Discovery

"Quick, everyone disembark and immediately form three-man squads to swiftly eliminate all monsters in the village. Leave none alive."

Inside the container of a heavily modified semi-truck, He Qishun was fully armed, urging his team members to disembark quickly for the sweep.

This was already the sixth time it had been He Qishun's turn, and the team's efficiency had increased from one village per day to two.

Due to the food chain and the early stages of the catastrophe, the monsters had not yet developed strong territorial instincts, nor had their domains been established. The constant wandering led to fierce and brutal conflicts, often leaving only a dozen or so monsters in each village.

Since these were villages, the monsters were primarily transformed livestock, making them significantly weaker than the beasts in the forest. Generally, a single team member could face one and emerge victorious.

Aside from the first sweep, He Qishun had not actively participated in killing monsters, only providing support from the rear whenever a team member encountered danger.

Everything had been going smoothly. In the nearly twenty villages cleared previously, they had rescued over thirty people. These survivors had mostly been hiding in the sturdier houses, struggling to survive until the arrival of the Exploration Team by remaining as silent as possible.

Upon hearing the sounds of battle in the village, people would often rush to their windows, desperate to call out to the Exploration Team for help.

However, this village was somewhat different.

Beyond the roars of beasts, the village was unnervingly quiet.

At a glance, there was nothing to be seen but pig-type monsters.

He Qishun looked at the scene, feeling a sense of unease, though he could not pinpoint its source.

He gripped his Beast Bone Blade tightly, advancing cautiously while remaining prepared to rush to the aid of other team members at a moment's notice.

This Beast Bone Blade was crafted from the massive tusk of a wild boar-type monster killed a few days prior; it was nearly a meter long, with a spine about four millimeters thick, making it exceptionally sturdy.

As they gradually pushed forward, all the team members became increasingly adept at slaughtering the pig-type monsters, and their speed grew faster and faster.

However, He Qishun, who had been observing carefully, noticed something strange: the closer they got to the north side of the village, the more the pig-type monsters exhibited varying traits—the less they resembled normal pigs.

At this moment, it occurred to He Qishun that there was a large-scale pig farm in this village, housing thousands of pigs.

It was likely that there were no living humans left in this village.

After all, the olfactory sense of a pig was notoriously powerful.

He Qishun did a quick mental tally of the number of kills in the last half hour and immediately issued an order: "Retreat in an orderly fashion at once! Return to the base."

The team members, not yet finished with the slaughter, felt a bit confused by He Qishun's order, but after killing the monsters in front of them, they gathered together and began to pull back.

Smoothly, all team members returned to the vehicles.

At this point, a young team member asked, "Director He, what happened? Why did we turn back halfway through?"

He Qishun smiled slightly and said, "Did you notice what kind of animals the monsters you just encountered were?"

The young team member replied, "They were all pigs. Other than there being a lot of them, there wasn't anything else. Is there a problem with that?"

He Qishun explained, "You didn't see any other types of monsters, did you? Then where do you think the monsters that other animals in this village turned into went?"

A composed middle-aged man said, "Could they have been eaten by these pig-type monsters? But when we were killing them, we felt these monsters weren't particularly strong. Even if there were many, those other monsters shouldn't have all died. Some would surely have survived, especially dogs and cats; they can easily gather in groups of dozens anywhere."

He Qishun's expression grew serious as he said, "The unreasonable distribution of those monsters is one aspect that makes me suspicious and alert. On the other hand, it might not have been easy for you to observe, but from my angle, it was quite clear."

"On the pigs you killed at the beginning, there was only an extra layer of long white hair compared to the domestic pigs we usually see, and their defensive capabilities were much stronger."

"But after ten minutes or so, the tips of the hair on those pigs began to turn gray."

"When we were retreating, if you had observed carefully, you would have noticed that the final pigs were also a size larger than the previous ones."

"If you have been paying attention to local news, you should know there is a pig farm nearby with a capacity of over a thousand."

"In the last half hour, you killed nearly a hundred, and the changes were already this obvious. I find it hard to judge the changes in the monsters closer to that pig farm."

"We must return to the base immediately to report this and launch a clearing operation. You all need to rest well and prepare to come back."

"Yes!" all the team members shouted in unison.

A short while after the vehicles drove off, a series of shrill pig squeals erupted from the village, followed by the sound of collective running that made the ground tremble.

Lin Chenxing was just preparing to depart from the base to meet up with He Qishun. As he drove out, he saw the squad led by He Qishun already returning to the base entrance.

Lin Chenxing ordered the vehicle to stop, then stepped out to wait.

He Qishun also spotted Lin Chenxing. Once the vehicle reached him, he immediately got out and walked toward Lin Chenxing.

"What happened?" Lin Chenxing asked curiously.

He Qishun shook his head and pointed toward the office building inside the base, signaling, "Let's go back and talk. This time, we might all need to take action together."

Although Lin Chenxing was still very curious, he understood what He Qishun meant and held back his questions.

Arriving at Gao Zheng's office again, they found him reviewing reports submitted by various departments regarding subsequent facility construction. He looked up, glanced at them, and asked, "Old He, why are you back so early? This doesn't seem like your style."

He Qishun narrowed his eyes and said, "The pig farm at Chen Village."

Gao Zheng put down the report, sized up He Qishun, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Lin Chenxing and He Qishun were not surprised; this was the state Gao Zheng had been in while contemplating matters.

Lin Chenxing looked at He Qishun again with curiosity. After a moment of thought, he understood what might have happened, but he was also looking forward to whatever decision Gao Zheng would make.

Three or four minutes passed before Gao Zheng opened his eyes, a look of absolute control shining within them.

He picked up the walkie-talkie on the table, pressed the button, and said, "Yue Qi, notify all directors and Exploration Team members to gather at the main gate. Also, have the Research Institute prepare explosives and replacement equipment and send them to the gate."

After speaking, Gao Zheng stood up, looked at Lin Chenxing and He Qishun, and said, "Let's go."