Her public identity was most likely that of a cold and aloof career elite.

But at this moment, Emily Brooks was dressed in an ancient-style women's fox-fur cloak, wearing a fox mask on her face. At first glance, she looked just like a fox spirit from ancient times leaping down from the mountains. When she glanced back unintentionally, there was a chill in her eyes, along with an irresistible hint of allure.

Gavin Carter noticed that the fox mask still had spiritual energy flowing through it—it was a magical artifact for both concealment and mental enhancement, though unfortunately of a rather low grade. At last, he was seeing something related to cultivation in this world, and Gavin Carter actually felt a bit sentimental.

From a female office worker to a fox demon, the transformation in aura was earth-shattering. He was certain that ordinary people would never be able to tell this was Emily Brooks; it would never even cross their minds.

Emily Brooks had no idea someone was watching her from the clouds. After glancing back, she saw several figures in black chasing out of the villa. She dared not linger for even a moment, and with a few leaps, she darted to the foot of the mountain, flying toward the city.

In the blink of an eye, she overtook the hovercars speeding down the street, turned into an alley, and disappeared from sight.

The driver rubbed his eyes. Was that a slender woman who just overtook him, or a fox?

He looked down at his dashboard: 80 kilometers per hour.

Emily Brooks had no time to be proud of her speed. As she darted along, she flicked her fingers, and several crisp sounds rang out—the alley's streetlights shattered, plunging everything into darkness.

The darkness gave Emily Brooks at least a bit more sense of security. Just as she let out a slight sigh of relief, a sharp screech suddenly came from the sky.

Emily Brooks jerked her head up and saw the silhouette of a bat spreading its wings, gliding past beneath the full moon.

A piercing howl sounded as the bat dove down: "You can't escape, little girl. Hand over the serum!"

That wasn't a bat, nor a so-called vampire, but simply a freak with bat wings.

Emily Brooks could even see the bat-man's blood-red eyes and sharp fangs.

Watching silently from the clouds, Gavin Carter frowned. This aura was off—this was not a normal creature.

"So you really did develop beastification serum, and it's already in use!" Emily Brooks stopped running. She knew she couldn't outrun something that could fly—she herself couldn't fly yet.

But there couldn't be many like this opponent. As long as she could deal with him quickly...

"Whoosh!" As soon as that thought crossed her mind, the bat-man had already swooped down in front of her, his right claw slashing straight for Emily Brooks's face: "As long as you die, no one will ever know."

Emily Brooks chopped with her palm, trying to deflect the attack, but it was like striking steel—she only managed to shift it slightly. Startled, she dodged, and the bat-man's right claw smashed straight into the wall behind her, slicing through it like tofu.

Then, with a flap of his wings, Emily Brooks barely had time to raise her arms in front of her before she was sent flying by a tremendous force, crashing hard into a utility pole.

The pole quickly cracked and toppled.

Emily Brooks coughed as she got up, panting a little.

"In terms of cultivation stages, Emily Brooks would be considered a beginner at the Heart of the Zither stage—already quite formidable among mortals," Gavin Carter assessed silently. "This bat-man... rather than so-called beastification, it's more like forcibly adding traits from different creatures, even steel, and then using drugs to stimulate potential, boosting his power to about the mid-Heart of the Zither stage. This will drastically shorten his lifespan... does he even know that?"

Below, the bat-man was already approaching Emily Brooks with a twisted grin: "To withstand a blow from me, you must have some skill. For such a small city to have someone like you—what a surprise... Let me see whose face is under that fox mask!"

Before he finished speaking, his right claw was already reaching for Emily Brooks's mask.

Seemingly weak, Emily Brooks's eyes suddenly flashed with a violet light, and the air seemed to ripple slightly.

But the bat-man's claw couldn't come down. He let out a surprised "Huh?": "Psychic powers?"

His expression gradually twisted in pain, as if he was suffering a powerful mental assault.

Emily Brooks wasn't having an easy time either. Even the mask couldn't stop the sweat pouring down her face, and the violet glow in her eyes grew stronger and stronger. In the bat-man's eyes, the fox mask became more and more distorted, and it even seemed as if a pair of fox ears was sprouting from behind the mask...

"...Fox ears!" The bat-man burst out laughing. "So you're the same! ...No, not the same—this isn't human beastification at all... You're a demon! A real demon!"

Emily Brooks remained silent. This bat-man was much stronger than she'd expected, able to resist her secret technique even with the aid of a magical artifact, forcing her to go all out and even reveal her fox ears. If she couldn't take him out, there would be big trouble later.

While resisting the psychic attack, the bat-man watched as Emily Brooks pulled out... a handgun.

Bat-man: "?"

Gavin Carter: "???"

You're an ancient-style fox demon, and you just pulled out a gun?

"Bang!" A terrifying energy beam flashed by, blowing away half of the bat-man's head.

"Times have changed, sir." Seeing her attack succeed, Emily Brooks let out a breath and retreated at top speed.

The bat-man had only caught up because he could fly, but he wasn't the only pursuer—she had to get away immediately.

But suddenly, her feet wouldn't move.

Emily Brooks whipped her head around, only to see the bat-man on the ground grabbing her ankle. The half of his head that had been blasted away was wriggling and healing.

He wasn't dead!

Seeing Emily Brooks look at him, the bat-man grinned savagely: "I told you, you can't escape."