Chapter Twenty-Three: The Hunt

Soon, the drone released by Zhang Desen swiftly located its target. To his astonishment, the creature unleashed a beam from its mouth, toppling trees within a twenty-meter radius. Analyzing the footage relayed by the drone, Zhang Desen deduced that the beam was likely a form of pulse laser.

This observation left Zhang Desen deeply suspicious; he began to wonder if these humanoid beings were not genetic weapons after all. Could they, in fact, be disguised robots? Regardless, Zhang Desen was confident that a pulse rifle would still be effective against them.

With this in mind, he adjusted the output of his pulse rifle to just below medium, lest he overdo it. But events soon took an unexpected turn. Contrary to his expectations, the humanoid creature did not approach the base. Data from the vibration sensors and the drone showed that it was gradually moving away.

This puzzled Zhang Desen for a moment—perhaps the creature was merely passing by. Meanwhile, the night was pierced by the anguished cries of various animals outside.

Turning his attention back to the drone’s aerial feed, Zhang Desen saw the humanoid had caught several animals and was feasting on them. The brutality of the scene was palpable even through the screen.

It became clear to Zhang Desen that these beings were likely extremely bloodthirsty and dangerous. This, in turn, made him doubt that they were robots—after all, robots shouldn’t be able to eat. Perhaps the Terrans had forcibly implanted weapons into these creatures.

His questions would have to wait. Without further hesitation, Zhang Desen checked his gear, activated his infrared thermal imaging night vision (which could switch to multispectral photography at any time), slung his Type 95 assault rifle over his shoulder, kept the pulse rifle’s power at its current setting, and activated the base’s automated defense system before dashing out.

Though the sky was now fully dark, the full moon provided some illumination—though this light could just as easily aid the enemy. Zhang Desen brushed aside such concerns; tonight, he was determined to eliminate the monster—a term he now used in his mind for these humanoid creatures.

He slipped into stealth mode. While the drone had given him a rough idea of the creature’s location, Zhang Desen continued to search for traces, to ensure that no further humanoids had been released by the Terrans.

His body camera was also running, transmitting a live feed back to the base. Before long, Zhang Desen discovered footprints marking the monster’s trail descending the mountain path. The prints were enormous—about twenty-eight centimeters long, fifteen centimeters wide, with a stride of roughly thirty centimeters.

These tracks served as reliable markers, and their direction matched the drone’s earlier findings. Zhang Desen followed them, pursuing the trail down the mountain path—a troublesome place for stealth, as the stone-paved road left no clear footprints and offered little cover. It was unclear whether the monster had gone up or down the mountain, so Zhang Desen began scrutinizing the vibrational traces on the stone slabs.

After some thought, he opted to continue relying on the drone for navigation, guiding himself accordingly.

Just then, another guttural roar echoed from down the mountain, and Zhang Desen immediately gave chase.

He hadn’t gone far before he stumbled upon a tiger’s corpse. The sight was horrifying—the beast’s limbs were gone, its jaw and innards almost completely missing. Zhang Desen was both shocked and disgusted.

He was astonished because, despite having been stationed here for over a month, he had never once spotted a tiger—yet tonight, he had encountered one. The disgust stemmed from the appalling state in which the humanoid had left the animal.

Zhang Desen quickly moved in to examine the carcass, hoping to glean more clues. But before he could investigate further, two more agonizing screams sounded from below, prompting him to race down the mountain once again. No sooner had those cries faded than several more followed.

He surmised that these cries might belong to hunters out for game at night, who had instead crossed paths with the humanoid beast. There was no time for further thought—he dashed to provide aid as quickly as possible.

Soon, Zhang Desen caught sight of the monster—surrounded by a group of people trying to capture it. At that moment, the creature raised its right arm, poised to strike a man. Without hesitation, Zhang Desen raised his pulse rifle and fired at the creature’s right arm, scoring a direct hit.

The monster’s right arm flared as if seared, agony written across its form. The people wasted no time, urging their archers to continue their assault while tending to the wounded. Zhang Desen kept up the attack.

Despite the grievous injury to its right arm, the creature was not rendered helpless; instead, it became enraged. But Zhang Desen was not about to give it a chance to retaliate. He fired again, this time aiming for a suspicious bulge at the back of the creature’s neck—perhaps some vital device. The shot struck true.

Instantly, the humanoid convulsed violently, arcs of electricity crackling across its body. It collapsed to its knees.

Both Zhang Desen and those besieging the creature believed they had finally brought it down, and waited for it to fall completely.

...

At the same time, in the command room of the Terran Orlmei Empire’s intelligence agency, an operator was controlling the humanoid from afar—until, without warning, all contact was lost.

Alarmed, he tried everything to reestablish the connection, but nothing worked. Startled, he turned and called out, “Director, something’s happened!”

The Intelligence Director, who had been resting with his eyes closed, immediately sat up and asked, “What is it? What’s going on?”

The operator replied, “Director, we’ve lost contact with the bioweapon we deployed on the mission.”

The director rushed over to the operator’s console, examining the screen. “What happened? What did you do? How could contact be lost?”

The operator explained, “After I had our bioweapon replenish its strength by consuming some food, I immediately ordered it to press on with the mission. Then, unexpectedly, it encountered some humans. I instructed it to eliminate them quickly to avoid further delays.”

He paused, then continued, “But something strange happened—just as our bioweapon was about to kill one of the humans with its right hand after grabbing another with its left, its right arm was suddenly seared by some force from behind…”

The director, surprised, asked, “Is that so? And what happened next to cause the loss of contact?”

The operator replied, “After the right arm was burned by an unknown cause, I tried to have it turn around to investigate. But before it could, the device installed at the back of its neck for information transmission was destroyed. At that moment, everything went out of control, and we lost all contact.”

The director pondered this for a moment. “Are you certain there’s no way to reestablish communication with our bioweapon?”

The operator answered with confidence, “Yes, I’m certain.”

Upon hearing this, the Intelligence Director immediately turned to his security officers. “Order a team of no fewer than fifty men to assemble and await my command. Prepare a ship and technical personnel—I want to go to the site where our bioweapon disappeared.”

The security officer saluted at once. “Yes, sir!”

The officer hurried off to execute the orders. The director then asked the operator, “Can you pinpoint the exact location where our bioweapon was lost?”

“That’s no problem at all,” the operator assured him.

“Good. Copy the coordinates of the last known location for me. Also, while I’m away, I want you to compile all data on our bioweapon’s recent activities and prepare a full report. When I return, I expect everything to be ready. Understood?”

“Understood perfectly, Director!” the operator replied.

The director nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent.”

...

Meanwhile, just as Zhang Desen and his companions were waiting for the humanoid creature to collapse, the seemingly incapacitated being suddenly erupted into a frenzy.

It spewed beams of light from its mouth, attacking everything around it in a wild, unrestrained assault. The scene threw Zhang Desen and the others into chaos.

Fearing the creature might possess a live data transmission device, Zhang Desen immediately activated his portable, full-spectrum electronic jamming system to block any outgoing signals.

He shouted, “Don’t panic! Keep attacking the humanoid—it can be destroyed!”