Something Big Is Coming!

"What did you see?" Liu Le asked, his eyes glued to the screen. "That section of the stone wall is a bit different from the rock around it," Ye Huan said, pointing at a spot. "Different how?" Zhao Fei looked over as well, staring at where Ye Huan was pointing. Before Ye Huan could speak, the expressions of both Zhao Fei and Liu Le changed. Both were experienced investigators; if they had failed to notice it before, Ye Huan's gesture made the anomaly immediately obvious. "The surrounding walls are all grayish-brown. Only this patch is dark," Liu Le said earnestly, his face almost pressed against the monitor. Zhao Fei nodded. His hands moved swiftly across the controls, pulling up consecutive clips of earlier footage to compare. "The dark patch moved—in just a few seconds, it shifted forward by about thirty centimeters," Zhao Fei said. Ye Huan hadn't been mistaken! Liu Le tore off his headset and bolted out the door. Staring at the monitor, Zhao Fei snatched up the microphone and spoke in a low, steady voice: "Lao Li, on the wall thirty meters ahead on your left, there's an unknown living creature. Stay on guard." *Crash!* The door burst open. Xu Ping rushed in alongside Liu Le, eyes locking onto the surveillance feed. Snatching the mic, Xu Ping barked into it: "Lao Li, fall back immediately. Repeat, fall back at once! Lao Zhang, Xiao Jia, abort your mission and head to the junction to back up Lao Li. Take the cage back to the surface together. Move, now!" "Copy," three voices acknowledged over the feed. On screen, Lao Li began slowly backing away. Everyone held their breath. Lao Li carefully withdrew to the junction, regrouping with Lao Zhang and Xiao Jia, who had just arrived. Forming up back-to-back, they had only just begun moving when— The ground gave a sudden jolt. Everyone froze. An earthquake? "Run!" Xu Ping shouted sharply. Slamming down the microphone, he barged through the door and vanished into the mine shaft in a blur. Zhao Fei shot to his feet and yelled, "Liu Le, Ye Huan, hold this position! Don't run off, whatever you do!" He rushed out as well, following Xu Ping's trail into the tunnel. That left only Liu Le and Ye Huan. Without a word, Liu Le walked to the corner and dragged a long, black canvas bag into the center of the room. He unzipped it. Inside was an assortment of firearms and ammunition. "Pick something." Liu Le grabbed a semi-automatic shotgun and began loading shells. Ye Huan scanned the selection, pulled out a sniper rifle, and searched for matching ammunition boxes. "We're both only at the Shidu realm," Liu Le said, chewing gum and trying to sound nonchalant. "In a situation like this, our top priority is protecting ourselves and receiving any wounded. In short, nothing too heavy." Yet his face was pale and the hands holding the gun were trembling, belying his easy tone. "I'll take long range, you take close," Ye Huan said. "Alright," Liu Le agreed. The two took up positions by the doorway. Ye Huan propped up the sniper rifle, chambered an armor-piercing round, and aimed toward the mine entrance. Liu Le crouched against the wall, shotgun clutched to his chest, taking deep, ragged breaths. "They're coming," Ye Huan said suddenly. "What?" Liu Le asked in a trembling voice. "Captain Xu is bringing everyone back," Ye Huan said. Liu Le let out a slow breath before replying, "Good." Sure enough, Xu Ping emerged from the mine tunnel, running with the others in tow. The very next second, the ground shuddered once more. Only this time, the tremor was far more violent. "Watch out!" Xu Ping roared. It was too late— The entire ground collapsed downward as an afterimage erupted from beneath the earth, hurtling into midair. Its grotesque, terrifying form was laid bare before everyone's eyes. A centipede! Though it had the body of a centipede, it bore a humanoid head, its crimson eyes locked straight onto Ye Huan and Liu Le. Ye Huan's heart skipped a beat. A demon. This was his first time seeing a demon with his own eyes! It was roughly sixty meters long. Impaled across its hard, barbed carapace hung the corpses of seven or eight soldiers, some already torn to pieces. As for why it was staring at him and Liu Le, there was no need to guess. Because out of everyone present, only Liu Le and he were the weakest! Two Shidu martial artists, not even qualified to venture into the wild! Above its head, a series of tags appeared: "Skull Collector." "Identity Achievement:" "Pitiful humans. Anyone beneath the Jiuyao realm was devoured before they could even resist—seventy-eight in total; even more corpses hang from its body as dry rations." "One challenge has already been completed today; Identity Achievement cannot be challenged again." Ye Huan's pupils contracted. It was this thing! What had lurked underground and been spotted earlier had probably only been a fraction of its body! Which meant— It specialized in burrowing into the earth to ambush its prey! "Liu Le," Ye Huan hissed. Liu Le gritted his teeth, trying to swing his shotgun around and take aim, only to find all the strength sapped from his arms. *Bang.* A dull crack echoed. The armor-piercing round shot from the sniper rifle, striking the centipede's human face dead between the brows. The centipede halted, instinctively shaking its head as if swatting away an annoying gnat. Between its brows, a faint white mark faded almost instantly. The armor-piercing bullet hadn't even pierced its skin! Ye Huan swiftly cycled the bolt to chamber another round, simultaneously using the rifle's barrel to nudge Liu Le back behind him. This restored their tactical formation—Liu Le in the rear, Ye Huan up front, two guns covering long and close ranges. *Bang!* Ye Huan fired again and shouted, "Liu Le!" Liu Le was still hyperventilating, his hands shaking so violently he couldn't raise the weapon. *Thud!* Zhao Fei slammed a fist into the centipede's flank, knocking it off course and sending it crashing through a wall, leaving a massive breach. Xu Ping let out a furious roar. Spiked claw gauntlets fitted over his hands, he lunged straight onto the centipede. In a single strike, he tore through its carapace, sending yellow fluid spraying everywhere. Agonized, the centipede abandoned Ye Huan and Liu Le, twisting around to spew a massive glob of green ichor at Xu Ping. Xu Ping pivoted cleanly underneath the centipede's belly and tore outward with both claws using all his might— *Rip!* In a single move, he nearly shredded the monster in two, leaving the front and rear halves connected by little more than shards of shell and shredded meat. The centipede shrieked horribly, rolled, and plunged into the earth, vanishing without a trace. "Damn it! Damn it all!" Xu Ping's claws tore rapidly into the ground, instantly digging out a deep pit, but he only managed to yank off a single centipede leg. The beast was gone. This took long to recount, but it had unfolded in mere seconds. The other martial artists had moved to intervene, only to be forced back by the spray of toxic green fluid. The venom sizzled against the ground, dissolving pits into the rock and earth. In the brief moment they were driven back, the centipede had made its escape. "Captain, was that its natural burrowing instinct, or an Earth Tunneling technique?" Zhao Fei asked. "It's an elemental Earth Tunneling technique. It's Jiuyao tier—we're in huge trouble," Xu Ping said with a darkened face. Elements were powers that could only be wielded at the Jiuyao realm. At the same realm, a demon's physical body was far sturdier than a human's. Coupled with a Jiuyao technique like Earth Tunneling, plus the venom of the centipede itself— This was an enormous problem. Before anyone could speak further, the ground began to tremble again. Deep in the sky, dazzling streaks of crimson light flashed continuously, seemingly resonating with the tremors deep underground. "It's a ritual! There's an Ether ritual underground—an ancient one, most likely!" Zhao Fei couldn't help shouting. "No wonder demons have entered the city," Lao Zhang sighed. "They want to use the ancient ritual to undergo a metamorphosis and advance," Liu Le chimed in. Xu Ping made an immediate decision, swiftly barking out orders: "Contact Section Chief Song Fushan of the Mysterious Affairs Section online and transmit the footage to him. Have him look at it right away." "Yes, sir!" Zhao Fei set to work immediately. Less than a minute later, Xu Ping's phone rang. "Fushan, did you see it? What's your take?" Xu Ping asked. "Old Xu," Song Fushan's voice carried an unreadable tone. "There's likely an ancient ritual beneath the mine capable of calling upon Ether. This is a massive development." "We haven't even fully explored it, yet the demons outside the city knew about what's down there before we did. Why?" Xu Ping asked. "The Black Tide Cult," Song Fushan replied. "So that's it... That mutated martial artist of theirs must have activated an ancient Ether ritual, only to fail in his breakthrough," Xu Ping said, realization dawning. Song Fushan's voice grew even calmer. "Old Xu, before the protocol is initiated, do you have any casualties or damaged equipment on your end that our Mysterious Affairs Section needs to bring back?" Xu Ping swept a cold glance over the people in the room and said in a heavy voice, "How much time is left?" "Ten minutes. Maybe less," Song Fushan said. "Section Chief Song," Xu Ping switched to a formal title. "I have one injured officer here, as well as a damaged underground biohazard suit and surveillance equipment. Could you arrange for your people to transport them back to headquarters immediately?" "Approved," Song Fushan said. The line went dead. "Liu Le!" Xu Ping barked. "Sir!" Liu Le snapped to attention. Xu Ping drew a dagger and stabbed him twice in the arm, followed by a punch squarely to his chest. Completely caught off guard, Liu Le collapsed to the floor. "Captain?" Liu Le cried out in shock and panic. Xu Ping's face remained expressionless. The other martial artists merely watched in silence, saying nothing. "Ye Huan!" Xu Ping barked again. "Sir!" Ye Huan braced himself and stepped forward. "By my order, transport the wounded Officer Liu Le and a set of damaged equipment back to headquarters. Immediately!" "Yes, sir!" Zhao Fei had already bolted outside, kicked open the door, and leapt into a truck. *Rumble—* The truck's engine roared to life. The others quickly grabbed several pieces of equipment and tossed them onto the truck bed. Zhao Fei dashed back, hoisted Liu Le onto his shoulder, hauled him to the truck, and threw him into the passenger seat, then yelled toward Ye Huan: "Hurry! You two, get out of here now!" Seeing this, Ye Huan understood everything in an instant. Something big was coming. The two section chiefs had coordinated this to give him and Liu Le a way to escape this disaster with their lives! *Boom!* Lightning snaked across the sky, turning night into day as thunder cracked and cold rain began to fall. Without another moment's hesitation, Ye Huan grabbed the sniper rifle and ran stumbling toward the truck.