The mask concealed his gaze.
The moment he completed his transformation, the space rift twisting before him finally tore open. Writhing flesh assembled in an instant, forming a three-meter-tall monster.
Lin Cheng’s head suddenly throbbed with pain.
Plunderer: Most were A-Rank disaster variant demon beasts, with rare few reaching S-Rank. They were humanoid demon beasts with twin scythes for arms, devoid of reason and brimming with savagery and bloodlust. They were the Abyss’s most common killing machines, their scythe arms capable of absorbing flesh power through slaughter to evolve.
The scarlet scythes facing Lin Cheng marked this one as an S-Rank plunderer.
Countless scenes from the past flashed through Lin Cheng’s mind. He remembered limbs and chunks of plunderer flesh, as well as the unwilling stares of humans, their roars echoing in his ears.
In the instant he zoned out, the plunderer unleashed an especially shrill howl. Any ordinary person standing there would have had their eardrums shattered. Xu Wanyue had already sprinted more than ten meters away. Fortunately, she was obedient and knew her abilities would be useless if she stayed—calling for reinforcements was the priority.
Xu Wanyue clamped her hands over her ears and ran with long strides. Her high heels nearly sent her tumbling, but her phone was already connected to the Alliance’s dedicated line. She urgently requested backup while Lin Cheng’s words echoed relentlessly in her head: Don’t look back.
Yet she couldn’t resist glancing over her shoulder.
The black-red Faiz had thrown a punch at the plunderer, but its scythe came slashing down in the same moment. Though he had consciously sped up to evade, part of the blade still carved into his chest, cracking the armor. His fist connected with the plunderer, forcing it back only half a step, while he went flying far backward, crashing into a peach tree.
“Don’t look back. Keep running,” Lin Cheng said, as if sensing Xu Wanyue’s gaze. He repeated it seriously. In that instant, the plunderer charged toward him, its scythe sweeping down once more. He rolled aside to dodge.
Xu Wanyue whipped her head forward and broke into a sprint. Her car was parked not far away. Once inside, she fired up the engine. In the rearview mirror, Lin Cheng was still battling the plunderer, but it looked like he was on the back foot.
The plunderer’s speed was blistering, and it could sense any flesh in a wide radius. Its sole purpose was to slaughter every target it detected. There was a small village just a kilometer away, which was why he had stayed behind to buy time!
She recalled Lin Cheng telling her that the suit could only output A-Rank power, for a maximum of fifteen minutes at a time. Once depleted, he would be spent. Xu Wanyue hastily wiped tears from the back of her hand to clear her vision, then drove toward the nearby village while pulling out her phone to call Litchi.
Lin Cheng glanced down at his chest.
The armor there was already in tatters, held together only by trickles of energy. After all, it was just an alchemical gadget—a toy Lemon had whipped up for him on request. It wasn’t particularly sturdy. The plunderer’s eyes burned scarlet; it was a mindless killing machine, fixated on exterminating every living thing in range. Lin Cheng had no intention of trading blows evenly. Instead, he kept kiting it, fleeing while drawing it out.
He bolted deeper into the remote mountain woods. The plunderer’s speed was ferocious, forcing him to rely on terrain obstacles to slow it down. But after just one or two minutes, it caught up again. The scythe slashed across his back, sending his body sprawling to the ground.
The plunderer gave him no chance to recover. Its scythe came whistling down once more. Lin Cheng thrust out both hands and clamped onto the blade, channeling every ounce of strength into his arms.
On a hill near Peach Blossom Cove.
The surveillance feed was patchy at best; the cameras had only been set up hastily the night before. By now, Lin Cheng and the plunderer had moved beyond its range. Solar Corona could only turn to Shaman. “How’s the fight going?”
Shaman could share the plunderer’s field of vision, but sweat beaded on his forehead as he replied, “The plunderer is about to kill him…”
Solar Corona’s brows furrowed. He glanced at Futian, who stood nearby. “Shouldn’t we step in now?”
Futian’s expression remained calm and detached. “Wait a little longer.”
“Wait for what? Even if he really is that ability user from the case two years ago… we could just arrest him outright, couldn’t we? Why does the Alliance have to go through this charade? Releasing a disaster variant demon beast to test him?”
“I don’t know.” Futian shook his head. “It’s a decision from above. If he truly has S-Rank power, he can hold out for at least another five minutes. We’ll move in after that.”
“Futian!”
“Orders are orders.” Futian’s gaze drifted toward the distance before settling back on Shaman. “What now?”
Shaman’s face had gone pale. “I can’t see… His armor exploded…”
The Faiz transformation device ran on a crystal core harvested from an Abyss Devourer. It had been built with a self-destruct function from the start. Lin Cheng could no longer hold back the scythe—detonating the armor was his final option.
The blast hurled the disaster variant demon beast back several steps, leaving it with only superficial wounds of torn flesh. When Lin Cheng staggered to his feet, the clothes on his body were ablaze.
The flames licked at his skin as he slowly pushed himself upright from the ground. He stared at the plunderer ahead of him, his lips parting slightly.
He ripped off the burning T-shirt and tossed it aside, leaving his upper body bare. The prior blaze had scorched his skin into a bloody mess. The scent of exposed flesh sent the plunderer into a frenzy. It lunged at Lin Cheng, its scythe arcing straight for his neck. But the moment it closed in, all its movements froze.
This time, the plunderer unleashed another piercing shriek.
Humanity had yet to decipher the Abyss’s tongue or the meaning behind each creature’s cries. But Lin Cheng understood. This one carried terror.
It had seen the deep blue in Lin Cheng’s eyes.
That azure hue in his gaze matched the color of the Black Cat back home. In the next instant, crimson threads enveloped his body. He began to swell in size until he matched the plunderer’s height. The threads fully encased him, morphing into flesh. They coiled around his arms, reshaping them into scythes that gleamed with an eerie chill.
He… had become a plunderer.
“He… he’s turned into a plunderer too… Hurry… hurry… His aura is wrong… it’s wrong… Save me… Save me!!!” Shaman suddenly wailed. He clutched his arms tightly, his face draining to ashen as pain wracked him. His body convulsed.
Futian and Solar Corona activated their energy links at once, tracing the energy aura to the scene. At their power level, it took no more than five seconds. But when they arrived, only a single plunderer stood on the ground.
Scattered chunks of flesh littered the dirt nearby—enough remnants to reassemble another plunderer. The one still upright slowly turned to face them.
Human emotion flickered in its eyes.
The crimson threads coiled around its body slithered back inside. It reverted to Lin Cheng, the mangled wounds on his flesh now vanished. His eyes calmly regarded Futian and Solar Corona.
“Alliance reinforcements?”
“Yes.”
“It’s handled. Fortunately, it was just a freshly promoted S-Rank plunderer—no other Abyss creatures showed up. Now that you’re here, you can take care of cleanup.” Lin Cheng’s voice was soft. He offered them a faint smile tinged with exhaustion.
But as he took a single step forward, Futian moved to block his path.
“Sorry. You can’t leave just yet.”
Lin Cheng looked up at him, puzzled. “Why not?”
“What’s your ability?”
“Mine’s Physical System. It lets me mimic Abyss creatures to a certain degree.” Lin Cheng answered quietly.
“You’re a suspect in a civilian ability user case from two years ago. Please cooperate and come with us to Alliance HQ for questioning. If you’re cleared, you’ll be free to go soon enough.”
“Two years ago? An ability user crime?” Confusion stirred in Lin Cheng’s eyes.
“Two years back, there was an S-Rank Physical-System ability user whose power let him alter his body structure. He could shift his appearance and build endlessly. The Alliance has been hunting him for two years, but his ability makes him slippery. We run standard checks on all S-Rank Physical ability users. Please cooperate.”
Lin Cheng got it. He nodded lightly. “All right.”
Futian produced a pair of blue handcuffs. Lin Cheng blinked, then chuckled. “I’ll cooperate fully… but do I have to wear these?”
“Sorry. It’s procedure. Bear with us.”
“Fine, fine. As long as I’m cleared of suspicion, I should be out quick, right?”
“No more than three days. I guarantee it.”
“Okay.” Lin Cheng obediently extended his hands.
These were Alliance special handcuffs, embedded with alchemy technology to suppress energy flow to some extent. Futian was surprised by the easy compliance—it was the outcome he preferred.
He didn’t want this man to be the perpetrator from two years ago. After all… he had stayed behind to slay the plunderer and protect the innocent villagers in the nearby hamlet.
But the moment the cuffs snapped open, a dagger streaked through the air and embedded itself in Futian’s palm, pinning it through.
The strike was so swift that Futian had no time to react. He and Solar Corona spun around together. Standing behind them were three women.
He had crossed paths with two of them just days earlier.
Litchi and Grape—and a tall woman with tear tracks staining her cheeks. That was Xu Wanyue; Futian didn’t know her.
The dagger impaled in his palm bore an inscription of agony. Pain jolted through Futian, making his body shudder for an instant. Then the blade yanked free and flew back into Grape’s hand.
Grape’s eyes gleamed with cold arrogance.
