293: Chapter 287 Do not subscribe (anti-piracy chapter)

Do not subscribe, do not subscribe, do not subscribe, do not subscribe, do not subscribe, do not subscribe.

Song Xu felt he was truly down on his luck.

After entering society, he had worked hard, only to go from penniless to drowning in debt.

Just when his luck finally turned, he was scouted by a benefactor and on the verge of success, only to be struck by a dump truck while saving a little girl that very same day.

With incredible luck, he transmigrated, possessing the body of someone with the same name—a civil servant, no less—an Enforcer responsible for urban security.

Just as he was happy about being able to slack off, who would have thought...

Standing at the edge of a pitch-black forest, with the faint neon lights of the city shining from not far behind him, Song Xu could barely make out the side profile of the corpse at his feet.

He nudged the head straight with his foot, and the face became clearly visible.

Another set of memories immediately surged into his mind, revealing the identity: his immediate superior's younger brother.

This guy had been conducting an illegal organ trade with a citizen outside the city today, was caught by the original owner of this body during a patrol, and then tripped and fell to his death while trying to escape.

Song Xu's mouth twitched.

If he reported it like this, would his brother believe him?

Thinking this, he looked at the citizen squatting to one side, holding their head and trembling—their clothes were covered in holes.

Sighing, Song Xu comforted them: "Don't worry, his death has nothing to do with you, but selling your own kidney is also against the law..."

"Song Xu!"

A shout came from behind, and Song Xu turned around instinctively.

A dozen or so Enforcers in black uniforms strode over, led by an exceptionally burly man.

Quickly searching the other set of memories in his brain, Song Xu clicked his heels together: "Chief Monte!"

"Hmm." Monte walked toward the corpse. "I happened to be patrolling nearby and came over immediately after receiving your message."

"You're reasonably sensible; I can share some of the credit with you—" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the corpse's face, then looked up and stared at Song Xu in silence.

"Uh..." Song Xu scratched his head awkwardly. "He accidentally tripped while running away and hit his temple on a rock, dying on the spot."

Monte glanced at a sharp rock beside the corpse's head, which was stained with blood.

He smiled, opened his right hand, raised it, and pointed it directly at Song Xu.

Song Xu stared blankly as his palm slid open from the center like a sliding window, revealing a pitch-black gun barrel.

"Chief."

A man in his thirties stepped out from the crowd and strode to Song Xu's side: "His account matches the scene."

Song Xu glanced at him, and memories flooded back.

Wang Shan, who belonged to the same Criminal Division as him.

As soon as he finished speaking, a man in the crowd walked to Monte's shoulder and whispered in his ear:

"Chief, the two of them are from the Criminal Division. We can't take action against them without a procedural violation. You know that crazy woman, the Chief of the Criminal Division, and her background..."

Monte shifted his gaze from Song Xu to the person who had warned him: "Why did you lead with your left foot just now?"

"Huh?"

The palm shifted: "Bang—"

The corpse on the ground became two.

The citizen who had been squatting the whole time emitted a foul stench from between their legs.

Finding the smell a bit overpowering, Song Xu pulled Wang Shan back two steps, pointed at the colleague's corpse on the ground who had died miserably for leading with his left foot, and asked in a low voice: "Is it really okay for the Chief to just shoot him like that?"

Monte, in the interval of exhaling with satisfaction, heard his muttering and grinned: "I killed him?"

As he said this, he turned and scanned the dozen or so Enforcers: "Did anyone see it?"

The crowd was silent.

Nodding with satisfaction, Monte was just about to say something.

"I saw it."

Turning back, he looked at Song Xu, who had spoken, and laughed: "You haven't replaced your eyes with prosthetics yet, is your natural vision very good?"

"It's, it's alright." Song Xu scratched his head. The vision of this body was indeed quite good.

Monte nodded, and the palm that hadn't yet closed aimed at the squatting citizen: "Bang—"

The corpses on the ground became three.

"Did you see this one too?"

"Yeah, I saw it."

After saying this, Song Xu thought he would be lying together with the three brothers on the ground.

However, Monte lowered his hand and didn't speak, just standing there in silence, as if waiting for something.

What was he waiting for?

Doubt rose in his heart, and before Song Xu could think it through carefully, he suddenly heard a rustling in the forest.

Instinctively turning his head, he saw a pitch-black, hairless head poking out from behind a thick tree.

What the hell is that?

"Hetero-Beast!" Wang Shan, beside him, grabbed his arm and pulled him back, shouting in terror.

Seemingly startled by the shout, the mouth on the black head split all the way to its ears, and the entire "person" jumped out from behind the tree and sprawled on the ground, its pale eyes staring silently at Song Xu.

Damn!

What kind of monster is this?!

As Song Xu watched, the monster's body was roughly similar to a human's. The only difference was that it wasn't standing; it was sprawled on the ground like a spider, moving on all fours.

"Defensive formation!"

The Enforcers shouted and scattered. Their forearms opened like windows, extending a black pistol to aim at the monster.

Seeing this, Song Xu patted his arms up and down, but nothing happened.

Strange, everyone is an Enforcer, why don't I have one?

"You haven't installed prosthetics yet, move back!" Wang Shan blocked him behind his back and raised the arc gun on his forearm to fire at the monster.

At the same time, the Enforcers behind also unleashed their firepower, with over a dozen blue arcs of electricity shooting toward the monster.

Facing the sky full of electric light, the monster's mouth widened even more. The next second, its four limbs twitched, and it jumped sideways to dodge the attack, then instantly darted toward Monte, who was the closest.

Seeing the monster attacking him, he reacted extremely quickly and dodged to the side.

Song Xu noticed his expression darken slightly, as if he were somewhat disappointed.

"Ah!"

A scream startled Song Xu, and he looked toward the sound.

It turned out that after missing its attack, the monster immediately rushed toward another Enforcer. He clearly didn't have Monte's strength; unable to dodge in time, his throat was viciously bitten by the monster, and he died instantly.

The Enforcers turned their guns to fire, but the monster jumped away with extreme agility, and while they were readjusting their aim, it killed two more people in an instant.

The results were remarkable, but the continuous attacks caused the monster's swift movements to pause. Although brief, Wang Shan seized the opportunity and hit its right hind leg with a shot.

Missing a leg, the monster's movements slowed down visibly to the naked eye. The Enforcers concentrated their fire, and after paying the price of two more lives, they finally electrocuted the monster into a charred corpse.

"It's over." Wang Shan patted Song Xu's shoulder. "Strange, isn't it not the time for Hetero-Beasts to be active?"

Song Xu's gaze fell on the forest: "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." Wang Shan's tone was confident. "You've only been interning in District 16 for a few days, so you're not familiar with it. The Beast Tide is still two months away; it's the same time every year, it shouldn't... What are you looking at?"

He looked toward the forest following Song Xu's gaze, where, at some unknown point, dozens more heads had emerged, their pale eyes staring blankly at them.

There was no time for another word; the Hetero-Beasts surged forth like starving tigers released from their cages, their four limbs moving in a frantic, overlapping blur as they charged.

Song Xu sighed silently.

I knew it. How could a jinx like me have my luck turn around?

Just as he was mourning, the sound of bells clashing suddenly rang out behind him.

He turned around instinctively.

A young girl had appeared, no one knew when, ten meters away.

She had a high ponytail, and long, silver-white hair cascaded down to her waist.

Her skin was fair, her expression cold and detached, and she wore a black short-sleeved shirt and capris. Her features were exquisite, as if she were a princess who had stepped out of the night.

A metal ring was tightly fitted around her slender neck.

Facing the tide of incoming Hetero-Beasts, her eyes were as calm as stagnant water.

She raised her hand, grasped the hilt of a sword on her left shoulder, and drew a long blade.

Holding the sword in her right hand, her figure instantly vanished from where she stood.

Chapter 2: I Can't Beat Him

Song Xu couldn't see the girl's figure; before his eyes, there was only a sky full of sword light shattering the night.

When the light stopped, dozens of Hetero-Beasts had already been reduced to pieces on the ground.

The girl sheathed her sword, eyes closed, standing quietly in the center of the debris.

A sharp pain struck Song Xu's mind, and memories flooded in.

This is... the power of an Infector?

Their constitution adapts to Pollution Energy, absorbing pollution to gain supernatural abilities.

He wanted to walk closer to observe, but was surprised to find all the Enforcers running away from the girl as if they had seen a ghost, including Monte.

This... aren't the Hetero-Beasts all dead? She saved us, why are you running?

"Let's go!"

Seeing him standing still, Wang Shan, who had already run away, turned back, grabbed his arm, and pulled him backward with all his might.

The impression he gave Song Xu was as if the slender girl before them was even more terrifying than the Hetero-Beasts.

At this moment, the girl suddenly moved.

Everyone except Song Xu, no matter how far they had run, stopped, turned their heads slowly, and stared at the girl nervously.

She didn't seem to care about the gazes cast upon her from all around, walking toward the city not far away, and soon disappeared into the night.

"Whew..." Wang Shan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Seeing him heave a sigh of relief, Song Xu asked curiously: "Is she really that scary?"

After catching his breath, Wang Shan stood with his hands on his hips and explained: "Executioner Bingyin has been in service for five years, and in a border city like District 16 at that. Her Pollution Energy is already approaching the critical point; she could go berserk at any moment."

Hearing this, more information appeared in his mind. Song Xu discovered that the memories in his brain weren't very easy to use; they only responded when there was a related object.

After organizing them slightly, he suddenly understood.

Infectors are referred to as Executioners externally. Although their power is terrifying—capable of easily crushing humans who have undergone 80% body modification—the price is also very high.

Every time an Infector uses their ability, the Pollution Energy in their body increases. Once the Pollution Energy exceeds the limit the body can withstand, they go berserk, lose their sanity, and destroy everything they see.

And the current government institution—the Federation—in order to control the Infectors, installed special bombs on their necks. They can instantly detonate the Pollution Energy inside an Infector, blowing the entire person into dust.

Coupled with the fact that all Infectors are basically artificially created by the Federation, this caused the relationship between the two sides, which was originally somewhat moderate, to turn extremely hostile.

"Song Xu."

Hearing the call, he snapped back to reality and looked up.

Monte walked up to them, his tone indifferent: "District 16's Executioner has never been assigned a Monitor."

"You solved an illegal organ trade, so as a reward, this position is yours."

A Monitor is responsible for supervising the Infector; once they detect that the Pollution Energy is about to go out of control, they issue a warning to the Federation, and the Federation will send people to take the person back to the Core.

Song Xu, the person involved, was keeping his head down to organize his memories, so he didn't speak, but Wang Shan spoke up quite angrily: "Chief Monte."

"Just now, Executioner Bingyin's collar bomb already issued a warning; she might go berserk tonight. Instead of reporting it to the Federation, you're letting Song Xu go..."

"Enforcer Wang Shan." Monte said with a forced smile, "I am the Chief; I have the authority to appoint and remove positions in the Enforcement Bureau."

After speaking, he tilted his chin at Song Xu: "If you feel afraid, you can flee District 16 and become a wandering bandit."

Outside the city are all Hetero-Beasts. If his body modification level were high, or if he were an Infector, he might be able to survive. But going out in this state as a Natural Human, isn't that just courting death?

Song Xu muttered in his heart, but replied aloud: "Thank you for your trust; I will faithfully fulfill the duties of a Monitor."

"That's good." Monte waved to the surviving Enforcers to signal a return to the city. "I still have to take people to carry out a mission; I'll leave the cleanup of the scene to you two."

Before he finished speaking, he had already walked away with his subordinates.

Scanning the scattered corpse parts all over the ground, Song Xu and Wang Shan looked at each other helplessly: "Let's do it; the sooner we finish, the sooner we go home."

Actually, it wouldn't take much time; they just needed to pile the pieces together and burn them with a fire.

It was mainly that they were disgusted by Monte's attitude.

Bending down to work, Song Xu pondered the oddity he had just noticed.

Normally, a border city should have at least five or more Infectors on standby. How could District 16 only have one in five years?

It was almost like they were deliberately forcing District 16's Executioner to go berserk.

Moreover, Monte's actions were also very strange. After killing two people, he waited in silence for a long time, as if... he was very certain that Hetero-Beasts would attack.

Forget it; there's too little valid information, and I can't figure it out at all.

Song Xu shook his head and turned to think about ways to survive.

Escaping the city wouldn't work; in this world, areas outside the city's radiation zone are extremely dangerous. Without some strength, going out is just offering yourself up.

Although Song Xu didn't know exactly how terrifying it was outside, he could catch a glimpse of it from how indifferent Monte was to his escape; he was certain that if he went out, he would die.

Returning to the city meant he would have to take up the post of Monitor, but that guy Monte didn't even give him the controller for the collar bomb, which was also a dead end.

After thinking it over, Song Xu finally sighed.

Don't even think about gambling your life to become an Infector; currently, it seems only females can successfully absorb Pollution Energy, and there hasn't been a single male case.

Besides, he had no idea how to become an Infector.

He hoped that Executioner person would hold off on going berserk for a few days. If he could modify part of his body during this time, he might at least have a slim chance of surviving if he escaped the city.

As a human from modern Blue Star society, it was actually very hard for him to accept installing strange things in his body, but to survive, there was no other way.

Huh? What is this?

Song Xu discovered that the corpse parts in front of his feet were wrapped in a mass of gray gas.

Curiously, he reached out to pick up the piece of the corpse, but the moment he touched it, it disappeared.

Did I see it wrong?

Standing up, he scratched his head in confusion, holding the piece of the corpse as he prepared to examine it closely.

"Sorry."

Wang Shan walked to his side, took a watch out from his open arm, and handed it over: "It's all my fault for taking half a day off; otherwise, you wouldn't have run into this."

"Here, this is a small terminal for detecting Pollution Energy; you take it and use it for now."

Song Xu took it and put it on his left wrist; the round LCD dial lit up for a moment. He vaguely saw a percentage figure—0.03%.

Does that mean I have Pollution Energy in my body? How is that possible?

He lightly touched the side switch, the dial lit up, and the content was very simple, only showing—0.00%.

Just as he was preparing to study the terminal's functions in depth, Wang Shan interrupted him: "I've already contacted the Section Chief; she will be back as soon as possible, um... about seven days."

Hearing this, Song Xu asked curiously: "How long do you estimate that Executioner Bingyin can hold on?"

"Uh... maybe nothing will happen tonight."

Song Xu's face darkened, and after a long silence, he said: "I'd better try installing prosthetics."