EM CH10

Chapter 10: Changing to Classic Appearance

After reading through the relevant files at the Eagle Bureau, Yu An returned to his home. It was already nine o’clock in the evening.

Heading out to investigate alone required thorough planning, but he couldn’t delay for too long either; Officer Ye required him to set out by midnight at the latest.

Standing before his front door, Yu An dug out his keys to unlock it while his mind continued working through operational plans. Having only three hours to prepare felt strangely familiar. Back in school, he always preferred rushing assignments right against the deadline, finding it more efficient that way.

He stepped into the entryway and casually pulled the door shut behind him, but the door caught on something. Looking back at the gap, a hand was resting on the doorframe, handing in a paper bag stamped with the Underground Railway logo.

“Oh, thank you.” Yu An looked outside, but the delivery person had already vanished.

Opening the paper bag, inside were Yu An’s Underground Railway ID card and the Core Storage Analyzer.

What was the point of only sending these things? What Yu An wanted was a gun, along with other high-lethality weapons.

Yet Zhao Ran had told him that Underground Railway operatives were not permitted to carry firearms. When the Aberrant catastrophe first broke out, everyone feared for their lives, and ordinary citizens clamored for the right to carry guns for self-defense, but passing such legislation would evidently only spawn greater chaos.

At that time, the three major Aberrant hunting companies, spearheaded by Underground Railway, emerged as the times required. The government recognized the existence of the three companies, but required that they not use firearms when carrying out public missions, thereby giving ordinary citizens the subtle reassurance that one could stay protected even without carrying a gun.

His phone vibrated. It was an incoming call from Zhao Ran.

“How is the gear prep coming along?”

“Gear?” Yu An leaned against the door, scanning his surroundings for anything that could serve as a weapon. “What gear? A kitchen knife?”

“Haha, the company has an internal marketplace, but it’s not open to interns.” Zhao Ran pointed him toward an alternative: “However, after midnight every Thursday, a Midnight Merchant comes knocking to peddle wares, selling exclusively to people with physical disabilities. Genuine goods at fair prices, and many items are one of a kind. See if there’s anything you need.”

“A Midnight Merchant? What is that?”

“You could call him… a wandering salesman. Each time, he brings three random items to pitch to you. But remember: if you don’t want to buy anything, or if you don’t have money on you, do not open the door when the doorbell rings at the stroke of midnight.”

“Why?”

“If you open the door for him, even if none of the goods he presents are what you want, you still have to buy one.”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“Your status will flip from buyer to seller. He will leave behind some hell banknotes, and purchase something from your body.”

“…”

Bizarre. It sounded just as untrustworthy as an interviewer sending an intern into the tiger’s den alone for his very first assignment.

The atmosphere suddenly froze into a stalemate. Neither spoke, yet neither hung up the call.

“Interviewer…?”

“Yeah, I’m listening.”

“Your pastries,” Yu An pressed his lips together, glancing away, “were pretty good.”

“Hmph… then I hope you come back alive to taste even better things.” Zhao Ran smiled. “I want to give my intern a piece of advice: once you step through the front doors of the mission location, the only person you can trust is yourself.”

Yu An: “1.”

Zhao Ran: “…”

Before setting out, Yu An searched for information regarding Xiliu Beauty Salon on his computer, running through the maps in his mind several times.

Afterwards, he packed his shoulder bag, loading it with a high-intensity flashlight, a power bank, electrical wire, a box of matches, and a small bottle of gasoline, while also cramming in a box of precision micro-tools that might come in handy. This was every potentially useful item a student’s life experience could think of.

Finally, he hooked the Core Storage Analyzer onto his waist and strapped the leather sheath Zhao Ran had left behind to the outside of his right thigh, positioning the dagger’s hilt right at a height within easy reach.

Amidst the urgency, time flew by. The clock hands pointed to midnight.

It was time to leave. Yu An grabbed his shoulder bag and hurried toward the front door.

A crisp sound of wind chimes rang through the stairwell, its echo drifting near and far, reminiscent of the corpse-driver’s death bell jingling in the dark.

But Yu An’s hand had already pressed down on the handle, pulling the security door open.

A hunchbacked old man holding a golden handbell was passing through the corridor. Seeing someone open the door, he slowly turned his head around.

A ghastly white human face, his eyes wide enough to reveal the entire black pupils, with a round patch of rouge painted on each cheek.

Yu An’s pupils contracted sharply, his hand dropping to the dagger’s hilt.

The old man turned sluggishly, lifting his cloak with one hand. Hanging inside the cloak’s inner pockets were three different wares.

“Midnight Merchant?”

Yu An breathed a sigh of relief, yet felt a pang of regret: having opened the door, he was now obligated to make a purchase.

According to what the interviewer said, this merchant basically engaged in forced buying and selling. Hopefully he wouldn’t charge an astronomical price; factoring in the payment received today, Yu An only had a little over 170,000 in his bank account in total.

The first item was a garment folded inside packaging. Hanging on the outside was a trademark and price tag, though what was printed on it wasn’t about machine-washing or cotton-linen ratios, but rather a few brief lines of introduction:

Item Name: Pure Black Hood

An outfit belonging to nightwalkers; a true assassin always disguises themselves as a black (soot-sprite) cat.

Primary Effect: When wearing this outfit and pulling up the hood, one’s face will never be seen by others.

Secondary Effect: Minor increase in jump height.

Price: 4,900 yuan.

The second item was a pale blue Aberrant Core. The patterns on its surface resembled a mosquito. Judging solely by the color, it was clear that the core wasn’t high-tier, belonging to Common Species, Tier 1 Blue.

Item Name: Monstrosity Core: Night Mosquito

Price: 800 yuan.

The third item was also an Aberrant Core, but its color was unique: a shade of white with a rainbow holographic sheen, precisely the “colorful, shimmering white” clients were so fond of demanding.

Item Name: Blind Core White

Random effect. Remains permanent once activated.

Price: 2,900 yuan.

After reading through each item’s price tag, Yu An felt tempted.

If he had to buy one, Monstrosity Core: Night Mosquito was the cheapest, and its ability was likely suited for night stealth, which was precisely what Yu An needed most right now.

But that outfit was very appealing too: a four-piece set including windproof trousers, a form-fitting top with a zippered back opening, a hooded cropped jacket, and a leather utility belt. The special effect of having one’s face completely concealed whenever the hood was up was exceptionally practical, though it carried a slight suspicion of false advertising.

And then the third item: a Blind Core. That such a thing actually existed. In essence, it was gambling, preying on a gambler’s mentality: always believing luck was on your side and that you could win back whatever you spent, only to end up losing everything…

Yu An chanted in his heart three times: I am not a gambling addict.

…How could anyone pass this up? Would anyone really resist buying it?

But all three added up to nearly ten thousand; that was quite a hefty expense.

Never mind. Adults take everything. Hoarding so much money was pointless; what if he died tonight?

Only after Yu An took down all three items did a tricky issue occur to him: “Wait, I don’t have cash on me…”

The old man’s uncanny face didn’t twitch in the slightest. Lowering his arm, he closed his cloak, then raised it once more. Where the items had previously hung inside the cloak, a payment QR code appeared.

Ding! Underworld bank card received: Eight thousand six hundred, yuan.

The Midnight Merchant departed silently. Yu An first slotted both Aberrant Cores into the Core Storage Analyzer. After rinsing and disinfecting, the corresponding data was read:

Name: Monstrosity Core: Night Mosquito

Origin: Mosquito Aberrant

Category: Common Species

Rank Assessment: Tier 1 Blue (Pale Blue)

Base Abilities: Evade a Fatal Blow

Usage Restriction: Single-use

Description: Ha, can’t hit me!

Resonance Condition: Unknown

Being single-use was somewhat disappointing. But being able to dodge a lethal strike meant it wasn’t a loss at all; it was a Schrödinger’s treasure. After all, the most critical thing for a person was staying alive.

As for the white Blind Core, once inserted, the Core Storage Analyzer only displayed the words “Random Core,” with a mechanical line of text appearing in the center of the screen: “Data readable after embedding.”

Yu An had no intention of recklessly rolling it today anyway. Sinking three thousand yuan into a gacha pull meant picking an auspicious day after all, assuming he could survive the night.

In the dead silence of the night, at 12:20 AM, Yu An changed into the Pure Black Hood outfit and headed downstairs with his shoulder bag on his back.

The outfit actually matched the description on the tag perfectly. The moment Yu An pulled the hood over his head in front of the mirror, his face turned into a bottomless dark void. No matter what angle one looked from, or even under direct spotlight, his face remained pitch black.

Furthermore, a pair of pointed black cat ears flickered at the top of the hood, and a cat tail simultaneously flickered behind him, though both vanished in an instant without remaining visible on the suit.

The only flaw was that whenever the zipper was pulled, the track let out a meow, which wasn’t very cool.

Combining the coordinates provided by Peeping Eagle with the speed of Eagle Wings, Yu An arrived near the abandoned pedestrian street on the outskirts of Jiu’an City in under half an hour.

Online searches only brought up pictures of the street’s former bustling glory, but setting foot here revealed only dim, cold desolation. Only one streetlight was lit every hundred meters or so, dilapidated and suffering from unstable voltage; the light would flicker out, only to abruptly flare back to life moments later.

Yu An took out his flashlight and shone it around. Yellow caution tape was strung between adjacent lampposts, coated in a thick layer of dust. This pedestrian street had been cordoned off for years without anyone taking it over.

Holding the flashlight, Yu An navigated toward the location Officer Ye had given. Xiliu Beauty Salon was situated inside a commercial office building deep within the pedestrian street.

With a faint crunch, his foot seemed to step on a sheet of paper. Yu An angled the flashlight beam toward the ground and found flyers scattered carelessly everywhere, thick like a carpet. Stepping on them felt loose and spongy, giving the constant dread that one misstep might drop him straight into a manhole concealed beneath the ads.

Yu An picked one up and skimmed it under the light. Printed across it was: “Xiliu Beauty Salon: Granting You a Devil’s Figure, Restoring Your Radiant Beauty!” A gorgeous woman contorted her body into an S-curve as the advertisement’s banner, her eyes flashing an electric wink at Yu An.

When he lifted his head again, he suddenly discovered the front doors of the office building were right to his left.

The side door was securely fastened with a steel rebar lock, while the revolving door’s axle had rusted. Yu An shoved hard against it; the bottom edge scraped and groaned against the floor, sounding gratingly loud in the silent, empty night.

Surprisingly, there was light inside. A desk lamp sat atop the reception counter, casting a dim yellow glow.

Resting his hand on the dagger’s hilt, Yu An crept slowly forward.

Silently passing the reception counter, his peripheral vision swept behind the desk lamp, and his chest suddenly tightened.

Standing behind the counter was the silhouette of a human figure.

Yu An nearly leaped out of his skin. Aiming the flashlight forward, a middle-aged man in a security guard uniform stood there smiling.

“Good evening! Young man, come over and sign in.” The security guard waved at him, placing a registry log and a ballpoint pen on the counter.

Yu An’s chest rose and fell. He had never expected a building abandoned for years to still have a security guard on duty.

Approaching the counter with skepticism, he carefully picked up the pen.

Propping himself on the counter, the guard leaned forward and asked quizzically, “Why are you so jumpy? You’re not a thief, are you!”

“…I’m here for beauty treatments,” Yu An replied in a quiet voice, keeping a cautious eye on the guard as he hastily scribbled made-up information on the registry.

Yu An noted a long scar trailing across the man’s chin, running cleanly along the jawline from below his left ear all the way to his right.

The security guard seemed very easygoing: working the night shift alone past midnight, yet still maintaining a textbook eight-tooth smile.

Except, he kept that eight-tooth smile fixed the entire time, his expression never wavering. It was as if the face didn’t belong to him at all.

Looking at the entries in the registry, there was another detail that stoked Yu An’s suspicion.

Quite a few patrons passed through this rundown building. Starting from 8:00 PM, people had continually signed in on the paper: Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, Zhao Liu. But once the timestamps passed midnight, Yu An noticed the names suddenly became illegible.

For customers arriving after midnight, the name column held wavy squiggles, circles, or frantic scratch marks; in short, completely meaningless symbols.

Had they simply scribbled carelessly, or did they have no names at all?

Yu An silently swallowed hard.

After signing in, the security guard enthusiastically pointed Yu An toward the elevator, praising him with that same eight-tooth smile: “You’re a handsome young man.”

Xiliu Beauty Salon was rented on the seventh floor. The corridor lights were all on, yet gave off an indescribably gloomy feeling.

Exiting the elevator and turning right, a life-sized standee for Xiliu Beauty Salon stood outside the entrance. The curvy woman on the standee gave Yu An an electric wink, identical to the flyer.

Yu An couldn’t shake the creepy sensation the woman on the standee gave him, so he circled around it and continued turning right.

Looking from above, the building’s floor plan was a square within a square; the center housed the elevators, while the perimeter contained rented shop lots.

He planned to stalk the perimeter and observe first; barging in blindly was far too risky.

But just as he edged along the wall, the doors to Xiliu Beauty Salon slid open automatically. Directly facing the entrance, the receptionist stood upright, facing him with a smile.

Yu An’s heartbeat spiked instantly, yet he maintained a composed front. Taking a slow breath, he walked inside, trying to appear as natural as possible: “Oh, I came to see what services you offer.”

The receptionist introduced herself politely: “Hello, I am Xiao Li, a consultant here at Xiliu Beauty Salon. We offer cosmetic surgery services and body sculpting treatments. What are you looking for today?”

“Um… what does the body sculpting treatment entail, specifically?”

“Sir, you have a tall and lean figure; you don’t need any body sculpting at all!” The consultant recommended warmly, “I can walk you through our cosmetic surgery options. I see your left eye is injured; my recommendation would be to pick a new eyeball you like.”

The consultant pulled out a tablet and brought up pictures: “Which style of eyeball do you prefer? We have Eurasian mixed-blood green, classic Asian brown, or would you perhaps fancy this amazonite shade?”

Yu An was already starting to feel annoyed. His absolute pet peeve while shopping was running into overly aggressive salespeople.

“Right, I want one with good vision. 20/10 uncorrected.” Yu An tossed out a perfunctory request while focusing on observing the furnishings in the room, mapping out an escape route in his head.

“Certainly, let me search for you…”

“Hold on. Give me a quote first. If I can’t afford it, I’ll check elsewhere,” Yu An said.

“Sir, I cannot give you an exact price right now. That depends entirely on what procedure our next guest requires!”

The consultant raised her head, her face twitching as she broke into an eight-tooth smile.