Aberration Entities Fighting Each Other?

*Something's not quite right about this one.*

Lu Yuan took one look at Gillian's expression and was left completely speechless.

He cleared his throat and smiled. "I've already arranged a place to stay, so there's no need to trouble Ms. Gillian."

It was a lie — he hadn't arranged anything yet — but checking into a hotel was perfectly manageable. Staying at Gillian's place was absolutely out of the question.

He, Lu Yuan, was not that sort of easygoing man.

Besides, he didn't think it would take him long to root out the source of the Aberrations. He already had a lead. At this rate, wrapping everything up would only take a few days — he might even make it back in time for the next entry into the Land of Origin.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Gillian's face. "Oh, I see... Alright then."

Lu Yuan bid her farewell with an awkward but polite smile and turned to leave.

Any longer and who knew what else this woman might say.

*Is this what a mature woman is like? She's nothing like Qinghe and the others — way too forward. Better steer well clear.*

Muttering inwardly, he took the stairs up to the top floor of the Night Watchman branch.

Both Director Sha Jian's and Vice Director Maika's offices were on the top floor.

He arrived and knocked on Sha Jian's door first.

It opened — and it was Maika who answered. He blinked at the sight of Lu Yuan, then broke into a smile.

"Elder Lu — please, come in."

He stepped aside.

Inside, Sha Jian was seated at his desk. At the sight of Lu Yuan, he rose.

"Elder Lu. Did you find anything useful with Bernie?"

Lu Yuan smiled. "My people have already begun investigating. We'll need a little more time before we can confirm anything."

Sha Jian gave a slow nod and sighed. "We haven't turned up a single lead from our end either. Let's hope you can locate the source sooner rather than later."

He rubbed his temple as he spoke, visibly exhausted.

Lu Yuan quietly extended his senses — the Evolution Cube didn't stir. *Good. Looks like Tang Fei really is the only one who's been aberrated.*

Noticing that both Sha Jian and Maika looked worn down, he asked, "You two don't look well. Is everything alright?"

Sha Jian gestured for Lu Yuan and Maika to sit on the nearby sofa. He let out a rueful smile.

"This Aberration incident has been too far-reaching. Beyond the potential B-grade event, D-grade Aberration incidents keep breaking out across the city — and every single one of them falls on us Night Watchmen to handle. Yali City is enormous. We've been badly understaffed and short on resources these past weeks..."

Maika ran a hand over his noticeably receding hairline and laughed tiredly. "Between the two of us, we haven't had a proper rest in a month."

Lu Yuan: "..."

*Good lord. Even machines couldn't keep up with you two...*

Both Sha Jian and Maika were Battle King Rank fighters, but even Battle Kings didn't have limitless stamina. No wonder they both looked half-dead.

He regarded them with a measure of sympathy — and genuine admiration.

At the end of the day, everything they did was to stop Aberrations from causing mass casualties. The people they were protecting were ordinary citizens.

"If there's anything I can help with, just say the word," he said with a smile. "I can't promise I'll be of use, but the offer stands."

Sha Jian smiled back. "If Elder Lu can resolve this B-grade Aberration event quickly, that alone would be an enormous help."

"I'll do my best."

As Lu Yuan left the director's office, Sha Jian directed him to the guest quarters on the floor below — rooms that functioned like proper hotel accommodations, reserved specifically for distinguished visitors.

Lu Yuan was, evidently, a distinguished visitor.

He settled onto the sofa and reached out with his senses to check on the Shadow Clones.

The one stationed in Tang Fei's office had nothing to report — Tang Fei was still at his desk, working away, nothing unusual.

As for Franming and the others, they were still en route to the South District. Also nothing unusual.

Lu Yuan considered for a moment. His gaze deepened to a dark intensity. Wisps of black mist rose, and one by one, over two hundred Shadow Clones materialized.

Each carried one-third of his full combat power. Among Battle King Rank fighters, they were virtually invincible — even a Battle Sovereign equipped with Sovereign Grade genes would find a single Shadow Clone a formidable opponent. And here, there were more than two hundred.

With a single thought, they all vanished and fanned out across the entirety of Yali City.

Shadow Clones had no independent will. Without pre-set behavioral directives, they could only operate within Lu Yuan's perceptual range. But his range extended several hundred kilometers — enough to blanket all of Yali City with room to spare. Control was not an issue.

The reason he hadn't simply extended his perception directly across the city was that spreading it too thin risked blind spots, and a disturbance of that magnitude might tip off the aberrated individual.

Shadow Clones were the better approach — far more discreet, and should anything happen, they could respond on the spot.

Clones deployed, Lu Yuan settled cross-legged on the bed and waited quietly for the Aberration event to show itself.

He was genuinely curious: how exactly had all those people been disappearing?

Hours passed. Midnight came and went.

Still nothing. Lu Yuan checked in on Tang Fei's office — Tang Fei was still at his desk, still working. Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.

*Either my arrival put the aberrated individual into hiding... or Tang Fei is committing the crimes through some unknown ability, or Tang Fei has a connection to whoever is responsible. Hard to say which.*

South District. A residential building.

Xue Wang stood in the doorway of an apartment unit. Inside stood a plain-looking, somewhat dull middle-aged man, traces of unease still visible on his face.

"I'd been drinking with Old Porkin that night," the man said. "Old Porkin said he needed to relieve himself and ducked into a side alley. Then — I waited a long time, and he never came back out. I figured he'd just passed out in there. But when I went in to check, there was no one. Nothing at all. Old Porkin had simply vanished! Next day his family came to me, saying he'd never gone home. What could I tell them? I didn't see a thing!"

Xue Wang smiled pleasantly. "Think carefully. Was there anything unusual about that night? Anything at all that struck you as strange?"

"Unusual... strange?"

The man's eyes shifted as he dug through his memory.

After a moment, he gave a helpless smile. "Sir, I was drunk. When I noticed Old Porkin was gone, I honestly just assumed he'd wandered home without me. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary... and the alley was so dark..."

Just then, a black-haired young woman standing beside Xue Wang spoke softly.

"Look at me."

The man turned toward her on instinct.

He met her gaze — and her eyes seemed to swirl like twin whirlpools.

His thoughts blurred. When they cleared, he found himself stumbling along a street, pleasantly drunk.

Beside him, an old man with close-cropped gray-white hair — Old Porkin — was equally flushed, arm thrown over his shoulder and bellowing an off-key tune.

*Did I just... dream something?*

Whatever it was, he couldn't remember a single detail.

He shook his head. He'd been walking down a street — you can't dream while you're walking. He'd just been so drunk he'd started hallucinating.

Just then, Old Porkin trailed off mid-song and mumbled, "I... I need to take a leak."

The man gave him a mildly impatient look. "Go on then. And come right back!"

Old Porkin said nothing. He lurched off toward the mouth of a nearby alley.

The man waited. And waited. Old Porkin didn't come out.

The man grumbled and swayed to the curb, very nearly sprawling across it.

More time passed. His patience wore out.

He stared at the darkened alley entrance.

"How much longer does it take...? Porkin!!"

He shouted. No answer.

He blinked, cursed under his breath, and staggered toward the alley.

Reaching the entrance, he peered inside. The alley was dim but looked completely ordinary — two garbage bags sat against one wall. Of Old Porkin, there was not so much as a shadow.

The man scratched his head.

*That son of a — he snuck off without me.*

Still grumbling, he turned and shuffled away.

Not once, through all of it, did he notice the black-haired young woman walking silently beside him.

Not until he arrived home — and reality shattered like a mirror around him.

He snapped back to himself. He saw the people standing before him, and above all, the black-haired young woman with those dark, swirling eyes. Awe crept into his expression.

"Please — I swear I haven't done anything wrong..."

He was on the verge of tears.

Franming and the others glanced at the black-haired woman.

She shook her head.

A quiet, collective exhale. Franming offered a reassuring smile. "That was just standard procedure. You can go."

The man grabbed his door and slammed it shut like a pardoned man.

The expressions on Xue Wang and the others turned grim.

Franming stared at the closed door.

"That's the eighth one," he said. "Amin even reconstructed the scene in an illusion — and still not a single lead. This aberrated individual is extremely cunning."

The black-haired young woman — Lin Min — spoke. "Do we keep going?"

Franming frowned, thinking it over.

"This approach isn't working. Efficiency is too low. Alert the Night Watchman squads stationed in the South District — have them gather everyone in this area who's had any encounter with an Aberration incident. We do a consolidated sweep."

"Understood!"

Xue Wang pulled out his communicator and began contacting the Night Watchman units across the South District.

Together, the group left the residential building and made their way toward the complex exit.

It was deep into the night. The whole complex lay utterly still.

At this hour, few ordinary people would be outside under normal circumstances — let alone now, with Aberration incidents on the rise. Franming's team thought nothing of it.

Then, without a sound, a black door materialized directly behind Lin Min as she walked.

Through it, several dark arms reached out — grasping toward her.

No Spirit Power fluctuations. Not a whisper of sound.

No one noticed.

Two arms lunged for Lin Min's hands. Two more stretched toward her face.

Just as the arms seizing for her wrists were about to close — a Shadow rose from Lin Min's own shadow and caught those dark arms in an iron grip before they could reach her.

The entity beyond the door seemed startled by the sudden appearance. It froze for a beat.

Then the two seized arms thrashed wildly. The remaining arms swung at the Shadow.

The blows landed with tremendous force — but every one struck black mist, unable to penetrate it, let alone touch the Shadow itself.

The commotion finally snapped Franming's attention around.

The team spun as one.

The color drained from their faces: behind Lin Min, a Shadow grappled with dark arms reaching through a door torn open in midair. Ice shot through every one of them, cold sweat breaking out down their backs.

Lin Min herself went cold all over. She leapt backward on reflex, putting distance between herself and both the Shadow and those reaching arms.

"Everyone on guard!"

Franming's shout cut through the silence. They'd been wearing their Gene Armaments from the start; Spirit Power surged through them as they faced the scene — the Shadow, steady and composed, dragging captured arms back through the door; the remaining arms battering at it uselessly.

They watched. Watched the Shadow ignore every blow and haul those two arms outward through the doorway.

Bewilderment spread across their faces.

"Two aberrated creatures?!"

"What is this?!"

Two entities — neither of which they could identify — appeared to be fighting each other. They hesitated.

All eyes turned to Franming.

"Captain! What do we do?!"

Franming stared at the bizarre Shadow and the even more bizarre door that had opened in midair, dark arms still straining through it. His expression cycled through a dozen emotions.

Aberration investigations were always dangerous. As a seasoned Night Watchman, Franming had encountered no small number of Aberration events over the years — all manner of Aberration Entities and phenomena. But two Aberration Entities apparently fighting each other? That was something he had genuinely never seen.

Which one were they even supposed to help?

Then something occurred to him, and a fierce gleam crossed his face.

"What do you mean, what do we do? *Contact Elder Lu!*"

The others came back to themselves. With Lu Yuan on hand, why were they tying themselves in knots over this?

Whether he could get there quickly was another question — but Xue Wang was already pulling out his phone and sending the alert without a second's hesitation.

Back in the guest quarters at the Night Watchman branch, Lu Yuan was caught off guard. He hadn't expected the Aberration to make its move so boldly — and of all possible targets, to go after his own Night Watchman team.

*Does this thing have any idea what it's up against?*

Truthfully, he had hesitated for a moment. Part of him had considered letting the dark hand grab Lin Min — his Shadow Clone, lurking in her shadow, could have ridden her through that door to find out what lay on the other side.

But he'd dismissed the idea.

He had no way of knowing whether those arms would kill her the instant they had her. If they had, there was a real chance he wouldn't have been fast enough to intervene. Sacrificing a life he could save for the sake of a mission — that wasn't a call he was willing to make. Especially not when that life belonged to someone nominally under his command.

So he'd had the Shadow Clone act before the dark arms could touch her.

That said — when he heard Franming's team describe it as two Aberration Entities, he couldn't quite keep the expression off his face.

*Unfortunately, there's nothing I can say. It's not like I can announce that I possess a Sovereign Grade dark-element Transcendent Gene.*

Aberration Entity it was, then. At least Franming's team had the good sense to call him first rather than trying to handle it themselves.

Lu Yuan allowed himself a small smile — and vanished.