Who said this card is outrageous?

I'll get a good night's sleep tonight and figure out how to deal with this once I'm feeling better.

……

The next morning, Zhang Che did not experience the headache he had anticipated from excessive mental exertion. Instead, he felt unusually clear-headed, even better than when he was at his best.

The physical fatigue was still there, but the mental clarity was unprecedented.

"This isn't right..."

In the bathroom, Zhang Che looked in the mirror at the young man with a haggard face but clear eyes, and for a moment he felt a strange sense of absurdity.

At a normal recovery rate, someone with this level of mental exhaustion would need at least a day or two to recover. But after only one night, his mental recovery far exceeded expectations, which is completely illogical.

However, this is a good thing after all, and since you can't figure it out, you might as well accept it.

He then carefully tidied himself up, washed his face, and changed into clean clothes. Only after the person in the mirror finally looked normal did he prepare to go out to Uncle Wang's card shop.

Having learned from last night's experience, he made a point of checking the cards he was carrying before leaving home, just in case. Then he saw that the surface of the [Sixth Sense] card was covered with fine cracks, as if it had been forced open from the inside by something.

The patterns that once shimmered with blue light were now dull and lifeless, and the entire card exuded an aura of being on the verge of falling apart.

This is what the card looks like when it's about to be completely destroyed.

Chapter 16 On-site Tracing

I fell asleep too quickly last night and didn't have time to check it. I didn't expect the card to be so badly damaged.

After he calmed down, he roughly guessed that it was the result of being backfired by the sign when he forcibly used his [Sixth Sense] to predict the masked man's escape route last night.

Zhang Che stared at the card that was almost ruined, feeling a pang of heartache. A second-tier blue card—how much would the materials alone cost?

What's more, it's such a useful card.

Although its passive effect brought Zhang Che an undeserved disaster, the final outcome was still due to his own choice, and had little to do with the card itself.

However, he quickly realized another reason: the fact that the metal plaque could backfire on a second-tier blue card to this extent meant that its power was much stronger than he had anticipated.

Even if it's not mid-level, it should still be at the top level among lower-level extraordinary beings. If you convert it, it's roughly equivalent to the level of a third-tier blue card, or even a purple card.

Zhang Che's throat felt dry, and he suddenly had the urge to turn himself in again. But he quickly suppressed the urge.

But in the end, he chickened out, while comforting himself that he had already ruined the scene so thoroughly last night that the authorities shouldn't be able to find him... right?

The word "ba" lingered in his mind for a long time, so long that he himself felt uncertain about it.

But since things had come to this, he had to grit his teeth and move forward. He carefully put away the damaged Sixth Sense card, took the rest of the cards, and went out.

On the way to Uncle Wang's card shop, you have to pass through Little Tree Street.

From afar, he could see that police tape had been put up at the entrance of the alley where the incident had occurred the previous night, and several people in police uniforms were standing nearby, preventing pedestrians from getting close. Outside the police tape, a circle of nearby residents had gathered to watch the commotion, huddled together in twos and threes, whispering among themselves.

Zhang Che's pace unconsciously slowed down.

He considered taking a detour, but that would only make him seem guilty. So he took a deep breath, slowed down like the other passersby, and moved closer to the crowd, pretending to be curious.

"Xiao Zhang!"

Someone called his name from behind.

Zhang Che froze, turned his head, and saw that it was Aunt Li who lived nearby, carrying a vegetable basket, looking like she had just bought vegetables that morning.

"Aunt Li." He forced a smile, trying to appear as natural as possible.

"Where are you going?" Aunt Li walked over, followed his gaze to the blocked alley, and sighed. "You've heard about it too?"

"What did you hear?" Zhang Che feigned ignorance. "I just stepped outside and saw a lot of people gathered here."

"Hey, it's Old Sun." Aunt Li's voice was low, tinged with a sigh. "He's the one who runs the grocery store, such an honest guy. I don't know who he offended, but he died in the alley last night. I heard he died a horrible death, covered in blood..."

“That’s right,” an old man chimed in. “I saw it when I went for my walk this morning. That pool of blood on the ground, tsk tsk…”

"I heard the security team arrived before dawn and they're still investigating."

"Old Sun doesn't usually have any enemies, so why was he targeted?"

People around him started talking amongst themselves; they were all neighbors, so they weren't on guard. Zhang Che stood to the side listening, nodding occasionally in agreement, his palms sweaty.

Just then, the murmurs from the crowd subsided.

Zhang Che followed the crowd's gaze and saw a group of security guards walking in from outside, with a man and a woman in the middle.

The man was in his forties, with a square face and a sturdy build, wearing a dark trench coat;

The girl was much younger, looking to be under twenty, with shoulder-length short hair and fairly pretty, but her expression was somewhat indifferent.

They appear to be the sheriffs in charge of this case.

The security team is mostly composed of ordinary people and those who have just acquired supernatural abilities. Their main responsibilities are maintaining order and collecting basic clues; the real case-handling personnel are these supernatural beings at the level of security officers.

In today's world, crimes committed by superhumans are rampant. Without superhuman abilities, they often can't even deal with the traces left at the scene, let alone anything else.

Upon seeing the newcomers, Zhang Che felt a little guilty and quickly made an excuse to leave.

Of course, this wasn't unexpected; several people had already passed away before this. After all, everyone has to live their lives, and even if the deceased was someone you knew, you can only grieve silently and continue with your work and life.

Just then, the young female sheriff suddenly looked up, glanced over the crowd, and looked in his direction.

This startled Zhang Che so much that his heart skipped a beat.

Fortunately, the female sheriff's gaze only lingered for a moment before shifting away, and she did not target him specifically.

"Hmm, what did you find?" The middle-aged man noticed his companion's movements and followed her gaze, only to see a group of ordinary citizens watching.

“A person with strong mental power,” the female sheriff said softly, her tone indifferent. “He should be a superhuman living nearby.”

She didn't think much of it. Binhai City is so big, it's not surprising that there are a few low-level superhumans who want to live a quiet life.

"Let's send someone to investigate," the middle-aged man suggested, but he had a different opinion.

He heard that his partner was chosen as sheriff because of his special perception ability, which was like a "sixth sense".

However, due to limitations in its capabilities, it is not yet stable enough for normal use.

However, it's best not to let go of anyone or anything that catches her attention, not to mention that the case from last night is still a mess.

Of course, he did this just to "take a chance," not because he really thought the person from earlier was suspicious.

"Okay." The female sheriff nodded, made a note on the document, and remained calm in both tone and expression.

……

The two walked through the cordon and arrived at the alley entrance to the crime scene, which was also the place where the battle was most intense last night.

The bloodstains in the alley were marked, and the location of the body was drawn with a white line at the end.

Then there are the traces left by the fight.

The female sheriff crouched down, her fingers gently touching the ground, and closed her eyes.

Her breathing became even and long, and the expression on her face gradually faded, finally settling into a calm, still pool of water.

The middle-aged man stood aside, waiting quietly.

He looked at the girl's young face, which was forcibly suppressed into a calm and composed expression, and a strange emotion welled up in his heart.

Sigh, only seventeen years old, an age when she should be innocent and carefree...

He looked away, not letting his emotions show.

A moment later, the girl opened her eyes. Her calm expression lasted for a moment, then, as if freed from some constraint, her brows furrowed slightly.

“The residual energy is very mixed.” She stood up and pointed to the marks on the ground and walls. “Ice, water, and spirit are all at the lower level of transcendents; while the one that was besieged should be a transcendent who has taken the physical enhancement route.”

"Could you be more specific?" the middle-aged man asked.

The girl did not answer immediately, but squatted down again, placed her palms flat on the ground, and returned to that calm state.

This time it will take even longer.

When she stood up again, her face showed obvious signs of fatigue.

“The residual energy intensity of the ice and water elements is around the second level.” She paused, her gaze falling on the corner of the wall not far away. “The mental element one… feels like the intensity of the first level, but it’s not quite right.”

"Something's not right?"

"The residue is very small, but the purity level doesn't seem to be below the second tier..."

"It should be Tier 2," she finally concluded. "It's probably because he just advanced recently, and his control isn't stable enough yet."

The middle-aged man nodded without asking any further questions.

No wonder he's so young yet so beloved by the leaders of the Public Security Bureau; my new partner is indeed quite capable.

Chapter 17 exposed it already?

The middle-aged man walked to a spot in the middle of the alley, about six or seven meters from the entrance.

He crouched down and carefully examined several inconspicuous small holes on the wall, which were traces left by the throwing knife mentioned in the on-site investigation report.

“There should be another person here.” He held out his hand and gestured to show the trajectory of the throwing knife. “Although the person being attacked is very strong, he would never throw a throwing knife in this direction for no reason.”

The girl walked over and activated her ability again according to the middle-aged man's instructions: "The aura of water element is very strong, and there are also residual mental energy fluctuations. She should be a magic-type professional who can manipulate water element, and her strength is around the second level."

"The person who was surrounded was forced to fight back when he was in danger. The fact that he chose to attack this location shows that, under the circumstances, he believed that this was the most worthwhile target to attack."

Based on the clues, the middle-aged man quickly made a deduction.

"So that person is either the commander or providing remote support; in any case, they are most likely an accomplice of those three."

The female sheriff added, "If it were a defensive skill, the throwing knife would be intercepted halfway and wouldn't leave a mark on the wall. But he dodged it, so he must have used some kind of displacement or illusion technique."

"Water illusion or water clone?" The middle-aged man recalled the obvious traces of water elements in the photos from the scene.

A second-tier water mage stands at a distance, directing and supporting the attack, using illusions to confuse the target and create opportunities for the ice and mental mage allies in the front line. This setup is common in low-tier superhuman squads.

“However, there probably aren’t many teams in Binhai City that can match such a well-coordinated team.” The middle-aged man stroked his chin, his brows slightly furrowed.

This level of coordinated combat isn't something a group of people temporarily assembled can achieve. It requires either an official squad that has trained together for a long time, or an adventurer team that frequently faces life-and-death situations together.

Regardless of the type, there should be clues to follow, unless...

"Go back and check the Adventurers' Guild for any registered superhuman teams, especially those with ice, water, or mental elemental combinations," the middle-aged man said decisively. "If we can't find any, we'll have to consider the possibility of outsiders."

The girl nodded and quickly made notes on the document.