"Cough, cough, cough."

Lin Bai coughed up a pool of fresh blood. The fall had been quite hard.

'Today I really have the worst luck.'

"Beep, beep, beep."

The rhythmic electronic sound came again.

"Not again?"

Lin Bai struggled to stand up and looked around. The pedestrians all started emitting black thin lines, turning into indescribable masses lunging toward him.

"I really can't run anymore. Stop chasing me, guys!"

Dragging his injured body, Lin Bai kept running. At this moment, he remembered the bracelet Chi Xiaoyu had given him. After pressing it, his exhausted body seemed enhanced, and he sprinted away to a small alley.

"Not good, it's a dead end!"

Just then, that familiar voice sounded.

"I can remove another seal for you. You'll get some enhancement, but you'll turn into an anomaly starting from 7 PM. Are you willing?"

Currently, Lin Bai turned into an anomaly at 9 PM. If he agreed, he would lose two more hours each day.

Looking at his phone, it was now 8:58 PM.

"I'm not willing!"

The voice sounded a bit helpless and said no more.

Lin Bai tried to move a garbage bin to block the front of the alley, but he forgot that objects could also be anomalies...

As soon as he approached the garbage bin, countless black lines wrapped around him. Lin Bai kept swinging his knife to cut the lines, but there were too many. With the pedestrians catching up from behind, he was finally wrapped in countless black lines, bundled into a cocoon.

At that moment, the phone showed 9:00 PM.

Several blood-red lights burst out. The cocoon made of black lines began to break open, and white-haired Bai Ling emerged from it. Waves of blood color swept out, instantly rupturing the surrounding anomalous lines.

The nearby pedestrians looked at the girl, seemingly unable to understand what had happened, standing motionless in place.

Seeing this, Bai Ling concentrated streams of blood energy to pierce through them, killing all the surrounding anomalies. After eating the D-grade infection crystals, Bai Ling licked her lips.

"Don't let me see you, or I'll kill every one I see!"

At that moment, somewhere underground in the city:

"How's the replenishment of numbers going?"

"Lord Black City, it's going very well. We caught dozens more today."

"Good. We need to act quickly before the Mutation Investigation Bureau blames us."

"Wait, why is the number of infected decreasing rapidly!"

"Damn it, did you let those Investigation Bureau people in?!"

"There was one rookie who came in, but he should have died at the hands of the infected..."

"Hmph, useless. Didn't I tell you not to leave any hidden dangers?"

"I-I'll handle it right away!"

○

Bai Ling already had more than a dozen infection cores in her hand.

"Now I don't have to be forced to wear women's clothing anymore. Chi Xiaoyu can't tempt me with cores anymore!"

"Hmm, but why do these feel different? The ones she gave me tasted better..."

[Chi Xiaoyu gave anomaly cores, Bai Ling killed infected, which are infection cores]

Just as Bai Ling was about to continue killing infected, a familiar eye appeared on the wall. The originally white wall turned into black lines, forming a screen. The eye from the movie theater emerged...

"Eh? Who are you, and why are you here?"

"I'm your father!"

Bai Ling blasted a blood-colored beam toward the eye.

"Wait, I think we have a misunderstanding."

The eye disappeared before being attacked and appeared on another wall.

"Hmph, you killed my friend Lin Bai!"

Bai Ling lied, putting the blame on him first.

"If you're talking about the person from the movie theater, I'm sorry, but it was a necessary sacrifice... Although I don't know how you got in here, please stop killing my vassals."

"Necessary sacrifice?"

"Of course. This Black City is maintained by the energy provided by these humans. If the number of infected is too low, it will collapse. If Black City collapses, E City in the real world will also collapse..."

"Why is that? Even so, what gives you the right to sacrifice these people?"

"To survive, of course. If we weren't connected, that Bureau Director would have caught us all long ago… We're both anomalies. Can we stop fighting? I'll let you out."

"I'm sorry, but I can't stand your methods..."

Bai Ling shot another blood-colored beam. The eye still avoided it through teleportation.

"It's useless. Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"

"Is that so? If you had the ability, you would have acted already."

The eye showed a serious expression after hearing this...

"Yes, so what? I can't attack, and you can't hit me. But I can change the terrain so you can't find other infected. We'd just be wasting each other's time here. Why don't I let you out..."

Bai Ling smiled and slashed her arm, leaving a pool of blood.

"What are you doing?"

The eye looked at Bai Ling vigilantly.

Her arm continued to bleed as Bai Ling approached the eye step by step.

"Try to dodge again?"

Bai Ling's surrounding blood began to cover the surrounding objects, whether it was the ground or buildings, all turning crimson red. Seeing this, the eye hurriedly moved to dodge but found that after being stained with blood, it could no longer move...

"Wh-what? My lord's anomalous domain has been..."

Bai Ling raised her right hand, and a bright red dagger shot out, piercing the eye...

"Ah! No, no!"

The eye instantly shattered, leaving only a crystal-clear C-grade anomaly core...

Bai Ling picked it up and ate it, savoring the taste.

"Indeed, it tastes much better than infection cores!"

Suddenly, an electronic sound erupted. This time it was no longer rhythmic but filled with anger. The sound was deafening, making Bai Ling want to cover her ears...

In the center of the city, countless black lines gathered and formed a giant head in the sky. This head had no eyes and was composed entirely of black wires. Its neck was connected to the ground by countless lines. From a distance, it looked terrifying, densely packed. As it released waves, scanning everything around, the head flew toward Bai Ling...

"Uh, why are you staring at me?"

"If you want to fight, let's fight!"

Bai Ling assumed a defensive posture. In reality, she had lost too much blood, though she had replenished a bit with the C-grade core, otherwise she would have fainted.

"Blood Witch? No, far inferior to Blood. Are you her descendant?

You killed my eye... But since you're a descendant of Lady Blood, you may go..."

The head reluctantly opened a passage. The black lines on the ground began to separate, and a familiar entrance appeared before Bai Ling—it was the movie theater...

Bai Ling quickly jumped down, as she could no longer summon the crimson blood domain.

"Hmph, letting me go just like that?"

'It seems he's very afraid of this Blood Witch. Why does everyone say I'm the Blood Witch's descendant? And what about the seal on me? Next time I have a chance, I should ask my parents…'