The Yuewan Mountain Range stayed cool all year round. Its peaks were always capped with white snow, while spring and summer brought a sea of lush green to the valleys below. Herds of yaks and mountain goats roamed the land, alongside countless snow foxes and snow wolves. It was a place where one could truly feel the vast, infinite scale of heaven and earth.
Even though not many people lived there, it was still a popular spot for tourists and a big place for foreigners to visit for religious reasons. During the summer, entire families would travel from abroad to pay their respects. After all, a six-winged angel resided in the sky above. To them, who else could that be but God’s right hand—His messenger on earth?
Abu, a local, ran a four-story guesthouse that did excellent business. Like other lodgings in the area, his place was often packed with foreign tourists. These guests would constantly look up, staring at the massive cage suspended in the sky. If human eyes could shoot lasers, they probably would have blasted that cage to pieces and shattered the six massive chains holding it long ago.
Abu also spent a lot of time watching the sky. He kept a telescope in his room, using it to carry out a very special duty.
“Nothing unusual today, hopefully. Last time was probably just a fluke…” Abu muttered to himself as he peered through the telescope, watching the cage that glowed faintly against the night sky. A work log lay open on his lap.
“Brother, aren’t you heading back yet?” his younger brother asked, knocking and stepping into the room.
“Not yet. I need to keep watching for a bit longer.”
“Why are you suddenly so hooked on watching it all the time? Nothing’s gone down up there for years,” his brother complained, not getting it.
“A few months ago, the Tribunal Division and a criminal group exchanged fire near the cage over a mutant named Zhang Simiao,” Abu explained. “A few of the criminals jumped from their airship. Word is, they were judged by the six-winged angel even though they supposedly hadn’t come within his fifty-meter range. It might have been an optical illusion, but our section chief doesn’t seem to think so.”
Yes, his other job was to monitor the six-winged angel. Running the guesthouse was merely a cover.
He was part of the government’s Intelligence Division Nine. They saw Lou Ting as the most dangerous person in the world—someone who needed to be watched all the time. Abu’s job started the day Lou Ting was sent to the sky, and it had been almost thirty years since then. Even though satellite surveillance and other tech had gone through a bunch of upgrades, watching things manually was still super important. There were things humans could do that machines just couldn’t match.
Years of calm had made him a bit too relaxed. So, when he saw a quick flash of white light streak across the sky about a month ago, he just shrugged it off as a shooting star. It wasn’t until the next morning that he put two and two together, and the sudden realization made him break out in a cold sweat.
There was no way to verify whether it had been a meteor now, but the lingering doubt left him feeling uneasy and guilty of neglecting his duties. Since then, he had put a hundred and twenty percent of his effort into monitoring the sky. Thirty years of experience had taught him exactly what a normal sky should look like.
“Brother, I don’t get it,” the honest highland man said, his sun-darkened face blank with confusion. “Even if the angel moves, so what?”
“Then it’s over.” Abu let out a heavy sigh. “The entire world will want to kill him. It’s not just one or two people wishing for his death—most of humanity simply won’t tolerate his existence.”
If Lou Ting stayed quietly in his cage for the rest of his life, and if his attack range was truly limited to a fifty-meter radius, people could tolerate him. But if his power was far more terrifying than anyone believed, making him a monster who could override human laws and the very rules of survival, the world would never let such a creature live.
“Boss?” Shi Gang’s team members turned to look at him in shock. They had suspected there was a mole, but none of them expected Qiu Fa to show up.
At that moment, Qiao Ming, who had been completely quiet alongside his own team, suddenly spoke up. “The machine has already started. We have to make sure it keeps running. Shi Gang, if we fail this mission, even you are as good as dead.”
“I don’t need you to tell me…” Before Shi Gang could even finish, Qiu Fa made his move.
A white hurricane erupted, with Qiu Fa acting as the eye of the storm. It expanded outward like a shockwave of mist. Shi Gang and his men tensed, raising their arms to shield themselves, but the ring of mist swept past them effortlessly, continuing its rapid expansion.
What?
Before anyone could process what was happening, the hurricane expanded, growing larger by the second. Everything in its path was treated as if a massive tornado had struck. First came loose gravel and dust, followed by trees as thick as a man’s waist being ripped out by their roots and sucked into the vortex. Cars were swept off the ground, and shop roofs were torn clean off…
That wasn’t all. Once the hurricane stopped expanding, it shifted. Countless invisible, colossal blades seemed to spin within the vortex, instantly shredding everything caught inside. Trees, cars, boulders, stainless steel—nothing survived intact. If a human were to get caught in there, they would be torn to pieces in the blink of an eye.
Everyone, including the entrance to Bubble 109, was stuck inside this huge wall of wind that went all the way up into the clouds. The people inside were like frogs stuck at the bottom of a well, only able to see a tiny bit of sky right above them. Even a small bug trying to fly in from outside would get blasted away instantly, let alone getting pulled into the vortex.
Only then did they finally snap out of their shock.
“Are we surrounded by him?” one of Shi Gang’s men stammered in disbelief.
Qiu Fa let out a cold sneer. “Not a single one of you is getting away.”
“What is that? The power of the White Tiger?”
“Is this his Atavist power?!”
Usually, Atavists had a hard time just keeping their power steady inside their own bodies. Letting it out was super draining, and doing that usually meant they’d lose their fighting edge pretty fast. But Qiu Fa was using his power like a full-on tornado just to trap a bunch of criminals. That was crazy. Did he think that by trapping them, he wouldn’t have to fight? Without all that energy, how was he supposed to take on so many at once?
It was absolutely outrageous.
Jing Pei stared up, completely awestruck. This was the most spectacular display of power she had witnessed since arriving in this world—it felt like a literal natural disaster. A top-tier Atavist was more terrifying than a nuclear weapon. No wonder they were treated as vital strategic assets by governments worldwide.
She would probably be able to reach this level eventually, though it wouldn’t happen anytime soon. Still, she couldn’t help but look forward to it.
The scar on Shi Gang’s cheek twitched as he let out a savage laugh. “Who are you looking down on, brat?”
A black hurricane erupted from his body, clashing violently against the white vortex. The moment the two opposing forces collided, they locked into a fierce struggle, swirling together in a chaotic mix of black and white. The debris trapped inside was instantly pulverized into fine dust. The area became very dangerous; no one dared to take even a single step closer.
“Boss! As expected of our boss!” Shi Gang’s crew immediately cheered. The dread brought by Qiu Fa’s terrifying, disaster-like power evaporated instantly.
“Exactly! Qiu Fa is strong, but our boss is legendary too. How else do you think he became the Director of the Tribunal Division in the first place?”
“Yeah! The Tribunal Division exists to suppress and manage those arrogant Atavist families. If our boss weren’t stronger than all of them, there’s no way he could have held that position and commanded their respect—especially since he came from a common background!”
Back then, the top Atavist families showed way more respect to Shi Gang than to Qiu Fa, mostly because they were scared of his raw power.
Maybe—just maybe—their boss was actually stronger than Qiu Fa!
As Shi Gang caught his subordinate’s last words, a dark shadow flickered across his eyes. “Brat, we’re settling our score today once and for…”
Before he could even finish talking, Qiu Fa was already right in front of him. It was clear he wasn’t interested in listening to some criminal’s long speech.
Shi Gang’s face twisted as the two crashed together. The concrete ground instantly cracked, sending debris flying as they fought at a speed far too fast for the naked eye to track.
Shi Gang’s men wanted to jump in and help, but there was no room for them in a fight between top-tier powerhouses. Trying to intervene was suicide; getting too close would likely make them collateral damage under someone’s claws.
Instead, they turned their attention to Jing Pei, the woman who had arrived with Qiu Fa.
Jing Pei was lifting her hand to brush her hair back, which the wind had totally messed up. Under the dim, flickering lights, her elegant, classic, and stunningly beautiful face was fully visible. The group of men froze, completely captivated.
Jing Pei gave them a light wave, and they approached her like brainless fools.
Jing Pei wasn’t planning on holding back her Atavist power. Against a ruthless crowd of Atavist criminals, she had to use it. She was carrying a small device designed to disrupt and mask the energy waves of her power, but the main issue was making sure Qiu Fa wouldn’t spot her dragon scales or claws.
Her only oversight had been focus. She had remembered to apply fingerprint-altering solution and DNA-disrupting chemicals, but she had completely forgotten to pack a pair of gloves. Fortunately, the moment they arrived and she slid off Qiu Fa’s back, she had snatched his.
She still remembered the look of sheer shock on Qiu Fa’s face when she pulled the leather gloves off his hands. He had stared at her as if she were stripping him of his clothes rather than just borrowing his gloves.
“How did your tail treat me? It took so many liberties with me, so what’s wrong with borrowing your gloves? Don’t be so stingy. This is for my own protection, you know? Director Qiu, I can’t let you find out what kind of Atavist I am.”
“Who said anything about taking liberties? It’s sick!”
“Sure it is.”
“……”
Since the gloves were too large for her, she had to use rubber bands to secure them tightly around her wrists.
The moment the criminals drew near, hard, dark-green dragon scales slid smoothly into place beneath her clothes. She threw a heavy punch straight into the face of the first man who approached with a sleazy grin. In a split second, his face warped, teeth shattered, blood sprayed from his nose and eyes, and he choked on his own gore…
Chaos instantly erupted on her side of the battlefield too.
Qiao Ming and his squad remained completely still. One of his team members whispered, “Captain, should we…”
Qiao Ming raised a hand to stop them, speaking in his usual slightly socially anxious tone and manner. “Our main goal is to tear Bubble 109 open, not to fight Qiu Fa or that woman. Just stall for time. In another hour, our mission will be as good as done.”
Since stalling was the objective, it made sense to let Shi Gang’s men take the heat first. If they won, great. If not, they could buy valuable minutes, and Qiao Ming’s team would only step in when absolutely necessary.
And so, Qiao Ming and his squad continued to watch from the sidelines.
But when Jing Pei saw Qiao Ming and his guys just standing around doing nothing, she started feeling uneasy. Honestly, she’d had a similar weird feeling earlier when she saw the researchers rush in to start the machine right before the lock fell, but back then, she couldn’t quite put her finger on what felt off.
That gut feeling was back. According to her original plan, Qiao Ming’s squad and Shi Gang’s team were supposed to attack together to make sure they succeeded. Qiu Fa was a seriously tough opponent—they needed to team up if they wanted any chance of taking him down and finishing the job.
So why was Qiao Ming’s squad just standing there?
What was going on? What was she missing?
Her distraction almost cost her as a fist grazed her face. She dodged just in time, delivering a vicious counterstrike to the attacker’s vitals at an awkward angle, sending him collapsing to the ground in agonizing pain.
For the moment, Jing Pei had no choice but to push the thoughts aside and focus on the fight.
