Chapter 41 - Hao Wei Dao Fresh Meat Supply Factory

In the taxi on the way back to the city, Xu Huo was stuck in a residential area.

The streets were crowded with people, car horns blared continuously, and the number of onlookers kept increasing. seaʀᴄh thё Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Many who squeezed through the crowd were vividly telling something to others.

He rolled down the window and listened, faintly making out words like “corpse” and “dismemberment”.

“The world’s a mess these days,” the driver sighed.

“You have people who harm no one, bother no one, but end up dismembered.”

“Someone died in there?”

“Indeed, several families,” the driver said.

“Overnight, fourteen people from five families were silently slaughtered.

Only heads, hands, feet, and guts were left of adults and kids alike.

Everything else was gone!”

“What kind of sick bastard could do something so deranged?

And all in one night without any of the neighbors noticing.

God knows how they disposed of the bodies…”

As the driver went on, Xu Huo was struck by another unsettling thought.

After the Evolvers and players, the game replica had been projected into the real world, and it was killing indiscriminately.

This meant that from now on, ordinary people would have to face the same risks as the players.

“…I heard this isn’t the only case,” the driver said, lowering his voice subconsciously.

“There have been three or four incidents just in the southern part of Ting City.

Even the big shots from upstairs have shown up.

People have cleared out of the neighborhoods, leaving them as empty as haunted buildings.”

Xu Huo had also noticed familiar uniforms among the crowd, worn by the same special affairs personnel he had seen outside Nie Xuan’s hotel.

“Driver, do you know which residential areas were affected?”

The driver named several, even providing approximate times.

Xu Huo estimated the locations on the map and found no specific target, nor any pattern in the timing.

He pulled out his phone to check local news and trending posts.

Most were cursing the Evolvers, as the timing and methods of the crimes were beyond human limits, making it highly likely that an Evolver was responsible.

Some posts questioned and attacked government officials, using this as an outlet for their emotions.

Finding little useful information, he logged into a forum.

As expected, the government was calling for players to come to Ting City to solve the incidents, and some case details had been disclosed.

The victims, regardless of age or gender, mostly had only their limbs and heads left if they were adults, and only feet if they were children.

All other body parts were missing.

What was truly hair-raising was that they were all returned in pockets, right back to where they vanished from.

The targets weren’t limited to players; there were no warnings, no need for tickets, and the locations were random.

On top of that, the events manifested differently across the country.

The officials referred to this game mode as a random replica.

The authorities had done their utmost to search for the origins of the replicas but to no avail, hence the call for players to take action.

In just a few days, the number of missing people had reached a hundred, and all locations were checked with no clues left behind.

Therefore, the only hope lay with the players.

If a player accidentally entered a replica, they might be able to bring back the missing persons.

Xu Huo turned off his phone and shook his head.

In such a situation, not only would players not dare to come, but even the local players would be looking to escape.

“Young man, we’ve arrived.” The taxi came to a stop.

Xu Huo paid the fare and got out of the car.

Yu Qingqing’s agent was already waiting at the entrance of the building and hurried over, smiling and saying, “Brother Xu, you’re here.

Please come up.”

Xu Huo followed him into the elevator and got off on the twenty-eighth floor.

The secretary courteously invited him to the reception room, “President Zheng is in a meeting; it will end shortly.

Please have a seat and some tea, Mr.

Xu.”

Xu Huo glanced at the agent wiping his forehead with cold sweat, “I’ll wait only five minutes.”

The secretary hurried out.

At this moment, in the next room, President Zheng of the entertainment company was watching Xu Huo on the monitor, accompanied by the agents of the Special Affairs.

“Is this the man?” a young man with red hair asked arrogantly.

“That’s him!” Director Zhu, with a bandage wrapped around his neck, immediately said, “He almost strangled me to death yesterday.

He must be an Evolver, and he must have eaten humans before.

You must capture him quickly!”

Red-Haired looked down at the documents on the table and frowned, “He has killed three people?”

“Yes, but it was later found that the three he killed were all Evolvers who had killed people.” Zhao Biao, who had dealt with Xu Huo before, hurried to say, “And their bodies were intact…”

“I have the information here, no need for you to tell me,” Red-Haired interrupted, without raising his head, “No matter who he is, anyone who disrupts the social order must be captured.”

Having said that, he turned to the others behind him and said, “Be cautious.

This man is experienced, skilled in disguise, and possesses a special item.

Be prepared for him to take hostages and escape during the capture.”

“He’s standing up!” Vice President Little Zheng of the company shouted.

“Move out!”

A dozen Special Affairs agents, equipped with nets and tranquilizer guns designed to subdue Evolvers, surged into the reception room, but the moment they pushed the door open, the agent at the forefront disappeared!

The shock was written all over the faces of the accompanying agents as they immediately raised their guns and aimed at the person standing on the other side of the table, but before the dart could be fired, he disappeared from the spot as well, as if erased from existence, leaving only the sound of a gun hitting the ground!

“What’s going on!”

“He suddenly disappeared!”

Even though the Special Affairs agents had undergone training and were aware of the gamemasters’ abilities, they had never heard of a power that could make someone vanish upon contact!

How were they supposed to deal with that!

The group retreated in a mix of shock and anger, only to see Xu Huo, who should have been in a winning position, suddenly change his expression and dash towards the floor-to-ceiling windows!

“Don’t let him get away!” Red-Haired’s shout blended with the sound of shattering glass.

All they saw was Xu Huo jumping out of the window, but when they chased after him, not a single trace of him was to be found!

“He got away?!” Director Zhu entered and immediately knew they hadn’t caught anyone, “What are you people good for, with so many of you, electric nets, and tranquilizer guns, and you can’t catch a single person!”

Red-Haired glanced at him coldly and with a punch, split the solid wood table in half.

Director Zhu shut his mouth, and then Red-Haired said, “Search floor by floor, this is the 28th floor, he can’t jump all the way down, he must still be inside the building.”

“Snap!”

“Thud!”

No sooner had he finished his sentence than there was a sound of a heavy object falling in the reception room, and two more Special Affairs agents disappeared!

“This… What the…” President Zheng retreated in horror, but before he could finish his sentence, he vanished right before everyone’s eyes!

“It’s Xu Huo!

It must be him!

He’s going to kill us all!” Director Zhu ran out manically, and as he got to the doorway, he followed in President Zheng’s footsteps.

“This isn’t Xu Huo’s ability, it’s a random instance!” Red-Haired suddenly paled and immediately yelled, “Quick!

Evacuate the building!”

Everyone in the reception room scrambled to escape but ended up disappearing one after another—Special Affairs agents, employees of the entertainment company, police cooperating with the operation.

Not a single one made it out of the 28th floor, and the moment Red-Haired dialed the research institute’s number, his phone also dropped to the floor.