The next day…
The media and the internet were abuzz with the news.
National News: H City's Special Operations Department demonstrates astonishing strength, eliminating forty-two paranormal incidents within half a month, with no casualties among their ranks.
Phoenix Media: Our country has made a significant breakthrough in dealing with paranormal incidents.
Tianxia Media: H City's Special Operations Department may become the key to our nation's victory against paranormal threats.
The propaganda was intense. Everyone who opened their phones or turned on their televisions saw these news stories.
Social media forums were filled with heated discussions.
"Holy crap! Is this real? I saw on the news that in just half a month, H City eliminated forty-two paranormal incidents with no casualties. A dozen ordinary citizens were unlucky enough to be near the incidents and couldn't escape."
"This can't be a trick, right?"
"Nonsense! I'm from H City. The news is real. The Special Operations Department warriors are incredibly strong. They eliminate paranormal incidents immediately and swiftly."
"Look at this photo. Isn't it terrifying? This is an abandoned hospital. You can tell by the red cloud hovering above it that it's terrifying. I'm guessing it's definitely a Wraith-level paranormal. The red cloud kept spreading, but the Special Operations Department arrived on the scene immediately and eliminated the paranormal entity in just one hour."
"Wait, looking at the photo you posted, why do these heroic Special Operations members look kind of… dazed?"
"Huh, they really do."
"It's more like they're thinking, 'I haven't even gotten started, and it's already over.'"
"Salute to these great heroes."
"If it weren't for them, we'd never know what we'd be facing."
At the Special Operations Department…
Everyone was eating breakfast, looking at the news on their phones with bewildered expressions, their heads buzzing.
"Um… is the news talking about us?" Baldy asked curiously, his eyes wide.
Clang!
A rice bowl fell to the ground and shattered.
"It seems like it really is talking about us."
They stared at each other, still confused. They couldn't figure out how they'd inexplicably ended up in the national news. Something felt off.
Then…
Team Captain Zhou Qiang abruptly stood up, his gaze slowly sweeping over his comrades, pausing on each one.
"Have you noticed that we haven't lost any comrades?" Zhou Qiang said slowly.
When he said this, the warriors eating their meals were startled. Huh, it seemed to be true.
They were used to comrades who were beside them one day being gone the next. Even if they felt grief and reluctance, what could they do? To protect the people, they were prepared to make sacrifices.
Lin Fan said, "It's best that no one has died."
Baldy patted Lin Fan's shoulder. "Strange, are we really that strong now?"
"Everyone, put down your bowls and gather in the meeting room," Zhou Qiang said.
In the meeting room…
For the past half month, they had been operating together, always walking on the edge of death. They focused on eliminating paranormal incidents, one by one, never knowing if they would live to see the next day. So they never thought too much about anything.
The screen displayed the paranormal incidents they had encountered during this period. Zhou Qiang had instructed the data team to compile this information.
Everyone was stunned when they saw the data.
"Did we really do all of this?"
Self-doubt.
Disbelief.
"My god, we actually resolved forty-two paranormal incidents in half a month."
"What's even more incredible is that we had no casualties."
Everyone was talking at once.
Too shocked.
Too surprised.
Too unbelievable.
"We didn't do this," Zhou Qiang said in a deep voice, then looked at everyone. "We did arrive at the scenes immediately, but look, among these forty-two incidents, several were Wraith-level. Do you think we could have faced Wraiths without any casualties?"
"Every time, we would arrive at the scene, and shortly after, the paranormal entity would disappear."
"I suspect we've encountered something even more paranormal."
"Someone has been following us, helping us resolve these incidents."
Zhou Qiang's reasoning was sound, and all the members agreed. They also knew that this was likely the case.
Aside from anything else, during this half month, they'd all felt a slight soreness in the back of their necks. They had also used very little ammunition. Some hadn't even fired their guns.
"Captain, you say someone helped us resolve the paranormal incidents. But how did they do it? It's too incredible."
"Yeah, and to do it without us noticing… it seems impossible."
"After all, we're not deaf."
Zhou Qiang pondered.
"You all have valid points. But now I have something to tell you. The headquarters BOSS is coming to H City. Be on your best behavior."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone erupted in excitement, exchanging glances.
"The BOSS is coming to H City? I'm so excited!"
"No matter what, I have to be at my best."
Zhou Qiang was worried. The current situation was critical. No one knew where the next paranormal incident would occur. The BOSS coming to H City was risky.
But he knew this was the BOSS's way of reassuring the public, to make people believe they could fight against the paranormal and not just wait to die.
Nightfall…
H City was bustling during the day, but when night fell, citizens returned to their homes, afraid to wander outside. Soldiers patrolled the streets. Any unusual activity would be immediately reported to the Special Operations Department.
Lin Fan patrolled the streets, gun in hand. Sleep was unimportant to him. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, he missed Yanhai City.
He missed his wife.
He missed Old Zhang.
He missed Little Bao.
He missed the hen.
He walked and walked, then stopped. The streetlight ahead flickered. The surroundings were pitch black, as if swallowed by darkness, no light able to penetrate.
"Huh! I sense spatial fluctuations."
Lin Fan saw a figure suddenly appear on the streetlight.
It was a small child.
Wearing white clothes.
"Little one, it's dangerous at night. And you're climbing so high. If you fall, it will hurt a lot. Listen to me and come down," Lin Fan said.
Kids these days were so mischievous. Not going home to sleep at night, but climbing so high. What if they fell?
The child in white standing on the streetlight suddenly grinned, revealing a smile. Their feet slipped, and they fell straight down, seemingly destined to be splattered on the ground.
Except that's not what happened.
Lin Fan immediately rushed forward and caught the child, holding them in his arms, smiling. "See? It's dangerous. If I hadn't been quick, you would have been hurt."
He then placed the child on the ground and patted their head.
"Little one, go home now."
Lin Fan smiled and looked at the child, noticing they were staring back at him with a blank expression, a hint of confusion in their eyes.
Perhaps they hadn't expected to be caught.
"What's wrong?" Lin Fan asked.
If anyone from the Special Operations Department saw this child in white, they would be terrified.
The Splitter
Evil Spirit Level
When this paranormal entity first appeared, it was abroad. In a single night, it slaughtered an entire city.
A terrifying existence.
Encountering this paranormal entity, escaping with your life was considered lucky. Killing it was nearly impossible.
"Hee hee…"
The child in white, the Splitter, smiled, a chilling sound that distorted the surrounding space.
Lin Fan frowned. "Little one, I've been wanting to tell you, the aura you're emitting is unfriendly. There's a disgusting smell of blood. Have you hurt many people?"
"Why would you hurt others at such a young age? If you can, I hope you'll turn yourself in."
"You're still young. You have a chance to start over."
He tried to persuade the child, hoping they would realize their mistake and change.
Lin Fan had met an old man at Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital who constantly read law books and often told them not to do anything illegal, otherwise, the law, embodied by him, would punish them.
Lin Fan and Old Zhang both agreed with his words.
That's right.
We shouldn't do anything illegal.
The child in white continued to smile, their grin stretching all the way to their ears. Rip! They tore off their arm and put it in their mouth, chewing. Blood flowed onto the ground.
They looked at Lin Fan with an eerie, unknowable gaze.
"You…"
Lin Fan stared in shock, unable to believe the child's grotesque act of self-mutilation. How could this be?
"Luckily, Old Zhang and Little Bao aren't here, or they'd be scared to tears."
"But it's a pity."
"If Old Zhang were here, he could use acupuncture to stop the bleeding."
He didn't seem to register the abnormality of the child's actions. To use Old Zhang's common phrase, the child's mind was clearly not right.
At that moment, a startling scene unfolded.
The blood and flesh scattered on the ground seemed to gain sentience, wriggling and rolling. In the blink of an eye, more and more children in white appeared.
In a matter of moments, the entire street was filled with them.
"Hee hee!"
"Hee hee!"
Sinister laughter echoed, dense and oppressive, startling Lin Fan. He stared in disbelief.
"This is truly incredible."
"How is this possible?"
To Lin Fan, this was the most unbelievable sight.
He hadn't expected so many children to appear.
The children in white were the Splitter, capable of infinitely splitting into countless copies, simultaneously invading human bodies and bursting them from within. The resulting flesh and blood would then be used by the children in white to split again.
This was a difficult paranormal entity to deal with.
Wherever it appeared, the end result was destruction.