“What is it, Mayor Fu? You look so pale. Did something else happen?” Zhang Yi asked, observing his expression.
Hearing this, Fu Guang turned to Wang Pingcheng, who was following behind him. “Brief Team Leader Zhang on the latest situation.”
Wang Pingcheng stepped forward, his eyes bloodshot, clearly from not sleeping all night. “Team Leader Zhang, the number of those monsters appearing in Ningcheng is growing. As of your arrival, the death toll has already reached two hundred.”
“Yes, if we hadn't immediately controlled the online public opinion, the entire country would probably know about what's happening here by now,” Fu Guang added from the side.
Hearing such shocking numbers, the expressions of everyone in the investigation team shifted.
Before they arrived, the data they had received indicated only a hundred deaths. Now, after just one night, it had doubled.
“Have you still not found the source? These monsters can't just be appearing out of thin air,” Fang Jian asked, looking at Wang Pingcheng.
Hearing this, Wang Pingcheng showed a helpless expression. “We have already mobilized the entire city's surveillance and deployed all our personnel, but we can't find them at all.”
Zhang Yi listened quietly. This was no longer something that could be handled using his past investigative experience.
After a moment of thought, he asked, “Mayor Fu, the monsters and the deaths are all currently contained within Ningcheng, right?”
“Yes, there haven't been any cases in other cities yet,” Fu Guang replied.
“Then that makes things easier. Lock down Ningcheng immediately. During this period, people can only enter but not leave. At the same time, mobilize the garrison to enter the city,” Zhang Yi ordered on the spot.
Originally, he hadn't wanted to lock down the city, but the current situation was developing at a speed far exceeding his imagination.
“Alright!” Fu Guang nodded immediately. With the investigation team giving the order, locking down the city wouldn't be an issue.
Zhang Yi turned back to Fang Jian. “Brother Fang, go to the Inspector Bureau in a bit. Find some people to look through all suspicious cases and police reports starting from a week before the very first monster-related murder case.”
“Understood!” Fang Jian said solemnly. This was his area of expertise.
“Tong Lin, you and Feng Shaojun start looking through local news reports and online forum rumors. See if there are any unusual posts, especially bizarre ones,” he continued to direct the two behind him.
To him, as long as something happened, it would definitely leave a paper trail in this highly connected digital age.
“Okay!” Tong Lin was a bit excited. Zhang Yi was her idol, and being able to work for him made her feel incredibly thrilled.
Feng Shaojun also nodded in agreement.
After making the arrangements, Zhang Yi looked at Wang Pingcheng. “I want to see Peng Fei. His physical examination report should be out by now, right?”
Wang Pingcheng replied, “He is currently being kept in the Inspector Bureau, guarded by soldiers. If you want to see him, I can take you there now.”
Zhang Yi shook his head and declined. “No need. Chief Wang, you should go back and get some rest first. With your current state, I don't want you dropping dead from exhaustion before we even find our target.”
“Team Leader Zhang, but...” Wang Pingcheng wanted to say more.
But Fu Guang raised a hand to cut him off. “This is Team Leader Zhang's order. Go back and sleep for half a day first. It won't delay our work.”
“Alright, then.” Seeing that the mayor had spoken, Wang Pingcheng could only comply.
“Let's go. We'll begin our operation now,” Zhang Yi turned and said to the group.
At this moment, Duan Chebin couldn't help but ask, “Team Leader Zhang, you've assigned tasks to them, but what about me?”
“Brother Chebin, you naturally have a more important task, which is to protect me,” Zhang Yi turned to him with a smile.
The target was not a normal human and couldn't be judged with conventional logic. Perhaps the person hiding behind the scenes really would make a move against the investigation team.
Hearing this, Duan Chebin immediately patted his chest. “Since Team Leader Zhang has arranged it this way, I will definitely protect you!”
An hour later, inside the Inspector Bureau.
An iron cage sat in the basement.
The entire cage was enclosed, but the furniture inside was quite complete, and there was even a television.
Peng Fei leaned against the wall with a numb expression, watching the Ningcheng news broadcast on the television.
The news made everything seem perfectly fine, with absolutely no mention of the deaths of dozens of inspectors.
Click!
Suddenly, a small hatch on the door was slid open.
“Peng Fei, the leaders of the investigation team are here to see you!” a voice called out, but Peng Fei acted as if he hadn't heard a thing, his eyes still glued to the television.
Outside the door, Zhang Yi held a stack of documents in his hand, which contained Peng Fei's physical examination and psychological evaluation.
He stood in front of the small hatch. “Peng Fei, can we talk?”
Peng Fei turned his head to look at him. “What is there for us to talk about? Did the higher-ups send you down here to dissect me?”
Seeing Peng Fei's pitch-black eyes in person, Zhang Yi couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle, as if he were prey being targeted by a natural predator.
However, he still suppressed his instinctive reaction and continued, “Don't you want revenge? From what I understand, you were the one who trained those deceased inspectors. To someone like you who has always been dedicated to inspector work, those people must have been like your brothers and sisters.”
“Revenge?” Hearing his words, Peng Fei recalled that night once again.
His body trembled slightly, black veins bulging on the surface of his skin, and a tear rolled down from his eye.
He stood up and looked at Zhang Yi, his voice laced with a fury suppressed to the absolute limit. “As long as you can let me get my revenge and kill that bastard, I don't care if you dissect me afterward!”
He had thought about too many things over the past few days. The young man who had appeared was highly likely the real culprit.
The only reason he was still alive and hadn't committed suicide was for revenge.
Zhang Yi watched his reaction, a strange look in his eyes.
He thought of Zhao Jin's face: 'I don't know what your goal is, but you aren't the only one with non-human allies.'
Before meeting Peng Fei, he had already reviewed his examination report.
The genetics section showed that his genes had already mutated to the point where he could no longer be classified as human. He had an extreme craving for internal organs, and he could even consume the organs of other creatures.
Moreover, with the amount of organs consumed over time, his body was still undergoing changes, and his muscle density was strengthening.
Peng Fei called his transformation a Ghoul, which was information inherently hardwired into his brain.
“We are comrades. We won't dissect you afterward,” Zhang Yi said, trying to soothe his emotions.
Then, he turned to look to the side. A few soldiers stood there, and Duan Chebin was also standing nearby, holding a short-barreled shotgun.
“Open the door and let him out,” Zhang Yi ordered the soldiers.
Hearing this, Duan Chebin's expression changed slightly. “Team Leader Zhang, you're letting him out after just a few words? This is too dangerous.”
“I trust my judgment. Peng Fei might be able to provide us with great assistance in the future,” Zhang Yi replied.
Seeing Zhang Yi's insistence, one of the soldiers stepped forward, pulled out a key, and prepared to unlock the door.
The other soldiers raised their rifles one after another, staring tensely at the door. If there was even the slightest abnormal movement from him, they would open fire immediately.
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