parentshiftbook Chapter 650 Capturing the Shadow Thief
Chapter 650 Capturing the Shadow Thief
The Shadow Thief and the two strange occurrences that Jemin had encountered before were different.
Salty Fingers has no fixed physical form; it is merely a finger temporarily created when killing someone, and disappears once the task is completed.
Although the graffiti-like eeriness has a compressible core, its true form is mostly integrated into the rules, only revealing itself when pushed to the limit.
But those who steal images are different from both.
It always maintains a shadow-like entity.
That flattened, human-shaped shadow is itself.
In theory, this makes tracking much simpler; as long as you can keep up with its movement speed and constantly identify this suddenly appearing shadow, you can track it.
In practice, however, this is incredibly difficult.
After all, trying to track a shadow in the dark is simply wishful thinking.
However, Jemin was still able to keep up.
The Glimmering Eyes clung to the Shadow Thief's shadowy membrane, as it roamed the Fog City's underground sewers, abandoned buildings, and nighttime streets.
Jemin followed behind, not immediately attempting to capture it, as this was a good opportunity to collect data.
After careful observation of the shadow thief, Jemin discovered a pattern.
This strange phenomenon has a "preference" for certain specific locations.
The Shadow Thief's eerie instincts are similar to those of a living creature; it will wander back and forth in places it repeatedly passes through that meet its "predation" criteria. For example, dimly lit alleys, long walls, and open spaces with limited light that cast clear shadows.
Seeing this, Jemin chose an alley.
This alley is located between the seventh and eighth streets in the old city, and it is a narrow alley running north to south.
It is less than three meters wide, with towering gable walls on both sides, the walls are mottled and covered with dead vines.
There is a gas street lamp at the south end of the alley, but no lamp at the north end, only darkness.
Jemin stood under the streetlight.
He deliberately chose this location with only a single light source.
The orange-yellow light of the streetlights slanted down from above, casting his long shadow that stretched deep into the alley, almost touching the edge of the darkness at the north end.
The shadow was long, clear, and... "tempting".
Jemin leaned against a lamppost, his hands in his coat pockets, his expression calm as if he were waiting for someone.
The information transmitted by the Eye of Light indicates that the Shadow Thief is moving in this direction.
It moved slowly and followed a winding path, like a snake following a scent.
About ten minutes later, Jemin's gaze shifted slightly.
In the darkness at the north end of the alley, an almost invisible dark figure slid out along the ground.
It moved very slowly, as if it were testing the waters or confirming that there was no danger around.
The edges of the shadowy figure were almost indistinguishable in the darkness; if it weren't for Jemin's all-seeing eye constantly working, an ordinary person would never have been able to spot it.
The photo thief has arrived.
It wandered along the base of the wall, the shadowy film sliding silently across the rough brick surface.
Seemingly because it had just been frightened, it did not immediately approach Jemin, but instead swam back and forth along the walls on both sides of the alley twice, as if checking whether the area was safe.
Jay appeared very composed; from any angle, he seemed like an ordinary young man standing under a streetlamp, lost in thought.
...If we ignore the current point in time.
Unfortunately, the Shadow Thief clearly doesn't have that high an IQ.
During the previous battle, Jemin discovered that although this strange creature was powerful, its intelligence was probably not as good as the Graffiti Strange creature, and it was more like a wild beast with only instincts.
After confirming that there was no danger in the surroundings, the shadow thief finally lowered his guard.
It slid out from the base of the wall, skimming the ground, and approached Jemin's shadow.
Jemin's shadow stretched long, from under the streetlights all the way into the depths of the alley, and the shadow thief approached its "prey" little by little along the edge of this shadow.
Jemin observed it out of the corner of his eye, silently noting its behavior patterns.
Just as he thought, the Shadow Thief's behavior pattern was more like that of a wild beast; it possessed "intelligence," but not much.
Jemin's shadow was long and clear, and there was only one light source around him.
In the eyes of the shadow thief, they were the perfect prey.
The shadow thief approached the end of Jemin's shadow.
Its "body" was slightly raised, like some kind of snake aiming at its prey.
Then, its shadowy humanoid form split open from the middle, with fine, tooth-like protrusions along the edges of the crack.
It took a bite without hesitation at the edge of Jemin's shadow.
Feeling his shadow being bitten away, Jemin couldn't help but squint.
It was a very subtle feeling, not any physiological reaction he was familiar with, but a more fundamental "loss" that seemed to come from the level of life itself.
It's like standing on the beach, the sand beneath your feet is slowly being carried away by the waves. You can't feel each grain of sand leaving, but you can feel yourself getting lighter.
The shadow thief bit off a small piece of his shadow.
Jemin's all-seeing eye clearly saw the process.
The tiny protrusions in the Shadow Thief's "mouth" bite into the edge of the shadow, and then a small piece of the shadow, about the size of a fingernail, is peeled off from the main shadow and swallowed by the Shadow Thief.
The stripped shadow vanished into the shadow thief's "body" the instant it was swallowed.
To be honest, Jemin was a little surprised; things had taken him somewhat unexpectedly.
Because... this thing can actually affect his true form!
His true form is a Dharma body at the peak of the Void Refinement stage, a dark golden entity a thousand meters tall, incorporating body tempering techniques, internal circulation, and countless evolutions in resistance. Ordinary and strange powers are like a gentle breeze to him, unable to even break through the outermost layer of resistance.
But the bite taken by the Shadow Thief truly stripped a small part of his life away.
Although the amount was small, very small, so small that it could almost be ignored.
But this isn't a matter of quantity, but rather a matter of "whether it can be done".
Jemin's lips curved slightly, and he couldn't help but reveal an interested smile.
The research value of this thing is even greater than he expected!
The body-strengthening method started operating automatically within the body.
Upon sensing the "damage" to his life force, the body-refining technique that had become ingrained in his instincts immediately activated its adaptive repair program. After a small piece of his shadow was bitten off, it "grew" back almost instantly.
Seeing this, the shadow thief instinctively took another bite.
The shadow grew back.
The person who stole the image was stunned.
Jemin could clearly see that when the faceless figure froze, its entire body stiffened slightly, and the trembling at the edges stopped.
It seemed to be "perceiving" its prey in a way that Jemin didn't fully understand.
Then it took another bite.
The shadow grew back.
Jemin took out a cup of spiritual tea from his storage bag.
The tea was hot, freshly brewed, and the amber-colored tea liquor gleamed warmly under the streetlights.
He held the teacup, gently blew on the steam, and took a sip.
The aroma of tea spreads in the mouth, with a hint of sweetness.
He leaned against the lamppost, drinking tea as he watched the shadow thief frantically devour his shadow like a hamster eating sunflower seeds.
Once, twice, three times.
The shadow thief's "mouth" opens and closes rapidly at the edge of the shadow, the fine protrusions resembling rows of small teeth, constantly tearing and devouring.
Its speed is increasing and its frequency is increasing, as if it is competing with some unseen force.
But Jemin's shadow is like an inexhaustible well; no matter how the shadow thief tries to gnaw at it, it always maintains its complete shape and length. And throughout this process, Jemin's all-powerful eye and destiny system are constantly at work.
The All-Seeing Eye pierced through the shadowy surface of the Shadow Thief, reaching its core structure.
He witnessed the transformation of the swallowed shadow fragments within the Shadow Thief's body, recording the various energy changes during this process. Time slowly passed, and several minutes quickly went by.
In those few minutes, Jemin collected data on various aspects of the Shadow Thief.
The frequency of energy fluctuations, the efficiency of devouring shadows, the way energy is converted within the body, and its perception mechanism of "prey"... all of these were recorded, archived, and stored in the database deep within his consciousness.
Of course, the reason for not continuing to collect data is simply because the Shadow Thief's operation has stalled.
After the initial excitement, the shadow thief's movements have now slowed down.
The main reason is that it discovered its "mouth" wasn't working properly.
When those fine protrusions bit into the edge of Jemin's shadow, they no longer peeled off a piece as easily as they had at the beginning.
When those fine protrusions bit into the edge of Jemin's shadow, it was as if they were biting into a layer of elastic, tough rubber; no matter how hard they tried, they could only bite out a small notch.
Jemin shook his head and sighed helplessly.
This is probably the only drawback after obtaining the true form.
The speed of evolution is too fast, and it is an instinctive, automatic evolution.
After his body sensed the repeated "minor damage," it automatically adjusted the structure of his life energy reserves.
Through constant wear and tear, it rapidly evolved a targeted resistance to the destructive power of this concept.
If it weren't for Jemin deliberately suppressing his power and intentionally dissipating his life force, the body tempering technique's adaptation from "being bitten" to "almost unable to be bitten" could probably have been completed in an instant.
Even with all that, the Shadow Thief is now finding it harder to even gnaw on his shadow.
The shadow thief took another bite.
This time, its "mouth" slid along the edge of the shadow, as if biting into a smooth stone, but it didn't bite anything off. So it stopped.
The flattened figure stepped back slightly, as if reassessing its prey.
A subtle wave-like undulation began to appear on its "body" surface. Through his all-seeing eye, Jemin determined that it was an energy manifestation similar to "confusion" or "unease".
"It seems... the power and intelligence of the supernatural are not directly proportional. That makes sense, if the Night Supernatural itself had intelligence, it wouldn't dare to provoke a wizard." Jemin stroked his chin thoughtfully.
After glancing at the shadow thief who seemed to be preparing to escape, Jemin decided not to continue the test.
The spiritual tea is finished, and enough data has been collected. It's time to wrap things up.
He put down the teacup, which disappeared the instant it left his fingers, returning to his inner sanctum.
Then he raised his right hand, fingers spread, palm down.
Numerous blue runes simultaneously emerged from the four walls of the alley.
Blue runes spread rapidly across the mottled wall, connecting in the blink of an eye to form a complete closed circular magic circle.
The light from the magic circle contracted inward, trapping the shadow thief in a section of the alleyway.
This is a sealing technique that Jemin learned from the Psychic Association.
The complete and bizarre creature he bought at the auction came with a standard sealing container and sealing incantation from the association.
After this period of research and disassembly, he has fully mastered the principles and operation methods of this technology.
Compared to the sealing techniques of the Wizarding World, the Association's techniques are more targeted.
In terms of simply sealing away the bizarre, sealing arrays of the same level are even more effective than the barriers used by wizards to seal things of the law. This is understandable, given that this is practically the core technology upon which humanity in this world depends for survival.
Although he had only just mastered it, with Jemin's skills, he easily put it into practice.
The shadow membrane of the Shadow Thief began to shrink under the pressure of the blue light.
It tried to escape through the gap, but every node of the magic circle was tightly fitted together without any loopholes.
It tried to climb up the wall, but the light from the magic circle covered the entire space from the ground to the roof, leaving it no darkness. The dark figure shrank smaller and smaller under the pressure of the sealing magic circle, shrinking from the size of an unfolded carpet to a tablecloth, and finally to the size of a newspaper.
Jemin took out a specially made metal box from his internal cave.
It was rectangular, silver-white, and covered with runes, much like the containers used to hold strange items at the association's auctions.
But it's much smaller, more like a cigar box.
He opened the box and aimed the opening at the shadow thief, who had been compressed to the size of a palm.
As the sealing array flashed its final beam of light, the Shadow Thief's shadow membrane was completely compressed into a thick, black, ink-like substance. Jemin reached out, folded the substance like paper, then folded it again, and stuffed it into the metal box.
As the lid closed, the runes shone through the silvery-white surface.
It flickered steadily for a few moments, then fell silent.
The shadow thief has been captured.
Jemin retracted the metal box into his inner space, leaned against a lamppost, and closed his eyes.
His consciousness connected with the scattered glimmers of light, examining their location and condition one by one.
Most of the Glimmering Eyes are quietly staying in various parts of the old town, and the signals they are transmitting are normal.
Several of them are attached to members of the Psychic Association and are moving with them.
Those were the elites who participated in tonight's operation, and they are on their way back to headquarters.
Then he found the luminous eye attached to the shark monster.
The signal was clear, and the location information showed that the object had stopped moving.
"But this location... is still at sea, right?"
Could it be that thing has already returned to the base of the person behind it all?
Or was it that they were abandoned?
With that thought, Jemin disappeared from the spot.