By noon, Bai Jie remained in its rear-mountain spider nest throughout.
It was waiting for Lin Binbin. If Lin Binbin still didn't come, it would head onto campus to search for Wang Miaoyin.
Scrolling through its phone, it abruptly discovered that a notice from the Criminal Investigation Department had been boosted into the trending topics.
A line of eye-catching, bold text entered Bai Jie's sight:
[Notification Regarding the Investigation into the Indoor Homicide at Beicheng Huayuan Residential Complex, Yongan City]
[...Based on the above, it has been fundamentally determined that the killer of Zheng Yueling was her pet tarantula "Nyx" (hereinafter referred to as Nyx)...
"Nyx" is highly likely to have undergone genetic modification and some form of mutation before circulating into Zheng Yueling's hands.]
[Furthermore, during the course of the investigation, a spider nest suspected to have been inhabited by "Nyx" was also discovered, as follows.]
[Attached image]
Bai Jie: ...
"This is going too far. Why did they have to post a photo of my house too? Can't you respect someone's privacy?"
"And they're even offering a reward for tips? I can't believe I'm actually wanted..."
"Though I suppose it's understandable. How would humans ever tolerate such a dangerous creature lurking in their city?"
In truth, Bai Jie was not at all surprised that the Criminal Investigation Department had ultimately identified it as the murderer.
Because when it attacked Zheng Yueling, its fangs, foreleg blades, and spider silk had all been coated with venom.
And Bai Jie had no way to clean out the venom it had left inside Zheng Yueling's body. So being locked in as the killer was entirely normal.
"This officially marks me as targeted by humanity."
"Sigh. Crime always leaves traces. Perhaps only by being like that eerie violet light symbiote could one leave no trace at all." Bai Jie sighed inwardly.
What did surprise Bai Jie a little was how quickly the Criminal Investigation Department had located its former dwelling.
Just as Bai Jie was about to descend from the rear mountain, a mysterious sensation stirred its heart.
Lin Binbin had arrived. He had just set foot onto the territory of the rear mountain.
Through transmitted directions, Lin Binbin climbed all the way up and arrived near the large tree where Bai Jie was concealed.
He was dressed in tattered rags, but his face was no longer grimy. At the same time, he carried a large burlap sack on his back. He looked left and right, his expression nervous yet expectant. But he did not catch sight of that mysterious figure from the previous night.
"Set it down," Bai Jie transmitted coolly, without revealing itself.
Hearing this, Lin Binbin set down the burlap sack. Three lifeless animal carcasses rolled out, along with a small box.
"Your Maj— Lord Bai Zhi. These three are all mutated animals, exceptionally fierce. And, this is the SIM card you requested."
Lin Binbin's voice was soft. His eyes no longer searched his surroundings, for he knew Bai Zhi was watching him.
"Not bad."
Bai Jie's tone carried a hint of approval.
Receiving this acknowledgment, Lin Binbin felt as though a burden had been lifted. Unconsciously, a flicker of joy passed through his eyes.
The Vitality of all three animals fell between 2 and 3 — proof enough that Lin Binbin was serviceable.
Most importantly, all three animals exhibited spiritual essence reactions. This was the key to Bai Jie raising its Vitality.
"Hold out your hand," Bai Jie said evenly.
Lin Binbin extended a hand — not particularly fair, but clean. It seemed his entire body had been washed.
Hsss!
Lin Binbin held his breath as he watched a strand of pure white spider silk, impossibly fine, come tearing through the air and instantly pierce into his wrist.
Yes, precisely — it had "pierced"!
Lin Binbin was inwardly shocked. He had never imagined spider silk could be so razor-sharp.
A blossom of blood instantly bloomed on his wrist, but Lin Binbin did not move. The pain he felt was not intense. Instead, every cell in his body began inexplicably thrumming with excitement.
The next second, a single drop of liquid glowing with pink-purple luminescence slid along the strand of silk and merged into Lin Binbin's blood vessel.
In an instant, Lin Binbin's vision went dark — only to immediately turn bright again.
Then, the forest receded in his eyes. Heaven and earth inverted. The starry sky flooded his entire perception.
At the final moment, a pink-purple, eerie beam of light descended from the starry sky — growing larger, drawing closer and closer — and he lost all sensation in an instant...
He didn't know how long had passed before Lin Binbin hazily regained consciousness and found himself kneeling on both knees.
"How do you feel?"
It was that cool, aloof, and noble voice.
Lin Binbin forcibly pulled his mind together and rose to his feet. "I feel... I feel like I've attained enlightenment and ascended, flew up to the immortal realm for a visit, and then came back."
How did my venom get described like some kind of hallucinogenic narcotic by you... Bai Jie roasted inwardly.
"Although you have gained more power, I must warn you: do not become arrogant and conceited because of this. Do not do anything that crosses the line or attracts undue attention."
"Before using your abilities, take care not to expose yourself in front of human authorities. They have plenty of methods to subdue you."
"Yes, I will engrave this in my memory!" Lin Binbin dared not be careless and replied solemnly. "If Lord Bai Zhi so commands, I will not seek revenge against Li Jiayu."
Bai Jie said coolly, "I did not say you cannot seek revenge."
"But that should wait until you are powerful enough to suppress all who oppose you. Before then, you must not act rashly in any way."
"Very well. You may withdraw."
"Yes." Lin Binbin bowed, then turned and left.
Walking down the mountain path, Lin Binbin's smile slowly spread and widened.
He felt he was more than twice as strong as before!
Bai Jie's attention remained on the panel before its eyes. This was Lin Binbin's information after he had absorbed the Mutagenic Venom.
[Target]: Lin Binbin (Mutant)
[Identity]: Agent No. 1
[Vitality]: 7
[Body Length]: 176cm
[Status]: Stable
This extra [Identity] column — was the system custom-tailoring things?
It had only given him a single drop of Mutagenic Venom, yet his Vitality had actually risen by 3 points.
In total, Lin Binbin had now been given four drops of Mutagenic Venom, but it still hadn't reached a moderate dosage, because he hadn't developed any spider-like physical traits.
Bai Jie sorted through the new information it had gathered.
After confirming that Lin Binbin had descended the rear mountain and that no one else was nearby, Bai Jie began extracting the spiritual essence from the three animals.
This time, Vitality only rose by 1 point, reaching 49.
"As expected — animal Vitality and spiritual essence have a positive correlation. If Vitality isn't high, then the spiritual essence isn't much either."
...
Lin Binbin arrived at an unoccupied patch of shade on campus. With an easy leap, he scaled the wall, and with a single bound, he vaulted over to the small alley on the other side.
After rounding a few alleyways, he reached the streets outside the campus.
He drew in a deep breath. The air had never felt so refreshingly invigorating.
Ten-odd minutes later, he walked straight into an entertainment complex. When he tried to go up to the second floor, a security guard stopped him. "What do you want?"
"I want to fight," Lin Binbin said, as unruffled as the breeze.
One of the security guards gave him a glance, asked nothing further, and led him through the door to the second floor.
People as down-and-out as Lin Binbin who came here to risk their lives for a living were hardly rare to the security guards.
The person handling Lin Binbin's intake was a skinny guy with dyed yellow hair. He was relatively polite. "Hey there, brother. Here to fight, huh? I'm Huang Feng. You can call me Bumblebee."
Lin Binbin accepted the form and filled in the necessary details. At the field marked "Name (Alias)," he paused.
For underground boxing, using a real name was naturally out of the question.
He wrote down a line of bold, forceful characters: Peter Parker.
Seeing the completed form, Huang Feng was briefly taken aback. Smiling, he said, "That's quite the interesting alias you've got there, brother... Ahem, let me go over the rules with you."
"First, no weapons allowed. Second, inside the ring, life and death are your own affair..."
"As a rookie fighter, your first win gets you three thousand, second fight four thousand, third fight five thousand. But you must complete all three matches before you can withdraw your accumulated prize money."
"If you can win three in a row, then from future wins onward, you'll also get a cut of that match's betting pool."
Lin Binbin revealed a confident smile. "Got it."
Lin Binbin had come here for three reasons: to trade for money, to test his physical prowess, and to vent.
He muttered under his breath, "I want to fight ten."
Huang Feng: ?