Chapter 269: Meeting

The dead‑silent depths of the abandoned factory.

The smell of rust here is so strong it makes one retch.

The continuous downpour hasn't ceased; the leaky roof drips strings of water that strike the heavy machines abandoned for decades, splashing murky droplets.

Liang Wen steps through half‑inch‑deep standing water, the hem of his Windcoat soaked with mud, making it unusually heavy.

With each step, the Shadow beneath his feet stretches wildly among the crisscrossing steel supports.

The feeling is terribly off.

The accumulated shadows on the ground don't shift with the angle; they warp on their own, free from the light's control.

Within the darkness, countless malicious eyes seem to hide, gripping the throat of this uninvited guest.

Liang Wen halts his steps.

He doesn't lower his head; instead, he pulls a crushed box of cigarettes from his coat pocket, his fingertips still trembling slightly from the earlier adrenaline surge.

Snap.

The lighter flickers, briefly outlining his weary, long face.

"This kind of hospitality isn't exactly friendly, Mr. Chen,"

He exhales a plume of smoke and says.

Before the words finish, the skin on Liang Wen's neck suddenly tightens.

There is no warning.

A layer of cold has already reached his Adam's apple.

It's a sharpness that even light can pierce; though no one is in sight, the deadly sensation feels so real it makes the scalp tingle.

The air ripples with circles of barely discernible waves.

A transparent humanoid outline.

It slowly materializes behind Liang Wen, its vague edges forming a blade across his neck, resembling a slice of flowing air.

"People from the Investigation Bureau are always so reckless about life and death,"

From the factory's depths, a tone steady yet utterly indifferent echoes.

Liang Wen exhales a puff; the smoke strikes the invisible blade before him, neatly splitting it in two.

He offers no resistance, not even moving a finger toward the hilt at his waist.

"Is that your newly recruited goon?"

Liang Wen tilts his head; the ingrained, over‑the‑top bravado in his demeanor somehow steadies the situation.

"The invisible trickster... *tsk tsk*, to have unearthed such a specimen under the Federation's very nose, I must admit, Mr. Chen, your 'headhunter' skill truly surpasses those office‑bound old relics in the organization."

In the darkness, footsteps fall with a pronounced rhythm.

Chen Shao steps forward.

He wears a tailored black suit; his leather shoes tread the standing water without a single clatter.

His neatly slicked back hair, dampened, looks even more austere.

The most unwatchable feature is the scarlet vortex in his left eye.

That eyeball now emits a suffocating pulse.

A single gaze makes it feel as if an invisible giant hand clamps the brain, dragging the whole body into that blood‑stained mire.

Beside Chen Shao, a boy who looks under twenty walks barefoot on the icy floor.

He is Xu An.

His mouth is crudely stitched with a rough black line; the scar appears both ferocious and sacred.

He carries a Red Wood Ruler dripping an unknown black fluid, his gaze hollow like two deep wells linked to hell.

"You arranged a meeting with me and came alone,"

Chen Shao stops five meters away from Liang Wen.

Two opposing pressures collide in the air, causing the surrounding rusted machines to emit low moans.

"Do you think I, Chen Shao, am a respectable man who follows Regulation?"

"Or have you already treated life as disposable scrap paper?"

Liang Wen's hand holding the cigarette freezes for a moment.

His pupils contract, then he lets out a series of nervous, strange laughs.

"Hahaha! No wonder you have the Demon Eye, being able to sense the currents of the river of fate,"

He flings his arms wide; the Windcoat flutters in the draft like a black raven with broken wings.

"Walking within the Abyss, my mortal body has already conquered the fear of the end!"

"Mr. Chen, since I dared to come, I naturally bring sincerity,"

Liang Wen turns; even though the transparent blade at his neck has sliced the skin, leaving a streak of blood, he remains unfazed.

He stares at Chen Shao's left eye radiating scarlet aura, his tone suddenly turning lethal.

"I came to give a gift."

"A gift that can let monsters like you truly ascend to divinity, or utterly destroy this old order... the ultimate gift."

Chen Shao narrows his eyes.

The mental pressure from the Demon Eye erupts in an instant.

The standing water in the whole factory begins to rise, trembling violently in mid‑air.

Liang Wen feels his eardrums about to be torn open by the invisible sound wave.

A pungent sweetness wells up in his nasal cavity.

This is an absolute suppression of rank.

If an ordinary Special Forces member stood before Chen Shao now, they would likely have twisted their own neck off from cognitive collapse.

But Liang Wen merely gritted his teeth, even deliberately puffing out his chest to meet the storm that could shred souls.

"A gift?"

Chen Shao said coldly.

"A dog of the Investigation Bureau actually wants to give a gift to an aberration."

"Interesting. Seeing your mental fluctuations remain unmoved under this level of domination, it must not be a rehearsed lie."

He lightly waved his hand.

The invisible person retracted their blade, their form fading once more into nothingness, vanishing without a trace.

Xu An seemed to sense something, slowly raising the Red Wood Ruler, the black threads stitching his mouth tightening slightly.

That killing intent was even purer than Chen Shao's Demon Eye.

It was a destructive desire aimed at all "Regulations."

"Go on."

Chen Shao eased his pressure.

The hovering water droplets around them snapped back onto the surface with a slap.

"If your sincerity isn't enough, I'll let you watch me tear your mouth to shreds."

Liang Wen wiped the blood seeping from his nostrils and let out a long breath.

He masked that post-calamity emptiness with extreme excitement.

He slowly pulled out a tablet specially treated against interference from the inner pocket of his windcoat.

His movements were very slow.

Because he knew that any extra attacking motion on his part would cause Xu An's ruler to instantly smash his skull.

The screen lit up.

In this dim, damp ruin, the glow of that electronic display was especially glaring.

Chen Shao's gaze swept over the screen.

His previously calm, almost omnipotent expression visibly stiffened after he made out the content on the screen.

His pupils contracted sharply.

Even his blood-colored Demon Eye leaked a wisp of red mist due to the intense emotional fluctuation.

On the screen appeared a bold, blood-red heading of the Federation's top-secret file:

【X Ji Weird: Wish Bottle — Containment Plan】