Chapter 23: All Severed

“Please, I beg you, spare my child. She’s still young and knows nothing,” Li Yan knelt on the floor, clutching his daughter tightly in his arms as he pleaded bitterly.

Beside them lay the limp corpse of a woman, her face completely flayed.

“If only you’d cooperated from the start. Why did you have to choose this moment to run? Tsk, tsk, tsk.” The familiar face was all smiles, her tone gentle and soft.

But Li Yan felt only a chill run down his spine. He pressed his daughter's mouth more firmly, terrified these monsters might be displeased.

“I promise, from now on I’ll obey. I’ll do whatever you ask. You need someone to cover for you, don’t you? I can help!” He pressed his head against the floor, begging without dignity, paying no heed to the fact that the person before him had just murdered his wife.

“What a pity. We’d planned to take it slow, but now the entire upper management of the company has been replaced by us.” She smiled, her voice still gentle. “We can cover for each other now. What use have we for a dog like you?”

“Besides, there are three of us here. I’ve got an identity, but the other two still lack one~” The woman gazed at the man who dared not raise his head with keen interest.

He’d risked death to escape, yet lacked the courage to call for help, instead trying to flee with his wife and daughter. If she hadn’t been vigilant and kept watch near Li Yan’s home, he would have slipped away.

Humans are truly a complex mix, she thought. She could not comprehend the act of valuing another’s life above one’s own.

“All right, time is short. The cameras caught him fleeing the company. I’ll need to use his identity to return, or I won’t be able to fool the police.”

A sturdy figure’s face was already beginning to resemble Li Yan’s, though still blurred, as if covered by a layer of mosaic.

“The drama ends here.” The man grabbed Li Yan by the collar, a sinister smile twisting his lips.

“Don’t worry, your daughter will soon join you.”

“No…” Li Yan’s face froze in terror. In a split second, the arrogant head before him burst like a watermelon.

Silver blood splattered across Li Yan’s face, forcing him to double over, retching.

“Don’t move.” The woman, halfway merged into her own shadow and sensing danger, stopped immediately. Pain prickled through her body, warning her fiercely.

Disobey, and die!

Indeed, gunfire erupted from every direction. Windows shattered in an instant, and the silent figure who had hoped to flee in the chaos was destroyed alongside them.

Silver blood exploded like paint throughout the room, gleaming in the sunlight. Half of a corpse tumbled from the shadows.

Heavy military boots creaked across the wooden floor.

The woman dared not turn around, her body stiff.

“Take her away with the restraining device. See if we can get any information,” Peng Xuebin ordered. A squad of soldiers in high-density hazmat suits filed in, binding the woman’s hands with rope-like restraints.

“How is this possible? What did you do?” The woman could not hold back her astonishment. Bound in an instant, she was forced out of the shadow, the skin covering her face sliding away to reveal a void-like visage.

Indeed, a void. Her features were distinct, yet no matter how one looked, it seemed veiled in mist.

Peng Xuebin frowned, opening his walkie-talkie. “All units, avoid direct eye contact with the target’s face. Let the research institute take over.”

The woman was quickly escorted, face down, to an armored vehicle at the door.

The silence was chilling. The street was deserted, save for rows of armed soldiers in heavy protective gear stationed at every corner.

From within the darkened windows, the glint of sniper scopes flickered under the sunlight.

Without a sound, the entire street was completely under control.

They had underestimated the power of the government. As a pure force of violence, their little tricks were laughable and worthless.

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Peng Xuebin glanced at the blood-dripping corpse on the floor, a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

He’d done everything possible to arrive in time, yet it was still too late.

“Li Yan, tell me everything you know. I can help you apply for leniency,” he said, his tone cold, leaving no room for refusal.

“Send my daughter away,” Li Yan licked his lips, raising his head in a plea.

“Very well.” Peng Xuebin signaled for a soldier to take the girl from his arms. She was seven or eight years old, but her gaze was disturbingly vacant.

Li Yan managed a strained smile, watching his daughter leave the room.

“Speak,” Peng Xuebin regarded the pitiful father, unwavering.

“They…”

……………………………………………………………………………

Soon, a report was sent to Mo Yan’s communication device.

“Arrange the operation as soon as possible. According to the report, they seem intent on blending into the crowd.” The professor’s tone over the headset was unusually grave.

Mo Yan’s furrowed brow remained tight as he scrutinized every word in the report.

Name: Shadow Clan (self-designated)

Currently known abilities:

Ability to walk within shadows, invisible to the naked eye; physical capability estimated to be 2–5 times human limits.

Can mimic human appearance through prolonged observation, or by briefly consuming human flesh.

Possess intelligence equal to humans, capable of normal conversation.

The report ended there. Li Yan had been nothing more than a dispensable pawn, unable to know their specific intentions.

“Command center, are the sniper positions ready?” The liaison immediately took over Mo Yan’s channel from the professor, speaking respectfully.

“They’re arranged, but most blinds are drawn, making it hard to observe inside.”

Tsk.

Mo Yan glanced at the phone that still wouldn’t connect, feeling an uneasy apprehension.

Since Mu Yu hung up, his location had shown as outside the service area. The Shadow Clan surely possessed more abilities than the report suggested.

“Is the combat team in position?”

“They’ve already infiltrated, but lost signal as well. According to ‘Kite’s’ relayed messages, they’re breaking through via the elevator shaft.”

“What???” Mo Yan was shocked.

“I told them to be ready on the ground floor!”

“The combat team leader said you were too slow. By the time information comes through, everyone would be dead.”

“And ‘Kite’ found numerous anomalous life forms on the eighth floor, so they acted directly.”

Mo Yan covered his face. These lunatics! And he’d believed they would obey orders.

“Why didn’t you inform me?”

A young man’s voice suddenly sounded in the channel, light and elegant, as if attending a ballroom rather than dancing on the edge of death.

“By regulation, once the combat team enters the scene, their execution authority supersedes yours. No need to explain.”

“Kite, let your captain… Forget it. The investigation team is entering now. If you can’t hold, send the signal!”

Suppressing his own irritation, Mo Yan picked up the walkie-talkie.

“You’ve seen the report. Now, enter in small squads, observe safety protocols.”

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“Yes.” The investigation team differed from the combat team, serving mainly in support roles, such as rescuing civilians.

Five investigation members formed a group, exploring different areas and conducting rescue operations.

Mo Yan picked up a silver pocket watch from the table, took a deep breath, and pushed open the tent of the temporary command post.

Squads of soldiers disembarked from olive-green trucks, swiftly filling the already impenetrable cordon.

Weapons any military enthusiast would scream for were piled in abundance nearby.

Most had such wide kill zones that Mo Yan’s team wouldn’t even have time to retreat if needed.

They were the final barrier.

If both combat and investigation teams were wiped out, these honorable soldiers would use their own flesh and blood to halt the spread of the anomaly.

The Shadow Clan believed that covering for each other would make the government hesitant to make mass arrests—how laughable.

If identification proved impossible, all nearly a hundred people trapped here would be sealed and imprisoned.

News reports would mourn the “gas explosion” with eloquence, and their families would receive compensation enough for a lifetime of comfort.

From the moment Mu Yu made that call, the Shadow Clan had no way out.

No alien tribe would be allowed to harm the people on Xia Nation’s soil.

Mo Yan casually slipped the pocket watch inside his coat, stepped into the building, and four similarly dressed figures silently followed.

The war had begun.

……………………………………

“Kite, what’s the situation over there?” The burly man with thick hair scratched his head, glancing at the boy tied to his back.

“The usual. But the investigation team did uncover quite a bit. I’ll send it to your terminals now.”

The white-haired boy opened his eyes, his tone as languid as a noble just woken from a nap.

“They’re inside now. Fat Bear, let’s move faster and get some rest. I didn’t get my midday nap.”

“My name’s Black Bear… And you’re being carried by me, I haven’t complained, so why are you?”

Black Bear grumbled as he climbed the elevator shaft ladder.

Kite’s ability was indeed useful, allowing him to relay information under any circumstance, though it deprived him of bodily control while in use.

So Black Bear had to carry him.

“Quit your chatter, hurry up! The captain’s been up for ages. Should’ve gone first myself,” Harley, looking every bit the street delinquent, poked Black Bear’s backside, exasperated.

He’d been so rebellious before joining the combat team, so suave, and now he was climbing ladders in an elevator shaft, stuck beneath a burly man!

A chorus of agreement echoed below, urging Black Bear to climb faster.

The combat and investigation teams were entirely different breeds—barely a dozen in all, each with distinctive clothing styles.

Anyone unaware would probably think they were a cosplay club on a group outing.

“Phew… Finally made it.” Black Bear untied Kite from his chest, glancing around curiously.

“Captain, what are you looking at?”

“Mmm~ The aura of a strong one,” a clear woman’s voice replied from the darkness.

The captain, dressed in a bright orange tiger onesie, stroked the deep mark on the wall, her tiny tiger ears on the hood swaying with her head.

Her amber eyes shone with excitement.

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