Chapter 228: The Stolen Disqualified Monster Conversion Agent

The moment he saw the intel, the first people Wu Chang thought of were Fei Guang, Bu Ke, and the others.

In the Federation, especially in Wielde City, the only ones who dared to lay a hand on high-ranking officials of Anthem Corporation were those lawless players.

But after seeing the photos of the dead executives' bodies, he felt the killer was someone else entirely.

In the photos, the two dead men had their limbs bound with rope, black burlap sacks over their heads, and were kneeling before a memorial monument.

The two executives died from gunshot wounds to the head. According to the subsequent forensic examination, they had no other injuries on their bodies, and no harmful drug components were detected inside them, indicating the two had not been tortured before death, nor had they been injected with hallucinogenic drugs or truth serum.

Moreover, judging from the way the two died at the scene, it was clearly an execution. On the two shell casings found at the scene, the words "Safety" and "Morality" were respectively engraved.

From the killer's actions, it was not hard to see that, compared to killing the two executives, what he wanted even more to show was a certain attitude.

The player community wouldn't be this bored. Whether it was Fei Guang or Bu Ke and the others, if they made a move against the natives inside an instance, they must have had some scheme in mind.

Either intel, or something on the natives' bodies.

Natives killed by players wouldn't be this clean, and the manner of death wouldn't be this brazen.

After all, the players' mission was to work as employees at Anthem Corporation, not to attack Anthem Corporation. Even if they really did it, they'd have to keep it under wraps, destroy the bodies and erase the traces.

Moreover, the memorial monument the two executives knelt before was called the Seed Memorial, intended to commemorate the tragedy that erupted in Seed Town ten years ago.

Seed Town was a small town with a population close to forty thousand. Because of its beautiful environment and its proximity to the Federation capital, Third York City, it was often chosen by the wealthy of York City as a vacation spot.

But being a tourist destination was not the reason it became well-known. The vast majority of Federation citizens knew this small town because it was the place where the Disqualified Monster first appeared.

It was a foggy Sunday. At first, people treated it as just an ordinary day, until a giant monster walked out of a lake not far from the town.

It was not a lake monster, and its appearance was vastly different from the creatures people saw in monster disaster films.

It did not howl, did not have an earth-shattering presence. It simply passed quietly through the town, and quietly devoured everything around it.

Houses, cars, trees, flowers, and people.

The townspeople wanted to fight back, only to discover that the weapons in their hands could not harm the monster at all, and would only draw its attention.

Faced with the monster's sudden appearance, all people could do was run.

The monster's appearance quickly alarmed the military.

Because Seed Town was not far from the capital, military support arrived quickly. By the time the monster had eaten one-third of the town, Federation fighter jets had flown over the town.

Following orders from the top, the fighter jets launched an attack on the Disqualified Monster, whose body had already grown to thirty meters.

But it soon became clear to the Federation military that, whether fighter jets, tanks, or long-range artillery, none of them could harm this special monster.

Any weapon they fired, as long as it approached the monster within a certain distance, would be affected by an unknown force and deviate from its target.

Not only direct attacks—even the shockwaves from explosions would be twisted by this unknown ability, bypassing the monster's body and affecting other directions.

The subsequent battle lasted five hours. For those five hours, the Federation military seemed less like it had come to eliminate the monster and more like it had come to deliver takeout.

Not only did it fail to stop the monster, it also lost four or five tanks, along with dozens of special forces soldiers who had approached to collect samples from the monster.

The battle stretched from day into night. Over two-thirds of Seed Town had been eaten into wasteland by the monster, and the monster's body had grown from thirty meters to over a hundred meters.

The Federation military was helpless against the monster, yet could not let the monster continue to exist, because the direction the monster was moving in was precisely toward Third York City.

If the monster were allowed to keep eating, it wouldn't be long before it could eat its way all the way to the capital.

After much hesitation, the military chose to cut off all television station coverage, stopping the global mukbang livestream.

Then it brought out the Federation's traditional specialty: nuclear peace.

The explosion centered on the Disqualified Monster. Blinding light illuminated the night sky over Seed Town, and a massive mushroom cloud rose into the air, reducing Seed Town entirely to history.

For the Federation, nothing is sadder than planting mushrooms in your own backyard.

Because this decision, unfilial to the ancestors, meant the outcome of the next election had already been decided in advance.

If there is anything sadder than Seed Town's mushroom cloud, it is that, after the mushroom cloud dissipated, the Disqualified Monster slowly wriggled out from within it.

Seeing that even a nuclear bomb could not deal with the Disqualified Monster, people could no longer be bothered to denounce the military and the Federation's decision. They could only cry out that doomsday was upon them, frantically praying to the gods, begging the almighty Lord to calm his wrath and take back this monster that had brought the apocalypse.

Just as people were falling into immense despair, Schultz personally boarded an armed helicopter of Anthem Corporation and brought the latest high-energy weapon developed by Anthem Corporation.

The Disqualified Monster, which even a nuclear bomb could not harm, was blasted apart by three salvoes from the ultra-high-energy cannon, dying thoroughly and completely.

From that moment on, Anthem Corporation became the sole god of the arms industry.

As the situation developed afterward, the relationship between Anthem Corporation and the Disqualified Monster grew increasingly close. People began to suspect that the Seed Town tragedy was a conspiracy personally orchestrated by Anthem Corporation.

At many protests against Anthem Corporation, one could often see the protesters holding up signs referencing Seed Town.

Placing the two executives before the Seed Memorial for execution—the killer's intent was crystal clear: he had come for Anthem Corporation.

From the killer's clean and decisive method, one could tell he had planned this long in advance, knew the two executives' movements inside and out, and was extremely confident in his own abilities, believing that Anthem Corporation and the Federation could not catch him.

Being targeted by such a tricky character, he wondered whether Anthem Corporation's upper management would react.

Wu Chang's suspicions were soon answered.

At 8:05, all Level 8 managers received notice of an emergency meeting.

The meeting was held in the secure conference room on the 97th floor. The meeting's initiator was Anthem Corporation's security consultant, and one of the four Level 9 partners, the former director of the Federal Investigation Bureau, Mo Ke.

Entering the secure conference room, everyone took their seats according to the nameplates on the table, the seating arranged by everyone's sales performance.

Wu Chang sat in his seat, feeling quite novel. In Xiao En's memory, he had never sat in this seat before.

It wasn't because Xiao En's performance was too poor and he could only sit in the back row, but because every time there was an emergency meeting related to security, he simply wasn't called.

Sorted by sales performance, it meant that right next to Wu Chang was Farrel.

The two sat down side by side, and the atmosphere grew somewhat strange.

Wu Chang was mulling over how to kill Farrel. If Xiao En weren't Schultz's brother, Farrel was probably also mulling over how to kill him.

The two exchanged a glance, simultaneously showing friendly smiles, then lowered their heads together, thoughtfully plotting something.

After everyone was seated, Mo Ke gave a light cough and began today's meeting.

The meeting's content was related to last night's shooting, but not limited to last night's shooting.

Following Mo Ke's operation, over a dozen reports were projected before everyone. Wu Chang skimmed through them roughly—each report was a murder case. The common features of these murder cases were, first, they had all occurred within the past month, and second, the victims were all Anthem Corporation employees, with position levels ranging from Level 5 to Level 7.

Among them, the last report was the news he had just seen.

Wu Chang tapped the last report with his finger, and the report spread flat across the tabletop, transforming into a holographic projection.

In the image, two executives struggled desperately as a black shadow stepped out from behind them, one shot each, executing them on the spot.

The two shot victims collapsed on the ground, their poses identical to the crime scene photos in the pictures.

These reports were all reconstructions of the crime scenes, compiled from on-site evidence collection, ballistic analysis, the victims' physical data, and various other pieces of information.

Wu Chang treated it like scrolling through short videos, swiping down through the list to switch between them, and discovered that in all the reconstructed videos of the crime scenes, the killer's movements were crisp and clean, without any hesitation.

After reading the files, the assembled people couldn't help but form two questions in their minds.

First, what gives him the nerve to be so brazen in Wielde City?

Second, what exactly is the Anquan Force doing—why haven't they caught the guy yet?

Sensing everyone's gazes, Mo Ke said:

"As you can all see, during this recent period, an unknown individual has been carrying out assassinations targeting mid-to-high-level employees of Holy Song Company."

!

"The purpose of calling everyone here today is to inform you: when employees of each department are carrying out their daily work, they should remain alert for any suspicious individuals appearing nearby. In the coming period, finding and eliminating him will be one of the most important tasks for all of our departments."

The moment those words left his mouth, every manager in the room frowned.

What do you mean—this is the Anquan Force's job, so why spread it across the other departments? You want our people to split their focus helping you keep watch? If performance numbers take a hit, who's going to take responsibility?

The head of the Spiritual Energy Activation Department, ranked fourth, was immediately displeased. His performance had been steadily in the top three, but now, because of Wu Chang's sudden surge in numbers, he'd dropped to fourth place.

What kind of joke was this? He was one of the three core departments, yet as one of the three core departments, his performance had fallen outside the top three—he couldn't afford to lose face like that.

He was already sitting on a bellyful of fire, thinking about pushing performance numbers up hard, and now the Anquan Force came along to stir things up—what was that about? A few people dying, was that more important than his core department's performance numbers dropping?

"One single person—is he worth all our departments mobilizing?"

Facing the Spiritual Energy Activation Department head's challenge, Mo Ke's expression turned solemn as he said: "Worth it."

Everyone's attention was drawn to Mo Ke. Mo Ke looked at the crowd and said:

"This person is no ordinary anti-Holy Song element. Half a month ago, he somehow infiltrated the Second Laboratory and took some things—things that should never exist outside Holy Song Company."

"The Holy Song employees he murdered—the medical examiner couldn't find anything special, but we can detect it ourselves. That guy wasn't simply murdering employees; before he acted on each one he murdered, he used that thing on them."

"Judging from the two bodies discovered last night, it seems he's close to mastering how to use that thing."

The Spiritual Energy Activation Department head asked cautiously: "What exactly did that guy take?"

Mo Ke's voice trembled slightly as he said: "The conversion agent capable of producing Fallen monsters—he took one box, a full six doses!"

"Both victims from last night showed signs of injection by the conversion agent, and a trace of conversion had begun in their bodies, but it wasn't thorough enough. The other party likely extracted one dose to test the conversion equipment's operation. By my estimate, he still has at least four doses of the Fallen monster conversion agent on hand."

"Four doses of conversion agent means four completely uncontrollable Fallen monsters—and it also means he could use those monsters to assault the Second Laboratory he's already infiltrated."

At this, everyone fell silent.

If Mo Ke was right, then that attacker really was worth them moving against.

Worth it or not, doing it or not—those were separate matters.

Dealing with that guy lurking in the shadows was clearly a thankless task.

The Spiritual Energy Activation Department head said: "That guy is indeed a danger, but arranging for every department to keep watch together, with no focus, no priorities—this approach is extremely inefficient. I think a single department should be specifically picked out to coordinate with the Anquan Force's investigation."

Mo Ke looked at the Spiritual Energy Activation Department head with a slightly helpless expression and said: "Then who's willing to come coordinate with me?"

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone—including the Spiritual Energy Activation Department head—looked down at the table, as if that question hadn't been directed at them.

Just as the crowd sat in silence, Wu Chang suddenly said:

"Since no one else is willing, how about me? Anyway, our department just landed a big contract recently, so there's no performance pressure for the time being."

The moment Wu Chang finished speaking, a wave of applause erupted in the conference room—flattery like "Manager Xiao En is so righteous and public-spirited," "Manager Xiao En is devoted to the company," "Manager Xiao En is the pillar of Holy Song" poured out in an unbroken stream.

Before Mo Ke could even get a word in, the crowd had already passed Wu Chang's proposal unanimously, afraid that if they were a second too late, Wu Chang might change his mind.

Seeing this, Mo Ke went with the flow and arranged the work.

When the meeting ended, most of the other managers looked at Wu Chang as though he were a sucker, the one who'd volunteered for this rotten assignment.

But Wu Chang didn't care. Compared to performance numbers, he cared more about what Mo Ke had said during the meeting.

The guy assassinating Holy Song employees had infiltrated the Second Laboratory, and he also possessed a conversion agent that could turn people into Fallen monsters.

Those two things happened to be exactly what he needed most right now.

Driven by Holy Song Company, the pace of life across all of Wielde City was fast—including the killer's pace.

That very afternoon, after Wu Chang had taken on the assignment, he brought Fei Guang and the others to the Orenz Estate to finalize the contract, when he received a notification from Mo Ke.

Four blocks away from them, a Fallen monster not manufactured by Holy Song Company had appeared. The Holy Song patrol team was currently containing the monster. Mo Ke told Wu Chang to send his people to the designated location to assist the Holy Song patrol team in cordoning off the block and searching for any suspicious individuals.

After hearing this, Wu Chang waved to Fei Guang and the others and led them toward Ma Weisong Street, where the Fallen monster had appeared.

Fei Guang asked, puzzled: "Boss, where are we headed?"

Wu Chang hadn't told Fei Guang and the others any intelligence related to the assassin. The value of that intelligence was absolutely no less than Holy Song Company's three core secrets.

For the Iron Armor Regiment to acquire intelligence of this level out there, it cost a hundred and fifty thousand Decayed Silver Coins per piece—how could he possibly let them freeload?

Wu Chang said with a calm expression: "A Fallen monster appeared on Ma Weisong Street. Let's go take a look and see if we can pick up some new clients through the Fallen monster."

Fei Guang lowered his voice and asked: "Boss, is this also arranged by the company?"

Wu Chang glanced at Fei Guang—this guy was treating him like a local of the plane, trying to fish for information.

Since Fei Guang wanted to know, he didn't mind feeding them some misleading intelligence.

"It's not clear yet. It could be another manager imitating me, or it could be a wild Fallen monster. After all, not every Fallen monster is manufactured by Holy Song Company—Fallen monsters have been appearing far earlier than you might think."

With Holy Song Company passes, they passed through without obstruction and quickly arrived at Ma Weisong Street.

Wu Chang stepped out of the vehicle, cupped his hands above his eyes like a sunshade, and looked toward the Fallen monster in the distance.

Before he could make out the monster's appearance, he first saw the layer of pale red resentment surrounding it.

Let him see what a Fallen monster's resentment looks like.

(End of chapter)