Captain 013

Meanwhile, in a remote ravine, the bare Thousand-Child Tree trembled. Looking at the Coffin Lady standing nearby, it could not comprehend why a fellow powerful anomaly would associate with someone who was half-human and half-anomaly.

As if sensing its confusion, the Coffin Lady gently stroked its trunk. "Just accept it. Don't dwell on pointless thoughts..." She thought of her large red coffin and sniffled.

Shen Yue had indeed become the captain. Meticulous by nature, she quickly reorganized the Guardian squad. Strangely, however, their usually busy routine came to a sudden halt. The anomalies that used to appear almost every few days had all vanished without a trace recently.

Li Fei kept muttering that it had to be because of their captain. After all, the only one capable of pulling this off was Captain Fang Zhiyi.

Shen Yue remained noncommittal, at least until the remains of several anomalies were tossed into their stronghold.

Shen Yue understood that Fang Zhiyi was giving them a chance to claim the credit. She was not a moral purist; since it was a favor from their boss, she would gladly accept it. As a result, their squad lived far more comfortably than any other unit. Even when dispatched on missions, they only had to deal with newly spawned anomalies, which significantly lowered the level of danger they faced.

"Human, do you have a death wish?"

"Hehehe, fresh blood."

Two anomalies with similar builds constantly swapped positions, sizing up Fang Zhiyi who stood before them.

"No, wait. You are not human. You are a... hmm?"

The Nuo-masked Wuchang stared at the high-level anomalies appearing one after another behind Fang Zhiyi, both freezing in shock.

"What, do anomalies enjoy slaughtering each other now?"

"Hehehe, why don't you try us and see."

But none of the anomalies made a move. Instead, in their eyes, the Nuo-masked Wuchang caught a glimpse of pity and schadenfreude.

Why did they suddenly have a bad feeling about this?

Shen Yue received an urgent document from headquarters. The file noted that while anomaly activity had decreased across various regions recently, reconnaissance teams had discovered a suspected gathering place for anomalies. This location was quite close to Shen Yue's squad.

It could even be considered a city! This forced the human higher-ups to be on high alert. Anomalies usually operated independently, which was exactly why humanity had managed to resist them for so long. However, if anomalies began to amass, it would spell absolute disaster.

Shen Yue stared at the blurry photograph attached to the file. One of the vague, upright figures in the image looked incredibly familiar to her.

"Captain, what exactly are you trying to do..."

The Coffin Lady watched as Fang Zhiyi directed the other anomalies to build a house for her, her face filled with an indescribable excitement. She had assumed Fang Zhiyi was just brushing her off earlier, never expecting him to actually compensate her with a real house!

Who would want to live in a coffin when they could live in a house?

Besides, the area was quite lively. Anomalies of all shapes and forms were gathered here, making a racket. It was vastly better than the desolate loneliness from before.

"Coffin Lady, the boss is calling you for a meeting." A hideous paper effigy wobbled over, delivered the message, and wobbled away.

"A meeting?" The Coffin Lady was a bit bewildered. She was arguably the one most familiar with Fang Zhiyi, yet even to this day, she had no idea what his ultimate goal was. However, the world of anomalies was simple: whoever had the biggest fists called the shots.

The last one who dared to disobey was still hanging from the Thousand-Child Tree.

Even the pair of Nuo-masked Wuchang had now become Fang Zhiyi's right and left-hand guards. If anyone dared to stir up trouble, Fang Zhiyi wouldn't even need to lift a finger; those two would beat the offending anomaly to a pulp.

In a dilapidated school campus, Zhou Hao drew his blade and charged forward, watching a twisted corpse chase after several students. However, the bones of that corpse were even harder than the blade in his hand. A forceful slash only managed to make the anomaly pause for a brief moment.

Seeing the anomaly's hand swiping toward him, Zhou Hao hastily raised his blade to block, but the monstrous force slammed him violently against the wall.

He turned pale with shock, but the anomaly's ugly, twisted face merely stared at him, let out a few incomprehensible syllables, and then resumed its pursuit of the fleeing students.

"This..." Zhou Hao hurriedly reported the anomaly's location through his communicator.

Just as the screaming students were cornered at the end of a corridor, Shen Yue and Li Fei arrived. Their standard-issue weapons, trailing streaks of black light, slashed toward the anomaly.

The anomaly showed no intention of dodging. Instead, it continued to lunge at the students, seemingly intent on mutual destruction.

But right at that moment, the two arcs of blade energy were intercepted by two figures—one black and one white—that suddenly appeared.

Shen Yue was startled. She looked at the two bizarre newcomers holding mourning staffs. One wore a weeping expression, while the other smiled so broadly that its eyes curved into exaggerated crescents.

"High-level anomalies!" Li Fei exclaimed in horror.

Meanwhile, the twisted corpse was already about to crush a student's skull.

"Are you just going to stand there chatting?! Hurry up and save us! Don't you call yourselves Guardians? How can you just watch us die..." another female student screamed at Li Fei and Shen Yue.

"My dad is a government official! Aren't you afraid of the consequences if I die?" a chubby boy bawled.

Li Fei felt a surge of anger, but he kept his eyes locked on the two anomalies that had suddenly materialized. After blocking their blade energy, the black and white figures simply stood quietly on the railing, showing no intention of attacking.

"This isn't working. Notify Zhao Lei to activate the reaction device!" Shen Yue ordered. The reaction device functioned similarly to an array formation, capable of temporarily incapacitating anomalies.

"Zhao Lei!" Li Fei shouted, but Zhao Lei's voice drifted down from above him.

"Here..." he replied, still sounding utterly exhausted.

Li Fei and Shen Yue looked up simultaneously. Zhao Lei was standing up there.

"You..." Shen Yue wanted to ask why he wasn't at his designated position, but then she spotted a familiar figure.

"Not bad." Fang Zhiyi sat on the edge of the roof, his legs dangling over the side as he looked down at them with an expression of deep gratification.

"Boss?"

"Cap... Fang Zhiyi, why did you stop us..." Shen Yue quickly corrected herself.

Fang Zhiyi chuckled. This girl was truly rigid and by-the-book, bearing a striking resemblance to the original owner of this body.

"They killed that person, so it's perfectly reasonable for the victim to turn into an anomaly and seek revenge. Just because the world is in chaos doesn't mean murder comes without consequences, right?"

Zhou Hao arrived at that moment. Taking in the scene before him, he stood there in a daze.

"But anomalies killing people is wrong too!" Shen Yue stared at Fang Zhiyi, her mind a mess.

"Anomalies, to put it plainly, are ghosts—manifestations of resentment and twisted emotions..." Fang Zhiyi watched as the anomaly snapped a student's neck. "They can never be completely eradicated. As long as there is injustice and selfish desire in this world, anomalies will continue to be born. You don't honestly think humanity has managed to resist for over a century just by being tenacious, do you? It's because anomalies themselves are bound by restrictions. Only when one anomaly perishes can another be born."