Calamity Beast

Biodata

Power Classification

Calamity Beasts use the same Origin Power–based tier system as humans. Headquarters’ classification spans tiers zero through nine; physical attributes determine how much Origin Power a body can store 15.

Threat Ratings

Tier and threat rating are distinct measures. Calamity Beasts at the same tier can differ substantially in physique and combat strength. Their physical attributes usually make them no weaker than a human with a C-Class ability at the same tier, while some species are considerably stronger 174 337.

• Higher-tier distribution: From Tier 4 onward, documented beasts are overwhelmingly rated B-Class or above. Shen Heng considered both continued improvement and the failure of weaker specimens to survive to higher tiers as possible explanations 459.
• Physical differences: Unlike humans whose abilities do not enhance their bodies, differently rated Calamity Beasts can have markedly different physical capabilities at the same tier. This disparity increases as their tiers rise 610.
• S-Class criteria: Under the Special Disaster Management Regulations, classification considers exceptional combat capability and mass-casualty potential, extraordinary growth potential, and the inability of an ordinary Supervision Bureau to handle the beast alone. Combat capability is the most important criterion, and sufficient strength alone can justify the designation 309.
• Shadow Erosion’s classification: Shadow Erosion was confirmed as S-Class despite its head-on fighting ability falling short of the usual S-Class combat standard 309.
• S-Class battlefield danger: Twenty late-fourth-tier personnel hunting a beast with lower actual cultivation suffered more than half their number killed or wounded, illustrating the danger posed by S-Class opponents even when humans hold a cultivation advantage 619.

Power Progression

Calamity Beasts do not share a single individual advancement history. Their documented progression includes rising tiers, species-specific developmental changes, and dangerous transformations 15 541 839.

Origin and Incursions

Ten years before Shen Heng’s encounter with the Mutilated Hound, the human world began alternating and overlapping with another world for unknown reasons. Regions from that world appeared as temporary, mirage-like projections containing animals, plants, soil, and air. Most projected regions were only a few cubic meters, lasting anywhere from seconds to hours 4.

When a projection disappeared, material not overlapping with matter in the human world could permanently descend into it. Calamity Beasts were creatures left behind through this process. Their collective name referred to the devastation they caused, leaving places resembling disaster-stricken ruins 4.

Both the frequency of incursions and the strength of arriving beasts increased over time. Wang Hai warned that the strongest previously recorded specimen did not represent an upper limit on future arrivals 15.

• No fixed arrival schedule: The monthly frequency does not mean beasts appear at regular intervals 23.
• Predominantly nocturnal activity: Beasts favor nighttime because fewer humans are active, even when those humans would not seriously threaten them 19.
• Incomplete identification records: The Supervision Bureau’s bestiary is compiled from inspectors’ mission reports; previously undocumented types continue to appear 26 45.
• Arrival disorientation: A mantislike beast that appeared to have just crossed over wandered uncertainly along a road. A recorded Gray Rock Mountain Ape arrived while apparently asleep, waking when its descent brought it crashing to the ground 285 333.
• Later mass appearances: A large surge prompted Shen Heng to consider deeper world overlap, a regional phenomenon, or concealment of high-tier arrivals as possible explanations; none was established by his speculation alone 401.

Wilderness Presence and Feeding

Calamity Beasts became a substantial part of the wilderness population because human authorities lacked the resources to clear remote areas and ordinary animals were overwhelmingly outmatched. Their expansion was limited by the difficulty of finding compatible mates among creatures brought over by the overlap, preventing reproduction in the circumstances described 249.

• Diet is not limited to humans: A horned rat beast emerged from the sea carrying fish and returned through a pipe from which multiple answering cries sounded 142.
• Predation on other beasts: Shen Heng’s squad investigated a Gray-Clawed Xingxing apparently killed by another Calamity Beast. Repeated nearby incidents suggested a hidden predator, and a witness later described an earthy-brown creature dragging a dead beast into bushes 241 279.
• Absence of human attacks: The suspected predator’s failure to attack people puzzled Shen Heng. Wang Hai eventually chose to leave the apparently non-hostile creature alone; its motives were not established 241 279.
• Food shortages within communities: Two-Horned Lizard’s followers experienced shortages, and some secretly hunted other Calamity Beasts under Ironback Beast’s leadership to supplement their food 879.

Appearance and Known Types

• Highly variable anatomy: Documented forms include doglike, ratlike, scaled, and partly humanoid creatures 4 26 41 44.
• Size varies considerably: The first Mutilated Hound stood nearly a meter tall, while the horned rat beast measured approximately three to four meters long 2 26.
• Size is not a reliable measure of strength: Qin Yu warned that a small-looking kamaitachi-type beast could possess S-Class strength and a size inconsistent with its apparent tier 603.
• Identification difficulties: Ordinary people generally judge beasts by size and appearance. If neither is obviously unusual, they may be unable to distinguish a Calamity Beast from an ordinary creature 292.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Strength and Durability

• Even an unranked Mutilated Hound could overpower Shen Heng, maul his arms, and throw him aside 2 3.
• The sewer beast shattered a cast-iron manhole cover, a feat Wang Hai estimated required several tons of force 24.
• The Tier 3 rat beast shielded itself with the tough hide on its claws, resisting explosive rounds from the lower-tier Han Ling 27.
• Durability is not uniform: eyes, the mouth’s interior, and the brain provided lethal attack routes in documented encounters 3 28 32.
• The flaming Tier 4 ape continued fighting after Wang Hai shattered its fist armor and severely damaged its arm. Its enormous body made the injury debilitating rather than immediately fatal 341.
• Armor, scales, fur, and bone coverings vary by species. The Bone-Corroding Wolf Spider possessed above-average defenses for its tier, while the Stone-Armored Warthog endured attacks that would badly injure ordinary beasts 163 479.
• An early-sixth-tier beast’s physical attributes alone were estimated by Shen Heng to be not much weaker than those of a late-fifth-tier being 865.

Intelligence and Tactical Adaptation

• Many Calamity Beasts possess enough intelligence to use their strengths to counter enemy attacks 27. Intelligence is nevertheless highly variable: later beast perspectives describe poorly reasoning individuals as the majority, while some leaders demonstrate sophisticated planning 817 924.
• The rat beast changed its movement to evade Han Ling’s aim and destroyed the team’s lamps, forcing them to fight in darkness 27 29.
• The wall-climbing beast repeatedly targeted Wu Cheng’s slower attacks while avoiding Han Ling’s rifle 46 47.
• Some specimens speak human language, including the Mutilated Hound and the larger sewer rat 2 28.
• Shadow Erosion learned to speak after listening to humans and chose its own name 291.
• A Tier 3 ape used a dead Tier 2 beast as a shield while advancing under gunfire 475.
• Experienced commanders learned to disperse their troops against explosives, avoid conspicuous flight, and delay higher-tier participation until low-tier beasts had depleted human ammunition 602.
• Bronze Skull Beast anticipated a possible lure and surprise attack, ordered patrols farther out, and required its subordinate to repeat its defensive instructions 817.

Enhanced Senses

• Keen smell and hearing occur in multiple types, not only canine beasts 25.
• Wang Hai suspected the sewer beast abandoned its meal after detecting the approaching team 25.
• The wall-climbing beast detected movement across approximately five floors. Wang Hai later inferred that it could hear the team discussing their plan 45 46.
• Xu Ruiyu’s soldiers avoided directly watching an approaching Ridged Beast, relying on hearing and perception so their gazes would not alert it 839.

Species-Specific Abilities

• Sonic attacks: The wall-climbing beast’s close-range roar rendered Han Ling unconscious. At greater distance, it caused ear pain rather than a blackout 44 45 46.
• Sensory disruption: Repeated roars aggravated Shen Heng’s enhanced hearing and interfered with his tracking support 45 47 50.
• Wall climbing: The same beast moved directly along exterior walls, bypassing stairwell traps and exploiting the unfinished building’s layout 43 44.
• Specialized tails: Known types use tails as whips, cutting weapons, springs, or sources of deceptive light 41.
• Corrosive secretions: The Bone-Corroding Wolf Spider sprays mucus and webs capable of corroding steel given enough time. Its bite produces intense pain 163.
• Shapeshifting and dissolution: Shadow Erosion can assume different shapes while retaining its color, attack with multiple tentacles, and envelop and dissolve human victims 291 300.
• Cultivation assistance: Shadow Erosion offered to help Qiu Rui sense Origin Power and accelerate cultivation, providing an inducement for him not to report it 292.
• Elemental attacks: Documented examples include the flaming ape’s fire, a winged beast’s freezing energy breath, and Molten-Fire Lizard’s white flames and fireballs 341 524 646.
• Natural weapons and ranged slashes: Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi wield body-grown scythes and release invisible wind-blade-like attacks across a broad area 609.
• Ability resistance: Gray-Furred Giant Ape and Scalearmor Lizard used Origin Power to resist Tang Yuanyang’s needles’ effects 443.
• Mental resilience: Naturally increasing mental power makes same-tier beasts resistant to attempts to kill them through mental power alone 768.
• Distortion: Some beasts can undergo a dangerous strengthening transformation, requiring opponents to interrupt it or withdraw before completion 839.

Behavioral Influence and Resistance

Shen Heng developed sound waves carrying emotions and inclinations that could push beasts into attacking nearby living targets. The technique consumed mental power and became less effective against stronger opponents. During one withdrawal, most affected beasts attacked one another, but some Tier 2 and Tier 3 individuals and a few Tier 4 individuals resisted. Shen Heng concluded that the distant lion’s earlier ability had enabled much of his success 482.

Origin Power Crystals

• Formation: After a Calamity Beast dies, its Origin Power gathers in its brain and forms an Origin Power Crystal 5.
• Human awakening: An ordinary person absorbing a crystal undergoes an awakening attempt; success is not presented as guaranteed 5.
• Shen Heng’s case: The missing crystal and his hand’s position inside the Mutilated Hound’s head led Wang Hai to infer that he had absorbed it 5.
• State control: Almost all crystals reach the state because obtaining one requires finding a beast, killing it, and knowing the crystal exists 26.
• Recruitment use: The state prioritizes Police Department and Military Department personnel when distributing crystals to develop Supervision Bureau recruits 26.
• Barrier power supply: Realm-Suppressing Stakes consume Origin Power Crystals to sustain barriers capable of containing fifth-tier beasts. Local branches receive crystals, but use of the stakes incurs mission-point deductions 112.
• Cultivation infrastructure: Headquarters supplies crystals for Spirit-Gathering Arrays at local Supervision Bureaus 112.
• Battlefield resources: Beast corpses and Origin Crystals are valuable enough to motivate pursuit of retreating enemies, although Shen Heng prioritized casualties, ammunition expenditure, and Bedrock City’s security over maximizing recovered resources 600.

Society and Organization

Settlements and Resource Networks

Calamity Beasts are not exclusively solitary predators. Shen Heng mapped an underground settlement extending more than a thousand meters below the surface and covering roughly three kilometers. It contained one Tier 5 beast, thirteen Tier 4 beasts, and numerous lower-tier workers carrying, depositing, and processing unidentified resources. The Tier 5 overseer stood when an apparent smelting operation finished 520.

• Resource-site garrisons: Resource sites generally held lower-tier beasts, while Anchor Points had stronger defenders. Three crystal-supplying locations held substantially larger forces 559.
• Territorial limitations: Shen Heng attributed initially sparse opposition to the beasts having too much territory to defend and insufficient ability to concentrate forces everywhere 559.
• Anchor Point campaign: His team destroyed ten of twelve discovered Anchor Points in nearly half a month. The failure of later defenses to strengthen puzzled him 559.
• Political organization: Wang Hu suggested that the underground settlement might belong to a kingdom, but this was a hypothesis rather than a confirmed description 520.

Command and Beast Tides

Beast tides can operate under recognized commanders and superior lords. Subordinates address leaders respectfully, receive orders, perform reconnaissance, and coordinate movement toward other forces 536 640 685.

• Large-scale concentration: Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni commanded nearly ten thousand beasts and redirected them toward Lord Mirror Water Beast before they could reinforce the assault on Frontier-Pacifying City 685.
• Unequal endurance: Tier 1 and Tier 2 beasts formed the bulk of that tide and struggled with continued marching after running all day, unlike the stronger Tier 4 and Tier 5 leaders 685.
• Commander self-preservation: Beast-tide commanders generally avoided direct participation; Shen Heng and Zhou Zhenguo regarded the two Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi entering battle as an unusually dangerous exception 619.
• Fear and collapsing discipline: Under sustained bombardment, beasts abandoned Molten-Fire Lizard’s ordered withdrawal and climbed cliffs to escape. Panic could override fear of superior beasts and lead to trampling and attacks within their own ranks 642 645 708.
• Limits of individual authority: Even Tier 4 leaders could not decisively halt a rout involving thousands of beasts 708.
• Disregard for subordinates: Mirror Water Beast’s pursuit carried it through its own side’s ranks, crushing and impaling beasts that failed to get out of its path 713 714.

Human Allies and Internal Loyalties

Hostility toward humanity is widespread but not universal. Stone, a Stone-Armored Beast named by Shen Heng and Han Ling, served as a battle pet and helped humans escape pursuit 677 879.

When Stone was captured, other beasts called for its execution as a traitor. Ironback Beast ruled that a fourth-tier captive’s fate exceeded their authority and referred the decision to Two-Horned Lizard 877 878.

Two-Horned Lizard argued that Stone’s original decision to join humans for survival and its subsequent loyalty to them were understandable from its own perspective. Other beasts remained hostile, and Stone ultimately asked to be killed rather than abandon its chosen allegiance. Two-Horned Lizard instead ordered it confined temporarily 879 880.

Captivity, Slavery, and Rebellion

Calamity Beast societies also contain severe internal exploitation. Bone-Ring Beasts maintained a holding pen whose captives were scheduled for slaughter at a celebration. Captive beasts and humans transformed into beast bodies prepared escape plans, while guards violently suppressed suspected coordination 888 892 895.

In Black Stone Valley, Black Rats controlled enslaved mining populations, treated them as expendable livestock, and maintained production through quotas, beatings, executions, and replacement captives 905 910 940 970.

Major Encounters

Human Countermeasures

• Supervision Bureau: Recruits awakened personnel to combat Calamity Beasts, supplying training, equipment access, allowances, and mission rewards 6.
• Night deployment: Linhai’s squad concentrates its personnel on night shifts; off-duty members can be recalled when an incident occurs 19.
• Firearms: Useful against lower-tier beasts, but increasingly dependent on vulnerable-point hits as durability rises 32.
• Unarmed training: Bureau personnel learn unrestricted combat because weapons may be unavailable or broken during an encounter 32.
• Identification is not infallible: Unfamiliar anatomy and previously unrecorded abilities can make a lower-tier beast difficult to eliminate, particularly in favorable terrain 26 44 45 47.
• Containment equipment: Realm-Suppressing Stakes provide crystal-powered barriers capable of containing fifth-tier beasts 112.
• Ability-based detection: Shen Heng’s hearing, Echolocation, and Sound Wave Imaging support tracking, ambush avoidance, and the mapping of underground populations 273 279 520 559.
• Terrain and artillery: Prepared ravine ambushes, falling rocks, missiles, and artillery can disrupt large tides and force routes of escape that undermine beast command 645.
• Targeting command structures: Human officers recognized the exceptional danger posed by S-Class commanders entering battle and the strategic importance of preventing separate tides from combining 619 685.
• Resource discipline: Pursuing retreating beasts for corpses and crystals must be weighed against casualties, ammunition expenditure, and the safety of defended settlements 600.
• Possible nuclear countermeasures: Shen Heng and Li Boyuan warned that the beasts might have acquired a method to stop nuclear weapons or render them ineffective. This was a strategic inference under investigation, not a confirmed universal immunity 806.

Transformations and Constructed Environments

Later events distinguish naturally occurring beasts from humans or existing beasts placed in different Calamity Beast bodies. Appearance alone therefore does not reliably establish a participant’s original identity in these circumstances 888 913 915 923.

• Humans in beast bodies: Han Ling’s group spoke Mandarin while appearing as beasts and continued to regard themselves as humans rather than Calamity Beasts 888.
• Changed cultivation: Qin Yu was Tier 3 after transformation and could still use her ability, though less effectively than before. Shen Heng was Tier 2 and suggested that the assigned tier might be random 913.
• Beasts in different beast bodies: A Mountain-Climbing Ape appeared as a Steel-Tailed Beast, an Ice Spine Wolf as a Sand Scale Lizard, and a Shadow Wolf as a Spiny-Back Lizard 915 923.
• Constructed-world claim: A captive denounced the mining environment as a world built by the Lord Speaker before being whipped to death. The Black Rat chief later failed to understand the outsiders’ expectation that the surrounding world should have an “exit” 932 970.
• Uncertain identities: The Rock-Backed Beast forgot its original identity while remembering much of its work contacting other beasts. Later, Two-Horned Lizard could not confidently determine whether it was originally human or a Calamity Beast 1036 1042.
• Memory deterioration: A Coiling Mountain Beast eventually retained only scattered memories and wondered whether it was a Calamity Beast at all, then even questioned what a Calamity Beast was 1050.