I Contracted Myself

Who hasn't gone through a time of innocence and naivety?

Even someone as strong as Liu Sishan had her fair share of innocent thoughts and cute, childish behaviors when she was young.

With a gentle wave of her hand, the ice sword melted into pure water and then dissipated into the air.

"Are you really... Sister Sisi?" Zhang Ping asked, looking at Liu Sishan.

Liu Sishan didn't remove the icy mask from her face. She looked at Zhang Ping and said, "Second question, according to our investigation, your ability is the Greed Gem, which was evaluated as Useless Grade because it couldn't meet the activation conditions. So... why have your actions been so abnormal lately?"

"Because I ate the Greed Gem," Zhang Ping answered truthfully.

This was a question he could answer since even the evaluators didn't know all the effects of the Contract Gem.

Liu Sishan was taken aback and asked in confusion, "You ate it yourself?"

"Yes, after I ate the Greed Gem, my mind and body were completely under my control. That's when I discovered two Mutated Beasts hiding in the school. I started to suspect whether Mingzhu City belonged to humans or Mutated Beasts, so I began investigating," Zhang Ping nodded.

Liu Sishan remained silent. Zhang Ping's answer was plausible, but according to the organization's investigation, there was only one Mutated Beast in Mingzhu Academy of Powers.

They even hired assassins to probe, but still couldn't uncover the enemy's details.

"Are you saying you can accurately identify all the Mutated Beasts in the city?" Liu Sishan asked Zhang Ping seriously.

Zhang Ping was stunned, then squinted his eyes open and asked, "You mean you still don't know what the Mutated Beasts in the city are?"

"Answer my question first."

Liu Sishan avoided answering. After all, she still couldn't determine whether Zhang Ping was human or a Mutated Beast.

Some Mutated Beasts could create extremely sophisticated illusions, making everything within the illusion seem real, but in reality, it was all a product of human imagination.

If she was currently trapped in a similar ability, any information she provided could be leaked to the enemy.

"Based on my investigation, there are currently a large number of Mutated Beasts hiding in the city. They are all Tianchang Foxes. I suspect a whole clan has invaded Mingzhu City. Their abilities generally include two or three, with their racial abilities being Cognitive Distortion and Defiance of Common Sense.

Currently, there are two Tianchang Foxes hiding in the school. Centered around the school, almost every street has over thirty Tianchang Foxes hiding. Most importantly, the Patrol Guard has been completely taken over by Tianchang Foxes. There are no living humans inside, and anyone who joins the Patrol Guard will be eaten by the Tianchang Foxes," Zhang Ping realized Liu Sishan still didn't fully trust him, so he decided to provide more information after a moment of thought.

Liu Sishan's eyes widened. She knew Mingzhu City was dangerous and harbored an unknown number of Mutated Beasts, but she hadn't expected the situation to be this severe.

If what Zhang Ping said was true, then Mingzhu City had essentially fallen into the hands of the Mutated Beasts, turning the entire city into their hunting ground, with humans becoming their prey.

"I've noted down the identities of some Tianchang Foxes. You can try to verify them. This should prove that I'm human, right?" Zhang Ping asked, looking at Liu Sishan.

Liu Sishan hesitated, then nodded after some thought, "Go ahead."

"Le Ye Street, Wan Shang Breakfast Shop, the owner is a Tianchang Fox. Also on Le Ye Street, Jiu An Furniture, the owner is a Tianchang Fox. Long Zhu Street, Long Qiang Weapon Shop, the three blacksmiths are all Tianchang Foxes. You can investigate these first, and we'll talk after you verify them," Zhang Ping said slowly.

He thought for a moment and added, "Honestly, I originally thought you knew the Mutated Beasts were Tianchang Foxes, at least knew their abilities.

But it seems you determined there were Mutated Beasts in Mingzhu City through other means, without knowing the specifics. So if you're going to verify, it's best to find trustworthy people. After all, I don't know if there are Tianchang Foxes hiding in your team or organization."

Liu Sishan couldn't be sure if there were Tianchang Foxes hiding in the organization after hearing Zhang Ping's words.

Cognitive Distortion and Defiance of Common Sense—just hearing the names was enough to guess what kind of abilities they were. Combining these two abilities was terrifying.

After a moment of thought, Liu Sishan decided to contact the captain.

She could no longer discern whether Zhang Ping's words were true or false, and the information he provided was too crucial. If it was true, it would be key intelligence.

"Stay here, I'll be back soon," she said, looking at Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping shrugged, squinting at Liu Sishan, and said helplessly, "Do I look like I can move?"

Alright.

In fact, he could break free from the liquid suit's restraints.

But considering it might cause misunderstandings, he let the strange liquid wrap around him. It wasn't particularly uncomfortable anyway.

Liu Sishan left the dark room and took out a badge from her pocket.

The badge was slightly larger than a coin, with a blue pearl embedded in the center.

She pressed the pearl lightly, and an old voice came from the badge, "Sisi, I've already heard from Man Ni. Your Luck Fire hasn't extinguished but has grown stronger. So, what's the good news?"

"Captain, I don't know if this counts as good news..." Liu Sishan sighed and then relayed the information Zhang Ping provided.

On the other end of the badge, an elderly man with silver hair listened to Liu Sishan's account and then looked up at the others.

In the meeting room, over a dozen members sat, each frowning and pondering the information Liu Sishan provided.

Though the information differed somewhat from their current findings, many parts coincided.

"Tianchang Fox, has anyone heard of this Mutated Beast?" the old man asked, tapping the table lightly.

A middle-aged man sitting to his right spoke up, "I can confirm that no Mutated Beast named Tianchang Fox has ever appeared near Mingzhu City. However, Cognitive Distortion and Defiance of Common Sense have appeared before. The Mutated Beast with Cognitive Distortion was the Heart-Eating Illusion Fox, and the one with Defiance of Common Sense was the Parasitic Danger Fox. It's possible these two mated and left offspring."

"So, the information provided by Sisi's little friend might be true," the old man pondered.

At this point, a burly man sitting to the old man's left spoke up, "Since the other side provided accurate identities of the Mutated Beasts, let me verify it."

"Jin Bo, don't be rash," the middle-aged man on the right said.

The old man smiled, "If Sisi's little friend is a Mutated Beast, then the information provided must be a trap. But it could also be bait to gain our trust. However, I think it's worth a gamble. After all, Sisi's Luck Fire can't be faked. Jin Bo, take your team to verify the information. If possible, bring back the Tianchang Fox's corpse!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Jin Bo responded and then left.

The middle-aged man looked worried, "Captain, isn't this too risky?"

"Chen Ming, the greatest enemy is the unknown. We've already lost several elites recently, yet we've only discovered two Mutated Beasts and still can't identify the enemy. Now we finally have a chance to verify, and we can't afford to be cautious. That's not the style of our Sweep Team," the old man said solemnly.

He looked out the window, where the dark silhouette of Mingzhu City could be seen, and sighed, "Now that Mingzhu is covered in dust, our Sweep Team must clean it up and restore its shine. We can't afford to be hesitant and fearful."

...

Le Ye Street, Wan Shang Breakfast Shop.

This breakfast shop had a structure similar to Iron Soul but only had two floors.

In the master bedroom on the second floor, a middle-aged fat man was snoring in his sleep. Beside him lay a two-meter-tall fox, also asleep. As it breathed in and out, the human skin on its forehead rose and fell.

At this moment, a door appeared on one side of the bedroom.

The moment the door appeared, the fox on the bed opened its eyes sharply, but it was too late.

One punch!

The fox's head exploded, eerily without making a sound, and the fat man beside it continued to sleep undisturbed.

Jin Bo lifted the fox's corpse with one hand and quickly said, "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, in Mingzhu Academy of Powers, 'Luo Shiyu,' who was resting, suddenly opened her eyes. She instantly left the dormitory and looked into the distance.

"Your Highness?"

A Tianchang Fox immediately appeared behind her.

'Luo Shiyu' said, "Yue Jiu is dead. Someone killed Yue Jiu."

With that, she leaped into the air, reaching a height of a hundred meters in an instant. She scanned the surroundings and suddenly sensed another Tianchang Fox being killed.

Location locked!

In the next moment, she dived down, landing directly on Le Ye Street. But then she frowned and looked around. The aura had disappeared again.

But soon, the aura reappeared!

The problem was that it appeared even further away, and another Tianchang Fox was killed!

"Roar!!!"

She gritted her teeth, her long ears standing up as she struggled to control her anger.

In the end, she couldn't help but let out a roar, and a terrifying wave of air burst from her, spreading out as a strong wind.

The surrounding Tianchang Foxes were startled awake.

One by one, they emerged from all directions, with human skins fluttering in the wind.

But by this time, Jin Bo's team had already left Mingzhu City with the corpses of two Tianchang Foxes.

Even as corpses, they retained their human forms while in Mingzhu City. Jin Bo hesitated for a second after killing the first Tianchang Fox, but he decided to continue.

Better to kill wrongly than to let one escape.

After they left Mingzhu City for a while, the corpses suddenly turned into foxes, startling the team members carrying them. Once they noticed the change, the team members were both shocked and uncertain.

Jin Bo looked back and revealed a grim smile, his killing intent overflowing, "This is good news. At least we finally know who the enemy is!"

The Sweep Team had determined there were Mutated Beasts hiding in Mingzhu City based on the city's overall luck.

They sent elites into Mingzhu City to investigate, but not only did they fail to find any results, but out of twenty elites, only eight were still in contact.

The other twelve members had not only lost contact, but their Luck Fires had also extinguished, indicating they were dead.

The Sweep Team was an organization independent of Mingzhu City's system, established with the simple purpose of being a trump card that could turn the tide in times of disaster.

Most of the team's elites came from the Investigation Team and Patrol Guard, all of whom were once renowned geniuses.

These geniuses voluntarily gave up everything from their past through fake deaths or disappearances to protect Mingzhu City from the shadows.

Losing twelve members rashly was a painful blow.

But they couldn't find the enemy.

Everyone was holding back their frustration.

And now.

They finally found them!