After memorizing the mark of the "Nine-headed Bird," Luo Yan returned to the Zeng household.
At that moment, everyone from the Zeng family was in the alley. No one dared remain inside the house.
Seeing him return, Zeng Shan hurriedly asked, "Old Luo, are you all right?"
Luo Yan gently shook his head.
Zeng Shan continued, "I've already contacted the Local Security Bureau for this district. Someone should be here soon."
Sure enough, less than five minutes later.
The people from the Local Security Bureau arrived.
The person leading them was Chen Kang'an, who had just come by earlier that day.
After receiving a report from his subordinate that a Giant Beast parasite had appeared at the Zeng household, Chen Kang'an hurried over with his team.
As soon as he arrived, he grabbed Luo Yan without a word and asked, "Classmate Luo, are you hurt anywhere?"
His concern was plain for all to see.
Luo Yan found his enthusiasm somewhat overwhelming.
Fortunately, he had always kept a cold expression.
He simply shook his head without saying anything, which was enough to deal with it.
Chen Kang'an then asked Zeng Shan about the situation. He learned that the target he had been pursuing had been hiding here.
The target had even released a Giant Beast parasite to create chaos and escape.
Fortunately, Luo Yan and Zeng Shan had killed it.
The disaster had not spread any further.
Even so, Chen Kang'an was still drenched in cold sweat.
If the disaster had spread, he probably would not have been able to remain the head of the Local Security Bureau in this district.
When he heard that the criminal had taken Mother Zeng hostage, only to be brutally killed afterward, Chen Kang'an's expression turned solemn.
"Did any of you see what the criminal looked like?" Chen Kang'an asked.
Luo Yan and Zeng Shan both shook their heads.
Chen Kang'an said, "That's good. If you didn't see the criminal's appearance, you won't be in danger."
Based on his experience,
if the criminal had been seen by Luo Yan and Zeng Shan, he definitely would have killed them to silence them.
Luo Yan also did not mention the "Nine-headed Bird" mark.
It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
He did not want to invite trouble upon himself.
By then, the corpse inside the Zeng household had already been carried out.
Chen Kang'an glanced at Luo Yan, then took out a ring of keys and said to Zeng Shan, "This is a crime scene. We need to conduct an investigation here."
"I have an apartment that's usually empty."
"Why don't you move there for a few days?"
"If you get used to living there, you can stay there from now on. That'll save you the trouble of moving back and forth."
"The place is empty anyway. It makes no difference who lives there."
Zeng Shan was deeply moved.
Someone had just died in the house. If his family continued living there, they would probably be left with psychological trauma.
Now that they had another place to stay, it was naturally the best choice.
He immediately thanked Chen Kang'an repeatedly.
Chen Kang'an called over a security officer and had him take the Zeng family and Luo Yan away together.
Before they knew it, Sunday afternoon arrived.
It was the day to return to school.
After saying goodbye to their families, Zeng Shan and Luo Yan arrived at the train station.
When they bought their tickets, station security wanted to confiscate Luo Yan's sword, but let him pass after he showed his student card.
On the train.
"Old Luo, if it weren't for you this time, who knows how badly things would've gone for our family," Zeng Shan said, scratching the back of his head.
Although his grades and talent were both average, he was not stupid.
He knew that the reason his family could now live in Chen Kang'an's apartment was entirely thanks to Luo Yan.
Luo Yan gave no response.
Seeing this, Zeng Shan stopped talking.
After a while.
Suddenly.
The train came to an emergency stop.
The passengers in the carriage cried out in alarm.
One girl even fell toward Luo Yan.
Luo Yan shifted aside in a flash and avoided her.
The girl landed hard on the floor. She raised her head and stared at Luo Yan in disbelief.
She could not understand why Luo Yan had moved away from her.
Of course, she did not know
that this was merely Luo Yan's instinctive reaction.
During the years he had lived on the surface, Luo Yan had encountered similar situations.
Once, he had helped a girl who was falling toward him, only for her to stab a dagger into his stomach with her other hand.
She had also taken his food.
After that, Luo Yan developed the habit of not letting strangers approach him.
After the train came to an emergency stop, its power was shut off as well, and the carriage immediately sank into darkness.
And it was not only the train.
Outside the train, the lights of every building throughout the entire Undercity also went out.
In the end, even the lights on the ceiling of the Undercity disappeared.
The world plunged into darkness in an instant.
Then red lights came on inside the carriage, throwing everyone into a panic.
The announcement sounded as well: "Alert. Alert."
"Vibrational waves have been detected in the sky above the Undercity."
"All power sources have been temporarily shut down. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."
The announcement played repeatedly.
An uneasy mood began to spread through the carriage.
The girl who had fallen to the floor clutched her head and said, "The Jambu Realm Space is about to open above us. Does that mean the Giant Beast is coming?"
A man forced himself to remain calm. "Don't worry. It's not as if this has never happened before. It happens two or three times every year."
"Have we ever failed to escape danger? The Giant Beast won't discover us. We can go three hundred meters underground."
At that moment.
The screens in the carriage lit up. On them appeared footage of the Great Lake area above the Undercity.
Black wisps of energy drifted and gathered across the sky, as if they were about to tear open a hole in it.
"The Spatial Shockwave has reached its critical point."
"'Jambu Realm Space' will open in three seconds."
"The Giant Beast is about to be deployed."
As the countdown echoed from the screen, Luo Yan suddenly saw lights begin to flare up one after another in the dim Undercity, illuminating a path upward.
"That's the 'Quick Attack Skylight'!" Zeng Shan said excitedly. "The Surface Exploration Legion is about to sortie."
He then explained to Luo Yan, "The high-speed launch capsules used by the Attack Shaft need tremendous power to rapidly send roughly two thousand tons of mecha to the surface."
"Therefore, whenever a sortie is necessary, the power supply to most of the city's buildings must be shut off so the energy can be used where it matters most."
Luo Yan nodded.
Another wave of gasps rose from the carriage.
"Jambu Realm Space! Jambu Realm Space has formed!"
Looking at the screen, Luo Yan saw the black wisps above the Undercity finally gather together, forming a branch-like shape.
The "branch" suddenly expanded, tearing space apart and forming a rift.
Through the rift was a deep, pitch-black, indescribably abstract world.
In that dimension above reality, countless shadows moved about. Then a flat, constantly shifting shadow approached the "rift."
It began to seep through the rift and into the real world.
Luo Yan's gaze grew slightly solemn.
So far, the time and location at which Jambu Realm Space appeared had been impossible to predict.
Therefore, humanity could only defend passively.
If one day they could accurately predict when and where Jambu Realm Space would appear,
that would mean humanity understood it well enough.
Perhaps when that day came, they would have hope of closing this space!
A voice sounded from the screen once more.
"The spatial boundary has been breached."
"The Giant Beast is about to unfold into three dimensions!"
"Orange spectrum detected. Matching against the archive now!"
"...Match complete."
"The Giant Beast about to be deployed is 'Gluttony.'"
"Level: Mid Tier 3."
"Type: Shedded Worm."
"Characteristics: Energy Absorption, Gluttony, Swift Movement, Invisibility!"
"Its weakness is between its legs!"
Gluttony!
It was another Mid-tier Giant Beast.
A scene from that day in "Flower City" flashed through Luo Yan's mind—the sheep-faced humanoid Giant Beast looking down at him from above.
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