Night’s Nomenclature

Return Countdown 144:00:00.

1:00 AM.

"Li Hao, hurry up and come up! The gang leader we were tracking was bitten to death by several rats! I saw it with my own eyes!" Li Chao spoke urgently on the phone: "Those rats looked very ferocious, their eyes were blood-red, but they seemed to be afraid of people; they ran away when they saw me."

As he spoke, Li Chao slowly poked his head into the room. The room was luxuriously decorated, but the central air conditioning vent on the ceiling was dilapidated; the rats must have entered the apartment from there.

Recalling the scene, he was quite certain that those rats were problematic: "Are the rats in the alley still there? Stay away from them; I have a bad feeling about this."

"Are you kidding me? Rats bit the gang leader to death?" Li Hao responded on the other end of the phone: "No rats are that bold! Stop joking around, come down quickly, let's go to the bar for a drink."

This Li Hao was a new friend Li Chao and the others made after leaving Sun Chuci, a rich kid from the Outer World. He usually used his mouth to transport Gold bars in exchange for supplies and lived a relatively comfortable life in the Inner World.

"I'm not kidding, you must stay away from the rats," Li Chao said: "I'll leave here first, we'll talk when we meet."

"You're too scared, it's just rats," Li Hao glanced at two rats in the alley, unconcernedly walked over, raised his leg, and kicked, trying to scare the two rats away.

Li Hao didn't kick the two rats; instead, they climbed up his leg.

Their aim was clear: to bite his carotid artery!

"Damn!" Li Hao kept slapping his body, but he couldn't shake off the two rats. Only when several others rushed over did they save his life, slapping the rats to the ground.

Everyone looked on in shock, only to see that the two rats hadn't left but were staring fiercely at all of them, making squeaking sounds.

At that moment, a voice came from outside the alley: "Xiao San, what's it like being a Golden Family member?"

"Hehe, it's awesome! I heard from the Black Family that the Leader allows me to go to the island for Cultivation," a voice proudly said: "What an honor!"

"Wow, is it true? The Leader called you to the island? Little Seven was the first batch; you guys are the second batch?"

"That's right, a total of 48 people in the second batch," Xiao San chuckled: "Although we weren't selected for the first batch like Little Seven, being able to go to the island is great."

"That's not nonsense, that's by the Leader's side!"

Xiao San looked at the neon lights in the city and sighed: "The night in District 4 is so lively, it seems more prosperous than City 18."

Someone laughed: "City 18 is the Li Clan's private land, while City 10 is where all kinds of forces are stationed. The Federation's House of Representatives and Senate are all here, and there are probably hundreds of large and small administrative institutions. If you go out and punch anyone, you might hit a congressman. Moreover, this is where the most stars in the entire Federation are, top-tier and super-top-tier stars are all here."

"City 10 has dozens of banquets held simultaneously every night. Those big shots live a life of debauchery. If this place isn't prosperous, then the Federation has nowhere prosperous."

Someone else said: "Xiao San, you just came back from City No. ?, today the brothers pooled money to take you to the biggest place in District 4 to experience the world. Lao Luo said in the internal email that you and Little Seven made a great contribution this time; the Leader agreed to grant you the third stage of Breathing Technique."

The Guardians' Union does have money now, but there are also many places to spend it. They need to stockpile medicinal materials, weapons, and various supplies, in case the Conglomerate targets the Guardians' Union one day, causing a huge gap in their supplies.

Therefore, everyone's life is still tight.

At this time, Xiao Wu and others passed by the alley. When they found someone inside, they quickly kept silent and walked past as if nothing had happened.

"Help!" Li Hao just spoke, but he found that the two small rats seemed to have seen something terrifying and turned to escape!

Without hesitation!

Li Hao and the others were stunned. The two little rats escaped so suddenly that they didn't even realize what was going on.

They didn't know whether the rats were afraid of crowds or the few people who had just passed by.

In short, it was strange. The rats, who were extremely ferocious just a second ago, suddenly became cowards!

"What's wrong with those two rats just now?" Li Hao asked.

"I don't know, quickly call Li Chao down, something's not right here!" A girl said: "The rats in City 10 have mutated, we must quickly tell the Academy about this!"

Li Hao picked up the phone on the ground: "Hey, Li Chao, come down quickly, we have to leave quickly, let's go back to the residence first."

But he waited for several seconds, but he couldn't hear Li Chao's reply: "Hey? Li Chao, what's wrong? Talk!"

A terrifying atmosphere spread. There was no response from the other end of the phone.

Li Hao turned on the speakerphone, and everyone could hear strange sounds.

It was as if something was chewing flesh and gnawing on bones.

From time to time, there were wheezing sounds on the phone, as if someone's trachea had been bitten off.

With a snap, Li Hao's body stiffened, and his phone fell to the ground.

Everyone's faces were pale.

A girl said: "Let's go save him!"

Everyone ran to the apartment entrance, but as they ran, someone noticed something was wrong. Turning around, they saw Li Hao and those rich kids being dragged in the opposite direction by Li Hao.

"Wait, where are you going?" the girl asked.

"I'm going to call the police," Li Hao and the others disappeared into the street without looking back.

The remaining four stopped.

They didn't dare to mention saving people anymore.

"Call the PCE Public Security Committee!"

A girl tremblingly dialed the phone: "Hey, PCE? We have rats biting people to death here!"

A laughing voice came from the other end: "Damn it, don't call in the middle of the night, okay? What kind of rats biting people? False reports will land you in jail!"

With that, the phone was hung up.

The four became even more desperate.

"Call Brother Chuci," the girl suddenly said: "It's a matter of life and death, even if he's angry with us, he won't ignore us."

In the past, no matter what difficulties they encountered in the wilderness, everyone's first reaction was to find Sun Chuci.

The journey through the wilderness was smooth, and after returning to the city, they picked up so many weapons and firearms that their lives improved dramatically.

Gradually, everyone in the city almost forgot what Sun Chuci had done until they encountered danger again.

Everyone hesitated for a while. They had deceived Sun Chuci before, and now they were asking for help again?

But everyone thought that this was a matter of life and death after all, and finally gritted their teeth and dialed the number.

"Sorry, the user you called is powered off."

It turned out that some people wouldn't always wait for you in the same place.

The four students said: "Let's just leave. Li Chao is definitely dead. We have to figure out how to tell Kunlun about this."

"Yes, let's find Kunlun's people. The Academy gave us an emergency rescue number!" A student finally remembered Kunlun.

As soon as they explained the situation, the person on the other end of the phone immediately became serious: "Don't stay there, come to No. 17, Heilin Street, District 8, I'll be waiting for you here."

Kunlun's secret headquarters in City 10 was in District 8.

It wasn't for being low-key or anything; it's just that the current living environment in the lower three districts, apart from being a little dilapidated, is really much better than Districts 4, 5, and 6.

Of course, it's still not comparable to the upper three districts.

At this time, Xiao Wu and others suddenly returned. They stared straight at the four students who were about to leave: "Did you encounter something just now?"

The Guardians' Union members were originally going out for fun, but Xiao San, after the battle experience in City No. ?, had a quick reaction.

When he passed by the alley, he felt something was wrong, so after walking a distance, he couldn't help but return.

Several students looked at each other: "We encountered a rat biting someone to death."

The Guardians' Union members were shocked!

To be honest, there was a misconception in the Guardians' Union's view.

The lower three districts actively carried out the extermination of the four pests, and the joint prevention work made rats flee in droves. Gradually, rats were no longer seen in the lower three districts.

So they thought that the rats had been eliminated. Yesterday, the Guardians' Union even commended three rat-killing heroes, awarding them the honor of "advanced individuals."

One of the rat-killing heroes was the brother who was about to take Xiao San to experience the world.

This is also the reason why the rats in the alley just now ran away immediately.

Just like how a chicken butcher in the market only needs to touch a hen, and the hen will stiffen all over, this rat-killing hero has already developed a bloodline suppression.

In the eyes of the Guardians' Union, rat infestation should have been eliminated, but now the facts tell them that this rat infestation seems to have not only occurred in the previously dirty and messy lower three districts but is spreading throughout the city.

Moreover, the rat population is increasing, and they even dare to openly kill people!

This is a terrifying thing. The Guardians' Union members looked around. They couldn't determine how many rats in this city had mutated, nor did they know where they were hiding, or how many people had been harmed.

Sharp intuition told the family members that this matter was not as simple as they imagined; something big was about to happen!

Xiao San frowned and said: "We must let the Federation pay attention to this matter. This is City 10, the political center where various parties are vying for power. If something goes wrong here, the entire Federation might have problems. Call the PCE and tell them about this!"

A girl said: "It's useless. We've called, but they don't believe us. They even said they would send us to jail for making false reports."

Xiao San's brows furrowed even tighter: "Call the media and let the media expose it!"

With that, a family member picked up the phone and dialed: "Hey, Eastern Media? We need a star? We don't have any celebrity scandals."

The person on the other end of the phone said: "Why are you calling me if you don't have any celebrity scoops? I only want this, and the audience only watches this."

With that, the reporter on the other end of the phone hung up.

Xiao San and the others were dumbfounded. Has the Federation's media become so corrupt? It turns out that only celebrity matters count?

Xiao San pulled the Home Families aside and whispered: "This matter cannot be delayed; we must contact the Black Family and the Leader as soon as possible. Stop playing around, it's time for serious business."

When the Home Families, who had planned to enjoy themselves in District 4, heard that there was serious business, they immediately became serious and ran towards the lower three districts.

In the dark sewer, two rats that had just escaped from the alley were quickly crawling.

Under the ground of District 5, countless rats were transporting flesh and blood back and forth. In the central area, there were countless pink rat pups crawling on the ground, frantically devouring the food brought back by the rats.

The rats are of different sizes. The larger ones were the first batch to reproduce, while the smaller ones are even more ferocious.

This newborn group is breeding at an unimaginable speed. The Rat King did not blindly invade the surface. Each of its actions was planned: only plundering the most hidden food, being as low-key as possible before humans discovered them, waiting for a better opportunity.

The Rat King seemed to know one thing: it did not yet have the strength to contend with the surface humans, and the population size would be its greatest advantage.

Beside the black coffin, the Rat King took out the last arm and gnawed on it. The sound of its teeth chewing on bones was exceptionally terrifying.

The two rats ran to it and squeaked incessantly. The Rat King listened for a moment. It didn't expect that the humans in the lower three districts had actually run to other areas.

Was it intentional targeting, or a coincidence?

In the Rat King's eyes, there was a look of wisdom.

At this time, the Rat King suddenly emitted a piercing squeak.

A mutation occurred.

The smaller rats climbed onto the larger rats and began to gnaw on them. The larger rats obediently stayed in place, allowing the group to treat them as food, as if this was the food reserve left by the Rat King for the group.

The biggest advantage of rats is definitely not their strength but their small size, allowing them to enter and exit anywhere at will: pipes, wall cracks, sewers. They can even crawl out of toilet bowls.

Therefore, those large rats are themselves defective products in the group's reproduction and will eventually be replaced by newly evolved rats.

Now, the Rat King felt a sense of urgency. It must adopt a more radical plan.

The breeding speed must be faster, and the speed of plundering food must also be faster. It can no longer slowly search for food but must raise food.

After eating, the rat swarm began to converge towards the sewers where District 4 is located. They found the building where Li Chao died and climbed up the pipes.

They crowded in the sewers, flooding like a terrifying flood.

Inside the Dreamland Building in District 4.

A middle-aged man was sitting on the toilet looking at his phone. The news anchor on TV was reporting: "At 8 tonight, a reporter captured Zhou, a middle-aged female artist, having dinner with a young male star. That night, the two returned to a mansion in District 3 together, suspected of extramarital affairs."

The middle-aged man watched with great interest and searched for more news and photos about this female artist.

However, at this moment, his butt…

The middle-aged man froze for a moment. The next second, he screamed, covered his butt, stood up, and jumped wildly, roaring angrily.

He wanted to find something in his body, but the unknown fear kept making holes in his body, crushing any internal organs it could crush.

The middle-aged man looked down in pain and could even see a palm-sized bulge moving in his belly.

Blood flowed continuously between his legs.

Slowly, the middle-aged man fell to the ground, his eyes wide open, lifeless.

I don't know how long it took, a small rat pushed open his mouth and crawled out.

The little rat inspected the room, confirming that there were no other humans, before squeaking at the toilet.

Then, countless rats crawled out of the toilet.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and someone shouted: "What the hell is the howling and crying in the middle of the night? Can't people sleep?"

Hundreds of rats in the room collectively stopped their actions. Only after the knocking stopped did they start sharing food again.

The rats divided their labor efficiently. They piled on top of each other in large numbers, allowing some rats to enter the ventilation ducts, while others crawled back into the toilet.

Finally, some rats kept transporting the bodies in the room back to the dark sewers.

This Dreamland Building is about to fall; it will become the rat swarm's third base, and all the humans in the building will become the swarm's nourishment.

Morning.

On the 81st floor of the Dreamland Building, a young man heard strange noises when he got up in the morning. He walked out of his bedroom but found nothing: "Dad? Mom?"

As usual, his mother should have gotten up to cook by now, and his father should be at the dining table watching the Federation's morning political news.

However, the living room was empty, with no one there.

He turned on the TV and the holographic projection was broadcasting his father's favorite news channel.

The young man felt strange. He knocked on his parents' bedroom door, but no one answered.

He turned the doorknob; with a click, the door opened.

The young man saw two people covered by a blanket on the bed. His parents seemed to be still asleep?

He originally intended to quietly retreat, but the blanket…

The young man froze and walked to the bedside. He gently lifted the blanket and found that it was densely packed with rats wriggling inside, while his parents had already become two skeletons, their blood staining the sheets red.

"Ah!!!" The young man screamed, this scene was too cruel, directly crushing his brain.

He only felt that he had lost his ability to think, as if a mountain pressed on his chest, making him breathless.

The moment the blanket was lifted, countless rats rushed towards him, quickly submerging him in a gray tide.

On the holographic projection, a female anchor was smiling and saying: "Seven days later, City 10 District 4 will hold the grand 17th Boxing King Tournament. This is the most popular event for the people of the Federation. It is reported that City 18 boxing king Afan will fight City 10 boxing king Gu Zheng here. There has always been a rumor that the two are incompatible, and the public has always compared the two. Now, everyone can finally know who is the real king. At that time, the District 4 boxing arena will welcome 100,000 spectators to cheer for them!"

In front of the holographic projection, in the wriggling gray rat swarm, several black-skinned rats were silently watching.

After watching the news, they looked at each other, and immediately two of them crawled back into the sewer through the toilet, as if to bring this news back underground.

On this day, the Guardians' Union suddenly acted like they were facing a great enemy and launched a new round of special campaigns to exterminate and prevent rats.