As its enormous spider body absorbed the mysterious spiritual energy, Bai Jie's thoughts did not become intoxicated but sank into deep contemplation.
"Yongan City is growing more unstable. Meteorite fragments will start entering humanity's field of vision too."
"Facing these eldritch monsters, ordinary humans—if not parasitized by the eldritch purple glow—have no chance of survival at all!"
"This city must be littered with meteorite fragments. But with just me and two Agents, we're clearly not enough to gather them all. If only I could sense meteorites or spiritual energy from a long distance."
"Still, I need to be careful myself. Aside from human authorities, I could end up targeted by some entity that's been influenced by the meteorites and grown extremely powerful."
Bai Jie had always suspected that since it could grow to this level through the meteorite's spiritual energy, there might well exist creatures that had grown even stronger than itself.
As its thoughts drifted, the meteorite fragment beneath its jaws had already become dim and dull.
Its own Vitality rose accordingly to 112.
Bai Jie was too excited to sleep, rolling around on the web. Might as well scroll through its phone.
On this night in Yongan City, many humans were also unable to sleep because of the emergence of mutant monsters.
...
Yongan City, Enforcement Department.
Inside a spacious, brightly-lit conference room sat five figures—the senior leadership of Yongan City's Enforcement Department.
At the head was a sharp-eyed middle-aged man, surnamed Fu. He was the Department Chief.
Correct: the Enforcement Department, composed mainly of machines, had a human as its leader. And not just him—all four other figures were human too.
To ensure humanity's status and safety, federal supreme law stipulated that machines could not replace humanity's decisive position; no institution's highest leadership post could be held by a machine.
This was why the five had gathered here to discuss a critical decision for the Enforcement Department.
Chief Fu's expression was grim, his hawk-like eyes sweeping the room: "Everyone has seen the situation. That's why we've had no choice but to call this emergency meeting."
"In Yongan City, such a bizarre monster has appeared! Capable of merging different organisms, extremely dangerous, requiring over a hundred bullets to kill! Like a failed bio-experiment."
"Given that monsters possess the risk of fusion, we must decide immediately—whether to directly exterminate the thousands of mutant animals and tens of thousands of normal strays inside the Containment Base!"
As he finished, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew heavier. Only the sound of breathing could be heard.
A balding man broke the silence: "I believe we shouldn't rush to exterminate. These mutant animals have immense scientific research value. They could unlock major discoveries in human genetics, resolve critical medical challenges."
"When that happens, the entire Federation and federal government will thank us."
Then a refined female voice spoke up, but her tone was extremely firm: "They must all be exterminated—and incinerated. Concentrate and dispose of the ashes, but do not make it public."
"Because, compared to any credit we might earn, the risk behind this is something we simply cannot afford!"
With opinions at an impasse, an elderly man with a kindly face beside Chief Fu took a sip of tea and spoke unhurriedly:
"I've brought the Yongan City government's guidance opinion."
After some discussion, the Enforcement Department finally settled on a decision and issued the final order:
Dispatch Enforcers to execute the thousands of mutant animals, then incinerate the corpses and concentrate the remains for disposal. Only five or fewer mutant animals would be kept for scientific research.
As for the remaining tens of thousands of normal animals, they would be kept for now—if they mutated, they could also be kept for study. Moreover, with the Enforcement Department's current manpower, they couldn't handle that many normal animals in a short timeframe either.
The order was quickly relayed down the chain.
5 a.m.
A thousand fully-equipped Enforcer machines in formation marched toward the eastern outskirts of Yongan City, where all of Yongan's captured mutant and stray animals were being held.
Though each individual weighed far more than a human, their footsteps were very light, not disturbing the citizens—as if blending into the quiet break of dawn.
The morning sun, well before 6 a.m., had already leapt above the horizon in the summer sky.
...
Yongan City outskirts, Animal Temporary Containment Base.
A balding, middle-aged man in uniform stood before a massive iron gate five stories tall, his expression stern.
Behind him, a thousand Enforcers stood in tight formation.
The balding man was precisely the Deputy Chief of Yongan City's Enforcement Department, in command of this operation to execute the mutant animals.
The Deputy Chief's face looked somewhat unwell, as the air was thick with a nauseating, vile stench.
"Open the gate."
The Deputy Chief ordered the personnel on duty.
After a retinal scan, the towering iron gate groaned open slowly.
"Hiss..."
As the Enforcers flooded through the gate, the Deputy Chief caught sight of the interior by the light. Though this wasn't his first time seeing it, he still felt his heart leap and his skin crawl, drawing a slight sharp breath.
Behind the iron gate was a massive warehouse of over a thousand square meters, filled with more than a thousand heavily-worn iron cages—and inside the cages were naturally large numbers of mutant animals, primarily stray cats and dogs.
Their bodies showed varying degrees of mutation, covered in wounds, eyes bloodshot and radiating ferocity. The moment they saw people enter, they howled madly, scratching and biting at their cages.
The once-quiet warehouse instantly erupted into furious, chaotic noise.
"Truly unimaginable. How did it come to this..."
"Thank goodness the Enforcement Department's containment measures were carried out promptly—capturing animals before many could fully mutate. Otherwise, letting these things rampage through the city... who knows how many casualties there would have been!?"
The Deputy Chief marveled inwardly, then gave the order: "No time to waste. Proceed immediately. Incinerate the bodies collectively afterward."
Swish, swish.
The thousand silver-white machines moved in perfect unison, orderly forming ranks within the warehouse.
Half the Enforcers stood vigilant against any possible contingencies, while the other half raised their palms, aiming at the mutant animals in their cages.
The next second.
Bang bang bang!
A row of muzzle flashes erupted. The dense, thunderous sound of gunfire echoed through the warehouse—accompanied by the wails and roars of the mutant animals.
"Reporting to Deputy Chief."
Suddenly, among the machines, an Enforcer squadron leader wearing a badge on his chest ran up to the Deputy Chief and reported mechanically: "A large number of empty cages have been discovered."
The Deputy Chief glanced at the squadron leader, grunted acknowledgment: "Probably taken away by researchers for study."
"However,"
the squadron leader continued, "the doors of those cages were not opened naturally—there are signs of forced destruction."
"What did you say!?" The Deputy Chief practically screamed.