Chapter 40

Chapter 40

General Wu sat in the main seat, slowly caressing his cup. "This matter was an agreement between the Senior General and the Abyss Lord years ago. To violate it..."

"That agreement was merely a temporary expedient by the Senior General," a gray-haired lieutenant general, seated to General Wu's right, stated calmly. "Back then, it was a matter of human survival; the Senior General’s decision was both correct and unavoidable. But why did humanity face such a calamity? Ultimately, it was the bizarre emergence of the Abyss that nearly plunged us into an apocalypse."

"As long as these anomalies exist, humanity will eventually repeat the catastrophes of a century ago. Our only path forward is to eradicate the Abyss, ensuring humanity’s long-term survival."

The lieutenant general speaking was surnamed Pang. Jiang Linchuan knew him; General Wu had once mentioned that some senior officials held more radical views, with Lieutenant General Pang as their representative.

The others remained silent, their expressions clearly indicating agreement with Lieutenant General Pang’s stance.

"General Wu, what is the Senior General’s opinion on this?" another lieutenant general inquired.

General Wu replied, "I’ve already spoken with the Senior General by phone. He said we should listen to everyone’s opinions. He’s old now and believes the future should be entrusted to all of you."

"The Senior General has devoted everything to humanity. It’s time for him to rest properly," Lieutenant General Pang said, lightly tapping his fingers on his knee. "But the Abyss Lord’s abilities are unfathomable. Otherwise, the Senior General wouldn't have made such concessions back then."

Jiang Linchuan listened quietly, his eyes downcast.

The generals' intentions were clear: from start to finish, they had no intention of honoring the agreement.

He had anticipated this long ago and could only sigh, finding the Abyss Lord rather naive.

Having dealt with anomalies for years, Jiang Linchuan understood their nature. Most operated on single-track thinking, unable to grasp complex ideas.

However, those who spent a long time in the human world naturally "developed more complex thinking," like Old Turtle, who was more human than humans themselves.

The Abyss Lord, however, clearly wasn’t like Old Turtle, who had long adapted to human society. He was still stuck in single-track thinking, stating his desires directly without even attempting negotiation, instantly provoking conflict.

"For now, we need to stabilize him and assess the Abyss Lord’s true capabilities," Lieutenant General Pang said, turning to Jiang Linchuan. "Captain Jiang, you have extensive experience dealing with anomalies. What are your thoughts or suggestions?"

The others in the room turned their attention to Jiang Linchuan, who had remained silent until now. General Wu also looked at him.

Jiang Linchuan stood up, legs together, back straight, facing the highest-ranking officers of the military. His voice was calm: "Recently, the abilities of the anomalies in Jincheng seem to have evolved significantly. Standard detection equipment can hardly detect their presence. I’m not sure if this is related to the Abyss Lord."

"Hmm," Lieutenant General Pang nodded, unsurprised. "It’s normal for your Special Operations Brigade to struggle against anomalies in the city center. Your equipment is indeed outdated. New weapons will be delivered to the brigade soon—they’ll have a much reduced impact on humans during use."

"Your next task is to intensify monitoring, especially around Baigu Town. Ensure no more anomalies escape, and intensify training within the brigade. Be prepared for combat at any time."

After the meeting ended, as everyone dispersed, General Wu called Jiang Linchuan aside.

"What are your thoughts?" General Wu personally poured him a glass of water.

"No particular thoughts," Jiang Linchuan shook his head.

The meeting hadn’t discussed how to respond to the Abyss Lord’s demands—it had focused entirely on how to deal with the Abyss Lord.

Jiang Linchuan had only suspected before, but now he was certain: all high-ranking military officials, including General Wu, had long been in tacit agreement.

Perhaps they had been waiting for this day since the agreement was first made.

"You're lying," General Wu said, looking at him. "Speak up. I want to hear what you think."

After a moment of silence, Jiang Linchuan asked, "I don’t have any thoughts, but I do have a question."

"Go on."

"Given our current capabilities, can humanity withstand the Abyss Lord’s wrath?"

General Wu countered, "What do you think?"

Jiang Linchuan narrowed his eyes, suddenly realizing a key point.

The reason the Special Operations Team’s weapons and detectors weren’t fully effective was because the human body couldn’t withstand such high frequencies. Yet, even under these constraints, they could still capture S-class anomalies. If they disregarded the human body’s limits, would the Abyss Lord still be a match?

"General," Jiang Linchuan leaned forward, hands on the table, his gaze fixed intently. "You know about the existence of the 547th Regiment, don’t you?"

General Wu looked at him without responding.

After waiting several seconds without an answer, Jiang Linchuan understood it was an implicit confirmation—and that pressing further would yield nothing.

"I see," Jiang Linchuan said, standing at attention and saluting General Wu. "I’ll take my leave now."

Jiang Linchuan looked at him for a long moment before finally speaking again, "I truly don’t know what to think, but I have another question."

General Wu sat there, lifting his eyes to meet his gaze.

"Can we really destroy the Abyss?" Jiang Linchuan’s tone remained calm. "I remember you once told me how the Abyss came to be."

"Evil, resentment, grief, pain, rage..." Jiang Linchuan enunciated each word slowly. "Darkness gave birth to the Abyss. But what is the source of that darkness?"

General Wu’s eyelids twitched slightly.

"It’s humanity. Humans are the darkest existence in this world."

"As long as humanity exists, the Abyss will endure."

*

Yun Feng stayed at Yun Zheng’s house for just over an hour before leaving.

Yun Zheng rolled up his pant leg again to examine the wound that had persisted for over a decade. The tender new flesh itched—it was deeply strange.

After calming himself, Yun Zheng wheeled himself to Jiang Linchuan’s home. There, he found the little one sitting on the floor eating cheese sticks, with no one else in sight.

"Where’s cousin? Did he go out again?" Yun Zheng hurriedly picked up the child, sighing helplessly. "I really can’t trust him with the kid anymore."

Where was cousin?

Cousin was sitting in the back seat of a business car, legs crossed, propping his chin with one hand, looking thoroughly amused.

This was the car sent to pick up Yun Feng.

He was now very interested in Yun Feng, curious about what he intended to do with the captured anomaly.

"Yun Tuan, what was the situation with that anomaly last night?"

"Extremely powerful," Yun Feng actually smiled. "I’ve never encountered an anomaly that strong before."

"Are we capturing it?"

"Of course. How could we let something that powerful slip away? We need to find a way to lure it out."

The driver frowned. "The problem is we can’t do this in Jincheng—it might attract Captain Jiang’s attention. But if we go too far, how do we lure the anomaly out?"

"Last night, it came for the Seaweed Monster, but ended up forcing it back to its original form. There must be some grudge between them," Yun Feng narrowed his eyes. "In that case, we can recreate a Seaweed Monster, make it think the monster still exists, and draw it out."

"That’s one way to do it."

"Turn around, head to the suburbs."

Shen Jin raised an eyebrow. Interesting. Yun Feng was way more interesting than Jiang Linchuan.

The car drove all the way into a large factory in the suburbs. Shen Jin tilted his head to glance at the sign above: "Xinti Cosmetics OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Factory?"

The factory was massive, with two high-rise buildings over a dozen stories tall and more than a dozen other workshops. Workers in blue uniforms bustled about.

The car stopped in front of the building. Yun Feng got out, and a well-dressed factory official was waiting there, stepping forward to greet him.

Shen Jin followed them into the office building, listening to their exchange of pleasantries. He then saw the factory official take out an account book and hand it to Yun Feng. "This is the ledger for this quarter, Captain Yun. Please have a look."

Yun Feng sat in the office chair, flipped through it, and nodded. "Looks good."

"But recently, there have been some issues," the factory manager said.

"What's wrong?"

"The number of anomalies we can capture is going down. Many of them can now conceal their energy signatures, which has caused us a lot of inconvenience."

"Conceal their energy signatures?"

"Yes. But it seems only the anomalies in Jincheng are like this. Others elsewhere are easier to deal with."

"Have the anomalies evolved?" Yun Feng's driver frowned. "Shouldn’t the Special Operations Brigade be the first to notice this? Why hasn’t Captain Jiang reported it? This Captain Jiang is always too soft on anomalies. The Special Operations Brigade should never have been put in his hands."

"Shut up." Yun Feng glared at him before turning back to the factory manager. "Next time, I’ll get you new equipment."

"Great, thank you, Captain Yun." The factory manager added, "By the way, that regenerative skin aloe gel has passed inspection. It’ll officially be used in our beauty salon next month. Although this product won’t help your brother’s leg, I believe we’re on the right track. We can continue researching in this direction—sooner or later, we’ll find a solution."

"I hope so." Yun Feng stood up. "I came today to borrow the laboratory."

"Of course, Captain Yun. Feel free to use it."

Yun Feng and his driver went into an inner room and soon emerged wearing thick white protective suits and gas masks, completely covered from head to toe without a single gap.

The two went downstairs and headed toward the last row of workshops in the compound.

Shen Jin glanced at the sky and yawned. How boring. Wasn’t he going to capture him? When would he make a move?

Shen Jin, his tail twitching slightly, followed lazily behind him. If he didn’t act soon, Shen Jin would just go home. He was hungry—he hadn't even eaten his instant noodles yet.

Entering the workshop, they went down another level. The laboratory was underground.

Shen Jin took two steps down, then suddenly stopped. His yawn vanished, and his eyes instantly lit up.

High-intensity defense. If he took one more step forward, the entire monitoring system would trigger an alarm.

The detectors here were countless levels more advanced than those at Captain Jiang Linchuan’s place—even more precise than the ones in Baigu Town.

Shen Jin leaned against the wall, arms crossed, biting his fingertip against his lips. His eyes blinked repeatedly before he curled his lips into a smile.

A tentacle hopped down along the stone steps, and the detector emitted a sharp, piercing alarm.

Yun Feng, who had just entered the laboratory, froze and immediately turned to rush out.

At the same moment, the workshop’s doors slammed shut. Bright lights flashed on, and the walls and ceiling emitted a faint red glow. Various rays intertwined into a dense, net-like pattern filling the entire space.

Shen Jin retracted his powers, extended a finger, and touched one of the rays. The ray passed through his fingertip, and bright red blood welled up.

Shen Jin hurriedly put his finger in his mouth to suck the blood. He couldn’t waste the blood he’d with difficulty obtained from Captain Jiang Linchuan. Meanwhile, his eyes curiously examined everything before him.

"Who’s there?" Yun Feng raised a gun and slowly ascended from underground. His driver held a powerful searchlight, scanning inch by inch. When the blinding, intense light swept over Shen Jin, he felt a tearing pain throughout his body, and the tip of his tail curled up in response to the stimulus.

The powers he currently had were equivalent to what Captain Jiang Linchuan referred to as an S-level anomaly, yet he couldn’t evade a mere searchlight.

Well, impressive, you hypocritical humans.

"Please, let me go." A weak, trembling voice pleaded.

"It’s you." Yun Feng immediately recognized the voice—it was the anomaly that had attacked the cargo ship last night.

Yun Feng’s driver turned up the searchlight to a higher setting. A figure slowly came into view under the light.

A small blue fox, no bigger than a human palm, lay crouched on the ground. Its front paw was injured, trembling uncontrollably.

Its jet-black eyes shimmered with reflected light, tears streaming down, looking utterly pitiful.