Monster Dismantling Company

"A dragon can be large or small, can rise or hide; when large, it stirs up clouds and mists, when small, it hides its form; when rising, it soars through the universe, when hiding, it lurks within the waves." Li Lin recited directly from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

"Ha." The colonel chuckled, which was tantamount to no answer. He simply changed his question: "Li Lin... can I trust you? Are you more like a human or a dragon...?"

He vaguely sensed that he was cooperating with some extraordinary entity. This entity hadn't revealed its true form and was even willing to contribute to saving the city.

"You can completely trust me. If I had to give a reason, it would be that I'm inherently lazy. I'm the kind of person who, once I pick out a piece of clothing, I'll keep buying it. Even if that piece of clothing is no longer available, I might still find the same item and buy it again."

"You mean, 'habitual'? You've gotten used to life in Ningzhou, so you're too lazy to make any changes, right?"

"I want to solve the problem in the least effort-intensive way."

The matter is now clear. Perhaps the hope of saving everything rests on his "laziness." He is afraid of trouble, because "letting the city perish" would bring more trouble than "saving the city," so he chooses the latter.

The colonel covered his forehead.

If it were the man of the past, he probably would never have chosen such an absurd conclusion to accept.

But now, he had nothing to fear. He only had a month left to live; at worst, he would just die here.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Of the five stages of his death, he had just jumped to the final step because of Li Lin. Now, he was thinking about how to die in a more meaningful way.

It's too late to resign now; the process alone will take more than a month. If he only has a month left before his death, he will definitely die in office on the Disaster Prevention Committee.

Dying while on duty is far more dignified than dying of illness. It would also ensure his wife and children back in Qiongzhou receive better treatment, and perhaps even make him a hero. He trusted the coalition government and the defense forces. Although the coalition government was slow to react, he was certain the compensation would be paid accurately.

Having come to terms with his illness and accepted his fate, he doesn't intend to give up on himself. He wants to respect the rest of his life.

He wanted to be a hero; his motives weren't entirely pure, but he wanted to try. Even if the position ultimately fell, he had to be the last one to retreat.

...

Not far outside the door.

"Did Lao Liu say anything to you?" Master Wang asked as he walked.

"I reckon he's guessed something, but hasn't confirmed it."

Master Wang asked, "Didn't he ask you how you wanted to get treatment?"

He was quite interested in this question. Because in his memory, his old comrade-in-arms was not a person as strong as steel.

"He mentioned it briefly, but mainly he wanted to persuade me to contribute to protecting the city, because he felt I had the ability. He also talked to me about other things."

The colonel said that the world is vast and there are many things worth seeing.

"That's true. In the current situation, it definitely couldn't be resolved without you—at least not in such a short time."

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Empty... The interior of Taba is empty."

The news had already spread by then, because it would be visible once they got close.

The area that Li Lin initially selected is still being drilled into by the other members of the Fire Crows. However, their drilling has stopped because a cavity appeared after drilling into the flesh for a while.

A pitch-black hole appeared there, its outline invisible even by the natural light filtering in from the outside. Some people had already peered inside using the equipment's built-in lighting, but they couldn't see the boundaries either; it was clearly a fairly large hole.

The cave was filled with the salty, fishy smell of seafood, like salted fish. The smell wasn't particularly pungent, but the outer skin and flesh had clearly dried out considerably.

Drilling in other locations has yielded similar results. Numerous pores have appeared beneath Taba's skin, many of which, due to their angle, are clearly tunnels leading into Taba's interior.

"Hmm...this is..." Li Lin leaned closer to the cavity. He smelled a peculiar scent, but he couldn't quite make it out.

"Give me a hand." He offered his hand to the operatives already at the drilling site, asking them to pull him into the area they had just drilled.

The area was the part he had just tasted, a large, square piece cut off. And the cavity was not far inside.

"This is the slime we just collected." Mr. Wang, who followed behind, was holding a test tube. "We didn't go very deep, but we found this at the edge of the cavity."

Li Lin glanced at it; it was a slightly yellowish but almost transparent viscous liquid.

He took the test tube, uncorked it, and used the fan-smelling technique he had learned at school to taste the flavor.

In an instant, a nauseating stench assaulted his senses, and a jumble of garbled text overlapped before his eyes.

His senses were completely overloaded:

[Stinky, rotten, and gruesome...]

Hiccup—

He bent over and vomited. The contents of the bottle instinctively disgusted him; his entire being was in turmoil. The smell was already nauseating on ordinary days, but today it was twice as bad!

There's clearly no way to get information from tasting it. Just smelling it fills his mind with a jumble of thoughts, as if his body is screaming for help.

Master Wang, who was standing nearby, quickly took the bottle back from Li Lin's hand—he had intended to let Li Lin try it, but it was obviously impossible to taste. He then used his other hand to support Li Lin, who was almost fainting from the fumes.

This surprised him somewhat, because this was one of the few things that could bring Li Lin down. The last time was stinky tofu.

"Is this thing broken?"

"It's... completely spoiled, it smells awful... it's suffocating me. Take it away, take it away!"

As a human being, Mr. Wang found it difficult to grasp what Li Lin meant by "corruption." From a purely sensory perspective, miasma was something that would stink to him, while the white liquid before him appeared colorless, odorless, and even slightly...

A subtle, wonderful fragrance, a calming aroma that blends sandalwood and musk.

Of course, seeing Li Lin's reaction, he couldn't very well say anything about the "fragrance." He was afraid Li Lin would actually vomit on the spot, which would be a huge problem...