“I-It’s Miss Yao! Wait, no, that notoriously wanted criminal is right next to her! Didn’t the caller say there was only one monster? Where is it?”
“Sir, requesting backup! Requesting backup!”
“Freeze! Get away from Miss Yao right now!”
Public Security officers filed out of their squad cars one after another, forming a tight, heavily armed perimeter around Li Qianqiao.
Just a short while ago, the New Eridu Public Security bureau received multiple emergency calls reporting that a monster had appeared, targeting Astra Yao and causing severe casualties.
At first, the dispatchers treated it as a prank.
After all, who would be insane enough to kidnap a world-famous idol in broad daylight surrounded by crowds?
To their horror, shortly after hanging up, a ten-second video clip spread like wildfire across the Inter-Knot!
The video, captured by a bystander hiding in a corner, faintly showed a non-human creature engaging in a fierce battle with a swift silhouette—Evelyn fighting the Hummingbird.
The clip also briefly caught Astra Yao kneeling on the ground, desperately using her energy to stabilize a heavily bleeding man.
The footage cut off abruptly because the cameraman’s friend forcefully dragged him away to flee.
Had they stayed any longer, they would have easily served themselves up as fresh casualties to the Hummingbird.
This completely sent Astra Yao’s massive fanbase into an absolute meltdown.
Who has the astronomical audacity to try and kidnap their beloved Astra Yao?!
Consequently, the Public Security hotline nearly melted down from the sudden, overwhelming influx of calls.
Every single caller spoke with pristine civility—not a single swear word was uttered—yet their sheer, passive-aggressive fury left the officers deeply sweating and ashamed.
Buckling under the immense public pressure, the bureau deployed a massive force to the scene, praying they could quell the fans’ righteous fury.
“Senior Seth, you’re here!” A younger patrol officer called out in relief.
A tall, lean figure stepped forward from behind the front line of police cruisers.
He wielded a specialized stun baton and an expandable shield, sporting pristine white fur, a pair of distinct cat ears atop his head, and a long tail swaying behind him.
It was none other than the earnest understudy of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team: Seth Lowell!
“No need to call me senior, I’m still just a patrol officer in training.” Seth replied with a warm, humble smile, though his expression instantly sharpened into a serious frown.
“What’s the situation at the front?”
The young officer straightened his posture to report, “As of right now, we haven’t found any trace of the monster the citizens described. Instead…”
“Instead what?” Seth asked curiously.
If there was no monster, why was the frontline atmosphere so incredibly suffocating and tense?
“You should probably just go see for yourself, Senior Seth. I honestly don’t even know how the situation devolved into this.” The young officer muttered, looking entirely helpless.
Seth stepped forward, and the surrounding Public Security officers quickly parted to let him through to the front of the blockade.
Immediately, Seth was greeted by a scene so utterly bizarre it defied all logic.
“Don’t any of you take another step closer! Or I’ll dye this entire plaza with the blood of these two chicks!”
Li Qianqiao stood defiantly in the center of the plaza.
He held his Faiz Edge pointed directly at Astra Yao with one hand, pointed his Faiz Shot camera at Evelyn with the other, and had his heavy boot ruthlessly planted on the chest of an unconscious, bloody man lying on the pavement.
Though no one could see his face underneath the sleek helmet, everyone present was absolutely certain that his expression must be incredibly sinister and evil!
Even if his armor looked undeniably cool.
“H-Help me! Please don’t kill me! I still have so many fun things left to do in life, waaah—” Astra Yao kept her head bowed, weeping pitifully as large teardrops pattered visibly onto the ground.
“Ugh… ahhh! No! Don’t hurt milady! If you’re going to kill anyone, kill me instead—” Compared to Astra’s flawless, heart-wrenching performance, Evelyn’s delivery was a bit melodramatic and stiff.
However, she did her absolute best to keep her head down so the officers wouldn’t notice her twitching expressions.
The surrounding blockade was packed with Astra’s diehard fans.
At this moment, every single one of them was practically hyperventilating with rage, wishing they could tear this armored criminal apart limb from limb!
Even the officers who weren’t fans had their eyes completely lit up, staring at Li Qianqiao as if he were a priceless, legendary treasure.
This guy was a walking, talking bounty of 8 million Dennies!
Right now, a singular, unified thought resonated through the entire crowd: We must take down this absolute scumbag!
Seth, however, remained significantly calmer than the rest.
While the man standing before him was officially labeled the most despicable and elusive wanted criminal in New Eridu’s recent history, why on earth would he suddenly show up here to take hostages?
Seth had closely analyzed the viral video clip himself, and the main threat was clearly a bizarre, avian humanoid creature, which was nowhere to be seen.
While Seth was deeply locked in thought, Li Qianqiao decided it was time to forcefully advance the plot.
Seeing that the Public Security forces were stalling and refusing to give him an opening to slip away, he realized he had to adopt a much more radical, villainous persona.
“Kekeke! It looks like none of you pathetic fools dare to take a step forward! Perfect. Since you’ve gone through all the trouble of surrounding me, I might as well enjoy myself while I’m at it!”
Li Qianqiao let out a cartoonishly evil cackle, deliberately using the tip of his Faiz Edge to cleanly slice off a tiny, insignificant piece of Astra’s skirt hem.
“W-What do you think you’re doing?!”
Astra shrieked perfectly right on cue, her face flushing with an exquisite mix of terror and indignant fury.
“Heheh, what am I doing? Looking at this massive turnout, there’s no way I’m walking out of here cleanly. Since I’m bound to get busted anyway, I might as well get some high-quality entertainment first! There are so many eyes on me, why don’t I give you all a spectacular feast for your eyes?!”
“No! Someone please save me!”
“Nobody is coming to save you! MWAHAHAHA!”
Evelyn internally rolled her eyes so hard they nearly left her sockets.
Miss Astra, you might want to suppress the corners of your mouth; you’re barely keeping yourself from laughing out loud.
And as for this guy…
Evelyn glanced down at the armored hand firmly gripping Astra’s thigh to hold her in place.
Are you trying to tickle her to keep the act going, or are you just completely clumsy?
Who holds a hostage by squeezing the exact same spot like a stress ball?!
Finally, a hotheaded Public Security officer reached his absolute limit, unable to endure Li Qianqiao’s degenerate villainy for another second.
His face flushed bright crimson with pure rage as he broke formation and charged directly at Li Qianqiao.
“Take your filthy hands off her! You absolute piece of subhuman trash!!!”
Perfect!
Come to papa!
Li Qianqiao’s eyes lit up beneath his visor.
He instantly released his grip on the two girls, stepped forward to deliver a swift, non-lethal kick that sent the charging officer flying back into the crowd, and rapidly punched the keypad on his belt.
EXCEED CHARGE!
Aiming the Faiz Shot straight at the solid concrete beneath his boots, he slammed his fist downward with immense force.
“Grand Impact!”
BOOM!
A massive, blinding cloud of dust and pulverized concrete instantly erupted outward, completely blanketing the entire plaza.
The surrounding officers instinctively shielded their eyes from the debris.
By the time the thick dust storm finally cleared, there wasn’t a single trace of Li Qianqiao left in the plaza—only a massive, cratered fracture stretching across the pavement.
“Oh no! Quick, establish a tight perimeter and search the surrounding blocks! He couldn’t have gone far in this short amount of time!” Seth bellowed immediately, taking command of the chaotic scene. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Statistically speaking, escaping an airtight Public Security dragnet in a matter of seconds was an absolute impossibility.
But Li Qianqiao wasn’t a normal criminal.
On the balcony of a nearby second-story building, Li Qianqiao cautiously poked his armored head above the railing.
Watching the Public Security officers scatter into the surrounding streets in a panicked frenzy, he finally let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
“Phew~ Seriously, what would I do without you, Auto Vajin?”
Li Qianqiao playfully patted the heavy metallic chassis of Auto Vajin, which was currently squatting quietly right beside him in its Battle Mode.
The moment Li Qianqiao had noticed the flashing police lights and realized a full Public Security encirclement was forming, he had covertly signaled Auto Vajin to standby out of sight in the shadows.
After hastily whispering a makeshift escape plan to Astra and Evelyn, all he needed to do was wait for a hotheaded officer to break formation and create a distraction—resulting in the theatrical performance just now.
Truth be told, with his raw, overwhelming physical strength, Li Qianqiao could have easily flattened the entire PubSec squad with minimal effort.
But he chose not to.
Those officers hadn’t done anything morally wrong; they were simply working a dangerous shift and following protocol.
There was absolutely no need to escalate the situation into a bloody conflict.
You do your job, I do mine.
We’re all just trying to put food on the table at the end of the day.
Once the chaotic shouting below finally quieted down, Li Qianqiao hopped onto the back of Auto Vajin, letting the mechanical liftoff carry him silently across the river back toward the opposite bank of the city.
After thoroughly scouting the shoreline to ensure there were no pedestrians or active surveillance cameras, he finally clicked his belt open, safely canceling his transformation.
“Auto Vajin, it turns out we really are the ultimate, unrivaled partners!”
Li Qianqiao cheered happily, patting the handlebars of the Auto Vajin, which had flawlessly shifted back into its standard motorcycle form.
Before he could even bask in his clean escape for another minute, his phone violently erupted into life.
“Hello…”
“Little Li!! Where the absolute hell did you wander off to this late?!”
Belle’s furious, eardrum-shattering roar blasted through the phone speaker so loudly that Li Qianqiao had to hold the device a foot away from his ear.
He instantly wiped the smug grin off his face, replacing it with a deeply sycophantic, pleasing smile.
“Oh wow! My dear, wonderful Sis Belle! Didn’t I literally just wrap up that massive commission? On top of that, my bike completely ran out of juice on the way back, so I’m currently stuck at a station filling up the tank!”
Hearing his incredibly logical and well-reasoned excuse, Belle’s fiery tone softened into a mild pout.
“Hmph. Fine. Then hurry your butt back home. I have some amazing news I want to share with you!”
“Understood! I’ll be back in a flash!”
Li Qianqiao smiled warmly as he hung up the phone.
It genuinely felt wonderful to have someone waiting up and worrying about him.
Straddling the bike, he securely strapped on his helmet.
Everything was perfectly set for a smooth cruise home!
“Let’s ride, Auto Vajin!”
…
The Auto Vajin remained completely dead and motionless beneath him.
“…”
Sigh~
Li Qianqiao stood up, popped open the mechanical fuel cap, and peered into the darkness of the tank.
“No way… You were actually entirely out of gas?!”