Chapter 232: Anomaly
The assault squad quickly escorted the strange saber and the killer back to the military encampment.
Along with ordinary military medics, the convoy also included [Heart]-attribute supernaturals. However, the killer’s injuries were far too severe, and most of his vitality had already been drained by the blade. Saving him was essentially impossible. Instead, they administered a powerful treatment to forcibly sustain his life, keeping him in a state of “terminal lucidity.”
In any case, the military had a [Awakening]-attribute supernatural whose ability was particularly well-suited for interrogation. There was no worry that they wouldn’t get answers.
When the “living corpse” of a killer was brought in, Xu Zhi was surprised to find that he looked noticeably better than he had in the video footage. Presumably, the military had used some special method on him.
She had assumed that by this point, she would be asked to leave. After all, no matter how one looked at it, her identity didn’t seem appropriate for witnessing this interrogation. Yet to her surprise, no one suggested she step out. The female officer didn’t even glance her way.
Xu Zhi knew, however, that the room was certainly filled with surveillance equipment. Every expression, every subtle shift in her demeanor would be recorded—and if necessary, replayed frame by frame.
Therefore, even though she knew perfectly well that this so-called killer had been bewitched by her own blade, she showed nothing beyond ordinary surprise. Aside from casting a curious glance at the blade she had seen in the footage, her gaze lingered no longer than necessary. In truth, she very much wanted to reclaim the weapon—but that would require the right reason and the right timing.
For now, she couldn’t find such a reason. She could only set the matter of the blade aside temporarily. She absolutely could not show any interest in the saber beyond simple curiosity. Besides, everyone here clearly understood that the blade was the real key.
Sure enough, once the killer was brought in, the very first question he was asked was:
“How did you obtain that blade?”
No one present believed the weapon belonged to him. That much was obvious.
The killer clearly didn’t want to answer. Yet almost immediately, he realized he could barely control the urge to speak. It wasn’t the sensation of someone invading his mind or hypnotizing him into a dazed confession. On the contrary—his consciousness was crystal clear. It felt as though, from the depths of his own will, he wanted to tell them everything he knew.
He resisted for only a short while before answering involuntarily:
“I picked it up by the roadside a few days ago.”
By the roadside.
A sense of just as I thought flashed through Xu Zhi’s mind. She had long suspected as much. When she and her retainers left the Federation world, they had been scattered randomly across the real world. The fact that the blade hadn’t ended up in a landfill, but instead was picked up by this killer on the roadside, indirectly supported that hypothesis.
She couldn’t help but wonder where the other retainers had landed. Were they safe? Were they doing well?
She sensed it faintly—as her supernatural power gradually recovered, her connection to her retainers was also strengthening. Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before she could locate the rest of them and learn their current conditions.
Her thoughts drifted for only a moment before she pulled them back. Now was not the time for that.
The killer had fully opened the floodgates, speaking incessantly about everything that had happened since he picked up the blade.
“I don’t know why,” he said, “but whenever I saw people passing by here after work, I felt this inexplicable urge.”
“I wanted to know—are the people who work so hard really any different from someone like me? Is the blood flowing through their bodies the same as mine?”
As he spoke, there was even a hint of savoring in his expression. “It feels different. Their blood feels hotter… smells sweeter. Not like the people who live in rat holes. They don’t just lack a life—there’s barely any blood left in them at all.”
The more he talked, the more animated he became. His desire for blood and slaughter was barely restrained, and he made no attempt to hide it.
“Especially during the fog season. Do you know? That thing is amazing. Everyone’s afraid to go outside. Even if they hear something, no one will ever come out to check.”
“It’s practically heaven.”
“It’s just a shame it doesn’t last long. After the fog season ended, almost every time I closed my eyes, I could relive that feeling. I even thought that next time the fog comes, I’d kill even more people.”
The regret on his face was genuine.
This man was utterly beyond redemption.
The officers seated around the round table all wore grave expressions. The killer’s mental state was very different from what they had expected. Typically, those tempted or controlled by supernatural items would become little more than puppets—losing their strong sense of self, sometimes even forgetting that they were human, mistaking themselves for a part of the supernatural item instead.
But this killer was clearly not like that.
His self-awareness was perfectly intact. His memories showed no signs of confusion. Yet his personality had undergone drastic changes, and even his cognition and common sense seemed distorted. To this very moment, he didn’t believe the blade had controlled him at all. He genuinely felt that the craving for blood and killing had arisen from within himself.
He showed none of the usual “attachment” to the blade seen in those controlled or deceived by supernatural items. Even after the weapon was taken away, he displayed no agitation, no frantic desperation—no madness, and no loss of consciousness.
To him, the blade truly seemed like nothing more than a tool. The thirst for blood and slaughter hadn’t come from the blade—it had come from him.
It was deeply unsettling.
In such a short period of time, this blade had completely reshaped a person’s cognition and personality. Compared to the seduction or control exerted by other supernatural items, this transformation was more thorough—and far more independent.
Most of the officers around the table showed curiosity and interest. Only the female officer seated at the center grew increasingly grim.
“Take him to the back immediately,” she said. “I’m going to personally test his supernatural attribute.”
From the sound of it, she intended to handle this alone.
The other officers were puzzled, but her rank was the highest. There was no room for objection.
Xu Zhi watched with curiosity as the killer was escorted alone into the back room. Internally, she couldn’t help but admire the officer’s sharp instincts. From the killer’s abnormal words and behavior, she had clearly sensed something amiss and made this decision accordingly.
No wonder she held such a high position at such a young age. It wasn’t without reason. Among those seated at the round table, there were plenty older than her—yet none seemed to harbor any dissatisfaction.
As the adjutant delivered the testing reagents for attribute detection into the room, Xu Zhi knew that from this moment on, everything would change.
The rare, peaceful days she had spent living in the slums with Qi Yixin—some of the few tranquil moments of her life—were about to become a thing of the past.
She couldn’t help but wonder: what kind of impact would the sudden discovery of a [Cup]-attribute follower have on the real world?
