If you were made a mascot, you would become a legend in the police force.

The convoy arrived in Taiping Town at dusk.

The setting sun, like blood, bathed the small town nestled among mountains, casting a dark red filter over everything.

Li Tuantuan leaned against the car window, looking at the familiar streets outside.

Just a few months ago, this place was a bustling popular spot for internet celebrities. Because of its fame as "Kung Fu Panda," countless tourists flocked here, and vendors selling panda-themed merchandise, running agritainment businesses, and doing live streams crowded the town.

But now, the streets are empty, and fallen leaves are swirling in the wind.

Most of the shops along the road were closed, their signs crooked and askew. Occasionally, you could see a few townspeople hurrying by, all with their heads down and anxious expressions, as if something was chasing them.

A thin layer of gray mist hung in the air; it wasn't smog, but rather a product of a high concentration of spiritual energy mixed with miasma from the mountains and forests. Inhaling it sent a cool, stinging sensation through my lungs.

"How did it become like this..." Lin Wan slowed down the car and looked at the "Rolling Roll Theme Milk Tea Shop" that used to be the most popular on the roadside. Now the glass was smashed and the inside was dark.

Li Tuantuan also felt uneasy.

This is his starting village, the first place where he felt kindness after his rebirth.

What about the breakfast shop owner who always secretly slipped him meat buns?

What happened to that chubby little boy who liked to chase after him with his phone to take pictures?

Where have they all gone?

The car slowly came to a stop in front of the police station.

The once imposing iron gate was half-closed, and the police badge on it was covered with a layer of dust.

Li Tuantuan pushed open the car door and jumped out. The moment his feet touched the ground, he felt a very faint tremor.

The tremor did not originate from underground, but from afar.

"Gah..." The coal ball landed on the wall of the police station. Just as it was about to make a sound, it suddenly stopped as if its neck had been choked.

Its feathers bristled instantly as it stared intently into the depths of the Qinling Mountains.

"Squeak!" Jin Dou burrowed directly into Li Tuantuan's trouser leg and wouldn't come out no matter how hard she tried to pull it out.

Li Tuantuan's heart skipped a beat.

He raised his head and looked at the rolling mountains.

Just then—

"roar--!!!"

A deep, drawn-out roar, yet carrying a piercing metallic sound, rolled in from the depths of the mountains.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a heavy hammer, striking everyone's heart.

"Splash!"

A glass window on the second floor of the police station shattered under the resonance of the sound, scattering shards of glass all over the floor.

Lin Wan clutched her chest, her face deathly pale, feeling as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest.

Li Tuantuan wasn't much better off. He felt a sense of oppression from the depths of his bloodline, the instinctive fear that a lower creature feels when facing a apex predator.

But he did not back down.

He gripped the concrete floor tightly, his fingernails digging deep into it, making a "crunching" sound.

【warn!warn! 】

[Lord-level biological fluctuation detected! Source distance: 30 kilometers.]

[Danger Level: S-Rank!]

[Host recommendation: Evacuate immediately! Evacuate immediately!]

The system's red warning box flashed wildly in front of Li Tuantuan's eyes, stinging them.

S grade?

That mutated rat king from before was at most an A- rank. This guy, who hasn't even shown his face yet, can shatter glass with just a roar?

Li Tuantuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in her heart.

Evacuate?

Where to retreat?

Behind us lies Taiping Town, home to hundreds of thousands of people.

If this monster were to break free, this place would become a living hell.

"Roar!" (Shut up! Be quiet!)

Li Tuantuan let out a defiant roar towards the direction of the mountains.

Although his voice sounded somewhat immature compared to that of the monster, his fierce, indomitable spirit was exactly the same.

Looking at the broad back blocking her way, Lin Wan felt her fear subside slightly.

"Let's go inside." Lin Wan drew her sidearm from her waist, released the safety, and said, "Let's see if anyone else is here."

Li Tuantuan turned around, her eyes now icy cold.

Since you're here, don't expect a peaceful resolution.

Whether you're S-rank or SS-rank, if you dare to run wild on my turf, even if you're a dragon, you'll have to coil up before me!

He strode into the police station compound, a place filled with memories but now appearing particularly eerie.

Pushing open the door to the police station's duty room, a whiff of air mixed with the smell of instant noodle seasoning and stale tobacco hit you.

The room was dimly lit, with only a computer screen emitting a faint blue light.

"Who...who's there?!"

A sharp shout, tinged with tears, came from under the table. Immediately afterward, a young man in an auxiliary police uniform, clutching a baton tightly, peeked out tremblingly.

It's Xiao Zhang.

Back when Li Tuantuan was still a tenured employee at the institute, this guy had just started his internship and would often secretly buy her sausages. Back then, he was a sunny and cheerful young man who always smiled at everyone.

But now, Xiao Zhang's eyes are sunken, his beard is unkempt, he has lost a lot of weight, and his eyes are filled with fear, like a frightened rabbit.

When he saw the familiar black and white dumpling at the door, the baton in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Get out...get out?"

Xiao Zhang rubbed his eyes, looking at Li Tuantuan in disbelief, and then saw Lin Wan following behind.

"Captain Lin! It really is you guys!"

The young man in his early twenties suddenly burst into tears and scrambled over to grab Lin Wan's leg, but Li Tuantuan pushed him away with her bottom.

Li Tuantuan stretched out her bear paw and patted Xiao Zhang on the shoulder as a form of comfort.

"Team Leader Lin, you've finally arrived... the director... the director, he..." Xiao Zhang collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Lin Wan helped him up, poured him a glass of water and handed it to him: "Don't rush, tell me slowly. How exactly did Old Wang disappear?"

Xiao Zhang took a sip of water to calm himself down a bit.

"Three days ago, Old Li from Chenjia Village came to report that the village's cattle were missing. We initially thought it was a cattle thief, so the police chief took Da Liu and Gangzi to the scene. But... but they didn't come back by nightfall."

"I called the station chief, but he was out of service. Later... later the police dog 'Black Tiger' came back."

At this point, Xiao Zhang's body began to tremble again.

"Black Tiger was covered in blood, and one of its legs was broken. It had the police chief's cap in its mouth, and the blood-written letter was stuffed inside the cap... Then Black Tiger breathed its last."

As Li Tuantuan listened, her hands unconsciously clenched tighter.

Black Tiger is a good dog. In the past, when Li Tuantuan stole food from the cafeteria, Black Tiger always turned a blind eye.

"Where is Black Tiger's body?" Lin Wan asked.

"Buried it in the backyard."

Li Tuantuan didn't listen anymore. He turned around, walked out of the duty room, and went to Lao Wang's office.

The office remained exactly as Old Wang had left it. A half-empty teacup sat on the table, covered in a layer of white mold. His faded police uniform jacket lay draped over the back of the chair.

Li Tuantuan walked to the desk, closed her eyes, and her nose twitched slightly.

[Smell Enhancement: Activated.]

The lingering odor molecules in the air created a series of images in his mind.

There was the smell of cigarette tar from Old Wang's years of smoking cheap cigarettes, the aroma of braised pork (Old Wang's last meal), and...

Li Tuantuan suddenly opened her eyes, lay down on the floor, and crawled under the desk.

He found something in the gap between the table legs.

It was a wisp of gray hair.

It was about the length of a finger, as hard as a steel needle. Li Tuantuan picked it up with her paw and actually felt a slight stinging pain.

This is neither dog hair nor cat hair.

The hair emitted a nauseating, sweet-smelling odor, a mixture of blood and some kind of chemical agent.

Li Tuantuan brought the hair to her nose and smelled it.

He had smelled a similar scent on the previous mutated rat king, but this one was purer, more... ferocious.

Was this left by the attacker?

Could that monster have been to the police station? Right under Old Wang's nose?

Li Tuantuan's heart sank. If the monster could sneak into the police station silently, it meant that it was extremely intelligent and might even possess some kind of invisibility or mimicry ability.

"Squeak!"

Jin Dou popped out of Li Tuantuan's pocket, baring its teeth at the tuft of hair, clearly disgusted by the smell.

Li Tuantuan found an evidence bag and carefully put the hair inside.

He crawled out from under the table and looked at the family photo hanging on the wall. In the photo, Old Wang was smiling with wrinkles all over his face, holding Li Tuantuan, who weighed only a few dozen kilograms at the time.

"Old Wang, you old geezer, I always tell you to smoke less and exercise more, but you never listen."

Li Tuantuan cursed inwardly, but her eyes were a little wet.

He stuffed the evidence bag into the pocket of his tactical vest, his eyes turning colder than ever before.

Regardless of who owns this hair.

No matter which rat hole it's hiding in in the Qinling Mountains.

If you touch my meal ticket, you're dead.

"Lin Wan, let's go." Li Tuantuan walked out of the office and waved her paw at Lin Wan, who was comforting Xiao Zhang.

"Where to?"

"Chenjia Village".

Go to the crime scene. Go to the place where Old Wang disappeared.