047: Caught at Last

On the coast of Beisui City, the once calm and tranquil azure sea was stirred into ripples during this unusual hour.

Blocked by countless pieces of cold steel, the long-haired woman pushed forward against a tide of bullets, forcing her way toward the ocean through the interception of numerous trans-boundary beings.

This woman was none other than Qi Lin, whom the Control Bureau had been searching for.

Had she taken the normal highways or air routes, she would have inevitably left a trail, and the Control Bureau branches in other territories would have hunted her to the ends of the earth.

After all, no one would want such a massive, troublesome abomination suddenly appearing in their city.

The sea route, however, was a different story.

For within the sea, there was the Black Tide.

It was a lingering legacy left behind by the previous era, an incurable cancer that the world could never sever, a source of destruction, and a hotbed of chaos.

Underneath the Black Tide, do you still not understand?

Across the entire world, beneath every single ocean, the existence of the Black Tide lies hidden. It is precisely because of this that humanity's exploration of the sea is pathetically shallow.

The Black Tide consumes everything.

Except for that primal flame.

Once Qi Lin managed to enter the sea, there would truly be no way of knowing where she would go next, or which country or city she would ravage.

Therefore.

Qi Lin must absolutely not be allowed to enter the sea.

"Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat..."

Beneath the dark blockade, countless bullets pierced into Qi Lin's body, the force they carried effortlessly tearing her flesh apart.

Yet soon, that shattered flesh began to reshape itself. Like a living monster, the wounds cannibalized one another, expelling the bullets and restoring her body.

Over and over again.

Not only that, but from the blood splashing off Qi Lin, grotesque fleshy monsters crawled out, roaring to carve a path for their mother.

The scene was nothing short of spectacular.

Qi Lin's initial attire had long since been reduced to useless rags in the hail of bullets. She walked naked upon the strands of steel, her hair dancing wildly in the shockwaves of the explosions.

"Ara ara~" Qi Lin smiled faintly, pulling a still-seamingly-hot bullet from her two mounds of slime. "What a bunch of timid and cute children."

"I merely wanted to go for a swim for a change, clinging like a child fresh into kindergarten who grips their mother's hand and refuses to let go. But..."

Qi Lin crushed the bullet with a forceful squeeze. "It's thoroughly annoying."

"Mom is going to get angry now, you know."

Her response was a continuous roar of explosions.

"Throw an A1 flashbang, please, I'm begging you!"

The personnel of the Control Bureau knew that relying solely on themselves was no match for Qi Lin; they had to wait for Chu Aoqing, the veteran of the Star-Convergence Realm, to arrive and fight Qi Lin to the death.

Everything they were doing now was simply to stall her pace as much as possible.

Amidst the smoke of the explosions, twisted flesh rose step by step, resembling a crawling coil of intestines.

From a biological standpoint, it was undoubtedly a failure—it possessed no eyes, no limbs, no mouth or nose, and not even an excretory orifice.

It looked like a giant maggot.

Even if left alone, its own physiological defects would cause it to quietly perish in the eternal darkness.

However, from Qi Lin's perspective, it was undeniably a masterpiece. Its excessively massive and twisted physique served as a bridge—a direct bridge leading straight to the ocean—delivering Qi Lin across.

"Ah... ah... what a good child..."

"It was worth..." Qi Lin sat atop the worm's head, leaning over to press an intimate kiss against the distorted mass of flesh. "Mom working so hard to give birth to you on the battlefield."

The giant maggot crossed the blockade of steel and explosions, plunging straight toward the sea.

However, a massive pink floral shield abruptly materialized, blocking the path of Qi Lin and the worm.

Then, it shattered instantly, like a mirror dropped from a high altitude.

"Ugh... it actually barely lasted three seconds?" Shen Qiqi lay flat on the ground in a disheveled state. "And I already exhausted all my magic power..."

"My Rho Aias!"

"There, there, you've tried your best. Considering you're still just a Primordial, lasting two seconds is already quite impressive."

"Let's try holding out for 30 seconds next time."

Ji Yue, exhausted from firing her gun, sat down next to Shen Qiqi and patted her head. She looked at the continuously elongating and expanding worm and revealed a faint smile.

"Still, she's finally here."

"The trump card of our Beisui City."

On the coastline, someone stood silently, clothes fluttering over her shoulders like a cloak.

She thrust her hand into the ocean, and then clenched it into a fist.

As if grasping something—an unimaginably terrifying weapon.

"Yo, this is our first time meeting, isn't it, Qi Lin?"

Gazing at the naked woman sitting atop the worm's head, Chu Aoqing sneered. "Not wearing clothes in public, illegally keeping large animals, attempting to pollute the marine ecosystem..."

"What's even worse is..."

Exerting all the strength in her entire body, Chu Aoqing abruptly raised her hand, causing a massive expanse of the ocean to rise up into a sky-obscuring tsunami under her clenched fist!

Before these towering waves, Qi Lin looked like a piece of excrement about to be flushed down a toilet.

Chu Aoqing roared, "You actually wanted to enter the sea right in front of me, the Bureau Chief?!"

"Get back here and serve your prison sentence!"

Qi Lin's face was covered by the shadow of the waves, yet she wore a look of utter fascination, exclaiming with heartfelt sincerity:

"Truly."

"An utterly satisfying strike..."

...

Mo Bai stared with dead fish eyes, looking with bitter disappointment as his precious cabbage walked in wearing a loli-themed pain-shirt.

Wait, wasn't they supposed to be providing covert protection? Little sis, why are you strolling in so swaggeringly?

Surely she wasn't dissatisfied after watching him flirt with the maid ladies all morning and came over to vent...

Mo Bai wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead.

"Eh? Isn't this Momo?" Xie Ziyun and the others, of course, recognized Mo Bai's younger sister and hurried over. "Shouldn't you be in class at this time? Why are you here?"

Xie Ziyun, cosplaying March 7th, wore a knowing expression and raised a single finger. "Oh~ I get it."

"You skipped class, didn't you?"

"As expected of Brother Bai's sister!"

Mo Bai: "...What do you mean 'as expected of my sister'? Do I look like the kind of person who would skip class?"

He clearly always used plenty of different excuses, alright!

"Little Xie, go busy yourself over there. Momo and I need to talk."

Having successfully dispatched Xie Ziyun, Mo Bai sat down across from Momo. "What happened? Why did you just walk in openly?"

"And that outfit of yours..." Mo Bai glanced down at the crowd of lolis printed on Momo's shirt, unable to hold back a snarky remark. "Quite the eccentric taste you've got there."

"Sister Chu picked it. I had no choice."

Momo glanced at Xie Ziyun, who was bouncing around by the doorway. "Brother, do you like cosplay that much?"

Her deep pupils stared straight at Mo Bai. "I had no idea you had this hobby."

Mo Bai: "?"

Oh crap, why is the yandere component acting up again? It feels like it's going to turn blue any second now!

Though, speaking of which, he was actually quite curious about what kind of ability the yandere component would grant him.

Enduring his younger sister's gaze, Mo Bai shook his head. "Ahem, it's not that I like it. It's all for the shop's business."

"The customers like it, it's really not my preference!"

Momo lowered her gaze and responded softly, "Oh."

"Then buy me a set next time."

"Any character is fine."

"Whatever other girls have, I want too."

Mo Bai: "..."

You completely didn't listen to a single word I just said, did you?!

He wore a helpless expression and rubbed Momo's soft cheeks. "Fine, I'll buy it for you, I'll buy it."

"Who else is going to indulge you if not your brother?"

He would be thanking the heavens if Momo didn't yell "middle-aged man, time to drop some cash" like other sisters.

"Mm, Brother is the best."

Momo lowered her gaze to the menu, contemplating what food would be best to order. Mo Bai couldn't help but ask, "So, you still haven't answered me. What on earth happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing much."

Momo flipped to the next page of the menu. "Just that Qi Lin was suddenly located, and she's trying to escape via the ocean."

"Sister Chu had to go stop her, but it's a high probability that this is a diversion tactic, which means she knows we've been waiting for her in the shadows."

"Therefore, continuing to conceal ourselves is pointless. To prevent any accidents, I came here to protect you personally."

As Momo spoke, the phone in her skirt lit up. She glanced at it, and her expression turned somewhat surprised.

"Brother, news just came from Sister Chu's side."

Momo put down the menu and blinked her eyes in bewilderment. "Sister Chu said Qi Lin..."

"Has been successfully captured."