Who said this card is outrageous?

Given the precedent of Ahri and Ninetales, when the intimacy level between the two is high enough, Eevee might experience a qualitative leap.

However, he cannot determine the specific opportunity in advance and can only leave it to time.

Chapter 104 The Heart-Eating Demon Who Has Received Attention (Seeking First Subscription!)

After listening, Zhu Yingqi remained silent for a while, then nodded. She didn't ask any further questions or raise any doubts; she simply held Eevee quietly in her arms.

Thanks.

"You're welcome."

“Um…” Yu Renjia suddenly spoke up, holding the [Water Stone] card and looking at Zhang Che, “Does this thing really work?”

Zhang Che shrugged: "Like I said, it's still in the exploratory stage. Whether it works or not, you'll only know after you try it yourself."

Yu Renjia did not say anything more.

As Zhang Che reached the door, Zhu Yingqi suddenly asked, "Have you walked around the school yet? Would you like us to show you around?"

"No need, I'll just wander around by myself in a bit." Zhang Che waved to them. "You guys continue, I won't bother you any longer."

"Bang." The door slammed shut behind them.

Yu Renjia and Zhu Yingqi exchanged a glance, speechless.

……

Two days later, it was the weekend.

Zhang Che slept in late, a rare occurrence, and didn't get out of bed until after nine o'clock.

After turning on my phone, I saw a message from Shen Yan.

The message was simple: the troops that participated in the second round of operations had returned to the city last night to rest.

After reading the message, Zhang Che felt much better. He washed up, went out for breakfast, and returned home to wait.

He was waiting for none other than the adventurers who had promised to bring him the corpse of the Heart-Eating Demon.

However, after waiting for a long time, the phone didn't ring, and no message came.

At first, Zhang Che thought that those people might be too tired and wanted to rest in the city before coming back.

But as several days passed, no one came to the door.

This time, Zhang Che couldn't hold back any longer.

He changed his clothes, took Gatomon with him, and rode the bicycle he had bought for commuting, heading towards the Adventurers' Guild along the familiar streets.

Gatomon was crouching in the basket of the bicycle. The wind made its ears fall back, but it squinted its eyes and seemed to be enjoying itself.

As Zhang Che pedaled, he pondered in his mind what exactly had happened.

At that moment, the ears of the Gatomon in the basket twitched, its golden eyes looked ahead, and it let out a soft "meow".

The voice wasn't loud, but Zhang Che could tell it carried a hint of unease, likely influenced by his mood.

"It's alright," Zhang Che comforted Gatomon, as if he were also comforting himself.

The wheels rustled over the sycamore leaves piled up on the road. Shops lined the street one after another, passing by in sight. There weren't many pedestrians; those few were all bundled up in thick coats and hurrying along.

This suddenly stirred up an inexplicable unease in Zhang Che's heart.

……

Upon arriving at the Adventurers' Guild, Zhang Che did not linger in the lobby but went directly to Shen Yan's office.

He's now considered a familiar face in the guild, so no one stepped in to stop him.

Shen Yan was organizing documents in his office. As usual, his desk was piled high with reports and documents. When he saw Zhang Che come in, he put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and had a somewhat subtle expression.

“You’ve come at the right time. I just received news that a group of people who had just returned to the city were summoned by the city guards.” Shen Yan’s tone was unhurried. “They said they had something very important to discuss with them. Among them were Zhou Meng, Xin Lei, and those adventurers you had previously visited.”

Zhang Che's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it. He walked to the sofa and sat down, asking casually, "What do the city guards want with them?"

“I’m not entirely sure what it is,” Shen Yan shook his head. “But it’s said to be related to a batch of extraordinary creatures they hunted during the extermination operation. I’ve never seen those things before, and there’s no record of them in the guild archives. The city guards must have discovered something unusual, which is why they called people over for questioning.”

Zhang Che didn't reply, he just nodded.

But he was actually relieved, because it meant that his previous plan had indeed succeeded.

The adventurers' encounters with the Heart Eaters drew the attention of the city guards to these unprecedented supernatural creatures, making them realize their unusual nature.

Everything was going according to his plan.

However, he didn't plan to get involved in what happened next, since he was just a card maker who wanted to collect materials to make cards and didn't understand all the intricacies involved.

……

After leaving Shen Yan's office, Zhang Che found a corner in the lobby and sat there for a while.

Not long after, about an hour later, Zhou Meng and Xin Lei returned. Their expressions were not relaxed; each of them wore a somewhat indescribable solemnity.

Zhou Meng was the first to see Zhang Che. He strode over, grabbed him, and led him to a secluded corner in the guild's back courtyard.

Xin Lei followed behind and also moved a chair over to sit down.

"How are you? Are you alright?" Zhang Che asked with concern.

"It's alright, the city guards just asked us some questions, all about those octopus monsters." Zhou Meng scratched his head. "Then they took all the crystal cores and materials we took from the octopus monsters, saying they were going to use them for research. But they gave us compensation, and the price was 20% higher than the market price, so it wasn't a loss."

Xin Lei then added, "And they specifically instructed us not to talk about this everywhere. There might be something fishy about the octopus monster incident. The higher-ups need to investigate it thoroughly before making it public."

As one of the people involved and one of the first to know about the octopus monster, Zhang Che explained the matter to Zhou Meng and the other man, who felt there was nothing wrong with it.

Zhang Che nodded without asking any further questions. The fact that the two of them had told him these things was already more than enough.

As for the actions of others, Zhang Che expressed his understanding: after all, those who were able to successfully hunt the Heart-Eating Demon were all skilled adventurers. After experiencing the actions of the city guards, they knew that the extraordinary creatures they were hunting were likely of great importance, so they did not dare to come to Zhang Che again.

Xin Lei rubbed his hands together, a hint of apology on his face: "Mr. Zhang Che, I promised to bring you back the octopus monster this time. But the city guards took it all, not even a single tentacle was left..."

"It's not your fault." Zhang Che waved his hand. "This was beyond our control. Who could have imagined that the city guards would suddenly intervene?"

Seeing his words, Xin Lei's apologetic expression eased slightly.

However, he didn't give up there. Instead, he tentatively asked, "What about those cards I wanted to buy before... are they still available...?"

Zhang Che glanced at him and nodded: "Okay."

Xin Lei's face immediately broke into a smile.

Zhang Che had no reason to refuse him, and besides, he had already achieved his goal, so there was no need to offend this person.

In this way, we might be able to use him as an important informant in the adventurer circle, and he could be useful in many situations in the future, so we can't let the relationship get too strained.

Chapter 105 The Conspiracy Revealed (Seeking First Subscription!)

After the two agreed on the time and place for the transaction, Xin Lei took his leave.

Zhou Meng didn't leave. He sat down next to Zhang Che, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Zhang Che, I have something to tell you."

"You said."

"My friend from the city guards mentioned to me privately after the questioning that if the octopus monster makes any new discoveries, they might contact you for information. Be prepared, and tell them everything without holding anything back."

After Zhou Meng finished speaking, he patted Zhang Che on the shoulder and stood up: "That's all I can tell you. Just be careful."

"understood."

Watching Zhou Meng's departing figure, Zhang Che tapped his fingers lightly on his knee a few times.

The city guards looking for him was within his expectations, since he was the one who spread the word about acquiring the Heart-Eating Demon materials through Zhou Meng and Xin Lei, so it was impossible for them not to notice him.

However, he wasn't worried. He simply took a deep breath and suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind.

……

A few days later, a secret meeting was being held in a conference room on the basement floor of the city hall.

The number of attendees was small, but each one was a key figure in the core of power in Binhai City:

The city guard commander sat in the main seat. He was tall and strong, with a resolute face and sharp eyes like an eagle.

Sitting next to him was the president of the Adventurers' Guild, a somewhat thin old man with gray hair, but he was in high spirits and his eyes were brighter than one would expect for his age.

The president of Binhai University did not attend; instead, he sent a vice president to represent him.

Several other high-ranking military and city hall officials were also present, each with a solemn expression.

On the long table were several items: a few translucent crystal nuclei, a few gel-like tentacles, and a detailed dissection report.

The cover of the report was printed with the words "Top Secret" in large red letters, and the seal of the city guard was stamped next to it.

The mayor led a group to the provincial capital to seek help, so the meeting was chaired by the commander of the city guards.

He first had the officer in charge of the investigation give a report, and then had the materials appraisal expert from the Adventurers' Guild present the analysis results.

All the evidence points to the same conclusion: this is a previously undocumented supernatural being with extremely strong mind control abilities, capable of manipulating supernatural beings of the same or lower level for its own use.

Moreover, they are extremely intelligent, not only adept at concealing their existence, but also capable of parasitizing other extraordinary creatures, using the host's body to move and fight.

After discussion, the participants unanimously decided to name this extraordinary creature "Heart-Eating Demon"—a devil that erodes the mind, which was a lucky coincidence.

"Any clues about their lair?" The leader of the Adventurers' Guild was the first to ask.

The officer in charge of the investigation shook his head: "At present, we can only speculate that it is located in the deep sea, possibly in a fissure that we have not yet discovered. However, the ocean area is too vast, and with our current capabilities and resources, we are not able to locate it more precisely at the moment."

A moment of silence fell over the meeting room.

However, the group remained rational and did not dwell on this issue for too long. Instead, they raised a second, more unsettling question.

"Those missing superhumans are now likely no longer simply missing or killed!"

The words weren't spoken too bluntly, but everyone present understood the meaning: the superhumans who went missing after the war with the fishmen, apart from those who were clearly killed, were likely possessed by the Heart-Eating Demon and turned into the enemy's spies.

Since the Heart-Eating Demons can manipulate human thoughts and behaviors through parasitism, the number of people hiding in the shadows may be far greater than we imagine.

This is not a baseless claim.

During this extermination operation, many adventurers began actively hunting Heart Eaters, which provoked a strong counterattack from them. As a result, several teams witnessed their companions being parasitized by Heart Eaters.

The translucent octopus monsters emerged from their original hosts and burrowed into the bodies of other people they had mentally controlled. Within seconds, that person was transformed into a hostile puppet, raising their weapon against their former comrade.

Fortunately, the third-tier transcendent leader reacted quickly and killed the parasitic Heart-Eating Demon from a distance, minimizing the losses.