Chapter 236: The Red Hood Rises

Most of them probably aren’t Spider-types…

Doesn’t it hurt twisting your neck like that?

…

Witnessing the horrifying scene before him, this thought naturally surfaced in Lu Xin’s mind.

He wasn’t sure why, but seeing such a bizarre and terrifying sight brought him a strange sense of calm.

Perhaps it was because he’d already noticed something was wrong with these individuals and had been pondering what kind of changes these Altered People would undergo. So now, seeing the scene unfold, instead of panic, he felt like he’d found an answer.

Behind him, the car compartment door slid open gently, and Doll poked her little head out.

She seemed to sense the fluctuations in mental power around them, looking curiously into the distance.

There was no panic on her face either.

The one panicking was Chen Jing.

She was currently outside the Isolation Zone, over two hundred meters away from the car where Lu Xin and Doll were.

When the massive mental monster appeared beside the Donghai Grand Hotel—so huge it was almost visible to the naked eye—she also noticed that the detectors installed every thirty meters around the Isolation Zone were all blaring alarms.

Red lights flashed incessantly, and the shrill alarms merged into a single deafening sound.

Clearly, something had gone wrong.

These people, forcibly sent into the temporary Isolation Zone, were those Lu Xin had identified as problematic, yet standard assessments couldn’t detect anything wrong.

They were even frustrated, unsure how to prove the strangeness surrounding these individuals to explain the situation later.

But now, they didn’t need any assessments.

The series of mental detection devices proved the problem outright.

…

“Everyone… prepare…”

Chen Jing gripped the walkie-talkie, shouting loudly.

As the words left her mouth, she realized her voice was trembling slightly. She forced herself to regain control, making her voice sound calm yet firm: “Immediately strengthen control measures! Report to the Special Cleaning Department and the City Defense Department! Connect with the Information Analysis Team!”

“I need their logic chain analysis and suggested solutions in the shortest possible time!”

…

At the same time, as the shadow wearing the red cloak grew taller, its image becoming clearer under the Red Moon, Mr. Su and Professor Bai, forcibly escorted away by the Special Task Force, had already taken a secret elevator deep within the Donghai Grand Hotel. Descending a hundred meters, they entered a specially built platform and boarded an underground train.

“Send someone to interrogate Elder Ye! Use any means necessary to figure out what he’s plotting!”

Mr. Su commanded coldly as he sat down.

After speaking, it seemed like he had much more to say, but after a long silence, he suddenly cursed:

“Damn it! That bastard! Son of a bitch! That old sea turtle relic…”

…

“Something like this happening isn’t surprising at all. It was only a matter of time.”

Professor Bai, sitting opposite, chuckled. “Now is the time to test our preparations.”

…

…

“High Wall one, four, and seven—are the overclocked ion cannons ready?”

Simultaneously, in the temporary command center not far from the Donghai Grand Hotel, Minister Shen wore an expression of fury:

“Furthermore, everyone except Ability Users must evacuate immediately! Dispatch the special investigation team! I need a report on this monster’s psychic power level, its pollution logic, and what level of response is required to deal with it!”

Through the floor-to-ceiling window in front of him, he could clearly see the Donghai Grand Hotel, just a kilometer away. He could also see a swirling, writhing mass of mental power there—a concentration of psychic power stronger than they could have ever imagined.

As the light of the Red Moon spilled down from the sky, he could even gradually make out the appearance of that mass of mental power.

Meanwhile, his subordinates were hastily gathering the materials at hand, preparing to evacuate.

After all, the terrifying mental power was visibly apparent, and a distance of one kilometer offered no guarantee of safety for the command staff.

Amidst the organized but urgent evacuation, someone hurriedly relayed Minister Shen’s orders while continuously receiving investigation reports from the Special Task Force, reporting back to the furious, lion-like Minister Shen beside them:

“The investigation reports are strange. The target’s psychic power level is continuously increasing…”

“When the first report came in, it was only around one thousand…”

“But in the second and third urgent reports, its psychic power level has already reached three thousand, even seven thousand…”

“Extrapolating at this rate, it will break the ten-thousand mark in a short time.”

…

“Ten thousand.”

Minister Shen, striding out of the temporary command center, paused, clenching his fists tightly.

Then, he turned back with an icy expression, his voice low, “No one’s psychic power level can appear out of thin air…”

“How is it increasing?”

…

“From what we can see, it seems to have appeared out of nowhere…”

Three staff members, faces pale as they received reports from various sources, stammered, “We can only guess… it might be…”

“Related to the Abnormal individuals captured earlier?”

…

“It doesn’t matter who it’s related to anymore.”

Minister Shen gritted his teeth. “A mental monster exceeding ten thousand appearing in Qinggang is a disaster! I need you to calculate immediately what level of standard-issue electro-ion cannons are needed to eliminate it! Can it be done immediately?”

“Theoretically, about ten units of electro-ion cannons should be able to eliminate it.”

“Then prepare twelve for me.”

Minister Shen ordered loudly, glancing back at the same time.

Under the Red Moon, the mental monster beside the towering Donghai Grand Hotel was becoming increasingly distinct.

One could even directly see its towering, suffocating form and the red hood it wore.

Beneath the red hood was a pale human face. Unlike the previous mental monsters that caused hallucinations, this one had almost no non-human features. But what was even harder to comprehend was that Minister Shen realized he could actually see it directly…

“Is it because I’m too close?”

Just glancing at it felt like his soul was being pulled away, and all sorts of distracting thoughts surged from the depths of his heart.

“Prepare four more units!”

Minister Shen turned back and instructed the secretary beside him, “As soon as Mr. Su and the others are out of the danger zone, open fire immediately.”

*Ring ring ring…*

But just then, the wireless phone the secretary was holding suddenly rang.

The secretary immediately answered and handed it to Minister Shen. “It’s Professor Bai.”

“The Sea Country’s attack has begun. They started laying the groundwork over a month ago. There are many Altered People in the city now.”

Professor Bai spoke the instant Minister Shen took the phone.

Minister Shen spoke while striding down the stairs:

“We’ve already taken targeted action. Most of the Altered People have been sent to the Isolation Zone.”

“What I want to know now is, what is that red monster?”

…

“You can see it directly too?”

Professor Bai paused slightly. “That’s the mental entity left behind after a Sea Country S-level Ability User committed suicide.”

“How do you plan to handle it now?”

“How to handle it?”

Minister Shen’s voice was filled with anger and agitation. “Of course, prepare the high-frequency ion cannons! Let’s hit it a couple of times and see!”

“Dismiss that thought.”

Professor Bai said, “The operating principle of high-frequency ion cannons is the same as the standard-issue weapons used by the Special Task Force. If they could harm it, the task force would have already succeeded in eliminating it. But the results show they aren’t very effective against it.”

“Besides, using such brute-force methods without understanding its specific logic chain introduces too many variables.”

…

Minister Shen listened, his expression darkening. “What if we adjust them to the overclocked state?”

“What if we prepare twenty units?”

…

Professor Bai was taken aback for a moment before replying, “It hasn’t reached that point yet. Stop thinking about blowing things up…”

“I’ve already compiled the relevant data on this mental monster and conducted a preliminary analysis. Here are the conclusions:”

“1. This mental monster was triggered by that S-level Ability User from the Sea Country. This ability user has been confirmed dead, but their mental power, instead of dissipating, is continuously increasing. It’s now approaching the ten-thousand mark but hasn’t reached its limit yet.”

“2. This incident can be confirmed as a premeditated suicide attack by the Sea Country against Qinggang City. The goal is likely to use this suicidal S-level Ability User to inflict immeasurable damage on Qinggang, creating conditions for the Sea Country’s landing.”

“3. Without knowing the specific pollution logic of this S-level Ability User or the extent of the Sea Country’s arrangements in Qinggang, opting for forceful annihilation with electro-ion cannons against this mental monster could very likely cause unexpected changes beyond our predictions. After all, the Sea Country’s Elder Ye understands Qinggang’s defenses; he wouldn’t leave such an obvious vulnerability.”

…

Minister Shen listened patiently. As he settled into the car compartment, he immediately said, “I need your specific recommendations.”

Professor Bai replied, “I have three recommendations: interrogate the Sea Country’s Elder Ye, wait for the investigation results, and…”

“Consider activating the unconventional emergency defense plan I proposed.”

…

Minister Shen listened, paused in silence for a moment, then said quietly, “Alright.”

But despite seemingly agreeing with Professor Bai’s suggestion, after hanging up the phone, he hesitated slightly before turning to the secretary beside him:

“I’m still uneasy…”

“…Increase the high-frequency ion cannons’ capacity to twenty units, and be ready to switch to the overclocked state at any moment!”

…

*Voom… Voom… Voom…*

As various functional departments in Qinggang began operating like tightly wound clockwork,

Lu Xin, situated beside the temporary Isolation Zone in the eastern part of the city, felt a headache-inducing dizziness.

It was the hundred-meter-tall red-cloaked mental monster next to the Donghai Grand Hotel. Its body was becoming clearer.

Visible fluctuations of mental power radiated outwards continuously.

With each wave emanating outwards, cries and groans of pain erupted from the surrounding people.

Many more collapsed to their knees the instant these mental power fluctuations spread, completely devastated.

Meanwhile, inside the Isolation Zone, the people who had been shouting and protesting their unfair treatment underwent a change. Lu Xin watched as the human expressions vanished from their faces. Instead, the monsters attached to them suddenly took on vivid, eerie expressions of gleeful surprise, surging forward urgently.

The direction they surged towards was precisely the Donghai Grand Hotel.

There were at least a thousand people in this Isolation Zone. Now, desperately surging forward, they resembled a dark, oppressive tide.

…

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Armed soldiers behind the cordon line outside the Isolation Zone opened fire as they charged.

Flashes of gunfire erupted, and those charging at the front fell in waves.

However, Lu Xin noticed that as they fell, the mental monsters on their bodies didn’t disappear but continued to charge forward.

As they charged, they fought with the mental monsters on the people around them.

Grabbing and tearing at each other, their physical bodies seemed to turn into slime, gradually merging together amidst the fierce struggle.

The faster these individuals were killed, the faster they merged.

It wasn’t just them. Outside the Isolation Zone, in the towering office buildings, malls, and residential buildings, similar horrific and agonized howls echoed. These were the Altered People who had hidden earlier, avoiding capture or being driven into the Isolation Zone. Now, undergoing the same changes as those inside, they desperately rushed towards the Donghai Grand Hotel.

This craving was so intense that many simply leaped directly from the upper floors.

It was like dumplings falling into water.

And in the places they passed, unsuspecting residents also began to suffer strange effects.

Some showed pained expressions on their faces, while others’ eyes glazed over, becoming like walking corpses.

…

*Wooo…*

A heavy, piercing siren wailed across the entire city.

This was a Level 1 Alert for the whole city.