Chapter 19

“Water Baby” was not only enormous in size but also alive.

“Going into the water seems inconvenient,” Lin Juan looked left and right. “I’m not a good swimmer. Is there any way to get it out?”

This time, their purpose in hunting weird phenomena was different. It was mainly to find bait to lure out the undetectable anomalies inside Su Min and the others. For the best results, it was preferable to capture it alive.

At least half-dead, not completely dead.

“According to the pollution detector’s readings, the thing in front of us is a D-rank anomaly, the 【Water Tower】,” Zhuang Yufeng pondered. “Its pollution value is high, but its attack and defense aren’t that strong. In the water, though, it has a natural advantage.”

“I’ll give it a try.” Su Xingchen stepped forward and activated his supernatural ability, 【Ice Seal Thousand Miles】.

In an instant, the churning river water froze solid. Under Su Xingchen’s mental command, the ice parted, perfectly exposing the location of the 【Water Tower】.

The 【Water Tower】 was no pushover. The moment it sensed danger, it tried to hide. Unfortunately, Su Xingchen’s supernatural ability was stronger and perfectly countered its powers.

Realizing this, the 【Water Tower】, sealed inside a massive ice sphere, stopped struggling. Spikes protruded from its rounded body like thorns, extending outward and shattering the ice trapping it.

The huge, soft, thick spikes were incredibly flexible as they slithered toward the ability users on the riverbed and the people on the shore.

Su Xingchen raised an eyebrow and unleashed his supernatural ability.

The thick spikes were briefly trapped by ice walls before breaking free and continuing their advance.

The 【Water Tower】 was enraged.

A fierce wind whipped up. The river water outside the ice walls came under the 【Water Tower】’s control, gradually gathering and rising like a massive wave surging from the sea, crashing toward them.

No one could stand against a water wall hundreds of meters high.

The town mayor glanced at the rapidly approaching water wall and shouted urgently, “Get up here quick! It’s dangerous!”

Even as ability users, if they were swept up by such a colossal wave, even the mightiest supernatural abilities would seem insignificant against the forces of nature.

Not to mention ordinary people like them.

They had to take cover in a safe spot as soon as possible.

“This is bad,” Zhuang Yufeng looked up at the towering water wall that reached the sky, his expression grim. “We can’t let that water wall crash down. With this much water, the entire area would be flooded!”

“We need to contact Director Liu and order an emergency evacuation for everyone nearby.” After speaking, Zhuang Yufeng picked up his communicator and quickly reported the situation.

“Can you dispel the water wall so it doesn’t crash down?” Lin Juan asked.

“I’m trying to wrest control of the water wall from the 【Water Tower】, but I also have to maintain the ice walls over such a large area,” Su Xingchen said, veins bulging at his temple. “My supernatural ability isn’t enough.”

“We got careless,” Zhuang Yufeng said as he set down the communicator. “The situation has been reported. We need to buy time for the civilians to evacuate.”

Because Su Xingchen’s ice seal extended a long distance, the water wall surged from even farther away. Lin Juan roughly estimated the distance and asked, “Su Xingchen, how long can you hold out?”

The ice seal covered too vast an area, and Su Xingchen was struggling. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he gritted his teeth. “If it’s just preventing the water wall from crashing down, fifteen minutes at most!”

“After fifteen minutes, my supernatural ability will be depleted, and I’ll lose the ability to contend with the 【Water Tower】 for control of the water wall. The moment my power breaks, the frozen water will melt back in a very short time, making the situation even worse for us.”

Su Xingchen hadn’t expected a mere D-rank anomaly to catch him off guard like this.

On the riverbed, every ability user’s face was heavy.

From the moment they chose to undertake the mission, they had set aside concerns for their lives. But that didn’t mean they could face death fearlessly, nor did it mean they felt nothing watching a massive disaster unfold.

Everyone sprang into action, desperately pushing their supernatural abilities to the limit in hopes of holding out a little longer for a chance at survival.

“Fifteen minutes? That’s plenty.” The instant Lin Juan spoke, he charged toward the ice wall.

He moved at extreme speed, reaching the 【Water Tower】 almost before anyone could react.

As he approached, the 【Water Tower】’s thick, soft spikes snaked toward him from all directions like agile serpents.

They eagerly wrapped around the young man who had ventured alone into the danger zone.

“Watch out!!” Zhuang Yufeng’s heart leaped into his throat.

Lin Juan casually grabbed a spike reaching for his face and snapped it with a forceful twist. The spike broke apart at the seam.

As if feeling pain, the other spikes writhed violently, shattering the ice walls around “Water Baby.”

This inadvertently cleared a path for Lin Juan to get closer.

Lin Juan was single-minded in his goal. He snapped every spike that came at him, one after another. After breaking over a dozen, the 【Water Tower】 grew fearful. The spikes hovered around Lin Juan, not daring to approach.

From afar, it even looked like they were guarding him.

The ability users, who had never seen anything like it, stared wide-eyed. “Doctor Zhuang, is Mr. Lin going to take on the 【Water Tower】 directly?”

Evidently so.

With no more interference, Lin Juan soon reached the giant Water Baby.

The stronger the anomaly, the greater its domain consciousness. Lin Juan’s brazen intrusion enraged the 【Water Tower】 further. Sharp spikes bristled across its body, oozing eerie bluish-green viscous liquid from their tips. The spikes encircling Lin Juan, under the 【Water Tower】’s control, surged toward him all at once.

At some point, the spikes had surrounded Lin Juan completely, sealing him off airtight. One missed dodge, and he’d be turned into a pincushion.

This time, Lin Juan ignored the spikes glaring at him from every direction and charged straight for the massive Water Baby.

Boom—

With one kick, the giant Water Baby flew dozens of meters away.

Lin Juan didn’t stop. He strode forward, planted a hand on it, clenched his other fist, and unleashed punch after punch…

Each blow landed solidly.

The 【Water Tower】 wailed in agony from the beating.

The eerie screams snapped the stunned onlookers back to reality.

Zhuang Yufeng, who had seen Lin Juan pummel anomalies before, fared a bit better and managed to steady himself.

The others looked dazed.

An anomaly could scream like that from a beating?

Ability users, who had only ever heard human screams in battles against weird phenomena, felt a mix of emotions.

As much as they hated to admit it, it sounded satisfying.

If the timing weren’t so dire, they would have cheered Lin Juan on.

They hadn’t understood before why Director Liu and the higher-ups at the Anomalous Affairs Bureau valued Lin Juan, an ordinary man without supernatural abilities, so highly.

Now they got it. In the face of power like Lin Juan’s, what were supernatural abilities?

The people on shore watched with their mouths agape.

First, someone froze the water in the blink of an eye. Then, a massive, unseen monster appeared in the middle of the river. Every subsequent event shattered their understanding.

Lin Juan’s brutal pummeling of the monster especially sent chills down their spines.

Under Lin Juan’s onslaught, the 【Water Tower】 had no attention to spare for anything else, loosening its grip on the water wall. Seizing the moment without needing a reminder, Su Xingchen quickly took control.

The water wall gradually receded.

Director Liu and the others monitoring the situation breathed a sigh of relief.

With the water wall crisis resolved, they could relax somewhat.

After beating it for a while, “Water Baby”‘s cries grew weaker, and its size shrank from half a building tall to just human height.

Lin Juan stood up, picked it up, and shook it. “Why’d you shrink?”

The 【Water Tower】, beaten into submission, let Lin Juan shake and flip it around like a ragdoll. No matter how he toyed with it, it showed no response, as if dead.

Unable to tell if it was still alive, Lin Juan dragged the 【Water Tower】 out.

The moment he emerged, over a dozen intense gazes fixed on him.

Lin Juan paused. “What are you all staring at?”

Their stares were downright creepy.

“Mr. Lin!” One ability user moved first. “You’re amazing! Could I get your autograph?”

“Huh?” Lin Juan blinked in confusion.

“I want one too! Me too!”

One led to more. Most of the ability users on this mission were young, and the younger they were, the more they admired strength.

No amount of hearsay could compare to the shock of witnessing Lin Juan beat down an anomaly firsthand.

After this, they would truly acknowledge Lin Juan as a powerhouse.

With the crisis over, the tension eased. Zhuang Yufeng ignored the young ability users’ antics. Seeing Lin Juan at a loss amid their enthusiasm, the corners of his mouth curved up uncontrollably.

No one was hurt. That was good.

Finally shooing away the excited ability users, Lin Juan held “Water Baby” out toward Zhuang Yufeng. “Is it still alive? Why no reaction?”

Lin Juan had held back during the fight, afraid that one strong hit would kill the 【Water Tower】. Then they’d have to hunt another anomaly, and Su Min and the others were still waiting.

Zhuang Yufeng scanned it with the detector. “It has vital signs.”

“Good,” Lin Juan exhaled in relief. “I was worried I’d hit it too hard and kill it.”

Zhuang Yufeng’s emotions grew complicated in an instant. Everyone else went all-out just to kill anomalies, but Lin Juan worried about accidentally killing one.

People really couldn’t be compared.

Su Xingchen stayed behind to handle the river water issue. Lin Juan and several ability users, led by the town mayor, headed to Old Zhang’s house.

Old Zhang had been polluted by the 【Water Tower】, so they needed to deal with it before leaving.

As the team’s only purification ability user, Zhuang Yufeng naturally went with them.

Old Zhang’s house was a two-story villa. When Old Zhang’s wife heard they were experts sent from the city, she welcomed them warmly.

“Have a seat. The house is a bit messy; let me tidy up.”

“Don’t bother with that,” the town mayor interrupted her. “The experts heard about Old Zhang’s condition and came to check on him.”

“He’s in the bedroom. He just threw up again.” Mentioning her husband, Old Zhang’s wife’s eyes reddened slightly. “He’s been vomiting more frequently these past couple days. The anti-nausea meds from the doctor don’t help at all.”

Old Zhang’s wife led them into the bedroom. A man with shriveled limbs but a massively swollen belly leaned against the headboard, his face deathly pale.

“Urp—”

A large mass of round, translucent greenish balls mixed with clear mucus spewed from his mouth.

One after another, transparent and colorful little round balls scattered across the floor by the bed.

Zhuang Yufeng stepped forward to examine Old Zhang, his expression grave. “His belly is full of 【Water Tower】 eggs. The pollution is easy to clear, but the hard part is cleaning out all the eggs inside him.”

“What do we do?” Old Zhang’s wife looked desperate. “Is there really no way?”

Lin Juan watched the man on the bed for a moment, then his gaze slowly shifted to the 【Water Tower】, bound with special restraint devices designed to counter weird phenomena.

For some reason, everyone felt like the 【Water Tower】 shuddered.

Lin Juan nudged the motionless 【Water Tower】 with his foot. “Quit playing dead. Clean up your eggs right now, or else…”

He didn’t finish his words, but everyone present—including the stepped-on anomaly—easily caught the threat in his tone.

A first: someone threatening an anomaly.