In the sky, multiple drones hovered. Their iconic gold, silver, and blue colors shimmered under the sun like the dawn of hope.
Eight outer wings provided powerful propulsion, while the inner wings were equipped with ultrasonic sensing systems. These, combined with the Sky Eye observation cameras directly underneath, showcased the drones’ exceptional reconnaissance capabilities.
The TFV flame insignia was marked on the fuselages, the exclusive emblem of the Hunter Management Bureau under the Tianyou Federation.
The Bureau was a special tactical operations armed department established by TFV, responsible for investigating or eliminating anomalies and managing the actions of Hunters. The battles between the supernatural and anomalies fell squarely within their detection range.
“Fluctuations from an anomaly and a transcendent are occurring here… Huh? What’s going on?”
Inside the detection station, a man in a white lab coat looked confused. Suddenly, a series of strange fluctuations oscillated across the computer screen in front of him.
He looked up at the screen in confusion, his eyes darting back and forth before shifting his gaze to the energy monitor. Purple line graphs were jumping incessantly.
“Tian Jin, don’t you think the energy output of this wavelength seems a bit inconsistent?”
Lightly pressing the edge of the communicator by his ear, the man, whose face was slightly tanned, hit the format button on the console.
Tian Jin nodded. “You’re right. Logically, the arc length of these reflected waves should be generated by a C-grade anomaly, but the actual energy curve being released has been steadily maintaining a B-grade anomaly level.”
“Xin An, could the machine be broken? Even for a mutant C-grade anomaly, it’s impossible to maintain a B-grade energy wave constantly.”
Xin An shook his head. “I considered that possibility, but the energy detectors are reporting perfectly normal conditions in other sectors.”
**[Notice: You have one unread email.]**
“Hmm? Tian Jin, come look at this.”
Xin An pulled Tian Jin over and clicked on the email. A video with a black thumbnail popped up on the screen.
“Are you being too… This…”
The smile on Tian Jin’s face froze instantly. The screen showed the scene of Gu Lian fighting that bald transcendent.
In their line of sight, the footage showed the bald, burly man firing three thunderbolts with high penetration properties at the humanoid monster’s heart. Aside from a splash of blood, the humanoid monster didn’t even retreat.
It lunged at the burly man like a vicious beast. After its claws forcibly tore through the man’s Tier 3 Defense Armor, the humanoid monster clenched its fingers into a fist and landed a solid uppercut on the bald man’s face.
With a loud *thud*, the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed. The bald man’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed, his grip on his gun loosening.
The humanoid monster stepped slowly toward the man and brought its metallic, beastly claws down on the bald man’s head.
With a *crack*, blood splattered everywhere. The humanoid monster grabbed the man’s gun with its claws and exerted force with both hands, twisting the pistol’s barrel into a knot.
Then, the humanoid monster extended its arm. After a brief pause in the air, it finally grabbed the recorder on the burly man’s chest. With a sharp *crunch*, the screen dissolved into static, and the footage ended.
“Is that an anomaly? A humanoid anomaly?”
Xin An wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead. He gripped the levers on the console with both hands, controlling the drones in the area to begin a full-scale scan. “No, that’s a Singularity Class. This is impossible. The energy wavelengths have been stable lately; how could such an anomaly be born?!”
Normal anomalies were divided from C to SSS-grade, with the Singularity Class being the upper echelon of anomalies. Just as Hunters were ranked, they were divided into Tier 3 Hunters, Tier 2 Hunters, Tier 1 Hunters, and Veteran Hunters.
“This is impossible…”
“What’s impossible?”
Xin An looked up at Tian Jin in confusion, only to see the other man looking forward as if he had seen a ghost. Following his gaze, Xin An saw the screen.
On the large monitor, Tian Jin had pulled up the bald man’s information list. His vital signs were still online, though they were much weaker than normal.
“Increase the search intensity. Call back those on leave. We’re going to be busy.”
Xin An spoke first. With a grim expression, he manipulated six drones to search the woods near the hospital.
Judging from the situation at the scene, this anomaly hadn’t caused large-scale destruction. Instead, seeing as it focused on creating chaos, this Singularity Class anomaly likely possessed some intelligence. If that was the case, it would definitely flee toward Nanqing Forest.
***
*Cough! Cough!*
Deep within Nanqing Forest, Gu Lian lay on the ground, spitting out large mouthfuls of purple blood. Her gaze was filled with ruthlessness. ‘That damn bald guy actually interrupted my meal!’
However… A cold sneer played on the corners of Gu Lian’s mouth. She had crushed that guy’s skull; he likely wouldn’t survive.
As for TFV’s retaliation?
‘Sorry, I’ll return to human form sooner or later. Once I transform back and rejoin society, who’s going to find me?’
But the most frustrating thing was what happened in the kitchen. Originally, after finishing the fight, she could have gone to eat in broad daylight. Instead, as soon as she pushed the doors open, she saw a bunch of older women huddled in the corner.
She had been confused; the hospital alarm had gone off, so why were there still so many people in the canteen?
But she wasn’t given a chance to wonder. That group of lunch ladies went crazy. They screamed and ran, causing the fresh food that had been sitting on the tables to spill all over the floor. The worst part was that the people running away later actually stepped on it!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Gu Lian decided to stop thinking about it and pulled at her tattered white hospital gown. There was a blood hole the size of a baby’s fist over her heart, leaking blood, though the wound was healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.
‘It was that bald bastard. He shot three thunderbolts all into the same spot. If I had my old body, I’d probably be long dead.’
She hadn’t expected her current defense and strength to be so high. Even with three highly penetrative thunderbolts hitting the same spot, they could barely pierce her skin.
Moreover, she had only just inherited all the power of that unknown existence.
Though she couldn’t exert even one-thousandth—or even one-ten-thousandth—of that power yet.
But that was only temporary. As time passed, she would only grow stronger!
‘Once I’m strong, I can… slack off better!’
‘Isn’t it great to slack off at work every day, punch out on time, make sure to be in bed by exactly 11:00 PM, and have a glass of milk and a meal of spicy crayfish before sleep?’
The first thing she needed to do now was recover her human form!
That way, it would be easier to blend into a crowd. Once she could sneak in, she would go into the city and gorge herself!
At the thought of food, Gu Lian stood upright and wiped her drool with her metallic claws. Food was the most important thing in the world. In her previous life, she had been busy every single day and never had a single good meal.
However, she needed to figure out how to change back into a human body. Gu Lian casually tore off the bandages wrapped around her. The bruises and scratches had already healed as her body gradually underwent animalization.
Gu Lian raised her hands. From her hands to her upper arms, it looked as if she had been coated in black metallic latex. While it reflected a cold light, the magma-like crimson veins on it became increasingly vivid.
A wolf tail with a metallic luster grew from her tailbone. Her fair, slender legs looked as if she were wearing purple-black gradient silk stockings, and her feet had turned into wolf-like claws.
Her size remained the same, but her appearance had changed drastically. Her originally beautiful face had become ferocious due to the root-like red patterns on her skin.
Her strength was growing by the minute, but correspondingly, Gu Lian felt herself getting hungrier…
“Food! Where is there food?!”
Hunger gnawed at her stomach. Gu Lian felt like she was going crazy. If she didn’t eat soon, she might be driven mad by the hunger in the next second.
Her eyes scanned the area constantly. She really couldn’t find anything to eat. In her frustration, Gu Lian slammed a hand hard against a tree.
With a loud *boom*, the tree fell. Gu Lian sat on the jagged stump of the trunk, wanting to take a short nap to recover some strength, when a large swarm of bees suddenly rushed out from among the branches.
“Holy crap, there’s honey!”
Gu Lian’s eyes lit up. She strode toward the canopy to search, ignoring the massage-like stings of the bees. After finding a large honeycomb, she bit directly into it, larvae, honey, and all.
As soon as the honeycomb entered her mouth, the sticky, crunchy structure began to melt. A sweet, cloying taste and a faint meaty flavor blossomed on the tip of her tongue. One bite left a lingering fragrance, making Gu Lian unable to resist taking another.
“Delicious! This is what humans should eat!”
She held the honeycomb, which was half the size of a person, and chewed hungrily. With the hospitable bees giving her a full-body massage, she could even clearly feel her strength increasing continuously.
Gu Lian rubbed her cheeks happily. ‘It’s decided. Every one of my future meals needs to include this delicious honey!’
Suddenly, a breeze blew in from the right. Gu Lian’s nostrils flared. The wind carried a foul stench, along with a faint scent of blood.
Stink + blood scent = predator = edible creature = a lot of meat = can eat!
Gu Lian was instantly excited. She licked the honey from the corners of her mouth. Through her quick formulaic calculation, even this foul stench became refreshing.
She tossed the honeycomb aside and rushed toward the direction where the scent was strongest. But after running a few steps, Gu Ye turned her head back to look at the honeycomb on the ground, a bit reluctant to leave the sweet food behind.
Turning back to pick up the honeycomb from the ground, Gu Lian continued to track the scent, muttering under her breath, “Honey and grilled meat… Mine! They’re all mine!”
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