Unconventional Path

Deep in the underground pipe network, the silence was shattered by the beam of a flashlight and the sound of footsteps.

Following Sun Haoran, Hua Yin traversed the damp and slick pipelines for nearly two hours.

The screen of the psionic detector in his hand remained a reassuring green for the majority of the time.

Occasionally, it flashed a brief yellow when passing certain stagnant water pools or accumulations of decaying matter. Confirmed by Sun Haoran, these were mostly harmless active fungal spores or faint marsh gas leaks.

The air was turbid, permeated with the scents of rust, sewage, and ancient decay.

Under the influence of his awakened S-rank ability, Hua Yin's five senses became incomparably acute. He could clearly hear the echoes of distant dripping water and distinguish the subtle frictional sounds emitted by different materials under his feet.

He could even faintly sense subtle changes in some intangible field within the surrounding environment—an extended ability he gradually noticed after his awakening, similar to a butterfly perceiving magnetic field polarization. Although still vague, it was already beginning to show.

"Almost there. This area seems relatively clean."

Sun Haoran stopped in his tracks, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and swept his flashlight beam across an upcoming fork ahead. "Let's head back and go up through the C-12 exit. That side is closer to where we parked."

The two of them retraced their steps.

Just as they approached the shaft maintenance hatch they had descended from, Sun Haoran's expression suddenly turned awkward, and he squeezed his legs together. "Tch... Drank too much water. Bro, you head up first. I'm going to take a leak, be right back."

Hua Yin nodded, took the high-intensity flashlight handed over by Sun Haoran, and continued walking toward the shaft exit tens of meters away that let in a trace of faint light.

Sun Haoran turned and walked into the shadows of a pipe recess nearby.

Walking alone, the surrounding silence seemed to be magnified.

The beam of Hua Yin's flashlight cut through the darkness, shining on the mottled pipe walls.

The detector in his arms had remained quiet all this while.

However, just as he walked to within less than fifty meters of the shaft ladder, a sudden change occurred!

First was that subtle perception of the field, originating from his butterfly instinct.

He felt the originally stable field around him suddenly undergo minute, dense disturbances, like countless tiny needles stirring the calm water surface simultaneously, carrying an unsettling, restless aura.

Immediately afterward—

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz—!

The screen of the detector pinned to his waist instantly jumped from green to blinding scarlet!

And it emitted a continuous, increasingly rapid, and shrill vibrating sound!

In the silent sewer, this sound was like the death knell, making one's scalp tingle!

Almost at the exact same instant, Sun Haoran's roar filled with terror exploded from not far behind him:

"White Butterfly, run! It's a swarm of Rotten-Toothed Rats! E-rank gregarious vicious beasts! What the fuck, why are there so many?!"

Hua Yin jerked around, sweeping the beam of the high-intensity flashlight toward the source of Sun Haoran's voice and deeper into the distant darkness!

At the edge of the flashlight's illumination, the shadows boiled as if they had come alive!

Countless tiny scarlet dots lit up densely—those were the eyes of the Rotten-Toothed Rats!

They were the size of domestic cats, but their fur was damp and dirty, and their exposed incisors radiated a sickly green luster while dripping corrosive saliva, constantly emitting sharp squeaking sounds.

Their sheer numbers almost filled the entire cross-section of the pipeline behind them, surging toward them madly like a black tide!

The pungent, fishy stench and smell of decay instantly grew more than ten times stronger!

"Run! Run up!"

Sun Haoran had already rushed out of the shadows while pulling up his pants, his face pale as paper. While throwing two tactical fluorescent sticks toward the rat swarm to cause a distraction, he roared at Hua Yin.

The two of them sprinted toward the shaft exit with all their might!

Behind them, the rustling and sharp squeaking of the moving Rotten-Toothed Rat swarm blended together into a chorus of death, rapidly closing in!

Their sharp claws scraped against the metal and concrete ground, making a teeth-setting noise.

While running, Sun Haoran pressed one hand against his earpiece, gasping for breath as he made an emergency report: "Headquarters! This is Sun Haoran and White Butterfly!"

"We've encountered a large-scale swarm of Rotten-Toothed Rats in the District Nine C-12 underground pipe network!"

"Number unknown, extremely massive!"

"We are fleeing toward the shaft exit!"

"Requesting backup! Repeat, requesting emergency backup!"

"Received! Hold on! Backup is on the way!" a hurried response came through the channel.

The mere distance of tens of meters felt incomparably long at this moment.

Just as the fishy wind behind them grew more and more intense!

Finally, the two of them rushed to the bottom of the shaft.

The faint light filtering down from the upper exit was like salvation.

"Quick! White Butterfly, you go up first!"

Sun Haoran fiercely shoved Hua Yin toward the slick metal ladder, turned around, pulled out the tactical baton from his waist, and assumed a defensive posture facing the surging black rat tide. His voice was hoarse yet resolute.

"I'll hold them off! Once you get up, immediately disperse the surrounding crowd! Fast!"

Hua Yin glanced at him without wasting words, grabbed the cold ladder, and climbed upward at top speed.

His movements were more agile than ever before, and the meridians inside his body grew slightly hot under the stimulation of surging spiritual power, providing a continuous supply of strength.

When he climbed out of the shaft gasping for breath and recontacted the fresh air above ground, muffled thuds of a baton striking hard objects, Sun Haoran's angry roars, and the even crazier screeches of the Rotten-Toothed Rats were already rising from below!

This was an auxiliary road on the edge of the old industrial zone. There were not many pedestrians, but there were a few scattered warehouses and small shops nearby, and not far away, a few pedestrians were curiously peering toward the direction where someone had suddenly crawled out of a manhole cover with strange noises coming from below.

Hua Yin ripped off the fluorescent vest he wore and shouted toward the direction of the nearest crowd: "Danger! Leave this place! Scatter quickly!"

However, his shouts and the vague commotion below only aroused the curiosity of even more people.

Instead of leaving, a few individuals stepped closer, wanting to see what was happening down the well.

"Shoot a video! Shoot a video!"

"Are they fighting down there?"

"Did a municipal maintenance accident happen?"

Seeing that the gathering crowd showed a trend of increasing, while the sound of Sun Haoran holding them off below seemed to become more strenuous, with short, stifled groans faintly carrying up!

Hua Yin's gaze turned cold.

He no longer tried to explain with words.

Swiftly, he pulled the standard-issue handgun issued after joining the Special Affairs Bureau from his holster. This was not an ordinary firearm, but a modified Special Affairs Bureau-exclusive weapon capable of loading special psionic interference rounds or high-explosive shells.

Without hesitation, he raised the muzzle and aimed toward the unpopulated sky above and to the side—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive deafening gunshots violently tore through the street's clamor!

The gathered crowd froze instantly, and then terrified screams erupted!

"A gun! There's a gun!"

"Run!"

"Call the police! Hurry up and call the police!"

The crowd scattered and fled instantly like startled birds and beasts, moving far away from the shaft area and hiding in nearby buildings or running into the distance, leaving no one daring to watch.

Down in the well, Sun Haoran was trying his utmost to sweep away a few Rotten-Toothed Rats lunging close with his baton, his arm already clawed with several bloody trails.

Hearing the crisp gunshots coming from overhead, his movements stalled for a beat, narrowly dodging another rat's pounce, and he couldn't help but low-key curse:

"Damn it... Are newcomers nowadays... all so lawless?!"

Yet, undeniably, this simple and crude method had indeed cleared out potential civilians who might be affected in the shortest possible time.

Only, the subsequent report... Sun Haoran could already imagine the expressions of Team Leader Wang or even Bureau Chief Liu upon hearing about this.

At this moment, Hua Yin had once again cast his gaze toward the deep shaft opening, gripping his handgun tightly with a gaze that was frighteningly calm.

He did not flee, but was judging how much longer Sun Haoran could hold out, whether he should go down to provide support now, and... when the bureau's reinforcement would arrive.

The shrieks of the rat swarm and the clashing of metals underground, mixed with the smell of gunpowder on the surface and the distant wail of sirens, wove together into a perilous picture.