Chapter 157: How did he manage that without ever being present for a full shift?

Chapter 157: How did he manage that without ever being present for a full shift?

Beneath the overcast sky, several men clad in dark coats hurried across the street behind Chi Shen. Their expressions were stern and they quickly entered a building opposite.

Directly across from Chi Shen's office in the Tengfei Tower is a shopping mall. Established during the early development days of the harbor city and renovated a few times since, it remains one of the livelier areas.

At this moment, it's 8:50 in the morning. The mall isn't open yet, but convenience stores and bakeries outside the mall are in operation.

The men in dark coats entered the building where security personnel awaited, letting them into the yet-to-open mall.

The security didn't follow them in. Instead, they stood guard outside. Inside, the group exchanged a few words, and after some pointing and gesturing, they dispersed, each heading to a different floor.

"No malevolent presence on the 2nd floor," reported the team leader on the first floor, listening through his earpiece.

"3rd floor is clear as well."

"Slight malevolent presence in the 4th-floor restroom. A mere remnant spirit. It's been dealt with."

……

As the updates kept coming in through the earpiece, the team leader on the first floor got to work. He retrieved a pair of sunglasses from his coat's inner pocket and began inspecting each shop.

Thanks to Chi Shen's recent assistance with the Special Security Agency, their gear has been rapidly upgraded. Their malevolent presence detection has evolved from using equipment to special sunglasses that can identify such energies.

Most staff of the Special Security Agency can see ghosts. Even if one couldn't initially, prolonged exposure to the supernatural would eventually grant them the ability. However, seeing ghosts and detecting subtle malevolent energies are different. Minor energies can easily go unnoticed, but with these new sunglasses, no traces, however faint, are overlooked, making it easier to trace ghostly activities.

The team leader suddenly halted, his gaze drawn to a mall passage near the perimeter.

There was a commotion outside, and from his vantage point, he could see a bakery along the periphery, bustling with business in the early morning.

In his sight, the entire bakery was enveloped in an ominous dark aura, which snaked its way through the walls of the shop and into the mall.

For a split second, he wondered if the sunglasses were malfunctioning, so he took them off and gazed directly at the bakery.

"There's no dark energy on the basement level... but it feels eerily clean," a voice came through his earpiece amidst the overwhelming dark presence, "I suspect it's been tampered with. I'm going to do another sweep for signs of interference."

The entrance to the bakery on the mall's outer perimeter.

A woman in a black down jacket stood at the entrance, glancing up at the sign and whispering, "It smells divine."

From within her hat slid out a ghastly pale face which exclaimed, "It's fragrant, isn't it? Everyone can enjoy this now. Hurry, with the money Chi Shen gave you, let's have breakfast. Buy extra; I want some cupcakes!"

"Alright," the woman smiled stiffly. Passersby cast odd glances at her as they brushed past.

The bakery was fairly crowded at this hour. As someone brushed past her, she wavered a bit but was steadied by another person about to enter the bakery.

"Are you okay?" he asked, then curiously glanced at his hand.

It felt odd; when he had steadied her, she felt weightless, as if she lacked substance. The down jacket was also oddly cold to the touch. Was he still half-asleep?

"I'm fine, thank you."

Her voice was so gentle that he immediately dismissed the earlier odd sensation. He gave her a reassuring smile, waved, and hurried off to work.

"Hurry, hurry," the ghostly face, unseen by him and tucked inside her hat, urged, "cupcakes, cupcakes! The molten cheese here is amazing..."

The ghost's voice abruptly halted. It swiftly slid outside the hat, staring at the ground. The grey tiles cracked and collapsed, a thick malevolent energy surged up, colliding with the dark energy Chi Shen had given Liu Yue Zhen.

"What is this?"

Inside the mall, separated by a wall, the captain's earpiece crackled with distorted sounds: "I've checked... the basement is clean... reason... captain... my... mistake..."

Only static remained.

By now, Chi Shen had entered the first-floor lobby. A tendril of ghostly energy darted in from the entrance, swiftly merging back into him. He paused, turning his gaze toward the outside.

Outside, the ground of the mall across the street began to collapse. The crowd, realizing too late, started screaming and scrambling. Even those who had just entered the Tengfei Tower began to panic, causing a chaotic uproar.

Through Chi Shen's eyes, this collapse was far more than what met the naked eye.

Amidst the collapsing debris, an ominous aura surged up from the ground, engulfing and feeding on the despair of the fleeing masses. With each soul consumed, the spectral energy swelled, as if threatening to drown the entire mall.

Chi Shen was well-versed with this kind of malevolent energy. Although it appeared vast, it was more bark than bite, causing only chaos. If humans had a strong will, they could withstand its corrosive touch.

Amidst the turmoil, within the massive gray aura, Chi Shen saw a dense black energy, almost solidified, slowly descend— or rather, it seemed to deliberately move to the edge of the collapsed ground and leap down.

It was a woman in a black down jacket. Her descent was slow, so light it seemed a gust might lift her back up.

Yet she continued her descent.

Chi Shen lowered his gaze slightly, his deep eyes, shielded by long lashes, radiated a peculiar light. He appeared to gaze across the street, yet his stare seemed vacant.

His shadow, cast by the bright hall lights, darkened and lengthened rapidly, only to vanish outside the hall.

Amidst the chaos, his stillness seemed out of place, but no one paid him any heed. No one noticed his abruptly eerie shadow. They were either drawn to the spectacle outside or fleeing the building.

Underneath the massive spectral energy, the woman in the black down jacket landed on a rubble-strewn ground. A piece of debris cut her hand, but instead of blood, a torn paper-like hole appeared.

She didn't have the luxury to fret over the hole; she quickly sought the source of the malevolent energy.

As a ghost with limited conscious moments, many ghostly skills eluded her. On the more densely haunted basement floor, surrounded by thick spectral energy, she hesitated.

"Hey, dummy... Sister Liu." A ghostly face emerged from her clothing, drawing her attention to the side.

The dense aura peeled away from Liu Yue Zhen, rapidly taking a human form. As they turned, the figure adjusted its neck, and its features became apparent.

A straight nose, smiling eyes, and pale, delicate skin— Chi Shen stretched his newly formed body, offering a smile to the ghostly face and Liu Yue Zhen. "I'll handle this."

"Are... are you a ghost now?" The ghostly face gazed at Chi Shen in shock. His form seemed incorporeal.

"Sort of," Chi Shen replied without delving into the topic. His current form, sculpted from the energy previously infused into Liu Yue Zhen, was neither solid nor much different from a ghost.

Perhaps sensing the intruders, a wave of pitch-black spectral energy rolled in, crashing toward them like a tsunami!

However, the apparition of Chi Shen remained motionless.

Elsewhere, within Teng Fei Building, the real Chi Shen shifted slightly, checking his phone. "Running late. Need to hurry."

In the basement, the apparition of Chi Shen lifted his eyes and stretched his right hand, summoning a three-meter-long Mo Dao. He charged headlong into the oncoming wave of malevolent energy!