Upon learning that something had happened at the lab department, Officer Ch'en, Swire, and Hoshiguma immediately rushed over.
"Damn it! More overtime, seriously?~"
Swire sat on the back of Hoshiguma's motorcycle, habitually hugging Hoshiguma's waist and sighing. Her tiger tail drooped listlessly behind her, her pretty face filled with frustration.
"Ugh... It's already past midnight. I want to get my beauty sleep. I haven't even put on my face mask... If I keep pulling all-nighters like this, in a few more years, my twenty-something skin is going to look like it's forty."
She was a rich girl, after all. Swire was going to complain if she wanted to. But complaining was just complaining; she'd still obediently carry out the mission afterward.
"Actually, it's not that serious."
Hoshiguma, driving in front, replied with a smile.
"It's not that ridiculous. Look at our colleagues around us, they work overtime every day, and none of them look like they're forty when they're only in their twenties. At worst, they look thirty-nine when they're in their twenties."
"...."
Swire was speechless.
The lab wasn't in the L.G.D. headquarters but in a separate, dedicated building a short distance away. It was about an eight-minute walk.
The three of them quickly arrived at the lab. The entrance was already surrounded by countless fully-armed officers. A regular officer was commanding the scene.
Upon seeing Officer Ch'en and the others, the regular officer immediately saluted respectfully.
"Officer Ch'en! Officer Shī! Officer Xióng!!"
Three lines appeared on Swire's forehead.
"My name is Swire! My surname isn't Shī...."
Swire wanted to argue, but Hoshiguma covered her mouth, and the three of them hurried into the building.
"What's the situation?"
Officer Ch'en walked briskly in front, and the regular officer followed behind, sweating profusely.
"Report, Officer Ch'en, the situation is mostly under control. However, we lost two lab technicians and three officers. About ten other officers were injured...."
Officer Ch'en didn't say anything, just took the elevator to the tenth floor. The elevator doors opened.
The tenth floor was an utter mess. The ceiling, walls, and floor all had clearly visible, deep slash marks. Even the long fluorescent lights on the ceiling had been sliced in two, the cuts incredibly smooth, with sparks still sizzling.
Blood was spattered all over the floor. By the time Officer Ch'en and the others arrived, the blood on the ground had already congealed into a disgusting black.
"..."
Officer Ch'en couldn't help but frown.
"Where are the injured? The deceased? What exactly happened?"
The regular officer immediately replied, "The injured and deceased have already been transferred to Lungmen Hospital."
"Here's what happened. A few days ago, Superintendent Swire sent over a batch of dark blue powdery substance for analysis. This substance was extremely unusual. We discovered from the start that it contained a powerful, special energy, completely different from the Originium energy we're used to."
"Just now, as a few technicians were preparing for further experiments, one of them accidentally cut his finger. Then, those powders, as if they were alive, actually drilled into the technician's wound."
"After that, the technician... it was like he became a different person. He violently attacked everyone around him...."
"???"
Listening to the officer's description, the three of them had massive question marks floating over their heads.
*Are you sure... you're describing reality, and not a sci-fi movie?*
Seeing that his two superiors seemed skeptical, the regular officer, who had anticipated this, immediately took a tablet from his assistant and connected to the lab's surveillance feed.
The footage on the monitor matched his description perfectly. Especially when they saw the supposedly inanimate powder suddenly come to life and swarm the technician's finger, Swire couldn't help but cover her mouth.
After that, the technician began to violently attack everyone around him. His arm, which should have been human, even transformed into something resembling an octopus tentacle, yet sharp as a blade. Every strike left deep gouges in the reinforced walls.
Then, the L.G.D. officers arrived, doing everything they could to kill the technician who had turned into a monster. Officer Ch'en lost count of how many crossbow bolts the technician took, even tanking several Originium bombs, his body a mess of mangled flesh, yet he kept moving.
Such a dense barrage of attacks would have killed any normal person long ago.
*What kind of monster...*
After watching the entire sequence, Officer Ch'en, Swire, and Hoshiguma were silent. The scene was too shocking; it reminded the three of them of those Columbian zombie movies...
This was not a good sign.
"Where is the lab?"
"Report, Officer Ch'en, it's inside."
This regular officer was clearly frightened and didn't dare to walk further in. But with his two superiors right here, if he looked too scared, his position might be in jeopardy.
Because the monster had destroyed most of the lights in the hallway, they could only rely on the pale green emergency lights to barely see the path. Bathed in the green light, the end of the hallway was pitch black, giving off the distinct vibe of a horror movie.
The further they went, the more Officer Ch'en could smell a very strange odor.
"Do you smell that?"
Swire nodded. "I smell it. It's a... strong, salty, fishy smell.."
After walking a bit further, the four of them arrived at the lab where the experiment had taken place. The site was now completely wrecked. Officer Ch'en turned on her flashlight, and the four of them walked inside.
When Officer Ch'en's flashlight beam landed on the remaining two bags of dark blue powder, preserved in a container, she frowned.
The regular officer quickly explained, "No one dared to handle the remaining two bags. We're waiting for your orders, Officer Ch'en, Superintendent Swire."
Officer Ch'en's brows were tightly locked. Everything on the surveillance footage was vaguely beyond her comprehension.
To be honest, the earlier parts were whatever. If it was just a lab technician going berserk, it could be explained away as the powder having some madness-inducing property, capable of destroying a person's central nervous system and turning them into a maniac, but...
The arm transforming into a blade-like octopus tentacle was completely unexplainable.
*What is going on...*
This was no small matter. After thinking for a moment, Officer Ch'en immediately gave an order.
"Leave these two bags here. No one is to touch them. Immediately dispatch officers to guard the perimeter. Remember, everyone must wear specialized protective gear to avoid any possible accidental bleeding. Get the medical examiner to speed things up."
After giving her orders, Officer Ch'en turned to leave.
"Swire, you're responsible for commanding and coordinating the scene. I'm heading to the main headquarters in the Upper District."
This was no small matter, and it had already exceeded Officer Ch'en's understanding. Most critically, this thing seemed to have come from Siracusa. She had to inform Lungmen's true master, Director Wei.
——————
Rope had never imagined she would actually be living with a superstar. It was too blissful, and this happiness had come so suddenly that Rope suspected she was dreaming.
This kind of life was something she couldn't even have dared to imagine back in the slums. She could sleep on an incredibly soft bed and eat foods she had never even dreamed of before.
This life... was simply heaven.
However, amidst her happiness, Rope couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. After all, she hadn't done anything, hadn't contributed, yet she was living in Sora's home, with Sora even providing all her meals.
Sora had been busy with her new song these past few days. She stayed at home, watching the documentary Lucas Reeve and Nian had filmed over and over, hoping to resonate with the emotions within it and write a song that could truly connect with people's hearts. After spending the rest of her vacation at home, Sora returned to her company to get back to work. Many activities had already been postponed for a month. For an idol, the biggest taboo was disappearing from the public eye for too long. If it went on, she might just fade into obscurity.
Therefore, her upcoming schedule was going to be incredibly busy.
As for Lucas Reeve, he spent most of his time switching back and forth between Columbia and Rhodes Island.
Because he had encountered that powerful, shore-capable Seaborn in Iberia, Lucas Reeve felt he had to do something. The powerful regenerative abilities of these evolved Seaborn were a problem, and beyond that, their almost perverse evolutionary adaptability was also a major issue.
Even the highly advanced Aegir had no solution for this perverse evolution, forcing them to rely on Abyssal Hunters, the most primitive of melee weapons, to curb the Seaborn's evolution to higher levels.
However, besides that method, there was another way to curb Seaborn evolution: using a power that exceeds the Seaborn's own level. The only power that surpassed the Seaborn's level was the power of a god. Just a tiny bit, even if a single bullet contained a minuscule aura of a deity, was enough to prevent the Seaborn from adapting, at least not in a short time.
So, Lucas Reeve had been trying to work with Nian these past few days to use divine power to create other high-level weapons, like the small missile containing Surtr's flame that he had unleashed against that Seaborn.
That small missile had indeed managed to suppress the evolved Seaborn's regeneration to a certain extent.
Just as Lucas Reeve was busy designing weapons, an international email arrived from the capital of Yan. Terra's internet was basically a collection of local networks; only the major nations had interconnected networks. After all, times had changed. They couldn't just rely on messengers. Relying on a messenger to get from Yan to Columbia would take half a month at least.
The sender was the Grand Tutor.
"Tsk tsk... I didn't think the old man even knew how to use email," Nian couldn't help but remark upon seeing it.
*Old man... he's just a young'un in his seventies.*
When Lucas Reeve finished reading the email's contents, he couldn't help but frown.
According to the Grand Tutor, Lungmen seemed to be having some trouble in the shadows recently. Of course, Lungmen's Director Wei would never report this to Yan and ask for help, but Yan, through its informants embedded in Lungmen, was naturally well aware of it. Moreover, this situation seemed to be related to the Seaborn.
Therefore, Yan wasn't prepared to let Lungmen handle this on its own, as the Seaborn were a grave matter.
The Ministry of Rites and the Sui Regulator Commission were dispatching several Celestial Masters to Lungmen. However, these Celestial Masters had absolutely no experience fighting Seaborn, so the email hoped that Lucas Reeve could provide some assistance.