Good Taste Fresh Meat Supply Factory

Chapter 41: Good Taste Fresh Meat Supply Factory

On the taxi ride back into the city, Xu Huo got stuck in a residential neighborhood.

The road was packed with people. Car horns blared nonstop, but more and more people were gathering. Several who had squeezed their way out of the crowd were vividly telling others what had happened.

He rolled down the window and listened. He could make out words like "corpse" and "dismemberment."

"These are troubled times," the driver sighed. "Those people were just living their lives, not bothering anyone, and they ended up dead without their bodies intact."

"Someone died in there?"

"You bet. Several families were killed," the driver said. "Five families, fourteen people, all in one night. They were killed without a sound. The adults and children were left with only their heads, hands, feet, and guts. The rest was all gone!"

"What kind of sicko could do something so deranged? The damn thing is, they did it all in one night, and nobody nearby noticed. We don't even know how the bodies were moved..."

The driver kept talking, but Xu Huo's thoughts had turned to something else that troubled him.

After Evolvers and Players, game Dungeons had begun appearing in the real world—and they killed people indiscriminately. This meant that from now on, ordinary people would face the same risks as Players.

"...I heard this wasn't the only incident," the driver said, instinctively lowering his voice. "There've been three or four just in the south of Guang Cheng. Even the big shots from up top have come. Everyone in the neighborhoods has moved out. They're just like ghost towns now."

Xu Huo had also spotted familiar uniforms in the crowd. They were dressed just like the Special Affairs Personnel Nie Xuan had seen outside the hotel.

"Do you know which neighborhoods were affected?"

The driver rattled off several names and even gave approximate times.

Xu Huo estimated their locations on the map. There was no particular pattern to the locations or timing.

He took out his phone and browsed local news and popular posts. Most of them were cursing Evolvers. The time between incidents and the methods used had already surpassed human limits, making it highly likely that an Evolver was responsible. Others kept questioning and attacking the authorities, venting their anger.

There wasn't much useful information, so he logged into the forum.

As expected, the government was calling on Players to come to Ting City and resolve the incident. Some details of the cases had also been released.

The victims had been killed regardless of age or sex. Most of the adults were left with their hands, feet, and heads, while the children were left with only their feet. The rest of their bodies had vanished.

What made people's skin crawl was that they had all been returned in bags. They reappeared where they had disappeared.

The victims weren't limited to Players. The incidents happened without warning, required no Ticket, and took place at random. They were appearing in different ways all across the country. The authorities had named this game mode Random Instance.

The authorities had already done everything they could to locate the Instance's trigger points, but to no avail. That was why they were calling on Players to help. In just a few days, a hundred people had gone missing. Every disappearance site had been investigated, but there were no clues at all.

So they could only place their hopes in Players. If any Player accidentally entered a Dungeon, they might be able to bring the missing people back.

He put away his phone and shook his head. In a situation like this, not only would no Players dare to come, even local Players would flee the city.

"Hey, young man, we're here." The taxi stopped.

Xu Huo paid and got out. Yu Qingqing's agent was already waiting at the entrance to the office building. When he saw Xu Huo, he hurried over with a flattering smile. "Brother Xu, you're here. Please, come on up."

Xu Huo followed him into the elevator and got off on the 28th Floor.

The Secretary politely ushered him into the Reception Room. "General Manager Zheng is in a meeting. It'll be a little while before he's finished. Please sit and have some tea, Mr. Xu."

Xu Huo glanced at the agent, who was constantly wiping away cold sweat. "I'll wait five minutes."

The Secretary hurried out.

At that moment, in the room next door, the company's two General Managers Zheng were watching Xu Huo on a monitor, accompanied by Special Affairs Personnel.

"Is that him?" asked a young man with red hair, his expression haughty.

"That's him!" General Manager Zhu, a bandage wrapped around his neck, immediately said. "He almost strangled me to death yesterday. He must be an Evolver, and he's definitely eaten people too. Hurry up and arrest him!"

The red-haired man lowered his eyes to the documents on the table and frowned. "He killed three people?"

"Yes, but we later confirmed that all three were Evolvers who had killed people," Zhao Biao, who had dealt with Xu Huo before, hurriedly explained. "And the bodies were intact..."

"It's in the file. You don't need to tell me," the red-haired man cut him off without looking up. "Whoever he is, he has to be arrested for disrupting public order."

Then he turned to the others behind him. "Be careful. He has plenty of experience and is good at disguising himself. He also has special items. When you arrest him, watch out for him taking hostages and escaping."

"He's standing up!" Vice General Manager Zheng, the company's deputy manager, shouted.

"Move!"

More than a dozen Special Affairs Personnel rushed into the Reception Room, carrying a power net and tranquilizer guns specifically designed to deal with Evolvers. But the instant the person in front pushed open the door, he vanished!

His teammates stared in shock, then immediately raised their guns and aimed at the man standing on the other side of the table. But before the Syringe could fire, he too disappeared from the spot, as if erased from existence. Only his gun clattered to the floor!

"What's going on?"

"He just vanished!"

The Special Affairs Personnel had been trained beforehand and knew Players had unusual abilities, but they had never heard of anyone making people vanish the moment they came face-to-face!

How were they supposed to deal with that?

The group backed away, shocked and furious, only to see Xu Huo—who should have had the upper hand—turn pale and sprint toward the floor-to-ceiling window!

"Don't let him get away!" the red-haired man shouted, his voice swallowed by the sound of shattering glass. They saw Xu Huo leap out the window, but when they rushed over, there wasn't even a trace of him!

"He got away?!" General Manager Zhu came in and immediately realized they hadn't caught him. "What the hell are you people good for? There were so many of you, and you had a power net and tranquilizer guns, yet you couldn't catch one man!"

The red-haired man shot him a cold look, then smashed the solid wood conference table in half with one punch.

General Manager Zhu fell silent. Only then did the red-haired man say, "Search the building floor by floor. We're on the 28th Floor. He couldn't have jumped all the way down, so he must still be inside."

"Smack!"

"Thud!"

No sooner had he spoken than the sound of heavy objects hitting the floor rang out in the Reception Room. Two more Special Affairs Personnel vanished!

"H-How could this..." Senior General Manager Zheng staggered back in horror. Before he could finish, he disappeared in front of everyone!

"It's Xu Huo! It has to be him! He's going to kill us all!" General Manager Zhu ran wildly toward the exit. By the time he reached the door, he had met the same fate as Senior General Manager Zheng.

"This isn't Xu Huo's ability. It's a Random Instance!" The red-haired man's face changed in horror. He immediately shouted, "Quick! Get out of this building!"

The people in the Reception Room fled toward the exit in a panic, but they vanished one after another. The Special Affairs Personnel, the entertainment company staff, and the police assisting with the operation—none of them made it out of the 28th Floor. The instant the red-haired man called the research institute, his phone fell to the ground too.