Chapter 488: Final Ultimatum

Liang Wen's blade stopped three inches in front of Ji Bai's throat.

Dark-colored flames clung to the blade and crawled; they were so close the skin could smell the char. The Project Team's thermal imaging guns pressed in from all directions, leaving the basement with only dust, the scent of blood, and rain leaking in.

Liang Wen tilted his head and squinted his peach‑blossom eyes.

"Final ultimatum, kid."

"You have two options now. First, cooperate obediently with the Federation Investigation Bureau's law enforcement. Second, be pinned to the ground by me in a posture so dashing it crumbles, and cooperate."

Ji Bai ignored him.

A black umbrella lay across his front, perfectly shielding half of the female Fierce Ghost's body. Water still dripped from the rim, beads sliding down the ribs onto the ground, mixing into the blood.

"Step aside."

Still those two words.

Short, firm, no negotiation.

Liang Wen sighed.

"Today's kids are more rebellious than the last. You're forcing me to work overtime."

A special operative above lowered his voice: "Liang Team, the target's danger level has been raised; may we deploy a sealed Containment Object?"

Liang Wen didn't even turn his head.

"Wait."

"But he just punched through a B Ji Symbiosis with his bare hands."

"I'm not blind."

Liang Wen stared at Ji Bai, his blade unnervingly steady.

He saw it clearly.

The boy bore no parasitic marks, no Weird fluctuations typical of ordinary manipulators, and no signs of contamination before a Rules activation.

Clean to an absurd degree.

Yet also absurdly strong.

That makes this a bit unchivalrous.

Liang Wen grinned, suddenly feeling interested.

"I'll ask you a question."

"No one taught you; how did you master the Weird device to this level?"

Ji Bai lifted his gaze.

"You checking the household register?"

Liang Wen laughed.

"Yo, you can talk back. Fine, that shows a decent mental state, suitable for taking back for a statement."

Ji Bai gave no reply.

The female Fierce Ghost in his arms trembled even more; its spirit's fissures healed slowly after the seal broke, and the shoulder‑back still bore Rules scars from torment by the pain‑bone‑pulling clamps. Instinctively she curled beneath the umbrella, not daring to lift her head.

Ji Bai lowered his head and glanced at her.

That glance was brief.

But when he looked up again, his entire aura had changed.

It wasn't killing intent.

Colder than killing intent.

Liang Wen's eyelid twitched, and he pressed the blade forward half an inch.

"Don't move."

Ji Bai asked, "What crime did she commit?"

Liang Wen was taken aback.

"What?"

"You captured her, on what grounds?"

This time, someone from the Project Team couldn't hold back.

"She is a Fierce Ghost!"

"What grounds does a Fierce Ghost need? A Fierce Ghost that retains self‑awareness is even more dangerous; if it loses control, the whole block will be sacrificed!"

Ji Bai turned his head, looking at the operative who spoke.

"But she was human in life; what if she's your girlfriend? Or your mother?"

"And why do you wait for me to kill before dealing with them?"

"If they truly do the right thing, why not protect them instead of treating them as expendables and bait?"

The operative choked.

The air stalled for a moment.

Liang Wen nudged his cheek with his tongue and clicked.

Frankly, the Blood Hand scum were originally bait the Project Team used for fishing.

But that can't be aired publicly.

Putting it out would be too ugly.

Liang Wen lifted his blade; the tip quivered lightly, and the dark flame surged half a foot upward.

"Kid, the Federation's procedures are sometimes terrible, I admit. Sometimes they're so bad I want to cut the person who wrote them."

"But you set up a private Ferry Port, contained a Fierce Ghost, ambushed a ghost hunter, and today you committed illegal hijacking right before my eyes."

"From my position, if I don't arrest you, tomorrow Lord Wei could twist my head off and use it as a teapot lid."

Ji Bai's face was expressionless.

"Then you come."

Liang Wen's eyes lit up.

"Good."

His words had just fallen.

The knife fell.

This strike had no flourish; black flame pressed along the blade, even the residual blood on the ground steamed white. The blade sliced the rain, aiming for Ji Bai's shoulder and neck.

Ji Bai didn't retreat.

His right sleeve tightened, muscles bulged, veins protruded, and the metal glove on the back of his hand screeched.

Then.

He punched hard at the blade.

Clang!

The metal clash in the basement sent a shockwave outward.

Sparks flew.

The black flame was half blown away by the punch's gust.

Liang Wen's foot slipped back; the recoil drove him three steps back, and his long blade nearly flew from his hand.

The entire project team stared in shock.

"Damn!"

"You caught Liang Team's Black Flame Knife barehanded?"

"Is he even human?"

Liang Wen steadied himself, glanced at his blade, then looked at Ji Bai, his face alight with excitement.

"Good, good, good."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

He shook his tingling wrist, his chuunibyo flared up, and he laughed like he'd found a treasure.

"I see, I see!"

"No parasitism, no symbiosis, no sign of Bureau training."

"You're not practicing spirit mastery; you're controlling devices. You treat weird artifacts as external organs and drill the rules into muscle memory."

"Tsk, a natural genius."

"The Abyss-granted worthy opponent really has something."

Ji Bai couldn't be bothered to listen to his chanting.

He only glanced around.

The special forces descending from above had already formed a triangle.

The basement exit was sealed by two containment devices; someone in the corner was wiring. Silver‑white metal posts were set into the walls, thin blue‑white lines running inward—clearly a cognitive interference net.

Hold for five more seconds.

Give it five more seconds.

Forget escaping with the female fierce ghost; even the underground drain will be sealed.

Ji Bai held the female fierce ghost behind him, his breath steady, but his eyes were icy.

Liang Wen sensed something off and swung his blade sideways.

"Seal team, hurry up!"

"Don't let him escape!"

Seal patterns on several containment objects lit up—floor, walls, ceiling echoing—pressing the basement into a suffocating hush. The female fierce ghost emitted a muffled moan, her spirit fraying at the edges.

Ji Bai lowered his head, pressing the umbrella onto her head.

"Close your eyes."

The female fierce ghost froze.

"What?"

"Now."

She instinctively closed her eyes.

The next second, Ji Bai moved.

Not a retreat.

Not a breakout.

But he lunged straight at Liang Wen.

Liang Wen blinked, then raised his blade to meet him.

"Good timing!"

He turned the blade, black flame arcing toward Ji Bai's shoulder. Liang Wen eased the strike to about thirty percent—not to spare him, but fearing he'd actually cleave him in half and have no explanation.

Ji Bai didn't dodge.

He let the blade skim his shoulder.

The cloth blackened instantly, flesh peeled back, blood and burnt smell burst out, stinging his nose.

Yet he used that forward thrust to gain even more speed.

Breakneck speed.

Liang Wen's pupils narrowed; just as he was about to shift tactics, Ji Bai slipped past his side and raced for the basement's middle.

"Stop him!"

The special forces shouted.

Three blocking guns fired simultaneously.

White straps interlaced and pressed forward.

Ji Bai braced the umbrella with one hand; the black umbrella swung half a circle, deflecting the two front straps, while the third blocking strap brushed his calf, tearing a bloody wound.

He didn't even turn his head.

The target wasn't the door, nor the passage.

It was the basement Core load‑bearing column.

Liang Wen saw the position clearly and felt a jolt in his heart.

"Damn!"

"All personnel, evacuate the load‑bearing area! He's going to tear the building apart!"

No one expected Ji Bai to be this mad.

This is no longer a breakout.

It's a direct overturn.

Ji Bai rushed to the load‑bearing column; the black umbrella in his hand shifted from open to closed, the shaft inverted in his palm, his steps sank, and he drove power from his waist and back.

First strike.

Horizontal sweep.

The air was violently sucked out with a booming crack as the umbrella struck the concrete column, and the whole column instantly split with large white fissures.

Second strike.

Sweep again.

Reinforced Steel Bar bent, gray dust flew, and large chunks of concrete peeled off.

Third strike.

Ji Bai's arm muscles swelled to the limit, his shoulders and back twisted, channeling his entire body's force outward.

Crack!

The load‑bearing column snapped at the waist.

It's not a crack; it's a break.

From above the seven‑story repair plant came continuous tremors; walls, floor, ceiling—cracks spread wildly. All light tubes went out, the exhaust fan fell, and the whole space was ripped in two as if torn apart from the middle.

The Project Team was completely blown up.

"Retreat, retreat, retreat!"

"Second Floor collapsed!"

"Protect the equipment! Get the people out!"

A massive slab of concrete fell from above; Liang Wen cursed, the black flame long sword rose sharply, dark‑colored flame spread in midair, holding firm against an entire falling cement slab.

"Damn it, you're really crazy!"

Ji Bai gave no reply.

He had already lifted the female Fierce Ghost, turned, and rushed toward the darkest corner's drainage pipe.

There had been a thick iron grate there.

Ji Bai lifted the umbrella; with a flick of the tip, the iron grate flipped outward. Then he kicked it open, and the rusted metal flew straight into the deep pipe.

The monitoring lines above were shattered by falling rocks, and the last red light went out completely.

Dust and rainwater surged inward.

Liang Wen, while shielding the three nearest special forces for retreat, shouted at him.

"Kid!"

Ji Bai's steps faltered slightly, and he turned his half‑face sideways.

Liang Wen, separated by the collapse and smoke, stared at him; wet hair dripped from his forehead, a layer of ash covered his face, he looked utterly disheveled, yet his sword still lay horizontally above his head, shielding the team from falling rocks.

"You can escape today, but not next time."

"I'll find your hideout too."

Ji Bai looked at him, concise and to the point.

"Then you come."

After speaking, he leapt, still holding the female Fierce Ghost, into the main drainage pipe.

The dark silhouette vanished into the underground river, a splash of water rolled, and the person was gone.

Only the iron grate swayed lightly.

Liang Wen forced a laugh.

"Alright."

"Really alright."

A moment later, half of the repair plant's main structure collapsed completely.

Dust and ash cleared, and the Project Team began tallying the wounded. Fortunately, Liang Wen reacted quickly, ordered evacuation early; the few who were hit sustained only minor injuries, no deaths.

Xiao Liu crawled out, his head and face covered in ash and dust, clutching a thermal imaging tablet; his whole body was numb.

"Liang Team, there's nothing to catch here, the surveillance is completely dead, the underground river has many tributaries, and we didn't have time to attach a tracker."

Liang Wen sheathed his sword and flicked the ash off his arm.

"Who said there was no gain?"

He walked to the edge of the load‑bearing column ruins, crouched, and picked up a half‑piece of blood‑stained cloth from beside a shattered piece of concrete.

Gray.

Lining material.

At the corners, a faint medicinal scent still lingered, not hospital disinfectant, but more like cheap hemostatic powder mixed with the smell of old paper.

Liang Wen fished a pair of tweezers from his pocket, pinched the torn cloth piece, and looked up at the rain leaking through the ceiling.

A hint of amusement floated up in his peach‑blossom eyes.

"Interesting."

Xiao Liu leaned in, "What can it detect?"

"A lot."

Liang Wen stood up, packed the cloth into the evidence bag, and brushed the dust off his face.

"For example, where this kid usually hangs out, what containment materials he's handled, whether his clothes were washed clean, and if the hemostatic powder is Black Market stock."

Xiao Liu inhaled a breath of cool air.

"Then what do we do now......"

Liang Wen slipped the evidence bag into his chest, twirled his long sword, and slung it over his shoulder.

"Let's go back for a meeting."

"And report to Wei Gong on the way."

The rain kept falling.

In the depths of the underground river, within the unseen darkness, something drifted gently with the current, struck the rusted pipe wall, and then slid away slowly.

It looked like an old photograph someone had dropped.