance, all anomalies in his mind had been bloody, cold, and innately hostile toward people.

But the sorrowful fireflies they’d handled the previous night shattered his original understanding.

It seemed… not all anomalies were directly deadly.

“That’s a good question,” the warm-hearted man said, slurping his noodles. “I think I mentioned before—anomalies originate from the mist.

“It’s precisely because of the mist that these things exist. And the reason we call these things anomalies, things that defy our normal understanding, is because of the unknown. And that unknown almost always has a negative effect on people. Since the founding of the League, the anomaly archives in the major cities have amassed so many cases that, if not astronomical, they’re certainly not few.

“The Institute has long tried to systematically classify anomalies—only by understanding them deeply can we handle them more effectively in the future.”

Qi Chen’s interest was piqued; he even forgot about the steaming bowl of noodles with extra beef in front of him.

“Unfortunately,” the warm-hearted man continued, finishing another mouthful and wiping his lips, “to this day, we still can’t properly categorize anomalies in detail. That’s because a crucial factor in their formation is the human mind, and how do you quantify that?

“So, in the end, we can only summarize broad categories. There are natural anomalies—anything related to anomalies except anomaly walkers themselves. Then there are domain types and free types. The former are usually fixed to a certain area, while the latter can move under certain conditions.”

Now, at last, Qi Chen had a more systematic concept of the anomalies he’d encountered.

“Remember, no matter what form they take, all anomalies are born from the combined action of the mist and the human mind, so their forms are bound to be diverse. But as long as we can identify the trigger mechanism behind their abilities, we can resolve them.”

With that, the warm-hearted man lifted his bowl and drained the broth, letting out a satisfied burp. “Anyway, anomalies must either be eliminated or sealed. Once you’ve done enough missions, you’ll naturally develop your own understanding.”

Ultimately, it all came down to hands-on experience, and Qi Chen agreed with that.

For now, having a basic framework was enough.

As for the present? He’d let the warm-hearted man watch as he enjoyed his meal at a leisurely pace.

...

...

“I—I’ve really told you everything!”

Inside the Bureau’s interrogation room, harshly lit, the anomaly walker who’d been captured alive by Qi Chen in the East City warehouse sat bound hand and foot to a specially made chair.

Injected with a certain drug, his mental activity was now as low as any ordinary person’s, his anomalous powers pitifully weak. Since his capture, the Bureau had given him no food—only the bare minimum of water.

And only a short distance away, a rifle controlled by electronic systems kept its sights trained on his head at all times; should the restraints fail, the gun would fire instantly.

“Are you sure you’ve really told us everything?”

Fu Ying sat with legs crossed at the interrogator’s desk, a notebook filled with dense notes laid out before her—all details extracted from the boyish-looking prisoner in front of her.

But it still wasn’t enough.

“The Slit-Eyed Society is a third-rate group scraping by on bounties. Do you really have the nerve to stir up such chaos in the city on your own?”

Fu Ying sneered, standing abruptly, her face as cold as frost as she strode over.

Swish!

A golden humanoid phantom suddenly drifted from her body, its form perfectly proportioned, its curves fluid with a unique, striking beauty.

“Divine Focus!”

Bang!

The golden fist smashed into the captive’s face, and Fu Ying’s unique anomalous power transferred instantly through her blow.

The hapless prisoner shuddered, and in the span of a breath, the fear in his eyes was replaced by a flicker of fanaticism.

At that moment, Fu Ying said coldly:

“Right now, you’re desperate to spill your innermost secrets.”

It was as if she’d entered a command into a machine; the prisoner’s gaze sharpened at once, frenzied enthusiasm surging within him.

What he blurted out next was explosive.

“That guillotine—we were hired to bring it into City Three, and yes, we knew it was an anomalous weapon,” he said, his excitement peaking, utterly unconcerned that he was revealing his organization’s top secrets. The more he spoke, the more exhilarated, the more focused he became.

“I don’t know who gave the order—I’m just the lowest-ranked anomaly walker in the group. The boss only had me load cargo onto the van in the city. If anything happened, I was supposed to cause a distraction so the Bureau wouldn’t find the rest of the goods.

“Oh! I remember! I once overheard some of the others talking to the client... The person who arranged this job is from inside City Three!”

The prisoner continued to pour out what he believed were hidden truths, while Fu Ying narrowed her eyes and calmly returned to the desk.

Someone inside the city, smuggling anomalous weapons?

...