Léon: The Cat Killer

"There's a problem here, but let's leave it for now... I'll deal with it after I've checked the rest..."

As they inspected and labeled, similar abnormal life forms were observed exhibiting multiple reactions within the pipes, much like before. Just as Nana had predicted, Hai Si would undoubtedly spread along the pipes of yesterday's building.

What Nana needs to do now is to completely eliminate them before they build nests again.

"The areas where these pipelines originate... do you know what's in those places?"

As Nana marked the locations on the map according to the engineering drawings, the plumbers and gang members, who had been busy all day, gathered around:

"Holy crap, isn't this that pachinko parlor that moved here from the East?!"

"...That's a street full of vegetable markets, you idiot. How come you only remember the steel balls?"

"Not only pachinko, but also arcade games and pool tables are available!"

Seeing that the topic had quickly veered off to a point where she couldn't get a word in edgewise, Nana looked at the thoughtful-looking crow:

"Is that area your property? Has anything unusual happened recently?"

"That's not our territory, don't expect to be able to call people over like we do here... But Kowloon is such a small place, everyone knows every hair on their butt... And if there's anything unusual, there's nothing really... It's just theft, fighting, who's arguing with whom... things like that?"

As he spoke, he tossed away the cigarette butt in his hand and stomped it out, the crow instantly reverting to its usual smug expression:

"Although I don't quite understand it... it seems like there's nothing wrong with the area I live in?"

Seeing Nana nod, the crow clapped exaggeratedly:

"That's good, that's good. I won't get involved in your trip to the Kowloon main sluice gate. If the boss needs anything, just call me... But you can take my underlings with you. They may not be good at anything particularly professional, but they can carry bags and chase away a few clueless idiots... Afterwards, could you please check if they have any illnesses? After all, in this crappy place, it's really hard to find a place to see a doctor... I'll take my leave now."

They spoke politely, but their actions showed no courtesy whatsoever... They forcibly assigned tasks without considering the other party's intentions, which is very similar to the attitude of those gang leaders who are used to bossing others around.

However, Nana never stops doing things just because someone is missing... As long as no one gets in her way, Nana is kind to everyone.

"...So, girl, what exactly are you doing here? Are you from the Longmen Governor's Mansion?"

"We are from Rhodes Island."

After explaining his purpose again, following up on the threat of 'parasitic infection,' the old man's previous confused and listless expression completely disappeared.

"Oh dear, you're here to help with medical treatment... Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Clearly, the other party mistook Rhodes Island, which had come with Raven, for some kind of accomplice. The old man, who had several cigarettes stolen from him in just a few minutes, seemed to be somewhat angry but dared not speak out against Raven.

Among the remaining underlings, one young man's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing what the plumber said:

"Hey! Old Qi, what do you mean? You think there's no good in being with Brother Crow?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant... and I wasn't talking about Brother Crow..."

"Pah! Don't I know who I can't please by associating with!"

Although it sounds a bit silly at first glance, upon closer inspection it constantly expresses the gang's control over this place. Because Nana deliberately stepped forward and blocked the two of them, this joke that was hard to laugh at finally stopped in time.

Driving to the main plumbing maintenance workshop a few kilometers away in Kowloon, Nana checked the water supply and drainage system of the entire area using the same method as before.

After marking all the suspected Haisi reactions on the map, he frowned as he looked at the chaotic and disorderly appearance of the lines, which resembled mycelium crawling haphazardly in a petri dish.

Although neither the gangsters nor the plumber could quite understand Nana's annotations... red indicated an anomaly, and the Kowloon land map on Nana's tablet was covered with red crosses everywhere.

"...Does this mean Lungmen is finished?"

"That's an exaggeration. It only detected the area where the suspected source of infection was located. In reality, the only animals that might react to my spell are rats or something similar... Although its manifestation is very similar to parasitic infections, the success rate of spreading through the air as an aerosol is very low... As long as the source of contamination is dealt with, everything will be fine."

Is that so...?

While spouting things she herself didn't quite believe, Nana kept up with the map data with the professor while dealing with the concerns of the locals around her.

The claim that the success rate of aerosol diffusion is very low is completely unfounded. After all, Rhodes Island currently knows nothing about the fluid conversion rate of the Sea Spirits, including but not limited to the fact that the selection of protective equipment is almost entirely copied from the information provided by the Deepsea Hunters.

As for the Deep Sea Hunter... that is, Agor, his attitude towards Hai Si is one of utmost importance...

If Nana hadn't been considering the possibility of unrest among the public to prevent them from breaching the quarantine lines, her advice would definitely have been home quarantine... but that would have been too reliant on fate.

The only assurance the assassin could give was that she would deal with the source of infection as soon as possible, and she was indeed prepared to do so.

So, Medic, your next task is to deal with those individual Aquatic beings... and search for potential nests, right?

In the dimly lit pipe maintenance room, a light suddenly appeared in Nana's pupils, carrying a text message from the Rhodes Island frontline commander.

[The last encounter was sudden, and the support network was extensive and interconnected. Even though we spent a lot of manpower and resources to completely wipe them out... as long as there are still individuals of Hai Si roaming outside, the pollution cannot be stopped.]

Although the situation may be unacceptable, thankfully Kal'tsit and the white-haired girl have already revisited the threat of the Sea Heirs with Lungmen, using Columbia's example from the battle in Siesta... What we are facing is not just simple pollution, but a biohazardous catastrophe comparable to a highly virulent plague.

[I'm currently trying to contact the Celestial Master's Mansion of Yan Kingdom through the connections of that old Celestial Master. According to the information Dr. Kal'tsit gave me, if I can persuade them to classify the Sea Spawn as a natural disaster, Lungmen will have to enter disaster response mode and completely sever ties with the infected city modules.]

Although Lungmen was clearly reluctant to accept this proposal, Rhodes Island's preparations for action could begin. Before the official clearance for the annihilation operation was issued, the Trauma Team could temporarily refrain from forcibly suppressing the spread of the Seaborne...

To put it bluntly, a certain number of casualties might actually make Lungmen more determined... But in any case, given the current lack of available resources, containing Hai Si's activities within the shantytown is the trauma team's top priority.

[The command center will now work with the Guard Bureau to ensure the Lungmen shipping team implements physical isolation measures for the mobile city of the shantytown. Meanwhile, the artillery brought by Nagisa, after consulting with Governor Wei, has been temporarily deployed to the Guard Bureau's training grounds… Medic, if you wish, can also be transferred to the site by helicopter.]

Currently, Nagisa has been stationed at the Guard Bureau building as a liaison between Rhodes Island and the Guard Bureau. A total of twelve L118 towed artillery pieces have been equipped with sufficient automated drones and are on standby. Through Nagisa and Medic's 'Halo' data link and the special reloaded ammunition processed by Guard Bureau engineers, the artillery group can bypass various urban terrains with high-arc curves similar to mortars to accurately destroy your targets.

Finally, I granted the Medic Trauma Team the authority to call the Rosemary Squad, using my authority as the 'Doctor'.

[Ms. Kal'tsit assigned it to my command ten minutes ago. Now, I'm leaving the decision of when to deploy it to the front lines... If the situation has reached an emergency, whether our frontline operators are in mortal danger or the threat from Hai Si is approaching a critical point, and with Nana's equipment currently under actual seizure, Kitten is our strongest registered combat force.]

[This means Rhodes Island has deployed its elite forces; hopefully everyone involved will return safely.]

Nana waved to shut down the projection, then nodded to Ansuo, who had also seen the notification on his phone. After saying goodbye to the plumber who had been so helpful, the two prepared to move to the 'contaminated zone' that the gang's underlings were reluctant to go to.

"Wait, didn't they say there were parasitic reactions over there, and that it could easily kill people?"

"Yes, and I did say there's currently no cure... So, are you still going to come along?"

Using slightly intimidating words to make the gang members hesitant to follow, Nana, as the on-site executor, felt there was still much she could do before the annihilation order was issued.

Having confirmed that those people had no intention of continuing to follow, Nana slightly unzipped her pants to check the pistol... Ansuo also took out his grappling hook and other items from under his seat.

"Let's go, today's work is..."

Go hunt down those who might be hunting down the Lungmen.

PS: Waaaaaah, kitty

PSS: It seems that Rhodes Island is indeed steadily increasing Lungmen's alert level against the Sea Siren. I just wonder if, when the battle actually starts, Rhodes Island's action team members will find a "Sea Siren in action detected" message in front of them, and then all sorts of dinosaurs will crawl out of the underground pipes... In this case, it's not the land-based ships that will be needed; it would probably be better to send a super destroyer for orbital bombardment.

As for why I suddenly have this feeling... it's because I played HD2 today, and it was my last game before writing this. I got kicked by the host of the group I was playing with before I left... I'm feeling depressed.

9th Dragon Gate Seafood: 349 You will die on the streets of Dragon Gate!

The twin moons of early summer hang high in the sky, the shadows of the neon lights are empty.

The shop shutters on both sides of the street were tightly shut, and the layered buildings were faintly visible in the thin moonlight and mist. Although it was already summer, the night wind was chillingly cold, carrying flyers or paper bags through the maze-like alleys, then letting out a mournful howl like a wounded wild animal.

The market, which was bustling when night fell, turned eerie by midnight. If it weren't for the scattered lights illuminating the young people on night watch playing cards and shouting, Nana would have really felt like she had entered a haunted house or something.

Obviously, the appearance of a new car on a street with hardly any living creatures is already quite eye-catching, and if this car is also driving around the shantytown at low speed, it would be foolish not to attract the attention of the local thugs.

However, compared to the special case of crows being summoned, perhaps it's because Nana's appearance doesn't suggest she's there to do bad things. Right now, although this group of social activists is pointing and whispering about Nana and Anso from a distance, they are still maintaining a basic sense of distance.

Since that's the case, Nana stopped paying attention to them and focused on her own task.

According to the doctor's latest orders, Nana's main tasks now are to confirm two things: first, to confirm the location of the Sea Si's nest in preparation for future annihilation operations; and second, to stop their expansion and suppress their ever-spreading momentum... The former is simple, since nests don't run away.

As for the latter, before the authorization to carry out annihilation operations that could potentially damage mobile cities is issued, Nana can only say that she will do her best and leave the rest to fate... After all, compared to fixed targets, this type that can reproduce on its own is really beyond the capacity of a single person.

"...This should be it, the place where the hymenoid reaction was discovered earlier..."

After confirming the relative coordinates, Nana and An Suo looked out the car window. Although this whole street was a vegetable market, with all kinds of shops selling daily necessities everywhere... plus those entertainment venues catering to the gangsters' spending habits, if you were to ask where the most likely place to hide filth, Nana could only say that it could be anywhere.

After getting off the vehicle, Nana conducted a magical scan of the area, searching for the most unusual part among a bunch of anomalies. She then led An Suo to a storefront.

Although the roller shutter door was tightly closed, the lightbox sign of "Zhu's Meat Shop" was still lit up... Because of the search and law enforcement powers granted by the Imperial Guard Bureau, Nana's action of taking out lock-picking tools to open the roller shutter door made no attempt to hide it.

But this place was different from the suspicious building from yesterday, and Nana wasn't with anyone from the Guard Bureau, Penguin Logistics, or Lin Yuxia—no 'locals' around. With a shout from afar, the young people who had been observing from a distance frowned and called out to Nana:

"Hey! Hey—! I'm talking to you, you with the bob haircut, yeah, the one with the Carter's hair clip, I'm talking to you... What are you doing running Old Zhu's shop?!"

Although it's known that in areas where government control is weak, gangs have even replaced grassroots organizations like neighborhood committees, the fact that gang members would actually stop suspicious activity, compared to the fact that even legitimate government employees might turn a blind eye, is because this store paid money to the gang?

With a sigh, Nana turned around, took the little rabbit with its ears taut and hands on its waist hook, and began to display her, albeit not-so-good-at-her-tact, eloquence once again, without changing her expression:

"I am a staff member of the Lungmen Health Department. This is my identification. I am inspecting an area that may have a biological hazard..."

"What kind of inspection requires this kind of dark and gloomy time?"

As he spoke, he suspiciously took Nana's ID card holder. Of course, it was Rhodes Island's medical license. Looking at the main business of Rhodes Island on the back of the card, the gang members were even more puzzled. If there were suitable Originium Arts, they would definitely put a big question mark above their heads.

"...An expert in handling mineral defects...your major isn't even relevant to this field!"

"but I……"

"Stop! I'm only asking you this: wasn't it wrong of you to open someone's shop in the dark...?"

Despite all her calculations, Nana never expected that the gang members would actually try to reason with her. As for stealing someone else's shop, Nana had nothing to say; it was indeed her fault.

“However, Rhodes Island has the Governor’s permission, and we are allowed to enter any area that needs to be investigated… This is a permit issued by the Lungmen Fire, Medical, and Guard Bureaus themselves.”

Although the so-called proof was just a search authorization notice posted on the Lungmen government's intranet, the Guard Bureau probably never thought that Rhodes Island, which was fully armed and even deployed with heavy weapons, would be stopped by ordinary citizens. Old Chen didn't bring Nana any paper search warrant or anything like that... Nana decided that she must go and get one tomorrow.

But perhaps even more troubling than the issue of legality is the weak control that Lungmen law has over the shantytown itself… The gangsters in front of them didn’t even glance at the government notice that Nana pulled up on her phone and simply waved it off:

"The Guard Bureau has no jurisdiction here, and when have they ever cared about 'infected' territory? All I know is that you're illegally trespassing. Either you get out of here now, or I'll teach you a lesson... Choose before my patience runs out!"

As the conversation progressed and the group's expressions turned hostile, they pulled out steel pipes and picked up folding stools. Surprisingly, Nana didn't notice that they weren't carrying any lethal weapons like short knives or daggers.

After concluding that "this group may not be the kind of gang that relies on extortion as its main activity in the traditional sense," Nana realized that she didn't actually have many options.

With a slight sigh, the girl wearing a soft hat looked earnestly at the young people in front of her:

"Perhaps you've made a mistake somewhere... I'm the investigator representing the government, and you're the challenger who should be making the choice."

Tilting her head slightly, based on the basic etiquette that the other person wasn't carrying a short sword or similar weapon, Nana simply moved her wrist and tugged at the 'black gloves' part of the seemingly layered but actually bodysuit.

“I have law enforcement authority. The Rhodes Island Trauma Team is authorized to remove all obstacles. If you insist on stopping me, then you may come now.”

"...You fucking?!"

Probably angered by Nana's nonchalant attitude, the young man who had started the conversation didn't even turn around to take the folding stool his companion offered. Instead, he swung his fist and charged at Nana.

He caught the hastily thrown fist, deflected it to make the man lose his balance, then kicked him in the ankle, causing him to fall to the ground. He then swung his arm around the second man who was waving a steel pipe and yelling as he charged at him, hitting him right in the ear, and he was done for.

Seeing that two people had been taken down by this little filmmaker right away, the remaining five people slowed down their charge. One of them immediately picked up his phone and started dialing for help, while the other four exchanged glances and then immediately spread out to try to surround and fight.

The martial arts of the Great Yan Dynasty are rooted in the culture of chivalry, and their fundamental theories are all integrated into this cultural heritage. Even the infected thugs who haven't had much schooling understand the meaning of "three fists can't beat four feet" and "even a fierce tiger fears a pack of wolves" after being exposed to so many martial arts stories. But for Nana, the gap between her and these young gang members is not as simple as the difference between a 'tiger' and a 'wolf'.

It's just that I don't really want to get hit by steel pipes... mainly because I'm afraid of getting hit on delicate equipment like spell units. After all, if an SHD set is damaged, not to mention the price itself, the main problem is that resupply depends on Colombia's attitude.

So Nana mainly focused on dodging and deflecting the attacks with sticks when dealing with the four men. But even so, out of resentment at the disruption to their work, all four men received a hard slap from Nana.

Cats are very fair; they give each person one slap, no more, no less.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

No matter how the four people surrounded them and rushed forward, they were just spinning around and pulled back.

Being slapped on the face by a small hand that looked like a glove but was actually knight's armor was not something they could simply endure. By the time they realized what was happening, the swelling and pain on one side of their face, which was larger than the other, more or less dampened their enthusiasm for charging forward.

Just when Nana thought the matter was over, a figure clearly carrying a weapon and wearing a beret, along with another figure clearly a woman named Feilin, walked over from a distance.

The underling, who had escaped the slapping punishment because he made a phone call, immediately pointed at Nana:

"Brother Red! It's this woman! Not only did she break into Old Zhu's shop, but she also beat up several of our brothers like this!"

"..."

Although the other person looked conflicted after seeing Nana, with half their face covered by a mask, the henchman probably didn't see it and was still trying to trash-talk Nana:

"You're finished! You brat, Brother Red is coming, you're going to die on the streets of Lungmen!"

"Stop, I said stop... That's enough. You're used to making threats with other gangs, aren't you... This is Rhodes Island, an international medical organization, not here to ruin everyone's lives."

Because the other side didn't seem to have any intention of fighting, Nana tilted her head:

"You know me..."

“I’m from Ursus… I worked for Talulah for a while, and then they said they were releasing a group of people to areas where they could live normally… I was one of them. You may not know me, but I was very impressed with Rhodes Island when your team was healing us… in every sense of the word.”

Just when Nana thought there was still room for negotiation, the other party's underlings scratched their heads, seemingly unable to accept it:

“But… Brother Red, they broke the rules… and Old Zhu paid the money. If we don’t do anything, we won’t be able to do this security business anymore.”

"...That's true...Although, asking me to fight Rhodes Island is absurd...Go call my older sister, and while you're at it, make an appointment with the doctor in advance."

Watching the man named Reid draw his longsword and mutter, "I'm fighting Rhodes Island? The Rhodes Island Medic who went toe-to-toe with the captain? Really?"... Nana quietly watched him assume his slashing stance, reluctantly offering a reminder: