Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Containment Night.

Night.

A pale, insubstantial man wandered down the street.

The asphalt road lay empty—a path rarely traveled.

Streetlights lined both sides in perfect symmetry, their halos too faint to cover the whole road, casting great circular islands of light on the ground.

The man drifted, ghostlike, between glimmering ovals of light and darkness.

His long limbs hung as if waterlogged—heavy, limp, swaying with every step like overfilled balloons.

His lips parted and closed; he still wore the same dirty shirt and trousers from days before.

He was streaked with dirt, empty-eyed, as if those were not human eyes but mere ornaments.

He seemed trapped in perpetual sleepwalking—adrift and aimless, with no notion of where he came from or where he might go.

He kept walking. On and on. From time to time, meaningless sounds scraped from his throat.

"Ah... ah..."

His hoarse cries rang out on the empty street.

Not far away, hidden in the shadows of the trees, Shi Shaoning raised his hand and spoke coldly: "Go!"

A thousand rustling uniforms answered from the darkness.

In an instant, combat-suited squad members surged from all directions, weapons drawn, closing in on the center of the road.

Well-drilled, they encircled the pale man at once.

The man seemed oblivious to everything, still stumbling forward in a daze.

His eyes drifted toward the ground, unfocused, as if nothing in this world could truly catch his gaze.

Whoosh—

A torrent of water burst forth!

The “guns” in the team members’ hands had been loaded, not with bullets, but with a special solution.

A thick scent exploded in the air!

…The smell of insect repellent.

Shi Shaoning had always wanted to complain about this. Why the hell did they disguise the stimulant solution as insect repellent? Every attempt to subdue Delirium ended up looking like slapstick!

They were facing an S-class! This was supposed to be the serious business of containing an S-class. Instead, they were blasting the guy with a ton of insect repellent. What the actual fuck?

Shi Shaoning choked down his irritation, forcing a serious expression, eyes locked on the center of the action.

Luckily, the squad was well trained; even as their submachine guns spat streams of water, they managed not to laugh.

In the thick of it, the pale man was drenched head to toe by the deluge of insect repellent.

His thin shirt and pants clung to his frame, outlining his scrawny body. Wet hair stuck to his forehead, and at last, something besides emptiness flickered behind his eyes.

Confusion.

He seemed unable to comprehend what was happening. He stared blankly at the squad around him, at the clothes that had suddenly soaked through to his skin.

…Shit, here we go again.

It always went this way! Always with that blank, flummoxed look!

It made Shi Shaoning feel like they were bullying some helpless, brainless idiot!

But after last time—after he’d let his guard down, been turned into a blithering idiot, and humiliated himself on national TV—Shi Shaoning had no intention of showing mercy now!

"Back off!" Shi Shaoning barked. All squad members with water guns retreated in unison.

At the same moment, he sprang forward.

Alongside him, a black panther and a snow eagle shot out like lightning!

The panther’s lithe form flickered through the night, as the snow eagle screeched and attacked from the flank!

The pale man looked up, dazed, wide eyes reflecting the wild shapes of beast and bird.

He staggered back a few steps, instinctively recoiling.

But his feet abruptly froze in place.

He looked down—and found a pit of mire beneath him that hadn’t been there before.

The mud churned as if alive, sticky waves seizing his legs and tugging him downward.

He had no strength left in his legs. Any struggle only pulled him deeper into the muck.

…In truth, he had no idea how to resist, anyway.

He held no weapon; his shirt and trousers were all the “armor” he owned.

Apart from that, he had nothing.

Nothing at all—save himself.

And unfortunately, even that self was feeble. He possessed no fighting strength whatsoever.

Whump!

He couldn’t even keep his balance; the mire snagged his feet and he toppled, landing squarely in the mud.

The wet muck soaked his trousers in seconds, splattering dirt across his bloodless face.

Yet he still seemed unable to grasp what was happening—staring with those black, empty, sluggish eyes as the beasts bore down upon him.

"…" Shi Shaoning scowled deeply, not missing a beat. He flung his hand wide!

Invisible threads snapped from his fingertips into the darkness.

At the same moment, the panther slipped behind its target, muscles twisting hard, jaws snapping onto something unseen.

The eagle let out a piercing cry and dove from above!

The pale man trapped in the mud was drawn by the call, staring up in dull wonder. The eagle’s wings snapped open above him, sweeping down a fierce gust like the opening of a stage curtain.

He stared, wide-eyed, his gaze as vacant as ever.

For a heartbeat, something weightless seemed to settle on his face—or perhaps it was nothing at all.

The next instant—bang!

As if struck by a boulder, the pale man was slammed to the ground!

Something massive and unseen pinned him down, pressing his colorless face into the mire.

Mud caked his lashes, seeped into his eyes.

Yet he seemed utterly unaware, his face unchanged.

The mire slowly devoured him. Invisible webs covered him, impenetrable. A crushing weight pinned every joint, leaving him motionless.

The panther flashed through the darkness. The eagle circled high above the city.

Shi Shaoning drew near, brow furrowed tight. His left hand clenched, his right pressed slowly downward.

The man trapped in the mire sank deeper and deeper beneath Shi Shaoning’s palm.

He was soaked through, his shirt and trousers plastered wetly to his skin. His face was smeared with mud.

As the mire threatened to swallow him whole, his only “resistance” was a faint, trembling struggle.

He struggled so softly—like a puppy curling under an eave in the rain.

"…" A muscle twitched at Shi Shaoning’s temple.

The next instant, he clenched his fist tight!

The mire surged up, engulfing the man completely!

The pale figure vanished in an instant beneath the mud!

"Did we get him?!"

"We finally did it!"

The squad rushed over in excitement.

Shi Shaoning let out a long breath.

He turned, about to speak, when a strange smell tickled his nose.

Muddy. Damp.

The soaking-wet, mud-splattered pale man, staggering, passed right by his side—

Brushed—right—past—him—

"High-pressure water guns!" Shi Shaoning shouted. "Everyone fall back!"

His drenched shirt clung to his body; his long arms and legs drooped heavy and limp, bouncing like overfull balloons.

All the squad members sprang back, raising their water guns to barrage him with another wave.

Pounded by the fierce jets, the pale man staggered, barely able to keep his feet.

Shi Shaoning gritted his teeth—seized the opening—and rushed in again!

Whoooshhhhh—

Water roared and sprayed, as weapons of every kind deployed one after the other.

A bizarre, brilliant display lit up the night sky.

From outside the cordon, you might think a fireworks show was going off.

Yet—

Harmless, witless Delirium—who couldn’t even fight back—slipped free from their containment device time after time, after time.

Again, and again, and again...

The high-pressure water guns, loaded with stimulant, hammered him relentlessly—keeping the squad sane, forcing Delirium back over and over.

Yet no matter how many times he was driven back, Delirium always struggled upright, swaying unsteadily toward a fixed direction.

No one cared where he was headed; everyone shared a single thought: Catch him!

Catch him! Contain him!

They could not allow him near the residential district, no matter what! Or else everyone would be polluted, forced under Delirium’s compulsion.

So every time Delirium stumbled forward a step, the high-pressure water guns forced him back two.

But neither side could finish the other.

The scene reached a fever pitch.

...

Rumble. Rumble.

Lin Jianyuan entered the subway, glanced around, and chose a seat at random.

Night lay beyond the window, and his reflection—worn out, exhausted—gazed back from the glass.

Lin Jianyuan stared absently outside, watching the city lights recede, faster and faster, into the darkness.

Ding-dong. His phone vibrated.

He glanced down; his landlord had sent him a fifty-nine-second voice recording.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t be bothered to listen. He hit “voice-to-text.” The screen ticked out the message:

"Your air conditioner is fixed. Don’t bother calling me again if nothing’s wrong. I said I’d get it done. Young people, no patience at all. People like you—"

Snap.

Lin Jianyuan locked his screen and jammed the phone back in his pocket.

...

Delirium faltered.

The high-pressure water kept roaring. Everyone was panting, nerves stretched to the limit.

Delirium, driven back countless times yet still plowing forward, now seemed suddenly lost.

His ever-vacant eyes blinked slowly. Then, slipping on the water, he toppled again beneath the barrage.

Wham!

The S-class Aberrant plunged face-first into a puddle, floundering in a sodden heap.

Shi Shaoning: "…"

Everyone: "…"

Seriously—why the fuck did the stimulant have to smell like insect repellent?!

It was bad enough corralling a brainless idiot with water cannons—did it have to be insect repellent-flavored water cannons!?

"…Fuck!" Shi Shaoning snapped, flinging his arm skyward.

In a blink, the panther bounded back to his side; the eagle banked sharply and swooped in.

Even the patch of mire on the ground seemed to wriggle like a slime, dragging itself back toward them.

"Captain Shi?" The squad stared in surprise.

Shi Shaoning: "Pack it up."

"What? We’re stopping now? But Delirium—"

Shi Shaoning snapped, "What the hell are you babbling about! We’ve blocked the poor bastard for half an hour—do you think we can actually catch him?"

Everyone knew Captain Shi’s temper and didn’t dare argue. In any case, they’d been staring down Delirium for over thirty minutes. If this S-class Aberrant weren’t an attack-less idiot, they’d all have been wiped out a hundred and eighty times by now.

"So, what now? We can’t just let Delirium go…" someone muttered.

Shi Shaoning: "I don’t know!"

The squad: "…"

Shi Shaoning barked, "What are you staring at me for? Go check with the higher-ups!"

Cursing under his breath, he pulled out his phone and started to dial the boss with a face like thunder.

Not far off, Delirium finally dragged himself out of the puddle, soaked through, pockets sagging with mud.

After that tumble, he seemed to remember his purpose once more.

His face slid back into that vacant trance, and he resumed his aimless sleepwalk.

But this time—

"His direction’s changed?" Shi Shaoning frowned.

All the squad, water guns poised, blinked in confusion.

Yes, Delirium had changed direction.

He no longer trudged stubbornly south, but turned—he started walking north.

"Captain Shi…" the squad hesitated.

Shi Shaoning considered for a moment, then waved: "Spray him!"

Ten minutes later.

The higher-ups arrived at a run, only to see Delirium repeatedly battered by water cannon—falling, rising, falling again.

Boss: "This is what you call mission accomplished???"

Shi Shaoning: "Just tell me: did we contain him or not?"

Boss: "…"

Thank god Delirium was a moron—otherwise you’d never manage this kind of containment.

But holy shit, you guys were really taking “bullying the idiot” to a whole new level!!!

Shi Shaoning: "We’re done!"

The containment was ridiculous, but at least tonight’s side job was finally over.

Shi Shaoning stripped out of his gear and trudged wearily toward the film set.

Filming all day was exhausting enough; he finally got a break, only to be yanked away at night to contain Aberrants.

How was he supposed to keep living like this?!

He should never have signed up for this job.

Shi Shaoning remembered the idiot boss who’d rushed up that first day ranting about humanity, saving the world, our home behind us, and his fists clenched with fury.

Dammit! Looking back, it was basically a fucking scam!

Under the night sky, Shi Shaoning walked on alone beneath the stars and moon.

The production team’s hotel was at a resort. The night was lovely, the summer heat gone; cool breezes drifted down the tree-lined road.

Streetlights glowed gently on the path; the irritation of overtime slowly melted away.

Shi Shaoning exhaled deeply—then suddenly felt the hairs on his neck rise!

"Hey."

A warm, gentle, laughing voice.

"You’re with the Bureau, aren’t you? Field operations?"

Shi Shaoning spun around, heart pounding. Among the shifting shadows and golden lamplight… stood an independent digestive system.

Pink intestines waved like tentacles, clutching two Aberrants as easily as chickens.

Shi Shaoning recoiled, stunned, barely able to process what he saw—when the intestines swung in two graceful arcs, tossing the Aberrants toward him.

Thud, thud—both Aberrants hit the ground like ragged sacks and cowered, trembling, too scared to move.

Shi Shaoning: "?"

Digestive System: "The Bureau pays bonuses for containing Aberrants, right? How much for an A-class? I want my cut."

Shi Shaoning: "???"

Digestive System: "I want eighty percent. Cash this time, WeChat next time."

Shi Shaoning: "Wait—what the fuck?!?!"

Caught him off guard.

He’d actually run into a high-level Aberrant blatantly shaking him down for a reward?!