The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

Guan Jinyue turned around and walked along the narrow alley between the containers toward berth number three.

She walked for about several dozen meters before stopping.

It wasn't because someone was blocking her way, but because she sensed a very faint presence.

This aura is neither a superpower nor a mental power; ordinary people could never detect it, and most superpowered individuals couldn't either.

But she can.

Because she herself has it too.

That's the scent of Baal.

Guan Jinyue stood still, her long silver hair blown to one side by the night wind, her black pupils looking in the direction from which the aura came.

Northeast corner.

That direction should be one of the positions for the casual laborers on the outskirts tonight.

She stood in the shadows for a few seconds, then changed direction and headed towards the northeast corner.

The sound of footsteps was drowned out by the sea breeze.

When she was about fifteen meters away from the row of abandoned shipping containers, she saw a figure.

A man crouched next to a shipping container, with a purple-furred cheetah lying beside him.

Summoning?

She could sense that Baal's aura was emanating from this person.

It's very weak, like it's being pressed down by something, but it's definitely there.

Guan Jinyue didn't move any further. She stood fifteen meters away and spoke.

"you……"

The man's posture remained unchanged; his squatting body showed no extra reaction, except that he slowly turned his head to the side.

The purple cheetah beside the man raised its head, its ears perked up in her direction, and emitted a very low growl.

But the man didn't move; he didn't even turn his head.

"You," Guan Jinyue called out again.

"I heard you."

The man's voice came from the other side of the container, neither loud nor soft, carrying a lazy weariness.

Judging from his voice, he sounds like a middle-aged man in his forties.

He slowly stood up and turned to face her.

Fifteen meters away, in the darkness of night, the dock lights couldn't reach this area, and Guan Jinyue could only see a blurry outline.

He was of medium build, neither fat nor thin, wearing an ordinary coat and a cheap mask on his face, the kind of plastic mask you'd find for ten yuan at a roadside stall.

The face beneath the mask was completely hidden; not even the eyes were visible.

But she wasn't there to see his face; she didn't care what he looked like under the mask.

"You have the scent of Baal on you," Guan Jinyue said bluntly.

There was no reply from the other end.

The cheetah's tail lightly swept the ground, its purple pupils staring at her in the darkness like two small, cold lights.

"I don't know anything about Bal." The man's tone was calm, but he spoke a little slower.

Guan Jinyue did not move.

What she perceives is never wrong.

Baal's aura is unique; it has left its mark on this person's body.

Most people would never be able to get infected.

"You have a contract with Baal." Guan Jinyue's tone was devoid of any doubt; she was stating a fact.

"What are you talking about?" The man's voice rose slightly, tinged with confusion.

But Guan Jinyue wasn't buying it.

She has seen too many people who are good at acting.

"I meant no harm."

"But you just killed one person, maybe two," the man said.

Guan Jinyue's brow twitched slightly.

he knows.

It wasn't a guess; it was a clear certainty. The certainty in his tone was too strong to be a conjecture made after hearing no response from the walkie-talkie.

This person had been paying attention to the movements in the southeast corner, and their perception was superior to hers.

He reacted even faster than the leader.

A third or fourth-level casual laborer shouldn't have this level of perception.

Guan Jinyue re-examined the person in front of her.

The mask covered his face, his body was relaxed, but his center of gravity was firmly between his feet.

He just stood there, looking like an ordinary person.

"Yes." Guan Jinyue did not deny it: "I killed the people in the southeast corner and also dealt with the leader; they were in the way."

The man behind the mask remained silent.

"Aren't you going to run?" Guan Jinyue asked.

"Can they escape?"

"You can't escape."

Guan Jinyue said uncertainly. She was still confident in herself, but the person in front of her was related to Baal, so he must have something special about him.

The last contractor she had ever met was a young man named Chen Guan, who, like herself, had a sad past and someone he could never forget.

I heard he's doing well now, having just overpowered a group of geniuses.

I don't know if I'll have the opportunity to work with him in the future.

"Then I won't run." The man pulled his hand out of his pocket, empty, his ten fingers spread open, showing it to her in a gesture of surrender: "You can ask me whatever you want, but I really don't know anything about Baal. You might have mistaken me for someone else."

Guan Jinyue took a few steps closer, reducing the distance to about ten meters.

The breathing became clearer.

That's Baal.

It was being pressed down by something, like a thin film enveloping the aura, with very little exposed, but the texture was exactly the same as the one on her own body.

"I didn't make a mistake."

She stopped and tilted her head slightly, her silver hair cascading over her shoulders.

"You don't need to admit it or deny it, I can feel it myself, there's something about you that's the same as mine."

They're really troublesome.

Chen Guan's mind raced beneath the mask. He wasn't particularly concerned about Guan Jinyue's motives; he just wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible.

"What is this Baal you're talking about? The demon I'm thinking of?" he asked, his voice carrying just the right amount of bewilderment.

Guan Jinyue tilted her head slightly: "You really don't know?"

"I really don't know." Chen Guan took half a step back, leaning against the side wall of the container. "I'm just a day laborer, this is my first time at this dock tonight. I don't understand what you mean by 'aura' or 'contract'."

Guan Jinyue looked at him for a few seconds.

"Your heartbeat is steady."

"Because my heart doesn't beat faster when I'm nervous," Chen Guan said. "It beats slower."

That's the truth.

Guan Jinyue pursed his lips, unsure whether he found the answer interesting or was assessing its credibility.

"Then how do you explain the aura emanating from you?"

"I can't explain what I can't feel."

Chen Guan shrugged, palm up, fingers spread, continuing to maintain his harmless demeanor: "Are you sure you're not mistaken? This place smells so strongly of rust; any scent that gets mixed up here."

Guan Jinyue didn't respond to his words.

She took two steps forward, reducing the distance to about seven meters.

The leopard growled a little louder, braced itself on its front paws, and assumed a half-standing position.

Chen Guan pressed down on its head.

"Don't move."

Leopard glanced at him, then reluctantly lay back down, but its muscles remained tense.

"Your beast has it too." Guan Jinyue's gaze fell on the cheetah, his tone as if talking to himself: "Residual, very faint, but there is."

Chen Guan thought to himself, "This is bad."

Guan Jinyue's perception ability exceeded his expectations.

The mask can block the detection of spiritual power, but it cannot block this kind of aura sensing similar to resonance.

The mark Baal left on him was so deep, etched into his very bones, that it couldn't be covered up by disguise.

But he couldn't admit it.