Discovery

"Quick! Everyone, get out of the vehicle and immediately form groups of three. Kill every monster in the village. Leave none alive."

Inside the cargo container of a heavily modified truck, He Qishun was fully armed as he urged the team to get out and begin their sweep.

This was He Qishun's sixth turn leading the operation. The team's efficiency had improved from clearing one village a day to two.

With the food chain still in its early stages after the disaster, the monsters' territorial instincts remained weak, and their territories had yet to form. As they roamed, they fought and clashed fiercely, so each village usually had only a dozen or so monsters left.

Since they were in a village, most of the monsters had come from livestock and poultry. They were much weaker than the wild beasts in the woods, so each team member could usually take on one and defeat it.

Aside from the first sweep, He Qishun had never again taken the initiative to kill monsters. He only occasionally went to the aid of team members in danger.

Everything had gone smoothly. In the nearly twenty villages they had cleared so far, they had rescued over thirty people. Most had hidden in rooms in some of the village's better houses, managing to survive until the team arrived without making a sound.

Whenever they heard the sounds of fighting in the village, people would rush to the windows and call out to the Exploration Team for help.

But this village was different.

Apart from the animal roars, the village was unnaturally quiet.

As far as the eye could see, there were pigs and no other monsters.

He Qishun watched the scene, unease stirring in him, though he couldn't tell what was causing it.

He tightened his grip on the Beast Bone Blade and advanced cautiously, ready to rush to the aid of any team member at a moment's notice.

The blade had been made from the tusk of a wild boar-like monster they had killed a few days earlier. Nearly a meter long, it had a blade spine about four millimeters thick and was exceptionally sturdy.

As they pressed forward, the team members grew more accustomed to killing the pig monsters, and their pace quickened.

But He Qishun, who had been watching closely, noticed something odd. The closer they got to the north side of the village, the more the pig monsters differed from ordinary pigs.

He Qishun suddenly remembered that the village had a large Pig Farm with more than a thousand pigs.

There might not be a single living person left in the village.

After all, pigs were widely known for their keen sense of smell.

He Qishun carefully counted how many they had killed in the past half hour, then quickly gave the order: "Withdraw in an orderly fashion at once! Return to base."

The team members hadn't had their fill of fighting yet. Though puzzled by He Qishun's order, they killed the monster in front of them, then gathered and began to retreat.

The withdrawal went smoothly, and every team member made it back to the vehicle.

A young team member asked, "Director He, what happened? Why are we leaving halfway through?"

He Qishun smiled faintly. "Did any of you notice what kind of animals the monsters you encountered had come from?"

The young team member replied, "They were all pigs. There were a lot of them, but otherwise, what's the problem?"

He Qishun explained, "You didn't see any other kinds of monsters, did you? Then where do you think the monsters that came from the other animals in the village went?"

A rather cautious middle-aged man said, "Were they all eaten by the pig monsters? But when we fought them, they didn't seem that strong. There were a lot of them, but surely not all the other monsters were killed. Some should have survived, especially since their numbers weren't exactly small. Dogs and cats in particular can easily gather in groups of dozens anywhere."

He Qishun's expression grew serious. "The unreasonable distribution of the monsters was one thing that puzzled me and put me on my guard. But there's another thing you might not have noticed. From where I was standing, it was quite clear."

"The pigs you first fought only had an extra layer of long white hair compared to ordinary domestic pigs. It made them much tougher."

"But after about ten minutes, the tips of some of the pigs' hair began to turn gray."

"If you looked closely during the retreat, you should have noticed that the last pigs were also a size larger than the ones we'd seen earlier."

"If you've been following the news from around here, you should know there's a Pig Farm nearby with more than a thousand pigs."

"You killed nearly a hundred of them in the past half hour. The changes were already this obvious. I can't imagine how much the monsters have changed closer to the Pig Farm."

"We have to get back and inform the base as soon as possible so we can organize a clearance operation. You should all get some rest and prepare to come back."

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

After the vehicle had been driving for a while, a series of piercing pig squeals came from the village, followed by the rumbling footsteps of a massive herd pounding the ground.

Lin Chenxing was just about to leave the base to meet He Qishun. He had barely driven out when he saw He Qishun's team returning to the base.

Lin Chenxing ordered the vehicle to stop, then got out and waited.

He Qishun had seen Lin Chenxing, too. As soon as the vehicle drew near, he got out and walked over to him.

"What happened?" Lin Chenxing asked curiously.

He Qishun shook his head and pointed toward the office building inside the base. "Let's go back in and talk. This time, we might need everyone to pitch in."

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

When they returned to Gao Zheng's office, Gao Zheng was reviewing reports from the various departments on plans for building facilities. He looked up at them and asked, "Old He, why are you back so early? This isn't like you."

He Qishun narrowed his eyes. "The Pig Farm in Chenzhuang."

Gao Zheng set down the report in his hand, studied He Qishun, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Neither Lin Chenxing nor He Qishun was surprised. This was how Gao Zheng always looked when he was thinking things over.

Lin Chenxing glanced at He Qishun again, and after a moment's thought, he had a good idea of what might have happened. Still, he was curious to see what Gao Zheng would decide.

Three or four minutes later, Gao Zheng opened his eyes, a glint of confidence in them.

He picked up the walkie-talkie from the edge of the desk, pressed the button, and said, "Yue Qi, notify all the 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."

Then Gao Zheng stood up and looked at Lin Chenxing and He Qishun. "Let's go."