Chapter 23 Accidental Major Incident

Upon hearing the abrupt, rapid beeping of the detector, Li Jing was slightly stunned.

Just as he was about to ask, Yi Xiuzhu suddenly drew his standard long sword with a "clang".

?

The unexpected movement startled Li Jing.

Lu Yangcheng, who instinctively wanted to check the detector, was also alarmed.

Looking up, Yi Xiuzhu sternly gazed at the two of them, the standard long sword in his hand now infused with Spiritual Qi.

The sharp edge of the sword, twinkling with a breath-taking sword-light, shimmered in the night.

Seeing this, both of them changed their expressions.

At such a critical moment, it was no time for pranks.

According to Lu Yangcheng’s instrumental observation, the depression on the beach was undoubtedly left by a monster.

If the monster is lurking nearby and they failed to notice...

Without further thought, Li Jing was the first to summon the standard steel knife he had nurtured in his consciousness.

With spiritual power infused, the steel knife glowed with a chilly radiance.

Lu Yangcheng, who was standing aside, also put away the detector, drew out his standard long sword, and poured his own spiritual Qi into it.

Upon completing the preparations for battle, Li Jing turned his head to look behind him.

Seeing the quiet beach under the night-veil, he retreated next to Yi Xiuzhu.

"Xiuzhu, have you discovered anything?"

Before his words fell, Lu Yangcheng also retreated.

"Speak up quickly, what’s happening?"

?

Yi Xiuzhu shot a questioning glance at them.

"The sudden beep of the detector, doesn’t it mean a monster is nearby?"

"..."

Li Jing.

"..."

Lu Yangcheng.

Upon hearing Yi Xiuzhu’s seemingly natural explanation, both of them were demoralized immediately.

Lu Yangcheng, red-faced, returned his standard long sword to its sheath.

"Brother! This is a detector, not a tracker! Plus, it’s just a basic universal model! It needs some substance to detect, only then can it detect the residual aura in related objects, it doesn’t have a tracking function for monsters!"

"..."

Yi Xiuzhu fell silent, putting away his sword.

"It seems I misunderstood."

Looking at Yi Xiuzhu’s nonchalant expression as if nothing had happened, Li Jing’s mouth twitched, unsure of what to say.

Even he, who had only traveled here a few months ago, knew that a detector only worked as a detector.

Don’t mention the basic universal model Lu Yangcheng had used.

Even if it was a special detective bureau model, a detector could only detect, right?

Aren’t these basic knowledge?

Speaking of which.

Li Jing had a high opinion of Yi Xiuzhu.

He was powerful and well-off.

Aside from having strange thoughts different from others and being unsociable, Yi Xiuzhu seemed reliable.

In contrast, Lu Yangcheng, who also came from a rich background, seemed somewhat ill-educated.

Scoring mediocre on the admission exam, he seemed unreliable.

However, at this moment.

Li Jing thought it was necessary to reassess his judgment about the two.

Yi Xiuzhu, completely unreliable.

On the other hand, Lu Yangcheng was considerably more dependable.

Giving a deep sigh, Li Jing put away the standard steel knife.

"Yangcheng, what caused your detector to freak out?"

At this moment, Lu Yangcheng was at a loss for words with Yi Xiuzhu.

But there seemed to be no point in arguing with someone who had such an unusual approach to thought.

He shook his head lightly, took out the detector he hadn’t checked earlier, looked at the screen, and then his face turned grave.

"Demon Miasma!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jing frowned.

Demon Miasma!?

The detector picked up on Demon Miasma?

On the other side, hearing the term "Demon Miasma", Yi Xiuzhu stiffened and quickly asked.

"How strong?"

"9, harmless."

Lu Yangcheng said while emptying the sand from his detector. He bent down to grab a handful of sand from his feet and put it in.

"Beep."

A soft sound rang out. The detector screen displayed the scanned data.

Seeing that the data had come up, Lu Yangcheng looked up.

"The sand I just picked up is normal. There’s no trace of Demonic Qi or Demon Miasma."

As he spoke, he looked at the traces left on the beach.

"Things are getting troublesome. There are traces of Demon Miasma left by the monster that came ashore, which means it’s been deeply corrupted by the Demon Miasma."

"The situation is indeed not good."

Yi Xiuzhu added.

"Infection by the Demon Miasma can affect one’s mind. Even though the monster has a strong resistance to the Miasma, the Spiritual Intelligence it developed after transformation is likely already engulfed and it has completely degenerated into a beast driven solely by instinct."

Then he looked at Li Jing.

"We have to find the monster that came ashore as soon as possible. If not, the consequences will be unthinkable. The harm it causes to people is just one aspect. The second aspect is that it has become a powerful source of Demon Miasma infection. If it feels threatened and releases Demonic Qi, the Miasma is bound to infect everything around it, and anyone who comes into contact with it is doomed."

"Hmm."

Li Jing responded and pondered as he glanced at the spot where the creature came ashore from the sea, before turning back to speak.

"Yang Cheng, you stay here and guard. Don’t let anyone near this beach. Contact the patrol bureau and have them urgently dispatch a patrol. The Miasma the bureau is investigating is probably in this sea area in front of us."

"Demon Miasma... in the sea?"

Lu Yangcheng was stunned.

Yi Xiuzhu, who was beside him, was also taken aback.

However, they quickly realized what was happening.

Since the Demon Miasma residue was found, their thoughts had been almost entirely focused on the creature that had come ashore.

Now, with the reminder from Li Jing, it suddenly clicked for them.

They have stumbled upon a major incident by accident.

The presence of Demon Miasma in the nearby waters gave an explanation for the deep corruption suffered by the monster that came ashore.

At the same time, it made many inconsistencies in the frequent transformation events in North City become clear.

Ordinary creatures exposed to deep corruption by the Demon Miasma would either turn into monsters or die shortly after.

Creatures that transformed into monsters in the sea wouldn’t affect those on land.

Sea monsters usually live in the water, so the chances of them coming ashore are slim, let alone being caught by fishermen who live along the coastline and rely on fishing for a living.

If a transformed monster were to be caught by a fishing net, it would be such a disgrace to the other monsters.

However, it’s a different story for untransformed seafood.

Most seafood dies soon after being caught.

Some more dramatic seafood can die in a matter of seconds after being removed from the water.

Fishermen wouldn’t notice anything unusual and would inadvertently bring the corrupted seafood to market.

In this way, the seafood in the market becomes a source of Demon Miasma infection.

Demon Miasma can linger in the body of the dead creature for a long time, slowly dissipating and diluting over time.

People who come into contact with it may not necessarily be affected.

Who would take a deep inhale of a dead fish?

Eating related seafood should not be a problem either.

Once in the frying pan, the Demon Miasma would evaporate instantly.

Live poultry and pets that come into contact with the related seafood wouldn’t necessarily be affected, as they can’t inhale that much.

However, if the Miasma is eaten raw, that’s a different story.

Aren’t the unsellable, spoiled seafood products in the market eventually sold cheaply to various cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks?

There are even people who specialize in purchasing such seafood at low prices, chopping it up to use as fish feed or even processing it into dog food or cat food.

Thinking of all these possibilities, Lu Yangcheng acted without any delay.

"I’ll contact the patrol bureau right away."

As he spoke, he walked away briskly and adjusted his communicator to the frequency of the patrol bureau.

This matter was of great importance and needed to be reported immediately.

One issue was the source of the Demon Miasma.

Another was the amount of deeply corrupted seafood products scattered in the various markets of North City.

Thankfully, due to the outbreak of monster transformation incidents yesterday morning, all sorts of vendors dared not do business.

No one sold the affected seafood, effectively curbing the spread of the Demon Miasma source and leading to today’s peace and quiet since yesterday afternoon.

However, the risk still existed, and it was necessary to investigate and retrieve the related seafood products.

Watching Lu Yangcheng leave, Li Jing looked at Yi Xiuzhu.

"Yang Cheng can handle things here at the beach; we need to go find the monster that came ashore."

"Alright."

Yi Xiuzhu nodded and jumped into the sky, using his Sky Control ability.

As Li Jing followed suit, he contacted Kong Wu through his communicator.

Reporting the situation was crucial.

More importantly, the situation was urgent and it was necessary to inform Kong Wu as soon as possible to make adjustments.

The monster that came ashore was severely corrupted by the Demon Miasma and was extremely dangerous.

Their Patrol Ninth Group has the ability to Sky Control, and could fend off the monster if they encountered it.

If the grounded auxiliaries, who hadn’t learned the methods of Sky and Wind Control, ran into it, survival would be a bleak prospect for them!

They needed to notify the previous team assigned to contact the auxiliary ground staff to be dispatched to search for people in residential areas along the coastline.

Better safe than sorry.

Should the auxiliary ground staff encounter the monster unprepared and cause a direct conflict or provoke the monster into releasing its Demonic Qi, it wouldn’t just result in casualties, the situation could escalate dramatically.

...