Chapter 348: Zhou Mo Sinking into the Abyss

"I'm home."

Deep within the Anthill, an animal species with the appearance of a white rabbit walked through the door with a schoolbag on her back.

Since her family had no money, she couldn't attend regular tutoring classes with her classmates after school. Instead, she had to settle for bootleg evening classes.

These bootleg classes were simply recordings of the morning sessions, captured by scalpers and sold to them at dirt-cheap prices.

In a society that strictly guarded copyright, attending these bootleg classes was a serious crime.

But she had no choice. The trend of "happy education" had already swept through Muke District; relying on school alone meant learning absolutely nothing. To change her fate, tutoring was the only way.

As she stepped inside, she heard a bottle shatter in their only bedroom.

With a sigh, she set down her bag, pulled the bedroom door shut, and walked into the living room to turn her grandfather over where he lay in front of a broken television.

Her grandfather was also an animal species—a deer.

As for why he was a deer while she was a rabbit, that was a complicated genetic question.

"Ah Qiu, your dad gave me something good to drink today."

Her grandfather spoke, his cloudy eyes full of reminiscing.

Ah Qiu frowned.

"Didn't I tell you not to drink anything he gives you? If it weren't for him—"

Ah Qiu cut herself off.

There was no use arguing with the old man. His mind had been deteriorating; for a deer, he had already lived long enough.

"Delicious, it was delicious..."

He kept repeating himself, then suddenly jerked and rolled over, knocking the cup out of Ah Qiu's hand.

Medicine spilled across the floor.

"This medicine is expensive!" Ah Qiu hurriedly grabbed a

"I'm home."

Deep within the Anthill, an animal species resembling a white rabbit walked through the door, carrying a schoolbag.

Since her family had no money, she couldn't attend regular tutoring with her classmates after school. Instead, she had to take bootleg evening classes.

These bootleg classes were simply recordings of the morning sessions, recorded by scalpers and sold at dirt-cheap prices.

In an era with strict copyright laws, attending these bootleg classes was a serious offense.

But there was no other choice. The trend of "happy education" had swept through Muke District; relying on school alone meant learning absolutely nothing. To change one's fate, tutoring was the only way.

As she stepped inside, she heard a bottle shatter in the apartment's only bedroom.

With a sigh, she set down her bag, pulled the bedroom door shut, and walked into the living room to turn her grandfather over as he lay in front of a broken television.

Her grandfather was also an animal species—a deer.

As for why he was a deer while she was a rabbit, that was a complicated genetic issue.

"Ah Qiu, your dad gave me something good to drink today."

Her grandfather spoke, his cloudy eyes full of lingering enjoyment.

Ah Qiu frowned.

"Didn't I tell you not to drink anything he gives you? If it weren't for him—"

Ah Qiu cut herself off mid-sentence.

There was no use arguing with the old man. His mind had been constantly deteriorating. For a deer, he had already lived long enough.

"Delicious... delicious..."

He kept repeating himself, then suddenly jerked and rolled over, knocking the cup out of Ah Qiu's hands.

Medicine spilled across the floor.

"This medicine is expensive!" Ah Qiu hurriedly grabbed a rag, soaked up the liquid from the floor, and squeezed it back into the cup.

"Delicious, delicious... I want more..."

Her grandfather looked at Ah Qiu. Suddenly, his deer head seemed to mutate, tentacles slithering out from his ears.

"Wait, wait, Grandpa—"

The color drained from Ah Qiu's face, and she jolted backward.

She stared in disbelief. The previously paralyzed old man had suddenly stood up—except his human hands were planted on the floor, and his eyes glowed a bloodshot crimson.

Realizing something was terribly wrong, she scrambled backward, only to bump into something solid.

She looked up in terror and saw a one-eyed wolf standing upright behind her.

It was her father.

A few minutes later, the wolf prevailed over the aging deer, becoming the sole living creature in the house. He pushed the door open with human hands and stepped outside, but before he could take more than a few steps, a tiger lunged from the shadows and tore him to pieces in an instant.

Then, the tiger bolted down an alleyway into the neighborhood.

Screams began to echo in every direction...

Dressed in black evening wear, Yaoguang arrived on the roof, casting an icy gaze at a figure lounging in a chair by the edge of the terrace.

"What exactly are you plotting?"

The figure chuckled lightly.

"You're here. Have a seat."

He patted the chair next to him, but Yaoguang didn't move.

"Don't be nervous."

The figure stood up and turned to look at Yaoguang.

He wore a crisp white shirt paired with well-tailored dress pants, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on his face.

He smiled faintly.

"I'm just getting ready to complete this year's assessment."

"Once it's done, the entire Heavenly Kingdom will be turned upside down."

Yaoguang took a deep breath.

"Don't do anything reckless. All plans must be audited by Tianshu—" Before he could finish his sentence, an approved audit form fluttered into Yaoguang's hand.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Tianji smiled.

"I know you're used to small skirmishes and aren't comfortable with such drastic moves. But don't worry—when the sun rises, everything will be fine."

Staring at the approved form, Yaoguang was in disbelief.

And when he saw the listed criminal acts, fury flashed in his eyes.

"What are you doing?! Do you have any idea how many people will die from this?!"

Tianji chuckled.

"But Tianshu approved it, didn't they?"

"That means Tianshu thinks I'm right, too."

Saying that, he approached Yaoguang and patted his shoulder.

"This is a necessary loss. Everyone will remember their glory."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving behind a livid Yaoguang.

When the sun rose as usual.

Zhou Mo, who had stayed awake nearly all night, was jolted awake by his vibrating Information Component.

It was Zhao Jiucheng.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Something's happened." Zhao Jiucheng's very first words made Zhou Mo's eyes narrow.

"What happened?"

"From midnight until now, there have been over twenty disappearances and more than a dozen assaults, and the numbers are still climbing."

"How is that possible?!"

Zhou Mo sprang from his seat and rushed to the window, his gaze falling on the Law Enforcement Agency diagonally across the street.

He saw that the Law Enforcement Agency was completely swarmed, surrounded by an impenetrable crowd.

Zhou Mo took a deep breath.

"Why are you only telling me now?"

"The situation is complicated. The disappearances are still unclear, but the assaults were all caused by animal species. Most of them are fatal, and there are even cases of cannibalism."

Zhao Jiucheng sounded absolutely desperate, and Zhou Mo felt the same.

This was a racial issue!

This was a massive political incident!

If the investigation traced back to anyone, he would undoubtedly be implicated!

"Suppress it!"

He made a snap decision.

"We cannot let this incident be linked to race."

Zhao Jiucheng's tone was frantic.

"Suppressing it requires money. The Law Enforcement Agency's accounts—" "I'll pay."

Zhou Mo stated decisively.

"Tell those guys that as long as they don't cause a scene, every victim will be given 10,000 eerie points (500,000 surface coins). Make them all shut up."

"As for the media, I'll take care of it."

"What if more people file reports later?" Zhao Jiucheng asked.

"Stall them all!" Zhou Mo felt rage surging from the bottom of his heart. "You've been the Chief of the Law Enforcement Agency for this long, do I still need to teach you how to handle things?!"

After hanging up, Zhou Mo immediately dialed Song Haozhe.

"Do me a favor, Haozhe."

"How rare. The sun must be rising from the west if our Young Master Zhou is actually asking me for help."

Song Haozhe's voice drifted over the line.

"I haven't even had the chance to ask you about what happened yesterday. Having lost two councilors, I figured you'd be busy treating the backup councilors to dinner today."

"..." Zhou Mo took another deep breath.

"I'm talking business. For the next few days, swap all the crime sections in the news media with entertainment gossip. Just consider it doing me a solid, and I'll owe you a huge favor."

"Sure."

Song Haozhe chuckled. "Remember to buy me dinner."

Zhou Mo inhaled deeply, then hung up the phone.

In his eyes, the situation was still under control for now.

Seeing another message from Zhao Jiucheng, he immediately transferred a sum of money over.

But a few hours later, Zhao Jiucheng sent another message saying the money had already run out.

Yet the number of reported cases was still climbing.

Left with no choice, he could only wire another sum.

And just a few hours after that, Zhao Jiucheng messaged him again.

"How can there possibly be so many people reporting cases?!"

He called Zhao Jiucheng and roared into the phone.

"There just are!"

Zhao Jiucheng's temper also seemed to be flaring up.

"Do you think I want this?! Things are happening one after another! Do you think I don't want to keep my position secure?!"

"Do you know how many cases there are now?! Over fifty assaults and more than eighty disappearances!"

"This isn't just about keeping my job anymore! If we don't handle this right, we're all going to prison!"

"I've already arrested plenty of culprits, but that's not the point, do you understand?!"

Zhou Mo clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on his hands.

It had reached a point where he couldn't just walk away.

"I'll transfer the money to you immediately."

Soon, another sum was wired over.

So far, Zhou Mo had transferred 600,000 eerie points.

That many eerie points, while not enough to shake his foundation, still hurt enough to make his breathing turn ragged.

Deep down, the thought of abandoning Zhao Jiucheng had already surfaced.

Until 8:00 PM, when Zhao Jiucheng asked for money yet again.

Zhou Mo finally couldn't take it anymore. He bluntly stated that he was out of money and hung up.

"Heh... Zhao Jiucheng, since things have come to this, you can't blame me."

Amid his fury, Zhou Mo suddenly chuckled.

Then, he activated an anti-recording device and dialed the Law Enforcement Agency's Deputy Chief, Jia Wei.

"Chief Jia, it's Zhou Mo."

"Lord Zhou!"

Jia Wei answered with a laugh.

"I heard the Law Enforcement Agency has been very busy today," Zhou Mo said softly.

"A little bit, yes. But I don't really manage things much anymore, so it hasn't been too bad," Jia Wei said with a chuckle.

"As you know, Lord Zhou, I was very motivated during the last election for Chief. But now... I'm getting old—"

"How could Chief Jia possibly be old?"

Zhou Mo chuckled.

"I'm thinking the Law Enforcement Agency likely won't be able to suppress this much longer, and someone has to take the blame. Tell you what—I know things haven't been going smoothly for you over on Zeng Qing's side. Missed opportunities deserve a chance for redemption."

"So how about this: Zhao Jiucheng's run ends here. As for the rest, I'd like to leave it in your capable hands, Chief Jia."

"Really?!" Jia Wei's joy practically overflowed from the other end of the Information Component.

"What do you want in return?"

"Make Zhao Jiucheng shut up," Zhou Mo said softly. "He's young, after all, and still hasn't reached the Fourth Tier."

"I've heard that you, Chief Jia, are already at the Fourth Tier."

"For some things, someone simply has to take the blame."

"Understood. Understood completely!" Jia Wei smiled slightly.

Hanging up, Zhou Mo let out a long sigh of relief, then dialed another number.

"Elder Cai, keep an eye on Jia Wei for me. If he can't bring himself to do it, I'll have to trouble you to make the move."

"If he does act, record the whole process."

On the other end of the line was Zhou Mo's bodyguard.

"Understood."

Having arranged all of this, Zhou Mo finally breathed easy.

He then leaned back in his office chair and lit a cigar.

Once Zhao Jiucheng was dead...

The crimes of 'concealing information' and 'bribing victims' would be enough to solidify Zhao Jiucheng's guilt as the mastermind behind the scenes. Then, framing it as a suicide to escape punishment, he could prop Jia Wei up to take the position.

Later, he would call the old fogeys higher up who loved pushing racial hierarchies. It would be a perfect opportunity to sell them a favor, giving them a chance to purge their dissidents.

This whole situation would be salvaged.

There were no hurdles he couldn't cross. In this Heavenly Kingdom, the common people were nothing but pigs and dogs.

As for why there were so many crimes all of a sudden, or why so many animal species were going berserk—he didn't care. And he firmly believed no one else cared, either.

Thinking about this, he suddenly burst into laughter.

Jia Wei hung up the phone.

Beside him, both Zhao Jiucheng and Zeng Qing had livid expressions.

"L-Lord—"

Jia Wei looked at Zeng Qing and trembled.

"He was the one who said all that! I didn't say anything—"

"..." Zeng Qing clenched her fists, but eventually loosened them, her expression calm.

"It's fine."

There was nothing worth getting angry over. Zhou Mo was nearing the end of his road anyway.

Dismissing that thought, she turned to look at Mao Si beside her, speaking calmly:

"The performance is over. You can take your patients and go back now."

"Alright."

Yan Jing smiled and gestured to the crowd of people disguised as victims.

"Everyone, time to head back."

"Alright!"

The crowd answered in unison, then lined up and slipped out through the back door.

Yes, from start to finish, there had never been that many criminal cases.

Starting last night, right after receiving Zeng Qing's message, Zhao Jiucheng had already implemented a preemptive lockdown.

So far, there hadn't been a massive outbreak, so many of the crimes were smothered in the cradle before they could happen.

The small number of actual casualties had already been properly placated.

Yan Jing walked away with 600,000 eerie points. He also walked away with Zhao Jiucheng and Jia Wei's last remaining trust in Zhou Mo, as well as securing Zeng Qing's allegiance.

Meanwhile, at this very moment...

Both Papa Rat and Tianji were filled with doubt.

According to their plans, there should have been news of some incidents by now—

Yet everything remained perfectly quiet.