Re-entering the Prison of Suppression

After dissecting Tai Sui, Li Fan had already passed the subway leads to his family.

To his surprise, after investigating for so long, they had only managed to confirm that the Unity Society's lair was inside the subway system.

Isn't that the same as finding nothing at all?

Auntie Zhang on the other end of the line immediately became flustered, her voice trembling:

"Please forgive us. My subordinates are accelerating the search. We already have leads and will definitely find the Unity Society's lair as quickly as possible!"

Li Fan said slowly:

"Find them, and wipe them out."

With that, he hung up the phone.

He then suddenly realized he had just scolded the terrifying Blood Pearl, and couldn't help but feel a slight shiver of fear.

I really need to watch more movies starring big shots; I can't stop learning how to project that kind of aura.

If all else fails, I'll sign up for an acting class to practice...

Fortunately, the Unity Society's lair should be found soon.

When the time comes, he could just let those people from the Cleaning Association go up and handle it.

Judging by the combat power Blood Pearl displayed, his father, mother, and the driver Old Chen would only be stronger.

A mere group of rats from the Unity Society—wouldn't they be easy pickings?

As for himself, he naturally had to focus on his own duties at the Anomaly Bureau's Dissection Department.

After all, fighting the Unity Society was the Collector's responsibility; what did it have to do with him, Li Fan?

Feeling that he would soon be able to wipe out the Unity Society and bring peace to Gu City, thereby escaping the misfortune of a promotion, Li Fan felt his mood improve significantly.

Back in the hospital room, Liu Dalong had already sat up on his own and was eating a banana.

His mood was much more stable than when he first arrived.

However, the way he looked at Li Fan remained extremely gentle, which made Li Fan feel a bit uneasy.

"Fan, I'm fine now. They were just superficial wounds anyway. I'm planning to be discharged and head back to the bureau right now; this is a time when we really need manpower."

Li Fan was stunned. Did Liu Dalong actually take his words from earlier seriously?

I hope he doesn't get exhausted or scared into resigning as deputy director.

He quickly advised, "Director Liu, you just fainted, you know. You need to rest; you can't push yourself too hard. If you ruin your health, it'll be a loss for the department—no, for the whole bureau!"

Liu Dalong was resolute this time; he got out of bed, put on his clothes, and insisted on being discharged.

With no other choice, Li Fan had to take a taxi back to the Anomaly Bureau with him.

The entire Anomaly Bureau was ablaze with lights, clearly showing that the large-scale abnormal infection that occurred in downtown Gu City that night had a significant impact.

Fortunately, it had already been quelled.

In the Dissection Department's office building, a group of colleagues was busy running back and forth; even Zhang Hongbing and Ma Lihua had returned from the hospital.

Seeing Li Fan and Liu Dalong return, all the colleagues in the department immediately broke into warm applause.

"Well done, Section Chief Li!"

"Beautifully done, Fan!"

"So brave! Haha, Director Liu is amazing too!"

"To be honest, I wasn't convinced when you were first made section chief, but looking at it now, you truly deserve the title!"

"Definitely a second-class merit! Maybe even a first-class!"

"A third-class merit is enough to get priority consideration for a promotion, right? Your future is limitless!"

Wu Qian also smiled and said:

"Fan, I've already had Ke Ke submit the application materials for your commendation to the bureau immediately. You saved a colleague from an anomaly with your own hands, disregarding your own life! Even I, as the director, feel honored!"

Liu Dalong was naturally very gratified by the treatment Li Fan was receiving; he even felt that a second-class merit was an understatement, and he felt another wave of gratitude toward Li Fan.

Caught off guard, Li Fan quickly waved his hands:

"No, please don't, Director Wu. I only did something insignificant; how could that possibly warrant a second-class merit?"

He never expected that after dodging Liu Dalong, there would be another hurdle here.

Priority consideration for a promotion? Isn't this just trying to ruin me!?

Wu Qian gripped Li Fan's hands, finding the humble and cautious young man more and more pleasing to the eye, and said with genuine sincerity:

"This child, is Director Liu's life an insignificant matter? There has to be a limit to humility. We aren't stealing or robbing; this is legitimate, so a second-class merit is a must!"

The department's performance metrics for this year were absolutely stellar.

They even had face in front of the Investigation Department.

With Liu Dalong safe, Li Fan having earned a merit, the entire Dissection Department functioning without issues, and everyone working overtime in unison, Wu Qian felt deeply comforted.

It was just that this kid, Li Fan, was a bit too honest.

Being too honest will only make you suffer in a government office; I'll have to have a good talk with him later.

Raising a hand to cut off whatever Li Fan was about to say, Wu Qian addressed the group:

"Let's go, time to get to work."

With the precedent of Xidelong, the team had no psychological barriers to working overtime this time and quickly got into character.

The Dissection Room currently held seven corpses, though these were relatively intact and normal in appearance, lacking the grotesque mutations seen previously.

On a tray to the side, a small pile of things resembling granulation tissue sat waiting.

"These are the people who died after being abnormally infected tonight. Three were killed in self-defense by others, three were shot by police while committing crimes, and one fell to his death from a building."

Time had been tight tonight; the Investigation Department hadn't even organized the files before sending the bodies over.

Wu Qian was left to act as the narrator.

"The pile on the tray consists of the abnormal infection sources extracted from the other infected subjects. They've all lost their activity, and the Investigation Department wants us to dissect them to see what we can find."

Six of the corpses had already been dissected, as the colleagues had clearly started working the moment they arrived.

Li Fan immediately took over the last body, partnering with Ke Ke to begin the work.

The corpse was a middle-aged male, covered in blood with several broken bones—clearly the one who had fallen from the building.

"Li Fan, I was actually planning to ask you to go see a movie tonight. I even bought the tickets, but unfortunately..." Ke Ke said in a low, regretful voice while recording the findings.

"Tonight is the premiere of Legend of the Dian King. I heard it's quite good, and it's being released in theaters and online simultaneously..."

Li Fan paused, then asked, "Is this movie very popular? I saw there's also a TV series called Ancient Dian Dynasty; are they part of the same series?"

His voice was loud enough for Hu Zhengqi nearby to hear, who chimed in:

"Yeah, ever since the Ancient Dian King's tomb was discovered during the subway construction, our Gu City has built a museum and developed a lot of cultural spin-off products around it. Everyone in Gu City knows about the Gutuo Kingdom and the Dian King; there's a special sentiment attached to it."

The subway!?

Li Fan suddenly felt as if he had discovered something, and he continued to ask:

"Was the Ancient Dian King's tomb in the subway completely excavated? Could there be anything left behind?"

Hu Zhengqi waved his hand: "How could that be? It was one of the top ten archaeological discoveries of the year. Those people from the Cultural Relics Bureau were like starving wolves who hadn't seen meat in ages; they didn't even leave a single brick behind in that tomb. Everything was transferred to the museum."

Li Fan nodded and fell silent.

Liu Dalong, who hadn't been assigned a specific task, saw Li Fan was busy and enthusiastically came over to help.

With Liu Dalong, an expert at dissection, the work proceeded much more smoothly.

Under Liu Dalong's hands, the corpse seemed to have its structural map already laid out, opening up bit by bit.

He didn't even need Li Fan's lighter to find the small section of vascular and nerve adhesion at the sternum, successfully excising it.

It was faster than any of the other dissection tables.

After tossing the thing onto the pile of granulation tissue, Li Fan walked over to take a closer look.

Some of it was still stained with uncoagulated blood, looking exactly as if it had been gouged out of a living human body.

He wondered who could be so ruthless.

He could feel that all these tissue buds carried the same abnormal mental radiation as the Human-Faced Snake.

There were at least a thousand of them.

This was far too many...

Thinking back to the Spider-Legged Monster he had encountered earlier, its body had also contained hundreds or thousands of Human-Faced Snakes.

If these infection sources were released throughout Gu City, it would absolutely be a massive disaster.

Just tonight, it had already caused panic.

But that was all it had done.

Li Fan felt strange again.

It was just too weird.

What exactly was the Unity Society doing?

From the earliest Shell Currency infected hosts to the later archaeological team fusing with trees, the Human-Faced Snakes, the Tai Sui, and tonight's panic.

If they really had a grand plan targeting Gu City, why release it bit by bit like squeezing toothpaste instead of all at once?

Creating small-scale panic?

Doing this had no meaning other than making the citizens of Gu City uneasy and giving them something to talk about over tea and dinner.

Well, and making Li Fan work overtime.

Li Fan walked out of the Dissection Room, changed into casual clothes, and went to the breakroom to start searching for information about the Gutuo Kingdom online.

Soon, a large number of rumors about the Gutuo Kingdom appeared before his eyes.

Stories about corpses coming back to life in hospital morgues at night, claiming it was the resurrection of Gutuo Kingdom ghosts.

Or that at 1:00 AM, a subway train from the underworld would appear, taking anyone waiting for the train at that hour into the tombs of the Gutuo Kingdom.

If lovers watch Ancient Dian Dynasty together and then break up, King Dian Li will come to claim their lives.

At night, some have seen ghosts crawling out from the depths of Gu City to scale high-rises, spirits hailing from the tomb of the Dian King beneath the earth.

If you play Pen Immortal on a Tuesday night, you will encounter the ghost of King Dian Li.

And so on, and so forth.

These rumors are all predicated on the idea that King Dian Li's royal tomb lies beneath Gu City, spawning a heap of grotesque urban legends.

It almost feels like viral marketing for the Legend of the Dian King movie.

Yet, deep down, Li Fan felt as if he had grasped onto something.

Perhaps he should seek the answer from the Spider-Legged Monster he had just captured...

With this thought, Li Fan stood up and walked toward the nearest door.

He remembered the Spider-Legged Monster had already turned into a corpse; that was careless... he hoped there was still a breath of life left in it...

As he pondered this, his hand touched the doorknob.

Closing his eyes, he silently recited Prison of Suppression in his heart, opened the door, and stepped inside.

The musty scent unique to a prison wafted into his nostrils.

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