I, a cultivator, have ended up in the wizarding world

Chapter 645 The Shadow Thief

At dusk, the abandoned industrial area along the coast of the foggy city was shrouded in a grayish-purple halo.

The sun had already sunk below the sea level, but it was not yet completely dark.

This period of time is called "dusk" by the people of Chongqing.

That ambiguous moment of blurred light and shadow between day and night is also the time when most people in this city rush home before darkness completely descends.

But for the Psychic Association, the twilight is the beginning of their work.

Harding stood at the entrance of an abandoned factory, his hands in the pockets of his dark blue uniform.

His gaze passed over a vacant lot piled with rusted steel and looked toward the gray sea in the distance.

There were no ships on the sea, only a thick fog slowly swirling, like the breathing of some enormous creature.

He is 47 years old this year and has worked in the association for more than 20 years.

After retiring from frontline field work, he thought he would never lead a team on such missions again.

But this time the situation is different.

The small team that was sent out earlier was wiped out before it could even send back any information.

The association needed experienced people, so he stepped forward.

"Old Ha." Dirk's voice came from behind, "The site has been confirmed. The three factory buildings on the north side have all been cleared out, and there are no unauthorized personnel." Dirk walked over and stood beside him.

His young face showed an eager expression, but deep in his eyes was a hint of nervousness that was not easily detected.

After all, he had only been with the company for two years, and before that he had only dealt with ordinary danger-level anomalies. This was his first time participating in a capture operation against a hazardous-level anomaly. "Where are the others?" Harding asked.

"The other three elite teams have arrived and are doing final equipment checks. The capture team is setting up the sealing array and lighting equipment; it will probably take another half hour." Dirk pointed to the interior of the factory. "I've been inside; the space is large enough, and the ceiling is high enough, suitable for deployment." Harding nodded without saying anything more.

He turned around and looked at the empty factory area behind him.

This abandoned industrial area was once one of the largest shipyards in the foggy city, but it was closed thirty years ago due to a mysterious attack.

Since then, the area has been abandoned, with empty factories and rusted equipment, and only the occasional homeless person and black market dealer appear here.

This is an ideal location for today's operation.

There are no civilians, the space is spacious, and arrangements can be made in advance without worrying about affecting innocent people.

Moreover, this place is secluded enough not to attract unnecessary attention.

One after another, several black vans drove into the factory area.

The car door opened, and association members in dark blue uniforms jumped out and began moving various pieces of equipment.

Metal brackets, runestone slabs, high-powered lights, rolls of cables...

Harding and Dirk walked deeper into the factory.

The other three elite groups are already waiting inside.

There were six people, three men and three women, ranging in age from thirty to fifty.

Each person's uniform is different from that of ordinary association members.

The collar and cuffs are trimmed with silver, and a star symbol representing "elite" is embroidered below the badge on the left breast.

Some leaned against the wall, some squatted next to the equipment box, and some were talking in hushed tones, but everyone's attention was focused the moment Harding walked in.

"Everyone's here." Harding glanced at everyone present. "Enough with the small talk, let's get straight to the intelligence."

He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it.

A bizarre figure was hand-drawn on the paper: a semi-transparent, flattened humanoid outline, without facial features or limb details, like a thin, crumpled piece of black paper.

"Tentative codename: Shadow Thief. Level: Hazardous, initially assessed as peak hazard. Appearance: As you can see, a semi-transparent shadow form that glides across the ground. Its movement always avoids light sources and is most fond of moving along the base of walls, under furniture, or under anything else that can cast a shadow during twilight."

Harding stuck the paper on the wall and turned around.

"According to the 'prophet's' calculations, this thing's killing pattern is... it only attacks 'people without shadows'."

Dirk frowned. "A person without a shadow?"

“Yes.” Harding nodded. “But its very existence is what causes people to lose their shadows. This thing feeds on shadows, and when a shadow thief passes by your shadow, it will ‘bite’ the edge of your shadow, making a small piece of your shadow disappear.”

"This process is very subtle; ordinary people won't feel anything, and it's even difficult to detect the change in the shadow with the naked eye. But as it passes by repeatedly, your shadow will get smaller and smaller until it disappears completely."

Harding paused for a moment, allowing those present to process the information.

"After losing their shadow, the shadow thief can convert your body into their own nourishment. This process is very slow and may take several days. The victim will feel inexplicably tired and weak, and eventually die in a sleep without any abnormalities. From the outside, the deceased has no external injuries and no signs of poisoning, just like a natural death."

"So those missing people in the old city..." an elite team member began.

"Some went missing, and some were treated as 'deaths of illness' by their families," Harding said, his tone becoming heavier. "We discovered this pattern after comparing death records from the past four months. More than a dozen people were described by witnesses as 'having no shadow' before they died... but no one noticed this detail at the time."

The factory was quiet for a moment.

"We've roughly determined the boundaries of the shadow thief's activities using the victims' geographical coordinates," Harding said, pointing to another hand-drawn map on the paper. "Its current area of ​​activity is concentrated between 7th and 12th Streets in the Old Town, and it hasn't gone beyond that range. But we can't rule out the possibility that it might expand its area of ​​activity."

"The squad we sent out earlier was wiped out before they could even send back any information," Dirk added, his voice lower than usual. "So we suspect this anomaly might have a 'second phase' or other troublesome characteristics. We chose this battlefield today to deal with any unforeseen circumstances."

Harding walked to the center of the factory and looked up at the rusty steel roof.

"We've already prepared the site in advance. The sealing array covers the entire factory area, and the lighting is arranged in a grid pattern to ensure there are no blind spots. The capture team is responsible for the outer perimeter support and maintaining the array. The eight of us..." He pointed to the elite team members present, "...are ready to act at any time, according to our respective areas of expertise."

"Understood," the six replied in unison.

"Then everyone, take your positions."

The sky grew completely dark.

All the lighting fixtures in the factory area have been installed.

Each lamp is custom-made, with runes engraved on the lampshade that scatter light in a special way to ensure that there are no shadows left in the illuminated area.

Besides being used for lighting, this thing was also used to restrict the movement space of the person stealing the photos.

As darkness fell, the sky gradually darkened.

Harding stood in the center of the factory and glanced down at his uniform.

The collar, cuffs, and chest area of ​​the uniform glowed with a soft fluorescent light in the darkness.

This is the association's standard configuration.

Each uniform is embedded with tiny fluorescent runes to ensure that the wearer is always "glowing" without casting extra shadows.

The uniforms of everyone present lit up, and the scattered fluorescent lights gathered in the darkness to form a reassuring halo.

Dirk stood next to Harding and wiggled his fingers.

"Old Ha," Dirk said in a low voice, "do you really think this shadow thief needs such a big fuss?"

Harding glanced at him: "That's what the last squad thought too."

Dirk shut his mouth.

Harding turned and walked toward a van behind the factory.

The truck's cargo door was open, and the interior was brightly lit—literally, "brightly lit."

The interior walls of the carriage were covered with various light sources.

Fluorescent lights, incandescent bulbs, runic lamps… illuminated every corner of the carriage like a midday desert, without a single inch of shadow. In the center of the carriage, a stretcher rested on a makeshift support frame.

A man was lying on a stretcher.

He was in his forties, with a haggard face, sunken eyes, and an unhealthy grayish-white complexion.

He stared blankly at the ceiling of the carriage, his lips moving slightly as if he were trying to say something but no sound came out.

Harding climbed onto the truck and squatted next to the stretcher.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

The man's eyes slowly turned to him, and he blinked.

That's the only thing he can do right now.

"You are the most recent victim we've found," Hardin's voice was soft but clear. "Your shadow has completely vanished. According to the Shadow Thief's pattern, it will come looking for you within the next few days. So, help us find it. Afterwards, the association will do everything it can to help you recover." The man blinked again.

This time, the blinking was very slow, as if saying "okay".

Harding stood up, jumped off the truck, and nodded to Dirk next to him.

"Preparation begins."

Eight high-powered lights were lit simultaneously beneath the factory's ceiling.

White light poured down from above, illuminating the entire factory area as if it were daytime.

Rusty machines, broken windows, cracked cement floors... everything is laid bare in the light.

But the light also brought shadows.

Every person standing in the light casts a shadow, some long, some short, some dark, some light.

Harding looked at his shadow and frowned slightly.

Although the prophet said that there wouldn't be any problem if part of the shadow was swallowed up, there would still be some concerns in one's heart.

But this is a necessary sacrifice.

Although there is a "shadowless person" as bait, the shadow thief will not appear if there are no shadows in the surrounding environment.

Therefore, they need to use themselves as bait as well.