225: Give me 7 days

[Real World]

"Before me, enemies either flee or face utter defeat!"

Lu Jianchuan—or rather, Lu Jianchuan currently playing the role of the 'Hero silver skeleton'—spoke his final signature line toward the camera, maintaining a pose with his fist raised against the wind. A few seconds later, the director's satisfied 'Cut!' rang out, and a wave of relaxed, slight commotion rippled through the set.

"Hard work today, Teacher Lu! Your scenes are finished for the day." An assistant ran over to hand him water and a towel.

Lu Jianchuan nodded, took a sip of the water, and walked toward the rest area.

Just as he stepped outside the filming area and entered a relatively quiet backstreet, the Rabbit King in his arms suddenly moved. It looked up, its ruby-like eyes gazing toward a shadow where construction materials were piled up ahead.

"There is a scent of blood." The Rabbit King's thoughts entered Lu Jianchuan's mind directly and calmly. "Very fresh. And... the aura of death."

Lu Jianchuan's eyes narrowed, and he immediately stopped in his tracks. "Which way?"

The Rabbit King gestured with its gaze. Lu Jianchuan quickly set it down and strode toward the shadows. As he approached, a faint, metallic scent of rust—hard to detect in the sweltering air—wafted over. Rounding a pile of discarded gypsum boards, the sight before him made even the experienced Lu Jianchuan knit his brows tightly.

A male corpse lay face-up among the rubble.

He wore ordinary work pants and leather shoes, and his upper body was clad in a dust-covered blue jacket.

At first glance, he seemed to have just fainted, but a closer look sent a chill down one's spine—the entire torso of the corpse from the chest to the lower abdomen, the area that should have been covered by the jacket, had vanished without a trace along with the clothing.

It wasn't torn or cut; it was as if something extremely precise and gluttonous had completely 'eaten' the flesh, internal organs, and bones of this entire section from the inside or outside, leaving a terrifyingly empty void with relatively neat edges.

Through this hole, one could see the grey concrete ground directly beneath the body.

Yet the corpse's head, neck, arms, and legs were all intact. Even the posture showed little sign of struggle, except for the expression of extreme terror and agony frozen on the face.

This eerie and clean method of 'feeding' was far more skin-crawling than a bloody scene of dismemberment.

Lu Jianchuan did not rashly approach to disturb the scene. He quickly backed away a few steps, one hand pressing down on the Rabbit King, whose nose was twitching slightly as if uncomfortable with the smell of blood, while his other hand pulled out an encrypted communicator and connected to the GUPA emergency contact channel.

"This is Lu Jianchuan, code name 'silver skeleton'. I have discovered a highly anomalous corpse at coordinates ***. The state is bizarre, suspected supernatural event. Requesting immediate lockdown of the scene by a nearby duty squad and dispatch of forensic personnel. Repeat, situation is anomalous, professional handling required."

A response came immediately from the other end: "Received, silver skeleton. Maintain the scene; backup will arrive within five minutes."

Soon, several unmarked black vehicles sped toward them, stopping precisely at the mouth of the alley.

Personnel in GUPA uniforms carrying professional equipment quickly exited the vehicles, set up a cordon, and began a methodical investigation of the scene. A supervisor walked toward Lu Jianchuan to take his preliminary report.

After handing the scene over to the arriving GUPA forensic team, Lu Jianchuan knew that professional matters should be left to professionals. He returned to the base with the Rabbit King, and after settling it properly, he took a rare moment of leisure to wander the city streets, letting his tense nerves relax slightly.

Turning a street corner, he happened to run into two acquaintances.

"Senior Lu?" Shen Mingyuan greeted him with some surprise. Following beside him was none other than Wei Ziqing. Both looked like they had recovered their health. Shen Mingyuan wore a casual suit, while Wei Ziqing was in a simple T-shirt and trousers, looking as if they were out for a casual stroll.

"It's you two." Lu Jianchuan stopped and nodded. "Have your bodies fully recovered?"

"Thanks to you, there are no major issues anymore." Shen Mingyuan smiled and pointed to Wei Ziqing. "I was just about to take this kid to try something new. I heard there's a Japanese restaurant nearby with a great reputation and very fresh ingredients, especially the sashimi. I was just asking him if he wanted to go."

Wei Ziqing looked at Lu Jianchuan with curiosity and a hint of invitation. "Senior Lu, if you're free, would you like to join us?"

Lu Jianchuan looked at the two of them, then glanced at the nearby shopfront with its warm-colored lanterns and wooden curtains. After a slight hesitation, a very faint curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Sure, I don't have anything else to do anyway. Let's go."

The three of them walked into the well-known Japanese restaurant. The interior was more spacious than expected, with elegant Japanese-style decor and warm yellow lighting creating a peaceful atmosphere.

The most eye-catching feature was a giant saltwater ecological aquarium deep in the shop that occupied almost an entire wall. A faint blue light illuminated the various colorful saltwater fish, corals, and marine life swimming within.

"Wow, what a huge starfish!" Wei Ziqing was immediately drawn to an exceptionally large, deep-red starfish at the bottom of the tank, its arms spread out almost to the size of a small washbasin. It was quietly suctioned onto a piece of decorative rock, its color so vivid it looked almost unreal.

The shop owner, busy behind the counter, looked up at the sound and showed a proud smile. "The guest has a good eye! That's one of our 'treasures of the shop.' We accidentally hauled it up from a deep-water area a few months ago. It wasn't this big back then, but somehow it just kept growing. Look how vibrant the color is! Oh, it's even bubbling—see that? That's the starfish spawning. It's quite rare; it's usually very quiet."

Wei Ziqing looked in the direction the owner pointed and indeed saw fine, milky-white bubbles slowly seeping from parts of the large starfish's body surface, rising slowly to blend into the water.

"Spawning? Didn't they say some starfish lose their arms when they spawn? Why does it look perfectly fine?"

The owner scratched his head:

"Well... I don't really know much about that. Marine life is full of wonders. Maybe this species is different? Regardless, it's very healthy, and the customers love seeing it. What would you like to eat? Our sashimi is very fresh. The saltwater fish are caught and prepared on the spot. We have freshwater fish too, but they're taken from a separate cold-water circulation tank next to it to guarantee quality."

They found a table and sat down. The server handed them the menu.

The server handed over the menu.

"I want to eat rice!" Wei Ziqing barely looked at the complex sashimi platters and flipped directly to the main course page.

"Hmm... curry pork cutlet rice, and another order of beef fried rice!"

Shen Mingyuan looked at him with amusement. "Didn't we agree to come try the sashimi?"

"Rice is more filling, Lawyer Shen," Wei Ziqing said righteously.

"Fine." Shen Mingyuan shook his head and ordered the assorted sashimi, takoyaki, an order of grilled eel, and added several different types of sushi.

Lu Jianchuan took the menu, scanned it, and quickly made a decision. "Eel rice, large portion."

The freshwater fish sashimi Shen Mingyuan ordered used ingredients from another low-temperature preservation System in the shop, completely independent of the large saltwater tank.

As for that massive main aquarium housing the anomalous starfish and various saltwater fish, the creatures within swam peacefully, having no intersection with the food about to be served on the table.

The chef skillfully handled different ingredients behind the open preparation counter—slicing, plating—and the aroma of food began to spread.