Chapter 646: Min Tianyou: The Detective Makes a Grand Entrance!

Shall we fight?

Yang Yixie rubbed his fingertips together; his level was far above Hongling's, so killing her wouldn't be hard, but the difficulty lay in facing the consequences of doing so in front of everyone.

Hongling is an aberrant species, yet one that merely wears a human skin.

Speaking of which, isn't Luo Jinyou too lax? He couldn't even spot this full-of-holes disguise.

Yang Yixie stood there unmoving, but Zhang Jie casually shoved him aside, crouched to check on Zhiruo's condition; he didn't mind, instead trying to keep Hongling as far away as possible.

Hongling also didn't choose to approach; instead, she stepped back a few paces.

Although Yang Yixie didn't carry that stench, just seeing his somewhat familiar face already made her struggle to control the bloodlust in her heart.

Thus the two fell into a strange stalemate.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from behind Hongling.

It was a man dressed in black, practically shouting 'suspicious' with his appearance; for some unknown reason, acting on someone's orders, he burst out of a corridor on the second floor and lunged straight at Hongling.

Seeing this, the old woman didn't think twice and lunged at Hongling.

As the man's clothing revealed a glint of cold light, Hongling—who hadn't realized she had lifted her head—saw the murderous flare in her formerly dull, dead‑water eyes.

She swung her arm out from her side, striking the black‑clad figure's shoulder.

The impact slammed him into the hallway's side railing with a dull thud, shattering the solid glass and warping the iron railing into an exaggerated twist.

Hongling's hand remained in the swinging pose; a thin layer of something like keratin covered the forearm exposed at her cuff, and her fingertips were slightly curled.

Those clearly inhuman claws formed a stark contrast with her gentle off‑white coat.

That scene happened so fast most people hadn't fully grasped what had occurred, merely glancing over instinctively.

Someone saw Hongling's hand and spoke uncertainly.

"Is that, uh, also cosplay?"

But immediately afterward, Hongling's arm returned to normal at visible speed, like a video‑only special effect—yet it truly happened before their eyes.

It wasn't any carefully crafted prop effect; it was a genuine supernatural ability.

Those who had just convinced themselves it was cosplay now couldn't speak, instinctively stepped back, and the hands holding phones slowly lowered.

"I recall reading online that only a rare few monsters can take human form......"

Many gamers chat online heedlessly, which does give ordinary people a heads‑up, but the price of speaking or not is that the existence of Co‑Absorption gets lumped in as a monster with special abilities.

The crowd immediately erupted in chaos; people dared not surge toward that direction, instantly clearing a space.

The black‑clad figure knocked down beside the railing struggled to prop himself up halfway; his hat brim had been knocked to one side, revealing an ordinary face full of ferocity.

He stared at Hongling, twitched the corner of his mouth, and reached for the thing that had fallen out when she knocked him flying.

It looked like a pendant, set with a gorgeous yet eerie gemstone—a garish Ying Guang Lu green.

"Monster......"

He seemed to want to say more, but nobody gave him the chance.

An icy‑blue light sliced in from behind him at an angle, striking the man and making him stagger forward; a layer of ice spread rapidly from the point of impact.

His mouth remained half‑open from the blow, his fingers still braced on the ground, yet his whole body was frozen as if paused on a frame.

Min Tianyou strolled out from the corner, still holding the empty drink cup he'd finished, and casually tossed it into the nearby trash bin.

He had been staring at that person from the corner for a while, finally seeing that the black‑clad individual had psychologically prepared for a long time before launching the attack on Hongling.

He had thought the man would retreat, planning to follow and track him back to the base......

"...... Don't be nervous." Min Tianyou looked at Hongling not far away, raising and spreading both hands.

"I'm not here to arrest you."

Hongling didn't move; merely seeing Min Tianyou caused her arm, which had reverted to a normal human limb, to mutate again.

She lowered her stance, ready to burst out in a certain direction and break through.

Zhang Jie, whom she had blocked behind her, reached out and lightly grabbed the corner of her coat.

The instant her fabric was touched, Hongling's shoulder twitched slightly; she didn't turn away or shake off that hand, but stood there staring fixedly at Min Tianyou as he kept approaching.

"You can try to believe me—maybe you've seen my face in the news? You should know I used to be with the Church; I could never take orders from the Dome."

Hongling watched him approach warily, emitting a threatening "grr" from her throat; Min Tianyou could only halt his steps temporarily.

"...... I know you."

Finally, Hongling looked at Min Tianyou and spoke her first words after a long time.

Perhaps because she hadn't spoken in ages, her voice was especially hoarse and dark, yet it still surprised Zhang Jie beside her.

So this little girl can talk?

Min Tianyou also finally exhaled in relief—great, at least Hongling hadn't lost her humanity entirely under the Dome's torment; there was still a chance to communicate......

But then his heart tightened again.

"You killed Meiweis......" Hongling gritted her teeth.

The Dome is hardly a harmonious workplace, and Co‑Absorption even less so, yet its members share an eerie commonality in certain respects.

For example, aside from Fang Zhiyan, anyone can attend the gatherings; especially among fellow aberrant species, there may be mutual sympathy or other complex feelings, at least in private—being extremely rare monsters, they treat each other fairly well.

Even though Hongling escaped Lei Zhao's summons, Meiweis would occasionally slip her some snacks without hesitation, yet Meiweis died at Min Tianyou's hands.

That's rather troublesome......

Do these monsters develop feelings for each other?

Min Tianyou's eyes sank slightly; he felt the situation becoming thorny.

Originally he had wanted to simply persuade Hongling to leave with him—this way they could escape the Dome's pursuit, evade the unknown third party, and avoid dealing with the local authorities.

Indeed, Min Tianyou came to the surface as an illegal resident.

After all, a detective is one who constantly wanders the gray zones.