Free Web NovelChapter 377: Chapter 282: Sigh, Can’t Mess With This Cunning Woman, I’m Outta Here
After handing the Mutant Beast corpses over to the researchers at the Spiritual Energy Research Institute, Liu Jialin left.
Once only the researchers from the Spiritual Energy Research Institute remained, the previously quiet group immediately broke into a flurry of discussion.
"I can’t believe it! So many problematic Mutant Beasts have appeared!"
"Well, this is good in a way. Now that we have more samples, we can conduct more research."
"Now we know the appearance of these problematic Mutant Beasts isn’t an isolated incident. The situation is pretty grim."
"It is indeed grim. These problematic Mutant Beasts are brazenly entering the safe zones and causing trouble. We have to find the cause of this problem as soon as possible, otherwise it’ll be extremely dangerous for the residents living on the outskirts of the city."
The researchers from the Spiritual Energy Research Institute discussed back and forth. Just then, the dean of the institute spoke up.
"For now, everyone put your current projects on hold. We will concentrate our efforts on researching these problematic Mutant Beasts..."
Upon hearing this, the researchers all nodded. They then began to move the Mutant Beast corpses Liu Jialin had delivered into the laboratories.
Everyone poured all their energy into dissecting and studying these unusual Mutant Beast corpses.
"Zhao Tianfu, you look troubled. Did something happen?" the dean of the Spiritual Energy Research Institute asked as he was about to return to his office, noticing Zhao Tianfu’s strange expression.
"Dean, it’s like this... a few days ago, something happened in the lab that I forgot to tell you about..."
Zhao Tianfu then told the dean of the Spiritual Energy Research Institute about the incident where the seemingly unremarkable Jade Token in his lab had shown unusual activity in the early hours of the morning.
After hearing him out, the dean pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Since the Spiritual Artifact that can control the weather didn’t affect our city this time, you can put the matter of its self-activation on the back burner for now.
Our priority right now is to study these problematic Mutant Beasts. We need to find the cause of their mutations as soon as possible so the Superpower Administration Bureau can take action."
"Understood." Zhao Tianfu nodded immediately upon hearing the dean’s words.
He then set aside the matter of the Jade Token’s automatic activation. After all, just as the dean of the Spiritual Energy Research Institute had said, some things are more urgent than others.
The mutated Mutant Beasts could potentially threaten the city’s safety. Meanwhile, the self-activating Jade Token had been quiet ever since and hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Naturally, the priority was to study the problematic Mutant Beasts first.
In the following days, all the researchers at the Spiritual Energy Research Institute dedicated themselves to studying the problematic Mutant Beasts.
And, just as everyone had feared, more and more of these problematic Mutant Beasts were discovered.
Some brazenly entered the safe zones and were killed on the spot by Investigators assigned to patrol the vicinity. Others were found wandering the wilderness and encountered by Exotic Beast Hunters.
Gradually, word spread that a number of crazed, mindless Mutant Beasts were appearing in the wilderness.
What struck everyone as strange was that while these crazed, mindless Mutant Beasts were appearing, not a single case was reported in any other city.
This phenomenon was unique to the area around Rongcheng, especially concentrated in the wilderness of its South District suburbs.
...
「Qiong City Airport.」
After a taxi pulled over, a man and a woman got out. The two of them retrieved a large number of items from the trunk.
After the taxi left, Lin Li looked at the piles of bags, big and small, on the ground. He turned to Su Yue and complained, "I told you to buy less stuff, but you still bought this much."
"You think I wanted to? All of this was necessary.
All my colleagues know I came to Qiong City for vacation.
If I didn’t buy anything, my colleagues would ask for gifts when I get back, and I’d have nothing to give them," Su Yue explained to a slightly resentful Lin Li as she checked the things she’d bought.
"..." Lin Li listened to Su Yue’s explanation, and thinking about how he didn’t have any colleagues, he felt a secret sense of relief that he didn’t have to deal with such troubles.
’But wait, that’s not right!’ he thought. ’Even though I don’t have to prepare gifts for any colleagues, I’m still the one who has to help Su Yue carry all these bags in the end.’
"Alright, stop spacing out. Come over and give me a hand. Let’s go check these things in," Su Yue urged Lin Li, whose face showed a hint of gloom, after she finished checking the items on the ground and saw that nothing was missing.
"Got it," Lin Li replied, then stepped forward and picked up a large pile of gift bags from the ground. He and Su Yue then entered the airport terminal and headed for the baggage check-in area.
’If I were alone, I could have just stored all these bags in the Mysterious Small Island and saved myself the tedious check-in process.’
After a little while, Su Yue had checked in all the local Qiong City gifts she had bought for her colleagues at school.
Afterward, the two of them went through security and then to the waiting area to wait for their flight.
After they sat down in the waiting area, Su Yue rubbed her slender arms, which were a little sore from carrying all the gift bags, and mumbled.
"Oof, my arms are so sore!"
Sitting beside her, Lin Li stared down at his phone screen without saying a word.
"Lin Li, how did you feel about visiting Qiong City with me these past few days?" Su Yue asked.
"This was my first time traveling far from home. It was pretty fun..." Lin Li replied, but he still didn’t look up from the short video playing on his phone screen.
"I’m glad you had fun. If there’s another chance in the future, I’ll take you to other places..." Su Yue said with a beaming smile, happy to hear that Lin Li had enjoyed himself.
"Mm-hm," Lin Li responded perfunctorily, his attention completely focused on the short video playing on his phone.
"Lin Li, what are you watching? Why are you so focused on it?"
Seeing Lin Li’s dismissive reply, Su Yue asked quizzically. She then leaned over, craning her neck to look at the phone in his hands.
She saw that the short video Lin Li was watching was a recording of some Exotic Beast Hunter in the process of hunting a Mutant Beast.
"When did you start liking these kinds of videos?" Su Yue had assumed that Lin Li was so engrossed because he was watching videos of pretty girls dancing, but a quick glance showed her she was wrong.
Lin Li really hadn’t watched these types of videos much before. The reason he was watching them now was, of course, because he himself was now an Exotic Beast Hunter.
’It’s only natural to watch videos of my peers hunting Mutant Beasts to learn a few things I don’t know.’
Of course, he couldn’t tell Su Yue the real reason. Hearing her question, Lin Li gave a casual explanation.
"Oh, this! I just recently got into these kinds of videos. I think it’s exciting to watch these Exotic Beast Hunters hunt vicious Mutant Beasts in the treacherous wilderness."
"Exciting?" Su Yue shook her head, saying with some disgust, "The videos are all bloody and gory. Watching one or two is one thing, but if you watch too many, aren’t you afraid you’ll have nightmares?"
’Bloody and gory? I think it’s fine. It’ll take a lot more than this to give me nightmares...’ Lin Li, who had already hunted quite a few Mutant Beasts, muttered to himself.
To him, the videos he was watching of his peers hunting Mutant Beasts all seemed perfectly ordinary.
This was just some blood and guts. He had personally witnessed far more unsettling scenes—brains splattering and entrails scattered all over the ground.
By now, his tolerance for such bloody and gory scenes was incredibly high!
...
