Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Who’s Stronger Than Me

Feng Ling drove off in her small truck, looking far too cheerful for someone who had bled that much.

Only then did Su Yu Qing turn fully to the work waiting for him.

He had to inspect the scene, direct the Special Assault Team through a full sweep of the villa district, confirm there were no remaining threats, and then call in the cleanup crew. The cleaners would handle the remains and perform a complete disinfection of the area.

He also had to photograph everything, collect samples, and dictate the incident report. By morning, it would need to be written up in full and submitted to his superior.

Sometimes it even meant building a PowerPoint.

“Captain, sweep’s complete,” a team member reported. “No suspicious personnel found.”

“Three aberrants confirmed at the scene,” another said. “One used logout. Two bodies recovered—both showing head and neck trauma.”

Su Yu Qing scrolled through the photos on his phone.

One was a human-shaped bloodstain, baked into blackness by fire.

Another had melted into the pool’s filthy water—only a slick, gelatinous limb left, slumped against the edge like discarded flesh.

The last was almost theatrical: a corpse fat as a small hill, acid bubbling from it in slow, ugly spurts. Its head had been chopped into fragments. One ankle had been severed cleanly, the cut smooth as if done with a blade meant for slaughter.

Admiration flickered in Su Yu Qing’s eyes despite himself.

“Aberrants aren’t like humans,” he said, turning the screen toward the Special Assault Team members gathered near him. “You can shoot out every organ and it still might not die. But if you target limbs and sensory points—eyes, joints—you can limit mobility and break its ability to fight.”

He swiped to the photo with the acid-secreting body. “If you run into an aberrant like this without a heavy weapon on hand, concentrate fire on the lower limbs. It’s the best way to keep it from closing the distance.”

The Special Assault Team were elite special police without ability cards—usually a support unit that moved with inspectors.

But Qing Jiang City barely had inspectors left. Under Su Yu Qing, the Special Assault Team often had to carry the main offensive load. Knowing aberrant traits and weaknesses wasn’t optional. It was survival.

The team members clustered close, adrenaline bright behind their eyes.

Three confirmed kills. After the massacre at Times Square, that alone lifted something heavy off the room’s collective chest. Seeing aberrants die—seeing them reduced to wreckage—felt like a kind of justice.

“She’s strong,” someone murmured.

“Three on one,” another said, half in awe. “That’s insane.”

“Do you think she’s stronger than Brother Zhou?” someone whispered.

“I think so. Brother Zhou’s had an ability card for three months. She’s on day one. If she survives—”

The roar of a motorcycle ripped through the night and cut the talk clean off.

Everyone moved instinctively to either side of the road.

A modified motorcycle shot into the villa district, braked hard, swung, and stopped. A young man in punk leather stepped down, long legs and sharp movements, a grin flashing as if violence was a private joke.

“Who’s stronger than me?” Zhou Zhou asked, smiling wide enough to show a tiger tooth. The look in his eyes was all bite.

The team members went silent.

Su Yu Qing caught the stink of alcohol and snapped, “You drank again? That’s drunk driving.”

Zhou Zhou lifted an eyebrow, completely unbothered. “Old Master is Qing Jiang City’s god. I drink a little, so what? Who’s going to stop me?”

“Alcohol increases the risk of losing control,” Su Yu Qing said, voice cold. “You need a clear head to handle an ability card.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Zhou Zhou waved him off and sniffed the air, face twisting. “It reeks. What is that smell… so the aberrants are dead?”

“They’re dead,” Su Yu Qing said. “Cleanup is on the way. Why are you here? I told you to rest.”

“You said four aberrants.” Zhou Zhou crouched, eyes landing on the tire tracks. He leaned down and sniffed again, like an animal. “One’s missing.”

Su Yu Qing’s focus sharpened. “Can you find where it’s hiding?”

Zhou Zhou stood and followed the tire marks forward for several dozen steps, then stopped and lifted his head, tasting the air with his nose.

A few seconds later, he turned back. “Pull road surveillance. The aberrant is in the truck.”

Su Yu Qing froze. “That’s impossible.”

Zhou Zhou frowned like Su Yu Qing had said something stupid. “Are you broken? When has my nose ever been wrong?”

Su Yu Qing’s face tightened. “Those tire tracks belong to Feng Ling. She killed three aberrants here, then drove away in a truck. We arrived after and secured the scene, but we didn’t search the cargo bay.” His voice dipped. “Are you sure?”

“How many times do I have to say it?” Zhou Zhou snapped. “I smelled the recovery potion aberrants love. Only aberrants use that stuff.”

He laughed, cruel and bright. “And you were praising her. Yeah—she’s strong, all right. Strong enough to play all of you like fools. Harboring an aberrant fugitive… what if she’s an aberrant too?”

A team member blurted, “That’s impossible! She was ambushed at the Inspection Bureau by an aberrant—”

“So what?” Zhou Zhou cut in. “Could’ve been an internal fight.”

Su Yu Qing forced his mind into lines. “The odds of Feng Ling being an aberrant are low. I spoke with her—nothing about her behavior felt off. The scent could be residual. Or an aberrant could’ve slipped into the truck while she wasn’t paying attention.”

He looked toward the dark road. “If it’s the second, Feng Ling is in danger.”

Zhou Zhou sneered. “Then we go look. Where is she?”

Su Yu Qing’s expression turned grim. “I gave her the key to my apartment on Xiu Yuan Road.”

“Perfect,” Zhou Zhou said, mounting his motorcycle in one smooth motion. “Saves me the trouble.”

“Zhou Zhou!” Su Yu Qing’s voice sharpened. “Don’t do anything reckless. Whatever Feng Ling is, whatever she isn’t—we need investigation before conclusions.”

Zhou Zhou glanced back with a cold smile. “You finally find an ability card newbie and now she’s your treasure? Qing Jiang belongs to Old Master. As long as I’m alive, she’s nothing.”

Then he was gone, the motorcycle’s howl swallowed by the night.

The team members looked at one another.

“Captain Su,” someone asked carefully, “should we send someone after him?”

Su Yu Qing watched the taillight shrink into darkness. After a long beat, he said, “Zhou Zhou should have a sense of limits…”