Ten minutes later, Qi Mi arrived at the designated location one kilometer away from the base.
Following what she had learned, she pulled the monitoring glasses from her toolbox and put them on, carefully examining her surroundings. The glasses had the ability to detect body temperatures, sensing any living being with a body temperature within a 100-meter radius.
She pulled out her phone and checked. Seeing no red dots nearby, she headed back toward the abandoned houses lining the street. With the goal of finding someone, she donned gloves, carefully kicked open doors with the toe of her shoe, and checked each house one by one.
Suddenly, the glasses issued a strong warning sound. Qi Mi raised his hand, and a figure with infrared temperature sensing suddenly jumped down from the roof.
Qi Mi retreated quickly.
"Hey, you, a little purification officer, react quite quickly." After the infrared figure landed on the ground, he slowly stood up.
Qi Mi frowned slightly, she noticed that this was not the normal body temperature distribution.
A normal living person should be red or orange-yellow from head to toe, with blue or green appearing occasionally, but only rarely. However, the person in front of him, except for his head which was bright blood red, his limbs were all a strange green.
She took off her glasses, and suddenly before her was a man with half his face covered in black spots. He was fiddling with a Swiss Army knife, sometimes scissors, sometimes a dagger.
After thinking for a few seconds, Qi Mi reached for his waist.
The man in front of me should be the "Destroyer" that Ye Shiliu once mentioned.
The dark-faced man wore a sinister smile and glanced at Qi Mi's chest. "You don't even have a five-pointed star badge. Are you a newly hired purification officer? You're really unlucky to have run into me right after taking office."
"Oh? Really?" Qi Mi let go of his hand, letting the toolbox fall vertically to the ground, and then drew out his sword.
She made this a few days ago when she was free at a repair shop using materials she found. Unlike the weapons from the previous apocalypse, the materials were much more advanced, so she made this knife even more advanced.
The blade is composed of individual blades, which are connected by a silver wire rope in the middle. When gathered together, it becomes a knife, and when dispersed, it becomes a whip. When the handle is twisted, these blades will be staggered and fixed to each other, forming a baseball bat shape.
She can switch between three weapons at will, and can find a weapon that suits her for close combat, mid-range combat, or long-range combat.
Seeing this, the black-faced man couldn't help but exclaimed: "He even brought a knife. It seems he was prepared in advance."
Qi Mi's eyes shone: "Do you want to kill me?"
The dark-faced man paused with the knife in his hand and tilted his head: "Isn't it obvious?"
Qi Mi curled his lips. Now that he had determined the other party's purpose, there was no need to be soft-hearted. He quickly swung out his sword and whip to attack.
Unexpectedly, the short knife turned into a long whip. The black-faced man's expression changed. He jumped up quickly and climbed onto the eaves, then threw the Swiss Army knife in his hand and attacked Qi Mi.
Qi Mi turned around and swung the whip, and the Swiss Army knife was quickly knocked aside. She quickly swung the whip again and hit the black-faced man hard on the back.
Blood gushed out immediately, staining the blade with large areas of red.
The black-faced man jumped back to the ground, touched the blood on his back and sniffed it as if nothing had happened, and smiled even more brightly.
Qi Mi frowned: "You don't feel pain?"
"What do you think? Would a person with confused consciousness have that kind of thing?" The black-faced man stared at her and took out a stack of small advertising cards from his pocket. The moment he spread his fingers, these advertising cards were like a colorful folding fan in his hand.
Qi was suspicious and thinking, when he saw these small advertisements coming at him like flowers scattered from the sky. Immediately, alarm bells rang in his mind, and he quickly swung his sword and whip to block them.
The reason why destroyers are called destroyers is because they are the biggest source of pollution, a walking trick-making machine.
Anything he touches will be contaminated, especially items like this one that carry data. As long as any inch of human skin touches them, these seemingly unremarkable advertising cards will instantly deploy a barrier and pull the person's consciousness into a flat world.
Once the consciousness enters the barrier, the body has no ability to resist and can only end up dead.
What's even more terrifying is that although these small advertising cards are blocked outside by the rotating knife whip, they are constantly being cut by the sharp blades. One card is cut into two halves, two halves become four pieces, and the number becomes more and more, until they cover the sky and the earth.
At this moment, Qi fans truly experienced the thrill of this doomsday.
During the battle, these destroyers relied on their own pollution abilities to throw things at her. They didn't even need to use their hands. As long as they threw various items with data on them, she would be unable to avoid them, let alone run over to attack.
Qi Mi's face darkened even further. This was the first time she had been so suppressed that she couldn't move her hands or feet. She didn't dare to stop swinging her whip, fearing that a small piece of paper would fly and hit her.
Just as she was thinking about what to do next, a blue beam of light suddenly exploded in front of her eyes.
She was slightly startled, and suddenly a strong smell of blood and burnt odor came into her nose. It was so close and so strong, it must belong to the black-faced man just now.
Then, a series of powerful footsteps came from far away, shaking the ground slightly. The moment the sound of metal friction sounded, she felt the whip in her hand being pulled by a force.
Looking closely, she saw a man in black armor grabbing her sword and whip.
It can be roughly confirmed to be a human figure, with heavy black metal all over the body. Except for the two holes exposed by the eyes, there is no gap from top to bottom.
Perhaps the armor on his hands was too heavy, the man waved his hands with effort, then stepped sideways to reveal his back, allowing Qi Mi to see the body on the ground with its head blown off.
A flash of understanding flashed in Qi Mi's eyes: "The destroyer is dead, so the things he contaminated are also ineffective?"
A muffled "hmm" came from within the armor.
Qi Mi stretched her sore arms, looked at the scraps of paper she had chopped off on the ground, and gradually breathed a sigh of relief.
"You didn't report the saboteurs you encountered? Do you really think you're invincible?" A sarcastic voice drifted over from more than ten meters away. Li Xu held the silver-white gun in his hand, his face still wearing that fake smile. "If I hadn't been patrolling nearby and heard the noise, you wouldn't have survived."
Qi Mi turned his head slightly and smiled politely: "Thank you."
Although she didn't like Li Xu's tone of voice, she had to admit that she had underestimated her enemy this time. Just as Li Xu said, if he hadn't arrived in time, it would only be a matter of time before she was pulled into the barrier.
He still deserves the thanks from his savior.
Li Xu put the gun back into his waist, and her words of thanks didn't change his expression. He still looked at her with disdain, "I've already notified the hospital to come and disinfect you. In the meantime, just stand here and don't touch anything."
"Know."
Li Xu snorted coldly and looked at the armored man: "You touched her things, wait until the poison is disinfected before returning to me."
The armored man slowly turned around and nodded.
At the same time, institutions.
Old Wei, who had just been promoted to senior purification officer, followed the base commander Loki with a stern face.
As soon as he changed into the three-star badge, he made a request to Loki, hoping that he could transfer his former subordinate Song Chun from Li Xu. However, Loki did not agree and said seriously that Song Chun had already been given to Li Xu and there would be no further transfer.
After saying that, he took Lao Wei mysteriously to a place he had never set foot in.
It's a narrow and dark place, and only senior purification officers and base commanders can enter.
Perhaps feeling the silence behind him was too much, Loki turned around to look at Old Wei and smiled soothingly, "Don't be so unhappy, Commander Wei. Shouldn't you be happy about being promoted to a Senior Purification Officer today? Ah, are you worried that Junior Purification Officer Song Chun will be bullied by Commander Li? You don't have to worry about that at all. Commander Li won't."
"Him?" Old Wei scoffed. "I heard he put a leash on someone's neck. Isn't that bullying?!"
Loki pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then said with a hint of meaning, "I believe you will soon understand this point."
"Um?"
Old Wei was still pondering the meaning of this sentence when he heard a mechanical female voice. The next second, an iron door in front of him slowly opened, and the unpleasant smell of mold mixed with the stench of blood hit him in the face.
It was a place that looked like an ancient prison cell. The left and right sides were separated by thick wire mesh with dense holes, leaving a road more than one meter wide in the middle. There was only a dim light on the ceiling, making the environment very unclear. It always felt like there was something hidden in the darkness.
Loki turned sideways and made way for me: "Let's go in and take a look."
An inexplicable feeling of oppression made Old Wei's heart sink. He glanced suspiciously at Loki's expression and slowly stepped forward. As soon as he landed, the thick-soled leather shoes on his feet made a noise, the only sound in the entire room.
The dim light could not prevent the familiar faces from being revealed, both men and women, old and young-looking... Lao Wei remembered these people. They had all been purification officers, and some were even his companions who had fought side by side with him at the same time.
Memories of the past flooded back into their minds. They were once full of energy, but no one knew what they had been through. Now they were like soulless puppets with their hands and feet tied by chains.
He was cramped in a cage like a dog.
Old Wei gasped and unknowingly walked to the end of the room.
"Finally, you've been promoted to Senior Purification Officer. Congratulations, Old Wei." From the last room, a vague chuckle rang out. The clear, hearty voice of the queen instantly loosened the tension in Old Wei's mind.
He remembered the voice. It was his former boss, Shu Li, the youngest senior purification officer in the agency.
Old Wei's eyes flashed and he hurried forward.
Just like the scenery I had seen along the way, the room was depressing and dull.
Shu Li was slumped on the ground, with chains wrapped around her hands, feet and neck. Her messy wavy hair covered most of her face. She looked so tired and decadent, completely devoid of her former strong and capable appearance.
Old Wei opened his mouth, and only then realized his voice was a little hoarse when he spoke: "Why are you here?"
Shu Li smiled, raised her hand and tucked her hair behind her ears, making the sound of clanking iron chains.
"Let me show you my latest weapon." She pointed to the black armor standing upright behind her. "Doesn't it look cool?"
Old Wei was still puzzled, so Loki stepped forward and took the conversation. "These people, Commander Wei, should be familiar to you. They were all once purification officers, accidentally contaminated during a mission, and their SAN values dropped to moderate or even severe levels of chaos. According to regulations, those in this situation can no longer serve as purification officers upon returning to the agency, but can only be reused as [fangs]."
"Ya?" Old Wei frowned even deeper. It was the first time he heard this name.
Loki understood his confusion and, holding onto his cane, continued, "Just like mid-level purification officers are equipped with guns and junior purification officers are equipped with search tools, the [Fang] is a humanoid weapon given to senior purification officers, specifically tasked with combating those difficult [Destroyers]... As you can see, they nourish their armor with blood and are currently the agency's most powerful trump card."
"So, to avoid complications, only those who have been promoted to Senior Purification Officers can know this secret." Loki patted Old Wei on the shoulder. "Come on, Commander Wei, without further ado, choose the [Tooth] you will use now."
Old Wei: “…”
Old Wei's reaction was still stuck on Loki's words "nourishing the armor with blood". He didn't look closely because the light was dim. Now that he looked carefully, he suddenly realized that the chain tied to Shu Li was not an ordinary chain. The black color that came through the transparent tube was all fresh flowing blood!
The overwhelming amount of information made him take a half step back. He stared at Shu Li's collar and asked hoarsely, "So Song Chun... is already Li Xu's chosen [Tooth]?"
Loki smiled and nodded.
Old Wei raised his hand to hold onto the railing, supporting his slightly swaying body. "Did that kid also use his blood to raise a suit of armor?"
"Yes, and she has already put it to use." Loki smiled.
"But she's only twenty!"
"Then she also has the responsibilities of a Purifier!" Loki said expressionlessly, "The moment she chose to become a Purifier, she should have been prepared to dedicate everything to humanity!"
Dedicate everything? Old Wei scoffed.
He suddenly felt that this passionate speech was really terrifying. Just for those humans he had never even met, he was willing to risk his life?
He didn't have such a grand wish. He just wanted to find the witch as quickly as possible and get his wife Liao Yang away from this damned apocalypse. Protecting humanity? Dedication? To him, it was all bullshit!
Feeling suffocated, Lao Wei turned to leave, but Loki quickly stopped him: "Choose a [Ya], dying fighting for humanity is the glory they pursue their whole lives."
Old Wei pushed it away: "No need."
"Would you rather watch them bleed to death in vain just to maintain this armor?"
Old Wei froze.
Loki slowly breathed a sigh of relief, leaning on his cane as he approached him, pressing his shoulder. "I know Commander Wei is a man of integrity and doesn't want to see this happen, but rest assured, these people all volunteered to become [Ya], and those who didn't want to return to the institution have all returned home safely. The institution didn't force anyone. Just think of it as fulfilling a wish for them. Choose one."
Old Wei: “…”
He suddenly closed his eyes, struggled internally for a long time, then slowly looked at Shu Li.
Shu Li smiled at him and nodded.
Her slightly pleading look made Old Wei even more upset. After hurriedly saying Shu Li's name, he quickly walked out of this depressing space and never wanted to step into it again.
Night.
Old Wei sat in the car, smoking silently.
After he took Shu Li out, he realized that the metal collar around [Ya]'s neck was a detonator, which could be used in conjunction with the armor on his body to become a real human bomb. Its power was enormous. Once it was found that there were many saboteurs and it was unable to escape, it could request the master to give the blasting order, which could be operated remotely within one kilometer.
Once it starts, it will be a disaster for both parties.
But fortunately, the collar can be removed. After hearing about it, Lao Wei immediately took off the broken thing and returned it to Loki's desk. He left the agency without saying a word and drove back to the community to smoke.
Qi Mi came over, smelling cigarettes, and knocked on the car window: "Are you in a bad mood?"
Old Wei flicked the ashes from his cigarette twice and was about to speak when he looked up and frowned when he saw her like this.
Qi Mi's black suit jacket was casually draped over his shoulders, the first two openings of his shirt were unbuttoned, revealing his fair collarbone. When he went out in the morning, he still wore a straight tie loosely draped over his chest, looking a bit ruffian.
She had just returned from the hospital, and her entire body had been disinfected from head to toe, smelling of disinfectant.
Qi Mi opened the door and sat in the back seat, briefly telling Lao Wei about the defeat he had suffered today.
Upon learning that she almost didn't make it back from her battle with the Destroyers today, Old Wei's expression grew even colder. "No, the communicator on your waist isn't just for show. Report it to your superiors, or if you don't trust them, call me! The Destroyers in this world are incredibly troublesome. If anything happens to you, what will happen to those kids?!"
Listening to Old Wei talking about himself like a machine gun, Qi Mi curled his lips and said, "I really underestimated the enemy this time. Without that eye, I feel like I'm not in the fighting shape anymore. I'm also very annoyed."
Old Wei hadn't expected this girl to be so frank today. He glanced at her and handed her a cigarette. "Finally, you're willing to talk about this eye. I thought you were invincible. Tell me, what's with those tattoos on your hands?"
Qi Mi took the cigarette, put it under his nose, and slowly leaned back: "It's not a tattoo, it's a spell that seals that eye. That person cast it on me."
Old Wei suddenly realized.
"I remember that the eye in Yaksha's hand is the one he wanted. How come it is in your hands?" he asked.
It seemed that the thing she least wanted to recall was mentioned. Qi Mi remained silent and motionless, staring straight at the roof of the car.
After Lao Wei shut up tactfully and lit another cigarette, she slowly spoke: "He asked me to get what he wanted, but he couldn't control it."
Old Wei said "oh" and exhaled lightly.
At this point, even if he still disliked that person, now was definitely not the time to exaggerate, so he changed the subject and asked, "Then how can you break this seal?"
"I don't know, but I imagine it will be the same as the saboteur we met today."
"What's the meaning?"
Qi Mi's lips curled slightly: "Kill him, and the seal will be automatically lifted."
Old Wei stared at her for two seconds, unable to describe the feeling in his heart: "How can you do it? He's your master."
Qi Mi's expression remained calm. "It was precisely because he was my master that I chose to put him to sleep in an ice coffin instead of killing him. To be honest, I regret it. I should have done as he taught me and eradicated the problem completely to prevent future troubles."
The more she thought about it, the more depressed she became. She pulled at her shirt sleeve to hide her unsightly left hand and muttered, "Perhaps there's another way... but I don't really want to try it."
The voice was as quiet as a mosquito, and only she could hear it. Old Wei, who was sitting in the front seat, could only vaguely hear a few words. He turned around suspiciously and asked, "What did you say just now?"
"Nothing, let me talk about you. Why are you in a bad mood? I remember you should be officially taking up a senior position today." Qi Mi asked, changing the subject.
Old Wei scoffed and put down his cigarette: "I hope I don't get promoted."
"Why?"
"It's nothing, the pressure is just greater." Thinking of Loki's repeated instructions, Lao Wei did not tell the truth, but just said a few perfunctory words to get by.
When he heard Qi Mi talking about the armored man, he knew it was Song Chun, but he couldn't show too much emotion because he knew that Qi Mi was always perceptive and could easily detect the truth.
The car fell into silence.
Feeling that this atmosphere was lingering, his mood would only become more and more broken. Qi Mi suddenly thought of the little happiness he had today, and took out the invitation with a smile on his face: "I need to take a leave in a few days."
Old Wei took it, looked it up and down, and said with a smile, "You're quite popular. You've just arrived and someone invited you to dinner. Why didn't anyone invite me?"
"It's a character issue..."
At this moment, loud music came from all directions, breaking this rare tranquility.
This is an extremely strange melody, with cries, shouts, and weird sounds intertwined together. It is not the kind of darkness that humans can bear. The sound is like the wailing of ghosts and the roar of hell. It can make people's mood fall to the bottom in an instant, and their ears will tinnitus will continue.
Moreover, the sound came from far away and was moving within the base.
Old Wei and Qi Mi looked at each other, covered their ears and ran upstairs, then rushed back to their rooms.
The crying could be heard even through the door. It was as if the deepest fear and sorrow in their hearts were brought out, and the seven children cried out in agony they had never experienced before.
Zheng Yuanyuan covered her ears with one hand and held them in her arms with the other.
Qi Mi immediately turned on the TV, turned up the volume of the cartoon to the maximum, closed the windows and drew the curtains, which barely covered up the music outside.
Afraid that Liao Yang would be unsafe staying alone, Lao Wei sent her here.
[Beep, saboteurs have been detected, please assemble urgently! Repeat, saboteurs have been detected, please assemble urgently!]
The three people's communicators sent out instructions at the same time.
When they heard that the teacher might be leaving, the children ran over crying. Wu Muchen, who was always calm, also cried breathlessly and hugged Qi Mi tightly.
Seeing this, Lao Wei suggested: "How about this, I'll go check out the situation first and contact you later."
Qi Mi looked at these cubs and thought that this was the only way.
Soon after the dark music sounded, the base responded immediately, spreading the soothing healing music in full radiation range and turning the volume up to the maximum.
The senior purification officer who received the order has set out to hunt down the saboteurs, and the communicator has been filled with cross-reports of various situations.
Everyone's emotions gradually calmed down.
Although the seven cubs stopped crying, their little hands still tightly clung to Qi Mi and Zheng Yuanyuan, nestling in their arms like pitiful kittens.
Qi Mi and Zheng Yuanyuan knew that they had been so busy recently that they hadn't had time to take care of their children, so it was normal for everyone to vent their emotions, so they just quietly accompanied them.
Liao Yang stood by the window with a nervous expression, looking out frequently.
"Is Teacher Liao worried about Uncle Wei?" Yu Jiaojiao sniffed and asked.
Before Liao Yang could respond, Ye Shuci rushed to answer: "Uncle Wei is Teacher Liao's husband, of course she would be worried."
Fang Xinyue said in a childish voice, "I heard Uncle Wei is a great hero. He will definitely be able to defeat the bad guys. Teacher Liao, don't worry so much. It's not good to frown."
Liao Yang looked at these little ones, his eyebrows curved: "Yeah, it will be fine."
Half an hour later, just as the children guessed, the senior purification officers destroyed four cars of unknown origin that were blaring music and eliminated the invading saboteurs, with victory news coming one after another.
Lao Wei also called in time to report that he was safe, and Liao Yang finally felt relieved.
"But you need to pack up quickly. We're going to evacuate everyone from the base immediately," Old Wei said over the phone. "Those people have been through so much and touched so many things. Anything their blood or even their hair touches could become something strange. This base is no longer safe. We need to move to a safe place immediately."
As he spoke, a notice in eye-catching red font appeared on the TV screen.
【Urgent Notice! 】
[Please pack your essential belongings as soon as possible and head to the underground escape passage at 8:00 PM sharp in half an hour!]
[Please pack your essential belongings as soon as possible and head to the underground escape passage at 8:00 PM sharp in half an hour!]
[Please pack your essential belongings as soon as possible and head to the underground escape passage at 8:00 PM sharp in half an hour!]
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