Eastern city of Shuzhou Region, Baqiu City, located 320 kilometers from Celestial City.

The temporary base of the Mysterious Creature Disaster Response Committee's frontline command is set here.

This was originally the Baqiu City Stadium, but now all the sports facilities have been cleared out and replaced with communication equipment with dark green military coating, thick cables are everywhere, and staff wearing various departmental uniforms are busily moving through the gaps between equipment and tables, phone rings going off incessantly.

A large countdown number is constantly shrinking on the big screen hanging at the center of the basketball court—

"10, 9, 8, 7..."

Meanwhile, three hundred kilometers away, the countdown is also proceeding in Sun Hang and Ye Jiu's headphones.

"3, 2, 1..."

"Light array, activate!"

Dazzling white light instantly enveloped the sky above Jinjiang CBD, making the night sky look like broad daylight.

"Report from Observation Position 1, no significant change in the aerial spherical mysterious entity! No significant change in the ground shadow mysterious entity!"

"Report from Observation Position 2, no significant change in the aerial spherical mysterious entity! No significant change in the ground shadow mysterious entity!"

"Report from Observation Position 7, no significant change in the aerial spherical mysterious entity! No significant change in the ground shadow mysterious entity!"

...

The Shadowless Lamp Array has been lit, but the anticipated disappearance of shadows has not occurred.

Although expectations were not high from the start, both the frontline command and the personnel on site inevitably showed a mix of disappointment and solemnity in their eyes.

"No effect?" Ye Jiu took a deep breath and looked at Sun Hang.

He hesitated for a moment before finally asking Sun Hang, "So...what do we do next?"

Despite not wanting to admit it, Ye Jiu still hoped that Sun Hang could offer a feasible "backup plan" at this time—during previous missions, Ye Jiu only needed to cut the mysterious entities, but this time he encountered a creature that couldn't even be killed by "slaughter."

Sun Hang crouched down, reaching out his hand towards the nearby shadow—the shadow seemed to sense Sun Hang's finger approaching, quickly retreating ten centimeters, always keeping a half-meter "safe distance" from him.

Sun Hang looked up at the chaotic sphere in the sky, shrouded by intense light yet unchanged, a faint glimmer flashing in his mind.

Sun Hang suddenly realized a problem: the entire Shuzhou Region is under the Eternal Night, and there is no light source in the sky. The visibility in the CBD is solely due to light pollution reminiscent of artificial daylight...

Thus, the sphere suspended a thousand meters in the air shouldn't be casting a shadow.

Unless it's reversed.

"I understand," Sun Hang said, "the shadow on the ground is the conscious mysterious entity's body, while the one in the sky is the shadow..."

"Then why would the missile be swallowed by a shadow without mass?" Ye Jiu immediately asked.

"I don't know, but since the light array is set up, let's try again—please adjust the light direction, make all the lighting devices aim at the ground."

At the same time, in Baqiu City Stadium.

Dozens of programmers were wildly typing on keyboards, the clattering sounds blending together as they urgently modified recently completed programs, adjusting the drone array's formation and light direction—the array included various brands, models, and operating systems, making this task several levels more difficult and causing more foul language to slip from the programmers' mouths.

The program modification took roughly nine minutes; no countdown was needed this time. After a final check and confirmation all was well, the chief engineer responsible for controlling the light array decisively pressed the Enter key.

The dense swarm of drones started moving, the lights gradually turned, and during this process, occasionally a drone lost control and plummeted from the sky, its light device spinning in the air like cyber moths drawn to flames.

The originally sky-bound intense light now hit the ground, with Sun Hang in the center of the illuminated area—even with closed eyes, the light penetrated his eyelids and burned his retinas, much like staring directly at the sun. Had it not been for Taishui granting him potent self-healing abilities, Sun Hang's eyes might have been scorched blind.

"I should've gotten goggles first..."

Sun Hang lowered his head, placing his hand above his eyes to shield them, glancing at the ground—only to find the entire street incredibly bright...yet the black shadow remained like a bone-eating poisonous sore, covering the ground and buildings.

But soon, an excited voice rang through the headphones.

"Report from Observation Position 1! The aerial spherical mysterious entity has disappeared!"

"Report from Observation Position 4! The aerial spherical mysterious entity has disappeared!"

"Report from Observation Position 9! The aerial spherical mysterious entity has disappeared!"

"Celestial City Mysterious Creature Research Institute reports, the Jinjiang CBD ground shadow meme frequency has changed, reason currently unknown!"

"Looks like the one in the sky was truly a shadow," Sun Hang took a deep breath, hundreds of hyphae spreading from his body as the center to the surroundings, directly piercing the ground and entwining with the "shadow."

Before the chaotic sphere in the sky disappeared, the shadow on the ground was entirely untouchable...but once the chaotic sphere vanished, Sun Hang clearly felt the shadow at his feet had changed.

This change was akin to water freezing at low temperatures; the liquid that would flow through fingers now congealed into a tangible solid.

A bizarre stickiness emanated from the end of the hyphae, the sprawling shadow resembling a layer of gelatin coating the ground. Despite its fluidity, it also possessed high adhesion, able to stick to any surface and cause rapid aging.

For some reason, a thought suddenly popped into Sun Hang's head—this substance felt like time materialized, yet mingled with some indescribable impurities.

There's an ancient saying in Xiazhou, "Heaven and Earth are unkind," with heaven and earth referring to the world, and unkind meaning lacking perception, thought, and self-awareness. Time, as the "fourth axis" of space, shouldn't possess consciousness, but the existence of this mysterious entity defied that understanding.

Even time can be infected by the Deceit Virus.

More hyphae shot out from Sun Hang's body. Before the other Hunters arrived, he must devour as much of this shadow as possible...once he digested this mysterious entity, perhaps he could...

"Damn it!"

Just as Sun Hang realized the problem, it was already too late.

The previously empty street suddenly had three statues taller than a person, and the subjects of the statues felt incredibly familiar to Sun Hang.

Three monkeys, one covering its eyes, one covering its ears, and the last covering its mouth.

Before Sun Hang could react, the third monkey statue lowered its hand from its mouth.

A piercing siren sounded in Sun Hang's ears. Even though he covered them, the sound still penetrated his brain—or to put it more precisely, it seemed like the siren was originating from the depths of his mind.

The shadow covering the street began to boil like heated liquid, then evaporate. Even the portion Sun Hang had devoured was drawn out of his body, disappearing into the void...in just a few seconds, the shadow expanding to three blocks vanished completely, leaving behind precarious old buildings that seemed abandoned for a century.

A thin strand of hyphae accidentally brushed against a trash bin on the street, causing it to instantly disintegrate, with whitish plastic dust scattering everywhere.

"Did you...did you eliminate the mysterious entity?" Ye Jiu's shocked voice came through the headphones, "How did you do it? Why did those shadows suddenly seem like they were ignited...what exactly is going on?"

The statues of the Three Monkeys had disappeared, and from Ye Jiu's words, they apparently never appeared in his field of view.

Sun Hang stood still, glanced at the spot where the statues had just emerged, and couldn't help but curse quietly.

"Damn monkey...screams worse than ghosts."

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