With just one glance, Wen Wen understood that these five claws were a troublesome containment item.
Its characteristic should be to parasitize in a human palm, urging the host to extract life force from other creatures. The upper limit of its life force extraction is unknown, but at least a superpower user in the Assimilation Mid-Sequence wouldn’t be able to escape once affected.
Such an item falling into the hands of someone like Zhang Kewei, whose intentions are not upright, could result in the harm of many lives.
However, it needs to parasitize on a living being to be effective, so containment is not difficult.
Wen Wen planned to place it in the containment warehouse and, unless necessary, would avoid using it.
As for Zhang Kewei, Wen Wen threw him into the sanctuary, where he would later enter the punishment room. After receiving his punishment there, Wen Wen would send him on his way to meet his end.
After these matters were settled, Wen Wen sighed and sent coordinates to the local Hunter Association to clean up the site and then returned to Sihu City, arriving at a quarantine zone.
This quarantine zone was converted from a school’s dormitory and was used to house the six hundred and sixty-six civilians who were abducted as experimental materials.
Due to the timely intervention of the joint forces, they were not further harmed by demons. The physical injuries from kneeling on the ground for days were healed by the radiance released by Hunter Island.
However, that radiance could heal physical wounds but not soothe the mind, so these people would take at least a dozen more days to wake up, and they could possibly lose a few years off their lifespan.
But as long as they were alive, it was already a great blessing.
Some had smiles at the corners of their mouths, like Xu Hongjiao and Miao Xuan, who had a look of relief on their faces.
During the ceremony, their spirits intermingled with their deceased relatives and friends, which allowed them to understand the thoughts of the departed and let go of their own grievances.
Although they experienced considerable fear this time, once everything was over, they would start a positive new life and no longer wallow in past pains.
For them, it might be considered a blessing in disguise.
They were not truly the most pitiful ones in this case.
The truly pitiful were those workers at the automobile manufacturing plant who were unable to evacuate in time during the war, those illegal immigrants deceived by Kowei Group for demon amusement, and those innocent humans captured by the Tentacle Monster but deemed unqualified.
They didn’t have a chance to start again, and their numbers far exceeded this six hundred and sixty-six people.
With a glance around, Wen Wen sighed softly, departed silently without disturbing anyone, and felt little sorrow in his heart.
Seeing such things so often, one becomes inured.
Tragedies like these happen every day, and if Wen Wen felt the weight of each one, he wouldn’t survive in this cruel and insane world.
Maybe he would have already gone insane long ago, driven to commit suicide.
He did what he needed to do—expelling monsters and maintaining the balance between superpower users and commoners—which was the greatest kindness he could offer to the world and all the commoners of the Federation.
At the Capital Hunter Association headquarters in Shengjing City, Investigation Director Fu set down the documents in his hand and sipped his tea, while Yin Hu sat across from him with a stack of documents in front of them.
"Based on available data, the SRS Foundation has significant power backing it, primarily represented by the Catastrophe Level powerhouse ’Black Cross’."
"The Foundation should be a forward operating base for this organization, but no one knows the full extent of power behind the base."
"Additionally, according to reliable evidence, there was a Demon Hunter among the superpower users on the Foundation’s side of the operation against the Abyss Eye..."
Yin Hu spoke for quite some time, sharing all the information he had gathered with Investigation Director Fu.
Recently, he had been focusing on studying the power of the ’Black Cross,’ with substantial evidence supporting each conclusion.
Yin Hu was unaware of the existence of the ’Sanctuary’; otherwise, he might have thoroughly investigated the forces under Wen Wen.
"The SRS Foundation... truly is no simple matter."
Investigation Director Fu chuckled lightly. Yin Hu’s report didn’t exceed his expectations. The greater the strength the Foundation displayed, the more it affirmed their correctness in establishing ties with the Foundation in the past.
Yin Hu then added, "Those Demon Hunters who may have joined the Foundation..."
"Just tally them up; no need for excessive actions. The Association doesn’t impose strict restrictions on Demon Hunters, and their willingness to support the Foundation indicates a partial alignment of ideals, which is a good thing."
"What we’ve always feared has never been competition, nor others undermining us."
"But rather, that one day we won’t have the strength to protect this world..."
In a twisted valley stood a temple with an eerie style, surrounded by dozens of demon statues.
Inside the temple, a woman in a black robe was continuously snarling at her subordinates.
"Useless, you are all useless!"
"Foundation, Hunter Association... I will make you pay."
She was the Speaker of the Abyss Eye, a formidable Human Demon with Catastrophe Level power.
A demon with spiral ram horns and a tuft of goatee bowed and said:
"Madam Speaker, our losses this time are severe. I don’t recommend messing with the Foundation right now. Behind the Foundation is the Catastrophe Level powerhouse ’Black Cross.’ Although he hasn’t made a move directly, he’s not to be underestimated."
Other councilors also voiced their opposition, making the Speaker’s expression very unpleasant.
Another councilor, wrapped in black smoke and whose appearance was indiscernible, also spoke:
"Right now, Glory Church is still frantically searching for us. They also have a terrifying giant Cicada, and apart from you personally intervening, no one is a match for that creature."
"Moreover, the summoning ritual failed this time. What we need most now is to bide our time and build up strength for the next action, so that we don’t fall into decline because of this event..."
The Speaker snorted coldly, "Do we just hide out here like rats?"
Shadow Councillor shook his head, "Of course not. We currently have three vacant councilor positions here, and I believe we should fill these vacancies."
Goatee Councillor also smiled, "Indeed, indeed, there are two promising young people recently, and I believe they have great potential to bring this world into the embrace of the Abyss sooner."
The Speaker squinted her eyes but ultimately did not reject this proposal, as she also wanted to take this opportunity to get a member of her faction a councilor position.