Chapter Forty-Eight: The Ghost Tamer Comes Calling

"What is your name?" The smiling face in the bottle spoke.

Xiao Zi thought for a moment and decided it was best to use the name from her previous life, so she replied directly, "Xiao Zi."

"Hahaha, was that just now the legendary domain said to be even more powerful than the Forbidden Zone? And your name—I thought you were an anomalous creature. Seems I was wrong."

"Yes, so what does the Demon Lord want with me? If there's nothing, I'll be leaving."

The creature before her was indeed an anomaly, its aura faint yet hinting at formidable strength.

Judging by its presence, the true form of this anomaly was far stronger than the Immaculate One, far beyond what she could handle at her current stage.

She had to be careful and find an opportunity to slip away.

"The Demon Lord has recently taken an interest in the Nation of Beauty, but since it's a vassal state of the Great Xia, it's not easy to approach directly. We have to infiltrate slowly. Our main reason for coming to Qianyou Town was the Immaculate One, who had agreed to serve the Demon Lord, but..."

He hadn't finished speaking before Xiao Zi interrupted, "The Immaculate One? That guy was too weak, babbling in front of me. I killed him."

The shadow fell silent at her words.

The Immaculate One, for all his reputation, was an A-class anomaly with a powerful domain and had a handler helping him recover strength. His abilities were likely fully restored. Yet this person before him claimed to have killed him without hesitation.

Combined with the fact that he couldn't see through her at all, and recalling some of her words, the shadow began to feel cautious.

In truth, he had been wary ever since Xiao Zi detected him.

As the king of shadows, he was confident in his concealment skills, and this was only an avatar, its aura barely perceptible, contained within a special bottle.

Even the Demon Lord couldn’t instantly sense him, yet she could. This meant her power rivaled that of the Demon Lord.

This individual was no ordinary being; it would be unwise to make an enemy here. Better to withdraw without incident—if she destroyed this avatar, it would be a costly loss.

Thus, both anomalies began to ponder how to leave without losing face.

"Actually, I'm just curious whether you're on our side or with the humans."

His words were mere formality. From his investigations, Xiao Zi was undoubtedly aligned with the anomalies, but he needed to offer both sides a way out.

"Oh? Who can say? I suppose I'm on the side of the anomalies."

"That puts my mind at ease. Until we meet again."

The shadow spoke swiftly, issued a command to Liu Anfeng, and vanished into the darkness.

Once she was certain they were gone, Xiao Zi breathed a sigh of relief. "Seems he’s still far from dominating this world."

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Yet the next moment, her eyes gleamed. "But that makes it all the more exciting. To climb step by step to the world’s first sequence? Fascinating, truly fascinating."

She had barely stepped out of the basement when she sensed something amiss, but she kept her composure and walked silently through the streets.

Night had fallen unusually early today—perhaps because of the overcast sky, or something else, but Xiao Zi paid it no mind. With a faint smile, she continued walking in a direction even she couldn't name.

Fewer and fewer people were about, and every corner seemed unsettled.

Xiao Zi's expression shifted from a gentle smile to a sinister grin.

"I was wondering where to find you, and now you’ve delivered yourselves to me."

Muttering to herself, she suddenly stopped.

By now, the streets were deserted; only Xiao Zi stood alone in the open.

The shadow brought Liu Anfeng to a vacant spot, where he released a cloud of black mist. At its center appeared a void, within which stood an anomaly clad in black armor.

The Liu family had once been an ordinary household, running a company and living comfortably, though never reaching the stature of a conglomerate.

But everything changed after the resurgence of the mysterious.

An organization of anomalies found the family, coercing and tempting Liu Anran and Liu Anfeng’s father.

Eventually, the Liu family became their puppets.

With the anomalies’ help, the family flourished, eventually reaching its current state.

The anomaly at the heart of the black mist was none other than the legendary Demon Lord.

Upon seeing the shadow, the Demon Lord spoke first, "Did you find the Immaculate One?"

"The Immaculate One is confirmed dead—killed by that remarkably interesting human youth."

"What?" The Demon Lord was momentarily stunned. "Is that human youth truly so powerful?"

"Indeed. I couldn’t sense a trace of aura from him, yet he detected me instantly. His strength is not to be underestimated, and he refused our invitation."

"Trying to make him bow before me was an affront in itself. Our priority now is to ensure Romon becomes president of the Nation of Beauty. Everything else can wait. Leave the human alone—so long as he doesn’t threaten our interests."

After ending the connection with the Demon Lord, the shadow contacted a human.

This man wore a suit and had a kindly face.

"How’s it going? Any issues with the election?"

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"Yes, another troublesome candidate has emerged. I hope—"

"Don’t worry. With the Demon Lord’s protection, any number of candidates are meaningless."

It seemed the upper echelons of the country were already thoroughly infiltrated by the Demon Lord; it was only a matter of time before he took full control.

But Li Juetian, a ghost handler, was completely unaware of this. Today, he was to welcome several important guests.

Outside the station, Li Juetian and two other D-class ghost handlers stood waiting.

Before long, a man and a woman approached.

Both were ghost handlers: Meng Tao, a powerful C-class handler, and Chen Jiaoyu, a handler with special abilities.

As soon as Meng Tao joined Li Juetian, he asked, "Has the one who killed Sun Shihe reached D-class?"

"Yes," Li Juetian replied, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Incredible. In just a few days, to advance from F-class to D-class—it's unbelievable."

He had been repeatedly requesting reinforcements from his superiors, but none believed him, dismissing the idea that any anomaly could advance from F-class to D-class in such a short time as absurd.

Not only did they refuse to send help, they kept recalling him.

Left with no choice, Li Juetian could only rely on his two friends to help eliminate Xiao Zi.

Chen Jiaoyu glanced in a certain direction. "That anomaly’s aura is incredibly pure—so pure it’s unsettling, as if he’s the template for all anomalies."

Her eyes trembled suddenly. "He’s just acted! Not far ahead."

At her words, the ghost handlers immediately became tense.

"Once we confirm his position, evacuate the civilians. This time we must not let him escape!"

In their judgment, this team was more than sufficient to handle a D-class anomaly.

Moreover, each of them had engraved the mysterious rune given by Fan Tianxing, rendering them fearless of the Forbidden Zone.

Thus, they had no fear of failing to defeat Xiao Zi; their only concern was that he might escape.

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