"The first appearance? Didn't it appear when Hou Yi shot the sun back then? And nine appeared at once," Sun Hang retorted.

"The records from mythological stories aren't reliable," Yang Qi said. "We can't confirm whether the 'Golden Crow' shot by Hou Yi is the same as Yi-92... Even in the Hezhong States, researchers of mysterious creatures have never confused 'Helios' with the sun god from Ancient Greek mythology."

"So, you were up until midnight last night doing just this?" Sun Hang couldn't help but yawn, rubbing his somewhat swollen eyes vigorously.

"Well... you got home earlier than we did last night, why do you look more tired than us?" Yang Qi examined Sun Hang with some curiosity.

"Don't ask, if you ask, it's insomnia." Sun Hang yawned again.

"Want one?" Yang Qi took out a small box from his pocket, poured out a small bead-like thing resembling a chocolate bean, and handed it to Sun Hang.

"What's this?" Sun Hang picked up the chocolate bean, hesitated for a moment, but put it into his mouth.

"Concentrated caffeine," Yang Qi said. "I often use it when working late nights."

"Ugh, so bitter..." Sun Hang frowned, "Can't you add some sugar?"

"Bitterness can also help in refreshing oneself."

"Sounds like you're quite experienced with all-nighters," Sun Hang teased. "They say women often pulling all-nighters tend to age faster."

"Who told you that?"

"The cosmetics ad on the big screen in the commercial center of Tianfu City," Sun Hang answered truthfully.

The four soon left the hotel, and an SUV with the insignia of the Lizhou City Public Security Bureau was already waiting by the hotel's back door.

"What do we do upon arrival at the scene?" Sun Hang asked again once in the car.

"Detect the remaining mysterious creature meme in the debris and soil," Yang Qi said. "I borrowed a set of detection equipment from the Lizhou City branch of the Mysterious Creature Research Institute, and besides, a research team will be sent over from Tianfu City as well."

"Why not just leave the job to them?" Sun Hang yawned repeatedly.

"They probably won't arrive in Lizhou City until noon," Yang Qi said. "This kind of work is very time-sensitive; the meme residues of mysterious creatures in the environment decay rapidly over time..."

"Did you detect the meme of that fireball last night?" Sun Hang suddenly asked.

Yang Qi was slightly taken aback, then shook her head with some regret: "No, so today I decided to expand the detection range..."

"There won't be any, no matter how much you expand the range, there will be no results," Sun Hang said decisively. "Right after the fireball disappeared, Candle Dragon and I rushed to the position where the fireball was hovering, but there was nothing there — theoretically, if there were meme residues, that should have been the time and coordinates with the highest residual volume, right?"

"In theory... yes," Yang Qi nodded slowly.

"You can ask Candle Dragon, he was with me at that time," Sun Hang turned to look at Candle Dragon sitting in the third row.

"I indeed couldn't sense any trace of mysterious creatures," Candle Dragon said. "But sensing isn't my strong suit; before testing with professional equipment, I can't guarantee there's no meme residue."

"Sensing isn't your strength, but it's mine," Sun Hang shot back. "The Taotie meme is very sensitive to any other mysterious creature memes within its perception range... After all, to it, these things are nourishment to enhance itself. But I sensed no 'food' aroma at all... I'm not boasting, but in terms of sensing this aspect, I think I am much more reliable than those cumbersome devices."

Yang Qi glanced at Sun Hang and said, "So you're suggesting I give up?"

"Rather than wasting time on something that will yield no result, why not do something meaningful," Sun Hang said. "Like helping the colleagues at the Lizhou City Public Security Bureau to settle the disaster victims."

That fireball was Anna's doing, and those killed by it became Anna's 'nourishment'... Sun Hang knew well that this thing was not purely 'Yi-92,' even if it was, it was most likely already controlled by Anna.

Whether it's Anna or the Three Apes, they are highly dangerous to Yang Qi and her team... out of 'concern' for 'friends,' Sun Hang doesn't want them to delve too deeply into this matter.

If Yang Qi really discovers something and catches the attention of the Three Apes, that would be catastrophic...

Being like the fisherman or Shino and having part of memory erased can be considered lucky... If memory removal can't completely eliminate the influence, Sun Hang has no doubt that the Three Apes would directly erase the physical existence of all informants — it has quite a record in such matters.

By then, even Sun Hang couldn't save them.

"I'm still a bit... unwilling," Yang Qi said quietly. "Consider me busying myself in vain."

"Alright, alright," Sun Hang leaned his head against the chair. "Then I'll take a quick nap."

If persuasion doesn't work, don't push it further; after all, the scene is clean enough, unless Anna intends to stir things up, Yang Qi probably won't find anything.

Wait a minute!

Sun Hang suddenly jolted awake and opened his eyes.

"Yang Qi! Did you get the count of deaths last night?"

"Not yet, but according to the Lizhou City Management Committee's estimate, the number of deaths should be over two thousand..." Yang Qi said.

"Two thousand?" Upon hearing this, the older sheriff driving scoffed disdainfully, "They probably need to add a zero at the back... Those officials just fear taking responsibility, so they keep underestimating the numbers."

"Why did you suddenly ask about this?" Yang Qi asked.

"I don't need the exact number of deaths, but surely those significant figures among the casualties have been counted, right?" Sun Hang asked.

Anna has the ability to consume human emotions and memories, which is similar to Sun Hang's power... And according to the news from Tianfu City, the Chimera 17 that caused a stir recently also seems to possess the ability to devour prey's memories...

These seemingly unrelated information pieces form a vague thread in Sun Hang's mind...

If Anna created this 'big firework' to welcome him, why didn't she choose Tianfu City, but chose Lizhou City's Panlong Airport?

They didn't plan on stopping at Panlong Airport... the only connection between them and Panlong Airport was the brief communication with the airport tower when entering Shuzhou.

"Uh, let me check." Yang Qi took out her phone, her fingers quickly tapping on the screen.

A few minutes later, she looked up and said, "Among the confirmed casualties, the highest-ranking position is the general manager of Panlong Airport, followed by a senior captain with twenty-five years of flying experience and the chief engineer of the ground department..."

"..." Sun Hang couldn't help but fall into contemplation.

Panlong Airport is a private airport, neither the general manager nor the engineer should have access to any confidential information. Instead of attacking these people, it would have been better to directly hit the office building of the City Management Committee with the fireball... The people there know far more than these victims...

"Wait, there's another fatality..." Yang Qi's tone suddenly paused, "This person has an overt identity as a subordinate clerk of the Disaster Response Committee, but I just sent his identity recognition code to Dubhe Tower and found out he has another hidden identity."

"What identity?"

"A liaison officer of the intelligence department of the Chunming City Mysterious Creature Investigation Bureau."

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