Chapter 41 - 34: Sealed Artifact
This group’s objective was definitely not hunting!
There were more than fifteen of them—elite Martial Artists from the Public Security Bureau. They wielded Energy Firearms, wore combat knives at their waists, and maintained a high state of alert, forming a tight defensive circle.
And at the center of their formation was not some trophy or important figure, but an old man with white hair, dressed in the iconic white coat of a researcher.
Most eye-catching of all, the old man was tightly clutching a black, palm-sized humanoid statue!
The statue gave off an indescribably sinister aura.
’People from the Yang City Research Institute?’
Through the Mosquito Avatar’s vision, Lin Yi clearly saw the emblem on the chest of the old man’s white coat, which represented Yang City’s highest scientific research institution: a silver eye surrounded by a gear, with the miniature skyline of a city carved into the pupil.
’At a time like this, people from the research institute aren’t staying in the safest underground core fortress, but are out here on the surface... and with such a heavy Martial Artist guard? This is definitely not as simple as hunting monsters!’
Anything this abnormal spelled trouble!
A strong intuition told Lin Yi that this team’s actions concealed an unknown secret!
A secret so important that a top expert from the research institute would risk coming to the front lines during the Red Moon catastrophe, so important that the Public Security Bureau would dedicate such a powerful protective force!
Lin Yi’s mind tensed. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately had the Mosquito Avatar conceal its presence completely, like a speck of dust truly merging with a raindrop.
It silently attached itself to the shadowy corner of a collapsed metal billboard.
He focused all of its vision and senses on the group.
He carefully tried to catch every subtle movement and any stray fragments of conversation.
Sure enough, the Public Security Bureau captain—the one with the most powerful aura and clearly the leader—vigilantly scanned the surging, blood-red rain around them. He leaned in and asked the white-haired researcher in a low voice, his words carrying through the downpour with a grave tone:
"Elder Wu, are you certain... that a new ’Anomalous Item’ has really appeared within Yang City during this Red Moon?"
His gaze fell mostly on the small black statue clutched in Elder Wu’s hand.
The white-haired researcher, addressed as "Elder Wu," had a face that was a sickly, deathly pale, as if a large amount of blood had been drained from his body.
Hearing the question, he gave a difficult but exceptionally firm nod, his eyes fixed on the lifeless statue in his hand.
"There’s no mistake! The D-786 sealed object has never been wrong in sensing this type of aura! An Anomalous Item must have been born within Yang City, catalyzed by this Red Moon! We have to find it and seal it as soon as possible! Otherwise..."
He paused, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly.
"The consequences will be unimaginable! The entirety of Yang City could be thrown into even greater chaos and disaster!"
He clenched the small black figure in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force.
The captain’s brow furrowed, clearly aware of how terrifying an out-of-control Anomalous Item could be.
He glanced again at the statue in Elder Wu’s hand, which seemed to be sneering silently.
"Alright! For the remainder of the operation, everyone will follow Elder Wu’s command! It’s just..."
He surveyed the city around them—shrouded in crimson, with the roars of monsters rising and falling—and his tone was laced with obvious worry.
"Yang City is so large, and we’re at the peak of the Red Moon catastrophe. Monsters are appearing one after another. Where do we even begin our search? It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack!"
Elder Wu didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stared down at the strange statue in his hand.
The small black figure’s mouth was latched onto the pad of Elder Wu’s right thumb, sucking like a living creature!
Visible streams of extremely pure Qi and Blood Power were being forcibly and continuously drawn from Elder Wu’s body and injected into the small figure.
As his Qi and Blood drained away, what little color remained in Elder Wu’s already pale face vanished, and his lips even turned slightly blue.
Almost every minute, he would struggle to retrieve a longan-sized, crimson Pill from a special metal box he carried, quickly swallowing it.
Once swallowed, the Pill would barely manage to bring a brief, unhealthy flush to his face before it was devoured by the statue’s even more ravenous sucking.
Elder Wu caught his breath and explained, his voice clearly weak and exhausted:
"This is the price... The D-786 sealed object is called the ’Shrieking Statue.’ Its core ability is to detect the unique aura emitted by ’Anomalous Items’ within a ten-kilometer radius."
"Once it locks onto a target, it will let out an extremely shrill cry to indicate the direction..."
"Captain Zhao, my body... I can’t hold on for much longer!"
"Its ’feeding’ speed increases with time. For the first hour, I can barely endure it by replenishing my Qi and Blood with Pills... In the second hour, its suction will double! In my current state, even if I use up my entire stock of Essence Replenishing Pills, I absolutely won’t survive the terrifying drain of the third hour!"
Captain Zhao’s expression changed drastically. "Elder Wu! If it’s this dangerous, why can’t someone else from the team take over when your Qi and Blood are about to run out?"
His gaze swept over several team members behind him whose Qi and Blood were also quite strong.
Elder Wu shook his head, pained yet helpless.
"It’s no use... Every time D-786 is activated, it must establish a continuous link with its ’feeder.’"
"If the feeding is interrupted, even for an instant, it will immediately fall into a deep ’dormant’ state."
"And to reawaken it..."
"It requires a cooldown period of at least seven days! Seven days... that’s too late! By then, the new Anomalous Item will have likely spun completely out of control and caused a massive catastrophe!"
HISS... Captain Zhao sucked in a sharp breath. He instantly understood the extreme urgency of the situation and the immense pressure Elder Wu was under.
This sealed object was their only detector. The cost of using it was immense, and it couldn’t be interrupted or passed to someone else. They had to find their target within two hours!
It was practically a ticking time bomb hanging over their heads!
"Understood! Elder Wu, there’s no time to lose. Forgive my forwardness!" Captain Zhao no longer hesitated. He immediately crouched his burly frame. "Get on! I’ll carry you! All units, on my command! Maintain maximum alert formation! We have only one objective—find that damn thing within two hours!"
Elder Wu didn’t refuse, allowing Captain Zhao to lift him onto his back.
As Captain Zhao broke into a full sprint, pushing his speed to the absolute limit...
...the surrounding Public Security Bureau officers instantly moved like the most precise machinery. With the two men at their core, they formed a high-speed, mobile fortress, plowing through the low-tier monsters blocking their path. They raced through the blood-red ruins and the raging downpour, beginning a deadly race against time.
「At that moment.」
The Mosquito Avatar remained quietly hidden in the cold metal shadows, watching as the team, burdened with its special mission, disappeared into the depths of the crimson downpour.
Lin Yi’s mind, however, was filled with questions.
’Anomalous Items... What the hell are those?!’