The mutated cashier, Wang Haitao, finally succumbed to the temptation of the Shell Currency. He swallowed all of it and fell into a murderous frenzy.
He lunged at the customers coming and going, beginning a brutal slaughter.
In just ten minutes, seven customers had been brutally murdered and arranged in various shapes. Each death matched a carving on one of the Shell Currency pieces.
Two people had been absorbed by Wang Haitao: Wang Cuie and Gao Zixuan.
Wang Cuie had been getting her hair permed. When she heard customers screaming in the mall, she came out of the hair salon.
Then she saw the mutated Wang Haitao about to pounce on a little girl eating ice cream.
Without stopping to think, Wang Cuie rushed over to protect the girl. Wang Haitao grabbed and killed her, then absorbed her.
Gao Zixuan had just bought a pair of sneakers. When he saw Wang Haitao attacking people, he grabbed a clothes rack and charged at him, trying to subdue him.
Wang Haitao, who had already absorbed one person, seized him, making him another part of the Amalgam.
They were all good people.
Even Wang Haitao himself kept shedding tears after he began killing people.
That was the last remnant of his reason, trying to stop his body, but he couldn't do a thing.
He had promised his girlfriend that after work today, he'd take her to see a movie at the mall cinema. Now he could never keep that promise.
Fortunately, investigators from the Anomaly Bureau arrived quickly. While evacuating the crowd, they launched an attack on the Amalgam.
A group of ordinary investigators surrounded the area, drawing the Amalgam's attention with gunfire while using grappling guns and net guns to restrain it.
They used special bullets loaded with powerful sedatives, and the grappling guns and net guns also carried high-voltage currents.
A man with a buzz cut and a leather jacket stepped in as a human shield, fighting the Amalgam with powerful martial arts.
He was Wang Yong, commander of the Investigation Department's 3rd Detachment, 7th Brigade.
In the end, the Amalgam was completely subdued. After it was hit with a high-voltage current, the 7th Brigade recovered more than a dozen Shell Currency pieces from Wang Haitao's body.
The Amalgam showed no signs of life, and its psychic radiation dropped to nearly zero.
After a cursory check to make sure nothing remained, they sent it to the Dissection Department.
What followed was the scene Li Fan had experienced.
Li Fan gave the phantom chains another shake. The Tiger Pillar God in the Prison of Suppression said it had no other memories. When it woke up, it was already inside the Amalgam.
"The Unity Society..."
The mysterious hooded figure who had given Wang Haitao the Shell Currency had said, "May the Lord of Unity bless you." That was the Unity Society's calling card.
This feud was set in stone.
Not only because good people had been harmed, but also because they had nearly gotten him killed.
And there was the grudge over the department chief's promotion, too.
"So you're the little punk who ruined my internship..." Li Fan muttered.
Tomorrow, he'd give his cheap parents a mission: go kill that bastard from the Unity Society!
He'd show them that the Cleaning Association was the worst of the worst!
He checked the time. It was already four, and the sky was beginning to brighten.
After making it through the long night, Li Fan collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.
He didn't start work until three in the afternoon, so he planned to sleep until noon.
The only thing that left him speechless was that at eight in the morning, a frantic knock at the door woke him up.
"Who is it?" He threw on some clothes and stumbled over to open the door, still half asleep.
"Brother Fan, it's me, Leizi! I brought the guys to help you move!"
Zhao Lei beamed at Li Fan. Six or seven people stood behind him, most of them newly hired trainee investigators at the Support Center. They were a group of friends who got along pretty well with Li Fan.
Two more people stood behind them. To his surprise, they were Wang Chaolong and Zhang Ya, whom he'd seen the night before.
"Why are you here?" Li Fan asked, bewildered. "Move? What am I moving?"
"You got promoted and didn't even tell us! Wang Chaolong and Zhang Ya told us first thing this morning," Zhao Lei said with a grin.
"Brother Fan, I was the one who told Zhao Lei and the others. We were hired at the same time, after all. Good news like this has to be shared."
Wang Chaolong had dropped his arrogance from the night before and was now all smiles. He clearly wanted to mend things with Li Fan.
Zhang Ya added,
"Don't you know, Li Fan? The unit dorms are for trainee investigators. Once you're made permanent, you get a big housing allowance, so you can't stay in the dorms anymore. And if you become a leader, you get even more money. Haha, congratulations!"
Zhao Lei nodded.
"Exactly! The bureau was supposed to arrange your move today, but once we heard the news, the guys volunteered to help. We want some of your good luck!"
Then a handsome young man squeezed forward, smiling.
"Brother Fan, I'm Liu Duo from the Political and Personnel Department. We were in the same training group. You haven't forgotten me, have you? As soon as I heard the news, I got your address and hurried over with the guys. I've already called a moving truck, too. It's waiting downstairs."
"That's right, Chief Li. If you keep treating us like strangers, you're not treating us like your own people!"
Once Li Fan understood what was going on, he felt as if lightning had struck him.
What was happening?
Was his life in a dorm room all to himself really over just like that!?
What kind of idiot had decided that permanent employees couldn't live in the dorms?
"Brother Fan, it's the director's rule. I know you hate to leave the guys, but you still have to move—and quickly. You've just been promoted, and it wouldn't look good otherwise," Liu Duo said with heartfelt sincerity.
He could only blame the Unity Society for this grudge over becoming a permanent employee.
This was unforgivable!
Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Li Fan forced a smile.
"Sorry to put you guys to so much trouble. But I can't turn down your kindness. Since you're already here, I'll gladly accept your help."
Other than Zhao Lei, who was genuinely there for him, most of them had probably heard that he'd been made permanent and promoted to department chief on his first day. They thought he had a bright future, so they'd come to curry favor.
It was only human nature, after all.
Li Fan opened the door wide, and the young men filed in at once to help him pack.
He slung the backpack containing the Shell Currency over his shoulder and started packing, too.
Wang Chaolong and Zhang Ya clearly wanted to make up for their behavior the previous day, and they worked harder than anyone.
His colleagues kept congratulating Li Fan on his promotion. Some were genuinely happy for him, while others tried to sound him out about whether his family had connections. They clearly assumed he'd climbed the ladder through powerful backers.
After all, becoming a permanent employee and getting promoted to department chief on his very first day was astonishing.
To these inexperienced young people, even if the Dissection Department was the most remote corner of the whole bureau, a leader was still a leader. Who knew? He might get transferred to a department with real power one day.
Li Fan quickly figured out that these young people had been tainted by bureaucracy, but not completely.
He couldn't be bothered to think about it now. He could only force himself to pack.
The thought of living with his "parents" and greatly increasing the risk of being exposed left him feeling down.
He'd have liked to rent a place of his own, but that would have to wait. At least today was too soon; it would look suspicious.
With the young men working hard, Li Fan's meager belongings were soon packed and loaded onto the truck downstairs.
The commotion caught the attention of other trainee investigators in the dorm.
Thanks to Zhao Lei's booming voice, many people now knew that Li Fan had been made permanent and promoted to department chief on his first day.
He was genuinely happy for Li Fan.
After all, once Li Fan became a big shot, he could look out for him, too.
Many people who'd barely known him came over to shake his hand and congratulate him, leaving Li Fan overwhelmed.
Of course, some talented trainee investigators had psychic power close to 100 and were on the verge of awakening. They didn't think much of it.
After all, to awakened people with abilities, a mere department chief was no big deal.
But geniuses were few and far between. To the newly hired trainee investigators, Li Fan's promotion was practically a meteoric rise.
He'd entered the ranks of leadership.
Everyone was secretly grumbling, though. Li Fan's constant gloom made him seem a little insincere, as if he were trying too hard to be humble.
Once the truck was loaded, the group found two more vehicles and prepared to drive everything to Li Fan's home and carry it inside.
It was the perfect excuse to take half a day off.
By then, Dissection Department Chief Wu Qian had arrived with Liu Dalong and the others, saying they wanted to help Chief Li move and take a look around his home while they were at it.
Li Fan looked utterly bereft. Unable to turn them down, he got into the car.
Surrounded by the group, the convoy headed toward Gu City's outskirts.
Fortunately, Liu Duo had gotten the address from the Political and Personnel Department and was leading the way in the first car. Otherwise, Li Fan wouldn't even have known where his home was.
On the way, Wang Chaolong and Zhang Ya exchanged a knowing glance when they saw Li Fan looking distracted.
A house in the suburbs probably wasn't anything special.
The young men also wondered if Li Fan's family wasn't well off, and that was why he didn't want them to see him off.
Half an hour later, the moving convoy pulled up in front of a three-story detached villa in DC District.
First to catch everyone's eye was the vast private garden, covering more than a thousand square meters. Then came the lavish decorations and the arched doorway with its distinct artistic flair.
There was even a fountain in the front courtyard.
Everyone got out of the cars and stared in shock at the Garden Villa before them.
His parents, sunning themselves on lounge chairs in the villa's garden, stared in equal shock at Li Fan as he got out of the car.
Li Fan forced out a smile.
"Mom, Dad, I'm moving back home."
He screamed inwardly, How is the Cleaning Association this rich!?
Before you continue