Chapter 72 The Mist Hunter's Revenge: The objective has been revealed...

"President, the dog cage is ready."

At the headquarters of Quark Pharmaceuticals' branch in the Lower District, on the ground floor of the Huiteng Building, Bian Shaoyan stood outside the railing. The antique fountain pen twirling between his left index finger stopped with a "click." The man stroked his chin with his other hand, observing the scene before him with great interest.

"Is the dog awake? Can it still feel pain in its current state?"

Land in the lower city is cheap, and Quark has always been wealthy and powerful. The base of the Phaeton Building was not partitioned due to its special purpose, but the once spacious and unobstructed area now felt somewhat cramped.

All the previous facilities were moved. In front of Bian Shaoyan, dozens of protective layers, isolation shields and confinement cages of different materials rose up, making this originally spacious underground laboratory look like a huge and narrow coffin. If you stayed there for too long, you would feel that your flesh and blood would be crushed by these layers of metal cages.

Bian Shaoyan remained completely unaffected. Upon hearing this, one of the people behind him pressed a button and said, "Kappa, increase light transmission and turn on viewing mode."

"Received, D1 level researcher Alfred Nelson, access verified. Lab assistant Kappa at your service."

The metallic coating turned transparent, revealing the central area of ​​the laboratory that had been hidden by layers of shielding.

A dog, or rather, a canine-like monster, lay there like a corpse. Only the curve representing the activity level of the spirit on the monitoring device in front of Bian Shaoyan still fluctuated.

The monster resembled a black wolfhound, but its size was far more exaggerated, reaching nearly three meters in length. Even though it was slender, its skeletal frame, tightly wrapped in flesh, revealed a ferocious nature. As it breathed, golden flames spewed from its snout, enveloping its entire body like smoke.

What is most terrifying is its abdomen. In addition to its four dog legs, it has six pairs of elbow-shaped arms that are similar to those of humans. Each pair of arms is different in size and thickness. Some are thin and weak like children, some are muscular and strong, and some have loose skin and look like two withered branches.

Now, these six pairs of terrifying human arms are pinned to different parts of the black giant dog by dark golden metal fragments in twisted arcs. At the contact points between the metal fragments and the giant beast's body, a faint purple mist, almost indistinguishable from white, surges.

Yes, there are.

The researcher, Alfred Nelson, who had just spoken, tapped the control panel. Two mechanical arms extended, prying open the giant beast's closed eyelids to show Bian Shaoyan the dark red surging within:

“He can still feel pain, but 001 is currently in a state of imminent collapse. You see, his clone has even revealed its spiritual color. Pain levels below six will not be transmitted to the main body.”

"That's such a shame..."

Bian Shaoyan pondered for a while, clearly intrigued. Looking at the dark red blood mist churning in those giant eyes, like dried blood, he suddenly asked, "Can the images he receives be transmitted to his main body?"

After a moment's thought, Alfred spoke cautiously:

"001 is currently in a very unstable state, with too many sub-bodies being spun off and destroyed. The connection between the sub-bodies and the main body is very weak. Unless it is a major event concerning the main body in the sub-bodies' judgment, it should not be synchronized to the sub-bodies."

"Yeah?"

Bian Shaoyan smiled regretfully, unscrewed the pen cap, and drew three downward-curving arcs on the isolation layer in front of him, where the black behemoth's head was, forming a simple line drawing of a crying expression.

"What a pity. I was really looking forward to seeing 001's expression after he almost succeeded in overthrowing the AI ​​but didn't want to destroy the Lower City. He is a former hero who has now been forgotten by the people of the Lower City."

Bian Shaoyan chuckled as he wiped away the crying face drawn in blue-black ink: "That must be the stupidest and funniest expression I've ever seen."

"President, the equipment is ready."

Bian Shaoyan put away his pen with little interest, watching as the robotic arm released the giant beast's eyelids and inserted a strange, trumpet-like device into both ends of the beast's neck. The giant beast was twisted and pinned to the grieving human arm, twitching a few times before the entire monster returned to a deathly silence.

"Let's begin then. The Wheel of Fortune points to the Lower City, where the Six-Star Grail will be reassembled. I can't wait."

"yes."

The isolation shield returned to its original color. Within the layers of confinement, shackles were tightly fastened to the semi-conscious black giant dog. The mechanical arm rose again, placing the monster into an airtight, alloy-cast metal box.

[Calling Operations Headquarters, target has been spotted. There are three vehicles in total: two seven-seater vehicles and the middle one appears to be a truck, likely carrying mission equipment. The most likely route map has been transmitted.]

[Operations Department received. Already at the designated combat position. Magicians, please avoid the combat zone.]

Outside the Huiteng Building, in an inconspicuous shady spot under a release tree, a ripple, barely perceptible to the naked eye, spread through the space.

A faint pink tinge appeared in Xu Xunyuan's eyes—this was the spiritual color that appeared when her supernatural abilities were activated to their fullest extent, revealing the elements contained within her special characteristics. She had been squatting motionless here all night and finally saw the familiar movement.

As the vehicles driving out of the hidden exit of the Huiteng Building receded into the distance, Xu Xunyuan made no move. While using his mind to bring the forum interface on his computer to the closest view, he moved his teeth, cracked the wax shell, and swallowed the green meatball he had been holding in his mouth.

Even though Bishop D had mentioned that the green meatballs didn't taste very good when he handed them out, Xu Xunyuan's expression still twisted for a moment the instant his tongue touched the green meat.

But the next second, she was surprised by the sudden surge in mental strength. "Mental strength recovery speed increased by 100%, spirituality recovery speed increased by 30%, and minor injuries healed faster." Such an exaggerated effect was actually real?

Before she could dwell on it, the pink in Xu Xunyuan's eyes intensified, as if some barrier had been broken down. She didn't have the energy to look closely; her fingers twitched slightly, as if she were playing some invisible instrument.

The outside of the Huiteng Building appeared calm, and the exit was so well hidden that there were only a few guards inside. But that didn't mean Quark was unprepared. According to internal data, the entire area within a kilometer radius was under the detection of Quark's central AI, Alpha. Not to mention tracking, even if a mosquito were to appear here, Bian Shaoyan would receive the message immediately.

Her invisibility is achieved through an invisibility veil using her trait "Three-Handed Magician," so it's not true invisibility. If she moves, she's very likely to be detected by the AI ​​Alpha, alerting her.

But without Quark's technology, these vengeful Mist Hunters have their own methods.

"An excellent magician should have complete control over her stage, and nothing that happens on stage should escape her notice."

Xu Xunyuan's lips moved slightly, the strange taste still spreading in her mouth, but she had no time to care. The words kept looping in her mind, and Bian Shaoyan and his group, who had disappeared at the end of the road, suddenly reappeared in her sight!

The route they took was not any of the routes the information group had speculated!

Xu Xunyuan determined the location from the road signs, and with a thought, the forum's task chat was updated with a new route map in real time. This was a new way of using the forum that they had figured out yesterday, enabling the transmission of information at the fastest speed.

Xu Xunyuan stopped using her supernatural abilities when she could no longer "see" Bian Shaoyan's group's vehicles in her consciousness. She glanced at her hands discreetly. Her exploration of supernatural abilities had always been relatively limited. She was able to discover a skill similar to the [Stage] field thanks to a casual remark made by Bishop D during their conversation that day.

"Special traits are the deepest desires in a person's heart." Her superpowers awakened from those unresolved regrets that she thought she had let go of. They were not useless; she just had never properly explored them before.

Xu Xunyuan waited another five minutes to confirm that the focus of AI Alpha's supervision had shifted, before using his special ability to leave quietly and imperceptibly. Once he was far away, he rushed off in one direction without hesitation.

Her comrades are still waiting for her.

——

"Bian Shaoyan did not use any of the routes predicted by the information team, but instead adopted Plan B."

Cat Whiskers sat on Shen Xijing's shoulders, holding her head with both hands without blocking her view. Compared to yesterday, her body seemed to have shrunk a bit, looking only four or five years old, which made the three pairs of mustache-like scars symmetrically distributed on her face even more conspicuous.

"yes."

The four of them responded in unison. Wenren Qiu, who was covered up tightly, had a glint in her eyes behind her glasses. "According to the information sent by the remote team, Bian Shaoyan's search route will likely pass through the 'Red Light Bar' and Solomon Street... The most suitable place to make a move is the old library!"

"Walk."

Catwhisker gave the order in a low voice, his voice so well controlled that it didn't echo in the sewers. As Mist Hunters who often walked the gray area, they were very familiar with the city's sewers; entering them was like coming home.

Logically speaking, as underground transportation connecting various directions of the city, the sewers should also fall under the jurisdiction of AI governance, and should even be a key area for governance.

However, the local people in the lower city were too fierce. There were already enough fights on the ground, but the number in the sewers was twice as high. During the few gang battles, there were more human flesh fragments in the sewers than cockroaches.

Since the people are dead, the surveillance equipment naturally cannot survive.

At first, the respectable and responsible head of the police department, Christina, even sent people to repair it several times, and during that period the security in the lower city improved considerably.

However, human life in the lower city was really cheap. Christina ruthlessly arrested several gangs, and when she returned a few weeks later after completing her mission, the underground surveillance network had been almost completely destroyed.

After several such incidents, the council stopped approving the Security Department's budget for sewer oversight in the Lower Town. Residents didn't care anyway, as companies and businesses that dared to establish a presence in the Lower Town all had their own armed forces and would handle things themselves.

Cat Whiskers often complained about the mess in the sewers, but this mess actually helped them at this moment.

A cold smile, completely at odds with her appearance, appeared on her lips. It is said that when the parliament voted on the budget for the following year, the most vehement opponents were the representatives of those few tycoons.

I wonder what interesting expressions those elites from the upper district, who thought that the troubles of the lower-class people in the lower district would never happen to them, would have when they found out that Bian Shaoyan was in trouble.