Ling Xun cleared his throat and stepped forward, using as calm a tone as possible to explain the situation. "Everyone, please stay calm. This sudden change in your appearance is not a good thing. It is a residue from a high-risk supernatural creature covering your bodies. For your own safety, the Investigation Bureau needs your cooperation to remove this outer layer of skin.”
As his voice fell, the seven people reacted differently.
Four of them immediately showed looks of horror and disgust upon hearing “high-risk supernatural.”
“So that’s why I suddenly changed like this. It was some supernatural thing.”
“Is this thing poisonous?”
“ I will fully cooperate. Can the Investigation Bureau please help me get rid of it first!”
“ Officer, please, I don’t want to live with someone else’s face.”
The other three, however, showed obvious hesitation and resistance.
The most prominent was the man who was constantly stroking his chest and abdominal muscles.
He had originally been a sloppy shut-in—barely five-foot-seven, weighing nearly two hundred pounds, and spending his years playing games while leeching off his parents. Having suddenly gained such a superior physique and appearance, the massive surge of ecstasy had already clouded his mind.
He hugged himself tightly, as if afraid someone would steal his treasure, and shouted, “Why remove this outer skin? I feel great right now, better than I’ve ever felt! Maybe this is a stroke of luck from the heavens. I’ve done good deeds in the first half of my life, so the heavens gave me this reward.”
Beside him, a person who was originally a man but was now a radiant beauty also spoke up in agreement, swaying her newly acquired slender waist.
“ Officer~ this new skin doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, it’s quite comfortable. Every extra day I get to be a beautiful woman is a win. Besides, you said it’s just a ‘residue’ from a supernatural creature. How dangerous can it be? At worst, I’ll just take the skin off when I start feeling bad.”
“Exactly, exactly! What they said is right!” another newly minted “heartthrob” hurriedly added.
The bizarre arguments from these three made Ling Xun’s mouth twitch with irritation. They were clearly blinded by the beautiful skin, ignoring the potential for a massive crisis!
Was a good-looking face really that important?
So superficial!
Ling Xun was immune to the impact of high looks; he didn’t feel any sense of awe, mostly because he had already been stunned into numbness by a certain colleague of his.
Therefore, he didn’t think the seven people before him were particularly outstanding. In fact, the longer he looked, the more his eyes hurt.
It really was an eyesore.
The skins were top-tier, but unfortunately, the “contents” inside were of poor quality.
It was like a bottom-feeder transmigrating into a wealthy heartthrob, or an ogre possessing a delicate beauty. Despite their high looks, they performed various actions that completely clashed with their temperament. That narcissistic obsession with their own new bodies was a mix of greasy, sleazy, and comical.
Ling Xun suppressed his annoyance and warned them sternly, “ I’m not joking. Your new skin is a product of the supernatural. It looks harmless now, but who knows if there are curses, mental contamination, or other risks hidden inside? You currently have a bomb strapped to you that could explode at any time. You absolutely cannot delay, and you certainly cannot ignore it!”
Hearing this, the former shut-in’s expression turned sour. “Isn’t there a way to have the best of both worlds? To keep the current appearance while clearing the hidden dangers. Taxpayers pay so much money every year; surely the Investigation Bureau isn’t so incompetent that they can’t handle such a small thing?”
In the past, he had often cursed pretty boys online for being feminine and lacking masculinity. He had mocked muscular men, saying their bodies were just the result of chemicals and drugs. He had even insulted male streamers who showed off their bodies, saying they were just selling themselves...
He had been especially harsh toward looks-obsessed people, often writing essays to attack them, telling them not to just look at a person’s exterior and that inner beauty was more important.
But when these high-end features he had once dragged through the mud suddenly landed on him, he completely forgot everything he had ever said. He only wanted to keep this external beauty.
Because he knew better than anyone what was beautiful and what was ugly, and he knew exactly what kind of people looked good.
“ I’ll accept the risk. What’s a little suffering if I can be beautiful for a lifetime? It’s worth it even if I lose a few years of my life!” the other woman joined in.
Ling Xun rolled his eyes, completely losing his patience. These victims had been dazed by illusory beauty; trying to reason with them was a complete waste of breath.
He even suspected that Boss Pi’s human skins had a manipulative and intelligence-lowering effect.
“Enforce the mandatory isolation and inspection procedure. Any resistance will be treated as obstructing official business!” Ling Xun’s face was grim as he stopped talking and directly gave the order into his internal communicator.
Before long, a team of burly enforcement personnel arrived at the reception room. Ignoring the screams and struggles of those three, they took them toward the isolation center.
Ling Xun rubbed his aching temples as he watched the remaining cooperative victims being led away. He didn’t feel the slightest bit relieved.
The new skins on the victims probably wouldn’t be easy to peel off safely. It wasn’t as simple as just tearing them off; it likely involved curses.
The most headache-inducing part was Boss Pi himself. The trouble had only just begun.
After a moment, he issued a notice: “ Technical Department, Intelligence Department, Medical Department, and Logistics Support Group—have your heads of department report to the conference room for a meeting immediately. There is an urgent mission!”
Ten minutes later, the atmosphere in the conference room was solemn. Ling Xun first gave a detailed analysis of the current situation, and the department heads listened with grave expressions as he assigned tasks.
“The action plan is mainly divided into the following aspects.” Ling Xun scanned everyone present.
“First, regarding the victims who were given new skins. The Medical Department will take the lead, collaborating with the Technical Department to form a special task force. You must study the characteristics of those supernatural human skins as much as possible while ensuring the safety of the personnel—why they can evade instrument detection, how they bond with ordinary humans, how to distinguish them, and try to find a way to break the bond.”
The head of the Medical Department looked miserable. “We will do our best...”
Fortunately, Ling Xun didn’t force the Medical Department to complete an impossible task. After all, this was the first time such a case had appeared, and it involved too many issues. He hadn’t even demanded that they successfully peel the skins off the victims; he just wanted them to observe and research.
“Second.” Ling Xun turned his gaze to the Intelligence Department and continued, “The Intelligence Department will immediately establish a special investigation team. Your task is quite heavy.”
“You need to extract and collect as much information as possible from those human skins. Cross-reference this information with the missing persons database and the city citizen information database. Confirm the identity of every flayed victim, their last known location, their social relationships, and so on.”
“We need to define the human skin monster’s range of activity and hunting preferences as clearly as possible. The workload is large, so you can temporarily pull staff from other departments. If necessary, you can request data support from the Investigation Bureaus in other cities.”
Rate on N.U.
