Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 196 "Holiday Ends"

"Should we send someone to track it?" The colonel turned to look at the old director, "We can follow the tunnel that thing escaped through..."

"No..." the old chief whispered, and the colonel only then realized that he didn't seem to care about the escaped monster at all, but was focusing all his attention on the ridiculously strong hunter.

"Teacher," Song Yarong turned her head and said worriedly, "According to the latest test results, the infection rate of Night Fury has increased by 6.5 percentage points, which is very close to the dangerous threshold... Moreover, this momentum has not stopped... Damn, it has become 6.6 now!"

"Close to the danger threshold?" The colonel's eyes twitched wildly. "Does this mean that she is about to become completely weird?!"

"Yes." The old director gave an affirmative answer.

"Then...then is there any way we can control her?"

"If she completely transforms, the entire Tianfu City will turn into a sea of ​​fire." The old director said softly, "Her level of danger is equivalent to that of a nuclear weapon."

"Nuclear weapons? Tianfu City actually has such dangerous hunters?" The colonel's eyes widened. "Why didn't we know this before?"

"Because you are not of high enough rank." The old director said lightly, "Night Fury's file is under the direct jurisdiction of the Tianshu Tower. Even I cannot release her file to you without the approval of the Tianshu Tower."

"…What should we do now?" The colonel frowned and said this after thinking for a long time.

"We should be thankful. Her willpower is the strongest among all the hunters I've come into contact with... no, I should say that she is the strongest among all the infected people I've come into contact with." The old director said, "She is enduring, she is fighting against herself... the self that is far stronger than her... I believe in her, and you should believe in her too."

"I really want to believe her, but if the situation gets out of control, we simply can't afford the cost!" The colonel waved his hands hysterically. "Besides believing, is there anything else we can do, Professor?"

The old director shook his head.

A light helicopter with the words "Tianfu City Weird Research Institute" printed on it landed at the edge of the pit, and six special agents dressed like cans jumped out of the cabin carrying a bunch of equipment.

They first used liquid nitrogen to put out the remaining fire in the pit. Then one of them strode up to Wang Xiyi, who was sitting on the ground with a dazed look on her face, with an attitude of being ready to die bravely, and stabbed Wang Xiyi's arm with the syringe in his hand.

At this time, most of Wang Xiyi's arm was covered with scales, and only a small piece of human skin could be seen on the inside of the elbow. The hard tungsten steel needle slowly penetrated, and the pre-installed inhibitor in the syringe was pushed into Wang Xiyi's blood vessels little by little along with the piston.

"The infection process has been stabilized for the time being...but the mutation of some memetic fragments can no longer be reversed..." Song Yarong turned around and said, holding the tablet.

"What does irreversible... mean?" the colonel couldn't help but ask.

"She may continue to maintain this half-human, half-beast state, and in this state, it is equivalent to using the abilities given to her by the weird meme every moment... It is only a matter of time before the infection process exceeds the safety threshold."

"How much time does she have at most?" asked the colonel.

"If she is frozen in a liquid nitrogen pool, this state may last for about four to five months." Song Yarong sighed, "But the price is that she will never wake up again... because once thawed, the memes in her body will become doubly active."

"So... do we need to put her through that..." The colonel hesitated for a moment, but still asked the question in his mind, "that... 'harmless disposal'?"

Song Yarong glanced at him without saying anything, then turned her gaze to the old director.

"Bring the person back first." said the old director.

"Is it... too dangerous?" asked the colonel, his eyes full of worry.

"Are you scared?" Song Yarong glanced at him and asked with some disdain.

"That's not what I meant... I meant that this is the command hub for the entire Tianfu City. I must be responsible for the safety of everyone here. I can't just sit back and ignore an extremely dangerous existence. Once the situation gets out of control, you should know better than me what will happen." The colonel said helplessly.

"We didn't ignore her." Song Yarong sighed and continued, "The safest way to deal with her now is to bring her back to the institute. Only here can we safely contain her... Even if we need to carry out the 'harmless treatment' you mentioned, it can only be done here."

The special agents dressed like cans had already moved Wang Xiyi into a huge "metal coffin". Only the heavy lid with an observation window at the head position was pushed up, and then they lifted the metal coffin onto the helicopter.

"The special situation handling team has completed the initial containment of the target object and requests to return." A dull voice came from the communicator on the old director's wheelchair.

"Permitted to return." The old director said calmly, "Pay attention to her condition at all times and replenish inhibitors at any time."

"clear."

The colonel glanced at the screen, then at the old director, and then he spoke: "Then what should we do with that strange creature? Since we failed to destroy it this time, it will definitely take revenge... Tianfu City will be under threat all the time, and all our deployments against Yongye will be affected..."

"It has been badly injured, so it won't be back for a while." The old director said, "Don't think it's just shedding a layer of skin."

"Less than one-tenth of the original meme fragments of the monster have been successfully preserved, and the frequency representing the strength of its ability has dropped to less than 5% of the original level." The researcher in charge of the monitoring equipment added, "According to the data model established previously, it will not pose any threat to Tianfu City for at least the next six months."

"What about six months later? When it recovers from its wounds...will we have a second Night Fury?" asked the colonel.

"For now, let's first consider the problems brought about by the Eternal Night." The old director looked up at the colonel, "This is just the beginning. As the Eternal Night continues, the monsters we will face in the future will only be more difficult and more difficult to deal with than this... Since you are here, you should have prepared yourself mentally, right?"

"..." The colonel fell silent. He looked around at everyone in the command room, sighed, and sat back in his seat.

"Report! The rescue team has successfully brought back Ye Xuan, the leader of the special operations team, and Yang Lian, an agent of the Tianfu City Abnormal Investigation Bureau. Both of them are currently in stable condition and conscious. Should we transfer them to the nearest hospital or..."

"Send it to the research institute. Tianfu City's top medical resources are now concentrated here." The colonel rubbed his cheeks vigorously and said tiredly, "Thank God, this is the best news I have heard today."

He fished out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. As soon as he took out a cigarette, he looked up and saw the "No Smoking" sign hanging on the wall. He could only smile at himself, turned around, pushed open the door of the command room, and walked into the corridor outside.

With a "click", the colonel lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, then slowly squatted down with his back against the corridor wall.

The sound of wheels rolling over the ground was heard, and the old director of the institute drove his wheelchair to the colonel's side and said, "Give me one, too." "Uh...is your body okay with smoking?" The colonel hesitated for a moment, but still lit a cigarette and handed it over.

“Hehe, when I was working late into the night doing research, I smoked much more than you youngsters.” The old director took the cigarette and smiled. “The whole lab was filled with smoke at that time… I remember one time the fire alarm was triggered, and it soaked my 200-page research report into pieces… Haha, cough cough cough…”

"Take it easy, old man." The colonel immediately stood up and patted the old director on the back.

"It's nothing, just an old problem from my youth... cough cough..." The old director took another puff of his cigarette, "Young people in the institute now like to rely on strong coffee to stay awake, but I'm really not used to the taste of coffee. Cigarettes are the best. The spicier the cigarette, the clearer my brain will be when I smoke it."

“……” The colonel looked at the hunchbacked old man in front of him and wanted to say something, but in the end he did not speak.

"Once the casualty report of this operation comes out, send me a copy." The old director put down the hand holding the half-smoked cigarette and looked towards the window at the end of the corridor.

"...Okay." The colonel nodded. "After the statistics are completed, I will send someone to report to you as soon as possible."

"Are there any more cigarettes... ahem..."

"You can't smoke anymore."

"It's okay, hurry up, have another one, don't be so stingy!"

"You'd better take care of your health." The colonel stuffed the cigarette back into his pocket firmly. "Who is the person who is responsible for your daily life? I think I should go talk to him."

"Ha...that idiot is not in Tianfu City right now, no one can control me."

"Not in Tianfu City? Is he going to other areas to carry out a mission?" the colonel asked subconsciously.

"Yes, but not in Shuzhou." The old director nodded, "She went to Chunming City."

"Chunming City...Hunter advancement trial?" The colonel reacted immediately.

"That's right." The old director said, "I didn't expect you to react so quickly."

"Well...that's because among the hunters in the same group as us who supported Shuzhou, there was also a person who participated in this trial, and I was the one who submitted his temporary absence report on his behalf." said the colonel.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Will you give it to me?"

"No!"

……

……

Three hundred nautical miles east of Chunming City, there is an unnamed island and a beach.

Sun Hang lay on the beach with his arms and legs spread out, enjoying the rare sunbath to his heart's content - once he returned to Shuzhou, even sunbathing would become a luxury.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sun Hang planned to get as much sun as possible... Since he woke up, such leisure time is rare. He even doubted whether he was born to work hard...

The afternoon sun was hot but not scorching. The sea breeze blowing in from afar had a faint fishy smell. The sea water carrying white foam surged up just enough to submerge Sun Hang's feet. After the waves receded, many lively fish, shrimps and crabs were left on the beach. A small crab crawled past Sun Hang with its claws and teeth bared, and several long-dormant hyphae suddenly emerged from the sand and pierced its shell.

Sun Hang spat out the broken crab shells in his mouth and sat up from the beach - if it had not been designated as a blockade area, this nameless island would have been quite good as a tourist attraction... It would have been even better if there were a few more attractive bikini beauties on the beach.

Sun Hang raised his head and saw a drone hovering right above him. The round camera turned a few times and finally locked onto Sun Hang.

"Huh...the vacation is over." Sun Hang sighed.

After all, this is not a tourist destination, and there are no bikini beauties inviting me to help apply sunscreen.

Behind him, the ruins of the research institute that had been bombed not long ago were still emitting thick smoke. The self-destruct device that was activated for the second time caused the entire basin to sink nearly 100 meters again, completely burying the laboratory full of bones deep underground.

"Anna Dimoshchina..." Sun Hang repeated the name silently in his mind.

What are you?
What am I?
Dozens of minutes later, a speedboat appeared on the sea and quickly headed towards Sun Hang.

Several people wearing standard combat uniforms of Monster Hunters jumped off the speedboat and walked in front of Sun Hang.

"Special search and rescue team, fourth-level hunter, codenamed 'Thunder'." The leading hunter said to Sun Hang, "Besides you, where are the other hunters participating in the trial?"

"I'm not sure, probably all of them are dead." Sun Hang shrugged, "But two of them should still be alive."

"Which two? Where are they now?" Lei Ting immediately asked, "What happened on the island?"

"The 'Fisherman' from the Siberian Autonomous Region and Seiichi Yano from the Tianshu Tower should be trapped in the nuclear submarine in the underground dock now." Sun Hang said.

"Underground dock? Nuclear submarine?" The hunters looked at each other. The expressions they showed after hearing these terms were almost identical to those of the fisherman and Yano.

"If you don't understand something, you can ask your superiors." Sun Hang said, "According to the confidentiality regulations of this trial, I have the right to remain silent about you."

"Then can you tell us where the underground dock is? We have to rush there to rescue people." Lei Ting said again.

"You just need to pass this message back, and the Tianshu Tower should tell you the location of the entrance." Sun Hang said, "In addition, the curse on the Nameless Island should have been lifted. Now even ordinary people can go to the island safely."

(End of this chapter)