Chapter 276: The Debt Collector Arrives

Min Tianyou, seeing the situation, could no longer attend to Lao Luo, and hurriedly spoke.

"Chi Jinan! You wait a moment; the people coming to meet us haven't arrived, and we don't understand the situation here either......."

"No need to wait," Chi Jinan said without turning his head, his voice cold.

"We'll first go to a Co-Absorption stronghold to check the situation."

How the hell do you know any Co-Absorption stronghold!

Min Tianyou cursed inwardly; when Chi Jinan previously investigated the Flame City Cannon, he had nearly overturned the entire Slum.

If he could have uncovered anything, he would have said so long ago—why wait until now?

Chi Jinan grabbed Ying Duo and marched forward, his steps showing no pause.

Min Tianyou hadn't had time to say anything when Chi Jinan had already pulled Ying Duo into the shadows of the side door.

That kid doesn't even know how to struggle!

Shen Zexi's complexion changed, and he immediately gave chase; he couldn't let Ying Duo be alone with that madman.

Min Tianyou looked at the bewildered Lao Luo, massaged his temples in a headache, and quickly said to Lao Luo.

"Sorry, the situation is urgent; if the person coming to meet us arrives, have them message me directly."

Having said that, he too hurriedly chased after them.

Ahhh, shouldn't Qi Junyi be the one doing the guardian's job?

Min Tianyou roared inside.

He can't even beat Chi Jinan; if that madman really goes berserk, he can't stop him at all!!

Speaking of Qi Junyi, where is he?!

Why does he have to be the guardian for someone older than himself?

Meanwhile, up above, Qi Junyi, whom Min Tianyou was raving about, was now sinking into another kind of breakdown.

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A few minutes earlier, Qi Junyi had a steaming meat bun in his mouth, a bag of soy milk in his other hand, and walked briskly toward the Teleportation Array.

Chi Jinan said he would come after finishing the search for Co-Absorption traces at the Chen Family, giving Qi Junyi ample time to rest; he even took a detour to buy a well‑reviewed breakfast.

He planned to leisurely enjoy this rare quiet breakfast while waiting for the Supervision Bureau squad to assemble beside the Teleportation Array, perhaps even taking a short nap afterward.

However, as he turned the last corner and looked toward the hall housing the ground‑level Teleportation Array, his bun fell to the floor with a 'thud'.

The Teleportation Array's light shone through the window, unusually dazzling even in daylight.

The Teleportation Array was in operation.

"I... fuck?"

Qi Junyi froze on the spot, the soy‑milk bag slipping from his unwitting fingers and spilling milky liquid across the floor.

Did he get the time wrong?

Impossible!

The mission clearly stated: assemble at 8:30 a. m., teleport at 9:00 a. m.!

It's only 8:20 now!

And they're the first batch to use the Teleportation Array after its repair today, right?!

He didn't bother to detour, smashed the window and rushed in, grabbing the nearest Supervision Bureau Squad Leader by the collar, his voice trembling with urgency.

"Who just used the Teleportation Array?! Where did they go?!"

The squad leader almost thought it was an enemy raid; once he saw who it was, he shivered at Qi Junyi's snarling expression and stammered.

"It—it's Judge Chi Jinan and Mr. Min Tianyou... they teleported two youths about Min Tianyou's age down to the surface..."

Qi Junyi's mind buzzed and exploded.

Chi Jinan, that madman, went down early?

Damn, is this some debt he owed Chi Jinan from a past life?

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The crowd on the open ground outside the Church was especially dense, yet the killing aura around Chi Jinan forced a path to open through the people.

He half‑dragged, half‑pulled Ying Duo, striding like a meteor toward another sector of the Slum.

"Where are we going?"

Ying Duo, staggered from being dragged, finally asked, his voice still flat.

Chi Jinan kept moving, his pitch‑black eyes flashing a glance at him.

"The bar last time that was so garishly colored it hurt the eyes."

Chi Jinan was referring to Cai Mao's?

Yang Yixie raised an eyebrow in front of the screen; could Chi Jinan be convinced that Cai Mao's bar is one of the Co‑Absorption strongholds?

Does Cai Mao know that he himself has been recruited by Co‑Absorption?

Chi Jinan moved at extreme speed, as if walking on flat ground even through the tangled, chaotic streets.

Ying Duo was dragged along at a sprint, his feet barely touching the ground, like a kite in the wind.

It was only Shen Zexi and Min Tianyou, who were crying behind, that struggled to keep up as many Slum alleys were blocked, making their pursuit rather chaotic.

Shen Zexi, however, guessed the destination from Chi Jinan's forward direction.

Although Cai Mao truly seemed like a cult leader, his subordinates acted as if brainwashed by Ying Duo, like a pack of fanatical cultists, it should have nothing to do with Co‑Absorption.

"Co‑Absorption pursues Mutation, not hair."

Meanwhile, in the Slum's District 8, last night's disaster caused relatively light damage in this area.

On the open ground, Cai Mao shouted, directing dozens of his men as they unloaded boxed compressed food, medicine, and clean drinking water from several modified, battered trucks and carts.

Unlike the Church's shady deal with the Undercurrent, these gangs bought the supplies at high prices directly from the Undercurrent.

For that, the profit he hadn't yet allocated to Ying Duo was all spent here.

Also, luckily the Air Train is temporarily inoperable, at least that Ying Guang Lu debt‑collecting ghost can't get through.

"Move faster! Bandages and anti‑inflammatory medicine go first to the seriously injured; everyone line up to receive holy water to drink, to suppress the Mutation Value."

Cai Mao shouted loudly, but a flicker of his eye suddenly caught two figures at the far end of the street sprinting toward them at astonishing speed.

The one ahead, dressed in black with flamboyant red hair, exuded a ferocious aura that could be felt from far away.

The one he was dragging had a short Ying Guang Lu hair that stood out strikingly in the dim light.

Familiar—too familiar.

It was so familiar that when Cai Mao first saw that color, he almost fell over.

And after seeing the black clothing clearly, he immediately recalled who the red‑haired person dragging Ying Duo was.

"Whoa... how the hell did this ancestor show up again with the Killing Star?!"

A myriad Aberrant Species flashed through his mind; earlier Ying Duo had told him Chi Jinan had nothing to do with him, but Cai Mao didn't believe it.

When Ying Duo produced a firearm for him to resell, he realized the kid was far from a law‑abiding person; could it be that Ying Duo's illegal gun sales were caught by that lunatic?

Only in the blink of an eye, Chi Jinan had already rushed forward with Ying Duo, and Cai Mao could only brace himself and meet them.

"Ah! Isn't this... Judge Chi? What wind blew you to my little rundown place?"

Cai Mao rubbed his hands, bowed his head and waist, but couldn't help glancing at Ying Duo, who Chi Jinan was holding like a chick.

Hope this ancestor really doesn't commit any crime!