The Eldritch Files

’D7 Squad…’

Han Su had always looked forward to this—the most mysterious squad in the Disaster Management Bureau.

A group of special individuals who had no regard for their own lives, responsible only for carrying out the most dangerous and unbelievable missions. They were a breed apart, no matter the context.

’Besides, is Pot Lid Head, the person I’m guessing at, really in this squad?’

With this on his mind, Han Su quickly reached the designated location. He stood on the street corner, took in the environment and the flow of people, and got a general sense of the situation. Then, carrying his briefcase, he sent a message to Miss Ai:

”Complex environment. The crowd needs to be dispersed!”

Miss Ai: [Special arrangements have been made. Crowd dispersal will be complete in one minute and thirty seconds!]

”This...”

Han Su glanced at the packed crowd, and a question mark practically appeared over his head.

It was noon, the busiest time of day. This area was a chaotic mix of workshops and residential buildings.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Miss Ai’s abilities, but for a place like this, even a full army would need at least half a day to clear everyone out.

He found it hard to believe that Miss Ai could complete the evacuation in a mere minute and a half.

’If she uses overly aggressive methods, won’t that just cause more panic and potentially alert certain anomalies?’

He glanced at the time on his phone, opened the timer, and silently started counting for Miss Ai.

Three seconds, five seconds, ten seconds, twenty seconds...

Nothing changed. The surrounding traffic flowed, the crowds milled about. There was no discernible difference.

Han Su waited quietly. After thirty seconds, a sudden BANG echoed from deep within the area. It wasn’t loud enough to cause a panic; pedestrians on the street just glanced curiously in the direction of the sound.

Then, a foul stench suddenly wafted from deep within the area.

How could one even describe it?

Fermented auks pulled from a seal’s carcass would be a hundred times more tolerable than this.

It was a stench that assaulted the very soul!

It was as if your soul had been sealed inside a can of surströmming and left to ferment for a hundred years!

The crowd instantly descended into chaos. People clutched their noses and ran, with some shouting, ”Did a septic tank explode?”

”No, a septic tank doesn’t smell this strong...”

”...”

There was no need for an evacuation; people fled in droves. He could see people pushing wheelchairs and carrying children. Across the vast area, every living thing, including cats and dogs, was running for their lives. Han Su even saw an ornamental turtle trying its best to crawl away.

This was so bizarre it floored him. He typed a message into the application: ”Did you blow up a septic tank just to complete the mission?”

Miss Ai: [Mr. Butcher, please do not insult the intelligence of a machine!]

[I dispatched an Executioner to the designated location to deploy a crowd-dispersal bomb, a fusion of cutting-edge technology and Mysterious Power. Once detonated, no living creature within a hundred-meter radius can withstand it.]

[Even if creatures with limited mobility or those who are imprisoned are forced to remain within the cleared area, they will fall unconscious after thirty seconds and will have no memory of this period upon waking!]

[This measure also makes it easier to provide a public explanation later. There will be news reports saying that this area...]

Miss Ai paused here, as if glitching for a moment.

Han Su asked, ”What?”

Miss Ai: [...due to improper construction work by certain workers, this area’s septic tank ruptured.]

[...]

”So it still boils down to blowing up a septic tank?”

Han Su found the whole thing absurd. He quickly ran into a nearby store and bought a face mask.

Just as his expression was on the verge of cracking, he saw a convoy of imposing black armored vehicles approaching from the end of the street. They ignored the traffic lights and lane markings, driving against the flow of people and RUMBLING toward the various intersections.

The lead vehicle pulled over to the side of the road. Three fully armed individuals jumped out briskly and saluted Han Su.

’Well, well, it’s you guys again?’

Han Su looked at the cold, hard-edged armed personnel before him, his expression struggling to remain composed.

The leader was a middle-aged man with coarse stubble, but next to him was, surprisingly, the slightly chubby Little Fatty. Dressed in tactical gear, he looked much more composed now, but his eyes were still just as wide and round.

After saluting, the middle-aged man reported in a low voice, ”Mr. Butcher, I presume? I am Executor, codename Mountain Crocodile.”

”All nine containment teams are in position. I am the overall commander. How should we coordinate with your work?”

”...”

’An Executioner Captain?’

Han Su first showed him his credentials. Judging by his age, this man was likely one of the earliest Executors.

All Executioners at the Disaster Management Bureau eventually get promoted as their time in service and performance evaluations improve.

However, these promotions were split into two paths.

Executioners from the D1 and D2 Groups were mostly promoted to Investigator, or at the very least, they would land a position as an Investigator Assistant.

As for the four groups, D3, D4, D5, and D6, they usually specialized in certain fields or advanced to positions like Executioner Captain. Aside from the fact that no one could easily leave the Disaster Management Bureau, they all had bright futures.

”Just handle the blockade.”

Han Su said, ”The septic tank inside has already blown. The public’s self-evacuation is almost complete. But is it possible that any of the contaminated individuals inside came out with the crowd?”

”They won’t.”

The Executioner Captain paused for a moment before replying, ”Usually, infected anomalies have innate directives and threat assessment criteria. A phenomenon like the dispersal bomb, which is unbearable but causes little harm, won’t trigger their alarm.”

”Simply put, the dispersal bomb largely relies on the social cognitive experiences of ordinary people to be effective. The infected lack this aspect.”

”Of course, the important task now is to find the source and sever the Penetration path. Even if some infected individuals escape, it’s within an acceptable range. After all, this contamination has been spreading for some time. Whatever diffusion was going to happen already did before we arrived.”

”Have you determined the exact source?”

”...”

Listening to his explanation, Han Su nodded and looked deeper down the street. ”For that, you’ll have to ask my two assistants.”

Following his gaze, all the Executioners looked over and saw two people carrying black cases walking toward them. Doctor was in front, and Black Tiger was behind. Both were running over while covering their noses and mouths.

Black Tiger, who usually took such good care of his teammates, had actually left Doctor twenty or thirty meters behind. He didn’t stop until he was in front of Han Su, where the smell was weaker. He walked over and nodded a greeting.

’He actually became an assistant?’

Little Fatty was even more surprised.

He still had a vivid impression of Black Tiger. Of the several Executioners he had led back then, one was the slyest, and the other was the most honest.

And now the most honest one had become the assistant to the slyest one?

’What a twist of fate…’

”We’ve finished our investigation.”

Doctor arrived in front of Han Su and immediately began, ”The source of the Penetration should be inside this Sea Workshop.”

”Behind their manager’s office, there should be a hidden storage room.”

”I suspect that this Sea Workshop, while appearing to be a factory, is actually a front for smuggling items from ruins. This is one of their bases, and that hidden storage room probably contains a lot of illicit goods.”

”The source that triggered this Penetration incident is one of those illicit items.”

”...”

Han Su nodded, his face impassive.

The Administrative Hall had extremely strict controls on items excavated from ruins, but many people were still intensely interested in them.

Mysterious Organizations like the Crystal Skull were willing to pay a high price to acquire anything confirmed to be from a ruin, even if the item itself had no anomalous properties.

This led many people to take risks and engage in this kind of shady business.

But while he could understand the cause and effect, he found the wording strange coming from someone as meticulous as Doctor:

”Why is everything ’should be,’ ’you think,’ or ’you suspect’?”

”Because it’s all based on my deductions.”

Doctor pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and said, ”After all, we are both just Investigator Assistants. Getting too close to the source risks encountering dangers we can’t handle.”

”Also, as we approached the Sea Workshop, we saw many suspected contaminated Two-bodied People standing guard outside with intense vigilance. Faint chanting could be heard from inside, as if some kind of ritual was being performed.”

”You have to be extremely careful when you go in...”

”...”

’Looks like you at least knew enough to leave some work for me…’

Han Su looked at Doctor’s matter-of-fact expression and couldn’t really find any fault with his reasoning.

He turned to the Executioner Captain beside him and asked, ”Where’s the cleanup team?”

Executioner Captain Mountain Crocodile glanced over his shoulder and said, ”They’re here!”

Everyone present turned to look. At the end of the street, two armored vehicles were escorting a modified prison transport. The transport was covered in thick steel plates, making it look extremely heavy.

The transport slowly drove up. Immediately, armed personnel holding rifles jumped down from the front and rear escort vehicles and aimed their weapons at the armored transport.

Then, the rear compartment of the armored transport slowly opened. Four figures climbed out, shielding their eyes from the sun.

Each of them was strange. They had a two-finger-wide metal band tied around their heads. One was covered in tattoos, another was scruffy and unshaven, and one was smiling, but a single glance from them could send a chill down your spine.

But the one who drew the most attention was the last one out.

He actually seemed to be the scrawniest of the four, but he was in ankle shackles and handcuffs. His head was shaved clean, revealing worm-like scars. His expression was wooden, but his naturally upturned lips made it look like he was wearing a faint smile.

His reactions were also slower than the others. After getting out of the transport, he walked forward step by step. There were rifle muzzles aimed right at him, but he seemed not to see them, forcing the armed personnel to back away.

”Stop! Stop!”

”...”

The appearance of these men instantly captured everyone’s attention, especially Han Su’s. The moment he saw the bald man, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

’Even with a different hairstyle, I can still recognize this guy at a glance…’