The principal's office.
"Was the electric fence completely undamaged?"
Principal Li Zhengming, who stood by the window with his hands behind his back, nodded. "Yes. The City Protection Bureau said the fence wasn't damaged at all."
To prevent the monsters in the wilderness from entering the city, the City Protection Bureau had erected a tall electric fence ten li outside Jiang City long ago.
Any monster that touched the fence would be electrocuted instantly.
Even if a monster wasn't electrocuted, or even broke through the fence and got in, the bureau would immediately dispatch people based on where the fence had been damaged.
They would then reach the monster within the ten li before it entered the city and stop it from getting in.
"If there was nothing wrong with the fence, how did the monster get into the city? Could it have flown in?"
Principal Li Zhengming shook his head. "We don't know. The City Protection Bureau said its aerial radar didn't detect any monsters entering the city."
Du Qinggang rubbed the stubble on his chin, looking thoughtful. "Could it have come in underground?"
Li Zhengming said, "To be honest, I thought the same thing, but the outer fence goes forty meters underground. There shouldn't be many monsters around Jiang City capable of digging forty meters down to get around it."
"How many people have been killed so far?"
Li Zhengming said, "Two days ago, the City Protection Bureau began noticing multiple killing sites in the city. Their current estimate is that more than thirty people have been killed. We have to find this thing as soon as possible!"
He thought for a moment, then said worriedly, "I hope the monster flew into the city. Because if it came in underground, once that passage is open, there might be more than one monster coming in."
Du Qinggang shared the principal's concern.
Principal Li Zhengming said, "Killing that monster is only a matter of time, but to keep more citizens from being killed before we do, we have to find it as soon as possible!"
"The City Protection Bureau says it's a little short on manpower. If it also calls back the people guarding the fence, it won't be able to respond in time if anything unexpected happens."
"So they hope we can spare some people from the school to help them."
Du Qinggang nodded. "Yes. Killing a monster is easy enough, but finding it in such a large city in a short time is a little difficult."
Li Zhengming said, "The City Protection Bureau wants us to send as many people as we can. Then the vast majority will spread out around the city's outermost edge and gradually move toward the center. Finding it early would naturally be best, but even if we don't, we can gradually surround the monster and eventually force it out."
Du Qinggang asked, "Then what do you have in mind, sir?"
Li Zhengming spoke in a tone of righteous resolve. "Our school has a responsibility to defend Jiang City too! Send all the fourth-year students and half the teachers. We still don't know how strong the monster is, so if we send the third-years or even the second-years, something could very well happen to them."
"You'll be in overall command of the people our school sends this time. You have more experience with this sort of thing."
"All right. There's no time to lose. I'll set out now."
Du Qinggang knew that in a situation like this, leaving a minute later could mean another civilian killed.
For this joint operation, the City Protection Bureau and the Divine Power School sent out more than four hundred people in total.
Over a hundred were people the City Protection Bureau could spare at the moment.
More than two hundred were students from the Divine Power School.
Over twenty were teachers from the Divine Power School.
Sending more than four hundred people to deal with one monster might have been like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken.
But civilian lives were at stake.
Every civilian was worth protecting!
They had a responsibility to resolve the crisis as quickly as possible, before the next civilian was killed!
Besides, there could very well be more than one!
A response this swift-perhaps nowhere else in the world but the dragon's homeland could manage it!
"Where are they going?"
The corridor was crowded with students from various classes.
"They all seem to be fourth-years, and there are so many teachers too. Even Captain Du is there."
"I heard something happened in the city recently. A monster got in."
"How do you know?"
"My older male cousin is the leader of Group A in the City Protection Bureau's First Team. He told me, and he warned me not to go running around for no reason lately."
"With an operation this big, how many must have gotten in?"
"Fuck, what am I supposed to do when I go home later? If I'd known, I would've stayed at school."
"If you don't mind, you can squeeze in with me."
"I need to call my mom and tell her to stay home and not go out for the next few days."
An operation on such a large scale had indeed left everyone at the Divine Power School on edge.
"Duan Ming, how about you stay here tonight too and squeeze in with me? Neither of us is fat, so one bed is enough for both of us."
Standing beside Duan Ming was a small, skinny boy.
His name was Dong Kai, the same skinny boy Du Qinggang had sent to buy cigarettes that afternoon.
His older male cousin was the leader of an emergency response group at the City Protection Bureau.
He was the shortest boy in Class 1, only 1.6 meters tall, a full head shorter than Duan Ming.
"I don't think that'll be necessary."
Dong Kai immediately said, "With an operation this big, I'm guessing quite a few demon beasts got in. It's too dangerous for you to go home alone."
Duan Ming said, "It's only ten minutes to my place. If I run, probably just two or three."
"All right, then."
The reason Duan Ming was determined to go home was that his third uncle had called him that afternoon, and he hadn't picked up.
When he called back afterward, no one answered.
Now, after seeing the people gathered on the sports field, he couldn't help feeling a little worried.
So he had to go home and check.
It was only a ten-minute trip from school to home. If he ran faster, it would take just two or three minutes.
Even if there really were monsters, surely he couldn't be so unlucky as to run into one?
"Duan Ming, are you going home later?"
A fat boy came up to Duan Ming.
His name was Zhao Jie.
He was the least sociable person in Duan Ming's class.
It wasn't that he had an odd personality; he just didn't seem to like spending time with people.
He seemed a little introverted.
He wasn't really fat, just a little chubby.
But because he wasn't tall, he looked a little fat.
Duan Ming nodded.
Zhao Jie immediately said, "Then let me go with you. We're headed in the same direction, so it's right on my way."
It was clear that he was a little scared too.
Although they would face many monsters after becoming Divine Power Masters in the future,
the fear of the first time was often the deadliest.
It was 7:20 p.m., capital time.
It was autumn, and darkness fell much earlier than in other seasons.
By now, the entire campus was wrapped in night.
School had already ended.
But Lin Qiao had just announced in the class group chat that she would come up shortly to make an announcement.
So everyone waited out in the corridor, watching what was happening on the sports field.
They watched as the people gathered on the field finished assembling and boarded several buses under Du Qinggang's lead. Everyone watched them leave.
Just then, Lin Qiao's voice rang out. "They've all left, so stop watching. Everyone, back into the classroom."