Chapter 167: Understanding the Information, Miscalculation

Listening to the occasional roars and gunshots coming from inside.

Louis waited silently, feeling the situation inside wouldn't be easily resolved—after all, it was a mutant like Beth, with numbers certainly substantial, and possibly other special abilities.

Still, the Bureau was already in front, bearing the brunt; he didn't need to rush. This was precisely why Louis had informed the Bureau in the first place, and it also gave him a chance to observe their methods.

The agency managing America's mysterious forces ought to show what they're truly capable of.

As expected.

A sudden explosion rang out.

The glass on the top floor shattered instantly; five or six elite climbers who had scaled inside tumbled from the air and crashed to the ground, dead—but upon closer inspection, they were killed by the shockwave.

Michael's face turned cold; he waved his hand, and half of the fifty or sixty soldiers behind him, led by his black-suited colleague, charged inside.

Not long after.

Intense gunfire erupted within the hospital.

Suddenly, a distress call came through the radio: "Captain! Captain! Conditions inside are dire—a giant insect is attacking us! It seems to be laying eggs, so it can't move easily, but its strength is immense. Holy water bullets have no effect, and grenades can't pierce its skin!"

"It also uses sonic attacks to control people—we've lost over a dozen men to its control. We're currently holding it off. Recommend wearing earplugs and using heavy firepower."

"Repeat: wear earplugs and use heavy firepower. Discontinue use of soul-destroying weapons!"

Michael swiftly issued orders; the remaining soldiers swapped weapons, donned earplugs, and charged back in—this time better equipped.

Rocket launchers, sonic bombs, gasoline bombs—weapons specialized for biological targets…

Louis watched coldly from the side, taking in everything.

He formed a baseline assessment of the Bureau's combat capability: clearly, they combined mysticism with technology—holy water bullets, soul-destroying bullets. Interesting.

The bullets in Michael's golden pistol were probably these.

The name suggests a connection to the Vatican?

Of course—being America's largest mystical force, why would they look elsewhere?

But this can only handle ghost-level incidents, right?

They'd be powerless against demon-level threats.

Louis weighed this internally—he still believed they had a hidden card, likely weapons capable of countering demons; otherwise, they could never guarantee secrecy from ordinary people.

Enough. I'll probe their strength later. For now, I've gathered enough intel on the mother.

"Mr. Michael, it seems your men are in trouble."

"These are minor difficulties. I trust my subordinates—they're battle-hardened elites. We've handled countless supernatural incidents together. They won't let me down," Michael said confidently.

Before Louis, he had to appear utterly confident.

The next moment.

The roaring sounds from within the hospital grew louder.

BOOM!!

They used rocket launchers.

Followed immediately by violent detonations.

Michael smiled. That's it—this is the power of physics!

Over the past decades, the Bureau has encountered many monsters, mostly divided into physical and spiritual types. Spiritual entities were the most common; physical ones were mostly alien races from remote areas. Thus, the Bureau's weapons were adjusted accordingly, favoring holy water bullets, cross bombs, silver bullets, and other spiritual-targeting ordnance.

Even so, the Bureau wasn't afraid—human technology advanced visibly, and the progress in firearms was more than enough to handle most physical monsters.

Judging by this, the mutant creature would surely fall to conventional firepower.

He glanced at Louis.

This was his way of giving Louis a warning.

Yes, the Cano family hides multiple demons—but don't underestimate the Bureau. Best behave, just like those big capitalists.

But Louis paid him no mind, only listening intently to the sounds inside. Gradually, Louis's expression grew strange.

"Mr. Michael, hasn't the explosion been going on for quite a while? Why isn't it over yet?"

Michael's brow twitched.

He understood what Louis meant.

With this level of firepower, a single biological target should have been eliminated quickly—but it hadn't. That could only mean this firepower was insufficient.

"Heh, don't worry. The monster's carapace must be too tough—it hasn't been fully killed yet. Just wait a little longer."

Michael smiled, but Louis heard the fear beneath.

Louis didn't expose him—only smiled.

Two more minutes passed.

The radio crackled again: "Captain! Captain! We can't hold on—they've spawned a flood of larvae! We can't kill them fast enough!"

"Sonic bombs only block its sonic ability—it's… no! It! It's left the birthing chamber! It's flying! So fast!"

Pfft!

The radio dropped, leaving only screams.

Michael's body turned icy.

This monster's strength exceeded his expectations—this shouldn't be possible!

Larvae… flight… speed…

What now? Use that?

"It seems Mr. Michael is in trouble," Louis spoke at the right moment.

Michael froze, then remembered—he was standing beside a medium!

If this man intervened, could he resolve it?

Though uncertain, Michael still asked: "Mr. Louis, could you lend a hand?"

Louis smiled. "Of course. As a partner, helping you, Mr. Michael, is my pleasure."

Michael's expression remained calm—he knew more was coming. And sure enough—

"But!"

"This is risky, especially against a mutant, not a ghost. My confidence is low. So…"

"Just state your terms quickly," Michael urged.

He only wanted to save his men.

They were all his people!

Otherwise, after his recent promotion, a heavy loss—even with a success—would mean demotion.

So even if he had to humble himself and pay a price, he accepted it.

Louis smiled. "I want the spoils from inside. Also, I'm curious about some Bureau matters and weapons—like the ones you're carrying…"

Michael blinked, then reluctantly handed Louis his golden pistol and a bag of magazines. "This is a specially crafted pistol. The bullets come in two types: holy water rounds and salt rounds. Fired from this gun, they're significantly more potent."

"One bullet is enough to destroy a ghost."

"That's it?" Louis was unsatisfied.

Though useful for replication and mass production, it was merely average—he had a peach wood spirit statue amulet as a substitute, so its value to him was low.

Hearing this, Michael's face twitched. This was his favorite weapon—one bullet, one ghost. Wasn't that enough?

He gritted his teeth and pulled out a golden cross from his bag. "This cross was blessed by three generations of Vatican cardinals. Its exorcism power is immense—it can repel and even injure a demon with a true body. It won't kill it, but it'll give you time to escape."

A weapon capable of resisting demons—now this had some value.

Louis was satisfied internally, but outwardly still looked hesitant. Michael panicked. "This is my last card! If I could handle that thing myself, I'd go in alone! Are you going or not? Give me an answer!"

"Alright. For the sake of our friendship, I'll take the risk."

Taking the cross and golden pistol, Louis gently caressed them. He had to admit—regardless of their power, their appearance was impressive.

Especially this cross—was it pure gold?

Louis smiled and walked in with Beth.

Watching Louis enter, Michael suddenly felt regret. "No—if he fails, I need a backup. Deploy high-yield explosives, just in case."

He didn't want to destroy the entire hospital—such a massive disturbance would cause severe public backlash. He'd almost certainly be demoted.

But he had no choice.

"Sigh… why wasn't I born a natural medium?"

At that moment, he deeply envied those with innate talent.

…

Louis entered the hospital and swiftly headed for the top floor.

Since he'd accepted their payment, he'd naturally give his best—so he ascended quickly.

Within seconds, he reached the top floor.

Along the way, blood was everywhere. Doctors and nurses lay dead on the floor; fully armed soldiers had been torn apart by bites.

But when Louis reached the top floor, he realized what he'd seen before was child's play.

Here, the entire corridor and lobby were drenched in blood.

The floor, the walls, even the ceiling dripped blood.

Not only that—many fragments were submerged in the blood, sticky and thick, like the slurry of flour and meat used when boiling pork slices.

Of course, the color was different.

A chaotic mix of vivid, unnatural hues.

A true hell on earth.

Even Louis felt slight discomfort—but quickly regained composure. His Yin Spirit power lifted his body, keeping his feet suspended, untouched by the ground.

Although he still cannot fly with his physical body, floating for a while is no problem.

As for Beth beside him, she didn't care at all; though she possessed human intelligence and memories, she was still fundamentally that ancient worm, and human morality meant nothing to her.

The two headed toward the source of the sound.

They saw a dozen soldiers gathered in a circle in the corner of the hall, alert and watching their surroundings; as soon as they spotted Louis, they raised their guns and opened fire.

Hum!

The Blood River Pearl suddenly expanded, blocking every bullet.

At the same time, the Yin Spirit power activated—dozens of rifles were ripped from their hands and forcibly drawn into the air, along with rocket launchers and grenades.

Only now, stripped of their weapons, did they finally emerge from their initial panic.

The lead soldier removed his earplugs.

"No, they're not controlled."

"It's…"

Louis swiftly flew before them. "No more talk—tell me where the mother is."

"It's found a new department and turned it into a birthing chamber. It's using corpses it controls to haul bodies inside—it wants to use human flesh to hatch larvae."

"Those larvae evolve quickly—they can become miniature versions of itself. They're more fragile, but just as fast."

Louis nodded and swiftly took Beth toward the direction indicated.

Finally, before a room crawling with blood-red tissue, they saw the so-called mother.

The entire room was filled with bloated, blood-red fleshy masses that pulsed slowly, like breathing, oozing sticky, crimson fluid. Within these tissues lay one person after another, bound by the viscous liquid.

Most had green-glowing eyes, completely devoid of self-will, waiting silently as giant creatures—half-human-tall, hybrids of wasps and ants—drilled fat, gray-white larvae, as long as a human calf, into their abdomens.

When Louis appeared and saw this, his brow furrowed.

Numbers.

The room had clearly had its walls torn down—it was vast—and thus held an enormous number of monsters; a rough count suggested at least dozens.

At the center, the mother, her belly swollen as she continued birthing white larvae, now noticed Louis.

She let out a piercing shriek.

The violent sound shattered wall plaster, but Louis felt no effect—he couldn't hear a thing the mother was doing!

Come on, wasn't that precisely why he had the Bureau move in? To gather intel so he'd have a strategy when he faced it?

How could he not have prepared?

Right now, his ears were blocked by Yin Spirit power—he heard nothing.

Combat began immediately!

The Fire Dragon reappeared; dozens of ant-like, short monsters rushed toward Louis, but he ignored them—he was still trying to use Poison Fire Art.

But he realized: they had no sin.

No!

Even their souls were strange!

Like the internet, they formed a network with the offspring—under soul judgment, it was both mother and all dozens of offspring simultaneously.

Poison Fire Art couldn't perform judgment!

Beth swatted one of the ant-like monsters away, then saw Louis frozen. "Master, based on this flesh, she has high resistance to fire—what now?"

Louis snapped back to attention, stared at the mother, and thought.

Whoosh!

A pearl suddenly appeared and expanded, growing to five meters tall in an instant, hurtling toward the mother.

Along its path, it shattered the ceiling; every ant-like monster that tried to shield the mother was crushed to pulp, their blood absorbed by the Blood River Pearl, making it harder and heavier.

The mother panicked, her green eyes flickering—next moment, all the controlled humans rose from the flesh and charged Louis.

Simultaneously, she used her speed advantage, flapping her wings to escape the Blood River Pearl's crushing pressure.

But.

Though large, the Blood River Pearl was surprisingly agile and swift—not clumsy at all.

Controlled by Louis, it turned effortlessly and crushed down again.

(End of Chapter)