Chapter 53: Trump Card
Whispering Silverblossom was a specialty shop in the Eastern District that purchased silver and refined it into products such as mithril, alchemical silver, and silver pellets before reselling them to customers. Operating on the principle that a single transaction could sustain them for three years, the establishment was tucked away on the second floor of an equipment store.
The storefront was exceptionally modest, but the interior ran quite deep. Small as it was, it was fully equipped, boasting an elixir-refining chamber, an alchemy workshop, and a sprawling vault to store silver.
Tonight, a group of supernatural beings who had drifted over from Hibiscus City had set their sights on that shop. Every one of them was a rather remarkable criminal in their own way, with warrants hanging over their heads.
After the Aberrant Parasites incident in Silver City, Hibiscus City had resumed mandatory citywide examinations. Fearing exposure, these criminals had fled beyond the city limits.
Putting their heads together, they had concluded that the most dangerous place was often the safest. So once Silver City's lockdown was lifted, they quietly slipped into the city.
If they could successfully steal a large quantity of silver from Whispering Silverblossom and escape overnight, the profits would be enough to keep them comfortably on the run for a very long time. Crimes committed by roaming offenders like them were notoriously difficult to investigate. And their chances of success were extremely high or would have been so, if not for one individual: Yu Xian.
That night, at 2 AM, Yu Xian was already patiently waiting above Whispering Silverblossom for the rabbit to walk into the trap. He had turned himself pitch black, not reflecting even a speck of light. Anyone looking toward him would fail to notice him.
Meanwhile, atop a high-rise building a thousand meters away, Zhang Shou and Gong Qian watched the shop through binoculars, monitoring the situation from afar. On the other side, perched atop a utility pole to the right of Whispering Silverblossom, Bluebird sat in her bird form. She was equally inconspicuous.
At that moment, a van drove down the street and stopped beside the utility pole. Five minutes later, five figures climbed out. Moving furtively, they made their way toward a narrow alley beside the equipment store.
At the far end of the alley, on the right-hand side, stood a door. One of the men pressed his hand against it, and the door immediately deformed. A hole large enough for an adult to pass through opened in its center.
Yu Xian smiled. "We can make our move now."
This was the world of the supernaturals. The moment the man had used his ability to breach the door, they already had conclusive evidence. There was no need to wait until the criminals actually entered the shop.
Different nations treated supernatural criminals very differently. Some nations had so few supernatural beings that even convicted offenders were handled leniently, only being forced into state-sponsored breeding programs.
Huaxia, on the other hand, had never wavered from its original policy since the dawn of supernatural beings, enforcing a zero-tolerance stance where such crimes were punished with absolute severity. Once the evidence was indisputable, the Combat Police was granted absolute authority to execute lethal force against supernatural criminals. If these outlaws met their demise while resisting arrest, it was considered entirely of their own making.
Precisely because the nation's laws were far harsher on supernatural beings, Yu Xian and Zhang Shou had never suffered harassment or bullying from supernatural beings while growing up as ordinary people.
After receiving the green light from Yu Xian, Bluebird made the first move. She dove from the top of the utility pole. The instant she entered the alley, she transformed back into human form.
Moving at three times the speed of sound, she kicked one of the criminals, launching him upward. The sound of ribs shattering echoed through the alley, and the criminal crashed violently into the wall at the far end.
The remaining four criminals immediately turned pale. "Damn it! It's the cops! Run!"
Three of them bolted toward the alley entrance, while the man who had made a hole in the door gritted his teeth and fled through the opening instead.
The three criminals burst out of the alley. One sprinted to the left while the other two made a desperate dash toward the van.
Gong Qian came hurtling down from the sky. Despite her small stature, she carried terrifying power. She crashed directly into the van. The entire vehicle exploded on the spot, bursting into roaring flames.
The two criminals stared at Gong Qian standing atop the burning wreckage. Completely unfazed by the fire, she slowly clenched her fists, producing a series of ominous cracking sounds. The pair immediately made the sensible decision. They dropped to the ground and clasped their hands over their heads, knowing that the violent little girl was definitely not someone they wanted to provoke.
The third fleeing criminal hadn't even made it fifty meters before a bullet struck the ground directly in front of him. He froze. Then another bullet struck, and another, and another. Trembling like a leaf, he immediately raised his hands in surrender.
In the distance, Zhang Shou lowered his sniper rifle with a helpless expression. He had been aiming for the man's legs, but not a single shot had hit the target.
Inside Whispering Silverblossom, the masked criminal who had gone through the hole in the door frantically sprinted deeper into the building. At the same time, he searched desperately for a window or another route of escape.
Suddenly, he noticed someone hanging upside down from the ceiling ahead. Before he could process what he was seeing, a hand seized the back of his neck. His world spun, and everything became a blur. By the time his senses returned, he was already lying face-down on the street outside Whispering Silverblossom, a foot pressed firmly against his head.
Yu Xian looked down at him. "For your own sake, don't move."
The reason Yu Xian had appeared on the ceiling wasn't to look cool. The bubble he had planted inside Whispering Silverblossom beforehand was attached to the ceiling. If he emerged from it normally, he would simply fall, so he had attached bubbles to the soles of his feet, allowing himself to stick to the ceiling like a gecko.
The rest had been simple. He guided a microscopic bubble behind the criminal, teleported himself through it, grabbed the man's neck, and teleported both of them directly onto the street.
The criminal's dizziness wasn't merely from the sudden movement. Inside the bubbles, there was no gravity. Combined with the lack of oxygen from having his neck restrained, the experience left him thoroughly disoriented.
Afterward, the five criminals were secured with super-alloy handcuffs. Yu Xian contacted Zhang Kai and asked him to collect the criminals.
The five criminals sat squatting against a wall, while Yu Xian and the others gathered nearby. Zhang Shou scratched his head. "So that's it? I was expecting some vicious, terrifying criminals."
Gong Qian yawned and stretched. "Since we've already caught them, I'm heading back to sleep."
Yu Xian nodded. "Alright. Thanks for your hard work, Vice Captain."
Gong Qian's eyelids were already fighting to stay open. She sounded half-asleep as she spoke. "Mmm...You have worked hard too. Bye..."
She rarely stayed up late. Because she wanted to grow taller, she had always maintained a strict sleep schedule. Being awake past two in the morning was extremely unusual for her.
Bluebird looked concerned. After saying goodbye to Yu Xian and Zhang Shou, she accompanied Gong Qian back to the dormitory. Neither of them owned a home in Silver City. For the time being, they were staying in the same dormitory where Yu Xian had once accompanied Zhang Shou.
Once Gong Qian and Bluebird left, the five criminals subtly glanced at one another. The woman who had left was the one they feared the most. With her terrifying strength, she had crashed a van beneath her weight without sustaining a single scratch. They knew all too well that even their trump cards would be useless against her.
But with her being gone, things looked different. Neither of the two young men left on the scene seemed particularly powerful. If the criminals were willing to use their trump cards, they could probably still turn the situation around.
The five criminals exchanged glances again.
Five against two. The odds look good.
We rolling?
Let's go!
In an instant, a silent agreement was reached. The largest and most heavily built among them let out a roar. Springing to his feet, he charged straight at Yu Xian with his hands thrust forward. However, Yu Xian dodged.
Since Yu Xian had been standing with his back against the wall, the criminal's handcuffed hands slammed directly into the wall, shattering completely. Another criminal quickly rushed behind the burly man, pulled a syringe filled with an unknown drug out of his waist pouch, and plunged it straight into his back.
The burly criminal's muscles flushed a deep crimson. He swelled up rapidly, snapping the super-alloy handcuffs.