Azure Underworld Awakening of Insects, a Spring Thunder Sword!

Chapter 18: Azure Underworld Awakening of Insects, a Spring Thunder Sword! Early morning.

Public Security Bureau Family Compound.

Zhang Jianjun, the security team captain, walked into the monitoring room with a yawn, carrying a thermos of goji berry tea as he prepared to begin another dull, peaceful day at work.

This was the most heavily guarded place in the entire bureau. The families of Public Security Bureau employees lived here, and not even a petty thief had gotten in over the past few decades.

As usual, he checked the previous night's surveillance footage. The fast-forwarded images flashed by on the screen.

Suddenly, his finger came to an abrupt stop on the fast-forward button.

An eerie image froze on the screen.

At three in the morning, on an empty road in the center of the compound,

a pink cartoon pig with an absurdly childish art style was striding along with a swagger that seemed to defy all reason.

Its posture was impossibly cocky.

Zhang Jianjun rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things after staying up too late.

He rewound the footage and played it at normal speed.

That was right!

It was a palm-sized Peppa Pig with a hair-dryer-shaped head!

In the surveillance footage, the bizarre little pig wandered aimlessly around the compound, with bits of mud clinging to it.

Eventually, it reached the area near Residential Building 7, where its body suddenly turned into tiny specks of light and vanished into thin air.

Cold sweat instantly drenched Zhang Jianjun's back!

This wasn't a hallucination!

He snatched up the red internal phone on the desk, his voice changing pitch.

"Command center, this is a report! The residential compound... There's a paranormal incident in the residential compound! Repeat, a paranormal incident!"

Five minutes later.

Jiang City Public Security Bureau, Special Investigation Team headquarters.

An encrypted emergency report landed on Team Captain Chen Kefa's desk.

Attached to the report was the surveillance footage of Peppa Pig taking a late-night stroll.

The atmosphere in the office was frighteningly oppressive.

Chen Kefa stared at the pink cartoon figure on the screen, his handsome face covered in frost.

His gaze was sharp enough to pierce through the screen.

The residential compound!

Those damned paranormal creatures had actually reached out to his family!

"What unbelievable nerve!"

Chen Kefa slammed his fist into the alloy desk. The sturdy surface caved in, leaving a clear fist-shaped dent!

He sprang to his feet and grabbed the black trench coat and long sword case hanging on the coat rack. His voice was especially cold.

"Pass down the order. Special Investigation Team 1, everyone mobilize! Seal off Residential Building 7 and evacuate every resident within three minutes!"

"Yes, sir!"

At Chen Kefa's command, the entire Special Investigation Team roared into action like a finely tuned war machine.

Several black special-purpose vehicles silently pulled out of headquarters and sped straight toward the Family Compound.

In less than five minutes, a long cordon had been set up around Building 7.

Guided by the support staff, the residents were swiftly evacuated to safety under the pretense of an emergency gas-pipeline inspection.

A group of Special Investigation Team members in black combat uniforms surrounded Building 7, holding all sorts of oddly shaped instruments.

A team member holding a detector-like device watched as the red dot on its screen finally locked onto a window on the third floor.

"Captain, we've located the target! Room 304, Building 7! We've detected residual high-intensity psychic energy!"

"The residents haven't left their home in three days, and they haven't responded to the evacuation notice!"

The situation couldn't have been clearer.

Chen Kefa stood below the building, looking up at the tightly shut window of Room 304. The murderous intent in his eyes was almost tangible.

The team members around him silently spread out, clinging to the outer walls like geckos and blocking every window and possible exit from Room 304.

A vast net had already been cast.

All the onlookers had been kept a hundred meters away. They could only watch as the legendary Special Investigation Team members braced for battle, the tension palpable.

Many had never seen anything like this before, and they were both excited and curious.

Some even sneaked out their phones, hoping to record the rare spectacle.

"Sir, please put your phone away! We have professional personnel recording this. For your safety, please don't use any electronic devices!"

A support staff member immediately stepped forward and sternly stopped him.

Chen Kefa climbed the stairs to the third floor one step at a time.

He stopped at the top of the stairs and ceased suppressing the vital energy surging through him like a mighty river.

A scorching, fierce, and utterly domineering aura erupted around him!

The air seemed to ring with the deep thud of a war drum!

The air throughout the third-floor corridor grew thick and heavy around him, and white dust sifted from the walls.

A visible wave of pale golden energy surged toward the door of Room 304 like ripples.

This was Professor Wang Xiaoming's recommendation: the Spirit Race had frail bodies that couldn't withstand the pressure of a high-level martial artist unleashing his full vital energy!

Pure, blazing yang energy would be enough to drive them out of their hiding place!

Then they could be swiftly killed with a thunderous strike!

"Creak—"

The door to Room 304 shuddered violently under the impact of the vital energy.

The next instant—

"Bang!"

The window of Room 304 exploded!

A lanky, twisted, faceless shadow burst through the shattered window, accompanied by an invisible shriek that tore through the air!

It moved with utter frenzy!

Yet its movements were far slower than anyone had expected.

Before it could get very far, the other team members, already prepared for its escape, had surrounded it completely.

The shriek didn't strike the eardrums. It assaulted the soul directly!

Among the onlookers a hundred meters away, dozens clutched their heads and cried out. Their faces turned deathly pale, and blood seeped from their ears!

Fortunately, they were far enough away that they'd only been hit by the aftershock and weren't seriously injured.

Chen Kefa bore the brunt of the attack, yet he didn't even furrow his brow.

At first, he instinctively raised a hand to cover his ears, but immediately realized that physical defense was useless against this psychic attack.

He simply lowered his hand and let the psychic noise batter his consciousness.

The shrieking attack was weaker than he'd expected.

His right hand closed around the hilt, and he slowly drew his sword.

Its clear ring echoed like a dragon's cry across the heavens!

He pointed the sword toward the sky. The blade hummed, drawing wisps of pale blue lightning that coiled and leaped across its surface!

"Spring Thunder!"

His low shout cracked like thunder on a clear day!

Chen Kefa was twenty-five years old, known by the title Azure Underworld Awakening of Insects!

He had never lost to anyone of equal rank and was especially skilled in his domineering swordsmanship with lightning!

The Special Investigation Team members downstairs and outside the walls saw their captain finally get serious, and their anxious hearts immediately settled.

Of all people, it had picked a fight with their captain.

Everyone knew that his family's safety was Captain Chen's absolute bottom line.

And this thing had dared to lurk in his family's residential compound?

If it didn't die, who would?

Lightning gathered at the tip of his sword, condensing into drops of brilliant blue thunderdew that looked like quicksilver!

Chen Kefa flicked his wrist and swept his sword through the air!

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Dozens of drops of thunderdew scattered like heavenly maidens scattering flowers, streaking across the sky.

They carried an aura of destruction and precisely engulfed the shadow trying to flee!

The Spirit Race shadow seemed to sense the deadly threat. It let out an even sharper shriek and twisted wildly, trying to dodge.

But the thunderdew was impossibly fast!

The instant the first drop touched the shadow—

Rumble!

A deafening boom!

Blinding lightning burst forth. The Spirit Race creature's body was like ice dropped into molten lava...

It couldn't last even a second. The raging thunder destroyed it inch by inch, until it vanished without a trace!

Not even a wisp of its sinister chill remained.

The battle had ended the moment Chen Kefa drew his sword.

After a brief silence, the crowd in the distance erupted into thunderous cheers and applause!

"Way to go!"

"So cool! That's our guardian!"

Chen Kefa sheathed his sword. The raging vital energy around him subsided, but his expression remained cold.

A team member with the codename Falcon dropped lightly from the wall and walked over to him, scratching his head helplessly.

"Captain, you..."

"Professor Wang Xiaoming specifically told us to try to keep it alive and bring him some research material..."

Chen Kefa froze. Only then did he remember. His heart sank as he realized he'd messed up!

He'd been too murderous. He'd gone straight for a lethal strike without even thinking about holding back.

Falcon sighed, though he understood completely.

If it had been him and he'd found one of these abominations lurking around his family, he would have struck even harder than the captain. He would have wanted to grind it into dust ten thousand times over.

But then Falcon frowned and voiced the doubt on his mind.

"Still, Captain, something about this is strange. According to the information we've gathered, the Spirit Race has always kept to the shadows and acted unpredictably."

"Why were they so stupid this time, leaving such an obvious trace as Peppa Pig on camera?"

"This isn't like them. It almost seems as if they were... deliberately luring us here?"