"General Zhao, I will give you one last chance. Stop harassing Li Muhan. Do you understand?"
"..."
Zhao Zhijiang remained silent. After a long moment, he let out a cold snort and waved his hand. Several bodyguards lowered Li Muhan to the ground.
"General Zhao is a smart man. I like talking to smart people."
Lin Ze stood up with a smile, walked over to the bodyguards, and took Li Muhan from them.
"Then I’ll see you around, General Zhao."
Zhao Zhijiang clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white, but he had no way to stop the two of them from walking out of the basement.
"General Zhao, are we just going to leave it at this?"
"Leave it? I'll leave your mother!"
Zhao Zhijiang backhanded the bodyguard who spoke, knocking him to the ground, then snatched up a knife and ruthlessly severed the man's hand.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
"This isn't over!! Not by a long shot!!"
The bodyguard's agonizing screams and Zhao Zhijiang's roar echoed through the basement as Lin Ze supported Li Muhan out of the villa.
The path was littered with bodyguards who had collapsed. They weren't dead—just unconscious. There were no visible wounds; they looked as if they had simply fallen asleep.
Lin Ze personally drove Li Muhan home. Outside the apartment building, Xia Yue seemed to have been waiting for some time. Her face was as cold as frost, but when she saw Li Muhan struggling to get out of the car, her expression softened just a little.
"See? I didn't lie to you. I brought him back in one piece."
Lin Ze got out of the car and leaned against the door, speaking to Xia Yue.
"Even without your help, I could have brought him back."
Xia Yue took hold of the injured Li Muhan and replied to Lin Ze.
"Well, then I suppose I was just meddling. You have one more day, Li Muhan. Think it over carefully."
With that, Lin Ze reached for the car door.
"Can I learn more about it first?" Li Muhan suddenly asked.
"Learn more?"
"After all, if I'm going to be under the supervision of an organization for the rest of my life, I should at least know what I'm getting into, right?"
...
Later that same day, Li Muhan, with bandages wrapped around his face and body, sat in Lin Ze’s car with Xia Yue as they arrived at the largest bank in Tianhai City.
When he saw Lin Ze walk toward a hidden, camouflaged door and open an elevator, he was stunned.
"Isn't this just digging a hole right under the public's wallets?"
He couldn't help but quip, which made Lin Ze cover her mouth to stifle a laugh.
When the elevator doors opened, Li Muhan’s shock reached its peak. He had expected a secret branch office beneath the bank, but this was more like a massive subterranean hub.
The space beneath the bank was merely one node; from here, one could access other offices of the Special Management Bureau. The infrastructure was vast and incredibly comprehensive.
"Director Lin."
A girl in a black uniform came to meet them. She pulled a black sedan to a stop at the edge of the road outside the elevator.
"This is practically an underground kingdom," Li Muhan remarked in wonder as he looked out the car window.
Xia Yue didn't seem surprised, as if she had been here before. She remained vigilant, guarding Li Muhan’s side, clearly harboring a deep distrust of Lin Ze.
"Xalia, stop glaring at me like that. We’ve had our differences in the past, but that was ages ago. Besides, you’ve crossed paths with so many people—if you were this defensive with everyone, you’d be exhausted. Relax."
"You are not to be trusted."
Lin Ze tried to break the tension, but Xia Yue’s cold retort forced her to shrug helplessly.
Li Muhan was curious. Xia Yue was a vampire; there was no need to mention her age—a hundred years would be an insult to her. She was at least three hundred. But what about this Lin Ze?
***
**Chapter 14: The Demon's Opera House**
The car drove for over ten minutes before arriving in front of a building. It was hard to fathom just how large the underground space was.
"This is the headquarters of the Tianhai City Special Management Bureau."
Lin Ze led the way. Everyone they encountered treated her with great respect, calling out "Director Lin" as they passed. Soon, she brought them to the registration center.
"Name?"
"Li Muhan."
"Age?"
"21."
"Type of anomaly?"
"Huh?" Li Muhan paused when the clerk asked this.
"Write 'Demon'," Lin Ze said with a smile.
The clerk blinked, looking up at Li Muhan for the first time. "A demon? Director Lin, are you sure? We’ve never contained a demon before."
"I'm sure. Isn't this one I just caught?" Lin Ze joked.
"Fine, if you say so. Li Muhan, come with me."
The clerk stood up and gestured for Li Muhan to follow him into a room. Li Muhan looked at Lin Ze and Xia Yue.
"Go on, it’s nothing to worry about. They’re just evaluating your Calamity-grade."
"Calamity-grade?" It was the first time Li Muhan had heard the term, and he was curious.
"I’ll explain later," Lin Ze waved him off. "Hurry up and go in. Our staff is very busy."
The moment he stepped into the room, Li Muhan felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. The room wasn't as bright as he had imagined; there were no high-tech scanning devices, only a dim, gloomy atmosphere.
As he wondered what was going on, his gaze landed on a wheelchair in the center of the room. A girl sat there, wearing a snow-white dress. Her eyes were covered by a white cloth, as if she couldn't see the world. Her long silver hair cascaded down like a waterfall, standing out sharply in the dim room. Her face was delicate, like fine porcelain, making one hesitate to even touch it.
"My lady, we have a new anomaly that needs your appraisal." The clerk was incredibly polite.
When the woman heard the voice, she turned her head slightly.
"Come over here."
She smiled at Li Muhan as if the blindfold didn't exist, and her smile felt unexpectedly warm.
"Hurry up, don't waste time," the clerk urged.
With no other choice, Li Muhan walked over.
"Please, take my hand."
Li Muhan reached out and gently held her hand. In that instant, he felt as if he were being pulled by a force—a force that wanted to draw her inside.
The woman didn't resist much. She had to delve deep to understand what kind of power this was; that was her mission here.
An opera house. An empty theater and stage.
The silver-haired woman stood in the center of the stage. Her legs could move freely now, and her eyes slowly opened. She looked around at the eerie theater.
"Demon."
The word escaped her lips softly. She had discovered one or two demon figures lurking in the dim audience seats.
"Why does he host so many demons within his body?" she whispered to herself.
Fortunately, these demons weren't particularly powerful, though they were saturated with the power of Hundun and evil.
*It doesn't matter. Just a few minor demons.*
The woman concluded her appraisal and closed her eyes. Her figure vanished from the stage, and the spotlights clicked off one by one.
In the dark audience, someone let out a sneer. Then a second, then a third.
The sneers, mocks, and wild laughter swept through the entire theater. Countless demonic eyes opened in the darkness, laughing maniacally at the departed woman like children who had succeeded in a prank. Until everything was swallowed by the dark Abyss, and the world returned to silence.
The woman let go of his hand and smiled at Li Muhan again.
"Sorry, there's just some... stuff in my head," Li Muhan said apologetically. He knew the woman had seen the same things he did; perhaps this was her ability.
The silver-haired woman shook her head slowly. "You are special. Your soul is pure, yet demons dwell within it. This is the first time I've seen such a thing."
"Calamity-grade: Hundun."
After saying this, she turned her back and said no more.
"Understood. Thank you for your hard work."
This grade didn't seem particularly high, as the clerk didn't have much of a reaction. Once Li Muhan and the clerk left, the woman finally let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know if those things would have let her leave if she hadn't pretended not to see them. Her hands were still trembling from the residual fear.
*What exactly are those things...?*
After Li Muhan left, Lin Ze stepped out of the shadows. She smiled at the silver-haired girl. "How was it?"
"What kind of soul can harbor so many terrifying demons?"
"If even the offspring of the Di-ting gives him such a high evaluation, then I truly have found a treasure this time."
The silver-haired girl was skeptical of Lin Ze’s optimism. "He is a demon. The Special Management Bureau has never contained one, nor do we have the experience to handle them. The human part of him won't last long. Once the demon takes over his body, then..."
"Don't worry." Lin Ze crouched down in front of the girl and gently stroked her hair. "If it truly reaches a point beyond saving, I will intervene."
Lin Ze then explained the Bureau’s grading system to Li Muhan.
The lowest grade is 'Chaos'—usually just mountain spirits or strange monsters that have wandered into the human world; local police can handle them.
Next is 'Hundun'. If an anomaly of this grade causes trouble, the Special Management Bureau intervenes.
Then comes 'Catastrophe'. Anomalies at this level are strictly controlled; they cannot live in the human world without special permission.
After that are 'Cholera-class', 'Annihilation', and 'Calamity-grade'. Anomalies of these three grades are forbidden from having contact with humans and must live under the Bureau’s close surveillance.
Xia Yue was an exception. Lin Ze, the Deputy Director of the Huaxia Special Management Bureau, had personally acted as her guarantor, ensuring she wouldn't harm human society, which allowed her to walk among people.
The final grade is 'World-ending'. Since the Bureau’s founding, it has only appeared once. Since the birth of human society, it has appeared twice. Once, a thousand years ago in Huaxia, where humanity was nearly wiped out. The second time was over seven hundred years ago in Europe, where the catastrophe caused the death of nearly one-third of the global population.
That was the Black Death that swept across Europe.
Li Muhan froze when he heard the 'World-ending' grade. In Baal’s palace, the rating for Baal in his mind was exactly that.
*Xia Yue is Calamity-grade. So, if I obtain all of Baal’s power, I might be even stronger than her?*
"Since you've decided to join the Bureau, wear this." Lin Ze took a pendant from a staff member and handed it to Li Muhan.
"Wait, I haven't decided to join yet. I said I was just looking." Li Muhan didn't reach for the pendant.
Lin Ze shoved it into his hand. "This thing will provide a little assistance when you use your Demon Power, so you don't lose your sense of self."
Li Muhan was curious. He looked at Xia Yue, and seeing she didn't object, he put the necklace on. Although he had said he wouldn't use his Demon Power again, if he ran into another situation like Zhao Zhijiang's revenge, he wouldn't be able to escape on his own. Since the Bureau was being so generous, he might as well take it.
"I thought it would react. How will it help if I use my Demon Power?"
Lin Ze didn't answer directly, only smiling and saying he'd find out when the time came.
"Right, once you put that necklace on, don't take it off. I can't guarantee what will happen otherwise."
"What the hell! You should have told me that before I put it on!" Li Muhan felt like he had walked into a trap, but Lin Ze just laughed it off.
"Now, for the last item." In the Bureau’s cafeteria, Lin Ze sipped her coffee while looking at the two people sitting across from her. "Your guarantor. Regardless of whether you join the Bureau, you must have a guarantor. Unfortunately, I’m already the guarantor for the person next to you, so..."
"Then I will be his guarantor." Before Lin Ze could finish, Xia Yue stepped in.
"Hmm..." Lin Ze seemed to be considering something. She took a sip of her coffee, her eyes darting back and forth between the two. "Have you two slept together?"
The sudden question made Li Muhan jump.
"What?! No, nothing like that! We're perfectly innocent! Nothing happened!" he stammered, his face turning red. Even though they lived together, had hugged, and even slept in the same bed... they hadn't *done* anything!
Well, even to his own ears, it sounded a bit unbelievable.
"Xia Yue, explain it to her!" Li Muhan turned to Xia Yue, panicking as Lin Ze just watched him with a smile.
He turned his head to find Xia Yue deeply bowed, silent, her face blushing to the roots of her ears.
*Wait! Why is she reacting like that?*
Suddenly, Li Muhan remembered the time after Xia Yue first fed on his blood. He had lost consciousness, but her behavior when he woke up... Could it be...?
Xia Yue buried her head even lower. Li Muhan gave up on thinking for the moment, but he resolved to ask her about it later. When he was unconscious...
"Alright, stop there. I agree. You can be his guarantor. From now on, you two must live together. Li Muhan, you cannot be out of Xia Yue's sight for more than 24 hours, or the Bureau will issue a kill order."
Lin Ze cut off his wandering thoughts, though her words sent Li Muhan into a deeper contemplation.
*Man... I feel like a piece of livestock.*
***
**Chapter 15: The Seventh Action Squad**
Afterward, Lin Ze led them to the Special Management Bureau’s training center. This was where they trained special humans to combat anomalies, and it was only then that Li Muhan learned that many staff members in the Bureau were themselves anomalies.
It seemed that to defeat magic, one had to use magic. Furthermore, even humans, after undergoing specialized training, could learn to master powers like the 'Domain'. But this training was extremely grueling and had a high mortality rate.
Because of this, most of the Bureau's current staff were support personnel; those involved in combat were relatively few. The primary fighting force relied on the anomalies that had been brought into the fold.
"This is the training center. Every member is physically evaluated here; only those who meet the requirements can undergo special training," Lin Ze explained.
Li Muhan was skeptical. Why would these people choose to join the Bureau despite the incredibly high mortality rate? Why choose the combat divisions? Couldn't they be just as useful in administrative roles?
Seeming to sense his confusion, Lin Ze just smiled.
"Director Lin."
At that moment, the door to the training room was pushed open, and a tall man wearing a beret walked in.
"Huo Tian, you're just in time. This is the new team member for your squad. Come, get to know him." Lin Ze stood up, hands behind her back.
The man was tall and had a face of hardened determination—clearly a career soldier.
"Li Muhan, this is the captain of the Seventh Action Squad, Huo Tian. From today on, you belong to him. Cherish this opportunity—you're a demon, after all."
Li Muhan was startled and quickly tried to explain. "I'm sorry, I haven't decided if I'm joining the Bureau yet, and the power in my body isn't something I asked for."
Upon hearing this, the tall man’s gaze turned cold. "Director Lin, I'm not a babysitter. This kind of brat isn't qualified to be on my team. One look and you can tell he grew up in a greenhouse; he hasn't been tempered by hardship."
The remark was devastating, and Li Muhan felt his pride wounded.
"Now, now. You said you needed more hands, and I found you one. Even if he hasn't decided to join yet, can't you use your 'personal charisma' to win him over?"
"If he doesn't want to join the Bureau, we should follow the rules. There shouldn't be any exceptions. For anomalies, we don't do internships here." Huo Tian’s tone allowed for no negotiation.
This put Lin Ze in a difficult spot, as Huo Tian was right. The Bureau’s stance on anomalies was clear: you either join and submit to supervision, or you are hunted down. Anomalies were creatures from myth and legend, and outside of true, high-ranking deities, there wasn't a single anomaly the Bureau didn't dare to regulate.
Xia Yue’s eyes turned crimson. She stood by Li Muhan, her attitude clear. If they followed the rules, she would turn hostile right then and there.
Lin Ze sighed. Just then, Huo Tian suddenly shifted his tone.