Night fell over an old street in Ningcheng.
A black van slowly pulled up in front of a seven-story residential building. Inside the van...
Zhang Yi, wearing a black military uniform over a bulletproof vest, was holding a tablet displaying a map of Ningcheng.
Dozens of red circles were marked on the map, indicating areas where they suspected Ghouls were hiding.
“Team Leader Zhang, we could have had our subordinates handle this. Why did you tag along?” Peng Fei, dressed in a black inspector's uniform, sat beside him.
He occasionally sniffed the air. A familiar scent of his own kind was wafting from the building before them.
Without looking up from the map, Zhang Yi replied, “Commanding from the rear might be safe, but it limits my judgment of the front line. After all, I just arrived today and still need to familiarize myself with the situation. Besides, with you guys around, I should be fine.”
Aside from the two of them, five soldiers and Duan Chebin were also seated in the van.
Faced with Ghouls, ordinary inspectors were no longer enough.
These soldiers were armed with 7.62mm caliber rifles, which were vastly more powerful than the pistols used by inspectors.
Just as they were preparing to move, the soldier in charge of monitoring the area called out, “Team Leader Zhang, we have a situation!”
Hearing this, Zhang Yi turned his head to look out the window, his brow furrowing. “What's going on? Weren't there men securing the perimeter? How did he get in?”
A young man was walking by, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers in one hand and a phone in the other, an excited expression on his face. “Hey, honey, I'm right downstairs! I'm going to give you a surprise in a minute!”
They hadn't seen each other in a month, and he had been looking forward to this for just as long.
“Oh, sweetie, why did you show up so suddenly without giving me any—Ah! Ahhh!!” A woman's voice came from the other end of the line, suddenly turning into bloodcurdling screams.
Hearing the screams, the young man's expression changed. “Is there someone else in your apartment?”
But only agonizing screams answered him. The situation instantly reminded him of stories he had often read online, making him feel as though he was being cuckolded.
He immediately dashed toward the residential building. His wife lived on the third floor.
Inside the van, seeing the young man suddenly bolt, Zhang Yi barked, “Stop him!”
The van door slid open, and Duan Chebin roared, “Stop right there!”
But hearing the shout, the young man assumed it was a lookout brought by his wife's secret lover. Completely ignoring them, he charged up the stairs.
“Ah!” Another scream echoed from the third floor.
Hearing the scream, Zhang Yi immediately ordered, “Damn it, move in!”
Armed with a shotgun, he was the first to charge ahead. Behind him, Peng Fei closely followed with a short blade, flanked by the soldiers.
Inside the building, the young man had just reached the third floor when he saw the apartment door on the left wide open. The living room was splattered with blood.
“Squelch!” A sickening tearing sound echoed from inside the apartment.
This bloody, eerie scene instantly snapped the young man back to his senses, and he froze, too terrified to make a sound.
However, whatever was inside seemed to have detected him. The tearing sound stopped, followed by a series of rapid footsteps.
He saw a blood-soaked man with pitch-black eyes rushing out. The figure moved so fast it was almost a blur.
Staring at this fresh prey, the Ghoul leaped forward to pounce on him.
The young man's face drained of color, his legs turning to jelly as he watched the monster lunge at him. Just as he thought his life was over...
A black gun barrel thrust past him, aiming directly at the Ghoul.
“Boom!”
The shotgun roared, sending a dense spray of pellets slamming into the Ghoul's upper body and blasting it backward.
“Whew, glad we made it in time. If you had died right in front of us, it would've ruined my record,” Zhang Yi said grimly, holding his shotgun with both hands.
He stared intently at the fallen Ghoul. Even at such close range, a direct blast from a shotgun hadn't blown its body apart.
“Roar!” In the next second, a furious growl erupted from the fallen Ghoul.
Its body writhed as it struggled to stand.
Peng Fei rushed into the room from the stairwell. Staring at the Ghoul, rage flared in his eyes as he swung his blade downward.
“Slash!”
The head of the struggling Ghoul popped off. A part of the body that even bullets had failed to tear apart was effortlessly severed by his blade.
After turning into a Ghoul, he had been feeding on pig and cattle organs daily. Although it didn't boost his strength as much as consuming human flesh would have, there was an endless supply, multiplying his physical strength several times over.
“Is it dead?” Behind him, Zhang Yi stared at the creature with a solemn expression.
To be absolutely safe, he raised his gun and aimed it at the Ghoul's head.
“Bang!”
With a single shot, he blew the Ghoul's head to pieces.
“W-What is going on? Are you guys inspectors?” The deafening gunshots finally snapped the young man out of his terror.
Zhang Yi ignored him, stepping forward to inspect the scene.
A soldier walked over and grabbed the young man's shoulder. “What you have witnessed tonight is highly classified. Please come with me to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, the soldier firmly guided him down the stairs.
“Bzzzt! Bzzzt!”
Glancing at the dead Ghoul, Zhang Yi felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out to find a flurry of messages from his subordinates.
【Dayan Road team has neutralized one Ghoul!】
【Hengdao team has neutralized two Ghouls; three friendly casualties!】
【Port team has neutralized one Ghoul!】
As reports continued to flood in, Peng Fei caught sight of them from where he stood.
He was somewhat astonished. “So many of these monsters neutralized so quickly. The military and your team really don't mess around, Team Leader Zhang.”
Zhang Yi's expression remained grave. “Before I arrived, your Chief had already pinpointed the general locations of these monsters. That's why we're seeing results so quickly. However, these are just small fry. We still don't have a single lead on the mastermind behind all this.”
Moreover, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was all going too smoothly. These monsters were being dealt with so easily, without posing any real challenge.
At the mention of the mastermind, Peng Fei's face darkened. “I hope we find him soon too. I still have the deaths of many brothers and sisters to avenge.”
Throughout the night, gunfire echoed across various parts of Ningcheng as Ghouls were eliminated one by one by the soldiers.
Several hundred meters away from Peng Fei and the others, atop a water tower over ten meters high...
Zhao Jin stood there, gazing toward the residential building where Zhang Yi and his team were. He showed no emotion whatsoever at the elimination of his Ghouls.
“Whirrr!”
A strange hum echoed in the sky as a drone came to a halt fifty meters up in the air.
Its camera was aimed directly at Zhao Jin.
He stared at the drone, his expression unbothered. With this world's technology, as long as the authorities put their minds to it, his discovery was only a matter of time.
But Zhao Jin didn't care. Someone else would deal with them anyway.
He let his consciousness sink into his mind, checking his Destiny Force.
Destiny Force: 386 strands!
“Not bad. That's over a year of lifespan. After running around constantly these past few days, I can finally relax a bit.” Looking at the Destiny Force, a smile tugged at the corner of Zhao Jin's lips.
Ever since arriving in this world, he hadn't slept once. Although this body probably didn't need sleep, a habit of over twenty years wasn't easily broken.
But before he turned in for some sleep, he still had to wait for the results—specifically, the news of the investigation team's total annihilation.
Leaning forward, his entire body plummeted from the ten-meter-high water tower.
“Thud!”
With a heavy impact, fine cracks spread across the concrete below. Zhao Jin lay face down on the ground.
In the next second, he pushed himself up from the ground. Completely ignoring the drone, he walked off into the darkness.
Rate on N.U.
