Chapter 774: Chapter 645: Capture

"Everyone, pay attention," Harding’s voice transmitted through the portable communication device to each person’s ear, "The Shadow Thief may appear at any time. Stay vigilant, do not act alone, and constantly monitor the changes of your shadow."

Silence.

The factory was left with only the buzzing of the lights and the low echo of waves crashing on the distant shore.

Soon enough, Deke saw it first.

From the northwest corner of the factory, beneath a pile of abandoned steel, a translucent shadow slipped out.

Its form was just like the drawing Harding had brought: a flattened human-shaped outline, without facial features, no details of limbs, like a human paper-cut made from translucent black plastic, silently gliding across the floor.

Its movement was bizarre.

As if someone had smeared a layer of oil under its "body," allowing it to glide in a way unaffected by friction.

The Shadow Thief’s speed was not fast, but extremely quiet, so quiet that when you stared at it, you’d doubt if you were experiencing a hallucination.

"Target confirmed," Deke whispered, "Northwest corner, approximately fifty meters away."

The Shadow Thief did not come straight towards them.

It glided along the base of the wall, as if searching for something or testing.

Its "body" agilely turned at the angles between the wall and the floor, sticking to the walls and sliding all the way towards the south side of the factory.

Then it passed by the first set of lights.

The light shone down from above, casting a clear shadow on the floor.

The Shadow Thief paused at the boundary between light and dark, its "body" slightly trembling at the edge of the light, as if sensing something it wasn’t comfortable with.

But it did not retreat; instead, it arced around the edge of the light and continued sliding deeper into the factory.

Undoubtedly, its target was the man lying on the stretcher.

The truck was parked on the south side of the factory, the light inside the compartment casting a rectangular spot of light on the ground through the half-open door.

The man on the stretcher was pushed to the doorway, his body half in the truck’s light, half in the factory’s darkness.

The Shadow Thief slid in that direction.

"It’s taking the bait," Harding’s voice sounded over the communication channel, "Proceed as planned."

The Shadow Thief slid across the empty space in the center of the factory.

Its speed increased, like a shark smelling blood.

The translucent shadow drew a blurry trail on the floor, heading straight for the truck.

When it was less than twenty meters away from the truck, Harding moved.

However, Harding did not charge towards the Shadow Thief but moved laterally, positioning himself between the Shadow Thief and the truck.

His shadow moved with him, spreading out like a black flag on the ground.

Thus, the Shadow Thief’s forward path shifted.

It was seeking an angle, a safe angle to "consume" Harding’s shadow while still approaching the truck.

Deke flanked from the other side, forming an angle with Harding.

Both men switched on their flashlights, blocking all paths for the Shadow Thief’s frontal approach to the truck.

The Shadow Thief’s speed slowed.

Its "body" began to tremble slightly, as if hesitating or calculating.

Suddenly, it turned, skimming across the ground towards the east side of the factory.

That was the edge where the capture team was setting up the Sealing Array, where the light was slightly dimmer.

"It’s trying to take a detour," Deke said over the channel.

"Don’t chase it, let it detour," Harding’s voice was calm, "There are people at the array."

Indeed, when the Shadow Thief reached the east side, several others were already waiting there.

The flashlights of four people connected on the ground into a line, blocking the Shadow Thief’s path.

The Shadow Thief stopped.

It stopped in the center of the factory’s empty space, surrounded by numerous flashlight beams, enclosed from all sides.

The translucent shadow slowly rotated on the ground, as if scrutinizing every direction, searching for any possible gap.

"Sealing Array, activate," Harding ordered.

The four corners of the factory simultaneously emitted a pale blue light.

Runes emerged from the pre-embedded slabs, swiftly spreading across the ground, converging at the boundaries of the factory into a massive closed loop array.

The array’s light contracted inward, gradually compressing the Shadow Thief’s activity range.

Meanwhile, the man without a shadow was pulled back into the truck compartment, the truck sped next to the already prepared floodlights.

The "food" scent disappeared, and the surrounding environment changed, making the Shadow Thief sense danger.

Its "body" suddenly accelerated, rushing towards the nearest direction.

That was the gap between where Deke and another team member stood.

Its speed increased by at least double, like a black lightning bolt sweeping across the ground.

Deke raised his right hand, palm facing down, a black thread shot from his fingertips, precisely wrapping around the edge of the Shadow Thief.

The Shadow Thief’s body was pulled by the thread, its speed abruptly decreased.

But its reaction was quick.

Its body deformed and stretched under the thread’s pull, as if the edges of a jelly had been pinched.

But it did not struggle; instead, it changed its trajectory in accordance with the pull of the thread.

It gave up heading towards Deke and slid in another direction.

At that angle, Deke’s shadow was stretched long by the direction of the spotlight, with the end of the shadow less than three meters away from the Shadow Thief.

The Shadow Thief rushed towards the end of the shadow.

"Deke, to the left!" Harding’s voice exploded in his ear.

Deke almost instinctively followed the command.

He stepped three paces to the left, and his shadow shifted direction as he moved, pulling the shadow’s end away from the Shadow Thief.

At the same time, a team from the east side immediately adjusted the angle of the spotlight.

The beam of a high-powered lamp swept over Deke’s original position, completely erasing the shadow remnant left behind.

The Shadow Thief’s attack missed.

Its body spun in place on the ground, as if expressing some sort of "confusion" emotion.

Then it charged in another direction, this time towards Harding.

Harding stood still, hands in his pockets, calmly watching the shadow rush toward him.

His shadow lay quietly at his feet, motionless.

When the Shadow Thief got within a meter of Harding’s shadow, it suddenly halted.

Its "body" shook vehemently on the ground, as though enduring some form of pain.

A faint blue light seeped from beneath the star-marked badge on Harding’s left chest.

That was his anomaly: the aura of the "Eye of the Storm."

Simply the permeation of this aura was enough to make an anomaly of Shadow Thief’s level feel uncomfortable.

So the Shadow Thief retreated.

It withdrew to the empty area in the center of the factory, curling its body into a ball, like a piece of crumpled paper.

It trembled, a subtle high-frequency tremor that transmitted through the ground to everyone’s feet.

"Is it afraid?" Deke said.

"No." Harding shook his head, "It’s preparing."

Just as he spoke, the Shadow Thief’s body suddenly exploded.

The flattened humanoid shape spread out like ink splattered on the ground, turning into an almost transparent dark film that rapidly extended over the ground.

The edges of the film touched the factory walls.

There were many shadows on the walls.

The rusty machines, broken windows, and steel-framed ceiling cast countless shadows of varying sizes and shapes under the lights.

The moment the film contacted the wall shadows, it seemed to find a channel.

It "crawled" up the wall along the shadows, then "crawled" onto the abandoned machines, and from there "crawled" onto more objects following the cast shadows.

"It’s connected!" Deke’s voice carried a hint of tension, "It’s manipulating those things!"

The objects within the factory ruins seemed to come alive.

A heavy punch machine that had rusted over thirty years suddenly started up.

Its motor emitted a piercing roar, the massive flywheel began to spin, and the rusty punch rammed down, leaving a pit on the ground.

A bridge crane glided along the tracks of the ceiling, its massive hook swinging in the air, claws open, reaching down towards the crowd.

A pile of discarded steel pipes sprung from the ground, as if manipulated by invisible hands, whistling as they flew towards the Spiritualists in the field.

"Everyone, attention!" Harding’s voice remained clear amidst the chaos, "Don’t panic, follow the plan!"

The capture team immediately activated the Sealing Array and the spotlight group to full power.

The array’s light shifted from pale blue to bright white, enveloping the entire factory district in an almost blinding halo.

The spotlight beams began sweeping systematically, attempting to cut off the Shadow Thief’s pathways connecting objects through shadows.

But those already manipulated by the Shadow Thief each maintained a direct connection with its shadow film.

Even if a spotlight beam cut off a shadow channel, it could still maintain control through another channel.

"Deke, don’t release your anomaly!" Harding stopped Deke as he raised his hand, "Your Shadow Snake can’t help in this environment, it might even become a leverage for the Shadow Thief. Let me do it."

Harding took a deep breath, letting go of the suppression of his anomaly.

Thus, the Eye of the Storm was unleashed.

Inside the abandoned factory, a storm appeared out of nowhere.

Genuine clouds formed in the space beneath the factory roof, thunder echoed between the walls, and fierce winds carried bean-sized raindrops to sweep through everything.

Rain poured in from all directions simultaneously, as if invisible rainy machines had been installed in every corner of the factory.

And at the storm’s center was Harding.

Standing amidst the storm, his uniform flapped wildly in the wind, yet his body stood unmoving, hands still in his pockets.

The fierce wind collided with the objects manipulated by the Shadow Thief.

The flywheel of the heavy punch machine slowed in the wind, the crane’s hook swung unpredictably in the air, and the shooting steel pipes were swept away by the wind, clanging against the walls.

The storm and the Shadow Thief formed a confrontation.

The objects controlled by the Shadow Thief retreated under the impact of the storm, but the shadow film stubbornly clung to every object’s shadow, unwilling to let go.

(Update available, another Chapter to go)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.