Unlike the other superhumans I’ve encountered, Zhuang Cheng exudes neither the aura of a high-quality soul nor any trace of magical energy. He feels like an entirely ordinary human—someone you could find anywhere.

However, this lack of feedback isn’t enough to prove that Zhuang Cheng is just a regular person. There are plenty of individuals skilled at concealing their superpower, and it’s possible that Zhuang Cheng’s power lies precisely in such concealment.

I decided to send my Substitute to investigate Zhuang Cheng while also delving into the mysteries of the fifteenth-floor apartment.

In truth, I don’t believe the basement in the apartment is a gateway to the future. It seems more likely to be an entrance to some other supernatural space. Its form and behavior are entirely different from the effects the ritual formation was theoretically designed to produce, suggesting it may be the result of an incorrect activation.

But even if it was a flawed activation, it was still an activation. Zhu Shi planned to dismantle the ritual formation the next day, so I had to uncover the reason for its activation before then.

If I had a choice, I wouldn’t even have informed Zhu Shi of the ritual formation’s existence. But in the end, I had no other option.

After all, it was Zhu Shi who had entrusted me with investigating the fifteenth-floor apartment. I couldn’t lie about what I saw there because she could corroborate details with Zhu Chang’an and Zhuang Cheng. Silencing them outright would only bring disaster upon myself.

As a Mount Luo probe, I also couldn’t avoid filing a request for Zhu Shi to handle this anomaly. Not doing so would violate my duties and appear highly suspicious.

Thus, I had no choice but to suggest delaying the matter after submitting my request. When she rejected the idea, I proposed assigning someone else to handle it instead.

Phenomena like the basement aren’t within the expertise of Zhu Shi, who is a combat specialist and a Black Demon Hunter. It would be far more logical to delegate this to a White Demon Hunter, who is better equipped to deal with such occurrences. If a White Demon Hunter were sent instead, I could easily eliminate them and harvest their high-quality soul in the process.

Unfortunately, Zhu Shi has an overly cautious view of the dangers posed by supernatural events, combined with an excessive sense of responsibility and kindness. Anything that occurs within her jurisdiction is something she feels compelled to handle personally. There have been similar incidents in the past, and from the look on her face, I knew my plan was doomed to fail once again. Left with no other choice, I had to abandon the idea.

To cover my tracks and ensure my alibi, I waited until the evening after meeting Zhu Shi before sending out my Substitute. However, as my Substitute approached the building housing the fifteenth-floor apartment, I saw through its shared senses that Zhuang Cheng was walking out of the building.

Clearly, Zhuang Cheng, who has a strong interest in the supernatural, was also intrigued by the fifteenth-floor apartment. He had truly walked right into a trap. I immediately commanded my Substitute to test Zhuang Cheng's abilities. Since there was already a history of conflict between them, my Substitute eagerly revealed himself.

Suspecting that Zhuang Cheng might possess superpowers, I instructed my Substitute to proceed with caution. He heeded my advice and carefully probed Zhuang Cheng. However, he ultimately made the mistake of being too eager. Once he discovered that Zhuang Cheng was a fire user, he rushed in without hesitation.

In hindsight, it was not just my Substitute who miscalculated— even I hadn’t anticipated that Zhuang Cheng’s fire abilities would be so different from those of most fire users. He could ignite his opponent simply by looking at them.

Even after Zhuang Cheng revealed his powers, I still couldn’t sense any magical energy coming from him… no, to be precise, I could feel his flames emitting a very strong magical energy, but there were no signs of this energy emanating from him as the source.

Magical energy is a broad term that refers to any kind of power used in casting spells, or the potency of the spell itself. Even superhuman abilities fall under the definition of magical energy. Though the sources of magical energy vary widely— some come from the soul, others from life force, and some even from kinetic, thermal, or electrical energy— as long as there is energy in motion, there will be a corresponding fluctuation. It is impossible for there to be none.

Could it be that the source of the flames wasn’t him, but some object he carried? But even if it was an external object, it should still have been detectable as the source when the flames were activated. Those flames appeared to come out of nowhere, like water with no roots, leaving me utterly confused.

I had no choice but to accept this as a fact— the supernatural world is full of strange, inexplicable things. Perhaps this was just a characteristic of Zhuang Cheng as a special ability user, and there was no other way but to accept it.

After my Substitute was caught in the flames, he tried to escape using shadow transfer, but I wanted him to continue probing Zhuang Cheng’s abilities, so I forbade him from using it. However, after being burned, he seemed to panic and lost control, running away regardless of my verbal command. I originally intended to force him to turn back and attack Zhuang Cheng, but at that moment, I noticed something new.

Even after escaping Zhuang Cheng’s line of sight, the flames still clung to my Substitute. I stared at it for a while before finally determining that there seemed to be a mental connection between Zhuang Cheng and the flames. Although I couldn’t tell if he could extend his perception through this connection, I was sure that he could still add fuel to the flames from a distance.

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Unfortunately, the information my Substitute managed to gather was limited. Once Zhu Shí arrived on the battlefield, I remotely retrieved the "Seed of the Heart" to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Mount Luo organization.

In fact, this information alone was already extremely valuable. Based on the overwhelming power Zhuang Cheng displayed when defeating my Substitute, if I were to consume him, it would be enough to make the Seed of the Heart break through to the next stage.

Before long, I received new intelligence from Zhu Shí.

Zhuang Cheng had personally entered the basement in the fifteenth-floor room. The entrance and exit unexpectedly disappeared, and he nearly got trapped inside.

However, he used his own power to find a way to break free from the predicament and survived...

---

I have experienced a similar dire situation.

Being trapped in what seemed like an absolutely inescapable predicament, I understand that fear, that despair... and the regret that feels as vast as the ocean.

So I can empathize with Zhuang Cheng's emotions.

Although Zhu Shí remarked over the phone about Zhuang Cheng’s calm demeanor in the face of the strange event, it was obvious that, unless someone were truly insane, no one could remain calm in such a situation. I couldn’t, and neither could Zhuang Cheng. He must have spent a great deal of effort suppressing his panic and fear, and when recounting his experience to Zhu Shí, he likely struggled to hide the lingering unease in his heart.

If it were me, I would also want to put on a brave front in front of Zhu Shí. Zhu Shí is a woman of extraordinary beauty and figure, and it’s only natural for men to try to act tough in front of her. If I were ten years younger, I might have pursued her myself.

At the same time, I greatly admire Zhuang Cheng. In the past, I couldn’t even manage this level of superficial performance.

And I didn’t escape from danger in the past relying on my own strength. Perhaps it’s because he gained confidence in overcoming his own struggles that he was able to barely maintain his dignity. From this perspective, while I admire him, I also feel a bit envious.

All of his hidden fears are concealed beneath that facade of dignity, and perhaps the only person who could truly understand him is me.

Thinking of this, an unspoken sense of closeness toward Zhuang Cheng grew uncontrollably within me.

By early morning, I finished my surveillance on Zhu Chang'an and visited the fifteenth-floor room once again. Although there were agents guarding the area nearby, they had no suspicion of me as a colleague. I easily entered the room, hoping to use the new information provided by Zhuang Cheng to open the basement.

However, I still failed. The ritual array had indeed become more complete, but opening the basement successfully still required an extremely high level of luck. Zhuang Cheng must have succeeded due to some additional element he hadn’t noticed. I didn’t have time to continue my exploration, so I had no choice but to give up for now.

After Zhu Shí and Zhuang Cheng arrived, I approached as if I had just arrived and led Zhuang Cheng to the abandoned construction site near Xianshui University, hoping to probe more of his abilities through the evil spirits there.

Understanding Zhuang Cheng does not mean sparing him.

To allow my Seed of the Heart to break through to the next stage, I will not let this opportunity slip away.

However, it seems that the abandoned construction site never had any evil spirits from the beginning. I had no choice but to switch to my second plan—summoning a shadow clone to attack Zhuang Cheng and observe his abilities at close range.

By the evening, Zhu Shi had already written and submitted a report on Zhuang Cheng. Although the report mentioned his abilities, it only stated, "Just an ordinary fire ability," likely to help keep his powers confidential. When I spoke to Zhuang Cheng on the way, showing more understanding of his abilities than necessary, it was merely to probe him.

Even if he asked me how I knew those details, I had already prepared an excuse. It seems like Zhu Shi hasn’t tried to take credit for this, though—she's such a girl who doesn’t understand social nuances, all my effort was for nothing.

The information I truly wanted to probe was one thing: whether Zhuang Cheng had any countermeasures for a sneak attack.

Since Zhuang Cheng can ignite his opponents with just a glance and his offensive power is so strong, a sneak attack from behind should naturally be the best strategy. However, during the battle between my shadow clone and Zhuang Cheng, I had attempted a surprise attack from behind, but it was avoided.

I couldn’t discern whether Zhuang Cheng had simply been lucky or if he could truly sense an attack from behind. Moreover, that shadow strike had altered its attack path midway to avoid Zhuang Cheng's flames, switching from a backstab to an attack from the left side of his feet. It’s possible Zhuang Cheng only reacted because of this change.

In my combat experience, vague assumptions like “possibly” are the most dangerous. I needed a definitive answer. So, I had one of my clones launch a sneak attack on Zhuang Cheng from behind, while I used a handgun to attack the clone. The latter was to prevent Zhuang Cheng from questioning why I just stood there watching after he dealt with the ambush.

This was a successful probe. Zhuang Cheng showed no reaction to the sneak attack from behind, and by saving his life, I managed to further earn his trust.

Unexpectedly, he had hidden his true power during the previous battle—his firepower could be amplified to such an extent that it instantly obliterated my clone.

However, even with such overwhelming firepower, his weaknesses remain glaringly obvious.

When a blade reaches one’s neck, whether wielding a handgun, a cannon, or even a missile, it becomes utterly useless.

And so, at the moment he turned his back and let his guard down—

I transformed part of my arm, morphing it into a monstrous blade, and severed his head.

After being decapitated, a human’s head can retain consciousness for several seconds.

To prevent him from using his gaze to ignite me in his final moments, I swung my blade again, slicing into his eyes and directly crushing his brain tissue.

---

The mana fluctuations generated during Zhuang Cheng's earlier battle with the shadow clone had undoubtedly attracted Zhu Shi's attention. She would arrive here soon.

I couldn’t linger.

Turning away, I prepared to leave immediately.

What I had told Zhuang Cheng earlier—"I will be reassigned to another area"—wasn’t entirely a lie. I did indeed plan to leave Xianshui City after achieving my breakthrough.

From this point on, I would no longer be Kong the agent of Mount Luo, but Kong Da, the Oddity.

However, just as I took two or three steps, I realized something was wrong.

When I kill a human, I should be able to sense their soul entering my body. This feeling is especially pronounced with the souls of superhumans. Yet now, there was no sensation at all. It was as if...

As if Zhuang Cheng wasn’t dead.

At that moment, I felt the air behind me begin to heat up.

From where Zhuang Cheng had fallen, the sound of burning rose, and flames began spreading into my path ahead.