Village Monster

Three cars sped out of the city, heading towards the Little Stone Village, which had lost contact.

Little Stone Village was located in a remote area, with only two narrow cement roads leading to it. If they hadn't received a phone call reporting the situation, they wouldn't have been able to discover the anomaly so quickly.

"Just a few of us going? Why not call for more?"

Now that they knew something was wrong, why not send a large army directly, bringing along a bunch of cannons and heavy machine guns? What monster could make waves in the face of such weaponry?

"There are things to deal with everywhere right now, and the army has already summoned retired soldiers, but they're still short on manpower," Zhou Yaning explained to him. Moreover, she wouldn't risk it without being confident.

She turned her head and looked at him, "You're a martial artist, and Xiao Ling, Chen Long, and I are Espers. If we act carefully, we should be able to handle it."

"You guys became Espers? How did that happen?"

Lu Chengchuan didn't know they had become Espers. When did that happen?

"I awakened a few days ago. I don't know how I awakened. I woke up after a nap and found myself an Esper."

That sounded perfunctory, but Zhou Yaning really didn't know what was going on.

An hour later, three cars drove onto the small road leading to Little Stone Village.

On both sides of the road were thriving crops, but even in broad daylight, no villagers were seen tending to them. The cars drove forward for ten minutes, and they didn't see a single person, not even a dog.

Quiet, so quiet that it felt eerie.

The cars stopped at the edge of Little Stone Village. The edge of the village was already covered in Black Mist. They found several military vehicles that had arrived yesterday.

Everyone went over to check and found that everyone was missing, and the car tires and equipment were severely damaged.

"Where did everyone go?"

"Captain, there are bloodstains and signs of a fight here. They may have been captured by monsters."

There were many traces around the cars, and several guns with the safeties off and bullets still in the magazines were lying on the ground. Zhou Yaning stepped forward to check and confirmed that people had been dragged into the village.

The Black Mist shrouded the entire village. Nothing could be seen from the outside. They had to go inside to find out what was happening.

"Captain Li, leave five people to guard the cars, and the rest will come in with us."

In addition to the six members of the Investigation Bureau and Lu Chengchuan, there were also twenty soldiers to cooperate with them. Zhou Yaning had a few people stay behind to guard the cars, and the remaining soldiers followed them into the village.

The Black Mist would block signals, and they would lose contact with the outside world after entering, so they had to leave people outside.

"The things inside will come out to catch people, so tell them to be careful and not be caught off guard by the monsters."

"Understood, I'll arrange it right away."

Li Wang raised his hand in a salute and then went to arrange for the soldiers to stay behind.

Their orders were to follow Zhou Yaning's command and do whatever she told them to do.

After selecting five people to guard the cars, the remaining soldiers picked up their weapons, brought their ammunition, and followed the Investigation Bureau into the mist.

Lu Chengchuan hung the Fine Steel Sword on his body, held a rifle, and entered the mist with Zhou Yaning.

The moment they entered the mist, Lu Chengchuan and the others' vision went dark. They were very familiar with this. It was the same when they entered the mist in the large shopping mall before. After waiting for a while, they could see things again.

"This is... inside Little Stone Village?"

When they came in, they found themselves standing on a cement road, with houses of varying heights in front of them.

Lu Chengchuan turned around and saw only darkness and a white circle of light. This was the entrance and exit of the mist. They had entered another space.

Zhou Yaning checked the communicator and found that there was no signal.

"Proceed with caution. Open fire immediately if you see a monster." Zhou Yaning gave the order to Li Wang, then turned to ask Lu Chengchuan, "Do you know where the core is?"

"Why are you asking me? Do you think I know?"

Lu Chengchuan did know where the core of the mist was. The moment he came in, he felt the call again. It was in front of him. Estimating the distance, it should be in the center of the village.

But he really couldn't admit that. In the eyes of the Investigation Bureau, there were already many strange things about him. He couldn't show anything special again.

"Then where do you think it would be? Guess a location?" Zhou Yaning didn't press him but changed her approach.

Lu Chengchuan thought for a moment and pointed ahead, "I guess it's inside the village, maybe in the center."

"Let's go, target the center of the village!"

Knowing where the Black Mist Energy Source was, Zhou Yaning immediately ordered to set off.

She believed Lu Chengchuan's 'guess'. The Black Mist Energy Source was definitely in the center of the village.

"Zheng Xin, go ahead and scout the situation. Come back every ten minutes and report any abnormalities immediately."

Zhou Yaning asked her subordinate to scout ahead.

The young man named Zheng Xin responded and then quickened his pace forward.

After walking a few steps, his figure suddenly disappeared before everyone's eyes. Lu Chengchuan was stunned for a moment, then realized that this person's ability was invisibility.

Having someone who could turn invisible scout ahead made things much easier for the team behind.

The main force walked for more than twenty minutes without seeing any monsters appear. Zheng Xin, who had gone to scout, returned twice, and he hadn't found any traces of monsters ahead.

The village was lifeless, and the only sound here was the sound of their footsteps.

After walking around for more than ten minutes, they arrived in the center of the village. At this moment, Zheng Xin, who had just left a few minutes ago, suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

"Captain, there are over a dozen monsters a hundred meters ahead. Judging by their attire, they seem to be villagers from here."

Zheng Xin returned to report what he had seen.

There were monsters ahead, and they looked like they had been transformed from people. Their bodies were covered in wounds, their eyes were dull, and their minds were scattered. They were only moving aimlessly.

"Are you saying something turned the villagers into monsters?"

Upon discovering the monsters, Zhou Yaning ordered the team to halt.

"Monsters spotted on the left!"

"Monsters spotted on the right!"

Before she could ask further, the soldiers on guard duty on both sides discovered monsters approaching. The soldiers immediately raised the alarm, simultaneously unlocking their firearms, ready to attack the monsters.

Lu Chengchuan looked to the right and saw dozens of humanoid monsters slowly approaching. The clothes they wore resembled those of modern people, suggesting they were likely villagers from this village.

Zhou Yaning also saw them, and she could also tell that these things were definitely not normal humans.

"Fire!"

There was nothing to discuss; when encountering monsters, opening fire was the only option. If you didn't shoot, the monsters would come to kill you.

The soldiers had undergone rigorous training, coupled with their combat experience against monsters over this period. As soon as the order to fire was given, they immediately pulled the triggers, firing bullets at the monsters.

The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the black mist. Hearing the noise, the monsters in front also ran over.

Lu Chengchuan picked up his rifle, ready to greet the arrival of the monsters.

There were nearly a hundred monsters on the left and right sides combined, but they were weak. A hail of bullets was unleashed, and by the time the magazines were emptied, not a single monster on either side could stand.

Not many monsters ran from the front, and Lu Chengchuan and a few members of the Investigation Bureau easily killed them with their guns.

Before long, the monsters fell to the ground. Some were still groaning, and the soldiers went over in teams to finish them off with additional shots.

After killing the suddenly appearing monsters, the group planned to continue forward. Suddenly, a dozen more monsters appeared ahead.