Chapter 97: Fury

“Why are there so many of these things? No matter how many we kill, there’s always more!”

“I’m telling you, this is just part of their scheme. Launching huge attacks isn’t cost-effective for them, so they just keep sending these things to wear us out at minimum expense. It’s absolutely revolting.”

“These drug-addled mutants are disgusting. If you call them strong, a few soldiers can handle them. If you call them weak, ordinary civilians don’t stand a chance. The worst part is their unpredictability and stealth—they pop up everywhere, all at once, and we just can’t keep up.”

“Hey, don’t complain, we’re actually in a pretty good spot. As long as we draw them out, Captain Zhou takes them down with a single shot. We’re far more efficient than other teams, those guys are the ones who really have it rough.”

“Yeah, with this level of combat effectiveness, who would’ve thought Captain Zhou only became a Demon Queller just over a month ago? His fighting style still has a strong training flavor—after every kill, he meticulously examines the bodies and records the wounds, gathering data for his future training and missions…”

The squad members chatted as they kept watch, occasionally glancing over at Zhou Shu, who was busy ‘recording target data.’

Every Demon Queller leads a special operations squad of ten. After Zhou Shu was appointed, it was the same for him. New squads must have at least two veterans, with the rest being recruits.

As for the new recruits, they had already been shadowing veterans on missions as interns. Most members of a new Demon Queller’s team are chosen from among them.

Veterans, on the other hand, are transferred from other Demon Queller squads or may volunteer themselves. After all, these squads also have their own captains, but captains aren’t replaced without cause, so new squads are one of the few chances for veterans to become leaders.

When Zhou Shu was forming his squad, he’d previously saved two veterans—Mu Wenxing and Lü Dao—from his homeroom teacher Liu Feiyan’s team. Once they recovered from their injuries, they applied to transfer over.

Liu Feiyan readily agreed.

The two didn’t come for the captaincy, but rather to repay Zhou Shu’s life-saving kindness and help whip his new squad into shape as quickly as possible.

Other veterans who joined would do the same, but these two felt a particular debt to Zhou Shu, and were determined to give it their all.

The other volunteer was, of course, Sun Congliang.

With Zhou Shu’s invention of the new powered exoskeleton, and Sun chosen as a test pilot, he was eager to stay by Zhou’s side at every opportunity.

But with the current chaos, every nation was on high alert against the elusive ‘Evolution’ organization, expecting them to launch a bigger offensive. Instead, their adversaries had opted for ‘human wave tactics’.

It was as if the Evolution organization, uncertain about the true strength of various countries, was probing the waters before making any big moves. Meanwhile, nations, though investigating the Evolution organization, still didn’t know just how formidable they truly were.

No one knew what resources the Evolution organization had stockpiled. Since their last appearance, scattered mutant attacks had erupted everywhere. If a concentrated outbreak occurred, nations could consider drastic measures like missile strikes, but with these dispersed incidents, things grew truly troublesome.

Previously, monster incidents were scattered, but like a city sky at night, light pollution meant you’d only see a few stars. Now, there were ten times as many—like a rural night sky, with stars everywhere.

Incidents in remote areas also increased.

Remote locations rarely had supernatural agencies or special ops teams. By the time word reached the authorities, casualties were often significant, and sometimes ‘monsters’ had already been bred.

When the special ops arrived, casualties were inevitable, and often another incident would erupt elsewhere before the previous one was resolved.

They simply couldn’t keep up.

The only solution was to split forces: a ten-man squad divided into two teams of five, or even five teams of two, each leading a detachment of armed police, SWAT, or special forces.

Sun Congliang, using the prototype of the ‘super commando’ powered exoskeleton, was stronger than most people with abilities. For optimal effectiveness, he couldn’t be in Zhou Shu’s squad, so he was leading a team clearing mutants elsewhere.

Many agencies realized the Evolution organization was using these tactics to probe their strength. Once they had a clear picture, who knew what they’d do next.

So agencies worldwide were bolstering their numbers while also reaching out frequently to the Great Qin nation, hoping to acquire exoskeleton technology.

Mass production of the exoskeletons was underway. With the sudden events, the ‘Inner World’ was revealed to the public, so nations stopped hiding and began openly recruiting people with special abilities for testing, training those with combat potential into superpowered soldiers as quickly as possible.

In just two days—while Zhou Shu and his team were busy with major plans, and perhaps even bigger ones due to new discoveries—the news and social media were suddenly flooded with ‘superpowered individuals’.

Official media at least tried to keep things serious, but the internet was a riot of wild stories, dazzling and confusing the public.

Netizens mostly enjoyed the spectacle, shouting praises without understanding a thing, while real superpowered individuals could barely stand to look.

Take Zhou Shu, for example. He and Lin Tianjing had been set to become ‘idols’, but after the official media shot some photos and videos, everything went quiet.

Understandable, really—after all, it had only been a day or two. In the digital age, ‘news timeliness’ was dominated by new media, and with the government pushing superpowered warriors into the spotlight, they had far more important tasks than simply publishing a few photos.

Besides, compared to publicizing the real Demon Quellers of Dongyuan City’s Demon Suppression Division, the reinforcements from headquarters seemed to attract more attention. Journalists were already following the headquarters’ prodigy, Wang Huaiyu, on missions.

That was fine with Zhou Shu. He never intended to become famous this way. If reporters really did follow him around, it would severely impact his plans to harvest primal energy.

Now, after another two days, he had finally assigned all the points he’d been saving up.

“Whew—finally caught up with my growth curve.”

He muttered as he walked over to his squad. “Load up, we’ve just had another support request. Let’s get moving!”

“Yes, sir!”

Everyone piled into the vehicle. Zhou Shu, cradling his rifle, took the front passenger seat. Though his eyes were on the road, he was actually reviewing his latest stats.

[Hunter System]
[User: Zhou Shu (Recruit)]
[Mental: 2.72 (max)]
[Strength: 1.61 (max)]
[Agility: 1.69 (max)]
[Endurance: 1.51 (max)]
[Constitution: 1.73 (max)]
[Special Abilities: Slow-Motion Perception (Advanced 99%), Anomaly Detection (Beginner 2%)]
[Weapon Proficiency: Firearms (Mastery 45%), Exoskeleton Operation (Mastery 29%)]
[Auxiliary Equipment: Elite Powered Exoskeleton (Good Condition)]
[Primal Energy: 0.52]

A vast amount of primal energy had been consumed, and Zhou Shu felt reborn. Not only had his training paid off, but after two days of effort in the real world, his slow-motion ability was now approaching perfection.

With regular training, he’d complete the advancement within a week.

He was getting stronger, but also more frustrated—his fire had nowhere to go.

Bai Huayue’s trail had vanished, and the lead on Fast, the Evolution organization’s bronze-level chief whom he’d shot in the head, had also gone cold.

As one of the Evolution organization’s bronze-level chiefs in the Great Qin, Fast was highly competent and had hidden his identity well. His death was just a stroke of bad luck.

Animals had tried to track Fast by scent, but found nothing.

It was said that in the capital, there were several third-level mutant beasts skilled at searching, veritable ‘great monsters’, and they might have found him, but they were needed to keep the capital safe and rarely left the city.

As for the grand operation against the Ascension Society, the secrecy level was so high that few knew the details. Zhou Shu, however, had some knowledge due to his involvement.

The higher-ups planned to uproot this cancer from within the country, but specifics were still under discussion. The stakes were enormous: if action was taken, Demon Suppression Divisions in every province would need to strike the Ascension Society’s headquarters and branches simultaneously, leaving no room for error.

But with everyone busy ‘putting out fires’ everywhere, it was uncertain if there would even be enough personnel.

So, there was nothing to do but wait.

Zhou Shu’s plan to ‘make the Ascension Society pay its debts’ had been on hold for so long that his frustration only grew.