Wang Hai looked down into the pitch-black passage and nodded solemnly.
It hadn't eaten within five hundred meters? This Calamity Beast was a little more cautious than expected.
"All right, we'll head down and look around first. We'll leave things up here to you!" Wang Hai looked at Fan Hong.
"Mm, sorry for the trouble!" Fan Hong nodded solemnly. Standing nearby, he had naturally heard their conversation, and having worked with Wang Hai many times, he more or less understood what "at least tier 2" meant.
"Wu Cheng, go get a few headlamps!" Wang Hai turned and spoke to Wu Cheng.
"Huh? We're heading down already? Isn't Wei Leyang still on his way?" Wu Cheng looked at Wang Hai in surprise.
"We're not waiting!" Wu Cheng nodded, his expression somewhat serious.
"How about we wait a little longer? Wei Leyang should be here any minute!" Wu Cheng suggested.
"Could you stop being such a coward? With all of us down there, even if it's tier 3, it's not like we can't fight it!" Han Ling was getting a little angry with Wu Cheng.
"I'm not being a coward. I'm just being cautious, staying on the safe side!" Wu Cheng argued stubbornly.
"All right, hurry up and get them! The sooner we go down, the better the chance of rescuing the people who were taken!" Wang Hai said.
"Fine!" Though still somewhat reluctant, Wu Cheng could only nod now that the captain had said so, then turn and run toward the car.
Before long, Wu Cheng returned with several headlamps from the car and handed them to Wang Hai and Han Ling.
"How about I go down with you? The sewers branch out in every direction. You could easily miss it if you're not careful. With me there, at least within five hundred meters, we can be sure of finding the Calamity Beast quickly if it appears!" Shen Heng glanced at the three putting on their headlamps.
"No!" Wang Hai refused flatly. "Bringing you here, we can still say we haven't made you face a Calamity Beast directly. But taking you down there would be a clear violation of the Supervision Bureau's regulations!"
"Once I hear the Calamity Beast moving, I'll point you in the right direction and leave. I won't encounter it!" Shen Heng said again.
"Captain, we could give that a try! That way, we wouldn't be violating our Supervision Bureau's regulations!" Han Ling looked at Wang Hai, somewhat tempted.
Wu Cheng also looked at Wang Hai expectantly, waiting for his decision. After all, finding the Calamity Beast sooner was always a good thing.
To their disappointment, however, Wang Hai still shook his head. He gave them both a stern look, then turned his gaze to Shen Heng. "I know you're doing this for our sake, but rules are rules. When I say no, I mean no!"
"Sigh! I knew it!" Han Ling sighed softly from the side.
Wang Hai ignored Han Ling's reaction and looked at Shen Heng. "When Wei Leyang gets here, tell him to stay up here with you, in case we fail to find the Calamity Beast and it comes back up this way!"
"Mm, okay, got it!" Shen Heng nodded in acknowledgment.
"All right, let's head down!"
Wang Hai lowered his head slightly. The beam from his headlamp plunged down the open shaft, piercing the darkness inside and shining straight onto the ground below.
It was nearly ten meters from top to bottom. An ordinary person jumping down would most likely break their legs, but for people like them, once they reached tier 1, that height really amounted to nothing.
Wang Hai took two steps forward. The next instant, his figure dropped straight down and vanished from the surface.
Han Ling jumped down right behind him, while Wu Cheng turned to glance at Shen Heng before jumping.
"Sigh, off to fight another Calamity Beast. I really envy you!"
Shen Heng: "..."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With three successive landing thuds, the three of them reached the sewer without trouble.
Wang Hai turned his head to look around, and the light from his headlamp quickly illuminated the sewer.
It was a passage about four meters high and five or six meters wide. Never mind people walking through it-even vehicles could pass without a problem.
Sewer passages this large were relatively rare in the country. Linhai City had only built this large-scale drainage system specifically to prevent urban flooding because it was on the coast and suffered typhoons every year.
Wang Hai lowered his head, directing his headlamp toward the ground.
An intermittent trail of blood appeared before the three of them, stretching ahead.
"Let's go!"
Wang Hai spoke briskly, then led the other two in a rapid pursuit along the blood trail.
Several minutes later.
The three stopped, their eyes on the large pool of blood and bits of remains on the ground.
"Did it finish eating and move somewhere else?" Han Ling couldn't help asking.
"It probably wasn't that quick. This looks more like it noticed someone approaching halfway through its meal and moved elsewhere!" Wang Hai shook his head.
"It detected us before we even saw it?" Wu Cheng frowned from the side.
"Mm, its sense of smell or hearing is probably particularly keen, so it detected us before we arrived!" Wang Hai nodded.
"So it's a canine Calamity Beast?" Han Ling looked at Wang Hai questioningly.
"Not necessarily. Plenty of Calamity Beasts have keen senses of smell and hearing!"
Wang Hai shook his head and raised his gaze slightly, looking at a bloodstain a meter away.
"Don't overthink it. Hurry up and follow!"
With that, Wang Hai strode forward again, and Han Ling and Wu Cheng quickly followed behind him.
While the three searched below.
Shen Heng and several police officers were waiting above.
The older police officer took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out, and offered it to Shen Heng.
"Smoke?"
"No, thank you!" Shen Heng raised a hand in refusal.
"Let me introduce myself. Fan Hong, captain of the Linhai City Special Affairs Handling Team. We specifically handle reports of suspected Calamity Beast incidents. Well, I say handle, but really, we just coordinate with you, help cordon off the scene, and deal with some of the aftermath!" The older officer put the cigarette between his lips.
"Shen Heng. I just joined the Supervision Bureau!" Shen Heng introduced himself in turn.
"Did you transfer over from the Military Department to join the Supervision Bureau?" Fan Hong studied Shen Heng's face.
"Why do you ask?" Shen Heng looked at Fan Hong, somewhat puzzled.
Rather than answer, Fan Hong looked at Shen Heng in surprise. "You're not from the Military Department? Then you're an awakened civilian?"
Shen Heng nodded.
Having received confirmation, Fan Hong quickly searched his memory.
"The most recent Calamity Beast incident was last Friday. Are you the one from last week who encountered a Calamity Beast, foolishly ran inside, and actually managed to kill it in the end?"
"It would be better if you left out 'foolishly'!" Shen Heng said evenly.
"Haha..." Fan Hong laughed somewhat awkwardly. "Sorry, sorry. I speak my mind too freely. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been assigned to a post where I might run into Calamity Beasts!"
Shen Heng shook his head, indicating that he didn't mind.
"But you really are impressive, killing that Calamity Beast all by yourself. Even if we sent our specially trained officers, they might not have been able to kill it!" Fan Hong said with a smile, unable to stop praising him.
"No, it was a trick and good luck. I only killed that Calamity Beast by stabbing through its eye. If I'd been a little less lucky, I'd have been the one who died!" Shen Heng shook his head.
"Hey! A kill is a kill! Luck is part of strength too!"