Chapter 349: Zhou Mo's Death

Tianji sat in a lounge chair on the rooftop, enjoying the breeze.

The gradual outbreak he anticipated hadn't arrived. It was as if a fuse had been snuffed out halfway.

But these were minor details.

Change was inevitable now; no one would escape this great purge.

The ugliness of human nature would act as the catalyst. The wheels were already rolling forward.

He just needed to locate those external factors. He wasn't a man who liked surprises—

"Did you find out?" he asked into his earpiece, speaking to the woman handling intelligence for Peace Heavenly Kingdom.

"It should be Song Haozhe from the Four Masters Society. He suppressed the media," the woman replied.

"How many of our media outlets are still idle?" Tianji asked with a smile.

"Roughly half the total number under Song Haozhe's control," the woman said.

"Activate all of them. Let's lay the groundwork first," Tianji ordered. "I'm going to fully activate the serum at midnight tonight. When that time comes, the final purge will descend, and everything will be rewritten."

"...Alright."

The woman sighed.

9:10 PM.

An article titled Suspected Rampages by Animal Species in Multiple Regions was published on the Muke District's fifth-largest news network. Its views skyrocketed, breaking past a million in just half an hour.

It was also shared hundreds of thousands of times.

In the comments section, multiple inner world residents came forward to share their experiences, claiming they had been attacked by animal species.

Naturally, residents belonging to the animal species immediately fired back, stating that these people had no proof and were just paid trolls.

The two sides argued fiercely until someone posted a photo of a narrow alley. In the image, several houses were destroyed, and a tiger-like inner world resident stood with glowing red eyes, a human arm dangling from its jaws.

Following this photo, even more people stepped up to claim they had witnessed similar incidents of animal species attacking people.

As time passed, the article's shares continued to climb.

Zhou Mo naturally saw the article as well. Furious, he immediately called Song Haozhe:

"Didn't I tell you to block this?"

"I'm not in charge of that outlet. How was I supposed to know?" Confronted right off the bat, Song Haozhe's tone wasn't friendly either. "If you'd told me it was about something like this earlier, I never would've helped you block it."

"This is a racial incident. Are you trying to drag me down with you?"

Zhou Mo only grew angrier as he listened:

"Don't you brag about being the media king of the Muke District at every gathering?! Now you're saying it's not under your control!"

"What do you mean, bragging?!" Song Haozhe's fury shot straight to his head. "You've forgotten your own damn place, haven't you?"

Zhou Mo took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down first:

"Alright, now isn't the time to fight. Do you have a way to cut off the media source?"

"Cut off my ass!" But Song Haozhe had clearly lost his temper. "Fuck you guys! Zhou Mo, you three ungrateful bastards. Not a single fucking one of you takes me seriously."

"If it weren't for me back then, you three pathetic worms would probably still be scraping by in some processing plant given to you by your Clan! Fuck you!"

Song Haozhe had been holding this in for a long time. Chen Xiaojing had been arrested and might leak his secrets. Zeng Qing and Luo Sheng had teamed up, giving him no respect. Zhou Mo had promised to handle everything, yet now he was turning around to question him instead.

"A bunch of fucking dumb dogs! You can just wait to get locked up too!!!"

Song Haozhe immediately hung up.

Zhou Mo stared at the disconnected Information Component and let out a furious, low growl. Once he calmed down, he called his bodyguard, Cai Zhijie:

"Elder Cai, get ready to make a move."

10:00 PM.

Following that initial article, several more reports were published.

They all contained photos and videos posted by people from various areas who had witnessed animal species going on unprovoked rampages.

The most critical piece was an article titled: A Detailed Analysis of the Genetic Defects in the Bionic Species .

The author claimed to be a biological expert. By analyzing the genetics of the bionic species, they explained in detail exactly why they were going berserk.

This quickly incited public outrage, and an anti-bionic species wave was on the verge of erupting.

Inside the Law Enforcement Agency.

Zhao Jiucheng looked at Zeng Qing beside him:

"Are we really not going to stop this?"

"We could contact those media outlets and negotiate to have these articles taken down."

"It's pointless," Zeng Qing said, rejecting the idea. "There's definitely someone else fanning the flames behind them."

"But..." Zhao Jiucheng looked out the window. Faint sounds of arguments could already be heard in the vicinity, the subject naturally revolving around whether the bionic species were inherently inferior.

There were also inexplicable booming noises, accompanied by violent fluctuations of weird energy. If things were this bad right around the Law Enforcement Agency, he could only imagine what it was like elsewhere...

"Just do as I say,"

Zeng Qing said.

This was also Luo Sheng's intention.

Zhao Jiucheng wanted to say more, but he soon received a call. Upon answering it, he stepped aside. A few seconds later, he walked back.

His face was grim:

"It was Deputy Director Huang from the General Law Enforcement Headquarters. He told me not to suppress the spread."

"He said it was an order from above."

"Just wait. There will be plenty more calls soon."

Zeng Qing's remark proved to be prophetic words.

Soon enough, Zhao Jiucheng received at least five or six calls from people all over. There were ministers two ranks higher than him, members of the Heavenly Kingdom Council, and chief prosecutors. Among them, some demanded that the spread of information be halted immediately, while others insisted there was no need to suppress it.

Cold sweat broke out on Zhao Jiucheng's forehead, a chill running down his spine.

He knew he was finished.

This was a dead end. Forget about saving his political career; just managing to avoid prison for dereliction of duty would be a victory.

"What do we do now?"

He looked desperately at his only lifeline, Zeng Qing.

"We wait," Zeng Qing said.

10:30 PM.

Anxiously waiting, Zhou Mo finally heard a knock on the door.

He opened it, and Cai Zhijie, who had been standing outside, walked in.

"How did it go?"

He looked at Cai Zhijie, whose body bore obvious signs of a struggle.

"It's been taken care of."

Cai Zhijie's voice sounded a bit strange, but Zhou Mo didn't pay it much mind. He let out a long sigh of relief:

"When is Jia Wei going to announce the news?"

"The information channels are blocked right now."

Cai Zhijie said, "Jia Wei tried to get the news out, but no one gave him the green light."

As he spoke, he twitched inexplicably.

"Fuck." It was only then that Zhou Mo realized Song Haozhe must have personally taken over the media outlets after their screaming match earlier.

Right now, it was likely that only inflammatory articles were allowed to be published.

"Use official authority to hold a press conference!" he said.

"Who's going to attend?"

Cai Zhijie asked.

He twitched again.

"Jia Wei will host it," Zhou Mo replied without hesitation.

"But Jia Wei said the higher-ups have already issued orders. They aren't allowing the spread to be suppressed,"

Cai Zhijie said.

"Elder Cai, how can you be so confused?! Jia Wei will be the one taking the blame when the time comes!"

Knowing that Zhao Jiucheng was dead had relaxed Zhou Mo's expression considerably.

For him, the worst possible outcome now was the higher-ups completely taking over the Law Enforcement Agency. No matter what, he wouldn't end up in prison; there would always be a chance for staging a comeback.

"But a Deputy Director's one-sided claims, I'm afraid—" Before Cai Zhijie could finish, Zhou Mo cut him off:

"It doesn't matter. What happens next is a matter for the higher-ups. If they want to force a takeover, let them. If they say we're wrong, we're wrong. We've given them a scapegoat and held a press conference. That's all we can do."

"The important thing is washing our hands of it completely."

Saying that, Zhou Mo sighed:

"If only Zhao Jiucheng had been willing to sacrifice himself and turn himself in during the three stages of the judicial process, things would have been much easier."

"Now there's only a corpse. This matter is out of our control."

"We'll just have to take it one step at a time."

He looked up, only suddenly realizing that Cai Zhijie had stepped right up to him at some point. Their faces were practically touching.

Zhou Mo jumped in fright:

"Elder Cai, what are you doing?"

"If I said—a corpse can also actively sacrifice itself and cooperate, would you believe me?"

Zhou Mo's heart leaped into his throat:

"What do you mea—"

Before he could finish speaking, Cai Zhijie's hands suddenly transformed into a chainsaw and a long spike.

One severed Zhou Mo's neck; the other pierced straight through his heart.

"Cai—Elder Cai—"

Zhou Mo's vitality rapidly drained away. He stared at the man in front of him in sheer disbelief.

No matter how he looked at it, it was Cai Zhijie, the butler who had helped raise him since childhood. But now—

He reached up to clutch his throat, but there was no stopping the spurting blood. As his consciousness faded, he saw a figure step out from behind Cai Zhijie.

"It's you—"

Disbelieving, his blurring vision finally locked onto the black cat.

"You're not dead. You really aren't dead—"

He felt several threads pierce his body, anchoring his last shreds of life while simultaneously preventing him from making any cries for help.

"That is correct, my dear, dear, dear Mr. Zhou Mo."

Yan Jing spoke in his raspy, duck-like voice. Beside him, Cai Zhijie's eyes gradually dimmed.

The Corpse-Sewing Garment could only control one corpse at a time, and the target's tier couldn't be higher than his own. The cat was only at the Fourth Level. If his overall strength hadn't exceeded Cai Zhijie's, the bodyguard would have gone berserk by now.

However, Cai Zhijie's abilities were extremely useful. He was a standard Smart Seed. Yan Jing planned to bring him out into the Surface World during Stage B.

And taking his place, Zhou Mo was gradually being taken over by the Corpse-Sewing Garment.

"No wonder Chen Xiaojing wanted to kill you, you damn animal—"

Zhou Mo never expected this. Back then, Chen Xiaojing had asked him for a favor; he passed the order to Zhao Jiucheng, who went to Han Song, who then found the Pig-Headed Man. After that entire long, drawn-out process, the black cat they failed to kill was now taking his life.

Even now, he still couldn't understand what kind of grudge this black cat held against him.

Aside from the hit he had ordered, there didn't seem to be any deep conflict between them. Why would it seek him out at a crucial juncture like this?

He wanted to die knowing the truth, so he voiced his question.

"What grudge?" Yan Jing revealed a stereotypically villainous grin. "Did you think about that when you were murdering people?"

"Your buddy here wants to be the boss of the Muke District! The boss! Do you understand?!!"

With that, Yan Jing reached out and tapped Zhou Mo's forehead:

"I just didn't like the look of you, so I'm killing you!"

"Get it?"

"Understand my ass—" Zhou Mo's pupils dilated, and he stopped breathing.

10:35 PM.

Only two members of the Four Masters Society remained.

12:00 AM.

Tianji watched the tidal wave sweeping across the internet, a somewhat exaggerated smile gracing his face.

Pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses with a finger, he snapped his fingers.

Weird energy rippled outward from his fingertips, soaring toward the myriad city lights.

In almost that exact moment, within this massive region resembling an Anthill, pair after pair of scarlet eyes snapped open.