August 20, tuesday.

Dela Cruz looked around the place where the shoot out happened.

It's already night and the sky is already dark, but the whole place's still full of curious and bored looking civilians taking pictures, videos and talking to each other about what happened here. The police already blockaded the road and isolated the pet shop. There are also police who were ordered to stand at the boundary of the line to make sure that some civilians would not do something stupid and enters without permission.

The investigations are mostly done as well, making the police more relax and have some leisure to take some rest. Of course that doesn't mean they're taking it easy right now. Two masked people managed to kill fifteen armed gang members without a problem, this issue is quite huge. And for the police, having these kind of people outside the jail are bad for the society and civilians who cant protect themselves.

Seeing the place that looked like a war zone, Dela Cruz couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

As someone with a rank of Police Major General, Dela Cruz doesn't really have to come here and look at the scene where a gang was annihilated. For his rank, this type of cases should be left to those lower ranking officers, but he couldn't help it. He was curious. So even though he was busy, he still came here to see if the reports he received are accurate. Its not like he's doubting the competences of his fellow police, but the report was way too unbelievable.

Since two to three days ago, for some unknown reason, crime rates rose by at least ten to fifteen percent. And from their estimation, these numbers would still rise. There are many things happening in their country and not all of them are being covered by media, so currently, most of the civilians still don't know that something weird is happening. But some incomprehensible things are still happening, not just in this country, but all over the world!

As high ranking officer, Dela Cruz felt that something was amiss. From what he could see from the faces of those people who has a higher rank than him, to those what the civilians considered as the pillar of the country, to the president--- he knows that they have some idea on what's going on. But when he asked them, Dela Cruz received a shaking head, some apologies, and said, "it's not like we don't wanna tell you, its just, as long as we don't have concrete evidence, we wouldn't let the information leaked out.".

Dela Cruz is not an idiot. He, who came from a poor family, reaching his current rank proves that. So he knows, that since they don't wanna tell him, no matter what he do, he would received nothing. So instead of trying asking the question, he decided to look for an answer.

Right now, some of the super countries are acting weird. It all started in China, locking down all kind of information pertaining some simple cases like murder or gang fights, some rape cases and other things that would be considered as nothing to those who's sitting on the top. Then, America followed and ordered some of agents to search and investigate something. Though the details aren't complete, it looks like they're looking for some surveillance cameras, invading and hacking people's and observing their daily lives for the past couple of days.

Which is weird, why would a country like that do something inappropriate out of nowhere? The only thing Dela Cruz could think of is, they must have discovered or learned something. And that something is way too amazing, that even those who's sitting on the top are curious and interested. From how these huge countries are moving, the thing that they're searching is something that they would acquire at all cost.

Unfortunately, for a third world country like this, those type of high level intelligence network is something that they could only wish for. For Dela Cruz, and for those higher ups, the information they have is way too little to mobilize their everything. Even the President, only knows a little bit more, and he's also not sure if what he knows is actually correct. That's why only those highest ranking individuals were allowed to know. For the rest, they would know when they acquired some solid information and evidence about that subject. But unless they have it, they would pretend that they're not hearing anything. All the things those super countries are doing, they would pretend like they don't exist. Those weird things that they're feeling, they would pretend that they're numb and cant feel anything.

Some might think they're stupid fools. But for them who has to take care of their country, the safety of the people and their resources is more important. Unlike huge countries, they don't have much money to waste for things that they're not even sure if it actually exist. But that doesn't mean they wont do anything. If by chance they appeared in front of them, they would immediately do everything they can to make them assets of the country.

-------

While he was looking around, a twenty-something-year old man in a uniform stood beside Dela Rosa and saluted. He nodded at the man and told him to report all the findings. The man, Mendoza, led Dela Cruz inside of the pet shop while reporting the things that they learned.

First, Mendoza reported things like what time the shoot out happened, how the two masked men killed the majority inside, his and his fellow police opinions, the real identities of the people in the pet store, what kind of crimes they committed, from which gang or syndicate they belong, and etc.

From the descriptions of the witnesses, and the glimpse of what they got in some security cameras, from the moment the two masked men entered the pet shop, to the moment they ran away in the back alley--- it only took a little more than six minutes. That means, they killed twelve people inside the shop, three on the road, took the money the robbers stole from the bank, and escape while avoiding security cameras, in at most seven minutes.

This kind of efficiency is unbelievable. Specially since when the two first entered, one of them just have one gun, while a single metal pipe for the other. If someone ask if, could they kill a group of armed gangs with a single gun and a metal pipe as a starting weapon, has to fight them, survive and take all their money in just seven minutes? Almost all of them would say its impossible! But these two did it.

Entering the pet shop, Dela Cruz could see the savage fight that happened here even without anyone saying anything. Walking towards the basement, Mendoza started making a weird face. From the looks of it, he was trying to say something, but also trying to stop himself from doing so. Seeing this, Dela Cruz said don't worry and just report everything.

Mendoza nodded and started his weird findings.

"It might sound kinda weird sir, but this is what we got from a certain dead body inside." he started, then looked at Dela Cruz. "Have you ever thought of what it would look like if someone from st*r w*rs appeared in reality and used force to strengthen their body to the limit, punch someone in the chest, and use the excess force to explode their insides? Sir, it looks disgusting!"

Dela Cruz remained poker face and looked at Mendoza. He didn't know what the fck this guy's talking about.

"Its like.." Mendoza continued. "Seeing Gandalf and Sauron wearing bikini while dancing Macarena on top of Mount Doom. It's really not pleasing to the eye."

Again, Dela Cruz stayed silent. He still don't know what this guy's talking about. They were just talking normally earlier, then suddenly this guy went weird. What the fck happened?

While Dela Cruz was pondering if he should take out he's gun and blow this guy's brain, a dark skinned kind looking middle aged man appeared and lightly smacked Mendoza's head and looked at Dela Cruz apologetically.

"I'm sorry, sir. This guy's kinda..." then the middle aged man looked at Mendoza and said. "... Why don't you help outside. They might need help there. Don't worry, I'll handle this."

Mendoza looks frustrated, he was just doing his job. What did he do? He looked at Dela Cruz begging him to let him continue reporting, but Dela Cruz stayed quiet and just nodded his head. Acknowledging that he should get the fck away from him.

Breathing a sigh, Mendoza nodded to the two and unwillingly left the basement.

Looking at Mendoza's back, the middle aged man, Lobredo, couldn't help but sigh.

"He's actually quite promising, stable, and good at following orders." Lobredo said while smiling bitterly. Then he looked at Dela Cruz. "It just that, sometimes, his brain would short circuit and he would talk nonsense like a five year old kid."

"I see." Dela Cruz answered shortly, not wanting to continue about this topic.

Faking his cough, Lobredo then decided to just continue the report.

"The body was already sent to the forensics, so you won't see it here. But, based on the crime scene, we deduced everything that might have happened in the basement. Sadly, there was no security camera here, making the investigation a little bit harder. But we still did it. And what we learned is quite weird, or disturbing."

Then Lobredo started telling Dela Cruz on what they thought happened. The jacket masked man using the body as shield, entering the basement, firing back, throwing the man that he used as a shield to the two, then killing them with a gun, getting shot by another, taking cover using the table and a body, then Lonredo stopped.

"After that things became harder to explain."

Dela Cruz remained silent all this time, but he was carefully digesting every information that Lobredo was reporting.

"The final dead body has a hole on its chest, the weapon penetrated the man in the front and it continued until half way through and it stopped. From we and forensics learned, the weapon or the force in the weapon isn't strong enough to directly penetrate the body from front to back. But that isn't what we consider as disturbing."

Lobredo led Dela Cruz to a bloodied wall. There are still police taking pictures, and investigating its surroundings to make sure they didn't missed anything.

"After the weapon penetrated the body, some kind of.. things.. was released from that weapon and destroyed all of his internal organs turning them into something.. mushy. After that, a huge force propelled the body forward to the point lifting the body and slamming it to the wall."

Dela Cruz nodded then looked at Lobredo and asked.

".. so what's the weapon?"

Its Lobredo's turned to make weird faces. Seeing this, Dela Cruz said its fine, and just report the findings.

"The weapon used is... a fist, sir." Lobredo sighed. "And the force that put a hole in the body, propelled it forward... was a punch. As for how it destroyed all of internal organs, we really have no clue."

Dela Cruz frowned. Even though he already read the summary report before coming here, hearing it directly is still unbelievable.

-------

While the two was contemplating about something, a police woman came in rushing towards the two with a great haste. Seeing the two standing and looking at the air, she shouted and told them that they discovered something. The way she acted was quite rude, specially since the two of them are superiors with higher ranks. But seeing how agitated she was, the two didn't pursue it and decided to follow.

On the corner of the destroyed pet store, two policemen with their laptops connected to the security cameras are looking at a certain video. When Dela Cruz and Lobredo appeared, the two policemen immediately stood up and gave their chairs to them. Then with trembling fingers, they pushed the play button and showed the two a weird scene.

The video was kinda blurry, but its still easy to see everything that's happening without a problem. There, the jacket masked man came out of the basement covered in blood with three huge bags on his shoulder, while walking, even though his steps are steady, its easy to see that he's tired or currently weak. He walked past a dead body and didn't even look at it. After he passed though, the dead body moved and pointed the gun at the jacket masked man. The jacket masked man looked back, then the weird thing happened.

Dela Cruz and Lobredo, focused on the video, saw it clearly.

A sharp glass trembled slightly and started floating. After that, it pierced the neck of the guy with a gun and killing him immediately. The jacket masked man then looked at his partner, threw two huge bags towards him and acted like nothing happened.

After the video ended, the two policemen repeat the video and zoomed it. The video became even more creepy.

Breathing a sigh, Dela Cruz calmed his mind and organized everything carefully. He first ordered the two policemen to give him two copies, and ordered to delete the video. He also said that all of the people who knows this must keep it a secret. He then looked at Lobredo and told him to not report this. Dela Cruz would be the one reporting this. Of course he also added that the credit would be given to their department, so they don't have to worry.

-------

After coming out of the shop, Lobredo received the report that his men already secured the whole perimeter, and is ready to move. Hearing this, he looked at Dela Cruz and told him his conjecture.

The truth is, Lobredo also knows that something weird is going on. After all he also have some friends with ranks comparable to Dela Cruz or even slightly higher, so he knows that the government is looking for something, it just that they don't know how to and have no power to do so. Now, seeing some things that defy his common sense, he knows that he's getting closer to that mystery. And right now, the only lead they have are these two masked men.

Using the trained dogs, Lobredo ordered his men to look for the masked men using the scent left in the pet shop. After a while the dogs all stopped in a certain back alley, meaning that the scent stopped there. Instead of being disappointed, Lobredo ordered his men to cover the area, but just to make sure, they included three another buildings in their surveillance, making the perimeter more wide and secured. In his mind, the two masked men are currently weak and severely injured. And that's the truth, the video, their analysis, everything pointed out that the two of them wont run away that far and would look for somewhere they could hide and rest. And based on the attitude of the dogs, they probably didn't lose the smell, more like, the masked men's smell are probably inside of one of the buildings there. They only need to investigate each building while making sure that everything is going according to plan, and the two masked men would get caught easily.

After listening to Lobredo, Dela Cruz couldn't help but be surprised. This man acted fast and rational without losing a beat. This kind of men shouldn't have any problem getting a higher rank than this, then why is this guy remaining here? With his talent he could easily get transferred to the Capital and live a better life.

Shaking his head, Dela Cruz approved his decision and he said that he could act on his own volition. After that, he directly entered his car and left to the Capital. There matters that needs his direct attention there. And also questions that could only be answered of the people there.

-------

After seeing Dela Cruz off, Lobredo ordered his men to be prepared. Then he looked for Mendoza so he could lead the team in capturing the masked men earning him more credits.

He really have a good impression of Mendoza. A hard working guy with an easy going attitude isn't that bad. He has the charisma that makes his fellow police support him, and in exchange, he would do his best to support them. He might be kinda weird sometimes, but he's an amazing leader. But not only that, he has a sharp mind that could easily solve cases and quick witted attitude to capture criminals more easily. So for Lobredo, if he leave the department, this guy is perfect candidate for his position. He really have a high expectation for this guy.

When Lobredo found Mendoza, Mendoza was sitting in the corner while hugging an injured puppy.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Lobredo.

"He's the only survivor of the pet shop." Mendoza answered while gently brushing its fur. "He's also injured. He has broken bones, bleeding inside, and some scratches all over his body."

Lobredo shook his head and spoke.

"Leave it. It'll probably die. Right now I have a mission fo-"

"I wont go." Mendoza immediately cut what Lobredo's saying.

"I'm not finish yet. I want you to-."

"You want me to lead the team and capture the two right?"

Then Mendoza looked up to see the contorted face of Lobredo. He remained calm though, he just smiled and continued speaking.

"I'm not interested, Sir. Besides, I really want to help this guy. I feel like its our karma to meet each other."

Hearing this Lobredo couldn't help but laugh bitterly. What karma? Who still believes karma in this age? Besides its just a dog! Why care so much when its already about to die. Unless a miracle happen, even if this dog was sent earlier to the nearest Vet, they still wouldn't be able to save it.

Sighing, Lobredo looked at Mendoza who's taking care of the puppy.

"Are you sure? This'll give you higher chance for promotion. And its a lot more meaningful to take care of this, than take care of dying dog, right?"

Mendoza didn't answer, he just looked at Lobredo with smile and continued taking care of the puppy.

Shaking his head, Lobredo went back to the pet shop dejectedly. But after a couple of steps, he turned back and look at Mendoza. Then he said, "you'll regret this.." and continued walking.

-------

Mendoza briefly looked at the back of Lobredo, then continued taking care of the puppy. To be honest, he couldn't help but feel guilty. After all he was the reason why this puppy suffered. And now, looking at its dying body, Mendoza couldn't help but be sad. At that time, he was just selfishly thinking of himself, not caring about anything, so he didn't know and to be honest didn't care about everything.

Sighing softly, Mendoza decided to break some rules.

Slightly lifting his hand, the whole world stopped, and every Qi within fifteen kilometers surged and immediately flew towards Mendoza's hand. At the same time, he compressed and purified it over and over again until it became enough. He did all that in just a second, before even anyone notice something was wrong.

Then slowly, he used the purified Qi to heal all the injuries of the puppy. While he was doing that, a bucket of floating water suddenly appeared. But this isn't just a normal water, because this water is filled with the most condensed Qi. It means that this water came from a place that's abundant of Qi. But if one looked closely, as long as one is a cultivator with a profound achievement with the Great Way, its very easy to see that this isn't just water filled with Qi, but a water filled with True Qi and a hint of Immortal Qi.

For people with a low realms like those in, Refinement Stage, Foundation Building Stage, First Transition Stage-- even those in Core Formation Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, and Immortal Transition Stage--- would treat this water as a heavenly medicine. And the truth is, this water is a lot better than those low rank Elixirs. Because this water can be used in many things, like breaking the bottleneck, ascending the realm, healing injuries, rejuvenating the body, etc.

And now, Mendoza divided the water into two, one is to be use to clean and make the puppy smell good. Yes, the heavenly treasure that would cause wars and deaths of many people if one was discovered, is now being use to clean a puppy. If those highest Royal Family in Mortal Realm see this, they would cry smash their heads to a wall repeatedly. Even these royal families only use it for drinking tea and normal consumption. And what they're using is the diluted one. So using the most highest quality of it just to bath a pet, is unbelievable and a huge waste!

When the puppy was healed, Mendoza circulated the remaining Qi to its body using a cultivation method for dog type monster that he once read in in a certain library. Following the circulation path, the Qi traveled all over the puppy's body, and made it a little bit stronger. Mendoza didn't stop with just that though, he use the other half of the water and made the puppy drink it slowly. After that, Mendoza dropped a blood (his own blood) into the water. Then used it to continue feed it to the puppy.

After a couple minutes, something like a snap was heard inside of its body. Once, twice, thrice, then it continued until it snap five times. Black liquid started pouring out of the puppy's body, and at the same time, the puppy's body is getting stronger and stronger. After almost an hour, the water was gone, the purified Qi was also gone, and only a small puppy with an almost shining fur, and energetic eyes remains.

Just like that, a puppy with an ordinary bloodline and no special talents, became the first earthling native to unlocked five meridians, in thousands of years!

The puppy, looked at Mendoza and repeatedly, "wuu! Wuu!" while jumping around and licking his hands like an adorable cutie it was. Mendoza laughed played with it, then suddenly he thought of a name that's worthy of this cutie puppy.

"Lam-Ang." He smiled. "From now on, that would be your name."

In a certain region of this country, there was a legend. An epic story of the manliest toddler ever recorded. And it was all about Lam-Ang. A human with a strength of demi-god, a baby with the talents of a war god, and a life that every man longs for. And his mighty name was now given to a puppy. A small and cute little puppy.

Sighing in satisfaction, Mendoza stood up and looked at the two masked cultivators who just barely escaped the perimeter a couple kilometers away. He really have complicated feelings for these two, he want to help them, but also having the urge to teach these two little shit a lesson.

Walking towards his fellow police while hugging Lam-Ang, he smiled and decided to just not care. After all, right now, he's a police. And as a police, he needs to act like one. That's why he would report to his station, eat some donuts, and sleep like a retard in the office.

"Agh... police are the best."