Breakfast

"Might as well grab something to eat first..." Sun Hang thought to himself.

As for the search and rescue operation and those missing people, he wasn't in any hurry. Sun Hang didn't have any good feelings towards those people; in fact, he felt disgusted by them. What did their lives or deaths have to do with him?

After all, when they gave the orders, they never took the lives of temporary investigators seriously. Now that someone at his level was in trouble, they were in a rush?

"Rushing won't help," Sun Hang muttered under his breath. He stood up, parked the SUV in a random open-air spot, shoved his hands into his pockets, and sauntered towards the commercial district.

Inside the anomaly zone, formerly the South City Public Cemetery.

The hands on the clock were nearing five, yet there was no sign of dawn. The deep night sky, illuminated by the Blood Moon, was like a thick, deep red velvet cloth, completely covering the heavens.

A temporary forward operating post had been established. From within the white tents marked with red crosses, the moans of the injured could occasionally be heard. In a corner of the camp, on a light truck, lay a row of bodies covered with white sheets.

Yang Qi sat in a folding chair, staring at her tablet, her brow furrowed. At the cost of over twenty lives, the extent of the anomaly zone had finally been mapped out. Besides the South City Public Cemetery, the barren mountains to the northwest, the stream area to the south, and an abandoned village to the east had all been "replaced" to resemble their state sixty-five years ago.

"Tsk... the affected area is much larger than we imagined..."

Yang Qi let out a long sigh. Just then, her phone suddenly rang.

"Hello? Tianfu City Anomaly Research Institute, Yang Qi," she said, picking up and answering the call.

"How is the rescue operation going?" came a stern, middle-aged male voice from the other end of the line. Yang Qi recognized the voice – the caller was the second-in-command of the Tianfu City Management Committee, a person whose authority within Tianfu City could be described as "second to none."

"The scope of the anomaly zone has been determined, but there have been many casualties. We are currently resting at the camp and will conduct a second survey after dawn," Yang Qi reported.

"What's the specific progress? Any leads on the missing people?"

"Not yet... no leads," Yang Qi replied.

"No leads?" The other party's tone was clearly displeased. "Didn't one of the Hunters resonate with an Anomaly?"

"The Blood Moon's power is too great, and the 'Night Fiend' showed clear signs of losing control. I've ordered all Anomaly Hunters to temporarily withdraw. We'll return to the operational area after the Blood Moon has passed." Yang Qi explained.

"But as far as I know, the Hunter who resonated wasn't with the Night Fiend... Did he withdraw too?"

"Although he hasn't shown any mutations, he is, after all, an Infected. To be safe..."

"Researcher Yang, please understand one thing. We are racing against time. We can't afford to take the most conservative approach for every situation. Since this Hunter shows no obvious abnormalities, have him return to the operational area immediately!"

"I refuse!" Yang Qi immediately stated. "You're not here, so you don't understand the situation on the ground. This Blood Moon is stronger than any observed in the past thirty years! We can't take that risk... If we lose that Hunter, we might lose the last clue! If any consequences arise from my decision, I will bear full responsibility!"

"Do you think you can bear that responsibility? You've seen the list of the missing, haven't you?" The voice on the phone had become subtly angry.

"I have," Yang Qi replied calmly. "But since I am the on-site commander of this rescue operation, I have the authority to assign personnel. Unless you dismiss me from my post right now... and according to normal procedures, you would need at least half of the Management Committee to agree to such a decision for it to take effect."

"Very well... I will not dismiss you," the other party said slowly. "But I expect a satisfactory result within forty-eight hours... no, thirty-one hours from now."

The call ended. The other party never specified what punishment awaited Yang Qi if she failed to complete the mission, but the threat in his words was unmistakable.

Tianfu City, downtown, an unknown alleyway.

Sun Hang had originally intended to go to the commercial street for some Golden Arches, but he got lost and ended up wandering into a residential area.

The buildings here were old houses from the last century, and the streets were paved with bluestone slabs polished smooth by the years. A thin morning mist filled the air, giving Sun Hang the illusion of having stumbled into a hidden paradise.

The air was humid, partly due to the morning mist and partly due to the steam rising from the large steamer baskets placed by the roadside. As a city awakening, the first businesses to open were always the various breakfast shops.

Before the sky had fully brightened, the shopkeepers had already set up tables and stools outside their doors, lit their fires, and started their pots.

Dandan noodles, soy milk, spicy and sour noodles, brown sugar glutinous rice cakes... Sun Hang's eyes swept across the street, filled with the specialty snacks of Tianfu City. Some elderly men, leaning on their canes and carrying birdcages, were already seated on the roadside chairs, waiting for their breakfast to be served.

Sun Hang casually chose a relatively clean table and sat down. He glanced at the menu hanging by the shop's entrance and said to the busy owner, "One bowl of wontons, uh, not spicy."

"One bowl of wontons? How much do you want?" the shopkeeper asked, looking up before returning to his work.

"How much?... Then give me ten pieces," Sun Hang glanced at the wontons on the cutting board, which were much larger than the wontons he remembered. Ten should be enough to fill him up... and if not, he could always buy something else elsewhere.

"Coming right up, one and a half taels of wontons, not spicy!"

"Hey, young man, you clearly don't know how to eat," an old man with white hair and beard said from the side, shaking his head regretfully after hearing Sun Hang say "not spicy." "You don't understand. When those steaming wontons are served, and a spoonful of chili oil is poured over them... ah, it's just perfect!"

Just as Sun Hang was about to find an excuse to brush off the meddling old man, a scent, unique to "food," suddenly wafted into his nostrils.