Chapter 279: The Struggle Begins

The grim white long blade fell, slanting into the mud, the red veins on its blade pulsing rhythmically, like a heart exposed outside the body.

The handle, a piece of spine, still retained a warm touch, and the skull at the guard faced Jiang Yuan, its hollow eye sockets exuding a nauseating venom.

Ouyang Feng didn't die completely.

Or rather, he survived in another, more tragic way.

Jiang Yuan tried to command a shadow soldier to touch the blade.

However, when the shadow soldier approached within half a meter of the Bone Knife, it recoiled sharply as if it had struck a hot iron worm.

The shadow soldier was trembling.

The blade carries an extremely high‑level rule suppression—at least for the lowest‑rank shadow soldiers.

"How ironic."

Chen Shao stood two meters away and said, "Is this the final fate of your Federation's former trump card? Turned into a Boning Knife that must be paid back with killing?"

Jiang Yuan ignored him, staring only at the blade.

The scene they had just witnessed flashed through their mind.

The Wish Bottle's price was counted in countless lives.

Ouyang Feng hadn't repaid the debt, so the Wish Bottle forged him into this blade.

If this blade slaughters enough people, perhaps Ouyang Feng could be freed, or else be utterly reduced to ash.

That is the domineering nature of X Ji Weird.

No reasoning, no room for maneuver.

Perhaps anyone who later takes this blade will bear an endless killing quota.

It's a hot‑potato.

Jiang Yuan sighed, shifting their gaze from the Bone Knife to the pile of broken stones beside them.

The instigator—the porcelain bottle—lay there quietly.

The red light at its mouth had already gone out.

But both knew this was tonight's biggest "trophy".

The atmosphere grew somewhat odd.

The two "comrades" who had just teamed up to tear down the building now held an extremely subtle stance.

One on the left, one on the right, forming a sharp angle.

Between them lay the Bone Knife and the Wish Bottle.

Rainwater traced down Jiang Yuan's hair tips, streaking across their cheek.

Behind them, the shadow demon god, though reduced a notch, still held a combat stance, its jet‑black eyes fixed on the suited man opposite.

Chen Shao tossed the handkerchief he had just used to wipe his hands.

The white handkerchief drifted in the air before landing in the mud, staining into a splotch of filth.

"The coordination just now was good," Chen Shao said, adjusting his tie, his tone as flat as if reviewing an afternoon tea, "I don't particularly like your barbaric style, but the efficiency is acceptable."

"Likewise."

Jiang Yuan's voice was hoarse, "Your psychic power isn't bad; the Investigation Bureau could use talent like yours."

Chen Shao raised an eyebrow, his crimson left eye flickering slightly, "Since the matter is settled, let's discuss the division."

He lifted his slender finger, pointing at the Wish Bottle on the ground.

"That one is mine."

He said so as if it were obvious.

As if ordering a dish in a restaurant.

Jiang Yuan smiled.

It was a bitter smile.

"Boss Chen, aren't you misunderstanding the situation?" Jiang Yuan stepped forward, the puddle at his feet rippling, "This is Federation territory, this thing is a Federation Containment Object, are you planning to rob it in front of the police?"

"Robbery?"

Chen Shao seemed to hear a joke, a graceful yet icy curve forming at his mouth, "If I hadn't helped you, Bone City would have devoured this city long ago."

"Don't flatter yourself."

Jiang Yuan showed no weakness, "If I hadn't saved you, whether you'd be where you are now is another story."

Their gazes met in the air.

No sparks, only a suffocating low pressure.

In the distance, an ambulance's wailing siren sounded.

A few kilometers away, on the temporary Blockade Line, red and blue police lights interwove into a sea of light.

Meanwhile.

Inside a specially modified medical armored vehicle.

Qin Zhixia was wrapped in bandages, her left arm encased in a thick plaster cast, her face pallid.

"You're awake? Your vital signs are highly unstable, very unfavorable; surgery must be performed immediately," the doctor in the vehicle said, sweating profusely as he watched the erratic data on the monitor.

Qin Zhixia seemed not to have heard.

She strained to turn her head, looking through the bullet‑proof glass toward the depths of the blackened ruins.

The energy fluctuations there had already subsided.

The monster that had nailed her to the wall, once invincible, had finally vanished.

"Is it over..."

Her lips moved, her voice so soft only she could hear it.

"Yes, sir." The nearby communicator, eyes rimmed red, clenched the Communicator tightly, "The detection team just confirmed the Quasi‑S energy source reaction has vanished. The target… has been eliminated."

Hearing those words, Qin Zhixia's constantly taut nerves finally relaxed.

That willpower that had sustained her fight until now was instantly ripped away.

Darkness surged up like a tide.

She tilted her head and completely blacked out.

The medical vehicle whistled away into the distance.

At the center of the ruins.

The standoff continued.

Chen Shao glanced at the receding taillights, then impatiently glanced at the watch on his wrist.

"My time is valuable."

He said lightly, "That Wish Bottle, I do intend to take it. As for that ugly Bone Knife, you can take it back to report. Consider it a face‑saving gesture for Director Wei."

"What if I say no?"

Jiang Yuan's body sank slightly, and the Shadow Demon's arm behind him began to swell, its five fingers curling like hooks.

"Then I can only…" Chen Shao sighed, as if resigned to this barbaric act.

He slowly removed the Gold Thread Glasses and carefully placed them into the pocket on his chest.

"According to the backup plan."

In that scarlet left eye, a vortex began to spin wildly.

The scattered Reinforced Steel Bars, rubble, even the standing water on the ground all defied gravity and floated at that moment.

A terrifying Psychic Force Shield instantly enveloped a hundred‑meter radius, "I'll give you one last chance."

Jiang Yuan said nothing.

He simply reached his hand into the Card Bag at his waist.

"Do you know?" Jiang Yuan suddenly spoke, his tone oddly shifting, "Our director once said a line."

"What?"

"Villains die from talking too much."

Before the words finished.

Jiang Yuan's figure vanished into thin air!

Not a movement.

It was a complete merging into the shadows beneath his feet!

Almost simultaneously.

The shadow at Chen Shao's feet suddenly came alive!

The black silhouette that had been quietly lying on the ground instantly transformed into a massive jet‑black hand, fiercely clawing at Chen Shao's ankle!

"Petty trick."

Chen Shao snorted coldly, not even moving a muscle.

That intangible Psychic Force Shield instantly opened beneath his feet.

The Shadow Demon's massive hand gripped the shield, producing a sour‑tasting grinding sound, sparks scattering, yet it could not advance an inch.

But Jiang Yuan's target was not him at all.

At the instant Chen Shao's defense formed, a black line slithered along the ground at breakneck speed, like a poised venomous snake, darting like lightning toward the Wish Bottle atop the rubble!

That was a Shadow Ghost's duplicate!

Jiang Yuan's feint was masterfully deceptive.

As long as he secures the bottle, the round is half won.

"Naïve."

A hint of mockery flickered at Chen Shao's mouth corner.

He had already anticipated this move.

He made no move, yet the space around the Wish Bottle suddenly warped.

The black silhouette that rushed through seemed to hit an invisible wall and was flung outward.

Immediately after, the Wish Bottle itself floated up, wobbling as it flew toward Chen Shao.

"Psychic retrieval!"

"My thing, no one can take it."

Chen Shao reached out to catch it.

The bottle was about to land in his hand.

Suddenly.

A sharp slicing sound tore the air!

A Poker Card with a cold‑glinting edge spun, slicing through the rain, cutting toward Chen Shao's wrist with pinpoint accuracy!

If you don't withdraw, you won't get that hand.

Chen Shao's brows furrowed slightly; he flicked his wrist, and two fingers, swift as lightning, pinched the Flying Card.

"Ding!"

The fingertip struck the metal surface, emitting a crisp clang of gold and iron.

Yet in that moment of delay,

Jiang Yuan had already surged out from the side shadow.

He was enveloped entirely by black murderous aura, like a tiger released from its cage, and with the momentum, he hammered a fist toward Chen Shao's face!

This punch has no frills.

Pure power.

Pure speed.

Even the air is blown apart, emitting a muffled thunderous roar.

Chen Shao has to give up catching the bottle.

He lightly presses with his left hand, and a semi‑transparent psychic shield forms in front of him.

Boom!

The fist slams into the shield.

A massive shockwave sweeps outward, turning all the surrounding rain into mist.

Chen Shao slides back half a meter, his leather shoes carving two deep ruts in the mud.

Jiang Yuan uses the momentum to perform a backflip, landing steadily.

The Wish Bottle loses its psychic pull, drops with a plop onto the ground, rolls a few turns, and comes to rest right beside the Bone Knife.

The two widen the distance again.

Neither gets it.

"Interesting."

Chen Shao flicks his slightly numb palm, his gaze finally turning serious, "We haven't met for a while, and your growth speed... exceeds my expectations."

"It seems the Investigation Bureau really put all its focus on you, huh?"