Chapter 55: Containment
Chapter 55: Containment
All the people in the entire block were locked up in Zhenhua School in the middle section of Chinatown, roughly over five thousand individuals.
As night gradually fell, more and more Chinese people returned to Chinatown, but they were stopped by the police and could not go home.
Many tourists and locals who liked to visit Chinatown at night to have fun and eat delicious food were also stopped and dispersed at this time.
The people confined to the school wanted to make phone calls and get online to expose the situation, but they found the internet was down and there was zero signal.
Around seven o’clock in the evening, seeing that it was already dinnertime, the five thousand Chinese grew restless. They finally couldn’t hold back anymore and demanded to be let go.
But the school’s iron gate was locked and guarded by police armed with real guns and bullets. Even though the crowd outnumbered them, they didn’t dare to charge through forcefully.
“These people are too strange. They can command the police, even seal off a whole block without any government intervening. External communication is cut off, and they’re using instruments to scan everywhere. They’re definitely looking for something!”
“All mysterious… I get it… They’re looking for me.”
Lan Mu thought it over and could only conclude that the other party was searching for the Nine-tailed Fox.
He had considered that the Nine-tailed Fox causing a sensation might lead to a massive manhunt, but he didn’t expect its location to be discovered so quickly and traced precisely to Chinatown.
Moreover, the people who came were mysterious and powerful, almost above a national government.
“A specialized agency dealing with the supernatural?” Lan Mu’s vivid imagination immediately made him think of this possibility.
Lan Mu lowered his head to think and did not act rashly.
Time passed minute by minute. At around eight-thirty, Bai Ze walked in with a gloomy expression.
“The quarantine is over… You will be divided into groups of twenty. Enter that classroom for a final medical check. Those who finish the check can leave.”
Hearing they could finally leave, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
That classroom on the first floor was just an ordinary classroom with no modifications. People who had been worried about some sort of screening or profiling finally felt at ease.
Lan Mu, Yang Xiong, Lin Chu, and the circus people automatically gathered together, then watched as groups of twenty entered the classroom one by one.
The classroom windows were blocked by a human wall. The police arranged for groups to enter, then closed the door properly.
Lan Mu didn’t pay attention to what was happening inside the classroom. Instead, he noticed that all the people in blue uniforms had withdrawn at some point, leaving only the police on the scene.
Of course, there was also that man who could freely command the police, the one who claimed what he was doing was great. He was still there, right inside that classroom.
In just half a minute, one group was led out by the police and escorted out of the school. Lan Mu couldn’t see the faces of those people, but it seemed they hadn’t suffered any harm.
The groups went through very quickly. Soon, it was the turn of Lan Mu’s group.
Twenty people walked into the classroom and saw Bai Ze standing in front of the blackboard. A laptop was placed on the teacher’s desk.
“Take a look at this. After you see it, you can go.” He didn’t waste words. As soon as they entered, he got straight to the point. He opened the closed laptop abruptly, facing it toward the crowd.
Involuntarily, everyone, including Lan Mu, looked at it and couldn’t tear their eyes away.
It was a strange pattern of red markings on a black background. It was too beautiful. The pattern had an extreme attractiveness that forced everyone to become engrossed in it.
Even though it was a static image, staring at it for a long time made it seem like it was rotating. All of a person’s attention was focused on it, unable to break free.
Bai Ze held a stopwatch, counted four seconds, then instantly closed the laptop, cutting off everyone’s view.
“That’s it.”
After he said that, the police opened the door and came in. They led the dazed group out and escorted them out of the school.
Only after walking out of the school did Lan Mu snap back to his senses. He looked around, shocked and bewildered.
“Why is it dark? I remember I just escaped back from the gymnasium. In the blink of an eye, it turned dark?”
“Something’s wrong! Why are there so many police? What exactly happened?”
He checked the time: past eight-thirty.
“I lost four hours of memory! How could that be?”
Lan Mu was greatly alarmed. Looking at the others, they were also gradually realizing they had forgotten a large chunk of memory.
“Supernatural… There’s actually supernatural besides me? Memory erasure… This can’t possibly be high-tech, can it?”
This was the first time Lan Mu faced another supernatural event. He felt an unprecedented seriousness.
“What happened during those four hours? Did I expose anything? I changed back to human to return to Chinatown. It’s impossible for anyone to know I was hiding here!”
The police nudged them and said, “The quarantine is over. Everyone go back home.”
Seeing the police letting them go, Lan Mu relaxed. Even though he didn’t know what was going on, at least he wasn’t exposed.
“But I must figure out this memory loss thing! Since when were the Malay police so capable?”
Lan Mu watched as over eighty police officers gradually escorted all the Chinatown residents out of the school. They themselves remained inside.
Unable to resist the itch of curiosity, Lan Mu slipped into an alley, turned into the White-maned Lion, turned invisible, climbed onto a rooftop, and jumped back into the school.
Lan Mu found them in the school auditorium. They were all lined up neatly. A man on the stage was holding the laptop and speaking.
“Everyone, your work today is over. Thank you for your assistance.”
A man who looked like a police officer smiled and said, “Mr. Bai Ze, you have the President’s authorization document. How could we dare not assist you?”
“But now can you tell us what you’re actually looking for? The guys are all very curious!”
Bai Ze smiled. “Very curious? Then are you curious why the five thousand Chinese outside all became so obedient?”
“Even more curious! What did you say to them in the classroom?”
“Did you give them money?” The police made various guesses.
Bai Ze’s smile widened. Suddenly, he opened the laptop toward everyone and shouted, “Because I showed them this!”
“What?”
The police were all very curious and stared at the laptop. Once they looked, they couldn’t look away.
But the moment Bai Ze opened the laptop, Lan Mu’s hair stood on end. The Predator’s super-strong instincts screamed a fierce warning at him.
Unlike the police, Lan Mu instinctively lowered his head and did not look.
In just four short seconds, Lan Mu heard a snap as the laptop was closed.
The sense of crisis vanished. Lan Mu lifted his head and saw Bai Ze ignoring these police officers, walking straight out of the auditorium.
He left these memory-wiped police here and walked off by himself, clearly not intending to explain anything to them.
Lan Mu frowned and followed him while invisible.
He followed closely within three meters of Bai Ze. Bai Ze did not notice he was being tailed. Instead, he walked faster and faster, deep in thought.
Lan Mu overheard Bai Ze’s soft murmuring.
“There’s not a single trace of special radiation in Chinatown. Could it be that 953 simply wasn’t here?”
“Alpha-7’s intel can’t be wrong. Then did I arrive too late? Did I miss it?”
Bai Ze hugged the laptop, very annoyed. He hurried out of Chinatown. The cordon outside was still in place. Personnel in blue uniforms came up to him.
“Withdraw. Containment failed…”
At that moment, the Task Force captain said, “The second containment attempt has failed. How are you going to explain this to the BOSS?”
Having failed again, Bai Ze’s mood exploded.
He growled lowly, “Why does the BOSS have such strict rules about using the Containment Artifacts? If we directly used Alpha-37, what wish couldn’t we fulfill? We hold the power to overturn the world, yet we tie our own hands…”
“Enough! Bai Ze, have you forgotten the principles of CANC? To maintain the purity of the world! For that, as a senior member, you must restrain the inferior desires of humanity! The Containment Artifacts must never be abused!”
The Task Force captain said sternly, “It seems after years of field work, your heart has become corrupted. I think it’s necessary to have superiors send someone to conduct ideological work with you.”
Reprimanded by the Task Force captain, Bai Ze closed his eyes and barely calmed down. He said, “I was wrong.”
“I take full responsibility for this failure. I will compile a detailed report of the events and submit it.”
Just as Bai Ze told everyone to fall back in frustration, suddenly the perimeter alarm went off, and all the Blue Uniforms received a system alert.
Bai Ze paused for a split second before reacting quickly, shouting, “Put on your masks!”
“Swish!” In perfect unison, all the Blue Uniforms swiftly put on masks that only covered their eyes and noses.
Immediately, everyone looked in the same direction. From the heat-sensing visors of their masks, a tall beast-like figure appeared.
“Attack!”
More than a dozen guns fired at once. Instead of bullets, they shot strange, bullet-shaped devices.
“I’ve been detected…”
The beast figure was, of course, Lan Mu, who had been invisibly tailing Bai Ze. He hadn’t expected this group to have anti-invisibility gear. As far as he remembered, he had never revealed his invisibility ability!
“Why would they know I can turn invisible?”
“No! They shouldn’t even know about me! I’ve never exposed my White-maned Lion identity!”
“Something’s wrong… something must have happened during those four hours I lost my memory…”
Many thoughts flashed through Lan Mu’s mind in an instant, but his attention remained fixed on the group. Seeing them draw their guns and take aim, he dashed far away before they could fire, dodging all the projectiles.
“After it! Hahaha! I’ve got you now!”
Bai Ze was both startled and overjoyed. He had already given up on containment, but the situation suddenly turned around—the target had walked right into their trap!
The Task Force was extremely experienced in combat. Without needing Bai Ze’s command, they immediately gave chase.
“Helicopter support! Activate thermal tracking.”
“Don’t let him get away!”
Lan Mu wanted to use the Predator’s leaping ability to shake off the pursuers, but the helicopter kept locking onto his position from the sky. Left with no choice, he fled through streets and alleys, escaping through buildings.
On the ground, the Task Force chased relentlessly. The Predator had lost the advantage of invisibility and couldn’t shake them off no matter what.
“The White-maned Lion is useless now…”
Lan Mu could only rely on his speed to escape, engaging in a tug-of-war with his pursuers. Before he knew it, he had run out of the city and reached the sparsely built suburbs.
The outskirts of Kuala Lumpur were mostly mountainous. This terrain was even more suitable for helicopter pursuit. They seemed to always see him, chasing him relentlessly.
Seeing no way to escape—with two more helicopters even arriving in the distance to encircle him—Lan Mu’s heart sank. He simply gave up running.
Lan Mu entered a small grove of trees and suddenly stopped beneath one.
He transformed back into the Nine-tailed Fox and lay quietly on the ground, waiting.
Bai Ze and the Task Force caught up. Seeing the Nine-tailed Fox Demon form crouching there, they laughed heartily.
“Showing your true form? Not running anymore?”
“Surround it! Surround it!”
At the command, the Task Force maintained a thirty-meter distance and began running in an arc, encircling the small grove.
Lan Mu’s charming fox face frowned. He thought to himself that these people knew his charm range, feeling a surge of panic.
“The White-maned Lion encountered anti-invisibility and lost its biggest assassination advantage. Useless!”
“The Nine-tailed Fox Demon is too weak in strength. If they keep their distance, I can’t use charm. Worthless!”
“I wonder if the Elf would be any use against these people… Darn it! I didn’t bring my bow and arrows!”
The people surrounding him were fully armed, dressed in blue uniforms that looked like combat gear. Who knew how many weapons they were hiding?
Even if he had his bow and arrows, Lan Mu wasn’t confident facing these people.
“Hey! Why are you chasing me?”
A baby-like voice came out as the Nine-tailed Fox spoke.
Bai Ze was taken aback, staring at Lan Mu in shock, but quickly calmed down and said, “You really can talk.”
“Your level of intelligence is no different from a human’s…”
“Why are we chasing you? With your intelligence, you must realize the threat you pose to humans, right? Unnatural things like you—just existing is a crime!”
“Any unnatural existence must be controlled by humans, contained and regulated.”
Lan Mu’s pupils contracted in surprise.
“All unnatural existences must be contained? Are there many supernatural beings?”
Bai Ze sneered, “Your number is 953. Before you, we destroyed 421 Containment Artifacts and contained 531.”
“If you give up resistance, given your intelligence that allows communication with humans, we can promise not to destroy you, only implement containment measures.”
How could Lan Mu possibly surrender without a fight? But now, he couldn’t run away either. He had to fight!
“Really no room for negotiation? I can promise never to appear before the world again…”
Bai Ze said indifferently, “Fire!”
“Thud!”
A sudden bullet pierced Lan Mu’s tailbone. The sniper was from the helicopter.
His tailbone shattered by the bullet, intense pain constantly stimulated his nerves. His lower body went limp, losing sensation.
Almost at the same time, the surrounding Blue Uniforms also fired at him, shooting tiny bizarre devices that hooked onto him with barbed spikes upon impact.
Immediately, a powerful electric current surged through his entire body. Lan Mu collapsed to the ground, convulsing.
“Bring the containment vehicle over. For 953, I already prepared a 5×5×5 meter containment box with 3cm thick steel plates—enough to contain it.”
The Blue Uniforms and Bai Ze slowly approached Lan Mu, who kept twitching. The helicopter and sniper in the sky remained locked onto him.
Initially paralyzed by the electric shock, Lan Mu suddenly felt the protective ability of his sixth tail automatically strengthen, shielding the electricity outside his body, only letting it flow over his skin.
The numbness gradually faded. Lan Mu maintained his posture, occasionally twitching to trick the enemy.
“What a beautiful fox! Take it away!”
Just as the Blue Uniforms were about to move, an invisible force suddenly burst from the fox’s tail, sweeping over all humans within thirty meters.
Bai Ze and the others froze, momentarily entranced, gazing at the Nine-tailed Fox with fascination.