I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

【Linjiang City, Old Town, Deep in Dachun Lane】

[Time: 15:45 PM]

Dachun Lane is a "nuisance" in Linjiang City.

Here, illegal buildings abound, and electrical wires tangle like spider webs under the low eaves. Because the demolition compensation has been unresolved, most of the residents have moved away, leaving behind only empty, dilapidated houses and packs of stray cats and dogs.

As usual, the elderly scavenger Chen Xiazi (actually not blind, but with cataracts in one eye) dragged his woven bag into the depths of the alley.

"Big Black? Hanako? Come out for dinner."

He tapped the enamel basin in his hand, which contained leftover food he had begged from a nearby restaurant.

Normally, as soon as this sound is heard, those vicious dogs that have been entrenched here will wag their tails and rush out. Especially the Tibetan Mastiff mixed breed named "Big Black," it is the king of dogs in this area, standing up to be half a person tall, and even the city management officers will give it a detour.

But today, the alley is deathly silent.

There was no barking.

Even the usually tireless chirping of cicadas has disappeared.

An indescribable sense of oppression enveloped the dead-end alley, the air so thick it was hard to breathe. Blind Chen felt a chill run down the back of his neck, as if something cold was breathing against his skin.

"Waaah..."

A suppressed sob came from behind the pile of garbage in the corner.

Blind Chen squinted his good eye and mustered his courage to walk over: "Big Black? Is that you?"

Behind the garbage heap, four or five stray dogs were huddled together.

They would normally fight tooth and nail for food, but now they huddled together, trembling. They buried their heads between their legs, not daring to even look up.

At the very front of them, the king dog named "Big Black" stood alone, facing the shadows at the alley entrance.

Big Black's fur stood on end, making it look like a hedgehog with its bristles standing on end. A threatening growl came from its throat, but its limbs were thrashing uncontrollably. Its teeth were exposed, and saliva dripped onto the ground.

It is afraid.

Terrified to the extreme, yet forced to stand there due to territorial instincts, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and stand guard.

"That is..." Blind Chen followed Big Black's gaze.

Beside the rusty manhole cover at the alley entrance, a dusty, grayish "rat" was crouching.

Blind Chen rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things.

A mouse?

These vicious dogs, which dare to bite even people, were actually scared like this by a rat.

The "mouse" moved.

Instead of crawling on all fours like a normal rodent, it glided over in an extremely bizarre manner. Its body seemed boneless, leaving a black water trail on the ground.

[Bioenergy scanning: Target locked.]

[Target Level: Lower mammals (Canidae).]

[Biomass assessment: Approximately 50 times that of the former host.]

[Judgment: Excellent carrier.]

The "rat" stared intently at Big Black with its jet-black eyes, then suddenly opened its mouth.

Its mouth split open to the base of its ears, revealing not teeth, but dense, black fleshy buds like the tentacles of a sea anemone.

"Woof!!!"

Big Black finally broke down, letting out a desperate roar. Its pride as the king of dogs compelled it to attack. It pounced, its gaping maw snapping at the eerie rat.

Blind Chen was so frightened that he took a step back, thinking that the rat was doomed.

However, what happened the next second was something he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Just as the big black tooth was about to touch the mouse, the "mouse" suddenly exploded.

It wasn't bitten apart, but rather disintegrated on its own.

It transformed into a cloud of black mist, or rather, countless tiny black particles. This mist instantly enveloped Big Black's head, frantically seeping into its eyes, nose, ears... and even every pore.

"Awooo—!!!"

The black beast's roar abruptly ceased, turning into a muffled, extremely painful whimper.

Its massive body rolled wildly on the ground, its claws scratching bloody gashes into the concrete. Its insides seemed to boil like water, the muscles beneath its fur convulsing violently like waves, and its bones making a teeth-grinding "crackling" sound as they snapped and reformed.

Just ten seconds.

The struggle stopped.

The alleyway fell silent again.

The stray dogs huddled at the back seemed to have gone mad, tails between their legs, fleeing desperately in the opposite direction, not daring to stop even when they crashed into the wall.

Blind Chen's legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground with a thud, the enamel basin in his hand falling to the ground with a "clatter".

The sound startled that being.

The dog, originally named "Big Black," slowly stood up from the ground.

Its body was a size larger than before, and its once messy black fur was now smooth as satin, even gleaming with a metallic sheen. Its muscle lines had become unusually exaggerated, exuding an explosive sense of power.

It slowly turned its head and looked at Blind Chen sitting on the ground.

That once familiar dog face now looked utterly unfamiliar. Its muzzle had become longer, and its teeth had turned into two rows of fine, serrated teeth.

The most terrifying thing is the eyes.

There were no whites of the eyes, only two burning purple will-o'-the-wisps.

[The media update is complete.]

[Current Form: Void Beast - Hound (Level 1 Evolution)]

[Combat capability assessment: Capable of hunting adult human males.]

[Hunger: Relieved.]

The monster tilted its head, looking at the trembling old man in front of it.

In its vision, the old man was not flesh and blood, but a mass of red heat energy and white fear pheromones.

This is food.

However... a stronger energy source is approaching from afar.

Buzz—Buzz—

The roar of helicopter rotors echoed in the sky. The immense wind pressure sent garbage bags flying through the alley.

The monster raised its head and glanced at the sky. It instinctively loathed the mechanical sound.

It withdrew its gaze, ignoring the terrified old man who had wet himself. This low-energy prey was always ready to be eaten. Now, it needed to hide.

Whoosh!

The monster bent its hind legs slightly and then leaped forward.

It leaped directly onto the three-meter-high wall, its movements as light as a cat's, yet possessing the power of a tiger. With a few leaps across the rooftops, it transformed into a black lightning bolt and vanished into the shadows of the old town.

[Gu Family Ancestral Residence - Inner Courtyard]

Gu Qing held a chess piece in his hand, looking at the unfinished game on the chessboard in front of him.

"From mouse to hound, it only took such a short time?"

He placed the piece gently, making a crisp sound.

"This rate of evolution is even faster than that of a virus. It's no longer just a biological entity; it's a 'living natural disaster.'"

On the system interface, the red dot representing the virtual beast has increased in brightness by one level.

Around the red dot, a dozen or so blue dots representing the 749th Bureau Special Operations Team have formed an encirclement.

"Zhao Feng, you are not facing an ordinary beast."

Gu Qing muttered to himself, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

"Ordinary bullets are ineffective against these semi-energetic creatures. Hopefully, you can discover this quickly and prevent too many deaths."

He is not cold-blooded.

In this era of great upheaval that is about to unfold, every sacrifice must be worthwhile.

This "Void Hound" is the best touchstone for this generation of human elites.

"System, adjust the [Information Power] collection threshold."

Gu Qing stood up, her gaze sharp as lightning.

"Fear is also a form of faith. Although it is not pure, it is more powerful than reverence in the early stages of war."

[Over Linjiang City - Inside an Armed Helicopter]

Zhao Feng, fully armed, sat at the hatch, his camouflage uniform fluttering in the strong wind. In his hand, he held an assault rifle loaded with special ammunition (large-caliber armor-piercing high-explosive rounds).

"Captain, we're almost there," the pilot shouted. "Thermal imaging of the target area shows that most of the creatures are fleeing the central point."

Zhao Feng pressed his earpiece: "What about the Listening System? Can it lock onto that thing?"

The monitor's anxious voice came through the earpiece: "Captain, the signal source is moving extremely fast! It was just in Dachun Lane, and now it's moved to... Wait! The signal has disappeared!"

"Disappeared?" Zhao Feng frowned. "How could it possibly disappear?"

"Its wavelength suddenly blends into the background! This thing has a 'camouflage' ability! Like a chameleon, no, it's more advanced than a chameleon; it directly simulates the surrounding magnetic field!"

Zhao Feng's heart sank.

The most terrifying enemy is the one that cannot be seen.

"Attention, all groups."

Zhao Feng pulled back the bolt, his eyes sharp. "Prepare for rappelling. The target may have a high degree of camouflage. Whatever you see, if it's not in line with common sense, fire immediately!"

"yes!"

The helicopter hovered over Dachun Lane, and a rope was dropped.

Zhao Feng was the first to slide down.

His military boots slammed heavily on the sewage-saturated ground.

A strange, burnt smell lingered in the air, a smell unique to the evolution of void creatures—like ozone mixed with burnt hair.

"Captain, there are people here!"

One of the team members found Chen the Blind sitting slumped on the ground.

Zhao Feng quickly walked over and helped the old man up: "Grandpa, are you alright? What happened here just now?"

Blind Chen was stiff all over, his eyes fixed on the wall beside him, his lips trembling, and after a long while he managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"The dog...that dog...turned into a...monster..."

Zhao Feng followed his gaze.

In the corner, there was a black, asphalt-like residue.

Beside the pile of debris was a collar, typical of stray dogs in the area, which had been twisted and deformed by some kind of high temperature.

Zhao Feng put on gloves and reached out to touch the residue.

Icy.

biting.

A stinging, needle-like pain came from my fingertips.

"All alert!"

Zhao Feng suddenly stood up, looked around at the intricate shadows of the alleyways, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

"It ate the dogs here and completed its evolution."

"Now, it's hunting us."

At this moment, the sun had completely sunk below the horizon.

Darkness descended.