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This emergency suffocation relief method named cricothyrotomy, Li Cheng had only seen it in TV dramas and books, never practiced on a living being.

The rough and clumsy action just now might lead to complications such as mediastinal emphysema, laryngeal edema, vocal cord damage, or even wound infection, but compared to suffocating to death, all these were acceptable.

"Gurgle, gurgle."

The wasp-like monster was still sucking the blood of the second victim and, from the extent of the latter's emaciation, the feeding was nearly finished.

There was little time remaining, but fortunately, since oxygen supply had been restored, Li Cheng had considerably more strength than before.

He forcefully cut through the spiderwebs on his left hand and then those on his cheek.

Finally, he tore free from the bindings, propped up the bicycle that had fallen beside him, and cycled with all his might.

It was not until now that Li Cheng noticed the changes in the sky.

Through the night sky stretched an incredibly magnificent fissure, with millions of dazzling stars, purple, red, and green, twinkling within.

Buzz buzz buzz—

Without time to ponder, the sound of membranous wings vibrating followed; that wasp-like monster actually stopped its feeding and flew straight toward him, its sharp long stinger aiming for the back of Li Cheng's neck.

Li Cheng twisted his body and raised his backpack in front of him. The wasp's long stinger pierced through the backpack and deeply into the books inside, puncturing Li Cheng's palm. The force of the beast's impact also caused the uncontrollable bicycle to plunge into the water.

Blood diffused in the icy river water; enduring the intense pain, he turned over, kicked against the riverbed, and using his advantage in body weight, pressed the wasp-like monster under the water, and stabbed his knife into its body.

Although the wasp-like creature was strong, it weighed less than a human and was at a great disadvantage underwater. During the struggle, two of the three Blood Ambers on its forehead fell off, washed by the river onto the back of Li Cheng's hand, and instantly merged with his skin.

Buzz!

The wasp monster vibrated its membranous wings explosively and broke free from Li Cheng's grasp, leaving the water surface and circling back up into the high sky. Its waterproof brown-yellow velvet fur was especially conspicuous under the starlight.

Boom—

A heavy bullet from afar pierced through the wasp monster's abdomen, blowing it up mid-air; its putrid yellow fluids and the accumulated blood in its abdomen splattered everywhere.

Li Cheng was suddenly startled and submerged himself underwater on reflex.

Seconds later, from the direction the gunshot had come, a Humvee emblazoned with the English trademark of "Prometheus Laboratory Company" roared into view.

The vehicle's door opened, and several fully armed gunmen jumped out. The last to exit was a blond, blue-eyed man in a suit, holding an exaggeratedly designed anti-material sniper rifle.

"Commander,"

One armed personnel with a detector scanned the half-corpse of the wasp monster under the tree and reported to the suited man, "It's been checked, it's a low-level insectoid experimental subject that escaped from the killing field. It carries a fragment of the Insect Master Divine Calamity, with an anomaly fluctuation index of 31."

"Understood."

The suited man nodded, took a glance around the environment, his gaze lingering slightly on the bicycle tracks and bloodstains on the ground and the remnants of spiderwebs on the wall, his brows slightly furrowed, "Missing two pieces of Divine Calamity Fragments..."

Just as he was about to step towards the canal, car headlight beams lit up in the distance on the bridge, and three black armored vehicles came speeding over.

"The Special Affairs Administration arrived so quickly?"

The suited man's eyes narrowed slightly, signaling his subordinates to clean up the scene. Especially the blood droplets on the ground.

The three armored vehicles screeched to a halt by the roadside, and a group of men and women in black suits alighted. They took over the scene adeptly, put on gloves, collected the wasp monster's flesh and blood, and lowered the two mummy-like victims from the wall.

They treated the Prometheus group as if they were invisible.

"Miss Tang Wenwei, long time no see."

The blond man greeted, "According to the rules of the Special Affairs Bureau, in the Shadow Realm, whoever kills the experimental subject gets to keep the body..."

"That's when there hasn't been a homicide."

The short-haired woman known as Tang Wenwei was blunt and cold, "There are victims on-site, the Special Affairs Bureau has the right to take away all abnormalities related to the case. That includes the experimental subject's body."

Special Affairs Bureau? Shadow Realm? Experimental subject?

Li Cheng, who was completely submerged underwater, was filled with question marks upon hearing these terms.

He vaguely felt that those black-suited people claiming to be from the Special Affairs Bureau were probably an official organization, now hesitating whether he should emerge from the water to reveal his identity as an ordinary citizen.

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"Tang Sister, this person is still alive!"

A Special Affairs Bureau agent suddenly shouted.

Everyone looked over at once to see the second victim, almost indistinguishable from a dried corpse, lying on the ground, gasping for breath with great effort.

Special Affairs Bureau personnel hurriedly approached, injected an unknown liquid into his body with a syringe, and placed a simple respirator over his mouth and nose to assist his breathing.

As the suspected nutrient solution was infused, the victim's skin slowly plumped up, and he gained the strength to speak.

"Where... where am I? Who are you?" He managed to stand up with the support of people nearby, his gaze erratic and unfocused.

"Do you remember your name? Where is your family address?" The Special Affairs Bureau agent asked as he took out his phone to snap a photo of the man for comparison against the residential database.

"Me? My name is Tan Tao, I'm a rideshare driver,"

He spoke slower and slower under the eerie gaze of the surrounding people, as if desperately trying to recall.

The skin on his forehead split open, revealing compound eyes, while his lower jaw bifurcated, sprouting mandibles.

Swoosh!

The rideshare driver's shirt on his back tore apart as a pair of thin, membranous wings stretched out, but he seemed to feel nothing and continued to speak, "I live in Songjiang District, my wife and kids are waiting for me at home, I need to hurry back..."

"Alright, Mr. Tân, we understand your situation, and we will help you."

Tang Wenwei maintained a gentle smile, and suddenly, with lightning speed, she drew a pistol from her waist and shot the man in the forehead.

Brain matter splattered as the driver's insect-transformed corpse fell backward. Those around automatically stepped aside, showing no sign of surprise or anger.

"To die quickly from the infection of the Master of Insects is a form of release."

Tang Wenwei sighed softly and turned to the blonde man from Prometheus Company, "Mr. Augustus, is there anything else you need?"

"Nothing more."

Augustus shrugged his shoulders, his gaze drifting over the surface of the canal, casually remarking, "However, to demonstrate the friendship between Prometheus and the Special Affairs Bureau, we will maintain the presence of the Shadow Realm here, if you don't mind."

"As you wish."

Tang Wenwei didn't pay much heed and continued to direct her subordinates to clean up the scene.

"..."

Li Cheng, submerged beneath the water surface, had the image of Tang Wenwei firing her gun etched into his mind.

[Anyone infected by the Master of Insects finds release in quick death.]

He had just been stung by a bee monster in his palm; does that count as an infection? If so, if he surfaces now, will he too be executed with a gunshot to the head?

With chaotic thoughts, he held his breath, pushing the bike silently through the water below the surface.

Only when he could barely hold on did he carefully stick the snorkel out of the water for a breath of air, then continued to submerge.

After what felt like a long time, when the armored vehicles were no longer in sight, Li Cheng finally surfaced, crawled to the banks, and lay coughing violently under the bridge arch.

The city's lights had come back on, and the stars in the sky had disappeared, as if everything just before had been an illusion.

"Ugh—"

He vomited a large amount of blood-stained gastric fluid, his hands trembling uncontrollably as they supported his body.

The scent of fresh blood attracted the surrounding colonies of ants. Large numbers of ants crawled over, licking at Li Cheng's bloody discharge, and some climbed onto his hands.

I can't fall here. I need to get home.

His blurry consciousness drove his body to stand. He shook off the ants on his hands and, swaying, propped up his bicycle to head toward his aunt's home.

His body was feverishly hot, and the river-soaked clothes slowly steamed as they dried. By the time Li Cheng rode the elevator up and arrived at his front door, his clothes, including his backpack, were dry.

Leaning on the last bit of consciousness, he changed into slippers, closed the security door, and went to his bedroom to fall asleep immediately.