Chapter 19: The Outbreak on the Internet!

The entire document roughly listed seven or eight different conjectures, some of which even seemed far-fetched, but it was certain that a second condition had to exist.

Otherwise, in schools that shared water dispensers, it wouldn't be possible that only one-tenth were parasitized.

Moreover, it would have been easy to achieve large-scale parasitization.

But as of now, the spread of parasite seemed to still occur on a one-to-one basis.

Qiuyue's encounter was the same; the Blood Demon had taken her alone to a secluded place without surveillance and made an attack that could have caused her to lose consciousness. The teachers and students in the school must have been targeted individually like this.

This method of spread, although sufficiently frightening, had the major advantage that one didn't need to worry about being targeted unwittingly.

Besides, there were many other related conjectures in the document.

Like the incubation period, like the manner in which those "parasites" were born.

Although these were just guesses, they were nonetheless crucial.

Not to mention, when investigating personal relationships, people who had opportunities to be alone could be specifically investigated, without the need to scrutinize every face seen on the street.

"Based on these conjectures about parasitic conditions, some places might become major disaster areas for the spread of Blood Demons, like bars, bathhouses, hotels—these will also be our next focus," Shen Hao continued, "All in all, our core goal is to control the spread of the Blood Demons as quickly as possible and resolve all Blood Demons completely!"

"I have a question," Cheng Youqing suddenly raised his hand.

"Speak."

"Currently, you are the only one who can discern the monsters," Cheng Youqing looked at Shen Hao, "This adds quite a bit of difficulty to the investigation, after all, you can only be in so many places at once."

"It's simple," Shen Hao said calmly, "Bring everyone with potential to me, if they resist, control them on the spot, and if they expose themselves, deal with them on the spot as well."

Everyone suddenly understood.

It was undoubtedly a crude method, but also undoubtedly a good one.

Moreover, a few quick-thinking people had already figured it out.

This method would allow Shen Hao to quickly accumulate a large number of points,

effectively bringing monsters right to him for resolution.

"But with this method, the Blood Demons won't just sit back and allow themselves to be picked off one by one," Song Cheng seemed to want to show his insights as well and nervously asked, "I read in the documents that Blood Demons are likely to have a desire to devour humans and are also driven by a 'Matrix' that dictates their every move. What if they simply stop hiding and launch a massacre on a large scale? Can we handle it in time?"

"..."

This question remained unanswered not only by Shen Hao, but everyone kept silent.

The atmosphere seemed to grow heavier.

After a long pause, Dong Gong finally sighed and slowly said, "It's inevitable, of course, we would like to resolve all Blood Demons quietly, but since Blood Demons can nearly perfectly blend in among us, they must possess intelligence not inferior to ours. When it comes to being resolved, they will certainly struggle with all their might."

"Exactly!" Shen Hao emphasized, gazing intensely at each person, speaking sternly, "This is not a hostage rescue from kidnappers; this is a war where it's a matter of life and death. On such a battlefield, the primary objective is always to eliminate the enemy!"

Song Cheng sat there, stunned.

Cheng Youqing and Liu Ruoxi also lowered their gazes.

Although they had been aware of the existence of Blood Demons and anticipated an inevitably tragic war, sitting here, right in the front line facing the enemy, could they truly perceive the cruelty of the situation.

Not to mention the potential sacrifices that might occur later, even now, those who were parasitized, replaced—their families were already ruined. And somewhere in this city, new parasites were inevitably occurring.

The very existence of Blood Demons was creating tragedies!

"Try to think positively, if it really comes to that point, that means the enemy is cornered, and the prey that exposes itself has only one outcome — death," Shen Hao's tone softened slightly, "If we can resolve all Blood Demons, or capture and deal with the Matrix before that situation arises, perhaps it won't come to that."

This reassurance seemed to have an effect, as the atmosphere in the room lightened slightly.

Regardless, they were still the hunters.

If one day the world reached the point where humans had to hide from Blood Demons, that would truly be despair.

Then, Shen Hao and the others discussed some other matters, like each individual's Chosen One abilities, the effects of various weapons...

It also let the team of eight gradually get familiar with each other.

Shen Hao was fairly satisfied with this team,

Indeed, Chosen Ones were all top talents in the world, even Song Cheng, who appeared the most ordinary, possessed a vision and temperament superior to the average person, otherwise, he would not have become a world-class programmer.

In the realm of programming, he was revered by many, and his skills had also amassed a considerable fortune.

But just as the meeting was about to end, when they were preparing to rest a bit to face tomorrow's battles in better condition, suddenly, a piece of shocking news arrived, catching everyone off guard,

"This is a video that appeared on the international network an hour ago. It has caused an explosive sensation on the internet in just one hour!" Dong Gong took on a grave expression as he turned on the projector and cast a video onto the meeting room's screen.

The video was clearly taken with a cellphone. As soon as the image appeared, there was a Caucasian man, drenched in sweat with a look of utter panic,

"It's all fake, they're all Monsters!" the man cried out, his voice thick with tears as his sanity seemed to be on the brink, "God! My wife, my son, my daughter, my parents, even the mayor! The police officer! Everyone in the town! They're all monsters! Aliens! They're disguised as us, living among us, God! God!"

The man was clearly fleeing, and the footage was extremely shaky, but it was still possible to vaguely see a glow emanating from his hand.

Clearly, he was a Chosen One.

But just then, a flash of blood-red dashed across the screen, and the man fell heavily. He screamed in terror, and by the time the camera steadied after a flurry of tumbling, a horrifying sight appeared on the screen!

It was a little girl, seemingly no more than seven or eight years old, but her innocent face was streaked with blood, her small body was twisted, and wrapped around with several blood-red tentacles!