Chapter 129: The One the Sword Cannot Point To

Xie Liu had never imagined that the person who had guided him earlier was actually allied with the Catwoman. More importantly, the man possessed superhuman abilities.

Gene Mimicry was an exceedingly rare ability. Its unique trait was that it could imitate the physical characteristics of anyone the user had touched.

In other words, as long as he had made physical contact with someone, his ability could automatically analyze that person’s genes. By altering his own physiological traits, he could then imitate the other person almost perfectly. The emergence of this ability had once attracted considerable attention, but people later discovered that the imitation was limited to appearance and physique. It could not reproduce anything latent, such as personality or supernatural powers. Nor could users imitate people with exceptionally powerful bodies, such as those with physical mutations. Any attempt to do so would often cause the imitator’s body to collapse.

In any case, the ability’s novelty far outweighed its practical value. However, because there had been cases in which such ability users disguised themselves and infiltrated the upper echelons, causing immense destruction, the City Guard’s control over people with abilities of this type was extremely strict. Overall, the ability had been classified as Level Seven.

“You’re not with the Special Alliance?” Xie Liu asked in surprise as he looked down at the two people he had knocked off the building. The man called Wang Qi was spitting blood. Hearing Xie Liu’s question, he glared viciously at him.

“Spit! You lackeys of the city’s upper ranks! If you’ve got the guts, kill me!”

Xie Liu wore a baffled expression. He felt as though he had somehow been dragged into this. Wasn’t he also someone exploited by the city’s ruling powers? Then again, he was working for Vladimir, so perhaps calling him a lackey was not entirely wrong.

Spit, spit—who was he calling a dog?

The strange thoughts came and went quickly in Xie Liu’s mind. He turned to the two people below and said coldly, “As a superhuman from Fantasy City, you conspired with members of the Special Alliance. That is a serious crime. However, I won’t kill you. The City Guard will deal with you. Our target is the Special Alliance’s modified human. If you don’t want to die, get out of my way.”

Wang Qi merely snorted and cursed again. “City lackey.”

The man was remarkably defiant. Xie Liu had never been softhearted to begin with, and seeing their attitude toward him, he no longer hesitated.

“In that case, I’ll send both of you to the underworld together.”

Xie Liu had already wasted far too much time here and had completely lost his patience. He might as well kill them both. The City Guard would probably cause him trouble afterward, but with Vladimir applying pressure, it should not be a problem.

Before the thought had even faded, Xie Liu’s blade was already descending.

The Catwoman somehow found the strength to act. She seized Wang Qi and dragged him aside, allowing them both to escape the blade. Watching them struggle away, Xie Liu said in a frigid voice, “You still want to run?”

Even if they reached the street, Xie Liu intended to pursue and kill them. There was no other reason: once Wang Qi blended into the crowd, Xie Liu would have no way to find him again.

He was even prepared to cause a scene in the middle of the city. Holding his blade, he looked at the man and woman before him. He did not know why two people from entirely different backgrounds had ultimately ended up together, but he had no interest in such matters. He only wanted to complete his mission and return to report.

With that thought, Xie Liu raised his hand. A great number of steel wires shot from his fingertips, sealing off the two escape routes. These were Fantasy City’s “Memory Wires,” one of the finest materials for closing off a space.

Xie Liu knew, however, that these alone would never be enough to stop them. He removed the guitar case from his back and tossed it aside. Without the case weighing him down, his speed could rise another level.

Yet the two people before him seemed to have no intention of fleeing.

They stood side by side, facing Xie Liu. Wang Qi even drew a gleaming dagger.

“Hm? Interesting. Very interesting.” Xie Liu had no idea what they were thinking. He continued, “The hunting-team members you killed one after another before this—you used the same method each time, didn’t you?”

“The Catwoman drew the enemy’s attention while you pretended to be an uninvolved bystander. Once you found an opening, you launched a sneak attack. No wonder hunters far stronger than you died at your hands. If my reaction speed had been any slower, I’d probably be a corpse by now as well.”

Xie Liu had sealed off their escape routes, so he was in no hurry to attack. “But what I’m curious about is this: your name is Wang Qi, right? Why did you run into me in the city center and bring me here?”

“Hmph.”

Wang Qi did not answer, nor did Xie Liu expect him to. He continued on his own.

“I imagine you had gone out to keep watch, didn’t you?”

“The place where I met you was in the subway, but you must have seen me at the railway station. Other people thought I was a cosplay enthusiast, but you were different. You recognized at first glance that I was a hunter from the city.”

“But you weren’t sure whether I was targeting you, so you decided to test me.” Xie Liu connected all the clues. “I was wondering why anyone would be kind enough to abandon his girlfriend and come serve as my guide.”

After saying this, Xie Liu glanced thoughtfully at the Catwoman.

“Since you knew my target was the two of you, why did you lead me here?”

“Hmph.” Wang Qi snorted again. “Even if I hadn’t shown you the way, you would have found this place sooner or later. Better to lure you here and kill you directly.”

“But that isn’t a long-term solution, is it?” Xie Liu wagged a finger. “Even if you really managed to kill me, the city would continue sending hunters after you. You might succeed once or twice, but can you guarantee that you’ll always succeed?”

“None of your business!” Wang Qi clearly had no interest in chatting. “If you’re going to attack, then stop wasting time.”

“I’m in no hurry now.” Xie Liu laughed. “Because I have a question.”

He leaned against the railing, evidently unconcerned about a counterattack. The difference in strength was obvious. The Catwoman was extremely fast, and she might have posed a threat to others, but against Xie Liu, her speed was useless. He could see every one of her movements clearly. As for Wang Qi, his ability was of no use at this moment.

“Before I arrived, three other hunters had already come here. Logically speaking, you should have known that you’d been exposed. Why didn’t you flee?”

The moment Xie Liu asked this, their faces went pale. He noticed the change in their emotions and continued.

“Second question: just now, before I released the Memory Wires, you had plenty of time to escape, but you didn’t. And after deceiving me the first time, you still didn’t leave. You came back here instead. During that time, you were even attacked by the Special Alliance.”

“You both knew this place was no longer safe, so why did you stay instead of running?”

As Xie Liu spoke, the expressions of the two people opposite him changed completely. Their initial anger and hatred turned into shock.

When he finished, he raised a hand and pointed upward.

“There’s only one reason you refuse to leave: there’s something here you can’t abandon. If I remember correctly, this building has a third floor, doesn’t it? Then the reason you’d rather die than leave must be up there.”

The instant his voice fell, their faces turned deathly white. Xie Liu looked toward the third floor and saw what appeared to be only a single room.

“I see.” Xie Liu laughed. “Then I’ll take whatever it is you’re trying to protect.”

He was about to move toward the third floor when the two people before him suddenly became like enraged tigers. With a roar, they pounced at him.

In the blink of an eye, the Catwoman was beside him, moving so quickly that even Xie Liu was stunned.

He swung his blade backward and blocked one of her claws, but the force behind it was astonishing. Xie Liu was driven backward again and again.

“How are you this fast?”

Although he had blocked the blow, Xie Liu could not keep his footing. The Catwoman’s claw had struck with incredible speed and tremendous strength, forcing him into the railing.

“Quick! Li’er! Upstairs!”

After Xie Liu was driven back, Wang Qi shouted. Without the slightest hesitation, the Catwoman abandoned Xie Liu and shot past him, rushing straight toward the third floor.

“You still want to run?” Xie Liu roared, turning to pursue her.

But just then, someone leaped at him from behind. Xie Liu immediately swung his blade backward. Wang Qi twisted aside and dodged it, his reaction speed once again leaving Xie Liu momentarily stunned.

In the next instant, Wang Qi lunged forward. A flash of cold steel appeared as the sharp dagger stabbed toward Xie Liu’s waist and abdomen.

Xie Liu was faster. He seized Wang Qi’s wrist and twisted hard. Wang Qi grunted as the bones in his wrist shattered. He could no longer hold the dagger, which clattered to the ground.

Yet Wang Qi merely grunted. His uninjured left hand suddenly hooked around Xie Liu’s body and locked him in a death grip.

“Are you insane?” Xie Liu exclaimed in shock.

Compared with Xie Liu, Wang Qi’s physical strength was worlds apart. But before Xie Liu could wrench himself free, a sharp pain suddenly erupted in his shoulder.

Wang Qi had sunk his teeth into him.

“Li’er… run…” Wang Qi mumbled, his eyes bloodshot. He looked like a beast driven into despair. Using every ounce of strength in his body, he clung desperately to Xie Liu, his teeth piercing flesh, refusing to let go even in death.

His blood-red eyes were fixed on the Catwoman as she rushed toward the third floor, as though she were his entire world.

Xie Liu felt the agony in his shoulder. The man had actually bitten through his combat suit—something harder to chew through than steel, something ordinary bullets might not even penetrate.

And yet Wang Qi had bitten straight through it.

What had given this man such strength?

Xie Liu could wait no longer. He drove his right elbow into Wang Qi’s abdomen with brutal force, but Wang Qi’s body merely shook. He showed no sign of releasing him.

“Get off me!”

Furious, Xie Liu struck Wang Qi’s abdomen again with his right elbow. But the man refused to let go. Xie Liu hit him dozens of times in succession. Any ordinary person would have died long ago.

Wang Qi remained unmoving. Even after blood began pouring from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, he was still a desperate beast, biting down on his prey. Blood streamed from his eyes, mingled with tears.

“That’s enough!”

Xie Liu finally erupted. He twisted and broke the bones of Wang Qi’s left arm, which was locked around his body, then struck him hard in the chest with his palm.

At last, the man was torn away from Xie Liu. His face filled with reluctance and despair as he tumbled down the stairs. After rolling down several steps, he crashed onto the ground floor.

“He’s still alive?”

Xie Liu stared in astonishment as Wang Qi struggled to rise after the fall. His injuries were severe, and he kept coughing up fragments of blood-soaked internal organs.

Even so, he stubbornly began climbing the stairs again.

Even Xie Liu found it bizarre.

Was this man insane?

Wang Qi had already lost the ability to fight, and Xie Liu was not determined to kill him. Until the very end, he felt it would be better to leave the man to the City Guard.

With that thought, Xie Liu drew anesthetic darts from behind him and fired them into Wang Qi’s back.

They seemed to have no effect. Wang Qi continued crawling up the stairs.

Xie Liu clicked his tongue and threw three more darts in succession. Only then did the man collapse facedown on the floor, unable to move, yet still filled with unwillingness.

“All right. Now for the third floor.”

Xie Liu fired a steel wire from his waist and flew directly up to the third floor, landing before the only door.

“Is this it?”

With a cold laugh, Xie Liu kicked the door open. Wood splintered, and the entire door crashed to the floor.

A dark shadow rushed out to meet him. The Catwoman pounced directly at him.

Xie Liu was prepared. He swept his blade across. The Catwoman blocked it with her resilient claws, but Xie Liu was faster. He kicked her squarely in the abdomen.

She let out a muffled groan and was sent flying, smashing through the table behind her.

Xie Liu had now entered the room.

It was an entirely ordinary room. If anything set it apart, it was the childish decor, as though it had been arranged for a young child.

The room was filled with fluffy toys. There was a tiny table, a tiny bed, and a small cradle in the corner.

Xie Liu frowned, still unable to react, when the Catwoman let out an enraged roar and pounced at him again.

Without even turning his head, Xie Liu swung his blade backward. In an instant, every one of her claws was severed in two.

Yet the Catwoman continued forward. She passed Xie Liu and charged toward the corner, actually leaving her back exposed to him.

“Hmph!”

Xie Liu snorted, turned his blade, and brought it down.

The Catwoman tried desperately to dodge, but Xie Liu’s blade was simply too fast. She failed to evade it completely, and the strike tore deeply across her back in a burst of blood.

“Ah!”

The Catwoman cried out in pain, but she did not stop. She threw herself into the corner.

Everything there shattered beneath the impact. The Catwoman twisted around, seized something in her arms, and collapsed beside the wall.

Xie Liu’s blow had been devastating, leaving her without the strength to fight.

The Catwoman struggled upright against the wall. Blood spread across it, and the air grew thick with its metallic stench.

“Let’s see where you can run now.” Xie Liu approached with his blade in hand. “I’ll cut off your head and go back to report.”

He stopped before her and slowly raised his weapon.

But before the blade could fall, a clear cry interrupted him.

“Wah—”

The bright, ringing wail came from the Catwoman’s arms.

Xie Liu’s blade halted in midair. It never descended.

The Catwoman had already resigned herself to death. She clutched the thing in her arms with all her strength, head lowered. Yet the expected strike never came.

“Wah—”

For a moment, the entire world seemed to contain nothing but the child’s cries.

“What are you holding?” Xie Liu asked, his hand trembling.

The Catwoman raised her pale face and finally revealed the infant in her arms.

It was a baby no more than two months old. Tiny and pink-faced, the child wailed loudly, flecks of the Catwoman’s blood staining its cheeks.

“Your child?” Xie Liu asked softly.

The Catwoman had not expected him to spare her. She looked at him, and when he asked the question, she gave a faint nod.

Xie Liu lowered the blade in his hand.

“I can’t. I can’t…”

He stumbled backward two steps. At that moment, he understood why the Catwoman had refused to leave this place, and why Wang Qi had fought with such madness.

Because this was their home—the place they were willing to defend with their lives.

Under the Catwoman’s astonished gaze, Xie Liu’s blade slipped from his hand and pierced the floor.

“No. I can’t. I can’t kill you.”

“My sword may be pointed at anyone—but never at a child.”

Xie Liu spoke in a daze, then suddenly remembered something.

“Oh no! That man is still badly wounded!”