Huo Qin noticed it; his fingers, which were fiddling with the map, trembled uncontrollably.

"We've found a clue."

The rescue team leader stood in front of the command center's display screen, pointing to the image on the screen, "Mr. Huo, do you recognize him?"

The image shows a flame badge lying quietly in the grass.

Huo Qin remained silent. He stood before the screen, stray hairs fluttering at his temples, staring intently at the badge, his pale knuckles slowly tightening—

He had pinned it to Chaochao's coat himself that afternoon.

The rescue team leader paused for a moment, then continued, "The location where it was found is only 300 meters from the rapids, and at the same time..."

The man couldn't even bear to continue. He took a deep breath: "At the same time, traces of black bear activity were found in the surrounding area."

Wow!

The air froze instantly.

Jiang Chi, who had learned of the clues first and then the situation at the scene, stopped his hurried steps as he rushed back.

At an airport a hundred kilometers away, the hacked rescue internal communication system simultaneously synchronized the latest developments to Yu Ci's computer. No one spoke: "..."

In the forest, the wind howled like ghosts.

Pei Yushen staggered and fell to the ground, his cane scattered, his empty and dejected black eyes as bright as ever.

Ten meters in front of him, Huo Qin stood tall and straight, his expression dark and unreadable. The blueprint in his hand fluttered to the ground like a butterfly, and only then did the man seem to come back to his senses and raise his eyes.

Those eyes were as deep and dark as an abyss, gazing at me with icy coldness.

A mechanical voice, inaudible to everyone, suddenly resounded throughout the world.

[A sharp increase in the total number of blackened individuals worldwide has been detected, and it is about to exceed the safety threshold. Please take immediate action!]

The loud, piercing alarm blared incessantly.

[Warning! Warning! The world's corruption level has exceeded the critical point! Medium...High...81%...90%...95%...]

drop--

[Excessive corruption level detected, severe overload, world destruction program activated, countdown five seconds]

The whole world seemed to have been put on pause.

[5——]

[4——]

[3——]

Thud.

A faint, muffled thud echoed through the world, yet it was as if a sharp thorn had suddenly pierced through the stagnant, suffocating air.

[2——]

A familiar, emerald-green fruit rolled lightly on the ground.

Huo Qin lowered his eyelids.

On a tree branch, a golden monkey swung its long tail, chirped, and then leaped into the depths of the dense forest.

[1——]

The blaring alarm suddenly stopped.

[Key intervention detected, blacklist value frozen, program terminated]

Huo Qin's gaze followed the golden monkey's leaping figure intently, and when he spoke, his voice was frighteningly hoarse:

"Keep up."