I Am Your Natural Enemy

By the West River, in the eastern part of Luoyue County, dozens of villagers came to put out the fire, only to fall into a trance and rush into the West River.

The Turtle Demon lay on the water’s surface, continuously opening its mouth to spew out practiced, expertly calibrated water arrows. Arrow after arrow flew out, striking the villagers precisely on their heads.

Having learned and practiced, it would adjust its force depending on the target, ensuring the person was knocked out, only reaching a mild concussion at most.

One after another, the villagers rushing into the water were knocked out and dragged ashore by water snakes and big grass carp.

No matter how bizarre the situation, none of the villagers seemed to care; they continued rushing into the river like crazed people.

Some even thought that fewer competitors made things better; they’d hold others in place to make it easier for the Turtle Demon to knock them out.

On the other side of the embankment towering above the river, the fire raged, fueled by the wind, spiraling into towering columns of flame, carrying massive amounts of ash upward.

The ash, from high above, scattered with the wind, drifting farther and farther.

The piercing alarm of the fire trucks grew closer, speeding rapidly, while in the river, the Turtle Demon paused briefly upon hearing the sound, gasping for breath, spewing out dozens of precisely controlled water arrows, almost reaching its limit.

Its skin started showing cracks, even though it was soaking in the water, it was of no help.

The Turtle Demon’s eyes were filled with solemnity, as it began to feel a sense of suffocation.

It had almost predicted that as time passed, more people would come, and those affected, turning into these bizarre conditions, would also increase in number.

Relying only on the three of them, it was simply untenable.

”Yu Cao, notify Lord Dragon King immediately.”

”But we haven’t finished rescuing these people. If we don’t deal with this, we can forget about becoming the Water God.” The big grass carp blinked, a bit confused.

”It’s no longer a matter of dying one or two; quickly notify the Dragon King, or soon it will be dozens or hundreds dead, hurry!”

The Turtle Demon admonished with a shout, now somewhat regretting not carrying its phone at all times. No matter how troublesome it was to use or charge, it must be kept on hand.

Having been comfortable for too long, who would expect such a sudden situation to arise.

The big grass carp wasn’t quick-witted, but it still listened to the Turtle Demon because it realized the Turtle Demon’s ability was indeed stronger and its mind sharper.

The big grass carp moved fastest in the water, gritting its teeth, leaving the yet-to-be-rescued villagers behind, diving into the water, heading straight for King Guilong’s ruined temple.

On the other side of the embankment, the flames in the paper money workshop burned ever fiercer, and the fire trucks had already arrived.

When the follow-up villagers and rescue personnel arrived, and clearly saw the ashes floating in the sky, they all started raising their heads, stupidly standing still, faces breaking into smiles upon seeing the ashes, as if watching gold pages fluttering in the air.

One firefighter, his badge emitting a faint glow invisible to the naked eye, struggled free from the illusion.

He saw golden pages fluttering all over the sky, his mind conjuring images of his daughter’s tuition, household expenses, his hospitalized mother-in-law’s medical fees, promising his daughter a seaside trip on vacation—all requiring money.

The constant thoughts bubbling in his mind told him that once he obtained this money, it would be his, untouchable by anyone, as various delusions and illusions surged like an avalanche.

His last shred of clear consciousness urged him to pick up the communicator and send out a final message.

”There are ghosts, be careful!”

The dedicated equipment continued to call repeatedly, the car’s phone ringing incessantly, yet no one responded here anymore.

The firefighter, head raised, stared blankly at the falling ash in the sky, tears streaming down his face.

He saw himself successfully completing a task, dragging his weary body, bidding farewell to colleagues for a late-night snack, returning home.

Upon opening the door, he found his daughter had fallen asleep on the small stool by the door, murmuring, ”I’ll wait for Dad.”

Tears streamed down his face as he raised his head, extended his hand, and stepped forward.

From this moment, he was completely lost.

At the same time, the blaring alarm began echoing in the Scorching Sun Department locally, rolling up the shutter doors automatically, slowly opening metal boxes inside, from which drones flew out automatically, heading straight for the target area.

To prevent issues, all footage captured by the drone cameras would undergo initial computer analysis, summarizing usable information, before passing it on to the internal staff for further processing.

As there had been cases where footage directly affected those monitoring.

Processing the information, summarizing to text, once without human involvement, could avoid this risk.

Soon, drones swiftly approached, capturing the scene.

However, trouble arose when translating to textual descriptions; the AI failed to comprehend such bizarre situations, nor had there ever been a similar incident before, erroneously describing humans around a massive bonfire engaged in some sort of special celebration or ceremony.