Where Did That Overbearing Dominance Go?

Riverside.

Inside a minivan parked on the Riverside Road, Fang Pingfang, Ye Chong, and Li Shiping stared speechlessly at the sudden downpour outside.

Just a moment ago it was blazing hot, and in the blink of an eye it's a raging storm. The weather changes its tune way too fast.

Moreover, the rain was ridiculously heavy, as if it had cast a thick filter over the entire world.

"Dr. Fang, what do we do next? The investigation seems to have hit a bottleneck. With just the three of us, it's probably difficult to find out anything in a short time..." Li Shiping, sitting in the driver's seat, suddenly turned around and said to the two of them.

The three of them came to Star City to verify information about a "water monster saving people".

Over this period of time, through extensive research and verification from multiple angles, they have basically confirmed that what the person who posted on social media said was true. At the time of the incident, a strange mist suddenly appeared on the river surface for a short period of time, and the person involved could not swim. Without external assistance, it would have been difficult for them to get out of the river and onto the shore on their own.

However, apart from this, they found no other substantial evidence.

Tests on the clothing the person wore that night, investigations of traces at the point where he went ashore, sampling of river water in the area where he fell into the water, and underwater exploration all revealed nothing unusual.

They also searched for and analyzed many past news reports, accidents, and stories related to the river, as well as conducted on-site verification investigations.

But that's often how things are. If you think everything is normal, then any story or legend will seem like nonsense, full of flaws. But if you have preconceived notions and consider various possibilities, then it seems like every story and legend might be related to what you're investigating.

Much of the information needed to be verified, which was clearly beyond the capabilities of the three of them. Although the information collection and processing department of "Shenxing Technology" provided assistance, and local staff also offered various forms of support, the actual investigation still had to be carried out by them alone.

Especially for this "trio," only Fang Pingfang was truly technically capable. Li Shiping was mainly responsible for security and some dangerous practical operations, while Ye Chong was more responsible for the resource allocation and information transmission of the secret department of "Shenxing Technology."

"Just before it rained, I received a call from Xiao Zhou. Their investigation in the Chongyun Mountain Region today yielded great results. They may have discovered traces of the 'invisible insects' that were taken away by the 'giant raptor' before, or perhaps a new and special creature. Moreover, he has a theoretical hypothesis about the birth of this new creature and has already given the report to 'Mr. Liang.' I estimate that if 'Mr. Liang' approves of his report, then our investigation in Star City will come to an end, and we will return to Haixi Province." Fang Pingfang, sitting in the back seat, revealed news that surprised the other two.

After a few seconds of silence, Li Shiping, still in the driver's seat, broke the silence in the car. "I'm a little confused. What exactly is 'Mr. Liang's' purpose? Is it to capture those 'giant birds of prey' and 'invisible insects,' or to study the reason for their appearance? Or is there some other purpose? Ever since we formed the six-person investigation team, 'Mr. Liang's' various orders have always given me the feeling that he's unpredictable and doesn't follow orders properly..."

In the past, Li Shiping would never have uttered these somewhat complaining remarks about "Mr. Liang," even if the other person was his colleague. But during this time, the six-person team had spent every day together and had built a deeper relationship and trust than that of colleagues. They all thought the same things, so there was no harm in discussing them. Even if these words reached "Mr. Liang's" ears, there was no need to worry too much, since his starting point was still for the mission and the work.

Fang Pingfang had a similar feeling before. Just like when they discovered the "giant raptor" in Wushu Mountain last time, she felt that "Mr. Liang" did not provide them with enough equipment and personnel support in the first place, and seemed to have no intention of capturing the "giant raptor".

Although I hadn't communicated with "Mr. Liang" much before, my overall impression of him was that he was decisive, efficient, and direct. Moreover, his resource allocation was very fast and sufficient. For example, the personnel and equipment configuration he used during the investigation in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone was typical for field investigations by secret departments.

After she and Mi Qiao, Captain Li, and four others formed an investigation team and went to Haixi Province, the orders and tasks given to them by "Mr. Liang" became very "unpredictable," and he often let her "make her own decisions," which was very different from "Mr. Liang's" usual style of doing things.

Fang Pingfang has recently been getting the feeling that her own and the team's investigation is part of "Mr. Liang's" experiment.

But no matter what, they are just employees, receiving high salaries and bonuses. The "Mr. Liang" or the boss of "Shenxing Technology" who pays the money are the ones giving orders. They can ask questions, but they have no way to refuse tasks unless they want to quit.

Fang Pingfang said, "'Mr. Liang' has us constantly traveling and investigating various anomalies, which must have a deeper meaning that we don't know. Perhaps he believes that these anomalies are connected, or perhaps he wants us to look at these creatures from multiple perspectives to obtain more information."

Ye Chong, who had been looking down at his tablet, looked up and asked, "Dr. Fang, if we're transferred back, what will happen to the investigation in Star City? Will someone else take over the investigation, or will it just be put on hold for now, and all our efforts be in vain?"

"I'll follow your arrangements." Fang Pingfang didn't say much more about it.

After the rain subsided a little, they drove away from the riverbank and returned to their hotel.

As soon as the three returned to their rooms, the hotel experienced a power outage. However, staff immediately appeared in the hallway to reassure the guests who came out to inquire, as the backup power supply would be activated within ten minutes to restore power.

Ye Chong didn't really care, because the devices he was using still had enough batteries, and the network wasn't connected to the hotel's Wi-Fi, so whether the hotel had power or not didn't affect his operation.

Unexpectedly, his mobile phone and other devices lost signal, and even the special equipment provided to him by "Shenxing Technology" could not connect.

This greatly surprised him; the power outage had such a wide impact.

But even with a large affected area, it's impossible for "Shenxing Technology's" equipment to lose signal, right?

Ye Chong walked to the French windows, pulled back the curtains, and frowned as he looked at Star City through the rain. He found that the area without power was not large; there were still large areas with power visible to the naked eye.

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the sky. He suddenly noticed a huge shadow, resembling a cactus or a wooden dummy, writhing above a cluster of buildings not far away. But it vanished in the blink of an eye, making him wonder if he had seen things wrong.

He rubbed his eyes and stared intently in that direction for a while longer, until the hotel's power and equipment signals were restored, but he still couldn't see anything. Ye Chong shook his head and muttered to himself:

"This city is really a bit eerie..."

Neither Zhou Rui, Mi Qiao, and others in the Chongyun Mountain Region, nor Fang Pingfang, Li Shiping, and others in Star City could have imagined that at this very moment, "Mr. Liang" was in Haixi Province, personally hunting down that "giant raptor."

In the continuous mountainous area where the two provinces meet in northern Wushu Mountain, a figure with metallic skin slowly emerged from nothing on the mountainside.

His unlidded pupils gazed into the distance, where dozens of drones of varying sizes hovered and stood ready, and even further away, dozens more patrolled the mountains.

Five days ago, Mr. Liang began tracking the "giant raptor"—after using AI to analyze massive amounts of data and narrowing down the possible locations of the "giant raptor" to a few areas, Mr. Liang personally searched one of those areas and then used his special abilities to find the "giant raptor's" trail.

In fact, Mr. Liang himself did not expect to find the "giant raptor" so quickly, but what he did not expect was that the "giant raptor" that had obviously had "predatory blood drinking" many times and had a very high degree of mutation and evolution did not have any desire to attack or fight after encountering him. Instead, it used all its strength to flap its wings and escape.

So for those seven days, Mr. Liang was actually in the process of "chasing".

First, they pursued him from the northern mountainous region of Haixi Province into the territory of Jiangyou Province, then from Jiangyou Province into Zhijiang Province, and finally back into Haixi Province, entering the northern mountainous region of Wushu Mountain.

This "giant raptor" basically only knew how to escape, without any intention of fighting back. However, it actually had a variety of ways to escape, including visual camouflage and interfering with the drone's judgment by influencing other birds.

Its thick feathers and tough skin not only give it an extremely strong ability to withstand blows, but it can also inexplicably withstand electric shocks. Naturally, tranquilizer guns are ineffective against it, but despite its powerful body, it still just flies and flees without any intention of fighting.

This behavioral pattern is inconsistent with Mr. Liang's big data statistics on "Blood-feeding Creature" and with his previous incomplete records and observations of this "giant bird of prey".

When this big bird was hunting "invisible insects" in Wushu Mountain, it was completely domineering and arrogant! Even knowing that a third party was watching, it still forcibly dug up the ground, dug out the "invisible insects," and took them away.

Therefore, Mr. Liang was somewhat puzzled by the "giant raptor's" behavior this time. Had some of his actions revealed his true strength? Or did this "giant raptor" possess some kind of instinctive talent, capable of sensing real danger?

Although "Shenxing Technology" has official endorsement for some research, the attack equipment that the drones it directly controls in China can be equipped with is still limited in terms of lethality. Therefore, when the "giant raptor" was not afraid of tranquilizer guns or electric shocks, Mr. Liang could only try to keep it at bay and then find an opportunity to close the distance and capture it himself.

In fact, Mr. Liang could have reported to "Old He" and then taken down this "giant raptor" in a faster way. After all, this creature had already caused actual casualties and posed a significant threat and hidden danger to humans.

On the other hand, Mr. Liang wanted to see what other abilities and methods this "giant raptor" had. He was certain that after preying on the "invisible insects," this "giant raptor" had preyed on them at least once more during this period, and because of the significant changes in its living environment, it had undergone a great deal of mutation.

On the other hand, Mr. Liang did not want to kill the "giant raptor" directly; he hoped to capture it alive.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival everyone!