While Patrol Lu was drawing the magic array, a nightclub in the distance was experiencing an unprecedented upheaval.

  Since I had not yet withdrawn the "fireflies" I had pced inside the nightclub, I could clearly see everything that was happening there.

  With nothing else to do, I decided to focus part of my attention on that pce.

  Earlier, Patrol Lu had called his subordinates to deal with the nightclub situation.

  Since they were his subordinates, they were naturally agents, and as ordinary people, they couldn't rely on individual force to take down the nightclub.

  They had likely coordinated with the official authorities on the matter.

  Just as Zhu Shi had said, given the current standoff between Mount Luo and the official forces, the tter had adopted a zero-tolerance stance toward such nightclubs.

  In less than twenty minutes, a rge enforcement team stormed in without hesitation.

  What followed was nothing short of a complete sweep.

  No matter how many local elites were backing the nightclub, nothing could hinder the authorities' determination to dismantle it.

  The guests who had been indulging inside barely had time to put their clothes back on before they were unceremoniously arrested on the spot.

  All the managers and staff were immediately subdued, and the security guards, seeing the scene unfold like the sky was colpsing, gave up resisting and obediently squatted with their hands on their heads.

  Yet, their faces still bore expressions of shock, struggling to accept the reality of what was happening.

  I spotted Chang’an and Jin Yu nearby.

  The two of them were still lingering across from the nightclub, silently watching as one person after another connected to the establishment was escorted away under the enforcement team’s control.

  Among those being taken away, I also caught sight of the young girl I had previously glimpsed standing behind the shadowy figure.

  She was no longer wearing her rabbit mask, but she still had the same hairpin on—that was how I recognized her.

  The enforcement team treated her retively gently, at least for now.

  Jin Yu noticed her as well, her gaze lingering on the girl face for several seconds.

  Chang’an hesitated for a moment before calling out to the air, “Zhuang Cheng, you’re watching, aren’t you?”

  So, he knew I was observing this scene.

  But how did he figure it out?

  Was it because st time, when he was kidnapped and beaten by two shadow clones, I had arrived just in time?

  Or because I hadn’t avoided him earlier when discussing tactics with Zhu Shi and Ma Zao, leading him to develop certain suspicions?

  I didn’t particurly mind letting others know about the "fireflies" now, so I guided one of them over to where Chang’an and Jin Yu stood.

  The two immediately noticed the tiny glowing speck, their expressions turning wary and suspicious.

  I continued controlling the "firefly," leading it toward a dark alley nearby.

  Exchanging a gnce, they silently followed.

  Once we reached a spot where no one was paying attention, I made the firefly expand into a fireball, then constructed vocal organs within it and transmitted my voice through: "What is it?"

  Saying I "constructed vocal organs" might make it sound like some sophisticated technique, but in reality, it wasn’t anything that complex—I was just going by instinct.

  In my fire-elemental form, I could speak normally, and now I was merely remotely maniputing the fmes to simute some of that functionality.

  Creating a throat and mouth purely out of fire felt a bit unsettling, so I wrapped them in fmes as a sort of outer shell.

  Chang’an seemed unaccustomed to conversing with me in this manner.

  He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking: "Nothing in particur. I just wanted to ask… has your fight ended?"

  "It’s over," I replied.

  "The Shadow Swap Oddities you're looking for… is he really Jin Yu's father?" Chang’an seemed particurly concerned about this question.

  "Yes," I replied.

  "This way of talking really is strange… it feels like you've turned into some kind of bizarre entity," he muttered, unable to hold back his thoughts.

  Is that so? To me, it doesn’t feel much different from talking on the phone.

  Jin Yu suddenly spoke up: "Then… is he dead?"

  "Not yet," I said. "There’s still some information we need to extract from him."

  She pressed on determinedly: "And after that?"

  "Of course, we’ll kill him."

  Even though I was speaking to the Shadow Swap Oddities' daughter, I saw no reason to sugarcoat it.

  It wasn’t just because she already harbored deep hatred toward him—even if she had a normal father-daughter retionship with him, I had no interest in putting on a false pretense.

  "Don't even think about saying something like 'Let me do it myself,'" I continued.

  "Even if he's tied up from head to toe, that Oddities isn’t someone an ordinary person can harm—let alone kill. If you recklessly approach him, you'll only be putting yourself in danger."

  "If you've made up your mind to die, I wouldn't call you foolish. But we don’t want your interference giving him a chance to escape again."

  Chang’an sighed and said, "Ah Cheng, can’t you just say that you don’t want anyone to throw their life away?"

  For some reason, both he and Zhu Shi seemed to have this weird impression of me.

  Did they seriously think I was some tsundere with a sharp tongue but a soft heart?

  Was I really that kind of person?

  By contrast, Jin Yu seemed to understand me much better—she was clearly taking my words seriously.

  "I understand," she said.

  "I won’t act recklessly. But before you kill him… can I see him one st time?"

  Hearing this, I checked with Patrol Lu, who was in charge of the interrogation.

  "One is Zhu Shi’s brother, and the other is the Shadow Swap Oddities' daughter?"

  He thought for a moment before saying, "No problem. Bring them over."

  So I turned to Jin Yu and said, "Alright, I’ll take you there. If you have any st words for him, think them through on the way."

  I shrank the fireball back into a tiny ember-like "firefly" and led the two of them toward the small grove where we were stationed.

  Meanwhile, on our side, Patrol Lu had already made his preparations, saying that he had sealed off the Shadow Swap Oddities' ability.

  I didn’t see any visible fshes of light or hear any special sounds to indicate the "sealing" had worked, but since he said it was done, I supposed it must be true.

  He stepped up to the Shadow Swap Oddities and pulled a pair of pale bluish-white leather gloves from his pocket.

  The material looked disturbingly like human skin, and its color reminded me of a zombie’s flesh.

  He slipped the glove onto his right hand, then pressed it against the Shadow Swap Oddities' head.

  "You bastard..." The Shadow Swap Oddities' face twisted with humiliation.

  Patrol Lu remained expressionless. "Behave yourself."

  I walked over as well, my curiosity piqued when I saw him pulling out yet another strange tool.

  I couldn’t help but take a closer look.

  It seemed like, now that he had lost his combat abilities, he relied on all sorts of fascinating gadgets.

  Noticing my curiosity, he put on a more approachable expression and expined, "This glove allows me to read the surface thoughts of an interrogation subject. After all, in interrogations, simply forcing someone to answer questions isn’t always enough. If the interrogator cks sufficient intelligence, they might not even know the right questions to ask."

  "After learning that this incident involved the Humanitarian Division and the Creator of Oddities, I specifically applied for some tools from the magical artifact storage department to assist in extracting more detailed intelligence. This glove is one of them."

  "I see—"

  I was just about to nod in response when the Shadow Swap Oddities suddenly sprang into action.

  Taking advantage of my conversation with Patrol Lu, he must have thought we had let our guard down and unched a desperate attack.

  Even now, he was still restrained by my fming hand, his Shadow Swap ability sealed, and his overall condition was terrible.

  Yet, he still managed to forcefully manipute his shadows.

  His mouth snapped open wide—he must have controlled the darkness inside his own oral cavity—because from within, a massive shadow spear, as thick as a bowl, erupted with a thunderous force.

  At this critical life-or-death moment, he had clearly chosen his target with careful deliberation.

  Yet, instead of attacking the nearest person—Patrol Lu, who was merely a logistical support officer—he aimed directly at me as his primary target.

  The shadow spear shot out at an incredible speed.

  To be honest, in that instant, I didn’t even register what it was.

  It wasn’t until the next moment—when a fsh of silver sword light suddenly sshed in from the side, intercepting and shredding the shadow spear into fragments—that I managed to process the attack.

  The faint afterimage lingering in my vision finally allowed me to determine what had been aimed at me.

  When I saw him open his mouth in my direction, I already knew he was about to attack—but I had no reason to dodge.

  What surprised me wasn’t the Shadow Swap Oddities’ counterattack, nor the fact that it was intercepted in time.

  No, what truly caught me off guard was seeing the silver sword light.

  At first, I assumed it was Zhu Shi protecting me—but when I looked closely, I realized it was actually Patrol Lu.

  In Patrol Lu’s hand was a sharp longsword, adorned with a red tassel, a bck hilt, and a gleaming silver bde.

  The sword looked identical to Zhu Shi’s.

  Seeing his desperate counterattack fail, the Shadow Swap Oddities' expression twisted into despair.

  The energy coursing through his body plummeted rapidly.

  The Heart Seed was trying to leave his body—he was about to self-destruct!

  After taking the time to carefully set up a sealing formation for his ability, only for him to resort to self-destruction in the end, Patrol Lu let out a regretful sigh.

  At the same time, Zhu Shi acted without hesitation, stepping forward with her sword, intending to sever the connection between the Shadow Swap Oddities and the Heart Seed.

  But Ma Zao was even faster.

  She remained rooted in pce, simply raising a finger in his direction and solemnly commanding: "Stop."

  The moment those words left her lips, the Shadow Swap Oddities froze in pce—just like the man in the bck suit before him.

  The rapid decline of his energy suddenly reversed, as if the deterioration had been nothing more than an illusion.

  He didn’t even shrink back to a normal human size like the Undying Oddities had.

  "Huh?" The Shadow Swap Oddities was stunned.

  Zhu Shi also stopped in her tracks, and Patrol Lu was equally shocked.

  Both of them turned to Ma Zao with expressions of utter disbelief.

  Meanwhile, Ma Zao’s face suddenly went pale, her body swaying unsteadily.

  She looked as weak and fragile as she had when I first met her.

  I quickly moved to support her.

  "You actually canceled the Heart Seed’s escape program?" Patrol Lu sounded like he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

  Rather than focusing on that, I was more concerned about Ma Zao’s condition.

  "Ma Zao, are you okay?"

  "I’m fine."

  She clung tightly to my arm, taking a deep breath.

  A moment ter, her complexion visibly improved—perhaps she had used her blessing power on herself.

  Patrol Lu, unusually serious, asked, "How did you do that? You actually managed to forcibly detain a Heart Seed… Even in Mount Luo, no one has ever been able to pull that off before."

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