By the time Xia Ping'an and An Qing rushed over to Lingshi Plaza, the entrance to the plaza's parking lot had already been sealed off by the police.
Only after heading underground past the entrance could the National Order Council's blockade be seen.
The police were in charge of maintaining order outside and ensuring that the public did not fall into extreme hysteria and wild speculation. As for the members of the National Order Council, they would handle the tricky situation inside that the police could not.
Aside from the Special Forces Unit, the other departments of the National Order Council had also rushed over.
The two basement floors of the Lingshi Plaza, aside from the parking lot, had a cold storage that was more than 2,000 square meters large.
When he came to the cold storage, Xia Ping'an saw a pile of ash in the shape of a human burned to a crisp at the entrance. With just a glance, Xia Ping'an deduced that this was the result of a summoner unleashing a fireball technique.
The corpse had been reduced to ash and could not be recognized. From the charred remains on the ground, he could still see a belt buckle that had melted and deformed, a metal badge, and other small metallic items.
Past the entrance and inside the cold storage, the temperature suddenly plummeted dozens of degrees.
The inside of the cold storage was filled with rows of frozen pork hung up on iron hooks. There was a thick scent of blood in the cold storage. Dark red lights lit up the space. Pale rows of pork meat were hung inside. They were densely packed like a forest of corpses. It was horrifying to behold.
When Xia Ping'an entered, he heard Li Yunzhou's voice coming from inside.
"...the security guard on duty outside the cold storage did not appear suspicious before this. After Big Cao and I took out our environment inspector passes, Big Cao went into the cold storage to take a look. While I was looking outside, the security guard tried to trick me into entering the cold storage as well.
"However, with my wits, how could I have fallen for his trick? I immediately noticed that something was off with him. When he saw that I was not going to go in, he suddenly began to attack me. I fired two shots at him and discovered that bullets were ineffective against him. I instantly realized that the guard might be a living corpse. I then unleashed my fireball technique and incinerated him. At that time, Big Cao also discovered something strange in the cold storage. There was a Devil's Eye laid out inside."
When he entered the cold storage, Xia Ping'an saw Mo Yanshao, Li Yunzhou, as well as Cao Xinghua. The three of them were discussing something with serious expressions on their faces. In the cold storage around them, Xia Ping'an saw that familiar ritual pattern again.
It was another Devil's Eye!
There was a Devil's Eye formed from the broken limbs and severed heads of dozens of people on the floor of the cold storage. Its scale was even larger than the one in the shopping mall.
The corpse limbs that formed the Devil's Eye were all completely frozen and covered in a layer of snowy white frost. From the number of heads that formed the pupil, 17 people had fallen victim this time.
The 17 people consisted of men and women. The average age was below 40 and above 15. Each severed head had a fist-sized hole in the middle of their foreheads. From the appearance of the holes, the brain tissue in their cranial cavities had completely disappeared.
Those that were less courageous would definitely be scared to tears by this scene.
Cao Xinghua reported to Mo Yanshao, saying, "Based on the autopsy, the brains of the victims had been sucked dry before they died. It seems like the member of the Devil's Eye who did this had actively merged with a brain-eater bug. Aside from the security guard at the entrance, we have not discovered any other host that is controlled by the brain-eater bug."
A brain-eater bug!
Xia Ping'an was shocked. Brain-eater bugs were one of the most dangerous creatures among those which invaded their dimension. They would first stay in human bodies as parasites. Then, they would hatch, replace the humans' brains, and finally merge with their hosts completely. After they had complete control over their host bodies, they would mutate the human's genes and transform their hosts into monsters that fed on the brain fluid of others.
The scarier thing was that brain-eater bugs could control the behaviors of those they had feasted on so that the latter appeared normal even though they had become living corpses.
Compared to demonic rats, brain-eater bugs were more dangerous. Moreover, when brain-eater bugs moved about, they would not cause any supernatural energy fluctuation; hence, they could go unnoticed by the Lighters.
Humans that actively sought to merge with brain-eater bugs would possess all the abilities of the bugs. Therefore, they were even more terrifying.
"The CCTVs in the plaza are still functioning properly. The technical team has gone to retrieve the CCTV footage and the duty log of the security guards of this cold storage. These corpses must have been transported here in batches from other places. I recognize a few of the faces. They were all people that had been reported missing in Xianghe City recently."
While Mo Yanshao was speaking, Xia Ping'an and An Qing joined the three of them.
An Qing took a glance at the Devil's Eye on the floor and said, "It looks like there are still other members of the Devil's Eye hiding in Xianghe City. The previous criminal is merged with an illusory monster."
"Xia Ping'an's Requiem Banner is just perfect to stop the living corpses from being controlled by brain-eater bugs." Mo Yanshao's gaze landed on Xia Ping'an as he said, "If we encounter living corpses controlled by brain-eater bugs again, we might need your help."
Xia Ping'an nodded.
Two minutes later, Tu Polu and Fang Lingshan arrived at the scene too. They did not discover any abnormalities at Qinglong Reservoir.
Soon, the technical team of the National Order Council sent them the results.
In the last month, the cold storage had always been guarded by this particular security guard. The only person who had come in close contact with him was the owner of this cold storage. The owner was called Gao Qingshan.
The owner of the cold storage would come every one or two days with a truckload of goods. He would then enter the cold storage and close the door as he unloaded and packed his goods. Aside from him, no one else had entered the underground cold storage in the last month.
The comprehensive analysis deduced that the owner of the cold storage was either a living corpse controlled by a brain-eater bug or a member of the Devil's Eye that had merged with a brain-eater bug.
If the owner of the cold storage was a living corpse, the member of the Devil's Eye that had merged with a brain-eater bug would be someone else. However, the living corpse would be connected to the main body. Both the living corpses and the main body could not be too far away from each other. They would usually need to be within a few kilometers to dozens of kilometers from each other. The living corpse would die if it went out of that range.
From the distance required, the member of the Devil's Eye that had merged with a brain-eater bug was previously in Xianghe City. However, now that the security guard had met his end, the member of the Devil's Eye must have sensed it. Whether he had escaped covertly was still unknown.
The main body of the brain-eater bug could only control a limited number of living corpses. This was determined by the rank of the brain-eater bug, from a minimum of one to dozens. The maximum number of corpses it could control would not exceed 81.
If the owner of the cold storage was a member of the Devil's Eye, he would be the main body that had merged with the brain-eater bug. Then, the results were not optimistic. It was because those who merged with the brain-eater bug had the ability to change its shape and appearance like an octopus or chameleon.
It was possible that in other corners of the city, there were living corpses controlled by brain-eater bugs and Devil's Eyes that had yet to be discovered.
The National Order Council began to quickly investigate the comings and goings of the owner of the cold storage within the recent months. They also investigated to see whether anything out of the ordinary had happened to his clients, family members, and friends.
A wanted order was immediately issued.
The wanted order received by the police showed that the owner of the cold storage, Gao Qingshan, was the main culprit of first-degree murder armed with a gun. It was possible that he had accomplices. The police were authorized to kill him if he attempted to resist arrest and escape.
A clear image of Gao Qingshan, the owner of the cold storage, was also sent to Xia Ping'an's work phone.
Gao Qingshan was an ordinary-looking man in his 40s. He was slightly bald, with a depressed gaze and thick eye bags.
Gao Qingshan was single and had no kids. Currently, his whereabouts were unknown. He came to Xianghe City a few years ago and started this cold storage. He had kept a low-profile all this while.
After a quick investigation on Gao Qingshan's background, the team strongly suspected that he was a member of the Devil's Eye.
Mo Yanshao and Xia Ping'an both activated their clairvoyance and searched the city. However, they didn't manage to detect Gao Qingshan. It meant that he had either left Xianghe City or was still in the city but had changed his appearance entirely.
The National Order Council of Xianghe City was doing their best to hunt down this member of the Devil's Eye that remained hidden in the city.
Even if Gao Qingshan was still in Xianghe City, with his familiarity with the layout of the city and his brain-eater bug abilities, it would definitely be challenging for the National Order Council to locate him. The city was huge, and he could change his appearance and identity as he pleased.
This was the biggest challenge faced by the National Order Council when dealing with dimensional invasion creatures and the Devil's Eye. Most of the time, once the Special Unit Forces located their enemy, they would be able to destroy them. However, the hardest part was the process of discovering the enemy.
The member of the Devil's Eye that had merged with a brain-eater bug and the living corpses controlled by the brain-eater bug were like drops of water that disappeared into the ocean of the city. It was difficult to find them. The National Order Council could not even be certain as to whether the member of the Devil's Eye had left Xianghe City or was still hiding somewhere within the city.
When evening came and it was time to get off work, the streets of Xianghe City were still bustling as ever. Most people were oblivious to the dangerous monsters hidden among them and the dangers around them. They went about their daily lives as they deemed fit.
...
The team had a busy afternoon. In the evening, in the National Order Council base, Xia Ping'an had his first Special Forces Unit case analysis meeting. After that, he walked out of the main gates of the National Order Council alone. He came to the bus stop outside and waited for the bus to arrive.
Like policemen after a fugitive, even if the fugitive was still at large, they still needed to get off work and rest.
Tomorrow was the weekend. Xia Ping'an had not been home for almost two weeks. Tonight, he promised Xia Ning that he would return home and cook good food for her.
Such was life!