Chapter 49: The Demon Suppression Division is Not Stable Internally

The friction of the metal explosion-proof door sliding open was like a sharp blade scraping against eardrums.
Ye Zi’s stiletto heels tapped on the bulletproof floor tiles, precisely in the gaps between heartbeats.

The fabric of her dark blue uniform had a faint metallic sheen.
The waist-cinching cut outlined her figure like an unsheathed Tang sword.

The Yazi totem on her silver epaulets was roaring with its head held high.
The crushed diamonds at its pupils refracted tiny light spots, casting a flowing beast phantom on the wall as she raised her hand.

The fourteen gazes occupying the seats in the conference room suddenly lifted.
The cold light tubes embedded in the ceiling were refracted into a pale white grid on the bulletproof glass curtain wall, cutting each face into tense fragments.

Ye Zi’s gaze swept over the last row.
An old Demon Suppression Envoy’s tactical glove was unconsciously caressing the cinnabar cartridge on his waist—that was the annual excellence award issued by Cheng Yu seven years ago.

These fourteen people occupying the seats were all Demon Suppression Envoys belonging to the Lin’an Demon Suppression Division.
Each of them was responsible for leading a whole team.

At this moment, each of the Demon Suppression Envoys had a grave expression on their faces.
In the past 24 hours, someone had indiscriminately attacked demon slayers in Lin’an City.
Among them, four members of the Demon Suppression Division had been attacked and killed.

The third chair on the right side of the conference room was slightly tilted back.
The non-slip teeth of Xu Zhi’s combat boots were grinding the dust in the cracks of the floor tiles.
While everyone else was adjusting their posture, he was the only one with his arms crossed, leaning against the back of his chair.
Half a bandage was exposed from the cuff of his black combat uniform, and the cinnabar incantations floating underneath were faintly visible.

“The death toll has increased to eleven.”
When Ye Zi’s fingertip slid across the gilt-gold podium, the Yazi totem swam from her epaulet to the marble tabletop, gnawing out a dent that was emitting green smoke.
“The blood of our four comrades is still coagulated at the bottom of the West City viaduct.”

A soft sound of a tactical dagger being unsheathed came from behind Xu Zhi.
Zhou Xuan was lightly tapping the edge of his tablet with the blade.
This was their team’s code, which meant that at least three teams had turned on their recording devices.

“I will notify the Inspection Bureau later, and then sign an executive order.
Given the trend of the indiscriminate attacks worsening, I declare that the Lin’an Demon Suppression Division has officially entered a level two alert state.”

“All patrol teams will have their shifts delayed by two hours.
All front-line personnel will have their leave canceled.
Notify the police, logistics, and public transportation systems.
I want two-thirds of the military officials to fully implement the pursuit and capture operation.”

The dark green velvet curtains moved without any wind.
The dust floating in the blue light of the projector suddenly froze.

When the words “level two alert state” fell, someone in the back row knocked over a water cup.
The metal cup lid spun wildly on the tabletop, making a piercing sound of metal scraping.

Xu Zhi’s peripheral vision caught Old Qin in the third seat on the left squinting.
The purple sandalwood prayer beads on the old man’s wrist were turning at the rhythm of the demon slayer’s meditation mantra.

“Commander Ye seems to have forgotten that declaring a state of alert for the Demon Suppression Division requires the authentication of the Demon Suppression Supervisor’s authority.”

A sound of metal knocking suddenly came from the northwest corner.
It was a Demon Suppression Envoy wearing a Xiezhi brooch, who was knocking on the conference table with a bronze beast mask.

This person was Old Qin’s apprentice.

Although Ye Zi was the commander, there were actually power struggles within the Demon Suppression Division.
As a new commander who had just arrived at the Lin’an Demon Suppression Division four years ago, many of the old-timers who had served in the Lin’an Demon Suppression Division for more than eight years did not obey her.

Only Xu Zhi’s team had been brought up by her and could be considered her confidants.
And Old Qin was one of the old-timers who did not obey this new commander, Ye Zi.

“Zhu Ning!”

Old Qin suddenly spoke up to remind him but then stopped abruptly.
The bronze tiger talisman that had slipped out of Ye Zi’s sleeve was now floating three inches in front of Zhu Ning’s forehead.

“The great Demon Suppression Supervisor Cheng is not here.
According to the regulations, I will exercise the authority of the Demon Suppression Supervisor on his behalf.”
Her voice was like a quenched steel blade cutting through the stagnant air.
“Doctor Lu.”

“The relevant materials have been prepared for everyone.
Now, I will explain the case.”
Lu Qingyu walked out of the shadows, her ponytail swaying in a neat arc behind her head as she walked.

The cold light filtered by the metal blinds cut fine stripes on the autopsy photos.
Her fingertip slid across the screen, and the close-up of the victim’s chest cavity was suddenly enlarged.

This corpse was a Demon Suppression Officer.
His chest cavity was as open as a blood moon, and there were still undried water stains on the broken ends of his ribs.
When he was found, his whole body was soaked in the river, and the current had washed him to the harbor in the lower city.

Flipping through the materials in front of him, Xu Zhi’s tactical glove suddenly crushed the coffee paper cup, and the brown liquid snaked down the grooves of the wooden tabletop.

The materials contained his name, position, place of origin, date of birth, and time of death, which was exactly two hours before Gu Xiyan was attacked.

In the final photo of the scene where the body was found, he was floating on his back among the water plants in the old harbor.
His swollen right hand was still tightly clutching half a broken sword.

Xu Zhi recognized the “Xuan” character emblem engraved on the hilt.
It was a newcomer who had just passed the Demon Suppression Officer’s assessment last month.

A living person had turned into this thin autopsy report overnight.

“The deceased’s wounds show cross-shaped tears.”
The red dot of the laser pointer moved on the screen, illuminating the strange geometric patterns on the cross-section of the costal cartilage.

“There are active substances remaining between the myocardial cells.
This substance is similar in composition to the unknown substance extracted from the scene of the Lin’an University incident last week.”

A series of gasps suddenly sounded in the conference room—when the screen switched to a close-up of the deceased’s heart, everyone saw clearly the black and red mycelia growing wildly in the coronary arteries.

They were writhing with the frequency of the projector fan’s vibration.
Even through the screen, one could feel a nauseating vitality.

That was not a symptom of demonic energy corrosion.
Demonic energy corrosion would only destroy the structure of human cells and cause organ failure, while these mycelia growing wildly in the coronary arteries…

“This substance lacks the characteristics of demonic energy.”

Xu Zhi suddenly smelled a faint scent of sandalwood from his side.
It was the soothing incense that the old Demon Suppression Envoy, Zhang Xian, usually used.
This old senior, who had once single-handedly wiped out a whole demon’s den, was now wiping his gold-rimmed glasses with an old, pilled handkerchief.

“Compared to demonic energy, this is more like some kind of virus.”

“Perhaps it’s some unknown demon?”
Lu Qingtian, who was behind Xu Zhi, suddenly said.

“No, all demons will leave pheromones containing special chemical components when they use their demonic energy, which is what we call demonic energy.
However, the pheromones left at the scene when the victims were attacked were more like human pheromones than demon pheromones.”

“In other words, the Demon Suppression Division’s existing demonic energy detection mechanism is completely unable to capture the traces of this attacker?”
Lu Qingtian gasped.

“Seventeen minutes ago, the logistics team of the External Affairs Bureau found this in a water sample near the place where Gu Xiyan was attacked.”
Lu Qingyu opened a sealed box, and a cloud of frost billowed out.

A broken fingernail was sealed in liquid nitrogen.
The scarlet nail surface was covered with spiral patterns, and it glinted with a cold light like meteoric iron under the conference lights.

Xu Zhi suddenly remembered the night of the attack.
That long-haired figure had also had a fingernail cut off by him, but that fingernail had been taken away by the Inspection Bureau for investigation after the battlefield was cleaned up.

Perhaps it was time to ask the Inspection Bureau.
This was not a simple internal problem of the demon slayers.