WHOOO!!
Two hours later, with a piercing blast from its horn, the ship docked at the Haisa Island harbor.
Zhou Yuanjue picked up his backpack and disembarked with the crowd.
A group of Secret Inspection Bureau personnel in uniform black suits was already waiting at the harbor. After eting the arrivals, they drove them toward the quarantine zone.
Soon, the vehicles stopped at a building two hundred ters from the quarantine zone. After getting out, Zhou Yuanjue could clearly see a simple, ring-shaped fortification constructed from scaffolding and steel plates about a hundred ters ahead.
A squad of heavily ard soldiers stood behind the fortification, their guns aid at the quarantine zone, not daring to relax for a second.
Among these soldiers, for every five or so, stood a Secret Inspection Bureau agent in a black uniform. They all appeared to be Symbionts. These must be the mbers of the so-called Defense Team, stationed alongside the regular soldiers brought in from the outside to protect them and prevent Void Celestial Demons from invading ordinary people.
'Is this the final preparation?'
Zhou Yuanjue knew that if they failed to capture the Celestial Demon, or if any other anomalies occurred, these people would be the last resort, used to "cleanse" the quarantine zone.
It would beco a chaotic scene, a field of flesh and blood.
Upon entering the building, everyone received more detailed written data on the operation, a topographical map of the quarantine zone, and a classification of the common mutative abilities of most known Celestial Demon People.
After reading the materials, eating a al, and preparing their supplies, dusk had fallen. The teams began to leave the temporary command post one by one, heading toward their assigned sectors.
The streetlights had already flickered on. Under the effect of sleeping drugs, all residents of the quarantine zone were unconscious. The streets were deserted, not a single house had its lights on, and the entire district was silent, exuding an incredibly eerie atmosphere.
Soon, Zhou Yuanjue reached his assigned mission area—a comrcial district surrounded by shops, hotels, and guesthouses with a distinct island style.
"Team B2 has reached the designated area. No anomalies detected at present. Report any situations imdiately. Over."
A serious, solemn voice spoke up beside Zhou Yuanjue.
Standing next to him was a tall, burly man whose body, from the neck down, was completely covered by a black, form-fitting uniform. A large blade was strapped to his back.
The expression on his face was sowhat stiff and unnatural, like a corpse's, and his body was unnaturally bloated. However, his movents showed no sluggishness; on the contrary, he seed quite agile.
He was an investigator from the Secret Inspection Bureau nad Tang Chen, and also a Symbiont. His body's mutation was related to his skin.
His skin was full of hard, thick keratin; an ordinary blade couldn't even cut through it.
Tang Chen was Zhou Yuanjue's partner for this mission. The plan was centered around sixteen top-tier Martial Artists, each paired with a Symbiont partner. Including a few other teams led by Secret Inspection Bureau squad leaders, a total of twenty teams were deployed throughout the quarantine zone.
After reporting to headquarters on his walkie-talkie, Tang Chen looked at Zhou Yuanjue and said, "For now, it doesn't look like there'll be much action. The entire quarantine zone is covered in surveillance caras. If there's any sign of trouble, temporary HQ will contact us imdiately. We don't need to patrol. We can find a spot in the center of the street to rest for now and wait for instructions."
Zhou Yuanjue nodded. The two quickly found a bubble tea shop in the middle of the street and sat down at an outdoor booth, starting to chat idly.
"I'm actually quite curious. How far has the Secret Inspection Bureau's research on Celestial Demons progressed? To think you can even create sothing like this."
Zhou Yuanjue took a small, palm-sized Jade Bottle from the tactical bag on his hip. Red cinnabar patterns adorned the Jade Bottle, looking sowhat similar to the markings on the jade pillar they had seen on the projection screen in the ship's conference room.
At the mouth of the bottle was a stopper made of peach wood inlaid with gold wire, sealing the Jade Bottle's opening perfectly.
In Zhou Yuanjue's spiritual senses, he had a strange feeling, as if the bottle itself possessed "life."
This small object was a precious item distributed by the Secret Inspection Bureau. It was called a "Demon-Catching Bottle," and it was said to be able to contain an intangible, formless Celestial Demon for a considerable amount of ti. It was an essential piece of equipnt for nearly every investigator team's operations.
"Our Secret Inspection Bureau has only made progress in researching Celestial Demons in the last decade or so, but we weren't completely in the dark. With so many samples and studies, there are bound to be so results. I don't know the specific principles, though. It seems our history and mythology are far more complex than we thought."
"As low-level field operatives, there are many secrets we aren't privy to. And once you beco a Symbiont, further advancent is extrely difficult. To guard against the potential hidden dangers of the Celestial Demons, they even have people monitor our lives. Spirit status tests are routine. A lot of the ti, I envy you guys. You have limitless potential."
Tang Chen shook his head and said helplessly.
"The Symbiont is indeed a malford technology. There are still great hidden dangers within it."
Zhou Yuanjue nodded, recalling the Celestial Demon he had inspected before. Its self-awareness hadn't seed to have completely vanished.
"We know about the hidden dangers, but we have no choice. So things just have to be done. If we didn't beco Symbionts, we wouldn't even have the right to co into contact with those things. I am a Warrior, and following orders is my duty. I swore an oath under the flag to protect this land and its people. So sacrifices are mine to bear."
Tang Chen said, his expression calm.
...
...
The two chatted idly for over ten minutes before falling silent. Zhou Yuanjue lowered his eyes, focused his spirit, and entered a state of ditation, constantly adjusting himself to his optimal condition.
Tang Chen also stood guard quietly, waiting for information from headquarters.
Ti flew. Night fell quickly, and the moon gradually climbed high into the sky. During this ti, the streets remained deathly silent, with no anomalies occurring.
Ti ticked by, second by second. Soon, it would be two in the morning.
In various rooms throughout the quarantine zone, so people who had been sleeping soundly with their eyes closed suddenly snapped them open.
On the third floor of a guesthouse near Zhou Yuanjue, a teenager of sixteen or seventeen and a middle-aged man who bore a strong resemblance to him also opened their eyes and slowly rose from their beds.
"Have you received the order?"
the middle-aged man said softly. It seed there was so special thod of communication between individual Celestial Demon People, allowing them to receive unified commands.
"I have. Only forty-sothing people, and they think they can deal with us? Then let's follow the order and kill these ddleso pests."
A smile spread across the teenager's face.
"The fear and despair born from a powerful human soul... I haven't tasted that in a long ti..."
The middle-aged man looked up at the digital clock on the table. The ti displayed was: 1:59:55 AM.
TICK! TICK! TICK! TICK! TICK!
The sound of the simulated clock hand ticked five tis.
BOOM!!
Bloodthirsty smiles hung on their faces as their muscles swelled unnaturally, ripping their clothes and transforming their appearances into sothing truly terrifying.
A massive black shadow enveloped them, forming the shape of an Evil Ghost.
Unlike with Symbionts, the Evil Ghost shadow covering them had a clearly visible, ferocious face that overlapped with their own, as if they were wearing the mask of an Evil Ghost.
"There's movent!"
Just then, images appeared on a multitude of surveillance screens at the temporary headquarters at almost the exact sa mont.
At the precise mont the ti hit 2:00 AM, the windows of one building after another shattered simultaneously, and horrifying figures—Celestial Demon People with bulging muscles—burst out!
"So many?! Quick! Get a count on the enemy numbers, now!"
Chen Lingyun's expression changed when she saw so many Celestial Demon People appear at once.
The number of hidden Celestial Demons was apparently even more terrifying than they had anticipated.
"The count is in... There are... a total of eighty-three!!"
Hearing this number, Chen Lingyun's pupils contracted sharply.
'The number of Celestial Demon People... is double that of our combat teams?!'
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