"Lord Bai Zhi, please forgive me."
As her voice fell, Wang Miaoyin uttered a low incantation: "Life and death—halt."
A mysterious and unfathomable power instantly locked down Bai Jie.
Bai Jie immediately felt as if time had stopped flowing—within its own body and the surrounding space. Yet its consciousness seemed still able to function.
At the same moment, a system notification arrived:
[Unknowable Word-Spirit interference detected. Shielding...]
Pah! The rules binding the demon spider instantly collapsed.
The demon spider's body—and the air around it—regained their freedom.
Bai Jie transmitted: "From the outside, this ability of yours appears to halt time within range. But 'time' is merely a concept imagined by living creatures—its essence is still the motion of objects."
"Thus, what you actually did is immobilize all objects within proximity to me, plunging them into a state of 'absolute stillness.'"
Wang Miaoyin's pretty face revealed a trace of surprise. "You are correct. However, the duration my ability took effect on you just now was less than one-sixtieth of a second."
The 'time' she referred to here was the scale of motion that other moving objects experienced, relative to those objects that had been locked into absolute stillness.
Or to put it another way: within the universe, various different 'times' exist, flowing at different rates. Wang Miaoyin's ability was to tune the time-rate of a certain target or area down to zero.
Life and death—halt.
Between life and death, there exists only the thinnest of lines—yet one can stretch and elongate that 'halted' instant without limit, thereby creating possibilities that transcend life and death itself.
"Back when you were in your best state, how long could you halt time? How many targets or how large a range could you lock?" Bai Jie transmitted.
"I'm not entirely sure either... roughly 0.5 seconds, at most 3–4 targets. Against Enforcer mechs, I could manage a bit more. As for range, probably a simultaneous lock on targets within a 3-meter radius," Wang Miaoyin replied.
Mm... not monstrously overpowered, but still very impressive.
This was the legendary 'time-stop' skill—passed down to women but not men—the supernatural ability countless men dreamed of!
But with such a short pause time...
Even if a man got his hands on it, he wouldn't be able to do much...
"Show me your second ability."
"Understood, Lord Bai Zhi."
One second later, Wang Miaoyin lifted her head and looked into the spider's eyes. In her own eyes, a round, dazzlingly crimson blood moon surfaced—the red light dyeing her entire pupils as if stained with blood.
Ding!
[Unknowable mental interference detected. Shielded.]
Bai Jie instantly understood—it was reminded of Zheng Yueling's similar, hypnosis-like sorcery. Though it didn't know whether Wang Miaoyin's sorcery was superior.
"I can manipulate the minds of men who meet my gaze directly, making them obey my will for a period of time. But against women, I can only cause a momentary daze."
"However, against Secret Keepers, it's obviously much weaker," Wang Miaoyin explained.
"Anything else?" Bai Jie said flatly.
All of the above were abilities it had seen her use when it rescued Wang Miaoyin, so it wasn't especially surprised.
Just when it assumed Wang Miaoyin had exhausted all her tricks, it heard her stammer:
"Th-there... there's more, Lord Bai Zhi."
There's more?
This caught Bai Jie slightly off guard—and pleasantly surprised.
But why had Wang Miaoyin's face once again been tinged with that bashful blush? The corners of her eyes... seemed to glisten with a trace of coquettish allure...
An ominous premonition welled up in Bai Jie's heart...
Something was off about her.
Then it heard Wang Miaoyin say shyly: "I can bestow upon others... the ultimate pleasure..."
"Regardless... of whether they're male or female..."
Bai Jie: "..."
At this very moment, within the demon spider's heart, only one thought circled, over and over:
Why didn't I meet you sooner?!
If this were back when I was still human, before reincarnation...
I would absolutely drag you along to study together!
...
Yongan City, Gaia Technology Co. Branch Office.
"Anomaly creatures, and humans contaminated by anomalies—based on the threat level of the incidents they cause—are classified into the following hazard tiers."
"First: Wandering Spirit-class anomaly. Refers to those whose dangerous factors pose a certain threat to the lives and property of the public."
"Second: Ferocious-class anomaly. Refers to anomalies that could potentially trigger mass casualties and widespread structural destruction."
"Third: Quasi-Calamity-class anomaly. Poses the risk of throwing an entire medium-sized city into chaos or even causing its annihilation."
"Fourth: Nether-Calamity-class..."
Inside the conference room, a young man with a high-bridged nose, his black hair glossy and sleek, wearing a lightweight linen suit, stood beside an enormous presentation screen, explaining.
Around the spacious oval table sat more than twenty people.
Among them were not only Secret Keepers from the Federal Secret Keeping Bureau and leaders from the Criminal Investigation Department, the Law Enforcement Department, and the city government, but also security personnel from Gaia Technology—such as Liu Wei and Chen Zhang—alongside some unfamiliar faces that carried an air of authority.
"Brother Wei, who is he?" Chen Zhang leaned close to Liu Wei's ear and whispered.
But Liu Wei raised his index finger to his lips and typed on his phone.
Chen Zhang pulled out his own phone and saw a message from Liu Wei:
[Secret Keeping Bureau A-rank agent. Codename: 'Galaxy.' His mental power is very strong—even the quietest whisper will be heard by him.]
Chen Zhang immediately clamped his lips tight.
"Based on the threat level Nyx has exhibited so far, it has already reached Quasi-Calamity class," the youth codenamed 'Galaxy' stated flatly.
"According to the Secret Keeping Bureau's assessment, Nyx has a motive to approach a series of anomaly incidents and humans. It will collect meteorite fragments that bear anomalous properties."
"On September 9th, Zheng Yueling of Xingchuan University was discovered dead in her home at the Beicheng Huayuan Residential Complex. On the same day, a resident's phone in the complex was stolen."
"On September 10th, the Criminal Investigation Department discovered what was suspected to be 'Nyx's' old nest in a tree within the complex. That same night, incidents of mutated animals attacking humans erupted across the entire city."
"Note: the 'Nyx' mentioned here and the 'Nyx' that appeared later are with extremely high probability the same creature—this assessment was also made by our Secret Keeping Bureau."
"In the early hours of September 12th, a fire broke out on the back mountain of Xingchuan University. Three male corpses and a severed hand were discovered there. Of the three bodies, aside from one whose brain was pierced through, the other two had indeterminate causes of death, suspected of having suffered extensive exposure to corrosive liquid."
"As for that severed hand, DNA testing confirmed it to belong to Bai Jie, a missing student of Xingchuan University."
"Based on the characteristics we've now established for Nyx—that it will hunt creatures affected by anomalies—Bai Jie was extremely likely contaminated by the meteorite anomaly, fled to the back mountain to hide, and was targeted and killed by Nyx. The other three male corpses are naturally inseparable from Nyx as well."