Hunter of Mysterious Creature

The source of the intelligence did not originate from the already fallen Siberian Federation, but from a spy of the Hezhong States—or more accurately, the descendant of a Hezhong States spy.

In the year 4598 of the Yellow Calendar, the construction project for the Nameless Island Research Institute was finalized in strict confidentiality by the highest leaders of the two political entities. Immediately following this, intense preparatory work commenced—vast quantities of materials were gathered from all over the Federation to Jinggu City. The four largest ports in Jinggu City were completely sealed off under the pretext of "major military operations," while tens of thousands of workers signed their names on confidentiality agreements spanning more than twenty pages.

However, there are no secrets that remain forever hidden. Even with the Xiazhou Federation and Siberian Federation's robust confidentiality efforts, the vast movement of materials couldn't possibly escape the notice of Hezhong States intelligence agents—the plan for the Nameless Island Research Institute quickly reached the ears of the Hezhong States' high command.

Yet this time, the Hezhong States chose not to alert the target unnecessarily.

...

In early March of 4599 in the Yellow Calendar, Professor Anatoliy Ivanovich Pavlov from Saint Petersburg University boarded a special train bound for Jinggu City in the Xiazhou Federation.

Seated beside him was his new wife, Vera Kulikova, who was nearly forty years his junior.

Three months earlier, Professor Anatoli's first wife tragically died in a traffic accident while out shopping for groceries. During those days of immense sorrow, it was this young, beautiful, and empathetic student who accompanied him through the hardship. The thin line between them was soon crossed after Vera climbed onto the single bed in his office meant for afternoon naps, revealing herself to be not just empathetic but also adept at undressing.

The professor, over sixty, found himself falling in love once more, feeling as if he was experiencing a second springtime of his life—a return to his spirited and youthful days—until a month later, he received a secret letter from the Siberian Federation's high command.

As a professor of biology and anomalous creature studies at Saint Petersburg University, Anatoli was selected to be among the first batch of researchers at the Nameless Island Research Institute. The Federation Government required him to finish up his current work as quickly as possible and prepare for his journey to the Nameless Island.

Deeply attached, the couple was naturally reluctant to separate. Fortunately, the letter also mentioned that, since the research on the island would endure for perhaps decades, selected researchers were allowed to bring their families along.

Without a moment's hesitation, Professor Anatoli registered for marriage with Vera the day after receiving the letter.

Yet what Anatoli would never have dreamed of was that this beautiful girl, who grew up in St. Petersburg, was actually a senior spy for the Hezhong States.

After arriving on the Nameless Island, Vera commenced her intelligence-gathering efforts. Compared to collecting intelligence, transmitting it off the Nameless Island proved significantly trickier—the security measures were extraordinarily comprehensive. Persons leaving the island had to undergo humiliating body searches and even a full-body X-ray examination, making it impossible to smuggle intelligence concealed in their bodies out of sight.

Hezhong States intelligence personnel, however, devised an extraordinarily risky method of intelligence transmission: using ocean currents and tides.

On the eighteenth of each month, a spy would toss a drift bottle containing intelligence from the southeastern corner of the island. After approximately four days of drifting, these bottles would reach the southern coast of Fusang—Fusang was still under the control of the Hezhong States at the time. The Hezhong States, under the guise of military exercises, evacuated all residents from the southern coast, ensuring they could intercept these drift bottles from the Nameless Island promptly.

Yet as calculated as human plans may be, unforeseen circumstances arise. After completing several transmissions, a sea beast-like anomalous creature passing through changed the current's direction, diverting the most crucial piece of intelligence obtained during Vera's espionage career to the east coast of Xiazhou Continent.

That was also the last piece of intelligence Vera ever sent out.

For the next day marked the Nameless Island incident.

This affair should have been buried in the dust of history with the fall of the Hezhong States, but someone happened to record it.

It was a Hezhong States intelligence officer stationed in the Fusang area. With the demise of the Hezhong States, these secrets lost their significance, and he recorded them truthfully in his diary.

The descendant of this intelligence officer was a member of the group of Angsa hunters.

The subsequent development of the plot was quite cliché—during a move, this Hunter discovered the diary, and using his official privileges, he gathered a series of information, including meteorological records and hydrological reports from that year. Through meticulous calculations, he deduced that the piece of intelligence that failed to reach the southern coast of Fusang might have drifted to the Longkou Port area.

With a mindset of just trying his luck, he gathered a few close Hunter friends and organized a special "treasure hunt."

Whether due to the guy's good luck or his ancestors' blessing, they indeed found the long-lost intelligence near a small fishing village by Longkou Port.

Although termed a drift bottle, the container Vera used for the intelligence wasn't a common glass bottle but a metal tube filled with a substantial amount of foam inside.

The villagers in the small fishing community were oblivious to its purpose. However, in those times of material scarcity, such a well-crafted sealed metal container was rare. The villager who found it dug out the foam inside and kept it as a wine vessel.

The intelligence officer's descendant purchased the metal tube for two thousand yuan under the pretext of archaeology, and the piece of intelligence undelivered to the officer's hand over a hundred years ago was hidden within the tube's compartment.

As the trace of the past continued to unfurl in memory, Sun Hang and the group of Angsa hunters collectively held their breath as they slowly unrolled the yellowed scroll.

The intelligence was written in cipher. However, the translation manual had long since been memorized by this descendant, who inhaled deeply, his face unable to conceal his shock.

"The Nameless Island Research Institute... They... they discovered an embryo of an anomalous creature." He struggled to swallow and continued, "An original-level embryo."

"That's impossible!" another Hunter immediately and loudly refuted, "There has never been a sighting record of original-level anomalous creatures! Who would believe a human embryo infected with a meme from an original-level anomalous creature..." he continued to read, "The most critical point is that the creature's anomaly progression has reached one hundred percent, yet it hasn't undergone any mutation. This means, in other words, that such an original-level meme may coexist with humanity!"