Who hadn't come through an age of innocence?
Even a powerhouse like Liu Sishan had surely possessed some naive thoughts and childish, adorable habits when she was young.
With a light wave of her hand, the ice sword instantly melted into Pure Water before dispersing into the air.
"Are you really... Sister Sisi?" Zhang Ping asked as he looked at Liu Sishan.
Liu Sishan did not remove the Ice Mask from her face. Looking at Zhang Ping, she said, "Second question. According to the investigation, your ability is the Greed Gem. Because you were unable to meet its activation conditions, it was rated Useless Tier. So... why has your behavior been so abnormal lately?"
"Because I ate the Greed Gem," Zhang Ping answered truthfully.
It was a question he could answer. After all, even the evaluators did not know every effect of the Contract Gem.
Liu Sishan froze. "You ate it yourself?"
"That's right. After I ate the Greed Gem, my body and mind came completely under my own control. That was why I discovered two Mutated Beasts hiding in the school. At the time, I began to wonder whether Mingzhu City belonged to humans or Mutated Beasts, so I started investigating," Zhang Ping said, nodding.
Liu Sishan fell silent. Zhang Ping's answer did make sense, but according to the organization's investigation, there was only one Mutated Beast at Pearl Ability School.
They had even hired assassins to test it, yet they still had not managed to uncover its true nature.
"Are you saying you can accurately identify every Mutated Beast in the city?" Liu Sishan asked Zhang Ping seriously.
Zhang Ping was taken aback. His narrowed eyes opened as he countered, "Don't you even know what the Mutated Beasts in the city are?"
"Answer my question first."
Liu Sishan avoided answering, since she still could not determine whether Zhang Ping was human or a Mutated Beast.
Some Mutated Beasts could create extraordinarily sophisticated illusions. Everything inside them felt utterly real, yet it was actually born from humanity's own imagination.
If she had fallen into a similar ability herself, then every piece of information she provided might be leaked to the enemy.
"According to my investigation, a large number of Mutated Beasts are currently hiding in the city. They are all Heavenly Foxes. I suspect an entire population has invaded Mingzhu City. They generally possess two or three abilities, while their racial abilities are Cognitive Distortion and Conventionality Reversal.
"Two Heavenly Foxes are currently hiding in the school. Centered around the school, nearly every street has more than thirty Heavenly Foxes hiding on it. Most importantly, the Patrol Team has been completely taken over by Heavenly Foxes. There are no living people inside. Anyone who joins the Patrol Team gets eaten by the Heavenly Foxes." Realizing that Liu Sishan did not completely trust him, Zhang Ping thought for a moment before deciding to provide more information anyway.
Liu Sishan's eyes widened. She knew Mingzhu City was dangerous and that an unknown number of Mutated Beasts lurked within it, but she had never imagined the situation had become this dire.
If what Zhang Ping said was true, then Mingzhu City had effectively fallen completely into the hands of the Mutated Beasts. The entire city was their hunting ground, and all humans had become their meat.
"I recorded the identities of some Heavenly Foxes. You can try verifying them. That should prove I'm human, right?" Zhang Ping asked, looking at Liu Sishan.
Liu Sishan hesitated, then nodded after some thought. "Go on."
"Leye Street, Wanshang Breakfast Shop. The proprietress is a Heavenly Fox. Also on Leye Street, Jiu'an Furniture. The owner is a Heavenly Fox. Dragon Pearl Street, Dragon Spear Polearm Workshop. All three blacksmiths are Heavenly Foxes. Investigate them first. We can talk again after you verify it," Zhang Ping said unhurriedly.
After thinking for a moment, he added, "Honestly, I originally thought you knew that the Mutated Beasts were Heavenly Foxes, or at least knew their abilities.
"But judging by things now, you probably determined that there were Mutated Beasts in Mingzhu City through some other means, without knowing the specifics. So if you want to send people to verify this, you'd better choose people you trust. After all, I don't know whether Mutated Beasts are hiding in your team or organization as well."
After Zhang Ping put it that way, Liu Sishan truly could not be sure whether Heavenly Foxes were hiding within the organization.
Cognitive Distortion and Conventionality Reversal—just hearing the names was enough to guess what kind of abilities they were. Combined, those two abilities were terrifying.
After pondering for a moment, Liu Sishan decided to contact the captain.
She could no longer tell whether Zhang Ping was telling the truth, and the information he had provided was too important. If it was true, it would be crucial intelligence.
"Stay here. I'll be back soon," she said after glancing at Zhang Ping.
Zhang Ping shrugged. His narrowed eyes watched Liu Sishan as he said helplessly, "Do I look like I can move?"
Well.
In truth, he really could break free from the restraints of this liquid bodysuit.
It was just that he had considered how doing so might easily cause a misunderstanding, so he had allowed the strange liquid to keep wrapping around him. It was not especially uncomfortable, anyway.
Liu Sishan left the Dark Room and took a badge from her clothes.
The badge was slightly larger than a coin, with a blue pearl embedded in its center.
She gently pressed the pearl, and an aged voice came from the badge. "Sisi, I've already heard what happened from Manny. Not only has your Flame of Fortune not gone out, it has actually grown even more vigorous. Go on. What good news do you have?"
"Captain, I don't know if this counts as good news..." Liu Sishan sighed, then relayed all the information Zhang Ping had provided exactly as it was.
At the other end of the badge, an old man with a head full of silver hair listened to Liu Sishan's account before looking up at the others.
More than a dozen members sat in the conference room. At that moment, every one of them was frowning as they considered the intelligence Liu Sishan had provided.
Although this intelligence differed somewhat from what they had uncovered so far, many details happened to corroborate one another.
"Heavenly Foxes. Has any of you heard of this type of Mutated Beast?" the old man asked, lightly tapping the table.
The middle-aged man seated to his right spoke up. "I can say for certain that no Mutated Beast called a Heavenly Fox has ever appeared near Mingzhu City. However, Cognitive Distortion and Conventionality Reversal have both appeared before. The Mutated Beast with Cognitive Distortion was the Mind-Eating Illusion Fox, while the one with Conventionality Reversal was the Peril-Bearing Fox. We cannot rule out the possibility that their descendants came from crossbreeding."
"In other words, the information provided by Sisi's little friend is very likely true," the old man said thoughtfully.
At that moment, the brawny man seated to the old man's left spoke up. "Since he gave us precise identities for the Mutated Beasts, let me verify them."
"Jin Bo, don't act rashly," the middle-aged man on the right said.
The old man smiled. "If Sisi's little friend is a Mutated Beast, then the information he provided must be a trap. But it could also be bait deliberately released to gain our trust. Still, I think we can take the gamble. After all, Sisi's Flame of Fortune cannot be faked. Jin Bo, lead a team to verify the information he gave us. If possible, bring back the Heavenly Fox corpses!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Jin Bo answered and rose to leave.
The middle-aged man asked worriedly, "Captain, isn't this too risky?"
"Chen Ming, no enemy is greater than the unknown. We've sacrificed several elites during this period, yet we've only discovered two Mutated Beasts. We can't even determine what the enemy is. Now that we finally have a chance to verify it, shrinking back isn't the Cleanup Team's style," the old man said gravely.
Looking out the window, he could vaguely see Mingzhu City in the darkness. He could not help sighing. "Mingzhu is now covered in dust. The Cleanup Team is needed to sweep away that dust and restore its shine. How can we hesitate and hold back?"
Leye Street, Wanshang Breakfast Shop.
The breakfast shop had a structure similar to Iron Soul's, but it only had two floors.
In the master bedroom on the second floor, a fat middle-aged man slept soundly, snoring. Beside him lay a two-meter-tall fox, also asleep. As it inhaled and exhaled, the human skin attached to its forehead rose and fell.
At that moment, a door appeared on one side of the bedroom.
The instant the door appeared, the fox on the bed abruptly opened its eyes, but it was already too late.
One punch!
The fox's head exploded. Most bizarrely, there was no sound at all, and the fat man sleeping beside it was not awakened in the slightest.
Jin Bo lifted the fox's corpse one-handedly and said swiftly, "Move!"
Elsewhere, at Pearl Ability Academy, "Luo Shiyu," who had been resting, suddenly opened her eyes. She instantly left the dormitory and looked toward the distant streets.
"Your Highness?"
A Heavenly Fox immediately appeared behind her.
"Luo Shiyu" said, "Yue Jiu is dead. Someone killed Yue Jiu."
After saying that, she kicked off with both legs, and her body instantly appeared a hundred meters in the air. She looked down and swept her gaze across the surroundings, only to suddenly sense that another Heavenly Fox had been killed.
Location locked!
In the next instant, she dove sharply downward and landed directly on Leye Street. But immediately afterward, she frowned and looked around. That presence had disappeared again.
But soon, the presence appeared again!
The problem was that it had appeared even farther away from her. Another Heavenly Fox had died!
"Roar!!!"
She clenched her teeth, her long ears standing upright as she struggled to contain her rage.
In the end, she could not hold it back and let out a roar. A terrifying blast of air erupted from her, transforming into a fierce wind that spread in all directions.
The Heavenly Foxes around her woke one after another.
They emerged from every direction, their densely packed human skins fluttering in the wind.
But by then, Jin Bo's team had already left Mingzhu City with the corpses of two Heavenly Foxes.
While the two corpses remained in Mingzhu City, they continued to retain human appearances even after death. Jin Bo had hesitated for a second after killing the first Heavenly Fox, but in the end, he chose to continue.
Better to kill the wrong one than let one escape.
After they had traveled some distance away from Mingzhu City, the corpses suddenly transformed into foxes. The members carrying them were startled, and once they saw the change, the entire team became uneasy and uncertain.
Jin Bo looked back, but instead revealed a savage smile. Killing intent overflowed from him as he said, "This is a good thing. At least we finally know who the enemy is!"
The Cleanup Team had determined that Mutated Beasts were hiding within Mingzhu City based on the city's overall fortune.
They had sent elites into Mingzhu City to investigate. Not only had they failed to uncover any results, but of the twenty elites, only eight could still be contacted.
The other twelve members had not only lost contact, but their Flames of Fortune had gone out completely. That meant they were all dead.
The Cleanup Team was an organization independent of Mingzhu City's system. Its purpose was simple: when Mingzhu City faced a catastrophic disaster, it would serve as a trump card capable of turning the tide.
Most of the team's elites came from the Investigation Team and the Patrol Team. Every one of them had once been a renowned genius.
These geniuses had willingly severed all ties to their pasts by faking their deaths, disappearances, and similar methods, moving into the shadows to silently protect Mingzhu City.
No one could bear the sudden loss of twelve members.
But they could not find the enemy.
All they could do was hold their anger inside.
And now.
They had finally found them!