CH38: WRECKED BASE.

"Dezhong, where are you? Report to the Gorillas immediately," Abdul's messages kept piling up, urging Dezhong to return to the base. However, he was still occupied with clearing out his late father's belongings, which included a set of highly valuable prosthetic arms that he planned to use on special occasions. These new arms were more streamlined, skillfully crafted, and appeared more powerful than the current ones he had on. The shoulders of the arms had two special pods that housed crystals which were intermediate tiered and upwards, meaning that Chief Prince would gain a significant power boost once he got his hands on a set of his own crystals.

After inventory had cleared out Chief Prince's police locker, another officer expressed his condolences. "I'm really sorry that this happened to your father. He was and still is the greatest Chief I've had the pleasure of working with."

Dezhong replied, struggling with the weight of the duffel bags he carried, "Thanks for that, I guess. I'll be on my way now. Take care."

With his father's belongings in his possession, Dezhong headed to the parking lot where the officers that brought him waited. While running through the rain, he saw his father's cruiser being covered with a tarpaulin, as a way to keep it safe from the city's toxic weather conditions. 'He'll be back, Mane. I promise you that,' he muttered while glaring at Mane's office window with a scowled face.

[Fifty minutes later.]

At last, Dezhong was dropped off at his home and quickly rushed to his father's bedroom. After putting his belongings away, he headed to the fridge and grabbed one of the twelve pieces of raw steak, which he then consumed in order to complete his second quest.

'I was able to eat raw fish before,' he spoke to himself while having second thoughts about eating raw meat. 'I mean, that was like sushi, but this... it still has blood on it. But it does smell good though. Here goes nothing.'

Dezhong took a large bite out of the raw steak and felt a tingling sensation go over his body. The meat tasted sweet and savory with each bite he took. The raw meat was unlike anything he had ever eaten before, and as he kept on eating, his canines grew longer so that way, he'd be able to eat it much faster.

'This is so good. I could go for seconds,' he smiled while looking into the fridge. 'No, I have to keep these for the next twelve days. Besides, Dad will flip if he finds no meat in the fridge.'

[Quest Complete: Consume two kilograms of raw meat daily.]

[Completed Quests: 2/3]

[One more to go.]

[In order to perfect your werewolf senses, stay in a dark environment to strengthen your night vision. Once this skill has been perfected, another quest shall be given.]

'That'll have to wait. Kong must be so upset right now.'

Without even changing his dystopian clothes, Dezhong quickly ran out of his house and dashed at full speed towards South Eastern Desper. As he got closer to his destination, he came across hundreds of people sleeping on the streets as others worked simple jobs, hoping to get something to eat. There were also those moving from house to house begging for a place to stay but few were actually given a place.

'So many homeless people,' he thought to himself. 'I wonder what's going to happen to them.'

Dezhong continued making his way to the Gorillas base until he suddenly ran into someone else. Upon impact, Dezhong and the person he bumped into banged heads with each other and fell to the ground.

"Aaargh!!! What's wrong with you? What kind of person runs without looking where they're going?" Dezhong held his head while making sure not to further anger the person he bumped into.

"I'm sorry, sir. I was just a little distra…." Dezhong froze in the middle of his sentence as he and the person he ran into glared at each other. He was a man who looked to be in his early twenties with toned bruised skin, white messed up hair, and a drained look in his eyes. He was dressed in simple clothes which were most likely stolen, but what worried Dezhong the most about this entity was the dangerous aura that surrounded him. "I-I was…distracted."

"Well, be careful next time, otherwise…" The man's eyes twinkled with burning rage for a quarter of a second before he got back up on his feet and limped in his own direction. Meanwhile...

[Threat detected. Take caution]

The hairs on Dezhong's body stood erect as he felt a choking sensation of fear overtake him. His pupils grew larger, his heart beat slightly faster than usual, and the rest of his senses became heightened as he stared at the white-haired man walking away. 'Take caution? Why did the system say that about a stranger?'

*Vrrrrr*

'Oh, right! Kong.' Dezhong picked himself up and collected his thoughts before continuing with his journey. Before he left, he stared one more time at the white-haired man, but he was nowhere to be seen, and not even a minute had passed since their encounter. 'Something's wrong with him.'

[Skill granted.]

[Scent Marker: Mark the scent of whichever entity you wish. At the moment, you can only mark three scents and can only track them once you're within a ten-foot radius with them. The skill's range increases as you grow stronger.]

'Ten feet? But that's too low. Another reason to grow stronger, I guess.'

[Would you like to mark the target's scent? Y/N]

[Y]

[Failed: Out of range.]

Dezhong continued running until he eventually got to the Gorilla's base, but something had changed. 'What happened to the base?' He asked in shock while wondering what happened to the base.

The once-large, rustic-like facility was now a pile of rubble that was being wrecked and collected before his very eyes. The large, metallic Gorilla face was being torn apart for scrap, and no one else apart from construction workers were seen.

"I have to call Abdul. Maybe he knows something about th—"

Out of nowhere, Dezhong felt strong, sturdy arms wrap themselves around his upper body as slightly smaller ones covered his nose with a handkerchief. Dezhong kicked, punched, and struggled to set himself free, but whatever was put in the hanky slowly knocked him out.

[Knockout substances ingested.]

Dezhong's eyes grew heavy and slowly closed as the two culprits who knocked him out quickly carried him away. Before his eyes closed shut, Dezhong was able to notice one familiar person and spoke before passing out saying, "Abdul? Is that….y-you…."