Chapter 137: Scaling Walls and Leaping Between Skyscrapers

Nagoya at night was not hot, after all, this was not Tokyo.

In early June, compared to the daytime temperatures in Higashigaki City climbing above thirty degrees Celsius, Nagoya’s daytime barely reached the low twenties, and at night it dropped to the teens.

In the afternoon, Zhou Shu helped out with some work, running all over the base, and in the process, he discreetly mapped out the surveillance system layout within the military base.

The Qin Empire’s military base in District 11 was already heavily guarded under normal circumstances, and with the recent demon disturbances, the security measures had been further tightened.

But no matter how strict the defenses, they were barely enough to keep out level-three monsters, let alone someone like Zhou Shu, whose lowest attributes were all above six—a true “monster.”

Dressed entirely in black, he opened the dormitory window and stood on the windowsill, then closed the window behind him and with a burst of power leapt upward from the ledge.

He didn’t cling to other windowsills; instead, he performed what could only be described as a “double jump in midair,” instantly landing on the rooftop.

This was the marvelous effect of combining telekinesis with magnetic field repulsion.

Using his own strength and “catapulting” ability, Zhou Shu never touched the ground and quickly disappeared from the base’s airspace.

Of course, his “airborne” height wasn’t very high—after all, there were radar systems here—so he stayed close to the rooftops.

Where he needed to cross gaps, he simply sprang over them; if the span was less than eighty meters, he didn’t even need the catapult’s assistance, relying solely on his physical power to clear the distance.

He was no longer the boy who could only sigh at the moon.

Back then, his strength and agility barely passed 1.1, and watching Bai Huayue jump over twenty meters had filled him with envy. Later on… Bai Huayue died.

Now, with both strength and agility over six, he could casually leap tens of meters.

The base’s outer walls were tall, topped with barbed wire and monitored by surveillance cameras covering about ten meters above the wire to prevent anyone from climbing over. But Zhou Shu simply jumped from one building to outside the base, making it impossible for the cameras to catch even a glimpse of him.

Floating midair, he used another “double jump” to glide forward, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the base.

As he neared the ground, he eased his landing with a soft cushion, touching down smoothly.

Though this was the suburbs, there were still many buildings, but that didn’t slow Zhou Shu’s progress; it actually aided his rapid linear movement.

His method of linear travel was, naturally, rooftop-hopping.

The phrase “leaping from roof to roof” once belonged only to ancient heroes with profound martial arts skills, but now Zhou Shu could do it too.

Fortunately, suburban buildings were low, so a single bound was enough to reach the top, and he never came down.

If he ran rapidly on the ground, his speed already rivaled that of a car; now, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, he moved just as swiftly, soon reaching a relatively bustling area.

Tall buildings towered here, and as he ran, Zhou Shu had already scoped out his target—a high-rise with a glass curtain wall—and jumped onto it.

He soared across the street and landed directly on the vertical metal framework of the building. Thanks to magnetic effects, his limbs firmly adhered to the structure.

With a strong push from his feet, the rubber soles of his shoes rubbed against the metal frame as he propelled himself upward, the magnetic field moving with him.

In no time, he was on the rooftop.

The night breeze stirred the black, unzipped jacket he wore; his legs were clad in matching black joggers, and his feet in black tactical boots.

These were specially issued combat boots from the Demon Suppression Division, designed specifically for demon hunters, especially those with high attributes.

Clothing with good elasticity was no problem, but shoes were different.

Demon hunters’ speed and foot strength far exceeded ordinary people’s, so their shoes wore out much faster. Without special footwear, soles would quickly wear through, exposing toes.

Despite the boots’ toughness, after this segment of travel, Zhou Shu could even smell the faint scent of burnt rubber.

Standing on the rooftop, the height was beyond his 77-meter detection range, but that didn’t matter—he never intended to find the courier by this method.

Seventy-seven meters seemed far, but trying to locate a monster in a sea of people was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

This detection ability was most useful when there was a clear target or when intelligence narrowed the detection range to a small area.

Now, he relied mainly on his “eagle eye.”

His eyesight was ridiculously sharp, capable of seeing extremely far.

Moreover, his abnormality sensing wasn’t limited to short distances; it could reach far, though accuracy diminished beyond the detection range.

Within seventy-seven meters, he could accurately discern the target’s attributes and, combined with abnormality sensing, determine if the target was an evil monster.

Zhou Shu had tested this by sensing various targets with his abnormality sensing.

He found that the Demon Suppression Division’s hunters had relatively stable and pure energy, their aura fierce but not hostile to humans.

Monsters emitted chaotic energy; as Earth-born creatures, Zhou Shu could sense ominous auras from them.

Ordinary people’s auras were faint and generally peaceful, though some criminals and evildoers had stronger, more unclean energy signatures.

Beyond the detection range, he couldn’t see exact attributes, but he could feel various auras.

Within a hundred meters, it was almost like being inside the detection range—though attributes were unseen, the aura was strong.

As distance increased, the sensed aura weakened; at five hundred meters, it was basically “something’s off here,” requiring closer inspection.

At a thousand meters, there was almost nothing, so he had to rely on visual judgment.

“Oh, this person has transformed—that must be a monster.”

“This person’s hand went straight into another’s abdomen—that’s definitely a monster.”

“This person moves too swiftly; a normal person couldn’t do that.”

These were extreme cases, instantly confirming abnormalities.

Some behaviors seemed suspicious but not beyond the ordinary.

“This person is tailing a woman—probably trouble.”

“This person sneaks around—also suspicious.”

Zhou Shu scanned the surroundings but found no clear abnormal targets, feeling this did not quite match the reports of “chaotic disorder.”

However, he did spot a stalker harassing a woman. Though uncertain if he was a monster, he decided to start tonight’s hunt here.

Since he had seen it, there was no reason to stand idly by.

Besides, this was the Qin Empire’s military jurisdiction; under the security agreement, he was obligated to maintain order.

This agreement was newly signed between the Qin Empire and the District 11 authorities; the other three districts had no such pact.

In fact, the other three nations had wanted to sign as well, but their districts fiercely resisted.

The Qin Empire was known for keeping its word and genuinely maintaining security, unlike the others.

Zhou Shu observed again and found no immediate danger—people were still walking in well-lit areas.

This gave him time to disguise himself.

Though this was the Qin Empire’s military jurisdiction, it was not domestic territory; District 11 was a very open special zone, where people from the other three nations mingled freely.

If he revealed himself outright, it would cause trouble.

More importantly, it would spoil the element of surprise.

He noticed a gift shop with Chinese characters on its sign, still open at night, and saw traditional District 11 ghost masks hanging at the entrance.

Perfect!

He hopped across several rooftops, then dropped into a narrow, dark alley. As he neared the ground, he softened his landing to come down gently.

In the alley, he flipped his jacket inside out—it was reversible, with red lining inside.

After changing, he stepped out of the alley and pretended to pass by the gift shop, then curiously entered.

The shopkeeper was a young man. Before he spoke, Zhou Shu greeted him in Chinese: “I just happened to pass by and saw the Chinese characters outside. Do you understand Chinese?”

Hearing this, the shopkeeper suppressed his “irasshaimase” and happily replied, “Yes, I’m from the Qin Empire. I studied here at university, married a woman from District 11, so I settled here.”

“And you? Work, study, or travel?”

While the shopkeeper spoke, Zhou Shu quickly scanned the store’s arrangement—filled with traditional District 11 items… well, not really traditional, since they were modernized designs, many looking quite flashy.

Zhou Shu didn’t recognize them, but there were many dazzling masks, with the ghost mask at the entrance being just one.

He also spotted a familiar payment QR code, which settled his next step.

He casually answered the shopkeeper, “Studying. Just finished work and about to head back.”

In a hurry, Zhou Shu didn’t linger, picked out a red demon mask with twin horns, paid, and prepared to leave.

As he exited, the shopkeeper advised, “The city’s been unsafe lately. When you go back, try to stick to well-lit, busy roads. Avoid shortcuts through alleys.”

“Got it, thank you.” Zhou Shu waved the mask in his hand and walked out.

He truly avoided alleys—he traveled on rooftops.

Returning to the alley, he donned the mask and leapt up onto the rooftops.

After checking his direction, he swiftly headed toward the location he had previously identified.

Soon he reached the spot he had seen earlier, but it was deserted. However, he distinctly felt residual auras.

Indeed, a monster!

“Not bad—a good start.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Zhou Shu’s mouth beneath the mask.

Following the lingering aura, he leapt lightly onto another rooftop.

The street here was noticeably narrower, making it effortless for Zhou Shu to jump.

As a high-energy chaotic aura entered his hundred-meter detection range, he knew his courier had arrived.

Then, immediately, another high-energy aura entered the range.

Judging from their routes, they seemed to be one ahead of the other.

“???”

He quickened his pace and soon spotted the girl and the stalker in the alley.

The girl wore a “traditional” District 11 school uniform, tall and graceful, walking ahead.

The “stalker” behind was not only thin but short, hunched over, appearing even smaller.

Their positions matched the data exactly—it was them.

“What’s going on? Black eats black? Or a sting operation?”

Zhou Shu watched from the rooftop, keeping them within his seventy-seven-meter straight-line detection range, having his companion Xiao Shouzai scan their data while he sensed their auras.

Abnormality sensing reacted first—the “stalker” had very chaotic energy with an ominous aura, clearly the “courier” he was after.

The girl’s aura resembled that of a demon hunter, confirming this was indeed a sting operation.

At that moment, the “stalker” lost patience and lunged at the girl.

Surprisingly, the girl didn’t dodge but took the hit directly.

Zhou Shu was once again “???”

Wasn’t this supposed to be a sting operation?

Luckily, the hunter’s data appeared in time.

He saw the girl’s average attribute was only 1.26, while the “stalker’s” was 1.78—much higher.

So, the sting operation ended up catching a big shark with the little rubber dinghy.

Seeing this, Zhou Shu stopped spectating and jumped down.

“Thud~”

The “stalker” was excited; he had planned to prey on an ordinary human but unexpectedly encountered a power user.

He probably realized the girl was a monster and intended to lure her out and eliminate her.

But he wasn’t afraid at all, because he had a special ability to vaguely sense the strength of power users.

When he found the girl weaker than himself, he was overjoyed.

Power users were better prey than normal humans—energy-rich.

Especially since this one was a woman; he even fantasized about...

“Hehehe~”

As he subdued the girl’s fierce resistance, preparing to lick her with his tongue, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a pair of shoes nearby.

Immediately, his powers “exploded,” causing every hair on his body to stand on end.

Before he could make sense of it, he reflexively rolled to the side.

A gust of wind swept past his head.

The wind was so strong that just brushing against him made one side of his scalp burn.

“Whoosh—”

Then came a phrase he couldn’t understand.

“Huh, actually dodged?”

Zhou Shu was surprised—he hadn’t used full strength, just a normal kick, but a low-level thug like this shouldn’t have been able to evade it.

“Interesting.”