STG 44

Chapter 44: The Mysterious Arrival

“Ding dong—Welcome!”

Lin Qiye pushed open the door to the agency and saw Hong Ying sitting upright on the sofa, lost in thought. He waved at her.

“Morning, Sis Hong Ying.”

“Qiye! You’re finally here!” Hong Ying sprang up from the sofa the moment she saw him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something’s happened.” Hong Ying spoke gravely, grabbing Lin Qiye’s wrist and quickly leading him downstairs.

It was the first time Lin Qiye had seen Hong Ying look so serious. He frowned slightly. “A mysterious… arrival?”

“Yes, and it’s a tricky one.”

The two pushed open the door and entered the activity room. Lin Qiye realized that all members of Team 136 had already gathered.

Chen Muye, who had been leaning against a pillar, walked over to the conference table and sat down as Lin Qiye entered, his expression still unreadable.

“Everyone’s here. Let’s begin the meeting.”

Once everyone was seated, Chen Muye tapped the table with his knuckles and spoke slowly:

“Last night, we received word that another suspected mythical creature has appeared.

The location is… Cangnan City’s No. 2 High School.”

“No. 2 High?!” Lin Qiye was startled.

“Yes, the school you attended.” Chen Muye nodded. “And the person who reported it seems to be an old acquaintance of yours.”

Chen Muye called out toward the back room, “Hey, kid, are you awake? If you are, come out!”

Everyone turned to look. Soon, the door to the room slowly opened, and a young man with bloodshot eyes emerged.

Lin Qiye gasped when he saw him. “Li Yifei?”

Li Yifei was taken aback. He rubbed his eyes and stared at Lin Qiye sitting at the conference table, confirming it was indeed him.

“Lin Qiye? Why are you here? Did you see that monster too?”

“No, he’s one of us.” Wu Xiangnan shook his head.

“Temporary member,” Chen Muye corrected.

Li Yifei gaped at Lin Qiye, taking a moment to process this. “Holy crap! They said you joined the military, but you actually joined this place!”

Lin Qiye shrugged. “There were some unexpected developments.”

“You can catch up later. For now, let’s focus on the case,” Chen Muye reminded them. Then, as if remembering something, he added,

“Normally, if a case is suspected to involve the mysterious, it’s first reported to the police, who then transfer it to us. But this kid experienced the Ghost-Faced Man case before, had contact with us, and signed a confidentiality agreement, so he called us directly, skipping the middle steps.

This is an exception. Our standard procedure isn’t like this.”

Everyone nodded, but Lin Qiye understood that Chen Muye’s explanation was meant for him.

“Go ahead.”

“Okay.” Li Yifei swallowed hard and began recalling, “Last night, I went back to school to get my homework notebook and happened to see…”

Li Yifei recounted everything he had witnessed the previous day in detail. The more he spoke, the more the team members frowned.

When Li Yifei finished, Wu Xiangnan nodded.

“If what this kid says is true, there’s a ninety-five percent chance this case involves the mysterious.” He turned to Li Yifei.

“You do know the consequences of filing a false report, right?”

“I know, I know. Everything I said is true, absolutely true!” Li Yifei answered earnestly.

“Good.” Chen Muye turned to Wu Xiangnan. “What’s your take?”

“Based on the current information, this mythical creature has extremely strong camouflage abilities. It can transform into others and interact with people normally without revealing itself.”

Wen Qimo sighed beside him. “Camouflage… another troublesome one.”

“Additionally, it seems to have the ability to assimilate creatures it swallows. That’s what we really need to be wary of,” Wu Xiangnan said.

“Like zombies in movies? Infinite infection?” Hong Ying asked.

“Although the method of infection is different, the effect is roughly the same.”

“So, do we just rush into the school and take down Liu Xiaoyan?” Hong Ying’s eyes lit up.

“It’s not that simple.” Lin Qiye, sitting at the other end, suddenly spoke up. “Since it can infect others, we can’t be sure if Liu Xiaoyan is its true form… because she might have been infected by someone else.”

“Qiye is right.” Wu Xiangnan nodded. “The biggest challenge in this mysterious case is that we don’t know the source of this bizarre infection. It’s like dealing with zombies—if we can’t find the mother zombie, killing all the others won’t help.”

“And we don’t know how long this mythical creature has been around or how many people it has infected,” Wen Qimo added. “Liu Xiaoyan could be its first infection, or she could be one of many.

We even need to prepare for the worst-case scenario…”

“Worst-case scenario?” Hong Ying looked puzzled.

“That would be the entire No. 2 High School… turning into a school of monsters.” Wu Xiangnan spoke slowly, his eyes filled with gravity. “Or worse, the monster’s infections might have spread beyond the school to other parts of Cangnan.”

Hearing this, Li Yifei shuddered. “What… what do you mean?”

“Have you ever considered…” Wu Xiangnan slowly stood up, looking directly into Li Yifei’s eyes as he spoke calmly,

“That in your school, aside from you, all the other teachers and students… are monsters in disguise?

No, even you, standing here right now…

Might have unknowingly become part of the mysterious?”

Li Yifei’s pupils contracted sharply. A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to his brain, leaving his mind completely blank!

“Alright, Xiangnan, stop scaring him.” Wen Qimo stood up with a smile. “If that were the case, the [Crow of Calamity] would have already cried out. Since it hasn’t made a sound, the situation isn’t that dangerous yet.”

“[Crow of Calamity]? What’s that?” Lin Qiye looked puzzledly at Hong Ying.

“It’s a crow, but also a forbidden object with its own forbidden realm,” Hong Ying explained patiently. “When a major disaster is about to occur in Cangnan, it cries out in warning ahead of time. It’s basically a detector.”

“Oh.” Lin Qiye nodded.

“Anyway, since the mysterious has appeared, we must investigate thoroughly. If we let this monster continue to develop, Xiangnan’s predicted future might not be far off.” Chen Muye spoke slowly. “Xiangnan, what’s your plan?”

Wu Xiangnan sat down, adjusted his glasses, and said seriously, “I think the top priority is to find the true form of the mythical creature and determine how many people it has infected. So, I propose we split into two teams for this operation.

One team will focus on No. 2 High School and its surroundings, searching for traces of other infected individuals;

The other team will infiltrate No. 2 High School, follow the clues, and locate the true form as quickly as possible.”

Chen Muye nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

“To infiltrate the school without raising suspicion, we need to blend in as high school students…

Hong Ying, Xiao Nan, and… Qiye,

The task of infiltrating No. 2 High School and finding the true form is yours.”