"So passionate..." <br>Seeing the shadow rushing toward him with outstretched arms, Lucas sighed. Originally, Lucas had been dashing forward at an uncanny speed, but suddenly halted and leaped back to dodge the first shadow, then twisted bizarrely to pounce at another shadow from the side. <br>His hands reached out, aiming to grab the side of this shadow. It was as if his sister was pouncing on a toy. <br>"What is that?" <br>In the sky, the red moon cast down its dim crimson glow. Meanwhile, over half of the lighting equipment around the wild lake had already been destroyed by the scream of that spectral fiend earlier, with the rest seriously damaged. Unattended, the lights flickered out one by one. The more the lights extinguished, the more intense the glow of the red moon appeared. Under such light, perhaps due to an optical illusion, many people around could see a vague image. <br>They saw, just as Lucas was about to reach the core area of the pollution source, the mud split open, releasing a blurry shadow. The brilliance of the red moon faintly outlined the shape of a tree, and that tree possessed countless creeping tendrils. At the top of these tendrils, like fruits, grew one person after another. <br>Some were male, some female, some old, and some young. They appeared as indistinct, unrealistic phantoms, yet their crazed expressions were discernible, with their features twisted, frantically waving their arms like the tendrils of a bizarre humanoid carnivorous plant. Their way of capturing prey was by leaping in mid-air and embracing their victim. <br>The fate of the three investigation team members earlier showed that being embraced by them would likely lead to being controlled. Such a scene and outcome sent shivers down one's spine. <br>Yet, facing these shadows, Lucas charged forward. He dodged and twisted, moving with agility that seemed non-human, evading and attacking amidst the onslaught of countless shadows, aiming at each target. <br>As a shadow lunged, Lucas withdrew, then advanced again. Leaning slightly to his left, he evaded the grasp of a shadow, clasped its shoulder, tore its arm off, and seamlessly twisted to its right side, pulling off the shadow's right leg as it reached to the left. His movements were nimble and eerie, circling the shadow in mere seconds. The shadow was already torn apart. <br>By then, the other shadows arrived, but Lucas had swiftly moved to another shadow's side. <br>At this moment, the "tree," with all its tendrils, surged toward him. The "fruits" at the top of the tendrils desperately spread their arms to embrace Lucas. According to the fate of the three earlier investigators, if these humanoid fruits embraced someone, the outcome was predictable. Moreover, those investigators wore protective gear, so they were only temporarily restrained without being infected... <br>However, Lucas was without protective gear. <br>Thus, the contest between Lucas and this monstrous tree was decided in fleeting moments. <br>"If these shadows embrace me first, I'm the unlucky one, but if the shadows are caught by my sister first, they are the unlucky ones..." <br>"These shadows seem to be the tree's means of attack..." <br>"But why do they all feel familiar to me?" <br>In this insane and twisted battle, Lucas left the fighting entirely to his sister. The riskier the battle, the less he should compete with his sister; otherwise, a moment's lapse would spell his doom. But even while entrusting the battle to his sister, Lucas focused intensely on analyzing and observing the appearance of this spectral fiend, pondering what secrets it held. <br>Neither the lakeside investigation team nor Ryan Quinn, nor the personnel stationed farther away, made a sound. They all stared in silence at the scene in the lake. <br>Under the eerie moonlight, they could barely make out the endlessly extending tendrils and the people emerging from them. It was a scene that chilled the body, prickled the spine, and evoked a sense of insanity. They had weapons, yet knew not how to use them against such monsters. <br>But in this scene, one person charged forward, barehanded, to battle the monster. Despite the formidable and bizarre sight, they sensed a hint of "playfulness" from Lucas's movements, as if he was thrilled by and even enjoying this encounter with the terrifying creature. <br>It seemed that, compared to the maniacal monster, Lucas was even more insane! <br>"Reports from the field indicate they saw a creature resembling a fusion of tendrils and humanoid figures..." <br>"Those humanoid shadows at the tendril tips are the same people who sought revenge on Ryan Quinn?" <br>"Their bodies were destroyed, but their ethereal forms were consumed and fused by this creature..." <br>"So they still remember seeking revenge on Ryan, only remembering vengeance..." <br>At the Special Pollution Cleanup Department's main city building, Han Bing of the information analysis team was conducting intelligence analysis with the high-intensity training she was accustomed to, though her voice began to tremble unconsciously as she spoke. <br>"So, those seeking revenge before only counted as 'tainted forms,' while now these are the spectral fiend's true bodies!" <br>"Then..." <br>Her gaze inadvertently turned toward Jane Chen and asked, "What is he doing now?" <br>"He's single-handedly conducting a pollution source cleanup!" Jane Chen, watching the somewhat blurred screen, recalled the video she had seen on the digital camera earlier. After a brief pause, she added, "In his own way!" <br>Not far from her, Han Bing was visibly astonished. <br>But Jane Chen's calmness affected both Han Bing and the rest of the information analysis team. Though clearly perturbed by the sight of Lucas waging a solo battle against the spectral fiend, Jane Chen forced herself to remain composed and showed no signs of panic. Instead, she continued watching the blurry screen while issuing orders in a deep voice: "Continue the information analysis!" <br>"Yes!" <br>Han Bing also took a deep breath, suppressing her inner panic, and continued analyzing: "It has been determined that the target is a super-level mind's corruption source, albeit not yet reaching level two. Its proactive attack on the investigation team members indicates a certain degree of self-awareness, yet the overall lake draining and monitoring process did not provoke it, suggesting its self-awareness is low, limited to instinct... <br>Level determination: D+ <br>Infection level: Low <br>Threat level: Medium <br>Growth method: captures and absorbs lingering psychic energy <br>..." <br>As she continued, her voice hesitated for a moment: "But if it grows by capturing and fusing other lingering psychic energies, and its self-awareness is somewhat chaotic, why did its initial behavior..." <br>Before she could finish, Jane Chen interrupted, "Why was it fixated on Ryan Quinn?" <br>"Because Ryan's revenge was the trigger for this mental pollution incident..." <br>"So as the first 'avenger,' Charlie Wong is the key figure?" <br>"Finding Charlie Wong's body is the real solution to this mental pollution incident?" <br>..." <br>Listening to Jane Chen's analysis, Sergeant Han Bing was momentarily taken aback, then added, "Or perhaps solving it through his own methods, directly?")
