21: Chapter 21 This kid is really a bit strange!

Outside the abandoned factory area in the south of the city.

Sunlight shone back into the intricate steel pipes.

Su Yun walked to a deserted, shaded alley entrance and stopped.

The purple-black mist around his body rapidly retracted, and those illusory tentacles intertwined and dissolved, finally completely disappearing beneath his skin.

The twisted, massive silhouette vanished, and he transformed back into that slender high school student.

However, his No. 2 High School uniform was completely ruined from the earlier battle.

The front was torn by the violent psionic water blades, turning it into a crop top.

Although the clothes were ruined, his flesh was unscathed.

On his fair skin, there was now a pitch-black longsword tattoo slightly to the left of his heart.

The most important thing now was that he had completed the accumulation of growth.

Now he just needed to find an absolutely safe place to initiate evolution!

He glanced at his phone: 2:30 PM.

It had been nearly three hours since he shook off those two bodyguards.

At this point, those two A-Level existences were probably mentally shattered, likely agonizing over how to report the bad news to their boss.

With no time for sentiment, Su Yun deftly bought a set of pure black hooded sweatshirt and casual pants at a street corner. After tossing the tattered school uniform into a trash can, he hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Linhai City central Library.

...

Inside the abandoned chemical plant.

Su Yao sat on a broken load-bearing pillar.

The special communicator in her hand flashed with red light.

The sound of static crackled for a few seconds.

An extremely deep, iron-blooded male voice came through.

"I am the Supreme Command, Commander Li Zhenshan."

"Field Investigator Su Yao."

"You have utilized the special-grade red authority that only Bureau Chief level personnel are qualified to touch, forcibly accessing my private line. You had better give me a reason that can convince me."

Commander Li Zhenshan's voice was filled with the authority of life and death.

"Otherwise, when this communication ends, the disciplinary team will send you directly to a military tribunal."

Su Yao gripped the communicator tightly, her palms full of sweat.

"Commander, an unregistered, terrifying Strange Tales has appeared in the south of the city. It instantly assimilated the s-class sequencing weapon black day. If the highest level of firepower coverage is not mobilized immediately, it will destroy this city."

The other side was silent for two seconds.

"Just based on you, a D-Level field agent?" Commander Li Zhenshan coldly rebuked, "Who gave you the guts to report across levels with this kind of judgment?"

"Because I am a Rebirth." Su Yao directly revealed her trump card.

"Absurd." Commander Li Zhenshan coldly spat out the two words.

"If your mind is only filled with delusions from pulp literature, then this conversation ends here."

"Wait!" Su Yao raised her volume.

Her brain spun rapidly, recalling secrets from her previous life that absolutely should not have been known by outsiders at this point in time.

"Commander, you should be sitting at your desk in the First Conference Room right now."

Su Yao spoke extremely fast.

"In the encrypted drawer on your right, there is a top-secret plan. Codename, Zero Psionic Matrix."

"Led by the Imperial Capital First Research Institute, you intend to use living Advanced Strange Tales as the core of a formation to create an absolute defense network in the heart of the Great Xia. Am I right!"

The other end of the communicator went silent instantly.

Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

A full ten seconds passed.

"Who on earth are you?"

Commander Li Zhenshan's voice had sunk to the extreme, carrying undisguised killing intent.

This plan was known to only five people in the upper echelons of the entire Great Xia.

It was absolutely impossible for it to have been leaked to a low-level local field agent!

Su Yao did not retreat and continued to raise the stakes.

"I also know that this plan of yours will completely spiral out of control in three months."

"All researchers at the First Research Institute will undergo distortion. Six unspeakable monsters will hatch, and half of the Imperial Capital will become a dead city. This research is destined to be a joke!"

Dead silence. A deathly silence.

Only the sound of the wind wailing through the abandoned factory remained.

Finally, Commander Li Zhenshan spoke again.

"You being able to know of the existence of this research."

This Commander-in-Chief who held the power of life and death over Great Xia enunciated the words heavily.

"I already believe you by thirty percent."

"Now, you tell me it will fail. I believe you by fifty percent."

Commander Li Zhenshan paused, his tone carrying a trace of barely perceptible probing.

"Why don't you tell me, why will it fail?"

...

On the rooftop of the department store across the street.

Arbiter Lei Zhen and Arbiter Qin Feng stared fixedly at the window on the third floor of the Library, their expressions as if they had swallowed ten green-headed flies in one go.

Ten minutes ago, they had nearly turned half the city's underground air-raid shelters upside down. Finally, they had to pull surveillance from over a hundred blocks, plus a top-level carpet-style psionic network sweep, to recapture the target's shadow.

And the result?

The Su Yun they had been searching for so bitterly was sitting upright in the Library, wearing a brand-new outfit, holding a copy of the English version of "Macroeconomics," and gazing affectionately at the No. 2 High School campus belle, Chu Youwei.

Arbiter Qin Feng wiped the cold sweat from his face, feeling that his A-Level strength was likely fake.

"Brother Lei... we two battle-hardened Arbiters were actually treated like monkeys by a high school student with zero psionic fluctuation in the underground tunnel? He not only slipped away, but even had the leisure to buy a new set of clothes and pick up a girl? How on earth did he do it! This time we have really lost face!"

Arbiter Lei Zhen's temple veins throbbed wildly; staring at the harmonious study scene below, he fell into deep self-doubt.

The Saintess's Bloodline had none of the intense psionic energy typical of a Psionic User.

The only explanation was that there was some damn natural magnetic field interference in that tunnel, which made them run around like headless flies!

This was definitely an indelible black mark on their professional career.

"Shut up! From now on, don't even blink!" Arbiter Lei Zhen growled through gritted teeth, "We must keep an eye on him, otherwise the Saintess will definitely twist my head off!"

...

Inside the Library.

Chu Youwei looked at Su Yun, who had forcibly sat opposite her, and for a moment didn't know what expression to make.

He really came.

It's just that she didn't know what he had been doing just now!

"Did you really go to the internet cafe?"

Chu Youwei lowered her voice, unable to help but complain.

Su Yun held that thick foreign tome, not even lifting his eyelids.

"I really went. It's my fault for being too strong; I got hand cramps from getting pentakills, and feeling bored, I stopped by to buy a new set of clothes to celebrate. In the end, I reflected on my mistakes and decided that playing games isn't as good as coming to find you to make progress together."

As he spoke, he leaned back, speaking shamelessly.

"The air in the internet cafe seriously affects my thinking on the Profound Truth of human exploitation."

Chu Youwei was almost laughed at by him.

"Make it up, keep making it up. You change your clothes and run over here to pretend to be a top student; at least be professional, you're holding the book upside down, brother!"

She tapped the table hard with the tip of her pen, exposing him mercilessly.

Su Yun glanced down; the English letters in the copy of "Macroeconomics" in his hand were indeed all upside down.

But he had absolutely no sense of social death, calmly turning the book the right way up.

"You don't understand, this is called reverse thinking."

"Go to hell!"

Chu Youwei finally couldn't help but curse with a smile, kicking him lightly under the table.

But after the joke, the smile at the corners of her mouth slowly faded. She turned her head to look at the bustling street outside the window, her expression becoming somewhat heavy.

"Su Yun, seriously, don't you feel that this world has been very wrong lately?"

She leaned closer, her voice filled with obvious unease.

"Today, a B-Level Weird Tale could pop up in school without a sound; this was something unthinkable in the past. I heard from the elders in my family that abyss nodes everywhere are rioting, and the official defense lines are almost unable to hold on."

She paused, her tone even weaker.

"There is also gossip saying that there was a huge mess at the Imperial Capital hub, and even S-Level big shots have been alarmed. I heard that a taboo at the deepest level of the abyss that can destroy the world is about to wake up... I always feel that the days of everyone living peacefully are numbered."

Su Yun listened to her gossip, appearing steady as a rock on the surface, but internally, alarms were blaring.

A world-destroying taboo existence at the bottom of the abyss?

Did someone calculate it against him, or did some other world-destroying threat really emerge?

Seeing Chu Youwei becoming less and less confident as she spoke, Su Yun took the end of his pen and tapped it crisply on her math workbook, making a "da" sound.

"Stop browsing those doomsday forums that manufacture anxiety; you've got too much time on your hands." Su Yun looked indifferent, carrying his usual nonchalance, "If the sky falls, there are those old monsters and tall people to hold it up; at worst, we'll just schedule them for two extra night shifts. As for you—"

He pointed at the final exam question on the paper: "Your primary task right now is to solve this trigonometric function, otherwise you won't get into university, and that will be your real doomsday!"

Two or three hours later. Approaching evening.

Chu Youwei lowered her head, struggling with that final trigonometric function question, her brows knitted so tightly they were almost knotted.

Su Yun rested his chin on one hand, while the other hand boredly twirled his gel pen.

The System notification in his mind was still echoing like a death knell.

[Transformation requires 8 hours, please find an absolutely hidden location as soon as possible.]

Eight hours. To disappear into thin air at this juncture for eight hours, without arousing the suspicion of his family and the Investigation Bureau.

This matter seemed troublesome no matter how you looked at it.

What was even more annoying was that on the rooftop of the building across the street, there were two A-Level gatekeepers standing there.

From the moment he was locked onto by them again, these two guys' psionic network stuck to him like superglue.

Even when he went to get a cup of hot water, those two senses would linger around the water dispenser for two rounds.

Maybe even when he went to the bathroom, they would compare the size.

Wanting to disappear without anyone noticing under the noses of two A-Level Psionic Users, and having to maintain it for such a long time, this was definitely a technical job.

Su Yun stopped his hand from twirling the pen.

A trace of deep black light flashed deep within his pupils.

[Foolish Eye] activated silently.

His gaze penetrated the Library's glass curtain wall, crossed the street, and reached the rooftop of the department store.

The psionic silhouettes of Arbiter Lei Zhen and Arbiter Qin Feng were clearly visible.

Not only that, with the help of high-dimensional rule dimensionality reduction analysis, even the frequency of air vibration around them was translated into clear speech, directly transmitted into Su Yun's mind.

"Brother Lei, what exactly is so special about this kid?"

Arbiter Qin Feng leaned against the lightning rod, his tone full of dissatisfaction.

"Besides being handsome, having a sharp tongue, and being big down there, I really can't see where he deserves for us two A-Level Arbiters to act as full-time bodyguards. Even having to watch him go to the bathroom, this job is too stifling!"

Su Yun: "..."

Arbiter Lei Zhen stood with his arms crossed, standing straight.

"Shut up. How can you criticize the Saintess's own flesh and blood? Even if the Saintess's Bloodline has no psionic energy, it is still the most noble existence in the Saint Domain. Protecting him is our supreme honor."

"That's what they say." Arbiter Qin Feng scratched his hair, "But the former Saintess has been retired for so many years; I heard she spends her days at home researching the heat for pork rib soup. Why did she suddenly issue the highest order today, pulling us back from the front lines?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen snorted coldly.

"Don't try to guess the Saintess's thoughts. Last night, someone didn't know how to live and caused trouble at the Saintess's doorstep. The Saintess is angry and wants our people to properly warn two Psionic Users who don't know how to live!"

Inside the Library.

Su Yun's hand holding the pen paused slightly.

Saintess? Former? Pork rib soup?

These keywords pieced together exploded directly in his mind.

He knew his mom was very powerful.

But he didn't expect his mom to actually be the former Saintess of the Saint Domain?!

Saint Domain.

This was a global behemoth, a top-tier organization rumored to have God-gifted beings.

Even the official Investigation Bureau had to be polite in front of them.

Good grief.

His dad was the legendary Monster Hunter Night Owl.

His sister was the rising star of The Watchers, Dark Blade.

Even his mom, who usually seemed the most gentle and virtuous, was actually a big shot who could casually mobilize A-Level Arbiters!

And she even sent people specifically to protect his safety.

Su Yun rubbed his brow.

Touched as he was, these two gatekeepers were seriously hindering his grand plan for transformation.

If he didn't get them out of the way, he couldn't even find a place to transform.

Just as Su Yun was pondering how to cause some trouble for these two loyal subordinates of his mom.

Outside, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded.

Immediately after, exclamations and screams came from the street.

Chu Youwei's hand shook, and the pen tip drew a long black line on the paper.

"What's going on?" She stood up abruptly and walked quickly to the window to look down.

Su Yun also lazily followed.

At the intersection downstairs from the Library, a monster had appeared at some point.

It was a mass of rotting flesh covered in pustules, emitting a pungent stench, with a body the size of a small truck.

Several barbed tentacles were waving wildly in the air, smashing the roadside fire hydrant to pieces, and a water column shot into the sky.

[C-Level Strange Tales: Rot Mud Monster]

The official personnel hadn't arrived yet, and the surrounding civilians were fleeing in all directions.

But this monster didn't run rampant for long.

It hadn't even eaten anyone since it appeared.

A black shadow leaped down from the tall building nearby.

The person was wrapped in pitch-black shadows, holding two black short blades in their hands.

The speed was extremely fast.

Leaving only a series of afterimages in the air.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

The black shadow shuttled around the rotting flesh monster; the blade-like shadows cut through it like tofu, precisely avoiding those venom-spraying pustules, with every strike aimed directly at the Strange Tales' core.

Within ten seconds.

As the last black light flashed, the C-Level Strange Tales let out a shrill scream, its massive body collapsed with a bang, turning into a pool of foul-smelling liquid emitting black gas.

The alarm sound gradually subsided.

The crowd hiding in the surrounding shops saw the situation clearly and immediately erupted into deafening cheers.

"It's The Watchers!"

"Dark Blade! That is Lady Dark Blade!"

"So cool! Dark Blade saved us!"

"Lady Dark Blade, please sign an autograph for me today!"

"It has to be The Watchers; waiting for those good-for-nothing investigators from the official side, we would have been dead this time!"

Listening to the fanatical shouts below, the black figure put away the short blades with great satisfaction.

She put one hand on her hip, and even specifically struck a pose she thought was extremely cool, nodding slightly at the surrounding crowd.

She even reached out to smooth the stray hair by her ear.