Chapter 97 – Unpredictable Disaster
For this mission, Si Xu brought the first squad of Team Seven, along with Lin Jiu, making a total of 12 people.
After arriving in Country F by plane, they were greeted at the airport and taken directly to the outskirts of the affected town, where a temporary base had been set up to monitor the town and host the arriving foreign operatives.
The town had already been sealed off by the military. The person in charge of the incident was Walton Croft, a very strong middle-aged man.
As soon as they got out of the car, Croft came out to greet them, shaking hands with Si Xu and leading them towards the base.
Si Xu asked Croft in the international language, “What’s the current situation?”
Croft replied, “Over a dozen people have already died in their sleep, and the number is still rising.”
Si Xu: “What do the doctors say? Were they really just sleeping?”
Croft: “They were asleep but couldn’t be woken up. They didn’t seem to suffer; it’s like they were trapped in a pleasant dream.”
The group entered the temporary base, where many people were already gathered.
Lin Jiu immediately noticed a group of black-haired, dark-eyed Asians inside. Their gazes were originally on Si Xu, but when they saw Lin Jiu, they clearly paused.
A well-dressed man whispered something to his companion, occasionally glancing at Lin Jiu, which made Lin Jiu suspicious that he might be speaking ill of him.
Lin Jiu had excellent hearing, so he could hear them, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying.
The well-dressed man approached, eyeing Lin Jiu with a smile, and said something to him, but Lin Jiu didn’t understand.
Si Xu, who was still talking to Croft, did understand. He glanced at the heavily made-up man.
Noticing the odd atmosphere, Croft introduced them in the international language.
Lin Jiu, understanding the international language, realized they were from Country H. Even without the introduction, he had already figured that out—although he couldn’t understand the Country H language, he could recognize it.
Country H’s leader, Jin Seung-soo, walked over and shook hands with Si Xu, speaking in the H language.
Si Xu calmly replied, “Given the gravity of the situation, caution isn’t a bad thing.”
Si Xu spoke in the Z language.
Jin Seung-soo was taken aback. Earlier, when Choi Jae-seong was speaking with the long-haired youth, it was clear that the Z country’s leader understood. He had assumed Si Xu would speak the H language, but instead, Si Xu spoke in Z.
Si Xu could understand the H language, but Jin Seung-soo couldn’t understand Z. He managed to hide his embarrassment, smoothly switching back to the international language.
“One of your members looks familiar to me.”
As he spoke, Jin Seung-soo glanced at Lin Jiu.
Lin Jiu was wearing a mask, but Si Xu wasn’t.
Si Xu replied in the international language, “He’s a public figure. It’s not unusual to think he looks familiar.”
Jin Seung-soo observed Si Xu but couldn’t discern anything.
Whether Si Xu was truly open or just hiding things very well was unclear.
The people from Country H, upon first seeing Lin Jiu, immediately thought he resembled the wanted mermaid. His physique, the mask, and his long hair were all similar. The only difference was the eye color. But, of course, changing eye color was simple—a pair of colored contacts could do the trick.
Si Xu didn’t engage much with Jin Seung-soo and continued asking Croft about the current situation.
The operatives from Country H continued to observe them, while those from Country Z stood confidently, allowing themselves to be scrutinized.
Most of the attention was on Lin Jiu, with gazes openly sizing him up.
Croft soon went out to greet another group of foreign operatives.
Lin Jiu walked over to Si Xu and quietly asked, “Any discoveries yet?”
Si Xu shook his head, “Nothing so far. Blood tests from the sleepers came back normal. There’s no sign of poisoning; it looks like natural sleep.”
But as natural as it seemed, it wasn’t ordinary sleep—no one falls into a sleep so deep they can’t be woken and die in their dreams.
If it were that simple, Country F wouldn’t have sought help from other nations.
Croft soon brought in another group. This time, they were Westerners. After Croft introduced them, they were revealed to be operatives from Country M. Not only had they arrived in person, but they had also brought advanced detection equipment.
Upon arrival, the Country M team requested to enter the town for an inspection. Croft agreed, as the countries that had responded were now all present, and it was indeed time to investigate.
Not everyone would be going in; each country could select a few individuals. The town wasn’t safe, and the situation was still unclear. If anyone succumbed to the sleeping illness, there was nothing anyone could do. Entering was entirely voluntary.
Si Xu was definitely going in, and Lin Jiu followed. For their team, only the two of them would enter.
Country H sent in three operatives.
Other countries each sent in two or three people. Everyone employed their methods, hoping to resolve the matter quickly.
Lin Jiu and Si Xu donned protective gear and gas masks, boarding a jeep that drove them toward the town.
The town, with a population of tens of thousands, had fallen overnight. Whether it was a toxin or a contagious disease, the situation was terrifying.
Several jeeps stopped in front of a house, and the group disembarked, following Croft inside.
On a thick carpet lay five people, covered with blankets. They had clearly been arranged this way for observation.
The five consisted of an elderly couple, a young couple, and a young boy. The entire family was lying there.
Someone pulled back the blankets to examine the exposed skin, hoping to find something.
The team from Country M took blood samples for retesting. Despite prior tests showing no issues, they wanted to verify again, their distrust clear. They carefully examined the bodies of the sleepers but found that the skin was elastic and healthy, with normal coloring. It truly seemed as if they were just sleeping, with no obvious issues.”
A female operative from Country H crouched down and held the child’s hand, and a gentle glow transmitted from her to the child.
Everyone around was surprised, speculating whether this female operative had healing abilities.
Lin Jiu was also surprised. Up until now, he had never seen a healer. Could such a power really exist?
Si Xu went to observe the five sleeping people, leaving Lin Jiu standing alone on the sidelines.
In fact, Lin Jiu wasn’t idle either—he was bargaining with his system.
Lin Jiu: “I’ll give you at most 3 magic points. Find out the cause for me.”
[Can you be any stingier? I absolutely won’t work for just 3 magic points.]
Since it concerned magic points, the system didn’t dare share the conversation with Lin Jiu’s idol, so it bickered with Lin Jiu instead.
Lin Jiu: ‘They’re just ordinary people, not even operatives. Three magic points are more than enough, don’t be greedy.
[Five points, and I’ll investigate for you.]
Lin Jiu, on the verge of becoming filthy rich: ‘Fine, I’ll give you 5 points, but you must find out the cause.’
[Don’t underestimate the system. You’re already here. Do you think I can’t figure out the problem?]
Lin Jiu: ‘Hurry up.’
While Lin Jiu was waiting for results, someone next to him greeted him in heavily accented international language.
“Hello, I’m Choi Jae-seong. May I know your name?”
Lin Jiu, wearing a gas mask, glanced at him. He could only see the other person’s eyes and wondered how he could even recognize him.
The key point was, didn’t this guy know how to speak international language? Why pretend before? Did he think the H language was so famous that everyone understood it?
Since H country had initially attacked—although the target wasn’t Lin Jiu—they sent fishing boats, clearly intending to catch him. Later, they falsely accused him of controlling a giant sea monster to cause a tsunami that flooded a coastal city. Lin Jiu had no fondness for them.
Lin Jiu: “No, you can’t.”
Choi Jae-seong froze, not expecting the other person to refuse to even share his name.
But he wasn’t discouraged and continued in his heavily accented international language: “You’re very beautiful, with a great figure, and lovely hair.”
Lin Jiu: “…”
Lin Jiu: “Do you have x-ray vision? How can you tell what I look like when I haven’t even taken off my mask?”
Choi Jae-seong: “…”
Lin Jiu was prickly like a hedgehog, almost as if he had “Don’t talk to me” stamped on his forehead.
After a moment of silence, Choi Jae-seong, still unfazed, spoke again. “Don’t you recognize me?”
Lin Jiu kept his eyes on Si Xu, who was talking to the female operative suspected of having healing abilities.
Distractedly, Lin Jiu answered Choi Jae-seong, “Nope.”
Choi Jae-seong: “…”
Still resilient, Choi Jae-seong said, “I’m an entertainer. I have a lot of fans. Are you sure you don’t know me?”
Lin Jiu: “Nope.”
After saying that, Lin Jiu walked toward Si Xu. “Any findings?”
The female operative, who had been ignoring everyone else but Si Xu, glanced at Lin Jiu before saying something in H language to Si Xu and walking off to another area.
Si Xu said, “When Han Yajing transfers energy, it’s absorbed by the sleepers. She does have healing powers, but the child didn’t wake up. It’s possible that her power isn’t strong enough. With enough energy, she might be able to wake the child.”
Lin Jiu stared at him. “Does this count as me catching you in the act?”
Si Xu: “…”
Si Xu, exasperated, said, “What nonsense are you thinking?”
Lin Jiu raised an eyebrow. “Such an important discovery, and instead of keeping it secret or sharing it with her own people, why did she tell you?”
Si Xu took Lin Jiu’s hand. “Information exchange.”
Han Yajing had asked Si Xu if he had found anything. Si Xu had casually asked her the same, and unexpectedly, she shared her findings. Si Xu, in turn, revealed what he had discovered.
In fact, all findings would eventually be compiled and handed over to Croft for everyone to study and resolve. Sharing them a little early didn’t make much of a difference.
Lin Jiu asked, “What did you discover?”
Si Xu: “A smell. They all have a faint fishy odor.”
Lin Jiu sniffed but couldn’t detect the fishy scent Si Xu mentioned.
Si Xu explained, “It’s very faint. Even up close, it’s barely noticeable.”
It was definitely not a human smell.
Lin Jiu crouched down and leaned in to sniff the sleepers, but couldn’t smell anything. He picked up one person’s arm to sniff more closely when the system suddenly spoke.
[You’d better not touch them.]
Lin Jiu paused, pretending to casually put the arm back.
Lin Jiu: “What did you find?”
[It’s a big problem. You guys won’t be able to solve this. We should leave quickly. If we wait too long, we might not be able to get out.]
Lin Jiu immediately became alert: “What’s going on?”
[These humans are incredibly reckless. They’ve messed with something they shouldn’t have. There’s no saving them…]
Lin Jiu: “Quit stalling and get to the point.”
[They ate the eggs of the Seven Star Blue Demon.]
Lin Jiu: !!!
Lin Jiu: !!!!!!
Lin Jiu: !!!!!!!!!!
His mind was now filled with a giant “WTF.” No words could express his shock.
How on earth did they get their hands on Seven Star Blue Demon eggs?!
Si Xu keenly sensed Lin Jiu’s sudden change in mood.
The system continued: [The Seven Star Blue Demon eggs release a unique pheromone. If the eggs are intact, the pheromones are released very slowly. But once the eggs are broken, it’s like a pheromone explosion. Humans can’t withstand the pheromones from these eggs, which is why they fall into a deep sleep. It’s actually a poisoning symptom… But that’s not the main issue. The real problem is that the Seven Star Blue Demons will follow the pheromone trail to hunt down anyone who has come into contact with it. You’d better stay far away.]
Lin Jiu instantly stood up, retreating several steps.
Everyone around stared at him, puzzled.
Lin Jiu clutched his chest, thinking, ‘Is this thing trying to scare me to death? Being hunted by a terrifying Seven Star Sea Demon? I can’t even imagine that!’
Si Xu asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Lin Jiu grabbed Si Xu’s hand tightly and whispered, “Did you touch any of them just now?”
Si Xu: “No.”
Lin Jiu breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness.
Lin Jiu told the system to pass this information on to Si Xu. He wasn’t sure what to do either. If the Seven Star Sea Demons really came for them, not just this small town, but everyone here would be doomed.
When Si Xu heard the system’s report, his entire demeanor turned cold.
He had never expected that the truth would be this.
Earlier, they had been relieved that such massive Seven Star Sea Demons only existed in international waters and wouldn’t come ashore. But now, someone had actually brought the eggs of a Seven Star Sea Demon onto land, and worse—they might have been eaten!
The system activated information sharing, allowing both Lin Jiu and Si Xu to receive the updates.
[I’ve got some good news. Want to hear it?]
Lin Jiu immediately replied: “Tell me!”
[During egg-laying, the Seven Star Blue Demon rarely leaves its eggs. They’ll assign other sea creatures to retrieve the eggs, but if the eggs are gone, anyone carrying the pheromones of the eggs becomes a target.]
Lin Jiu: …
How is that “good” news?!
Just thinking about the giant sea monsters they saw in the most radioactive parts of the ocean made both of their scalps tingle.
[You’d better hope the eggs haven’t hatched yet. The Seven Star Blue Demon would be somewhat restrained. If they have hatched, then the Seven Star Blue Demon is a far greater threat than any other giant sea monster.]
Lin Jiu: “I’m not feeling reassured at all!”
[That’s why you should immediately leave and take everyone with you. Before you’re fully contaminated by the pheromone, get out of here. Don’t bring trouble back to your country. This pheromone is tough to remove, and even operatives can’t detect it. Only beings with extremely sharp senses, like the Demon Spirits, can pick up on it.]
Lin Jiu: …
Lin Jiu looked at Si Xu.
If they quietly left, they both knew what would happen here—it didn’t take much imagination.
Tens of thousands of lives—could they really just walk away?
Si Xu clearly couldn’t abandon them either. They had already come here and responded to F Country’s call for help. If they left now, and the town was wiped out, they would definitely face condemnation for abandoning so many lives.
Besides the immediate crisis, what Si Xu was most concerned about was the number of Seven Star Sea Demon eggs.
In his mind, Si Xu asked: “How many eggs can a Seven Star Blue Demon lay at one time?”
[Conservatively, at least hundreds of thousands.]
Si Xu closed his eyes tightly, unable to imagine what would happen if all those eggs grew into small Blue Demons and eventually became Seven Star Sea Demons.
Lin Jiu also felt a cold chill run through him.
Since the Seven Star Blue Demon was female, if it could lay eggs this time, it could do so again. The future of Earth seemed grim.
Lin Jiu, no longer able to stay calm, asked, “W-what should we do?”
Si Xu asked the system: “Are we contaminated with the pheromone now?”
[The entire town is filled with the pheromone from the Seven Star Blue Demon’s eggs. Since you’re in it, you’ve definitely been contaminated, but the scent is faint, and with your protection, it’s manageable. You could go to the Demon Sea Realm to find something to remove it.]
In other words, if they didn’t get rid of the pheromone, returning home might spread the disaster.
The system began nagging again.
[This is a harsh lesson, host. Remember, small Blue Demons can be killed, but never mess with the Seven Star Blue Demon’s eggs!]
Croft walked over. “Have you two discovered anything?”
Lin Jiu remained silent. Although he could understand international language, he wasn’t very good at speaking it.
Si Xu was deep in thought, considering how to handle the current situation. Clearly, the people in this town couldn’t be moved. Even those who had been to the town shouldn’t be allowed to leave. Everyone here was contaminated with the pheromone from the Seven Star Blue Demon’s eggs. If they left and spread the scent, humanity might be doomed.
Si Xu said, “Mr. Croft, please order an immediate lockdown of this town. No one who has been here can leave. We must prevent the pheromone from spreading.”
Croft focused on the key point: “You’re talking about a scent? What kind of scent?”
Si Xu replied gravely, “A scent that attracts giant sea monsters.”
Croft was stunned. “Are you sure? I can’t smell anything.”
Si Xu explained, “It’s a pheromone that only sea monsters can detect. Humans can’t smell it, nor can it be easily detected. I can sense it because of my special awakened ability. Please, you must trust me.”
Si Xu couldn’t expose Lin Jiu, let alone the system, so he had to take responsibility for himself.
Croft hesitated. “Do you have any proof of this pheromone’s existence?”
It would be hard to convince others if Si Xu were the only one who could sense it.
Meanwhile, the operatives from M Country had collected blood samples and were preparing to leave with them.
[Wow, they’re really asking for it. The pheromone is very strong in those blood samples.]
Si Xu suddenly thought of something. “Earlier, I heard that more than a dozen people have already died. Where are their bodies?”
Croft: “In the temporary base’s autopsy room.”
[Good, those who died first were the most severely poisoned. They definitely ate the Seven Star Blue Demon’s eggs. There’s no saving them. We should head back.]
The only saving grace was that they hadn’t transported the bodies away yet, which showed some caution.
Si Xu asked, “Has anyone who’s been to the town left? If they’ve spread the pheromone elsewhere, it will attract giant sea monsters. We need to stop it at the source.”
Croft fell silent, then finally replied, “Wouldn’t isolation suits and gas masks help?”
Si Xu shook his head. “Probably not.”
Si Xu had already guessed that some people had left. Otherwise, Croft wouldn’t have asked.
And indeed, it was true. After people had fallen asleep in the town, those entering afterward had worn isolation suits and gas masks, thinking they were safe. Since they didn’t fall asleep, they assumed everything was fine. They took blood samples and sent them off to more advanced facilities for testing and research.
They say the Earth is like a village—what happens in one place will affect everywhere else. As long as you’re on Earth, you can’t escape this threat.
The system may not understand this, but Si Xu and Lin Jiu certainly do.
Why did this turn to a horror novel