Chapter Forty-Seven: Forbidden Zone?

Aside from the ghouls, Lin Lei also encountered two other solitary first-tier anomalies during his journey. Both were common types of anomalies. Without exception, he “plundered” and devoured them all.

However, unlike the [Amoeba], neither possessed any particularly powerful abilities. Their main effect was to enhance Lin Lei’s physical body, helping him recover from injuries and restore his condition. Since his own source energy had already reached its limit and could not increase further, most of the excess source energy he absorbed was converted into [Calm] energy, which kept his emotional state in excellent balance.

His gluttony energy had also decreased slightly after devouring these various monsters, but not by much—it was barely more than the cost of devouring a single ghoul. His strength had once again improved significantly, though because his baseline was already so high, the increase wasn’t immediately obvious.

“I’ve basically combed through all the districts of Biyang City, checked every suspicious spot. It’s time to go home…” After two days, Lin Lei’s harvest was quite satisfactory. He called a cab and headed home. Even so, he kept a close eye on his source energy radar.

…

On a highway in the suburbs, as the car sped along, Lin Lei, who had been half-reclining, suddenly sat up, his expression grave as he stared at the radar in his hand.

“Hmm? Another discovery?!”

A dark, almost black spot of light appeared at the very edge of the radar’s grid, its hue deep and foreboding.

“A source energy fluctuation approaching black—this means it’s close to, or has reached, second-tier fluctuation…”

Lin Lei licked his lips. After all this time, this was the first time he’d found such a dark spot of light.

According to the anomaly manual, there were many types of anomalies, and many special ones knew how to conceal their own source energy fluctuations. Like humans, these anomalies would not reveal much unless they activated their special abilities or were in a particular state.

“Driver, pull over!”

He decisively told the driver to stop, then dashed straight toward the desolate wasteland beside the road.

The driver scratched his head, baffled.

…

Lin Lei climbed over a small knoll, frowning at the scene before him. In the wild, a series of barbed wire fences stood upright, with signs forbidding entry planted in the ground. Peering through the wires, he could see fully armed figures patrolling not far inside.

Lin Lei frowned and picked up his source energy radar again, his pupils contracting sharply.

At some point, the radar screen had filled with a dense mass of black spots, nearly the entire display swallowed by blackness.

“That’s a sign of source energy disorder… What kind of place is this?”

As Lin Lei hesitated, he suddenly turned his head. Somehow, a figure had appeared behind him.

It was a middle-aged man in a black cloak, hair slicked back, gold-rimmed spectacles perched on his nose, and a cigarette dangling from his lips.

“Who are you?” The man’s cold question cut through the air, his gaze fixed on the radar in Lin Lei’s hand.

Lin Lei felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He hadn’t even noticed when this man had arrived! In this moment, standing before him, he felt an overwhelming sense of danger.

He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and produced his credentials from the Investigation Bureau.

“I’m with the Special Operations Division of the Security Department…”

The man glanced at the credentials, his imposing presence receding as he chuckled.

“Ah, from the Investigation Bureau. So you detected abnormal source energy fluctuations with your radar, right? This isn’t a place you should be—leave, now.”

The Special Operations Division was the official cover for Investigation Bureau staff. The fact that this man knew Lin Lei’s identity marked him as an insider as well.

Lin Lei breathed a sigh of relief and couldn’t help but ask, “What is this place, exactly?”

The man pinched his cigarette between two fingers.

“If you don’t know, it means you’re not supposed to know. I can only tell you this is a [Forbidden Zone]—extremely dangerous. That’s all I can say.”

Another riddle, Lin Lei thought, glancing helplessly at the scene inside the barbed wire before turning away.

Once he was far enough, a sense of relief finally washed over him. The pressure in that man’s presence had been immense.

…

He encountered no further abnormal signals on the way home. By the time he returned to his neighborhood, there were only a few hours left until the two-day deadline expired.

Shaking his head, he planned to get some sleep before heading to the Bureau. But then he glanced at his source energy radar.

“Eh?”

His expression sharpened. At the edge of the radar, a red dot flashed suddenly. “Could it be a ghoul I missed?!”

Since it was near his home, his first thought was that it might be a stray ghoul from the nest. Some of the stronger ghouls would indeed appear as red dots.

Before he could act, the red dot vanished abruptly.

“What’s going on? Out of range?”

He strode quickly ahead, but the radar showed no further red dots.

He frowned and soon reached the spot where the red dot had appeared. His gaze swept the area as he reached out to sense the surrounding source energy, but found nothing unusual.

“I can’t have imagined it. Could the radar be malfunctioning?”

The source energy radar was not highly precise; such issues were not uncommon.

Just as he was about to turn for home, another red dot flashed briefly on the radar!

Once might be coincidence; twice was no accident.

This time, the red dot wasn’t at the edge of the radar, but somewhere within the inner area, meaning it hadn’t just entered the detection range.

“Could it be a newly awakened source energy user?!”

When a source energy user activated their abilities, they sometimes produced noticeable fluctuations.

He licked his lips. “I haven’t heard of any other source users in this area…”

There were no registered source users near Lin Lei’s home. And the elusive red dot, blinking in and out, suggested highly unstable fluctuations—very likely a newly awakened individual.

“If this is really a rookie…”

Lin Lei licked his lips.

Recommending a newcomer to the Investigation Bureau could earn him a significant number of investigation points, and if the person joined the Operations Division as an agent, the reward would be even greater!

“My source energy has already reached the peak of the first tier—I can try to apply for second-tier advancement materials. If I can introduce a newcomer to the Bureau…”

He licked his lips again and sped toward the location where the red dot had appeared.

By now, the night was deep, and the crimson moonlight spread over the earth like a veil of blood.

Crawling out of a sewer, Lin Lei melted into the darkness, darting like a shadow toward the red dot’s location. With the bonus of his Nightwalker talent, he was virtually invisible in the dark and moved at great speed, arriving in the area in the blink of an eye.

He checked his radar again, then frowned at the building before him.

“Troublesome…”

The red dot had flashed somewhere near this tall building—likely inside. The building was dozens of stories high; he couldn’t possibly pinpoint the exact location on his own.

He checked the radar again, but no further red dots appeared.

“Looks like I won’t be able to find them.”

He shook his head and turned away. With the deadline for returning the radar fast approaching, he couldn’t afford to keep waiting for a single red dot.

He quickly left.

What he did not know was that not far from the building, in a dark alley, a small figure crouched on the ground, body tightly curled up…