Infinite Hunter

The bear skeleton wasn't in the skull at all, so Cheng Yijiu didn't panic. He just used a knife to pry the skull off the cervical vertebrae. The headless bear was still struggling, and the bare skull's upper and lower jaws were clattering as it tried to bite Cheng Yijiu's hand.

"Oh, so that's what's going on. Now simply burning it won't work. By the way, I said I would dedicate it to Apollo. I originally thought it would be at least a skin, maybe a mummy, but now it seems the God of Light can only accept the skeleton. I don't know if he wants it or not." Cheng Yijiu grabbed the skull and kicked the skeleton bear lying on the ground, which was still slapping its hands, away. He turned around and rushed outside.

He didn't care about the cold outside, he just rushed out. Cheng Yijiu rushed out of the cave holding the skull, and the skull immediately calmed down a lot. Then he rushed to the top of the mountain in one breath. At the highest point, Cheng Yijiu placed the skull on a stone. "Dedicate this to Phoebus Apollo!" Giving it away completely would definitely not work, as it would make Apollo think he was a rag-collector.

One would think that Cheng Yijiu couldn't handle it, so he sent the whole thing to Apollo to clean up the mess. But when he sent a skull alone, Cheng Yijiu thought it was the trophy he had won from defeating his opponent, and he thought the God of Light would be happy to accept it. Sure enough, under the sunlight, the skull gradually turned into white ash and shattered into pieces of bone the size of a fingernail.

Cheng Yijiu was quite happy. He turned around and rushed down into the cave again. He found that the skeleton bear inside had also fallen apart. There was a door frame and a door standing alone in the cave. Cheng Yijiu smiled. He packed up his things, picked up the rifle that had fallen to the ground, and strode into the door.

The mission was a success. This was a relatively easy task to complete. This bear wasn't dangerous enough. If it could make its bones fly freely, then it would probably be a bit of a threat. Currently, relying solely on physical attacks, there was probably no way to deal with Cheng Yijiu. This man had even slain a half-dead dragon before, so a mere story about an earthbound spirit was nothing.

Cheng Yijiu, humming a little tune, was full of energy. He leisurely went up to the second floor to check the spoils. The final result was a skull placed on the table - this brown bear skull was not special. After cleaning himself up, Cheng Yijiu whistled and went out.

This mission was easy and required very little energy. He didn't even need to rest—but as soon as he left the house, he noticed something unusual...

Chapter XIII

The anomaly, of course, was that his world had finally crossed that threshold. With the fusion of multiple worlds, or the entry of the anomalous zone, the entire world began to change at an accelerated pace. First, there was the unscientific expansion of land and sea areas. With gravity remaining constant, the Earth expanded... Yet, satellites in orbit also spontaneously raised their orbits, and the volume of the Earth scanned remained unchanged...

However, in reality the volume has changed, it just appears to be gone from space.

The anomalous zone cannot be viewed with ordinary eyes. Everything here can actually be explained by another scientific approach—science is not religion; it is falsifiable; it is a methodology for studying reality. The reality of this world is different from the past. After three thousand years of normal human civilization, we have once again entered a supernatural era.

Not long after Cheng Yijiu came out, he saw the news that the Yellow River suddenly changed its course again, and the Huai River took back the ancient Huai River estuary originally occupied by the Yellow River - the key point was that the water volume of the above two rivers suddenly increased sharply. Originally, this time should have been the dry season when the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were gradually cut off, but this time the water volume increased so much that even the fields that were originally enclosed by the Yellow River embankment were flooded and washed away.

The damage caused by this diversion is strangely mild, resulting in only a few buildings and roads in the city. This was entirely due to timely warnings. The Huai River's water level rose even more than the Yellow River's, nearly catching up to the Pearl River's. The rapid diversion of these two rivers has caused numerous lakes to reappear on Earth.

Even the Jishui River, which had disappeared for a long time, quietly reappeared...

All this happened within a day. Half of the farming in North China is ruined this year, and the economic losses may be tens of billions. Fortunately, this is also the engine of economic development - just rebuilding roads and bridges, repairing high-speed rail lines, rebuilding some of the destroyed cities and resettling residents will be a huge benefit to Hebei's steel and cement industries.

After all, the core industrial areas were spared, and the increased water volume in the Yangtze River's delta region is benefiting both agriculture and industry. Wuhan is experiencing a bit of a problem, as it looks like the Yunmeng Lake is about to reappear. Many high-speed rail lines have been cut off midway—Cheng Yijiu learned from intelligence urgently gathered by relevant departments that entirely new lands have emerged in these areas.

It's as if these lands were originally placed in a pocket. Now the pocket is opened, the entire piece of cloth is completely flattened, and a brand new land appears. On the Jianghan Plain, there is a huge continuous lake swamp area, comparable in size to the Great Lakes region, covering nearly 200,000 square kilometers of land. Crucially, there are also animals and plants in it.

"Could it be that they were all living in the folded space before?" Cheng Yijiu was also amazed. There are many extinct creatures among them. First-hand information shows that this land was "folded" in the Shang Dynasty... This also happened within one day. A place was added between the two places, but it did not cause any huge losses.

This is just the beginning...

Similar situations seem to be happening all over the world, and mainland China is the first place where changes occur.

Cheng Yijiu had just completed his mission, so he had plenty of time. He couldn't do much, so he could only wait and see. Deserts were expanding in Africa. The Gobi Desert and the Sand Desert in North Africa were rapidly growing, potentially exceeding one million square kilometers in less than a week. Satellite images of these areas revealed numerous ancient Egyptian-style ruins.

South America is experiencing a similar situation, with rainforests steadily expanding, much like the mountain ranges of Europe began to expand and grow, leading to the emergence of vast forests. The same thing is happening in China, where the newly emerging land is almost entirely mountainous, with a few remaining hills and plains. This time, however, vegetation is appearing in these lands. In recent years, the conversion of farmland to forest and the spontaneous migration of residents to regional economic centers have left many villages without young people willing to settle. Ultimately, the elderly are forced to join these villages in their extinction. Naturally, the previously cultivated mountain fields are now covered by wild vegetation.

These plants had already been growing at unusual rates, and this sudden change in the world had accelerated their growth and reproduction even further. Many mutated creatures continued to emerge. There were both benign and malignant mutations, and those bizarre creatures that had previously appeared on Earth had seamlessly integrated into the Earth's ecosystem.

After Yunmengze, the second major change occurred. The original 100,000 mountains in southern Xinjiang were completely transformed into a karst limestone mountain range. The limestone mountains stretched for thousands of kilometers, and the area of ​​the entire mountainous area also increased by more than 600,000 square kilometers. The area of ​​the North China Plain and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain doubled - because the length of China's major rivers such as the Yangtze River has increased dramatically.

All this happened within a week. The Yangtze River now has precipitous fjords in its upper reaches—a result of the enlarged Sichuan Basin and the surrounding, more majestic mountain ranges—and its currents are filled with treacherous reefs. North America has experienced a landmass separation, but this time without the accompanying violent earthquakes. Seawater has intruded into the newly created landmass, and the Western Interior Seaway has reappeared after an absence of 80 million years.

This time, the sea was still shallow, with an average depth of only about 600 meters. Tens of thousands of islands dotted the sea, so many that one could even row across the waters island by island. And how could the United States afford to build a cross-sea bridge? The only way to connect the three-part North American continent was by air.

"Will it be the terrifying Hell Sea again this time? If it is, it would be very interesting." Cheng Yijiu smiled and said to his colleagues as he looked at the rapidly forming inland sea. The global land area has increased by over 40% and is still growing, while the ocean area has increased by 60%. Even new islands have emerged, some of which are not even smaller than Greenland. Traditionally, these belong to the nearest land power.

The new lands were unevenly distributed, with some countries acquiring vastly larger territories than others—chiefly Egypt, Iraq, and China. The Western Inland Sea couldn't be considered an inland sea by the Americans' own calculations, but the island chains to the north and south could barely block the upper and lower entrances...

China's terrain expanded across the board—mountains, rivers, plains, and plateaus—and its area suddenly became the world's largest. This happened a month later, as Earth's changes have slowed. European countries, especially France, Spain, Germany, and Eastern European nations, also grew significantly in size, but they were mostly covered in mountains and forests.

Chapter Fourteen

The world had changed so dramatically that Cheng Yijiu had the feeling that Earth had always been this big, but much of its space had been folded up, like a crumpled piece of paper. The current situation was simply the paper being flattened again... The changes between heaven and earth naturally brought about changes in the entire ecosystem. "Perhaps this is how the Cambrian Explosion came about," Cheng Yijiu thought.

However, looking at the current rate of biological mutation, it seems that the evolutionary time in geological history cannot be used to fit it - "It's too fast, the rate of mutation of existing organisms is too fast." In the past month, the size of many organisms has shown a tendency to become larger - you can also say it is a recovery. After all, before the industrial revolution of mankind or before large-scale hunting and fishing were possible, the size of many wild animals, birds and fish was larger than the existing species.

The most obvious example is tuna. Today's tuna are one-third smaller than they were in the 16th century, and their reproductive period has also advanced. The same phenomenon has occurred with many fish species along China's coast, such as large yellow croaker and hairtail. Modern fishing has been so aggressive that even these species have been completely depleted. The current mutations are a return to their historical sizes, and some extinct species have returned to Earth as new lands emerge.

Expeditions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have reported discovering the previously extinct Chinese sturgeon, and even the Baiji dolphin may have been spotted—after all, the Yangtze River has nearly doubled in length, and its water volume now reaches two-thirds that of the Amazon River. Meanwhile, the Amazon River and the Amazon rainforest in South America have become completely secretive due to their expansion, making it difficult even for satellites to capture clear images.

"The Four Rivers are all here. The Five Sacred Mountains haven't changed much, but it seems like more mountains have appeared in China... I heard that Mount Gongga, the king of Shu Mountains, has grown taller? It's almost 10,000 meters now? Has the exact height been confirmed?" Cheng Yijiu asked Xiao Zhang from the team curiously. "It seems it hasn't been revealed yet, but it's confirmed that the Hengduan Mountains are now higher than the Himalayas. The main peak, Mount Gongga, is definitely over 10,000 meters. Mount Everest hasn't changed much yet."

China has simply become a vast, sparsely populated country, with the population concentrated in a few large metropolitan areas. For safety reasons, the country has implemented a migration policy, expending significant effort and expense to integrate most mountainous and inaccessible villages into more habitable plains, creating a network of cities interconnected by high-speed rail and highways. This is precisely because the wilderness has become increasingly dangerous.

The city circles will undoubtedly be connected by high-speed rail, highways, and flights, but this will significantly increase costs due to the establishment of numerous defensive patrol outposts along the route, and some routes must be completely sealed for safety. Cheng Yijiu has also received a call-up notice—he's enlisted. It seems that all of his former external experts have been drafted into the military during this period.

"Is controlling anomalous creatures really that stressful?" Cheng Yijiu sighed. He was now a government employee, and his rank wasn't low—as a municipal official, he held a half-level rank above his provincial and municipal counterparts. He'd just entered the civil service, already at the level of section chief. His assigned responsibility was to control anomalous creatures in the low, hilly, forested, and water systems surrounding the enlarged Taihu Lake outside of the Magic City.

Everyone knows that Cheng Yijiu has a little secret, and Cheng Yijiu also knows that everyone knows that he has a little secret. Both sides pretend that nothing has happened, but now when the task is arranged, it is exposed - the same is true for other people in the same position who were originally external experts.

This water-based forest, covering over 10,000 square kilometers, belonged to Suzhou. With the addition of a new piece of land, the area of ​​Taihu Lake has more than doubled. The original locations of the cities surrounding Taihu Lake have remained unchanged, but the lake has changed, and each jurisdiction now has a new, interconnected stretch of water and hilly forest. Cheng Yijiu was responsible for inspecting this over 10,000 square kilometers of forest and hills. Any dangerous mutants would be reported, and relevant departments, such as the Forestry Bureau, would determine how to handle them.

Of course, if it was a mutant that had eaten a human, Cheng Yijiu had the right to kill it immediately—because beasts have a habit of eating humans. Once they have eaten a human, there is a high probability that the beast will continue to feed on humans, or even their main food.

So Cheng Yijiu obtained a gun license and a special hunting permit from the Forestry Bureau—the kind that allowed him to kill first and ask for permission later. The gun license issued by the Public Security Bureau also allowed him to possess semi-automatic and automatic firearms, and even allowed him to possess two pistols and two long guns, not counting bows and crossbows. He could also possess knives with blades longer than the permitted length, but each item required registration.

Soon, Cheng Yijiu registered four firearms. Considering the police's assumption—they were definitely looking for him to fight mutant beasts, not humans—a 9mm semi-automatic or automatic pistol wouldn't be suitable. Those were only powerful enough against humans, not the thick-skinned mutant beasts. So, at least a .44 or .50 Magnum pistol was necessary, or a small-caliber, high-penetration pistol like a 5.7 would also work.

By comparison, the 5.7 lacks the aftereffect. The muscles of mutant beasts are likely to be like denatured rubber, and the tumbling bullets could easily get stuck in the muscles, not creating much of a cavity. So they had to use the heavy-bullet Magnum. Cheng Yijiu had two of these pistols. Of course, he joked to the registered officer and his teammates, "You might as well let me get the 9mm. I might have to deal with poachers. If I really have to use this pistol against mutant beasts, I'll be dead. This is just my last desperate struggle."

That's right, one of the guns he registered was an M500 hand cannon, and the other was a semi-automatic .44 Magnum pistol. The reason he registered these two guns was because Cheng Yijiu planned to display them for demonstration; he wouldn't bring them with him when he went on patrol. The rifle was, of course, a modified M1A semi-automatic Winchester Magnum cartridge with a scope installed. The other was a domestically produced Type 20 assault rifle.

This was the weapon he was going to bring with him on his patrol. He took photos of his hunting knives and other items—several hunting knives, a boar spear, and even a compound bow for hunting. The compound bow was just for show; Cheng Yijiu normally wouldn't bring this thing with him—was he courting death?

Chapter 15

Since you're a civil servant, you have to obey your superiors' orders—besides, the pay is good enough and the benefits are good enough. Technology has been developing rapidly recently, with high-speed intercity railways already online—but the purpose of this thing is not so pure. It feels like a defensive chain, firmly fitting the perimeter of the vast new land.

It connects the various strongholds and the surrounding urban clusters, with the Shanghai metropolis at its core serving as the gateway to the sea. This will form part of the Jiangnan defense line. Cheng Yijiu has heard that the plan encompasses the entire Yangtze River Delta industrial metropolitan area, at least including the Shanghai metropolis in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. These railways will be fully enclosed, divided into slower, open-type high-speed lines for freight and fully enclosed, high-speed lines for personnel transport.

The high-speed rail can even reach speeds of over 700 kilometers per hour. If Cheng Yijiu uses this thing to commute to get off work, it will take less than half an hour to get from where he lives to where he works. This high-speed rail is open to relevant personnel and is not used by the general public. Therefore, it is not very large or long, and the speed of laying seems to be quite fast.

Cheng Yijiu had already taken up his shift, located in a fortress-like stronghold surrounded by reinforced concrete, nestled in the hills and forests. The three-meter-high trapezoidal cross-section of reinforced concrete was topped with a two-meter-high wire mesh. The circular stronghold's interior covered an area of ​​over a thousand square meters, and a row of constructed rooms and sheds lined the inner walls.

This area primarily served as a temporary residence and warehouse, along with a garage, workshop, fuel depot, and equipment room. A hollowed-out basement served as a last-ditch shelter, also storing a significant amount of supplies. The fortress had a five-meter-wide entrance and exit, controlled by an electric iron gate. Living quarters were located in the steel-framed watchtower in the center of the square.

Inside the concrete fortress below the base of the watchtower is a generator set. There is a spiral iron ladder in the center, and there is an elevator inside the iron ladder. There is a circular platform with a diameter of ten meters at a height of ten meters. The center of this semi-open platform is the living area, and the outside is the observation corridor. The living area is four meters high, and there are searchlights and phased array radar systems on the umbrella-shaped roof, which are used to monitor the nearby hills and woods.

The circular living area consists of a simple living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom. The walls, floors, and ceiling are insulated, and the steel panels on the exterior provide considerable protection. Air conditioning and a fireplace are all available, providing the caretaker with a reasonably comfortable place to stay. There's electricity, running water, and internet access, but no delivery services...

Cheng Yijiu would be stationed here permanently, returning once a week. His duties would be to collect various samples, report daily to the rear, dissuade or capture poachers, gather intelligence on mutant beasts, and shoot those that had eaten humans—the last of which would have a bounty on the shelf. Furthermore, his duties would be more like those of a sheriff in the American countryside. His jurisdiction would still include some farmers and even a few small factories, so if anything went wrong, he would be the one to handle it urgently.

The police station is a little further back and mainly focuses on civil matters.

Cheng Yijiu had no choice but to close the pet shop. He had also agreed that once he had more staff, they would rotate shifts, with two people taking one week each. Anyway, there were two beds in the bedroom and two computers in the living room. In the garage was a government-provided armored off-road vehicle, which he used for patrols on weekdays.

The trees in this newly emerged forest are very thick and look as if they have grown for hundreds of years. However, when Cheng Yijiu saw it a few days ago, they were not that thick at all. "How much soil energy does this require? How fertile does the soil have to be to support this growth rate?" Cheng Yijiu got out of the car and stomped on the soil with his feet. The soil was indeed very good - soft and rich in humus.

His black dog was useless, so now it was mostly just a wooden sculpture guarding the house. But he heard that the manticore from Arudimura was heading south, apparently looking for Cheng Yijiu. As long as the creature kept moving within the monitoring range with the beacon, it could be sent on a quest to find Cheng Yijiu.

Cheng Yijiu also welcomed this guy and had cleared out a beast den in his base so that the monster could live in it.

Cheng Yijiu looked at these trees. It was a typical native forest. There were not many towering trees, so there were a large number of different kinds of shrubs under the trees. The trees here were all temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests, with a few coniferous trees occasionally. The species were very rich. Cheng Yijiu saw quite a lot of the weakest creatures on the ground - traces of wild mice.

He also spotted a few hare tracks, though they were a bit too large. Judging by the footprints, the rabbits were almost as big as the golden retriever. "The general increase in size of organisms is a problem. Since humans are also living organisms, I wonder if this will change us." It seemed quite possible.

Perhaps genetic ascension or mechanical ascension might be an option? "I think psychic ascension is more likely," Cheng Yijiu thought, looking in the direction where the rabbit's footprints disappeared. He hadn't spotted any dangerous creatures yet, at least not large carnivores. But the forest environment did require him to investigate, so he brought his phone and a gimbal mount—he heard a drone with a strong signal would be arriving next week, which would be even more convenient.

Armed with his phone and rifle, he entered the forest. The typical Jiangnan hilly vegetation was easy to navigate, not so dense that it was impossible to walk. Cheng Yijiu knew full well that the path he was on was a beast trail, the kind trodden by multiple beasts. This was the kind of trail he was looking for. He squatted on the ground, zooming in with his phone's camera.

"This should be an leopard cat, but judging by the size of the footprint, it's almost catching up with the South China leopard. Only a cat of this size can be absolutely sure of preying on a rabbit as big as a golden retriever." This is just a special case, because there are also leopard cat footprints that have not changed, just like there are also little rabbits. They are all certain creatures that have mutated, but if they stabilize, they may form a completely new subspecies.

Cheng Yijiu photographed the most common wild boars—no ridiculously large king boars, just ordinary boars weighing under 200 pounds. He also photographed a muntjac. The muntjac was indeed unexpected, as muntjacs are usually quite small, but this one he photographed was as big as a yellow ox. If its appearance hadn't changed much, its exaggerated fangs alone would probably scare the hell out of anyone—"I guess a lot of people would think it's a carnivore."

Chapter 16

This muntjac is so large, so it must be quite capable. Cheng Yijiu filmed the scene with his phone. As long as the giant muntjac showed no signs of danger, it shouldn't be hunted casually. Cheng Yijiu felt quite relieved. So far, the mutants he had seen were still targets that could be dealt with by bullets. He breathed in the slightly damp forest air, filled with the scent of grass, trees, and soil. Thanks to these changes, the vast land subsidence of North China had stopped.

Because a large amount of groundwater appeared almost out of nowhere, and surface lakes and runoff increased, the mainland's forest coverage rate directly exceeded 45%, and many mountainous areas that were not popular tourist destinations were now restricted areas—people were restricted from entering these old forests and mountains because they were too dangerous.

The discovery of crocodiles in the Taihu Lake basin was Cheng Yijiu's first major discovery. This was a typical Jiangnan river system, with dense rivers and low hills. After spotting muntjacs grazing by the water, he spotted the crocodile warming itself in the sun. It wasn't a Yangtze alligator, but a species of long-snouted crocodile he had never seen before, at least five or six meters long, a sizeable specimen for a living crocodile.

"This is dangerous! These long-snouted crocodiles don't just eat fish. They could even eat humans and domesticated animals." After Cheng Yijiu documented this crocodile, his mission for the day was complete. The old hunter was lucky enough not to disturb any ferocious beasts. He also collected some plant samples and took some photos of the animals. After returning to the armored vehicle, he headed back to the fortress.

The electric armored vehicle was parked in the garage to recharge. Unless anything unusual occurred, the electricity was supplied by the city through underground pipes, while clean water was obtained directly from natural bodies of water via a comprehensive set of small-scale filtration and disinfection equipment installed within the fortress. The fortress did indeed have a pit to collect rainwater, and outside, there was a cement-bottomed moat. As for the sewers, modern, specialized bacteria strains and the regular visits of the sanitation department could easily handle the problem for the two of them.

After all, there are only two staff members in this place on a daily basis, and usually only one person is on duty, and they can handle water supply and drainage issues once a year.

Cheng Yijiu uploaded his photos and logs to the Abnormal Investigation Bureau's database online. Someone would contact him to organize the logs and intelligence he submitted. The plant samples would be stored in a cold storage facility and later transferred to the relevant authorities when he drove to the nearest high-speed rail station. In the event of an emergency, the fortress's square was definitely large enough to land an attack helicopter.

Cheng Yijiu's life here was no different from his life in the city, except that he probably wouldn't be able to find friends to fire with... He could easily enter the cabin by pushing open the door, but he didn't go in every night because he hadn't yet confirmed the complete situation of the surrounding area. Once he completed a detailed map and species survey, he could return to his old life.

The high-speed rail station is still under construction, but is nearing completion. It's a five-story reinforced concrete structure, covering at least tens of thousands of square meters, with three more floors underground. It's also the final stop for curious tourists eager to explore the new land, where they can soak up the atmosphere. From the tower-like observation deck on the roof, you can see hills, forests, and a small lake as far as five kilometers away.

Once it's safe, you can go there and play—the area along the forest road should be fine. Beyond the road, tourists are strictly prohibited from entering, as the danger level increases dramatically. There are multiple government offices, a hospital, and shops here, and it's also a delivery point. Nearby staff on duty will pick up their packages there. There's also a military unit stationed here for quick response, and Cheng Yijiu knows they have long-range firepower.

There are many valuable products in the new forests and lakes. For example, researchers have isolated an antibiotic from mold collected from the shade of the new forest. It is a new antibiotic that may be the strongest antibiotic ever made. Crucially, the adverse reactions are very small. This broad-spectrum antibiotic can resist and eliminate almost all pathogenic bacteria, and there is no possibility of drug resistance in the foreseeable future.

However, the real problem is that the drug can't be synthesized yet, and the fungus itself hasn't been fully cultivated—or rather, the drug hasn't been isolated from the few that have been cultivated. Consequently, pharmaceutical companies have long paid exorbitant prices for specific fungi found in forests. Similar situations exist with other fungi and plants. While specific animal properties haven't yet been discovered, it's likely they exist.

Life was fine. Nothing happened for a week. Cheng Yijiu drove to the unfinished station and brought back a pile of packages. Then, the following week, something unexpected happened. Someone was reported missing—in violation of the ban, entering the forest without permission. It was said they were collecting a special mold. The roadside area was safer, but it had been repeatedly raided. The locals, eager to make more money, bypassed the blocked road and headed deeper into the forest.

This kind of person always appears after a mutation. It's been almost two months since Cheng Yijiu returned, and this has already happened five or six times—and that's because city residents aren't allowed to get close. Cheng Yijiu drove along the highway to the confirmed location of the escape—the road was quite simple, just an ordinary hardened surface. One of his daily duties was to patrol the highway and park the armored vehicles—finding someone was currently a manual labor operation, but it should be much easier once his superiors provided him with drones.

It seems that technology has advanced recently, and the endurance of drones has greatly improved. If they are equipped, he can drive in an armored vehicle and analyze the situation based on the images sent back by the drones.

Cheng Yijiu pocketed his pistol, slung his rifle over his shoulder, closed the car door, and headed into the woods. His exceptional eyesight allowed him to spot footprints on the ground. He raised his head and sniffed the air, "Alas, no human scent." He muttered, moving forward in the direction indicated by the footprints. "It shouldn't be too deep, and we should pay special attention to darker areas. I hope this guy is lucky enough. I just don't think this kind of person is good. People in their forties and fifties are the most stubborn and unwilling to listen to advice."

These middle-aged and elderly people in the countryside are indeed difficult to deal with. As Cheng Yijiu pondered this as he went deeper, he saw, not surprisingly, feline footprints, though they were a bit blurry and hard to distinguish. He also saw wolf footprints—since the new lake and forest appeared, there had been sightings of leopards and wolves. Cheng Yijiu just hoped there weren't any mutants. Mutations don't just mean larger bodies; they also supposedly allow for increased speed and other abilities...

Chapter 17

"I knew this was bad." Cheng Yijiu cursed as he saw the feline and canine footprints on the ground. He could clearly tell that the human footprints came first, followed by the ferocious beasts. If these beasts were following this unfortunate fellow, he might be collecting his corpse now. Since this vast expanse of land appeared around Taihu Lake, many animals that had been extinct have reappeared in the Jiangnan region, just as they did in history.

For example, the South China tiger...someone reported finding footprints, and others collected hair. As a member of the Abnormal Investigation Bureau, Cheng Yijiu naturally received the information. Not only were there things running on the ground, but even birds flying in the sky, some of which were rarely seen in the Jiangnan region, appeared—such as the golden eagle that Cheng Yijiu almost hid in, and the equally large eagle owl.

There seem to be some sightings of unidentified creatures, many of which are birds of prey.

Cheng Yijiu gripped his gun tightly, his guard heightened. He was also a forest spirit, and relying on his hearing and sense of smell, he was no worse than the beasts in the forest. Moreover, human vision was considered excellent among beasts. He caught a whiff of something, and his heart sank, knowing that something was amiss. Sure enough, he followed the scent for a dozen steps and saw what could be called a dining table.

Torn clothes, splattered blood, and a shattered skeleton—this person had been eaten by a wild animal. "The body isn't even complete; I'm sure the head and legs were carried off... Sigh, it's hard to say which beast did this." Cheng Yijiu picked up his walkie-talkie. It was still useful at this distance; his armored vehicle parked outside could receive and amplify the signal. He would then report the incident to the police station in the rear, which was also effectively reporting it to the Administration.

"Yeah, it ate it. It ate it quite cleanly. I think it was more than one beast. Tell the victim's family who called the police that I'll bring back as many bones as possible for cremation." Cheng Yijiu took a few photos with his phone and uploaded them to the department's archives. He then looked around and began to inspect the situation. There were tooth marks on the bones, but that alone was unlikely to lead to the murderer. The footprints at the scene were quite messy, and Cheng Yijiu could distinguish the prints of at least three different animals.

"Cats, wolves, and wild boars... This guy is indeed a delicious piece of meat. I rushed here as soon as possible. There were only three hours between the time this guy went in, disappeared, and his family called the police. It was almost six hours since he went in. Judging from the state of the remaining meat, it has been at least five or six hours. This guy almost died as soon as he came in." This also made Cheng Yijiu realize that there were very dangerous animals in this place.

"Beasts that eat humans must be killed... The new protected list hasn't been released yet, so let's just shoot the cat first." The cat was the most likely suspect. If Cheng Yijiu was not mistaken, it was most likely a leopard. The wolves that had eaten human flesh should also be killed—a difficult task, as there were more wolves and even more wild boars. Cheng Yijiu couldn't be sure which group was responsible.

The hunter quickly got into gear, tracking the beast using every trace: footprints, fur, and tracks left in the bushes. Cheng Yijiu wasn't fast, but he was certain he was getting closer. Cats, especially large cats, aren't active all day. They spend most of the day resting, as cats are often assassins and don't have great stamina.

Humans are among the most enduring creatures in the world. Cheng Yijiu leisurely tracked the man-eating animal. "It'll find a place to rest," he thought, his movements gentle, like a feline traversing the woods. His phone still had a signal, so it wasn't a problem. However, Cheng Yijiu knew that if he continued deeper, once his phone lost signal, he would have to rely on his ability to find his way out.

Cheng Yijiu was lucky; he spotted the beast first. As expected, it was a spotted leopard. He'd already known from its claw marks that it was large, but now it looked almost as large as a female South China tiger. The leopard was resting on the branch of a thick cycad tree, more than ten meters above the ground.

Cheng Yijiu was certain it was this guy. Anyone who showed up at the scene was a suspect. A leopard that size could easily kill an ordinary man. The whole process probably wouldn't take more than twenty seconds.

"Oh, damn it." Cheng Yijiu cursed silently while quietly raising his gun. He leaned forward slightly to hold down the gun and put the red dot on the leopard in the white light scope. Cheng Yijiu aimed at the gap between the leopard's ribs on the side. This shot should directly penetrate the lungs and heart, causing the beast to bleed to death quickly - this was almost the most merciful way to shoot, as the beast would have fallen into coma due to massive blood loss before feeling any pain.

Cheng Yijiu held his breath and decisively pulled the trigger. His body trembled slightly, and the bullet was fired. However, the leopard, about fifty meters away, reacted incredibly quickly, leaping back like lightning. The bullet definitely missed. "Mutated animal! Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu cursed. This was undoubtedly a creature with a mutated nervous and muscular system, much more troublesome than one that had grown in size.

Because this kind of animal will increase in size while its other abilities almost double—records are rare, but Cheng Yijiu now has an example. The leopard's habits have also changed. If a leopard fails to eat the unlucky creature, it should drag it away, hang it on a branch, and eat it slowly. This is the leopard's habit.

Throwing away leftover food was more like a tiger's habit. Cheng Yijiu felt that this enhanced ability might also bring with it an increased IQ—cats weren't particularly stupid to begin with, their intelligence roughly equivalent to that of a two-year-old human child. Perhaps after this enhancement, they could even have the IQ of a six or seven-year-old? In short, after the shot missed, Cheng Yijiu quickly pulled the bolt and ejected the shell, while the leopard quickly dropped to the ground, using the terrain to escape.

"It's confirmed, this guy's speed is extraordinary! He's a troublesome opponent." Cheng Yijiu didn't plan to continue chasing, he turned around and went back to collect the corpses - if he continued to chase, he had to be well prepared, and it wouldn't work like this now.

Chapter 18

If the leopard turned around and prepared to fight Cheng Yijiu, he was not afraid at all. Although he was not wearing a lion skin, his reaction ability was not weak at all, and he could react easily. Cheng Yijiu also strode back, not caring about the sound of his feet. Returning to the place where the bones were scattered, Cheng Yijiu searched the surrounding area and didn't find the skull, but he did find a thigh bone.

In Cheng Yijiu's backpack was a thick, folded plastic bag—the kind he used to collect bodies. He had to prepare it from the start because, from the moment he heard the news, he knew this person's life was likely lost. It was a strange place, and he was just an ordinary citizen with no wilderness survival skills. If he didn't die in the mouth of a wild animal, he would probably get lost and die in the forest.

In short, there was a 90% chance of death, so Cheng Yijiu brought a body bag. He then used the matching gloves to pick up the remains and put them in. A quick zipper and he was done. He placed the unfortunate man's remains in the armored vehicle—a living person was now reduced to a bag. The armored vehicles provided by the state were truly impressive, with six large wheels each with independent suspension, offering excellent off-road capabilities. They were originally modified from military armored vehicles.

Fully electric, with each wheel equipped with an independent motor, thanks to China's world-leading in-house electric vehicle industry, this vehicle boasts excellent performance and comprehensive internal features, with a range of 1,000 kilometers on a full charge. The six-wheeled vehicle has folding seats, which can accommodate two drivers and eight passengers. Of course, when folded, it opens up into a sizable trunk. While it's not currently equipped with weapons, its armored body and bulletproof glass are sufficient to allow it to operate relatively safely in dangerous areas.

The car drove directly to the station, where Cheng Yijiu would hand over the remains to the on-site forensic doctor for examination. If there were no problems, they would be handed over to the family. There was also a small crematorium nearby, so the family could take the ashes home directly. The family had probably been notified by the police station and was rushing to the unfinished station. Only with a certificate from the police station could they drive into the area.

The interesting thing is that the place where they originally lived was actually closer to the accident site, much closer...

Anyway, after arriving at the station, Cheng Yijiu and the medical examiner carried the bag of bones directly to an adjacent building. This served as both a hospital and a large, fully enclosed autopsy center in the basement. They anticipated the large number of bodies, animal, and plant specimens that would be sent there for autopsies, so the space had to be large. The remains were placed on the autopsy table for a preliminary examination by the medical examiner. Cheng Yijiu rested on a bench outside, accompanied by a police officer and a recorder from the bureau.

"A mutant animal... a special mutant, really. This is quite a problem." Recorder Lao Qian sighed. "You've discovered the first special mutant in this area. I don't know whether to say you're lucky or unlucky." The young police officer Ouyang also scratched his hair. "You're going to have a hard time in the future. This is the first death registration. I heard that they'll allow civilians to own weapons in the future. This is really..."

Cheng Yijiu knew the higher-ups were preparing to make some changes. While guns might remain banned in urban areas, they would allow legal gun ownership in suburban areas and for people in certain professions. The market for civilian firearms and ammunition was substantial, as evidenced by the United States. Furthermore, with mutants becoming increasingly dangerous, it was only a matter of time before civilian gun ownership was relaxed—not just for the dangers, but also for the tangible benefits, particularly in biomedicine.

In a sense, the future of human genetic evolution seems to lie here.