Chapter 26: Fire-Maned Demon Rat, The Gray Crowd!

Yu Le suppressed the various doubts in his heart and joined the others in crowding around the screen.

What came into view was a photograph. The original five members of the Burning Heaven Squad maintained their usual expressions, but the two new recruits were visibly shaken. Su Rui began to retch, and Yu Le’s face turned pale.

In the photo was a monster about half the height of a human, resembling a giant rat. It was the size of a wild boar, and its bristly fur, which emitted flickering flames, looked uncannily like the bristles of a boar. Its eerie green eyes were chilling, even in a static image.

However, what caused Yu Le and Su Rui to lose their composure was that beneath the creature's sharp fangs and claws lay a gutted corpse, which the beast appeared to be devouring with gusto. When Gu Xiaoyuan played the video, the suspicion was confirmed; the rustling, crunching, and bone-gnawing sounds were bone-chilling. Unable to bear it any longer, Su Rui covered his mouth and began to vomit into a trash can. Yu Le, too, felt extremely nauseated and averted his gaze. Such bloody and brutal imagery was not something the average person could stomach.

Yet, Geng Xiao urged Gu Xiaoyuan, "Zoom in on these parts."

Gu Xiaoyuan performed a series of operations, enlarging the rat-like beast as it fed on the human remains, missing no detail. The sounds seemed to grow even clearer. After comparing the visuals, the experienced Demon Hunters, led by Geng Xiao, nodded with certainty.

"The information is accurate. Based on its size and specific features, we can confirm this is a Rank 5 Bone-Tempering Stage monster: the Flame-Maned Demon Rat!"

Geng Xiao then proceeded to explain the mission objectives sent by the Thunder Bolt Squad. He directed his explanation primarily at the two green recruits, Yu Le and Su Rui.

The incident occurred at a gas plant in the East District. Nearby residents were the first to notice something wrong, hearing the acidic, grating sound of gnashing teeth coming from within the plant. When the local gas supply failed and the police bureau sent officers to investigate, they discovered a fire had already broken out at the facility. After conducting a search and gathering evidence, the police learned the truth—a process that cost the lives of three officers. The intelligence gathered indicated that a Flame-Maned Demon Rat of the Rank 5 Bone-Tempering Stage, leading a pack of lesser Bristle-Maned Rats, had invaded the plant. Hundreds of employees had been killed, providing the very corpses seen being devoured in the footage.

The report also noted that the beast’s target was the gas plant’s central hub, which supplied the surrounding neighborhood—a gas converter fueled by a cache of fire-elemental magic cores.

As a Rank 5 Bone-Tempering monster, if this Flame-Maned Demon Rat consumed all the fire-elemental cores within the converter, it might even advance to a higher realm.

"Besides this Flame-Maned Demon Rat, the police report mentions about thirty to forty Rank 1 Stone-Solid Stage Bristle-Maned Rats. The Thunder Bolt Squad has taken on this mission and formulated a battle plan based on the plant's layout. They’ve asked the Burning Heaven Squad to coordinate with them, launching an assault from the east side to help corner the pack and ultimately hunt down that Rank 5 leader."

As Geng Xiao finished speaking, Han Yuesu added, "I suspect there are far more than thirty or forty rats holed up in that plant, don't you think?"

Meng Huai shrugged. "I'm used to it. If you could actually trust the intel gathered by those bureaucrats, pigs would fly."

Clearly, to these veteran Demon Hunters who fought on the front lines, the intelligence gathered by the police was unreliable. Geng Xiao nodded. "It's normal for intel to be incomplete, but the Thunder Bolt Squad is the main force here. We are just coordinating from the east entrance. Regardless, this is our first time facing a Rank 5 Bone-Tempering monster since Mu Chao died. I want to try it. What do you think?"

Han Yuesu nodded silently, and the other three raised their hands. Seeing this, Yu Le and Su Rui followed suit.

Geng Xiao nodded and looked at Yu Le. "Come outside with me."

Geng Xiao led Yu Le to a corridor outside the private room. He offered him a cigarette, lit it, took a few puffs, and then said, "You’ve just joined the squad, and you're already facing a difficult mission. Are you nervous?"

Yu Le exhaled a cloud of smoke and smiled. "It would be a lie to say I’m not."

"There were things I didn't say earlier because I was afraid the kid wouldn't be able to handle it."

Yu Le looked over, curious.

Geng Xiao crushed the cigarette butt. "The Rank 5 Flame-Maned Demon Rat is the leader, but there is a high probability that other Rank 5 Bone-Tempering rats are present. This wasn't in the official report, which is exactly why the Thunder Bolt Squad invited us to assist. Su Rui is still young and not yet steady enough, so I didn't mention it directly."

Yu Le nodded. "I understand."

"Don't keep things bottled up. If you have questions, just ask. It’s just the two of us now."

Hearing this, Yu Le asked directly, "Was Mu Chao..."

"He was our previous teammate. It was only after he died in battle that we started recruiting again." Mentioning the name, Geng Xiao fell into a brief silence. "It was a mission a month ago. Due to a miscalculation in intelligence, a monster we expected to be Rank 4 turned out to be Rank 5. We were outmatched, and Mu Chao died under its claws while protecting Yuesu."

Geng Xiao looked down the dark corridor. "The Burning Heaven Squad and the Thunder Bolt Squad have always been rivals. When Mu Chao was alive—a non-Awakened Rank 1 Bone-Tempering fighter—we had three Rank 1 fighters in our squad, which allowed us to hold the upper hand. But in terms of individual combat power, I am a step behind their captain, Fang Wensheng. His Mysterious-grade lightning-attribute Fate Weapon is powerful, and now he has broken through to Rank 4 ahead of me. The tables have turned, which is why we’re seeing this provocative behavior from Su Chi."

"In this society, strength is everything, and that applies to all Demon Hunter squads."

Yu Le understood. The actions of the Thunder Bolt Squad, represented by Su Chi, were, to put it politely, the arrogance of the newly empowered, or to put it bluntly, the petty gloating of small-minded people.

"One more thing: Mu Chao used to be in love with Yuesu," Geng Xiao suddenly said with a grin.

Yu Le was taken aback, confused. "No wonder Captain Han seemed so angry."

Not dwelling on that topic, Yu Le asked, "And who is 'Live Pearl'?" This was the only condition Geng Xiao had set when agreeing to collaborate with Su Chi.

Geng Xiao seemed to have anticipated the question. "People like to divide society into black and white, but between those lines lies a group of people living in the gray zone. 'Live Pearl,' who has been under secret surveillance by the Thunder Bolt Squad, belongs to that group."

"He is an intelligence broker. He has done some dirty work for powerful figures and even has dealings with certain members of the Ten Thousand Beasts Cult, but he only provides information and does not participate in operations himself. Likewise, we Demon Hunter squads can pay a high price to buy information from him that we couldn't get through normal channels."

"More importantly, think about his name. What comes to mind when you hear 'Live Pearl'?"

Yu Le paused, realizing it referred to a developing chicken embryo.

Geng Xiao answered his own question: "His most common trade is human trafficking, especially the kidnapping of children. If you want to find news about your daughter, then Live Pearl, who operates in the gray zones of the East District, is undoubtedly the most likely person to have that information."

"In the end, he's just a black-market middleman."

Yu Le’s mouth fell open. He hadn't expected that Geng Xiao’s only demand from Su Chi was for his sake. Before he could speak, Geng Xiao patted him on the shoulder and walked away.

"Captain Geng..."