Chu Ge didn't think he was much of a badass. Qiu Wuji, though, definitely had the goods... no. No, he did not just think that.
He felt he was more than a B—the assessment wasn't based on combat power, after all. If his power really was bound up with creation, then forget a whole world: even making a dog would be a solid S+.
The problem now was that his own power wasn't clearly defined. Was it creating a world, or materializing fantasy? It felt like it brushed against both and fit neither cleanly. Still unresolved.
Take materializing fantasy. Why had only Qiu Wuji come out? Why couldn't he manifest anything else? Chu Ge had once tried to manifest a single stalk of dog-tail grass and couldn't even manage that.
And take creating a world. Why couldn't the Creator God get in there himself? Even editing the world's contents came under severe limits—he couldn't rewrite it however he pleased.
The effects weren't obvious either. He couldn't control it, couldn't call on it. Everything was still in the feeling-out stage.
Even the feeling-out stage was harder for him than for anybody else. Chu Ge refused to believe Panda had a harder time working out how to beat a man up through the internet cable.
Mm... this wasn't the time for that. Chu Ge dutifully refrained from flipping through any other page of the internal publication, and simply said to Lin Wuyang, "If this guy is going to take revenge on everyone who took part in the Wang family nightclub raid, then he'll surely get to me sooner or later."
"By rights they shouldn't know who you are; finding you would be hard." Lin Wuyang said, "The Black House people were made almost certainly because they walked into that nightclub and got caught on the security cameras. I'm pretty sure that's where they got their names. We pulled the footage, but there's no guarantee they didn't keep a backup—hard to say. There's no camera at the mouth of your alley; I had to work off a sketch drawn from someone's description to make even a tenuous link to you. They're not likely to have that kind of investigative capability."
"So I should be fine. It's Zhong Yi who might be in a bit of trouble?"
"Right. I plan to put a team together, plainclothes, tailing Zhong Yi—see if we can't land a fish." Lin Wuyang's expression turned grave. "With a power like Zhong Yi's, beating him up as revenge is meaningless; he wouldn't feel a thing. If they really do target him, it'd be something like maiming him. We have to stop that."
Chu Ge thought to himself that if Lin Wuyang could reason that way, the other side could too—and they might not actually come for Zhong Yi while things were this hot.
Then again, hard to say. The other side might not realize they'd been reported to the police—what kind of esper feud ends with somebody calling the cops the moment there's trouble? ...Still, having people watching was the right call either way.
Lin Wuyang went on, "Just in case, I'll have two men follow you as well. That work for you?"
It just so happened that Qiu Wuji was away, so having someone on his tail wasn't inconvenient at all. Chu Ge smiled. "Of course it works. Best outcome, the man comes for me. I already told you—an enthusiastic citizen wants to help you close this one out."
"Cut it out. You've just got a head of steam built up and you want to avenge your Black House buddies." Lin Wuyang looked him over again, clicking his tongue. "I've noticed lately you're turning into more and more of a knight-errant. Never would have guessed it back in school."
"And back in school I never would have guessed you'd turn out so saintly."
"Honestly, it's not that I'm overflowing with a sense of justice. You do a job, you do it right—at the very least you owe that to the hat on your head and the badge on it." Lin Wuyang put on his police cap and let out a long breath. "Besides, I've got ambitions too. Who doesn't want a promotion? Give me ten years stuck in the same chair and I'd probably turn into a deadbeat who's stopped giving a damn."
"True enough." Chu Ge asked, "Hey, if you catch this wanted fugitive, would that get you promoted?"
"There's been a lot of trouble lately, but credit is credit, and it can't be wiped away. Only, with all the trouble washing over it, more people are talking nonsense... If catching a wanted fugitive really did get added on, that talk would mostly get squashed, and there might genuinely be hope of a step up."
"A deputy-division post at the bureau? Or a transfer to the provincial department?"
"The higher-ups are paying more and more attention to this area. Good chance my section gets upgraded, and then I'd move up a rank without going anywhere." Lin Wuyang smiled. "But I'm running my mouth. My age and seniority are still too green; dreaming too big never ends well. More likely they'll parachute a leader in from above... Ugh. Let's leave it there. I'll go get things arranged. You be careful too."
Chu Ge watched Lin Wuyang's straight-backed figure stride off, thinking that Lin Wuyang was the same age as him—born a month or two earlier, if he recalled right. A twenty-eight-year-old section chief with a real portfolio was already no small thing; for deputy division, his seniority really was too thin. It would be a hard climb.
But you could tell Lin Wuyang wanted it badly... He might say that dreaming too big never ends well, but he really did want it.
And that was fine. That was what made him a real old classmate.
He stood quietly in the shade of the trees and waited a while. Before long, two young men in plain clothes came up behind him and gave him a hand signal. Chu Ge nodded—these were the plainclothes men Lin Wuyang had arranged—and set off, leaving the hospital behind.
Wandering aimlessly outside, Chu Ge found himself at a loss for what to do next.
Go home and write? He didn't want to go home. When you're out staking out a wanted fugitive with the police, how are you supposed to go home and write... His loyal readers Panda and Ah Jun would definitely approve.
But what good is all this aimless wandering going to do?
In theory, the odds of the man coming after him really weren't high... Chu Ge did trust Lin Wuyang's judgment; there was no reason the other side would know who he was. What wasn't so solid was Head Chef Jin and his wife's end of things. What if the other side knew Zhong Yi and the others were in with Head Chef Jin...?
At that thought, Chu Ge rushed at top speed to Head Chef Jin's restaurant.
At that very moment, Head Chef Jin's restaurant was receiving a very special customer.
It was only a little past ten in the morning and there wasn't a single customer. Head Chef Jin was still in the kitchen prepping ingredients, and the proprietress was still behind the counter, using WeChat on her phone to talk with Zhong Yi about the two companions' injuries.
Black House's connections were supposed to be kept secret; it wouldn't do for them all to turn up and visit, so they could only show their concern from a distance.
A musclebound man with a dark, sinister face pushed open the glass door.
If I'm going to overpower other people with a power, my physique has to keep up too. Rong Fu was thoroughly satisfied with his physique. He had once taken on some of those underground black-market fighters—without using his power at all, he'd beaten one of them to death.
His gaze fell on the proprietress behind the counter, and a strange smile crept across his face.
The proprietress was past her prime, but she still had a faded allure about her.
He wasn't certain whether this husband-and-wife pair of owners belonged to Black House. He only knew that Wan Zijun, Panda and the rest often came here to get together, so he'd come to have a look.
And in looking, it was plain that the proprietress had a power—that faint ripple of the spirit was visible even to him.
This was exactly why Zhang Qiren was so baffled about never being able to spot a power in Chu Ge. By rights, espers were all people with abundant mental strength, and they really could sense this sort of thing in one another—the high sensing the low was easier still. Zhang Qiren had barely trained his power, while Yueying's was trained very solidly, so it was understandable that he couldn't tell the girl across the way had a power. But Chu Ge—on what grounds? They both just sat there typing away every single day!
Seeing a customer come in, the proprietress came over to greet him. "Hello, how many in your party?"
Rong Fu narrowed his eyes and studied her for a moment, then grinned wide. "Just one."
As he spoke he brushed past the proprietress and took a seat at one of the inner tables. In passing, he casually bumped into her.
The proprietress frowned. She found this customer a bit revolting, and her tone cooled. "The menu's on the table."
Rong Fu sprawled at the table, analyzing the power he'd copied from that touch while grinning broadly. "Can I order you instead?"
The proprietress's expression changed instantly.
Rong Fu's expression changed at the very same instant.
He'd assumed that a copy one level higher meant he had her at his mercy—so just what the hell had he stolen?
Making food that sparkles?
Are you fucking kidding me?