Fusion

On a sandy beach by the sea.

The space rippled, and Zhao Jin's figure appeared.

Holding the test tube, he gazed out at the sea, which was shrouded in darkness, its depths completely hidden.

He extended his left hand, his mind carefully sensing the deep ocean.

Soon, five kilometers away from the beach and a hundred meters below the surface.

A blue, two-meter-long shark was swimming. Its eyes gleamed with ferocity, and its head twitched occasionally as it pursued a half-meter-long fish a few meters away.

Hum!

As it closed within two meters, the shark flicked its tail, opened its jaws, and lunged fiercely at its prey.

Whoosh!

Just as its teeth were about to sink into its prey, it suddenly materialized on a sandy beach, biting down on a mouthful of sand instead.

Zhao Jin looked at the utterly bewildered shark. The Destiny Force hovering over its head was extremely faint.

'The innate Destiny Force probably determines the upper limit of its abilities after mutation. If I fuse it with Ghoul blood, will there be some interesting changes?' Zhao Jin thought as he reached out with his left hand to touch the shark.

He shoved his right hand, which was holding the test tube, directly into the shark's mouth. This action was taken as a clear provocation by the shark.

Crunch!

Its jaws clamped down violently, biting off Zhao Jin's right forearm.

At the same moment, a faint golden light emanated from his left hand, and five wisps of golden light surged into the shark's body.

Its body suddenly began to convulse, and as it thrashed, the test tube in its mouth was crushed to pieces.

The black Ghoul blood seeped into its mouth, and Zhao Jin's severed arm was chewed up and swallowed.

Zhao Jin stepped back a few meters with a calm expression, looking down at his severed arm.

The flesh and blood at the stump seemed frozen; not a single drop of blood leaked out.

Squelch!

The severed arm instantly regrew, and even his suit sleeve was completely restored.

Crunch! Tear!

A mutation began to occur within the shark. Its body swelled until it reached four meters in length, and its eyes turned pitch-black.

Several blue bulges appeared on its left and right sides, growing larger and larger.

Pop!

In the next second, the bulges burst open, and two pairs of powerful, webbed grey arms with three-clawed hands emerged.

Whether it was the Ghoul blood or Zhao Jin's severed arm at work, its tail split into two, beginning to take the shape of feet.

Its body evolved toward a humanoid form, and its dorsal fin turned black and grew longer.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of bones cracking and shifting echoed repeatedly. The shark suddenly raised its head and stared at Zhao Jin.

With eyes full of savagery, its mouth split open, and a large amount of foul, rancid drool dripped down.

It was already capable of breathing air.

Looking at the drastically transformed shark, Zhao Jin took out his notebook, a satisfied look appearing on his face. 'It seems I need to develop more ways to utilize Destiny Force.'

【Before granting Destiny Force to any living creature or object, they can be fused with certain special materials to increase the directions and capabilities of their post-evolution mutation!】

“Roar!” The shark suddenly let out a furious roar. Its tail, which had turned into legs, kicked off the ground with immense force. It blurred into an afterimage, its half-meter-wide jaws snapping open as it lunged at Zhao Jin.

Hum!

Its jaws clamped right through Zhao Jin's body, but this time, it failed to tear away any flesh.

Zhao Jin's figure faded and vanished into air.

Watching this, a surprisingly human-like confusion appeared in its eyes. It looked left and right, searching for Zhao Jin's figure.

Several hundred meters away, on a small mound of earth, Zhao Jin materialized.

Shark (Mutant)

Status: A special creature evolving toward a humanoid form!

Race: To be named

'Race: Ghost Shark!' Zhao Jin murmured in his mind.

Ghost Shark: A natural predator, a monster born from the combination of Ghoul genes and a special substance!

Looking at the Ghost Shark, his lips curled up slightly. “Very good. I hope you won't disappoint me.”

He turned around and began walking toward the city. He needed to find a place to get a good night's sleep.

Grumble!

On the beach, after waiting for a few minutes without seeing Zhao Jin, the Ghost Shark was hit by an intense wave of hunger.

It turned and plunged back into the ocean. The human city was far too unfamiliar to it. It had only just transformed and did not yet know how powerful it truly was.

...

In the Capital, news of what had transpired in Ningcheng was immediately transmitted back.

Inside a small villa.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A sharp, urgent ringtone pierced the air. Lu Senyu snapped his eyes open and hurriedly grabbed his phone.

He glanced at the time—1:00 AM. The call was from an internal line of the Security Bureau.

“What's wrong?” a woman's voice asked from beside him.

Lu Senyu shook his head. “There's an emergency I need to handle. I'm heading out first.”

Carrying his phone, he walked into the living room before answering. “What happened?”

“Minister, something happened to the investigation team,” a male voice reported from the other end. “We just received word from Ningcheng. They were attacked. Aside from Zhang Yi, who is currently undergoing emergency resuscitation, the other four are dead.”

Hearing this, Lu Senyu's expression froze.

Thinking he was still half-asleep and had misheard, he asked again, “What did you say?”

“Minister, I know it's hard to believe, but Ningcheng has already sent over videos and photos. The investigation team has indeed met with disaster,” the voice on the other end could only repeat.

Listening to the report, Lu Senyu glanced at the time on his phone again—1:00 AM.

Disbelief was written all over his face. The investigation team had only arrived yesterday morning. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours, yet they had already met with disaster. If word got out, they would become a laughingstock.

Anger surged within him. “What the hell are the people in Ningcheng doing? They couldn't even protect the investigation team! I think they should all pack up their bags and get the fuck out!”

“A significant number of soldiers and inspectors died over there as well. The perpetrator wasn't an ordinary person, but an entity far more formidable than a Ghoul,” the voice on the phone continued, going on to report everything that had occurred in Ningcheng to Lu Senyu.

More than ten minutes later, Lu Senyu hung up and dialed another number.

This number belonged to Feng Shaojun's father, Feng Chang, who was a member of Parliament.

The phone rang for a moment before connecting, and a dignified voice echoed from the other end. “Senyu, what is so urgent that you're calling me at this hour?”

Listening to the voice on the line, Lu Senyu's expression shifted through a flurry of emotions before he finally spoke with great difficulty. “MP Feng, the investigation team has met with disaster. Investigator Feng Shaojun has died in a fire.”

“...” There was a long silence on the other end.

Then, a woman's wailing could be heard in the background. “Ah, my Shaojun...”

The sound of footsteps echoed through the receiver as Feng Chang moved to a different room. His tone remained steady as he sighed and asked, “Sigh... I understand. I assume the rest of the investigation team didn't fare well either?”

Lu Senyu acknowledged this and proceeded to report the information his subordinates had just sent over.

Finally, Lu Senyu said with indignation, “MP Feng, this is an outright provocation by the enemy. No matter what kind of power or methods they possess, we must strike back ruthlessly!”

“I will leave this matter to you. Ask for whatever resources you need, and I will ensure they are approved in Parliament,” Feng Chang replied.

“Understood. I'll make the arrangements immediately!” Lu Senyu said, after which the other side hung up.

Standing in the living room, his expression was dark. The incident in Ningcheng had exposed many underlying issues. He was certain that local officials were involved.

Otherwise, how could the enemy have pinpointed the investigation team's location so quickly?

“The officials in Ningcheng can no longer be trusted. We must investigate them as well this time, and dispatch elites from other regions to handle this.” His gaze was icy; he had already formulated a plan to strike back.

The following afternoon, inside the Ningcheng hospital.

Inside an intensive care unit, Zhang Yi slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Instinctively, he tried to sit up, but he felt absolutely nothing from the waist down.

“Am I paralyzed from the waist down?” With a look of desolation, Zhang Yi reached down to touch his thigh, but there was no sensation at all.

Click!

The ward door opened, and Peng Fei walked in. Seeing that Zhang Yi was awake, he let out a sigh of relief. “You survived. The doctor told me your spine was shattered by a bullet and your lung was punctured. The mortality rate was over eighty percent. I didn't expect you to be this tough, Team Leader Zhang.”

“How is my condition? Though, surviving like this... there's really no point anymore.” Zhang Yi lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

If not for this disaster, given his capabilities, he should have risen to a much higher position. But now, everything was gone.

Peng Fei looked at him, unsure of how to comfort him. “Team Leader Zhang, as long as you're alive, there is still hope. Perhaps you will live to see the mastermind captured and get your revenge.”

Zhang Yi ignored him. Based on their brief clash, he felt that to deal with such extraordinary entities, they would have to deploy heavy weaponry and blast them without regard for the cost.

Sending ordinary soldiers and inspectors was nothing short of suicide.

Just then, footsteps approached from outside, and Wang Pingcheng entered.

He looked at the conscious Zhang Yi, an apologetic expression on his face. “Team Leader Zhang, this was our failure. Had we known the enemy would target you, we would have tightened your security.”

Zhang Yi turned his head to look at him. The Inspector Bureau Chief looked utterly exhausted.

Zhang Yi spoke in a flat tone. “We were careless as well. Chief Wang, how is the situation outside now?”

Hearing this, Wang Pingcheng's expression darkened. “It's daytime now, so those monstrous things rarely show themselves. However, the Inspector Bureau has lost too many men, and morale is at an all-time low.”

His expression grew even uglier as he continued, “An order came down from above. All operations to track down that individual have been suspended. If we encounter them, we are only to report the information and are strictly forbidden from engaging. Our only responsibility now is to maintain the city's security.”

This left him feeling incredibly stifled. Wasn't this basically telling the world that they were letting the matter drop?

Hearing this, Zhang Yi wasn't surprised. The moment they were ambushed, he knew that a mole within the high-ranking officials of Ningcheng had betrayed them.

The investigation could no longer be conducted out in the open. It was highly likely that the Capital would dispatch another team to carry out a clandestine investigation.

Following the disaster that befell the investigation team, Ningcheng fell into a bizarre state of tranquility. The personnel blockading the roads withdrew.

Liu Wen and Tang Yongyun also went quiet, ceasing their attacks on official personnel.