"Baby, look!" The girl pointed to the entrance of the Red Leaf Mall.
The boy saw it without the girl even needing to remind him.
The police officers at the mall entrance appeared to have received some information.
They discussed it for a moment, and then sent three more police officers into the mall.
The three police officers, carrying pistols, cautiously entered the mall and began to explore further inside.
Not far from the door, a dark figure suddenly flashed past in the corridor.
Immediately afterwards, several gunshots rang out, and then two police officers quickly retreated.
"What... what was that just now?" The girl's voice trembled slightly.
She was a bit far away and couldn't see what happened clearly, but at least she saw something, it seemed...
A police officer collapsed inside the mall!
"I don't know!" The boy swallowed hard. He genuinely didn't know what it was, but he at least knew...
That's definitely not a person!
Is this what those people who just escaped were talking about—cannibalism?
"Maybe we should leave!" the girl said, sounding a little scared. She could understand not seeing a dead body earlier, but now...
"No, it's okay, let's look again. Aren't there still so many police officers here? It's alright!" The boy pulled the girl back.
He felt a mix of fear and inexplicable excitement.
Is this a mutant animal developed in a laboratory?
I wonder if I could get infected if I got bitten?
Is a new era about to begin here?
The girl glanced at her boyfriend; she had no idea what he was thinking, but...
She glanced at the many people who had stayed behind and the numerous police officers guarding the mall entrance, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.
The two continued to stand outside like that.
A few minutes later, a black car sped past them.
The boy glanced at the car heading straight for the intersection ahead, but didn't pay it any mind, figuring it would be stopped by the police officer standing in the middle of the intersection anyway.
As he expected, the police officer at the intersection raised his hand and gestured for a stop after seeing the black car.
Just when he thought things would turn out like the cars that had been directed ahead, the officer who had been making the stop gesture paused, then suddenly saluted and shouted something.
The black car sped past the police officers.
"No, this..." The boy opened his mouth, then turned to look at his girlfriend beside him, "Why was that car able to pass?"
"That police officer seemed to call out something like 'Comrade Inspector'?" the girl, whose hearing was relatively better, asked uncertainly.
The boy turned his head and looked at the car speeding towards the mall entrance.
"An inspector...?"
At the entrance of Red Leaf Mall.
Upon seeing a car that wasn't a police car approaching, the officers realized something, and their tense expressions relaxed slightly.
As soon as the car came to a stop, Fan Hong, who was in charge of the operation, walked over.
When Fan Hong saw the people getting out of the car, he couldn't help but frown.
As the person in charge of liaising with the Supervision Bureau in Linhai City, he had a fairly clear understanding of the information of everyone in the Supervision Bureau.
The situation was urgent. He had originally thought that if Wang Hai or Wei Leyang had arrived first, he could have let them go in and take a look first, but now it seemed...
"I can only wait a little longer..." Fan Hong sighed inwardly.
Shen Heng glanced at the approaching group, then turned to Le Gu Nan and instructed:
"Go and ask them what's going on, I'll check what's happening inside the mall."
"Hey, should I go?" Le Gu Nan asked nervously. She had originally thought that after Shen Heng came along, all she had to do was obey.
"Hmm, that's faster." Shen Heng glanced at Le Gu Nan; it seemed there was still room for improvement.
Le Gu Nan hesitated for a moment, took a light breath, and nodded.
"Okay, I understand!"
The two walked towards several police officers.
"How's the situation in the mall?" Le Gu Nan asked.
Fan Hong glanced at Shen Heng, then shifted his gaze to Le Gu Nan and said:
"The situation isn't very optimistic. Although no one has run out of the mall yet, we estimate there are still quite a few inside..."
While the two were exchanging information, Shen Heng stood aside and listened silently.
His hand, which was on the scabbard, was raised slightly and then gently tapped on the ground.
"Clang--"
The invisible sound waves quickly spread towards the shopping mall in front.
A three-dimensional, 3D model of the shopping mall began to rapidly form in Shen Heng's mind.
First came the main entrance, then the corridor. Two lurking Calamity Beast were spotted in the shadows of the corridor, followed by shops on either side, extending upwards to the second and third floors...
Beside him, Fan Hong was still talking with Le Gu Nan.
"Are all the Calamity Beast trapped inside?" Le Gu Nan asked.
"Yes, when we received the emergency call, the nearest police car arrived at the door in just two minutes. The command center also had people checking the surveillance footage, but they didn't find any trace of the Calamity Beast leaving," Fan Hong nodded.
"So everyone inside is an ordinary person now?" Le Gu Nan continued to ask.
Fan Hong shook his head.
"No, one of our officers, Xu Kai, ran inside. He's currently protecting about a dozen people, hiding in a shop on the second floor."
"Then a Calamity Beast tried to attack him, but he drove it away with his gun. A beast that can be driven away with a gun can't be higher than Second Tier beast."
"Then he told us he heard some screams, so we sent a few officers in to see if they could help, only to find that there were also Calamity Beast guarding the entrance."
"Also?" Le Gu Nan asked.
Fan Hong nodded. "Yes, we confirmed with the police officer who went in; the Calamity Beast on his side are still there. That means there are several Calamity Beast this time, but we're not sure exactly how many..."
"One Third Tier, and seven Tier 2." A voice interrupted Fan Hong.
Fan Hong looked at Shen Heng with some surprise. If he remembered correctly, the other party's ability was only to hear the movements of the Calamity Beast, right?
Le Gu Nan looked at Shen Heng with some confusion.
"A newly developed capability," Shen Heng explained to Le Gu Nan.
"Oh." Le Gu Nan nodded slightly.
Seeing Shen Heng's confident demeanor, Fan Hong's heart sank.
"One Third Tier and seven Tier 2...?"
That number would probably require the entire staff of the Linhai Supervision Bureau to be present just to get in.
However, it would probably be at least another ten minutes before all the members of the Supervision Bureau arrived. During this time, those still inside...
"Alright, let's go in."
The calm words once again interrupted Fan Hong's train of thought.
He looked up at Shen Heng in disbelief.
" Shen Heng, didn't you say there was one Third Tier and seven Tier 2 Calamity Beast?"
"Hmm." Shen Heng nodded.
"Then why are you going in?" Fan Hong frowned.
Although he was somewhat anxious, he never considered letting Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan, who were the last to join the Supervision Bureau and who had little combat ability, go in.
Letting the two of them go in would be suicide, wouldn't it?
"This isn't the first time we've met. When have you ever seen me do something I wasn't sure about?" Shen Heng replied calmly.
Fan Hong was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and said somewhat uncertainly:
"You're at Third Tier?"