"Holy shit—what happened? A massive explosion?"

"What? What did you say? My ears are ringing so badly I can't hear a thing!"

The explosion was sudden and powerful, but fortunately, Wang Lan's strength was more than enough to handle such an emergency. The Hades Bone Card, flickering with spectral light, had a surprisingly potent suppressive effect on area-of-effect destruction, far exceeding Wang Lan's expectations.

The blast was intense, but casualties were minimal. However, the animals in the Illusion Demon Zoo suffered heavy losses, as the epicenter was deep beneath the zoo's center. Wang Lan could only protect the areas not yet consumed by the explosion; for those already hit, there was nothing he could do.

In a flash, Wang Lan appeared in the crater left by the blast. The acrid stench of burning filled the air as thick smoke slowly dissipated, revealing the scene underground.

Approximately ten meters beneath the zoo lay a hidden base. The explosion was likely triggered by its self-destruct mechanism. The base was about the same size as the zoo above. The horrific blast had obliterated everything within—equipment, personnel, and anything else.

"Captain!" Li Yan and the others rushed over, their mouths agape in horror at the sight.

"Who would have thought such a place was hidden down here? What kind of nefarious research were they conducting?" Lu Qian asked, stunned.

"I believe this is why they murdered Shen Weimin and abducted those thirty individuals with supernatural abilities. That Silverback Gorilla and Lu Xiaoguo must be connected somehow. Unfortunately, they were too decisive. They initiated the self-destruct sequence before we even had a chance to discover the base," Wang Lan said. He looked down at a charred finger at his feet. Its delicate appearance suggested it belonged to a woman.

The base, the researchers—all blown to smithereens. How utterly ruthless!

"Wang Lan, an SUV just forced its way through the checkpoint in the eastern district!" An urgent call suddenly came through the walkie-talkie.

The moment the voice faded, Li Yan and the others saw Wang Lan vanish. He reappeared high in the sky in an instant. Using Weight Exchange, Wang Lan soared upwards and flew east.

The eastern checkpoint was a wreck, with paramedics frantically treating injured guards. Wang Lan shot through the air, creating a sonic boom as he sped towards the elevated highway in the distance. An SUV was recklessly barreling down it, with three police cars in hot pursuit.

Causing such a major incident, and you still think you can escape?

Instantly, Wang Lan raised his hand. A pair of golden wings unfolded from his wrist, and a Fire Arrow materialized.

"SWOOSH—"

As if transcending time itself, the arrow struck the speeding SUV. Just a moment before impact, several figures leaped from the vehicle.

"BOOM—"

The SUV erupted in a terrifying explosion, the force of which flung it into the air. It flipped several times before crashing back onto the highway, engulfed in raging flames. Traffic on the elevated highway came to an immediate standstill.

Six mysterious individuals in black suits and sunglasses stood there. Two of them flanked an elderly, white-haired man who clutched a silver briefcase.

Wang Lan's figure drifted down gently like a feather, his military-style coat billowing in the wind. If this moment were captured on film, it would undoubtedly have legions of fangirls swooning.

"Who are you people? How dare you cause trouble in Modu City? Who gave you such audacity?"

"You cover our retreat; we're leaving!" one of them commanded coldly. He grabbed the old man and spun around to flee, while the other four drew their weapons and charged at Wang Lan.

These four men in black were all at the peak of the Star Cloud Stage, considered experts even within the Tianjian Bureau. Even in the Modu City Tianjian Bureau, Star Cloud Stage cultivators were mainstays. Unfortunately for them, they were up against Wang Lan.

"Dance of the Dark Butterfly!"

In an instant, Wang Lan's form scattered into countless butterflies. With a gentle flutter of their wings, they vanished, only to reappear beside the four men in black.

Wang Lan materialized in a flash of light, and all four men froze. As Wang Lan walked casually past them, jets of blood erupted from their throats simultaneously.

They collapsed, trembling, never to rise again.

Afterimages trailed behind Wang Lan. With what seemed like a single step, he covered hundreds of meters. By the time he caught up to the remaining three, they were just about to hijack a taxi.

Before they could even open the car door, they saw Wang Lan approaching at terrifying speed. Suddenly, one of the men in black lunged, his fingers, sharp as knives, plunging into the white-haired old man's chest. He ripped out the old man's heart with a swift tug.

The old man stared in horror at the man's hand, at the beating heart. It was his own. The man in black had moved so fast that his heart had been torn out, yet he hadn't died instantly.

Just as another man in black was about to grab the briefcase, a Nether Butterfly fluttered to his side. Instantly, his head flew upwards like a released balloon.

Wang Lan turned and struck the last man in black on the forehead. He was just about to use Spirit Engraving to probe the man's memories when a terrifying Star Power Turbulence erupted within the man's mind. His head instantly burst open like a smashed watermelon.

At this sight, Wang Lan's eyes instantly turned cold. This familiar method… it reminds me of one name—Paradise Bird!

"WAIL! WAIL! WAIL!"

Police cars arrived, sirens blaring. The officers who emerged gasped at the chaotic scene, their expressions a mixture of shock and awe as they looked at Wang Lan.

How long has it been? Just a few seconds, right? Probably not even ten. And this group of criminals, who moments ago had unstoppable momentum breaking through the checkpoint and were recklessly fleeing on the elevated highway, all killed on the spot.

"Officer Wang Lan, are you alright? That briefcase in your hand is…"

"I'm not sure. They wouldn't abandon it even when fleeing for their lives, so its contents must be very important to them. When they realized escape was impossible, they tried to destroy it, but I stopped them. You stay here and manage the cleanup. I'm returning to the precinct to handle the follow-up."

Wang Lan flew directly back to the precinct with the briefcase. The bomb disposal unit confirmed it contained no explosives. Wang Lan opened it to find a server mainframe.

However, the server required a password, and three incorrect attempts would lock it down completely. For Wang Lan, such encryption was trivial.

Xiao Ai's avatar entered the system and quickly got the server running. The data inside likely contained the research findings from the underground laboratory. It was too advanced for Wang Lan to comprehend, and no one else at the precinct could make sense of it either. However, their inability to understand it wasn't an issue, as long as they could find someone who could.

As a secondary capital, Modu City boasted world-class universities rivaling the prestige of those in the Imperial Capital, with numerous experts and professors across various fields. After a group of professors from Zhenhua University was invited to the precinct, they immediately began studying the data from the server.

"This is research on neural bridging!" After two hours, the professorial team delivered their conclusion.

"Neural bridging?"

"Yes, and not just ordinary neural bridging, but neuronal bridging technology within the brain. This concept was first proposed a hundred years ago by Xila biologists. They believed that brain neurons were the human soul, and that all actions, consciousness, thoughts, and behaviors of living beings were controlled by neurons. If neuronal bridging or transfer could be achieved, humans could transcend their physical bodies and reach a god-like state. However, as science progressed, neural bridging didn't prove to be as miraculous as that Xila scientist claimed. The soul and neurons are unrelated, but neural bridging can indeed enable body-swapping or even the creation of spare bodies for individuals. Much current research in neuroscience focuses on using neurons to control machinery, hoping that one day humans will be able to control machines as easily as their own bodies. But the research data here is clearly more unorthodox and far less tolerated by society. They were actually connecting human neurons with animal neurons—essentially projecting human thought and consciousness into animals. It's utterly… anti-human."

As he spoke, the professor's face filled with disdain and anger.

"Colonel Wang Lan," Gaoyu Duch said, arriving with a document in hand as he entered the research room, "We've identified that professor. His name is Gula, a leading biology professor from Rui Country. Ten years ago, he proposed biological neural bridging, arguing that connecting neurons to cold machinery was impossible. He claimed that the fundamental structures of machines and humans are different, and that bridging is only possible between animals. Consequently, he secretly carried out related research. After his activities were exposed, he was sentenced to two years in prison and disappeared after his release."

"Paradise Bird must have found him. That underground base belonged to Paradise Bird."

"Paradise Bird? Don't they usually cause trouble for White Eagle Country?"

"Do terrorists, composed of traitors to humanity, pick and choose their targets? We've clashed with them several times. Paradise Bird members have a Skill Form implanted in their minds to prevent Spirit Engraving. If anyone attempts it, their brains will immediately self-destruct."

"To think Paradise Bird has been hiding in Modu City for so many years… Thankfully, Colonel Wang Lan, you rooted them out. Otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble they might have stirred up, or how much damage they could have inflicted on Modu City."

"By the way, have you found out anything about the zoo's background?"

"We have, but it's not much use. The owner of the zoo is a Jade Country person with White Eagle citizenship. He returned to Jade Country eight years ago to establish this zoo. He subsequently entrusted the zoo's management to a professional team, focusing on its revenue, while he himself spent most of his time outside Jade Country. Now that the zoo is in trouble, he certainly won't be coming back. Besides, his identity is likely fake. The base was destroyed, and its occupants are all dead. The zoo's operations department is separate from its other divisions; they're solely responsible for running the zoo. We've interrogated everyone. Apart from the manager, who suspected the animals' origins might not be entirely legitimate, the keepers and trainers knew nothing about the zoo's hidden dealings. We'll probably only recover their research findings and nothing more."

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