novelraw Chapter 13 : First Blood
Chapter 13 : First Blood
Chapter 13: First Blood
Jiang City, First People’s Hospital.
The corridor outside the intensive care unit was packed with people — leaders from the municipal bureau, core members of the task force, and several of Jiang City’s top doctors and life science experts who had been urgently summoned overnight.
Everyone’s eyes were locked on the hospital bed surrounded by various precision instruments inside the ICU.
“Heart rate is still dropping — already below 40!”
“Blood pressure… can’t be measured! The patient is in severe shock!”
“Kidney function, liver function… all organs are failing at an unbelievable rate!”
Inside the ICU, doctors and nurses were frantically working, trying every emergency measure in succession.
Defibrillation, cardiac stimulants, adrenaline… every method modern medicine could offer had already been deployed.
But the young man lying on the bed, named Li Ming, continued to slip toward the abyss — his vital signs falling with unstoppable momentum.
“How could this happen? What’s the cause? Why can’t we find any explanation that fits modern medicine?!”
An elderly expert with white hair stared fixedly at the descending lines on the monitor, his face filled with confusion and defeat — emotions he had never known in his fifty years of medical practice.
They had conducted the most thorough examination on Li Ming — from the genetic level to the cellular level — but the conclusion defied belief.
Li Ming’s test results showed he was healthy.
Aside from total systemic failure, they found no trace of virus, bacteria, poisoning, or even hereditary disease.
It was as if… as if some invisible force had erased the very “will to live” from the foundation of his being.
“His cells… are losing vitality…”
Another expert, staring through a microscope at the blood sample, spoke with a trembling voice, “They… they seem to have suddenly ‘forgotten’ how to divide and metabolize — they’re dying en masse!”
That sentence drew sharp breaths from everyone present.
This was already far beyond anything comprehensible within the realm of life sciences.
Chen Mo stood before the glass window, face dark as still water, fists clenched tight.
He watched that rapidly withering life on the bed, the ECG line that was about to go flat — a storm of fury and helplessness surged in his chest.
He knew he was witnessing a murder.
A murder that science could not explain, and the law could not punish — a murder from another dimension.
“Beep——”
A piercing, continuous tone broke the silence of the corridor.
On the monitor, the line representing a heartbeat turned into a single cold, straight trace.
All activity in the ICU ceased.
Everyone stared blankly at the bed.
And under dozens of horrified gazes, something even more terrifying occurred.
Li Ming’s corpse, at the very moment life left him, began to “dry up” at a rate visible to the naked eye.
His skin rapidly lost moisture and sheen, clinging tightly to bone, muscles shriveling at shocking speed — he looked like a mummy drained of all fluids in an instant.
In barely ten seconds, what lay on the bed was no longer human, but a clearly outlined husk draped in human skin.
“Ugh—”
A young nurse could no longer hold back, covering her mouth as she ran from the ICU and vomited violently.
The corridor fell into deathly silence.
Doctors accustomed to life and death, seasoned police officers — all were struck dumb by the sight that shattered the limits of human comprehension.
Their worldview crumbled, crushed by the existence of that eerie corpse.
“Seal the scene!”
Chen Mo was the first to recover from shock, his bloodshot eyes blazing as he roared hoarsely,
“Lock down the entire building! No one enters or leaves!”
“All medical personnel involved in the rescue — everyone who witnessed this — isolate them immediately! Have them sign top-level confidentiality agreements!”
“Transfer the corpse… transfer this body to a national secret laboratory immediately! Conduct the highest-level dissection and analysis!”
“Yes, sir!”
The officers behind him snapped into motion as if awakening from a dream.
……
An hour later, in the highest-level emergency meeting room of the Jiang City Government.
Chen Mo stood in the center of the room. Behind him, on the large screen, high-definition footage played in a loop — from Li Ming’s admission and resuscitation to his eventual mummification.
Around the table sat the top-ranking leaders of Jiang City, those holding true power.
Every face bore a look of indescribable shock and gravity.
“Leaders,”
Chen Mo’s voice was hoarse but firm. “The facts are before us.”
“This is no high-tech crime.”
“This is a power entirely beyond our understanding.”
“I request immediate activation of Jiang City’s highest-level emergency protocol!”
“I request that the ‘815 Task Force’ be granted full authority — to mobilize all administrative, military, and technical resources to conduct a full investigation into all ‘transcendent incidents’!”
“We have no time to waste!”
“Today, it’s Li Ming who died. Tomorrow, it could be any of us — or tens of thousands of innocent citizens!”
This time, no one voiced objection.
Before the ironclad evidence, all doubt and caution seemed hollow and meaningless.
The mayor of Jiang City slowly stood, his gaze sweeping across the room before settling on Chen Mo.
“I approve.”
“From this moment, the ‘815 Task Force’ will be renamed the 【Candle Dragon】 Task Force. I will serve as team leader. Comrade Chen Mo, you are the deputy leader — with full operational authority.”
“All departments of Jiang City — Public Security, State Security, the military — will cooperate unconditionally with your actions!”
“You have one mission: at any cost, root out the ‘monsters’ hiding in this city’s shadows, and uncover their true purpose!”
“Yes, sir!”
Chen Mo straightened, snapping a crisp salute.
At that moment, the vast machine of Jiang City — home to millions — began to turn at full speed, all revolving around one word: “Transcendent.”
……
At the same instant Jiang City’s official forces were fully mobilized—
Across the city—
In an abandoned factory where Sun Na and Zhang Jie hid;
In a rural home where Zheng Wei guarded his daughter;
In a university dormitory where Chen Jingjing sat lost in fear and confusion about the future;
And in a private club, where Lin Lan, Chen Xiang, and Wang Defa had just completed a “pleasant collaboration,” with Wu Ce lurking deeper in the shadows…
Every surviving player heard the same cold, commanding voice in their minds:
“【Radiance】 faction player 【Hermit】 has fallen.”
“Remaining players: 【Radiance】—7, 【Shadow】—4.”
……
Suburbs, abandoned factory.
Sun Na tossed her phone onto the table, pacing back and forth in agitation.
Her partnership with Zhang Jie had been volatile from the start.
That night, after being spotted by ordinary people, the two had quickly withdrawn, finally arriving at Sun Na’s secret base.
“So, we’re allies now?” Zhang Jie leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a mocking smile on his face.
“A temporary partnership,”
Sun Na corrected him coolly as she lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled a plume of smoke. “Don’t get it twisted. I just need a runner — and you happen to qualify.”
“Runner?”
Zhang Jie raised an eyebrow. “You’d better show some respect. I’m not afraid of you, ‘Fire Phoenix’. And without me, you wouldn’t even know where the enemy is.”
“Heh. As if you’ve found them yourself.” Sun Na sneered.
After a bout of verbal sparring, they reached a verbal agreement.
Sun Na would provide funding; Zhang Jie would gather intelligence and conduct reconnaissance.
In the following days, Zhang Jie moved like a ghost through the city’s shadows, collecting valuable information — including news about Zheng Wei.
Now, the notification of Li Ming’s death had jolted them out of their cautious rhythm.
“Dead… someone’s dead?”
Zhang Jie’s usual nonchalance vanished, replaced by grim seriousness.
Sun Na, too, shed her queenly air. Her expression darkened, and the cigarette between her fingers trembled slightly.
“【Shadow】… they’ve made their move.” Her voice was dry.
“And they killed one of us silently, without us even realizing.”
Zhang Jie’s eyes narrowed in vigilance. “We don’t even know who died — or how.”
An unseen enemy and an unknown cause of death — that was far more terrifying than open battle.
Sun Na took a fierce drag of her cigarette and crushed it into the table. “We’ve been too slow — too passive!”
“If this continues, those rats in 【Shadow】 will pick us off one by one!”
“What’s your plan?” Zhang Jie asked.
“Plan?”
A wild light flickered in Sun Na’s eyes. “The plan is to make a bigger scene!”
“If we can’t find them — we’ll make them come to us!”
She strode to a wall where a huge map of Jiang City was pinned, with several areas circled in red marker.
“That fugitive Zheng Wei, our ‘Flame Empress’ and ‘Flying Man’ — right now, every authority in the city must be watching us.”
“And so is 【Shadow】.”
“So let’s stir the waters until they can’t see through the mud!”
Her finger jabbed heavily at a point on the map. “According to our intel, the owner of this security company has recently shown unusual interest in the transcendent.”
“What are you planning?” Zhang Jie frowned.
Sun Na turned back, smiling a mad, brilliant smile. “If he’s Shadow, then we’ll wipe that place off the map.”
“In the loudest, boldest way possible!”
“I want the whole city to know that we, the 【Radiance】 faction, are not some weak fruit to be crushed at will!”
“Are you insane?!”
Zhang Jie roared. “The whole city is hunting us — the police, and other players! Exposing ourselves under the spotlight — do you have a death wish?”
“What’s there to fear?”
Sun Na said carelessly, exhaling a perfect smoke ring. “Besides, don’t you think it’s cool?”
“To be worshiped by thousands like gods — that’s the treatment we deserve!”
“Cool? Treatment?”
Zhang Jie laughed in disbelief. “Lady, this is life and death, not a movie set! Did you forget the rule? Die here — and you’re dead for real!”
“So what?”
Sun Na spread her arms wide, as if embracing the world. “We’ve gained the power mortals dream of — and you want me to keep living like a rat in the gutter?”
“I refuse to live like that again!”
Her voice rose, shrill with hysterical excitement. “I want everyone to see me!”
“I want everyone who ever looked down on me to kneel at my feet!”
Zhang Jie stared at her crazed expression for a moment — then grinned.
“Sounds… interesting.”
Better to die in a blaze than to wait quietly for death.
……
Rural house.
Zheng Wei stuffed a stack of fresh bills into a black plastic bag and carefully hid it beneath the floorboards.
It was enough to pay Xiaoxiao’s medical expenses for a year.
Just two nights ago, he had broken into an infamous underground casino in a neighboring town.
Using the most direct and brutal methods, he took down every guard and thug inside, then smashed open the safe — but only took 300,000 yuan, just enough to treat his daughter.
“Tell your boss,”
Zheng Wei said, gripping a thug by the collar, his voice like a demon from hell, “this 300,000 — I’m borrowing it. When my daughter recovers, I’ll pay it back.”
“But if you dare call the police…”
Before their terrified eyes, he tore a heavy wooden gambling table clean in half with his bare hands.
“…this will be your fate.”
Then he vanished into the night, clutching the money.
Now, as the notification of 【Hermit】’s death echoed in his mind, he paused for a moment.
“‘Hermit’…”
Zheng Wei muttered the codename, glancing toward his sleeping daughter’s face. His gaze hardened.
He had to become stronger — strong enough to crush anyone who threatened him or his daughter.
……
Girls’ dormitory.
“No… no, it can’t be…”
Chen Jingjing jolted upright in bed, face pale as paper, body trembling uncontrollably.
【Hermit】
A teammate from 【Radiance】!
He was dead!
Killed by someone from 【Shadow】!
Then… that “Ferryman” brother — could he be in danger too?
Her mind spun chaotically as she grabbed her phone, hands shaking, and sent a message to Chen Xiang.
【Still Waters Run Deep】: “Ferryman, did you see? One of our teammates was killed! Are you okay?!”
……
Private club.
Chen Xiang looked at the message from Chen Jingjing — filled with worry and panic — and smiled like a devil.
He didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he turned the phone screen toward Lin Lan and Wang Defa.
“Look — our ‘little lamb’ is already mourning her fallen comrade.”
Wang Defa glanced at the message, then at the calm-faced Lin Lan and the sinisterly smiling Chen Xiang, feeling a chill shoot down his spine.
Lin Lan, meanwhile, elegantly lifted her glass, took a slow sip, and said softly,
“Excellent.”
Watching the city lights through the window, she smiled — a cold, razor-thin smile.
“The game is finally getting interesting.”
“So, who will be our next prey?”