Strange Meteorite

It was a little after six in the morning, and the sun was slowly rising.

Lu Chengchuan sat on a chair, the meteorite in front of him. A group of people and instruments surrounded the stone, running tests, while armed soldiers protected them.

The testing had been ongoing since a little after two in the morning and hadn't stopped even with the sunrise.

Lu Chengchuan and the others weren't needed for the meteorite research, so he found a place to sit, bored. The Investigation Bureau folks next to him were equally idle.

They were the only ones so relaxed; the remaining soldiers and researchers were working themselves to exhaustion.

The government had deployed over two thousand troops from the 2nd Division, 355th Regiment, to garrison the area. The perimeter around the landing site was under strict military surveillance. Now, people couldn't get in, animals couldn't get in, and maybe only Monsters could get in.

The army had cut down the trees and weeds around the meteorite, clearing a wide space.

Researchers had placed various instruments around the meteorite, and several temporary barracks had been erected nearby.

In addition to them, Espers from the Esper Management Bureau had also come to help, a bunch of people standing guard against Monsters.

"Captain Zhou, how much longer will they be at it?"

Once it was fully light, Lu Chengchuan asked Zhou Yaning, who was sitting next to him.

"Don't know, just gotta wait."

"Why not just take the meteorite back for research? It wouldn't be hard to do, and they could study it slowly back there, right?" Lu Chengchuan couldn't understand. Did they have to study it here?

With so many people, couldn't they move a rock?

Zhou Yaning shook her head. "I don't know, maybe they have their reasons."

"Captain Zhou, breakfast is ready, you guys can eat first."

Everyone had been up all night, and except for Lu Chengchuan, the rest were hungry. With the food ready, Zhou Yaning and the others decided to eat first. Lu Chengchuan wasn't hungry, but with nothing else to do, he got up and went to eat with them.

They went to the temporary mess hall, got a bowl of rice, and returned to their previous spots.

By eight o'clock, most of the group had finished eating, but the researchers were like they were possessed, not eating or drinking, just excitedly studying the meteorite.

"Aren't there meteor showers in other places too? Haven't there been any reports from elsewhere?"

He had seen hundreds of meteors flying towards various locations. Surely the meteorite near Anyang City wasn't the only one that survived, and the rest had exploded on impact.

"I have no control over what happens in other places; that's the director's job."

She couldn't worry about other places; she just had to ensure the safety here.

"We just have to wait. These are all big names in Anyang City's scientific field, scholars in materials and biology. How they research it is their business. We laymen shouldn't interfere."

Zhou Yaning was acting on orders from above, and there were some things she couldn't meddle in.

Lu Chengchuan understood this principle. Although he hadn't finished college due to his illness, he knew that specialization was key, and some things were indeed as different as night and day.

Around noon, some of the researchers went to eat, but half of them remained, studying the meteorite in shifts, without stopping for a moment.

Lu Chengchuan and the others stayed there all day. Judging by the researchers' attitude, he was going to be staying here tonight.

"Big Brother Lu, do you think everyone can learn martial arts?"

In the evening, with nothing to do, he chatted with the Investigation Bureau team. Qian Xiaoling was very curious about him, especially about his martial arts.

Before becoming an Esper, they had fought Lu Chengchuan, and the result could be described as disastrous.

After awakening her powers and becoming an Esper, she thought she could fight Lu Chengchuan, but their gap didn't seem to have narrowed. Instead, it felt like it was getting bigger and bigger.

"Everyone should be able to learn, but whether they can master it depends on talent."

Lu Chengchuan didn't know what to say. He hadn't learned through formal channels, so some things were hard for him to explain.

"Aren't there martial artists in the Investigation Bureau? You can ask them; maybe they know more than I do."

"But they're not as good as you. They need weapons to deal with Monsters."

The Investigation Bureau's martial artists were completely different from Lu Chengchuan. Even if you tied all the martial artists from their Guangnan Province Investigation Bureau together and had them attack at once, they wouldn't be a match for Lu Chengchuan.

"Xiao Ling, don't get off-topic..."

Zhou Yaning was about to tell Xiao Ling to shut up, but before she could finish, a sudden noise interrupted her.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunfire. The soldiers on the outer perimeter were firing their weapons. Once it started, the gunfire didn't stop. In just a few seconds, the gunfire became the only sound here.

"Captain Zhou! A large number of Monsters have appeared around us! My men have engaged them!"

Soon, the commander of the 355th Regiment came to find them, telling them what was happening.

Hearing that Monsters were attacking from all sides, Zhou Yaning immediately stood up. "Commander Li, send your men to protect the scholars. Send some people to the meteorite as well. We must stop the Monsters!"

"Don't worry about us; if you need anything, you can come to me."

The quiet night suddenly became lively. Lu Chengchuan stood up and walked to the meteorite.

"Commander Li, what's going on?"

The researchers were startled by the sudden gunfire, but they didn't want to abandon their research. For a moment, everyone huddled around the meteorite, not moving.

"Dean Yang, there's no time to explain now. You and the other scholars come with me first. We will protect the meteorite and equipment. You can come out and continue your research once things are resolved."

Li Shiwen didn't have time to explain too much; he just told them to follow him.

The researchers knew something was wrong and, without much consideration, left with their assistants and the commander.

They were escorted to an armored vehicle, where soldiers set up heavy machine guns around them. The driver was ready to go at a moment's notice, prepared to escape if anything went wrong.

Lu Chengchuan approached the meteorite again, wondering if the monsters had come for it.

"Do you think the monsters are here for this thing?"

He was still pondering this when Zhou Yaning asked the question directly.

Only the monsters knew the answer, but there weren't so many coincidences in the world. The timing and location of the monsters' appearance were too coincidental. They believed the meteorite had attracted them.

The outer perimeter soldiers were intercepting the monsters, but some of them still broke through the defenses.

Amidst the barrage of gunfire, Lu Chengchuan heard hurried footsteps.

"Monsters are coming! Everyone, get ready!"

Zhou Yaning and the others hadn't heard the footsteps, so Lu Chengchuan reminded them to prepare.

Before they could react, monsters burst out of the woods: zombies, ghouls, White-Armored Beasts—monsters they'd seen before and monsters they hadn't.

"Hold them back!"

As the monsters appeared, Li Shiwen immediately ordered them to open fire. There were about a hundred soldiers around the meteorite. With over a hundred guns firing simultaneously, the monsters at the front were riddled with bullets and instantly collapsed to the ground.

But those that fell were only the low-level monsters. The more advanced monsters charged forward, enduring the gunfire.

They were surrounded on all sides. It seemed like monsters were coming from every direction, and the firepower of just over a hundred people wasn't enough to stop them all.