Chapter 201: 201.Chapter 199 Shocking the World

201. Chapter 199 Shocking the World

At this moment, the British Museum no longer had its former grandeur; as the news kept spreading, more and more people heard about it and rushed over to watch the commotion nearby.

The incident caused a huge uproar locally; the museum staff insisted it was a robbery by a group of animals, but the citizens did not believe this absurd claim.

In ordinary people's minds, how could animals possibly have such ability—not only to break through the museum's many obstacles, but even to carry away all the relics inside?

Unless one sees it with their own eyes, it's hard to believe.

But some claimed that on the night of the incident, they had seen an animal pass by outside their window while they were at home, and their house was on the fifth floor.

Moreover, eyewitnesses said they had seen the government's military forces chase the animals, even deploying armored vehicles and helicopters, a scale and posture as if dealing with a massive terrorist force.

All sorts of rumors circulated, but these reports were repeatedly blocked and could not get out. As public opinion kept heating up, under pressure from the populace, the local government had to step forward and issue a statement.

【Thank you for everyone's concern about the British Museum; based on current leads, it is very likely that genetically mutated animals illegally researched by another country attacked the museum. We will continue the investigation and will show no leniency!】

The whole internet erupted in an uproar, and the news even spread to other countries, after all the British Museum houses treasures from around the world, its international status is pivotal, and each country's opinion on this differs.

Some countries secretly gathered information, while others cheered openly—for example, the netizens of Great Xia.

"Genetic mutation? Wow, has genetic engineering become this advanced that they can now produce mutant animals?"

"The madness of those scientists far exceeds your imagination."

"Which country did this, I just want to say, nicely done!"

"It's really ironic—don't you know how those artifacts in the British Museum came to be? Put bluntly, that's profiting from looting; nowadays karma's coming back around, and they got robbed too—serves them right!"

"People of Y Country, a hundred years ago, rode their sturdy ships and cannons across the seven seas, plundering countless historical treasures from around the world and bringing them to the British Museum, yet they dare accuse others of banditry—what hypocrisy!"

On Zhihu, many more questions about genetically modified animals have appeared.

For example:

"Question: On the feasibility of genetically modified animals."

"Question: What do you think about the attack on the British Museum?"

"Question: Is Y Country lying?"

Because this topic has been hot recently, the homepage is filled with related keywords; those unaware might think they've stumbled onto an academic forum.

For a time, many lurking experts emerged, spouting professional jargon and knowledge that left outsiders dazzled; of course there were also plenty just fishing for attention, but some of what they said was actually quite good.

In everyone's Moments, all were reposts of the news about the museum theft; once posted, everyone rushed to like it.

With so many people discussing it, even streamer circles wanted to hop on the trend, playing the song "Good Days" in their live rooms; although many words were blocked due to political sensitivity, it didn't stop the streamers from goofing around.

There were even giveaways on Weibo; in short, the netizens of Great Xia came up with all sorts of tricks.

And the attention on the British Museum grew ever larger in this public-opinion environment; truly, from old to young, everyone knew about this incident.

But regarding genetically modified animals, nobody really had a concept—after all, the videos were blocked, nothing leaked out, and people just treated it as a joke to listen to.

…

The suburbs of Kyoto.

The white buildings adopted a traditional courtyard layout; sunlight fell upon them, adding a splash of color, and while they bore an extraordinary air, they also had a touch of modesty—this was precisely the State Secrets Bureau's 749 Bureau.

Lately there haven't been many cases, so everyone could finally relax; Wang Xuehao even had the leisure to play with his tea set, but a close look showed his brows furrowed—he had something on his mind.

Xu Tiancheng came over with a mysterious look: "Captain Wang, have you noticed Chief Chen acting strangely lately? He keeps going out, saying it's a meeting upstairs—feels like something big is happening."

Wang Xuehao sighed: "What big thing could it be? Just the mutant animal affair—the military's top brass have been shaken up, and the bureau chief has been so busy he hasn't slept for days."

Xu Tiancheng wondered: "Is it really as mysterious as what's being said online?"

Although the 749 Bureau handles special cases, this incident mainly occurred in Y Country, which is not under its jurisdiction, and besides, their rank isn't high enough, so they don't know the details.

Probably, only the bureau chief knows the situation best throughout the entire bureau.

Wang Xuehao recalled what the bureau chief had told him; someone of his rank naturally couldn't attend such a meeting, nor could he see the videos.

Yet just from the bureau chief's description, one could see how powerful those animals were—truly shocking.

"The facts might be even more exaggerated than what's said online."

Everyone couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air—if it's even more exaggerated than online, isn't that defying heaven!

Wang Xuehao looked around, lowered his voice: "We in Great Xia and Y Country have been negotiating to obtain the videos of their pursuit of the animals; those creatures can scale walls and rooftops, and even after Y Country sent missiles after them, there was no effect."

These reports never surfaced online because they were simply too shocking; netizens might think genetically modified animals are formidable, but they never imagined they'd have such terrifying combat power.

To avoid panic, under the deliberate guidance of the Y Country government, the public's focus largely shifted to the British Museum theft.

Although genetically modified animals were mentioned, the public didn't understand them; few spoke about them, and even those who did were suppressed.

"In short, this is a huge matter—completely beyond our ability to intervene; not only our own country, but other nations are also paying attention to it."

The people of the 749 Bureau stared at each other, speechless for a moment—never expecting that in such a short time, the international situation would shift dramatically.

Amid such news, even if there were other matters, they wouldn't stand out much; Xu Tiancheng kept scrolling, then his gaze suddenly stopped on a certain item.

"Ruotong, do you still remember the villagers of Longyuan Village saying they wanted to go abroad for travel?"

Yao Ruotong replied without looking up: "I remember—we helped them get those passports, so they were approved quickly; why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"A large overseas antiquities smuggling organization was wiped out by a mysterious force."

Xu Tiancheng pointed to one of the reports online; the museum incident had caused a huge commotion, so this matter instead appeared insignificant, with few paying attention—if it were ordinary times, it would definitely be more than just a tiny ripple.

Yao Ruotong also leaned in: "Let me take a look."

The 749 Bureau doesn't deal with antiquities smuggling, but they had heard that this overseas antiquities organization was huge and extremely arrogant; the Great Xia police wanted to catch them but never found a good way.

Everyone remembered this well; that overseas organization had been fixated on Longyuan Mountain for years, frequently coming to explore, and even when there was no return, they never gave up.

Xu Tiancheng thought more and more it was suspicious—the villagers' travel destination happened to be that very country; they had only just left when the place was wiped out by a mysterious force, and the local government still hasn't figured out who did it.

"How could there be such a coincidence? The villagers were traveling there, and then this happened—plus, over in Y Country..."

"Could this not be related to Longyuan Mountain?!"

This time, not only Yao Ruotong but even Wang Xuehao was astonished: "How could this be possible?!"

Xu Tiancheng immediately retorted: "How could it be impossible? Remember when the military and Myanmar's side jointly enforced the law? The outcome was that this force's outpost in Asia was also taken out by a mysterious force, and many people saw it, saying it was done by animals."

Initially, that operation, the 749 Bureau's people did not participate, but later we also learned from others; now, thinking about it this way, there seems to be some similarity among these few matters.

In the deep mountains, the villagers suddenly said they wanted to go on a trip; as it turned out, the travel destination was still near the influence of the cultural relics smuggling group, and not long after they were taken down—what coincidence could there be in the world?

Xu Tiancheng's imagination, though wild, actually made sense upon careful thought; even Wang Xuehao showed a thoughtful expression.

Chen Zhiming returned from outside, and what he saw was this strange scene.

"What's wrong with you guys?"

Hearing his voice, everyone came to their senses: "Nothing, we were just discussing the British Museum case and the genetic animals matter, and then we brought up Longyuan Mountain."

Xu Tiancheng added from the side: "Longyuan Mountain had several strange animal incidents before, and moreover, recently the villagers went abroad for travel, with their destination happening to be in Y Country."

Chen Zhiming recalled, yes, that was the case; he had also heard people from the Bureau mention it before: "Did the villagers of Longyuan Mountain even go abroad for travel?"

A flicker of surprise crossed his face; he hadn't expected Wang Xuehao's idea to be similar to his own initial thought, but later he dismissed it. Now hearing the Bureau's people bring it up again, he always felt something odd.

"All this is indeed somewhat coincidental, but such a big matter—how could the villagers possibly pull it off?"

Not to mention that huge overseas force, just the genetic animals appearing in the museum cannot be explained; Chen Zhiming, who had seen the video, knew how formidable those creatures were.

"It probably wasn't Longyuan Mountain that did it."

Chen Zhiming's gaze was deep; although he said that, he felt a faint doubt creeping in—could this matter really be related to Longyuan Mountain?

……

The villagers and the animals were completely unaware of the storm they had stirred up; after several days at sea, they have now set foot on familiar land.

Hu Xiaocao, needing to rush back to school, did not return to the village with the villagers; upon entering Great Xia's territory, she parted ways with everyone and hurried straight to school.

Just as she stepped onto the school grounds, she heard a heated discussion nearby.

"Have you heard about the recent British Museum incident?"

"I've known about it for a while—my mom's social media feed is all about this; lately she doesn't post health stuff, just follows current trends, and last night she even discussed it with me."

"Me too! My dad's excited—more thrilled than seeing the national soccer team score a goal."

"Could it really be the animals' doing? Or maybe it's just an excuse—if it's true, that would be so cool; if I could keep one, I'd love to, imagine how stylish it would be to take it out."

"You'd be better off going back to sleep—everything you could want is in your dreams."

Class 4, Senior Year 3.

All the classmates were discussing the British Museum incident; by comparison, Hu Xiaocao seemed much calmer, appearing somewhat out of place.

Her desk mate glanced at Hu Xiaocao, then leaned over with a gossipy expression: "Xiaocao, do you know? The British Museum was stolen, and the culprits are a group of genetic animals."

Hu Xiaocao deliberately showed a hint of surprise: "I know—this matter has almost spread through my family."

She not only knew, but even indirectly participated, having rendezvoused with those animals; if these classmates found out, their jaws would probably drop in shock.

After Hu Xiaocao said a few words, she wasn't as excited as the people around her, nor did she continue joining the discussion; everyone was already used to her aloof nature, so it didn't seem strange at the moment.

As someone who had personally experienced it, Hu Xiaocao looked at the heated crowd around her, picked up her textbook, her gaze calm and undisturbed, forming a unique scenery.

These external upheavals had no effect on Longyuan Mountain.

The green mountains shrouded in mist and smoke were veiled in a light gauze, full of mystery; the ranges stretched endlessly, winding and coiling, like a giant dragon in deep slumber.

Because the Heavenly Tribulation was approaching, the sky deep within Longyuan Mountain remained shrouded in dark clouds, giving the entire range a sense of impending storm.

The villagers sent the animals down to the mountain's base.

The Northeast Tiger nodded at the villagers, its expression still somewhat reluctant to part.

"Go on, the Mountain God is still waiting for you to return and report."

"Roar!"

With a roar from the Northeast Tiger, all the animals vanished into the forest, disappearing from sight.

Upon hearing the news of their return, the villagers had already prepared a banquet early that morning to welcome them and wash away the dust: "Was this operation fairly smooth?"

"Don't worry—whether it's us or the Mountain God's subordinates, there were no casualties at all; we can say we won a complete victory!"

As Tiezhu, a participant in this operation, he boasted loudly to the other villagers nearby.

"You don't know—even the local government's military was mobilized; when we rushed over, there were dozens of armored vehicles, helicopters, all kinds of heavy artillery, it looked like world war was about to break out—just like that, we descended from the sky."

His companion beside him bluntly exposed his exaggeration: "Just keep bragging here—you even brought up world war, it's not nearly as exaggerated as you say."

Although Tiezhu's account had some exaggeration, the situation at the time was indeed somewhat dangerous; if the villagers hadn't arrived in time, even if the animals managed a narrow escape, they would likely have been injured.

Hearing their description, the other villagers who hadn't participated listened especially attentively, their blood boiling; as the talk reached its climax, sighs of amazement echoed without cease,

"Good grief, even helicopters showed up."

"Holy cow, if they dragged it out longer, tanks might even appear."

"If it were up to me, just go straight in—don't be chicken!"

"You're being a bit reckless, I'd say when the crucial moment comes, you should retreat if you need to."

The villagers chatted animatedly, many showing expressions of envy and regret.

"If I'd known this operation would be so exciting, back then I would have joined no matter what!"

"Forget it—you usually fish three days and dry nets two, you never take cultivation seriously; with your frail build, a single enemy shell would take you out."

Many villagers secretly resolved to increase their cultivation level and realm, hoping to relieve the Mountain God's burdens next time, and to be sent out again if such a task arose.

The village chief raised his cup: "Everyone worked hard on this operation; fortunately none of us were injured, and those not selected shouldn't feel discouraged—train well from now on!"

Everyone then jointly raised their cups and drank them dry.

Amid the villagers' laughter and chatter, the banquet lasted until evening before ending; meanwhile, in Longyuan Mountain, as the animals returned bearing many artifacts, the thunderclouds in the sky surged, and Ye Qin emerged from seclusion. (End of chapter)