Monster Dismantling Company

Chapter 8 The Colonel and the Dragon's Scales

"So what if I said something wrong? What if the alarm goes off and it turns out to be a false alarm? How would you feel?"

"You know perfectly well why I'm asking. Any sacrifice is worthwhile to ensure the safety of the citizens. However, if we fire a blank, I will take full responsibility."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

The two stared at each other for three seconds in silence.

The colonel picked up the phone: "Connect me to the Ningzhou Management Committee. According to Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the United Government's Disaster Prevention Law, the Disaster Prevention Committee is now in charge of the entire city. Proceed according to the plan. Sound the alarm, everyone immediately take shelter in the nearest bunker, and then impose martial law throughout the city. No one may leave their bunker until the alarm is over. Also, send a message to the Xin'anzhou Defense Army and ask them to immediately dispatch miasma control troops to provide support."

After saying this, he put down the phone and took a deep breath.

With his hands on the table, he began, "Let me make this clear—if I get fired because of this, I'll drag you down with me."

"Putting everything else aside, you seem more decisive than before? I thought you'd take a few minutes to think it over, but you made up your mind in just three seconds."

"If it were truly an urgent matter, I could have figured it out in a few more minutes! Instead of teasing me, you should tell me your reasons—did I owe Fire Crow something in my past life that I always end up taking the blame for you guys?"

Seeing that Master Wang wasn't going to speak, he changed his approach: "I've already activated the defense force's response mechanism. But in Ningzhou, the municipal committee isn't under my jurisdiction, so I need to have a reason to convince them—or in other words, if you want me to forcefully declare martial law without a reason, you should at least give me a plausible explanation personally."

"So, is his reason sufficient?" Master Wang invited Li Lin to come forward.

"Wait, so you're Li Lin? You've grown so much. Hello, I'm an old friend of your father's."

He extended his hand. Out of consideration for their old friendship, he gave Li Lin considerable face—but Li Lin subconsciously flinched at the outstretched hand.

"Are you... sick?" Li Lin suddenly asked.

"Hey, hey, watch your step!" Lin Zhifang winked at him sharply. "This person is..."

Before he could finish speaking, the colonel stopped him. His eyes widened as if struck by lightning: "What did you say? Am I crazy?"

"Yes. Do you... have any medical condition?"

"How did you know?" He stepped forward and lowered his voice.

"There's a smell of disease in the air around you." He could smell it directly. He was like a walking mass spectrometer today, easily detecting these problems. Not to mention, the colonel's problems were so obvious that he could smell them directly.

He could clearly sense the deathly pallor, the resentment of a long-term illness, and the weakness caused by the medication.

"How long can I live?" The colonel was clearly prepared for this question.

After all, Li Lin had already sensed that he had taken the medicine, so he must have been prepared.

"Your life is as fragile as a spider's thread. You won't live more than a month."

"???" Master Wang exclaimed in surprise, "Really?"

The colonel simply closed his eyes: "You know, there are five stages when a person faces grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. A minute ago, I was at the first stage. And now, I've fast-forwarded to the fifth."

In fact, he had only recently learned of the incident. When the military doctor told him the test results, the doctor advised him to make the most of his last month, eat well, and spend more time with his family. But he didn't intend to make any changes, simply acting as if nothing had happened. Even his orderly hadn't noticed anything amiss. He was still in the process of denial, still in the first stage of facing grief.

However, the shadow of death was indeed subtly changing him. For example, under normal circumstances, although the outcome of his decision might not change, he would never make a decision so quickly—in other words, he was indeed transitioning to the second stage.

His subconscious mind became restless, urging him to leave something behind before he died—merit or infamy, he couldn't just die in vain.

However, he was still reasonable. He could at least convince himself that the doctor's words were based on a single piece of evidence. But hearing them a second time from Li Lin...

His psychological defenses were breached.

The immense pressure caused his vision to momentarily black out. He grabbed the table for support, forcing himself to regain his balance. Because after accepting everything, he had, ironically, calmed down.

"I believe you... Tell me, how can I cooperate with you?"

"First, I hope this can be kept secret. Let's go outside and talk."

The two of them left the command post tent alone, leaving the others behind.

"I have a question for you," the colonel said, looking at Li Lin. "It seems you do possess superhuman strength. So why do you trust me? Aren't you afraid I'll leak your information?"

"Because you smell like your father."

The colonel chuckled. "I don't want to take in an adopted son yet. You don't seem like Lü Bu. Besides, you don't seem like the type to joke like that. So, what do you mean?"

"Literally—you seem to be avoiding the question. You have the same condition as my father. It's squamous metaplasia, isn't it?"

"..." After a long silence, he lifted his sleeve, revealing the gauze underneath.

Tear the gauze off directly, and layers of scales will appear underneath.

"You...this is the painful transformation I've suffered from."

Those were not human traces, but the marks of a beast. Although it seemed similar to Li Lin's transformation, unlike the composed Li Lin, he appeared to be suffering greatly from the process of scaling.

"I know you are nearing the end. But I don't know how far these scales have covered you—where else besides your arms are they?"

"Let me put it this way," he rolled up his sleeves, "I hired a top-secret private doctor to hide the fact that I'm about to lose my ability to work. So the situation is pretty clear without me having to explain. These scales have been haunting me like a ghost for the past 10 years."

The more he discussed the matter, the more out of control his expression became: "See this dagger of mine?" He took out the standard-issue dagger from his waist.

"I'm very skilled at cutting myself. Can you imagine how inhuman the torture is! Because I've discovered that the only way to stop the scaling is to cut it off little by little."