My Mosquito Clones Are on a Killing Spree

Chapter 36: Chapter 29: Red Moon Cataclysm

He looked at the two law enforcement officers from the Public Security Bureau standing outside his door.

Lin Yi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the panic that had seized him.

In an instant,

his expression shifted to the bashful smile of a student, tinged with the perfect amount of cluelessness and caution.

”Hello, sirs. I’m Lin Yi! Is there... something you need from me?”

His voice was clear, tinged with the distinct apprehension of a teenager.

The square-faced Public Security Bureau official on the left swept his hawk-like gaze over Lin Yi’s features. His voice was deep, laced with an undeniable authority.

”Lin Yi, there’s a matter we need to question you about. We need your cooperation.”

A tangible chill of tension swept over him once more.

And yet, the simple, honest smile on Lin Yi’s face only widened.

”Of course, sir. I’ll cooperate fully with the investigation! I can go with you to the Public Security Bureau right now.”

He made a move to walk out, his movements swift and decisive, as if eager to prove his innocence.

But the square-faced officer shook his head, his expression softening slightly. ”Lin Yi, thank you for your cooperation. There’s no need to come to the bureau. It’s just some routine questioning. If you don’t mind...”

His gaze traveled past Lin Yi’s shoulder and into the apartment. ”Would it be all right if we came in to talk?”

Hearing this,

The string in Lin Yi’s mind, which had been stretched taut to its limit, suddenly went slack.

A quiet warmth, the feeling of having survived a great disaster, began to spread through him.

’Not a formal summons, just a house call...’

’This means things are nowhere near as serious as I thought!’

Lin Yi immediately stepped aside to let them pass, the smile on his face growing a few shades more genuine.

”Please, sirs, come in! No need to take off your shoes, just come right in.”

He led the two men toward a slightly worn sofa in the living room, saying apologetically,

”I’m sorry, sirs, I don’t have any tea. Would a glass of water be alright?”

”Don’t trouble yourself.” The square-faced officer’s tone was placid. He and his partner sat on the sofa, their postures ramrod straight.

Lin Yi still walked quickly to the water cooler. He deliberately slowed his movements as he filled two disposable paper cups with warm water and placed them steadily on the coffee table.

The three of them were now seated in a triangle.

The square-faced officer got straight to the point.

”Lin Yi, we’re here about the previous ’Rat Extermination Mandate.’ While reviewing the Health Department’s files, we noticed an anomaly.”

”In just two days, you hunted and turned in over thirteen hundred rats. That level of efficiency is far beyond normal. We want to know if you discovered an area with an unusually dense rat population. We need you to tell us your exact hunting grounds. This could very well point to a hidden, illegal underground Demon Beast breeding den!”

His voice held a mixture of gravity and expectation.

’So that’s what this is about!’

Lin Yi had a sudden realization.

’The number of rats I turned in to exchange for resources was so staggering that it tripped an official alarm.’

’The Public Security Bureau must have turned my file inside out and confirmed I have no personal connection to any illegal breeding operations.’

’But they astutely deduced that for me to catch so many rats in such a short time, I must have stumbled upon the edge of a massive nest!’

’Which very likely means an illegal underground breeding farm!’

’They need the location so they can go destroy the source of the problem!’

”Sirs, I caught so many because I set a large number of traps and used a special bait,” Lin Yi said, his tone frank and his gaze clear. ”My main hunting grounds were concentrated around...”

Without the slightest hesitation, he revealed the locations of the sewer entrances he had been frequenting.

’That area is covered in city surveillance; hiding it would be pointless and would only make me look more suspicious.’

Upon receiving the precise locations, the tense expressions of the two officers visibly relaxed.

The square-faced officer stood up and gave Lin Yi a solemn nod. ”Lin Yi, thank you for providing this crucial information. This is very important to us. Sorry to have disturbed you. We’ll be leaving now.”

With that, the two men rose and departed without another word.

”Take care, sirs.” Lin Yi respectfully saw them to the door, watching their dark figures disappear around the stairwell corner.

The moment the security door clicked shut,

a torrent of thoughts flooded his mind like an open sluice gate!

Lin Yi sat back down at the dining table and mechanically picked up his bowl and chopsticks, his mind racing.

’The Public Security Bureau’s visit has opened up a whole new avenue of thought!’

’Searching aimlessly for a First-Grade Demon Beast in the sewers is like looking for a needle in a haystack.’

’So why not change my approach?’

’For example... what if I look for those illegal underground breeding farms?!’

’Those underground breeding farms run by the mob... in order to rapidly breed mutant rat swarms, they must be keeping a First-Grade Demon Beast—a Rat King—as the core breeding source!’

’And to guard an illegal operation of that scale, the managers themselves are probably First-Grade Martial Artists. There might even be more than one!’

’How many high-quality blood sources would that provide for my Mosquito Avatar?’

’Even more tempting is the profit!’

’Taking down a large illegal base would inevitably come with a huge amount of illicit gains...’

’Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions in dirty money!’

’With that, I’d have everything I need—both blood for the Mosquito Avatar’s Blood Sucking and the money for Bone Tempering Pills!’

More importantly,

finding illegal breeding farms is much easier than finding a lone First-Grade Demon Beast.

After all, those illegal farms have tens of thousands of rats and Demon Beasts. Their energy signatures are so dense that they should be much easier to spot in the Mosquito Avatar’s [Tracking] perception field.

With this in mind,

Lin Yi immediately contacted his Mosquito Avatar in the sewers. He ordered it to stop searching for lone Demon Beasts and instead begin a wide-area scan of Yang City’s entire underground pipe network, searching for places with high energy concentrations.

The Mosquito Avatar’s [Tracking] skill was now Level 4, with a detection and perception Domain of four kilometers. While Yang City’s underground network was vast and complex, he believed it wouldn’t take long to scan it completely.

All he had to do was wait for good news.

...

「The next morning.」

Lin Yi woke up on time, ate his meal, and walked through the school gates.

Meanwhile, his Mosquito Avatar continued its tireless search in the world below.

By the time he went to sleep last night, it had already searched one-eighth of Yang City’s subterranean area.

At this rate, it would take three days at most to completely sweep the city’s entire underground network.

After arriving at school, however, Lin Yi didn’t head to the Cultivation Room for his Cultivation.

Without the aid of a Bone Tempering Pill, regular Cultivation was about as effective as a drop in the ocean.

He stayed in the classroom and chatted with Luo Qian.

Luo Qian was talking animatedly, spittle flying. ”Lin, did you see the news yesterday? The authorities busted another illegal tomb-raiding crew. They said they recovered a bunch of scriptures and Secret Artifacts from Pre-Qin Qi Cultivators. Tsk, tsk...”

The only thing that ever seemed to interest Luo Qian was tomb raiding.

Lin Yi didn’t interject, just listened quietly.

Suddenly!

Without any warning, the daylight outside the window—vanished!

It was as if an invisible, giant hand had snuffed out the sun.

The classroom plunged from bright morning into profound darkness!

And then,

a colossal moon, radiating an ominous, scarlet glow, hung unnervingly in the center of the pitch-black sky!

A blood-red moon filled the sky!

The entire world was instantly bathed in an overwhelming crimson light.

The walls, the desks, the chairs, the stunned faces of his classmates...

Everything was steeped in a thick, bizarre scarlet.

WHRRRR! WOOOOOOO!!!

Instantly,

the piercing wail of air-raid sirens tore through the city’s peace.

Not just at Yang City No. 1 High School, but from every corner of Yang City, the sharp, piercing wail of sirens rose and fell in a chaotic chorus.

”The Red Moon has appeared!”

Lin Yi shot to his feet, his roar like a clap of thunder that drowned out the sirens and instantly quelled the rising panic in the classroom!

”Everyone! Emergency assembly! Follow the evacuation drill procedures and head to the underground shelter! Now! The Red Moon is here, the blood rain is coming, and the monsters will appear!”

At Lin Yi’s roar,

the students, who had been panicking just a moment before, moved instantly, as if by reflex.

There was no screaming or shoving, only the sound of hurried but orderly footsteps.

Within seconds, they had formed a line and were pouring out of the classroom in an orderly fashion, rushing down the stairs toward the safe haven hidden deep underground.

Luo Qian stuck close to Lin Yi, his expression graver than ever. His voice was practically squeezed from between his teeth. ”Damn it! The Red Moon... Why is it so early?!”

Lin Yi stared at the blood-red moon outside the window, his voice low. ”How long has it been since the last Red Moon?”

”Five months and twelve days!” Luo Qian’s memory was terrifyingly precise at that moment.

”That’s... a full eighteen days early!” Lin Yi said, his voice heavy as he enunciated each word. ”The interval between them... is getting shorter and shorter!”