(Yu Peng!)
Amidst the crowd, the man in the baseball cap turned around and disappeared into the darkness.
Li Ran immediately stepped forward, but by the time he pushed through the people, the man in the baseball cap had already vanished without a trace.
“Divine Sense!”
Li Ran activated his divine sense instantly, and his spiritual power surged forth, enveloping the entire area.
In the sea of his spiritual perception, every person or creature appeared as a starry light, as if beneath a starlit sky.
“Not him… not him… still not him.”
“Why would that guy show up at the site where the bodies of the missing children were dumped?”
“Could he be the killer behind the disappearance of those kids?”
His spiritual perception swept rapidly across each individual, but most of them only glowed at the 'bright' level. Very few even reached the 'brilliant' level, let alone the dazzling tier.
The brief glance earlier had been far too fleeting, so the golden finger had only managed to reveal the man’s name—Yu Peng.
“Found him!”
On the western side of Happy Community, there was a small creek. Along a path by the creek, a man with his hands in his pockets and a baseball cap on was walking alone into the night.
His starry light… blazed like a sun!
“This guy…” Li Ran’s pupils shrank suddenly, disbelief in his voice. “His eerie power is equal to mine?”
And finally, he understood why he hadn’t been able to locate Yu Peng earlier. It wasn't a disguise or some special concealment method. It was because Yu Peng’s eerie power was so high that divine senses couldn’t detect a presence stronger than oneself.
Li Ran stopped in his tracks. He wouldn’t act without certainty.
The golden finger had only revealed Yu Peng’s name, but not his infection class.
If he were C-Class, Li Ran wouldn’t even hesitate—he could easily crush him with his own power.
But… the one who issued this mission, Granny Mi, was an S-Class infected. How could a mission of this difficulty involve merely a C-Class opponent?
Even if it wasn’t S-Class, if it was B-Class or A-Class, he would still need to tread carefully.
Without absolute certainty, there was no way he’d provoke someone with eerie power equal to his own.
“What’s wrong?”
At this moment, Captain Zhang walked up behind Li Ran, looking at him in confusion.
“Captain Zhang, has there been a case recently involving a couple from a lamb restaurant getting killed?” Li Ran had a plan. He wanted to leverage the power of the police to deal with Yu Peng.
Upon hearing this, Captain Zhang’s body shivered, his eyes filled with a trace of fear. He quickly waved his hand, saying, “The police have encountered the murderer from the lamb restaurant case. It ended very badly. We’ve already requested support from higher-level law enforcement. That guy is not someone our small-town police force can handle.”
“Damn, what kind of murderer even the police can’t handle?” Li Ran asked in astonishment.
“That guy is hiding somewhere in the back alleys. We sent over a dozen officers to surround and eliminate him, and all of them were killed—every single one, with a fatal strike!” Captain Zhang said, filled with lingering fear.
Li Ran looked shocked. “He’s really that terrifying?”
“He’s killed over ten people already and still roams free, acting above the law. If anything displeases him, he kills. The police are at a complete loss—there’s nothing we can do about him.” Captain Zhang looked utterly distressed, slapping his own exhausted face.
Li Ran’s mouth fell open in shock. Is Yu Peng this outrageous?
This guy was practically spitting in the face of law enforcement—an outlaw beyond the law!
Li Ran silently thanked himself for not rushing to confront him earlier. If even the police couldn’t handle this kind of terror, facing him alone would have been suicide.
“He’s not the culprit behind the missing children case.”
Captain Zhang leaned on the riverbank, speaking with certainty.
He lit a cigarette.
Half was taken by him, the other half by the wind. He didn’t argue with the wind, as if even the wind had its own sorrows.
“Captain, we found the suspect,” Officer Xiao Feng reported.
The cigarette burned quickly. In just a few puffs, only the butt remained. With a flick of his fingers, the tiny ember traced an arc through the darkness and fell into the creek.
“Where is he now?” Captain Zhang asked.
Officer Xiao Feng looked troubled. “On the roof of Building No. 8. He’s taken a child hostage.”
Li Ran and Captain Zhang exchanged glances, both visibly stunned.
“To the scene!”
---
Building No. 8 – Rooftop.
“Back off! Back off, all of you!”
At the edge of the rooftop, a monster with a head like a blazing bird and a body that looked like a cross between a merman and a crab had its massive, sharp claw clamped around a child’s neck. It roared at the advancing police officers.
“You take one more step, and I’ll slice off his head!” the monster shouted.
At that, the police halted.
Just then, Li Ran and Captain Zhang arrived at the rooftop.
Captain Zhang stepped forward to negotiate. “Calm down, Ah Wei. You’re surrounded.”
Li Ran narrowed his eyes, a flash of insight gleaming within them.
(Nie Tianwei)
(A-Class Mental Infected.)
(Eerie Power: 1600)
(He is on the verge of losing control, close to a violent rampage. He could go berserk at any moment.)
(Due to his son’s kidney failure requiring a transplant, the twice-weekly dialysis sessions have drained all his savings. After waiting endlessly for a suitable donor, he was forced down a path of no return.)
(Warning: If you can’t kill him in one strike, the hostage will be in grave danger.)
(Hint: To save the hostage, you must find a compatible kidney for his child. Successfully saving the hostage will earn you an additional reward.)
After reading the prompt, Li Ran frowned in confusion. “A compatible kidney?”
Li Ran thought of a place where he might find a suitable kidney source, but before that, he needed Captain Zhang to stall the suspect.
“Captain Zhang, do not provoke him. He could go berserk at any moment. If your weapons can’t kill him instantly, the hostage is doomed!” Li Ran conveyed everything he’d just seen to Captain Zhang.
Without Li Ran’s information, the police would’ve never located the suspect so quickly, and all of his previous predictions had come true—so Captain Zhang trusted him without question.
“Wuuu… I want to go home… I want my mommy…” the hostage child sobbed in terror.
“Shut up, or I’ll rip your mouth apart!” Nie Tianwei roared furiously.
The hostage boy was so frightened he dared not make another sound, though tears streamed down his face. His little face was filled with fear.
“Captain, you have to hold him off. Give me ten minutes,” Li Ran said.
“Got it,” Captain Zhang responded.
Li Ran slipped out of the crowd and stealthily descended the building. He was heading to a place where he could find a suitable kidney—fresh, and ready.
He had once thought he’d never need it in this world, but fate had proved him wrong.
Meanwhile, on the edge of the rooftop, the monster trembled as it held the hostage.
“All of you, move back inside,” Captain Zhang commanded.
“That’s too risky,” Officer Xiao Feng protested.
“If we want the hostage to live, you have to trust me. This is the last surviving child,” Captain Zhang stressed.
“Do as the captain says.”
The officers all retreated to the stairwell, leaving only Captain Zhang on the rooftop to face the suspect alone.
Captain Zhang removed the weapon from his belt and slowly raised both hands as he approached the suspect. “I’m here to talk. I have no weapon.”
(End of Chapter)