Chapter 474: Veteran and Amateur
“Of course I trust you. Let’s not talk about anything else but your feat of killing a Tyrant Mammoth alone in the wild the day before yesterday. I know that your strength isn’t as simple as of those who just entered Heaven Realm. You naturally won’t hold them back,” Shen Yupeng said.
“But we’re going deep into the lair to fight, and we can’t just consider a person’s fighting strength alone. We also have to consider the problem of collateral damage.
“The environment in the lair is complicated. There’s a dense population there, and all sorts of gray industries and illegal workshops. The place is filled with unexpected variables.
“For decades, once plenty of robbers stole outside and hid in the lairs by holding hundreds of thousands of lair citizens as their hostages, the secret police couldn’t do anything against them.
“Based on the mastermind’s plan, we can tell that the enemy is very sinister and has no humanity. They won’t hesitate on using hundreds of thousands of lair citizens as meat shields. In fact, they might even use them as ticking time bombs.
“I’m not worried about them fleeing. Divine retribution will never miss out on handing out punishments. Even if the mastermind really manages to run away this time, we will be able to capture him sooner or later.
“But we’re worried that they will do something like destroying everything and use their full power in the lair in a shocking battle with the capture squad. At that time, the innocent citizens who die or are injured might number to thousands or ten thousands.
“We’ve agreed to Saber Jin Wanhao’s request so readily and did not send any secret police, research department investigators, or the regular squads from the Red Dragon Army into Golden Tooth Lair mostly because of this consideration.
“If the regular fighting forces cause a stir in the lair and make countless buildings collapse, which will cause ten thousand casualties, it might lead to a chain reaction that will make the Survival Committee’s prestige and financial situation take a turn for the worse.
“The crisis management members from the insurance companies can be considered mercenaries. At the very least, on paper, they have no major connection to the Survival Committee and have more space to do the things they like.
“If… something undesirable really happens, the government will have a buffer when they need to handle the situation.
“But you’ve just entered Heaven Realm and have a bright future ahead of you. There’s no need for you to step into this mess. If the enemy really makes this ‘toilet’ explode, you’re going to end up covered in… you know what!”
Meng Chao knew what Shen Yupeng meant.
If the capture squad led by the Heaven Realm superhumans engaged in a fight to the death with the Vortex in the lair, it would be the same as two Tyrant Mammoths leading two monster hordes to fight against each other. It would be difficult for them to not hurt any innocents at all.
The capture squad might be careful, but the Supernatural Entity Vortex did not care about human lives. It might even cause numerous casualties to shake the human wills and unity.
It was precisely because of this that Meng Chao wanted to enter Golden Tooth Lair and face the Vortex!
“I’ve never been an official investigator of the abnormal beast research department and am just a normal citizen who loves contributing to Dragon City because of exemplary conduct and having been born sympathetic. I won’t cause any trouble if I enter the lair due to my status.”
Shen Yupeng stared at him for a long time and saw the intense light in his eyes.
He pondered over this for a while, then nodded. “Alright. Right now, Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong and the rest are in a temporary base near Golden Tooth Lair to assemble their equipment, get used to their team, and form their plan, so I’ll bring you over.
“But I’ll be blunt. Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong is the direct commander of the squad. Most of the members of the capture squad are his friends from the hunter circle. Their teamwork is pretty good, which is why they’re fine with letting each other take care of their backs. I’m not sure whether they’ll be willing to take you along. If he doesn’t agree to it, I can’t force him.”
“Got it.” Meng Chao nodded readily. “I’ll do my best to make Senior Zhou agree to take me along!”
They had no time to waste, so they left immediately.
The robbers who had tapping devices and locating chips implanted in their wounds might wake up at any moment and sneak into the lair.
And the two locating chips might be discovered by the devious mastermind as well.
There was not much time left.
Meng Chao and Shen Yulong used non-motorized gliders, and fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a building that looked like a huge fort located near Golden Tooth Lair.
Decades ago, when the zombies ran wild in the land, it was one of Dragon City’s largest food waste recycling and processing bases as well as food storages.
When the zombie crisis faded away and the borders of the city continued expanding outward, the place was slowly abandoned. It was now torn down, and only an empty storage was left.
At that moment, it was used as the joint command center for the Deification Capsule case by the adjudicator court and the research department.
Nearly one hundred computers were set up at a corner. A large number of trained data analysts and research specialists were focused as they contacted the people inside Golden Tooth Lair and monitored the situation.
At another corner was all sorts of advanced equipment and powerful ammunition.
At the center of the storage was a complicated and fragile 3D maze made from a large number of glass and steel pipes.
The vice director of the abnormal beast research department, Nie Chenglong, personally came to the frontlines to supervise the operation.
He did not deny Meng Chao’s request to join the capture squad immediately. Instead, he just looked at Meng Chao with great interest. “Why?”
Meng Chao pondered it for a while and said, “Last time, during the Noble Descent Hotel ambush, I fought to the death with that Mutated Demonic Air Ripping Eye, and when I killed it, I was affected by its brain waves. While my mind was in a daze, I saw some fragmented pictures.
“At that time, I didn’t think about what those fragmented scenes meant, but now that I did, they were scenes from within a lair.
“I think—no, I believe that the abnormal beast must be planning something big in Golden Tooth Lair. It’s only if I enter its depths that I’ll be able to ‘see’ more things.
“Sometimes, the only reason why we can’t figure out a riddle is because we aren’t close enough to it. I want to be in contact with the abnormal beast’s scheme at a close distance. That’s all.”
“Alright!” Nie Chenglong’s expression changed. “I have to say, Meng Chao, among all the people I’ve seen, you’re the most suited to be an investigator and explorer. Come with me!”
Nie Chenglong brought Meng Chao to the center of the storage. They stopped in front of the really disorderly and fragile 3D maze.
The main parts that formed the 3D maze were intersecting pipes. They stacked on each other layer by layer until they reached the ceiling, which was more than thirty meters from the floor.
The steel pipes were not arranged nicely like the scaffolding in construction sites.
Instead, they were intersected with each other. Various parts jutted out, making the whole 3D space look as if it was in tatters.
The intersecting pipes created all sorts of twisted and narrow tunnels.
Between quite a number of tunnels were irregular mirrors and transparent glasses. As light continued reflecting and refracting off them, the mirrors in the 3D maze looked even more complicated.
The pipes without mirrors between them had wind chimes and heavy balloons filled with water hanging in them.
The slightest movement caused the wind chimes to release pleasant sounds. The balloons could also easily fall and make a splash.
More than ten veteran elites who were famous in the hunter circle and Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong were moving around as if they were flying in the 3D maze.
Sometimes, someone was unable to dodge in time and ended up touching the wind chimes or smashing a mirror, which instantly stirred up merciless laughter from the people around them.
The veteran hunters were just warming up, but as if it was as easy as breathing for them, they released the nonchalant presence of people who had fought in hundreds of battles.
This sort of presence created a small circle belonging only to those who were experienced. It was not a circle that an amateur who had just stepped into society could easily enter.
Nie Chenglong could see that Meng Chao was puzzled, so he explained, “They’re conducting adaptive training.
“There’s no reason to be skeptical of the fighting strength of veteran hunters like Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong. Right now, our biggest problem isn’t the lack of fighting strength, but the fear that they will release too much of it.
“If they get too worked up fighting in the lair and activate a really powerful spirit energy magnetic field that rams into the illegal buildings that are around eighty floors high instead of the mastermind, that will be bad news.
“That’s why we set this thing up spontaneously as a simulation of the environment in the lair. The steel pipes create all sorts of narrow tunnels, which represent the alleys in the lair. You can think of the wind chimes as the alarm system set up by the mastermind. As for the water balloons, you can think of them as the heads of the innocent citizens in the lair.”
Meng Chao looked at the torn pieces of the balloons all over the floor and suddenly felt that this operation was much more troublesome than he thought it was.
Nie Chenglong smiled wanly. “Figured out how troublesome the lair is now? If it weren’t this troublesome, we would have leveled the lairs decades ago. There’s no way we would have let them remain until this day.
“You still have time to change your mind. Stay here and monitor the capturing process in real time. When it’s necessary, provide reinforcements to the capture squad. It’ll be the same.”
“Don’t need to.” Meng Chao gritted his teeth. “If worse comes to worst, I’ll just follow Senior Zhou and the others obediently and observe the situation in the dark. I won’t move even one of my fingers.”
Nie Chenglong smiled and said, “Alright. As long as Zhou Chong agrees to it, I will have nothing to say about it.
“You’re lucky. I had gotten acquainted with Zhou Chong in the wild and once saved his life. If you want to be successful in life, he will definitely give you a chance.
“Sharkie!” Nie Chenglong shouted upward in the direction of the 3D maze.
Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong was originally curled up in the deepest parts of the 3D maze.
When he heard the shout, he moved like a compressed spring that had been abruptly released. With unbelievable agility, he shot between the gaps of the steel pipes, glass, wind chimes, and water balloons. Then, like a feather in a vacuum, he landed swiftly and lightly on the floor.
“Let me introduce to you a great newbie. You know Meng Chao, right?” Nie Chenglong grinned. “You’re lucky. The higher-ups are paying a lot of attention to the Deification Capsule case and decided to send the future star that the abnormal beast research department has been secretly training to assist you in the capture. You know that Meng Chao was the one who killed the Mutated Demonic Air Ripping Eye in the Noble Descent Hotel ambush, right?”
Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong frowned a little and looked at Nie Chenglong. Then, he cast a glance at Shen Yupeng, who stood nearby. He thought about it and extended three fingers before he gestured with his chin at the 3D maze behind him.
“Three minutes. If he can last three minutes in there without being captured, I’ll take him into the lair.”