205: Permanent Catacomb Alarm?

Jian Shan's mouth twitched.

Looking at Shen Bei's rapidly disappearing figure and the various vehicles taking off, he thought,

"He's an unbridled human bulldozer…"

Jian Shan shook his head: "Are all young people so hot-headed nowadays? Even with a grudge, it shouldn't be like this…"

Jian Shan clicked his tongue.

If Shen Bei was acting on a personal vendetta, he would have to pay for the damage caused along the way.

But then he remembered the Medicinal Pills Shen Bei received from the state every month; selling a few… it seemed the compensation wouldn't be a big issue.

If he was chasing a fugitive…

Jian Shan immediately grabbed his phone and called Gu Changfeng.

Soon.

The call connected.

"Uncle Jian, hello!"

Gu Changfeng's tone on the phone held a hint of respect.

One must know, before Jian Shan lost his Martial Artist strength, he was a well-known figure throughout Lingnan City.

It was only with the passage of time that Jian Shan's reputation gradually faded.

"Changfeng… I saw Shen Bei."

Jian Shan got straight to the point.

Gu Changfeng was stunned, a bit confused.

No… what's so strange about seeing Shen Bei?

He wasn't some sudden anomaly or an alien.

What's the big deal?

Is it worth calling me for?

"Uncle Jian, Shen Bei is from Changtu County, so it's not strange to see him, right?"

"He seems to be chasing someone; cars on the entire street have been crashed, and there are lampposts, fences. Oh, and just now Shen Bei pulled up a traffic light pole and threw it. Whoa, a sanitation truck exploded!"

Gu Changfeng's heart sank.

He roared internally: "It must be a personal vendetta!"

Damn it, if these losses were caused by pursuing a wanted criminal, insurance would cover it, and the state would cover the rest.

Paying the full price might not happen, but there would still be a cost.

That's not a big problem, but the key is… it affects the assessment performance of Lingnan City's Patrol Bureau!

He's had enough of eating cabbage!

"Let me ask, did Shen Bei say why he was chasing them?"

"He didn't say, so you'd best come down."

Gu Changfeng hung up, his head aching a bit.

Another cleanup job!

…

Lingnan City.

Seismic Monitoring Bureau.

Director Liao held a cigarette in his right hand, tea in his left, and a newspaper in front of him.

This position was truly comfortable.

A packet of tea, a pack of cigarettes, and a whole day would pass.

Since the last time the Diaobingshan Coal Mine had a Rank 1 Dungeon, it had been a period of peace and prosperity.

Slurp…

Director Liao took a sip of clear tea, shook the newspaper on his desk, and held it up to his eyes.

"Whoa! Today's entertainment news is quite explosive."

"Didn't pay for a taxi, ended up having to ride a shared bike back? Good heavens, he got caught for that? Impressive, impressive."

"Oh, a 'little dark one' caused a girl to get pregnant? Parents paid for an abortion, and the chat records were exposed?"

"What nonsense, they're not even the same species, they only lay eggs, how could they get pregnant? Too fake."

Director Liao took a puff of his cigarette, checked the time, and it was almost lunchtime.

"Today's meal is… braised pork! Not bad, not bad."

Just as Director Liao was about to get up and leave his office, the door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.

A staff member, his face panicked, shouted: "We have a situation!"

Director Liao's expression instantly tensed. Without bothering to put on his coat, he ran directly out of his office and headed straight for the control room.

"What's going on?"

"Monitoring instruments show seismic activity!"

"What?! What Rank?"

"No… no Rank."

Director Liao stopped abruptly at his words, panting heavily for a full half-minute before slowly raising his head, his face ashen: "No Rank? No… it can't be, can it?"

The staff member's face was filled with horror, revealing a subtle unease: "It, it truly has no Rank! The monitoring instruments only detected slight seismic activity, but no Dungeon energy overflow."

Director Liao gasped sharply.

He turned and continued towards the control room.

His mind was in a jumble.

Typically, the appearance of a Dungeon manifests in two phenomena.

One is seismic activity.

The other is the overflow of energy from the Dungeon due to its connection with the seismic activity.

As long as the energy density is detected, the computer will estimate the Dungeon's strength.

Of course, the above only applies to temporarily appearing Dungeons, like the one at Diaobingshan Coal Mine.

Additionally, there is a very special situation.

That is… a Permanent Dungeon!

When a Permanent Dungeon appears, there is only seismic activity, with no Dungeon energy overflow.

This process, according to observation records, sometimes lasts for a few days, and sometimes for over a month.

For example, when the Permanent Dungeon in Luan County appeared, the slight tremors lasted for a full half-month.

There is a crucial time node here: the longer a Permanent Dungeon remains open, the more advantageous it is for humanity.

Humans can use this time to set up defenses and firepower around the Dungeon to repel the first wave of emerging interdimensional beings and Vicious Beasts.

Relatively speaking, temporary Dungeons have Rank restrictions for interdimensional beings.

A Rank 1 Dungeon can at most allow Rank 2 interdimensional beings to pass through.

But Permanent Dungeons are different; they have no restrictions whatsoever.

Whether it's a Rank 1 Vicious Beast or a Rank 10 interdimensional being, all can pass through.

At this moment, Director Liao entered the control room.

Staff members inside were moving about, constantly recording data.

A vast expanse of extreme suppression, gloom, and a premonition of impending disaster enveloped the entire room.

Director Liao continuously scanned the various instruments.

His gaze was extremely profound, his face devoid of joy or sorrow, and he slowly spoke: "Is it possible it's just a simple earthquake?"

The staff member swallowed, his face incredibly heavy: "Lingnan City… is not on an earthquake belt."

Alright, Director Liao's last shred of hope was shattered.

"The direction of the seismic activity is… Changtu County?" Director Liao glanced at the map.

The staff member nodded: "That's right, the outskirts of Changtu County. Thankfully, it's not within the city."

He took a deep breath and waved his hand: "Package the current data and send it to the National General Bureau. Activate A-level response; after the National General Bureau makes its decision, the response level will become S-level."

A-level indicates that departments such as the Patrol Bureau, Martial Arts Management Bureau, military, finance bureau, and logistics support department need to be on standby.

Especially the logistics support department, which must inventory defensive Materials and be ready to send them to the battlefield at any time.

Once the response level reaches S-level, the aforementioned departments must drop all current work and fully cooperate with Dungeon defense, giving it top priority.

Director Liao lit a cigarette, took a few silent puffs, and smiled: "We'll be busy. By the way, is this the first Permanent Dungeon in the Northeast region?"

The staff member nodded: "It is indeed the first."

"That's good too. What others have, we now have, making it more convenient for Martial Artists to acquire Materials."

The staff member choked a little.

Shouldn't he be worried about a Dungeon disaster?

One must know that the appearance of every Permanent Dungeon is accompanied by bloodshed and heavy casualties.

To block the Dungeon and prevent interdimensional beings and Vicious Beasts from appearing on the surface, one must establish a base within the Dungeon, like the Luan County Earth Cave.

This is not an easy task.

Back when the Luan County Earth Cave was established, a heavy price was paid, with over a dozen Eighth Rank Martial Warriors and one Nine-Rank Martial Artist killed in action.

As for Martial Artists of other Ranks, they were countless.

Only then did they barely manage to establish a foothold.

Moreover, from the state's perspective, the responsibility for defending the Dungeon naturally falls on Liaobei Province.

Liaobei Province can request aid from other provinces or the state, but Governor Yu Qi would have to swallow his pride.

If Martial Artists from other provinces come, shouldn't they be well-received?

The temperament of Martial Artists… alas, Shen Bei's shameless personality is considered among the best!

The staff member cautiously asked: "Will Governor Yu Qi request aid?"

Director Liao's face was hidden in the smoke: "The entire nation is one chess game; requesting aid is not losing face."

The staff member shrugged.

"Continue monitoring, communicate frequently with the higher-ups, report any situation immediately, and I'll go hold a briefing with other departments."

With that, Director Liao got up and left.

…

Changtu County.

Shen Bei had chased many people and had also been chased by some Da Shouzi.

But he had never encountered a contender like Zhou Poshan.

His escape route was incredibly cunning.

This guy was truly impressive.

He even went down the sewers!

It truly taught Shen Bei a lesson; when it came to life and death, this guy probably wouldn't even mind jumping into a cesspit.

It disgusted Shen Bei to no end.

Soon.

Zhou Poshan finally stopped running.

He arrived at the entrance of a hotel.

This hotel had ten floors.

It seemed Zhou Poshan felt taking the elevator or stairs was too slow.

This guy directly started climbing the glass curtain wall.

After reaching the sixth floor, he punched through the glass and climbed directly inside.

Shen Bei grinned, even more fearless, clinging tightly to Zhou Poshan and following him up.

"I guess he won't run anymore."

Shen Bei had a hunch.

Perhaps his accomplices were here.

After jumping into the sixth floor.

Before Shen Bei were the hotel's guest rooms.

At a glance.

Indeed.

Zhou Poshan was leisurely changing his clothes.

At the same time, there were two other men in the room, glaring at Shen Bei with hostile eyes.

One was a man with thick eyebrows and a square face, easily two meters tall, with shoulders as broad as an adult man's head.

The other was a man in his thirties, wearing a plaid suit, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, quite heroic, but his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.

"Let me introduce, they are—"

Shen Bei directly interrupted Zhou Poshan's rambling: "Dead men don't deserve names."

Zhou Poshan, having changed into clean and fresh clothes, curled his lips, revealing a different kind of bloodthirsty look, and continued: "Good, good, good, good. Then I'll give you five seconds. Kneel down and beg me for a dignified end."

"Five."

"Four."

Shen Bei's gaze was clear and calm as he met everyone's eyes, and he said lightly: "Zhou Poshan, I only have one suggestion for you: you should change into a burial shroud."

Zhou Poshan's face hardened like iron, looking extremely displeased, his eyes filled with unparalleled malice, and he almost snarled:

"One!"

"Kill him!"