A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Based on Xia Ningzhi’s heading on the map, White Jack deduced her destination. She would need to fetch her combat suit from another location before she could rush to the crime scene on her Wind and Fire Wheels.

White Jack took the fastest route and arrived at Lijing’s Expressway Zero ahead of her.

Expressway Zero loomed high above the central urban district, but the city’s lights could not reach it.

From afar, the expressway looked like a suspended graveyard.

Both ends of the expressway had already been cordoned off by the police. Cruisers blocked the way, their red and blue lights flashing behind barricades and ”Do Not Enter” signs.

Traffic was jammed at the entrance. People were abandoning their cars to flee.

White Jack swept past the crowds and the police. The top hat on his head stopped spinning as he descended from the sky and landed in the middle of the expressway.

He perched on the guardrail in the night like a roly-poly toy, then raised his hollow eyes.

High above the expressway, a woman in a red dress with blood-colored wings sprouting from her back flew through the night sky, chasing a girl in a gothic dress who clutched an umbrella.

The former was the criminal broadcast on the news; the latter was naturally Xia Zili, who had arrived at the scene shortly before. She seemed to have been fighting this super-human species criminal for some time, as her body was already covered in wounds.

White Jack pulled down the brim of his hat, staring motionless at the figure that resembled a red bat.

The opponent’s super-human species panel reflected in his pupils.

[Superhuman Codename: Vampire ”Stroh”]

[Danger Rating: A Rank]

[Type: Vampire]

[Superhuman Profile: A member of the criminal syndicate ”Death Crow.” As a vampire, Stroh possesses exceptional racial talents. Relying on her precise intuition for blood manipulation, she can even shape blood into various lethal weapons.]

’Death Crow? So this vampire woman is in the same organization as Jiang Qingzi?’ Ke Mingqing thought. ’Does everyone in this syndicate start at A Rank combat power? How the hell am I supposed to join them?’

A deafening boom echoed through the sky.

White Jack looked up.

The girl in the gothic dress spun around, her skirt fluttering in the wind, and aimed the tip of her umbrella at Stroh.

”Bang—!”

As she pulled the trigger, a speck of black light flashed past the corner of her eye. Countless streams of light poured out from the tip of the umbrella, converging into a beam that blasted straight ahead with a roar.

Like a reverse waterfall, it swept across the sky. The world lost its color in that moment, as if everything had been drained of its radiance.

White Jack could not hear a single sound.

In the dead silence, every car parked along the outskirts of the expressway triggered its alarm system.

The overlapping blare of car alarms rang out, so loud it made people want to cover their ears.

A moment later, when the black curtain of light shrouding the sky faded, Magical Girl Ember revealed her figure once more.

Clutching her umbrella, she hovered in midair and panted heavily as she glanced around, searching for Stroh.

’Is she dead?’ she thought.

But the woman in the red dress appeared once again. Her voice echoed eerily from behind Ember:

”I’ve never eaten a magical girl before. I wonder what your blood tastes like? Will it taste better if I lick it?” Stroh’s shrill voice resounded like rolling thunder in the girl’s ears.

Magical Girl Ember’s pupils contracted.

Stroh squeezed a drop of blood from her fingertip and shaped it into a dagger. Gripping it in a reverse hold, she thrust it toward the girl’s back, aiming straight for her heart!

Ember made the best possible response. She drew a katana from the bottom of her umbrella handle, twisted halfway around, and raised the blade to block the dagger.

But she was too late.

The katana only deflected the dagger’s trajectory. The sharp weapon still pierced right through Ember’s shoulder. With a sickening squelch, the blade tore through flesh and blood.

A splash of crimson spilled into the night. Ember let out a muffled groan, gritted her teeth, and raised her umbrella.

She was just about to pull the trigger on Stroh, but the vampire kicked her in the abdomen, denying her the chance. The girl in the gothic dress plummeted toward the ground.

With a resounding ”Crash—!”, she smashed into the top of the expressway and kicked up a billowing cloud of dust.

’That was pretty weak, little sis, but an A Rank failing to beat a B Rank isn’t your fault.’ White Jack stared at the distant girl and thought, ’If I don’t save her, I’ll lose one of my main quest lines, but... Third Sister should be arriving soon.’

As he was thinking this, a deep red meteor shot straight out of the distant night sky.

Stroh raised an eyebrow, a look of astonishment appearing on her face for the first time. ’Red Lotus.’ This name surfaced in Stroh’s mind.

In the next instant, a spear wreathed in raging flames thrust straight at her head.

With quick reflexes, Stroh folded her massive wings in front of her body to form a blood-red shield.

Yet even this could not completely block the mighty force of the spear. The wing shield trembled, and her body began to plummet.

While the two were locked in a stalemate, crimson silk ribbons swept over. Like a tidal wave, they surged past Stroh’s wings and bound both of her arms.

”The Huntian Ling?” Stroh raised an eyebrow.

Stroh lost her ability to resist in an instant, but the opponent’s offensive was far from over. Her blood-red wings were pierced through by the Fire-Tipped Spear, and surging flames engulfed her face.

The firelight reflected in the vampire’s pupils.

”Well, I have no choice then.” She grinned and tore off her own arms, breaking free from the restraints of the Huntian Ling.

Blood splattered across the air. Stroh abandoned her wings and her arms, plummeting straight down toward the expressway alongside her severed limbs.

When her body was barely a foot away from the expressway, she arrested her momentum and landed gracefully on her feet.

”Splat.”

”Splat.”

With two sharp cracks, her severed arms smashed onto the expressway, shattering into minced meat.

”How unsightly... I’ll never be able to get married now,” Stroh muttered. Yet the flesh and blood at the stumps of her shoulders had already begun to regenerate. Skin as smooth as a newborn’s covered her brand-new arms.

She raised her eyes and finally got a clear look at the uninvited guest.

This person was clad in a black-and-red metal trench coat and a metal mask. She stood on the Wind and Fire Wheels and grasped the Fire-Tipped Spear, fiery red silk ribbons dancing above her head.

Riding the Wind and Fire Wheels, Red Lotus looked down from above and stared at Stroh’s face.

She tucked the dark gold spear behind her back and casually waved her hand, parting a curtain of flames that illuminated the pitch-black night sky.

”Third Sister sure is strong.” White Jack scratched his chin. ”A little stronger than I thought. Could she already hold her own against the Old Man?”

He turned his head and glanced into the distance.

In an unnoticed corner, Magical Girl Ember was already gone. She seemed to have raised her umbrella and turned into a speeding black speck, disappearing beyond the horizon.

”Is it really necessary to fight? How about we both take a step back?” Stroh asked in a low voice.

Red Lotus spoke up, a teasing voice sounding out from beneath her mask, its gender indistinguishable due to a voice modifier:

”Sure. I’ll take a step back and not beat you to death, and you take a step back and go into prison. How about that?”

Stroh shrugged. If she were absolutely forced to fight to the death, she could indeed trade blows with Red Lotus. But it was impossible for her to escape, because the Wind and Fire Wheels were definitely faster than her. Attempting to flee would only expose her vulnerabilities.

She was beginning to regret it. Why did she have to come out and hunt when the other members of Death Crow weren’t around? Thinking of this, she licked her fingertip, where the scent of her prey still lingered.

Deathly silence filled the expressway.

Only the whistling of the Wind and Fire Wheels spinning against the air could be heard.

A pitch-black tide of crows suddenly descended from the sky, crashing onto the deck of the expressway before piling up into a dark, humanoid figure.

Rain Crow looked up. His gaze locked straight onto Stroh, a cold light flowing in his pupils beneath the helmet.

”The Old Man is here.” White Jack tilted his head. ”Did he already solve the bank robbery over there? I guess the old geezer has more experience. He’s just that efficient.”

Stroh was stunned for a moment.

If she had a high chance of winning against Red Lotus alone, she abandoned all desire to resist the moment she saw Rain Crow.

The vampire woman raised her arms in surrender and smiled.

”Two against one, the advantage is yours. Go ahead and take me in.”

’Rain Crow doesn’t kill criminals, so I might as well fall into his hands,’ Stroh thought. ’I can’t escape anyway, so this is still better than falling into the hands of some baffling weirdo.’

Rain Crow didn’t waste words. A flock of crows swarmed forward, completely engulfing Stroh.

She had no thought of fighting back. She lost consciousness in the blink of an eye, her body collapsing to the ground.

”I didn’t expect to attract the great hero of our Lijing,” Red Lotus said. Tucking the Fire-Tipped Spear under her arm, she crossed her arms and turned her head to glance at Rain Crow.

Rain Crow turned his head and gave Red Lotus a cold glare, meeting her gaze.

”You should join an official organization.” Leaving behind this piece of advice, Rain Crow transformed into a flock of crows and departed, howling away like a torrential storm.

Red Lotus glanced into the distance. Stroh had also been taken away by Rain Crow.

She sighed. ”What an old man vibe. I still have to take my college entrance exams. Where would I find the time to join some official organization?”

Red Lotus scanned her surroundings but couldn’t find any sign of Magical Girl Ember. The girl had clearly been here when she was rushing over.

The expressway was completely empty now, devoid of people.

But just as she stepped on her Wind and Fire Wheels, preparing to leave the expressway, a ghastly white figure walked over from the distance.

Red Lotus stayed silent for a moment before casting a sidelong glance. The newcomer had a bizarre appearance, possessing a pair of hollow eyes and a cracked mouth, with the face beneath the feline eyes shrouded in shadows.

”Oh, and what kind of minor lackey are you supposed to be?” she asked with keen interest, her arms crossed.

”I am your father,” White Jack declared seriously.

”Are you Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li?” Red Lotus assumed he was making a Nezha reference, so she played along.

”No, I am Ke Mingwei,” White Jack said, spreading his hands.