Doomsday police, please show your god/demon ID card.

"Team Leader Tang!"

Wang Hu rushed in first, and breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw Tang Long sitting on the bed.

"You're finally awake! You almost scared the brothers to death!"

Following closely behind were Zhang Wennian, Chen Ming, Liu Qiang, and two nurses.

The originally spacious ward instantly became crowded.

"See! I told you everything would be fine, but you wouldn't believe me!"

With huge dark circles under his eyes and a stack of data sheets in his hand, Chen Ming approached Tang Long's window.

"Team Leader Tang, your cell activity has tripled in the past 72 hours! This completely defies common sense in biology!"

"Captain Tang! You're going to become Superman!"

"Shut up." Liu Qiang kicked him, then looked at Tang Long and gave him a solemn salute, "Captain Tang."

Although it was just one word, everyone could hear the feeling of relief in it.

Tang Long's gaze swept over every face filled with concern and exhaustion, and a warmth spread through his heart.

He pursed his lips and turned to look at Zhang Wennian: "Dr. Zhang, could you please examine me?"

Zhang Wennian pushed up his glasses and strode forward.

Listen to the patient's heart, examine the pupils, and check the pulse.

After a series of procedures, the old doctor's brows furrowed even more deeply.

Everyone's hearts were in their throats.

"Old Zhang, how's it going? Don't scare me," Wang Hu couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Wennian put away his stethoscope and looked at Tang Long with a strange expression: "Strange...very strange."

"How so?" Tang Long asked.

"Your bodily functions are all normal, even... abnormally good." Zhang Wennian carefully chose his words. "Your heartbeat is half that of a normal person, but each beat is extremely powerful, and your blood flow is extremely fast."

"And..." he pointed to Tang Long's arm, "your skin's resilience and muscle density seem to have improved."

Tang Long looked down.

His wheat-colored skin does look much rougher than before.

"Captain Tang, what exactly did you come into contact with before you lost consciousness?" Chen Ming leaned closer, looking curious.

Tang Long remained silent for a moment.

He spread out his right hand and said calmly, "A seed dug out from the bottom of a pit on the roof has merged into my hand and body."

Wang Hu added, "It's the seed from that nest; we found it on the roof."

"They were all burned to ashes, except for one seed."

"Seeds?" The group looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Seeds left behind from a vine's nest?" Chen Ming asked, his imagination running wild. "Did you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Like... a urge to drink human blood, or a urge to take root in the soil?"

"Get lost! No, I didn't." Tang Long cursed irritably.

He paused, his expression slightly hesitant.

"However! I can feel that it's still inside my body?"

"What do you mean?" Chen Ming asked, looking somewhat surprised.

"You guys step aside." Tang Long took a deep breath, threw off the covers, and got out of bed.

Everyone immediately stepped back, leaving an open space.

Tang Long stood in the center of the ward, his eyes closed and his mind focused.

The dormant heat within him seemed to sense his awakening and was becoming active again.

"call!"

Tang Long took a deep breath and, as if driven by instinct, concentrated his mind on his right palm.

puff!

A soft sound.

On Tang Long's right palm, the skin silently cracked open without any blood flowing out, and a pitch-black vine with dark red patterns suddenly emerged!

It grows taller as it faces the wind, shooting out more than two meters in the blink of an eye, like a nimble venomous snake, winding and twisting in the air, making a hissing sound as it cuts through the wind.

"Holy crap!" Wang Hu was so startled that he took a step back, his hand instinctively reaching for the holster on his waist.

The others also stared wide-eyed.

Even Su Yan sat up straight in surprise, her eyes flashing with green light.

"These are the monster's vines?" Chen Ming's glasses nearly fell off as he muttered to himself, "Biological fusion? Genetic plunder? This isn't scientific...this is too unscientific!"

Tang Long ignored the shock of the crowd.

He stared intently at the vine that had grown from his own hand, a sense of kinship welling up within him.

It was as if the vine was part of his body.

A thought subtly stirred within me.

Swish!

The black vines suddenly straightened, like a javelin, and stabbed fiercely at the side wall!

boom.

A muffled thud.

The cement wall was easily pierced like tofu, leaving a hole with smooth edges.

Immediately afterwards, Tang Long flicked his wrist.

The vines softened instantly, like a serpent, and coiled around the solid wood bedside table next to it.

The dark red patterns glowed slightly, and a terrifying contraction force erupted.

Snap~

The sturdy bedside table was twisted into a pile of scrap wood.

"receive."

Tang Long read it softly.

The black vines quickly retracted and disappeared into the palm of his hand.

The cracked skin instantly healed, leaving only the hole in the wall and the wood chips on the floor, proving that what had just happened was not an illusion.

The ward was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Wang Hu swallowed hard: "Captain Tang, what's going on?"

"I didn't sense any mental fluctuations." Su Yan frowned slightly. "It's completely different from my telekinesis. Could it be a new superpower?"

Liu Qiang chimed in, "Very likely."

Chen Ming's eyes lit up, and he rushed forward with his notebook in hand.

"Captain Tang! Could I cut... no, take a tiny sample? Just a little bit! I want to see its cellular structure!"

"Get lost!" Tang Long's lips twitched, and he was about to kick him away.

Suddenly, a system notification sounded in my mind.

[Ding! Host detected, fusing with high-level mutated biological source material.]

[Unlocked: Special bio-prosthetic limb, "The Whip of Order"]

[Description: A mimicry creation derived from the core essence of the "Vine Nest." It possesses extremely high toughness, regenerative abilities, and basic biosensory abilities. It can be used for binding, climbing, piercing, and mid-range attacks.]

【Characteristic 1: Healing (When damage is inflicted, a small amount of life force can be absorbed for the host's life restoration or for the regeneration and strengthening of the whip body)】

【Characteristic 2: Stiffness and toughness (The basic physical properties are altered, resulting in strength comparable to special alloys, and significantly improved resistance to conventional flames and corrosion)】

[Note: It makes perfect sense for a respectable police inspector to carry a whip, right?]

Tang Long was slightly taken aback.

The Whip of Order!

That's an interesting name.

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the crowd.

"Let's get down to business. What's the Lighthouse Project up to?"

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the room instantly turned solemn.

Project Lighthouse is the most important part of this mission; otherwise, why would they have traveled all this way?

Liu Qiang took the first step forward.

"Report to Team Leader Tang! The main power lines inside the building have been fully restored, and the underground backup diesel generator set has been inspected and is ready to provide emergency power."

He paused briefly, his brow furrowing slightly. "The problem is fuel. The nearby gas stations are either empty or have already been looted by other survivors. The diesel we've collected so far is only enough to operate at full power for three days."

"What about the broadcast system?" Tang Long pressed.

"The hardware has been repaired, and the signal tower structure is intact." Chen Ming adjusted his glasses and took over the conversation, speaking rapidly: "But the coverage area needs to be determined through actual testing."

"In addition, twelve high-powered searchlights and some LED modules were removed from the GG company and stadium around us and have now been installed on the roof."

Simply put, sound and light can be turned on simultaneously tonight.

"It all depends on what message we want to send to this dead city."

Tang Long stood still for a moment, then looked out the window.

In the distance, the outline of ruins lay silent in the gray light of the sky, and further away, the direction of the city center, shrouded in mist, was shrouded in darkness.

"Pass on the order."

His voice was deep.

"Full power supply at 8 PM tonight."

"I want this dead city to hear and see..."

He turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"Order has never disappeared."

"And now, it's back."