The Chief of Intelligence looked at the list of task requirements provided by Ling Xun and felt his vision go dark, as if he could already see the tragic image of himself working overtime until he dropped dead sometime in the next month.
“The Logistics Support Group will coordinate with the field teams to strengthen city-wide patrols and surveillance screening. In particular, conduct covert visits to the activity areas and social circles of the victim, Mrs. Li, to assess if there are other potential risks or undiscovered victims...”
As the tasks were assigned one by one by Ling Xun, the entire Amber City Investigation Bureau began to spin at high speed like a top that had been whipped hard.
Meanwhile, the wanted poster issued by the Investigation Bureau for the “human skin monster” caused quite a stir.
Most ordinary citizens learned about it through online channels or rumors. Their first reaction was disbelief, but there wasn't an overwhelming sense of panic; they had long since grown accustomed to the occasional supernatural incident in their lives.
“From now on, we need to use secret codes when we go out. Try not to be alone so the human skin monster doesn't get a chance.”
“Don't be too anxious, everyone. According to witnesses at the commercial plaza that day, the human skin monster seems to prefer peeling the skin off good-looking people. Those with ordinary looks can relax; the supernatural doesn't even want you.”
“Even the supernatural is obsessed with looks? Oh my god, this cutie’s heart is shattered~”
“It can wear human skin to disguise itself as anyone? Doesn't that mean everyone around us could be a supernatural in disguise?!”
The internet was filled with various speculations about the human skin monster. For a time, some Amber City residents looked at everyone with suspicion.
Once suspicion formed, the more they looked, the more things seemed off. There were even several blunders where people called the police to report others because their behavior “didn't seem like themselves.” This made the already overwhelmed Investigation Bureau even busier.
Meanwhile, the various legally registered civilian transcendent organizations in Amber City reacted differently.
Some organizations actively responded to the Investigation Bureau's wanted poster, sending personnel to assist in the search in hopes of improving their relationship with the authorities or exchanging their help for resources and intelligence.
Others were more cautious, warning their members to keep a low profile and avoid conflict with such a troublesome supernatural creature, while strengthening internal identity verification procedures.
A few ambitious individuals even developed ulterior motives, wanting to secretly capture the human skin monster to use its skin-peeling disguise ability for unspeakable purposes.
In the days following the release of the wanted poster, the Investigation Bureau's tip-off hotline was nearly overwhelmed.
“The old lady next door suddenly looks radiant and full of energy. She’s become talkative and loves dressing up. I suspect she’s been flayed and replaced by a supernatural.”
—She’s just fallen in love.
“Waaah, my husband has suddenly become very fond of cleanliness, stays out all night, and is extremely cold to me. Has something happened to him!”
—No, he’s just cheating.
“There’s a woman in XX District behaving abnormally. Her personality and behavior have changed significantly recently. She’s always preaching the benefits of a vegetarian diet and even trying her best to persuade pregnant women in the neighborhood to adopt ‘womb-veganism’.”
—This is someone contaminated by the ‘Holy Mother’, isolate them immediately!
After constant verification by field personnel, ninety percent of these reports were false alarms. A few did indeed have problems, but they weren't caused by the human skin monster; instead, other supernatural issues were solved by accident.
On the other hand, the research progress on the human skin by the medical and technical teams was slow. They tried various methods and found that the new skin had already developed a strange fusion with the victims, making it difficult to peel off.
Conventional physical or chemical means had little effect and could even cause secondary injuries.
Purification-type supernatural powers might be useful, but unfortunately, auxiliary transcendents who specialize in healing and purification are extremely rare. There were none in Amber City, nor in any nearby cities.
Furthermore, no matter how the technicians adjusted the parameters, the supernatural detectors showed no reaction to the human skins. Even inserting probes under the skin was useless. It was as if those individuals wearing the skins to change their appearance... were purely ordinary humans.
With the detectors failing, the only current way to distinguish “skin-wearers” from normal people was the most primitive method—cutting the skin.
Compared to the skin of a normal person, the supernatural human skin was much tougher and harder to cut, and obvious abnormalities could be seen once it was opened.
However, this simple and crude method was not suitable for a city-wide screening. A person determined to be “safe” could be targeted by Boss Pi again at any time.
Regarding the seven victims forced to wear the supernatural human skins, the medical and technical teams conducted multiple risk assessments and ultimately could only adopt a conservative plan: maintain the status quo for now and conduct long-term isolation and observation.
When this news reached the seven people, their reactions were completely different. Some fell into deeper anxiety, while others guessed that the Investigation Bureau was temporarily unable to remove their new skin and were overjoyed, nearly setting off firecrackers to celebrate. They even strongly demanded an end to their isolation, wanting to go out and show off their new looks.
The staff at the isolation center ignored them completely. Orders had already come down that these people might have suffered some form of mental contamination and were not right in the head.
At the same time, the Intelligence Department’s cross-referencing work made initial progress, but the results were sobering.
They successfully identified the original owners of three of the skins—
One was a fitness coach from Rust City, thousands of miles away, who had been missing for over seven months.
One was a beauty blogger, a signed influencer for a large media company with simple social relations, who had been missing for nearly a year.
And one... was a logistics staff member from the Investigation Bureau headquarters who had mysteriously disappeared two years ago.
These three had clear missing person reports, so the Intelligence Department found them quickly. However, no corresponding citizen information could be found for the other skins; their facial features matched nothing in the database, suggesting they might have come from the Chaos Zone outside the cities.
Piecing this information together roughly outlined Boss Pi's behavioral pattern. His hunting range was extremely wide and not limited to any fixed area. He preferred targets with outstanding looks and was extremely bold, even daring to touch someone from the Investigation Bureau headquarters.
However, these clues were too scattered and vague to lock onto Boss Pi's current hiding place or predict his next move.
His disguise ability was peak-level, and his concealment methods were superb. As long as he wished, he could completely blend into the city like a drop of water in the ocean.
Despite the massive investment of manpower and resources, the investigation gradually fell into a deadlock.
An invisible pressure loomed over the Amber City Investigation Bureau.
Ling Xun stood by his office window, looking down at the bustling city streets with a deep frown.
A high-risk supernatural was hiding beneath this prosperity, a dormant tumor that could explode at any moment.
The worst part was that this matter had alerted headquarters.
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