Dezhong sat outside the operation room shaking his feet uncontrollably as he began to over panic. His thoughts ran wild as he worried that his father could end up dying from the procedure. However, he noticed hundreds of other police officers going through the same snapping-by-the-ear tests and none of them were responsive.
'Did they lose their hearing too?' He wondered. 'Were they with dad too? Maybe one of them knows what exactly happened to him but…will they be able to hear? Is there anyone who can actually tell me what happened or did they also get injured in the process?'
In the middle of his thoughts, Dezhong felt a cold hand touch his shoulder, followed by the sound of a familiar voice. When he looked up, he saw Blake looking back at him with pity in his eyes. In his other hand was a silver briefcase which he tied to his hand with a handcuff.
"I got what you asked for," He said whilst sitting next to Dezhong. "Can't believe you have something this valuable. Do you know how much this can sell for in the deep web? You can almost get rich enough to move to Neveah with this."
"That's not what those are for, Blake." Dezhong replied. "My father acquired them for emergencies like this."
"Well I'm glad you told me you had them," Blake smiled. "Can't believe you had such valuable goods in your house. What else are you hiding from me, Dezhong Prince?" He asked jokingly.
"Something much bigger than these," Dezhong mumbled softly under his breath, although Blake heard it clearly. His curiosity nearly made him ask Dezhong what he meant, but it was better to put it off for another day due to his current state.
"So, what's the state of your father?" Blake asked. "I mean, do the doctors know what's wrong with him?"
With his back straight and his hands placed firmly on his knees, Dezhong took in a deep breath and said, "My father and other policemen were in the range of the beast that attacked. The doctor said it did some kind of roar which damaged his eardrums." He then looked at Blake with anger and bitterness in his eyes. "They said my dad won't be able to hear anymore."
Dezhong got the briefcase from Blake, opened it and showed two intermediate tier crystals, both purple in color. The crystals were shaped like jagged, stone age knives and glowed brightly mostly in their center. Dezhong then handed the crystals to the doctor who'd use them properly once his father woke up and got new prosthetics. "Those crystals are intermediate and belonged to a beast with regeneration capabilities. If I'm correct, he'll be able to heal much faster. If not, he'll stay deaf, permanently."
"That's horrible." Blake ended while doing some thinking. Judging from what he saw on the news, the beast surely looked dangerous but it also had a human-like stature which made him question. "I have a theory." He said. "What if the beast is human?"
"What?" Dezhong wondered with disgust and disbelief.
"Hear me out, okay," Blake said while showing Dezhong a couple of screenshots he had taken of the beast. "Notice how its upper, and lower body are human-like? See the chest muscles? And look, its legs are built like those of a bodybuilder. Its eyes have an oval shape and…."
"Where are you going with this?" Dezhong cut him off. "Of course, it has a buff body, Blake. It's a beast."
"But it's not one hundred percent pure beast." Blake calmly replied with a smile. "Think about it. You can see these two MPF fighters in their mutant forms here, right? See how their bodies are mutated but they still look human? That's the same thing I'm saying about this beast. We could be looking at a rogue mutant on the loose. If it were a true beast, its fighting wouldn't be as coordinated as this. I mean, have you ever seen a beast duck from a punch and respond with an uppercut?"
"So you're saying that…."
"That wasn't just a wild beast. That was a human, moreover a mutant. That's why no one was able to get a reading from their analyzers before. And besides, if it was a humanoid beast, the analyzers would have at least pointed that out. Nadia explained how the analyzers worked so I know what I'm talking about."
"Dezhong…." Blake held his friend by his shoulders while making deep eye contact with him, "We must find out who this person is and turn them in to the police. They'll know what to do with him. Besides, he could be the one responsible for the serial killings I've heard about."
'That's not true.' Dezhong scoffed inwardly as he remembered the black werewolf killing the men who chased him recently. 'The police won't do anything 'cause I know the MPF will just overtake the case again, and dad's out of commission for a while. I have no choice,' He tensed his fists and took in a deep breath, 'I'll be the one to take this beast down, but first, I have to get stronger.'
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[South Eastern Desper.]
[Location: Gorilla's Base.]
The Gorilla's not-so-secret base was buzzing with activity as hundreds of gang members rushed to the people's aid, hoping to save as many as they could. As they rushed to the rescue, they moved with bags filled with food, water, basic toiletries, blankets, and first aid kit packs to give to the injured victims. This strategy was strategized by Kong himself as a way for the Gorillas to gain the love and trust of Desper's citizens.
Unlike other gangs that took from the people, the Gorillas would give back to the people and conduct business with them, as a way to show they weren't a threat. Besides, Kong used this as a gamble and hoped that one day, Desper would pay him back in kind. "Kong," Abdul spoke with a clipboard in his hands,
"We've managed to gather five thousand bags in total and we've distributed two thousand of them so far."
"That won't be enough," Kong interrupted. "Remember, these people are beyond disorientated. We're giving each one of them two bags at least. Understood?"
"Yes sir. I'll get to it."
With his orders given, the Gorillas hurried and helped as many people as they could as the night quickly advanced. Before they knew it, the raging fires were put out, temporary homes were pitched, and the victims had food in their bellies, enough to take them through the night, Even though the danger was put out, many couldn't help shake off the feeling that this wasn't all the year had to offer. For many, they felt that worse things were going to happen and that this simple fire and beast were nothing compared to what was ahead of them. They felt deep inside them that Desper's enemies were going to rise up and pull her down but who. Who would come to her rescue? Who would save the people of this buzzing Dystopian city? Who would be Desper's hope and who would stay and fight for them?