All the girls in the private communication chamber were escorted out by the towering soldiers carrying rifles.
Their eyes filled with fear, shock, resentment, and indignation as they stared at the front, at the slender figure of the young girl with her head bowed, held under guard by two soldiers.
Regardless of whether the suspicion would eventually be cleared, these terrified women all knew that they could never return to the Defense Department—an office that was becoming increasingly prestigious in Havenstock and even across the entire world.
At the wooden doorway, a gaunt, deep-eyed Warrior stood on the diagonal brick floor where the wall was lined with a moisture-proof blue skirt. He watched the last combat engineer, carrying tools and a completed survey form, walk out of the room.
“No one else is allowed to enter here until a detailed inspection is completed. ” The officer of the team said as he took the investigation report.
Then the captain turned to the warrior with deep-set eyes and said, “I entrust Lieutenant with protecting this place. Await the arrival of our intelligence officer. “
The man nodded.
The captain quickly scanned the batch of documents in hand, all signed with his code name, then handed them to a waiting lady from the Intelligence Department. Then the group turned and followed the soldiers who had previously escorted the dispatchers, thumping down the stairs.
After this group of people left.
While the lieutenant waited at the door with his legs apart, a receiver in the dedicated line room emitted a faint sound indicating that a signal had been received.
The lieutenant’s pointed ears twitched slightly, and with a look of confusion on his face, he turned to look at the wooden door with a rectangular glass pane.
The engineers should have already shut down the main signal receiver.
Based on his extensive experience handling such matters, the lieutenant realized that the hidden backup signal receiving system had been activated.
His eyes widened as he gazed at the gap in the gently closed wooden door.
A special message being relayed? But he did not have the authority to receive it.
The intelligence department’s personnel would be arriving shortly.
He pondered for a moment, withdrew his head, and stood still as a rock at the doorway.
In the empty room, the telegraph signal was laced with the faint static of the words “Lion Empire” and “Black Goat.” After several failed attempts at transmission with no one answering, it finally fell silent in resignation.
……
Ma Shuo, who had disappeared from the inn’s corridor not long ago, along with Haili Huikewen and his guards, as well as Kieras—who was leading them to Room 203 in search of the “Chairman” out at sea—now rushed back upstairs, the three of them wearing expressions ranging from solemn to panicked, dashing from the second floor to the fourth.
The pattering of footsteps that night was more frequent than at any other time since they had arrived, echoing repeatedly up and down the stairs.
The moment the door to Room 303 was pushed open, the sword-bearing man inside immediately asked in an urgent tone, “How did it go?“
“It’s still not enough to solve the problem, but we’re almost certain of its effect now,” Kieras replied with a weary, disheartened voice.
“Underground Iron Vine really isn’t an absolute demon in the true sense of the word. It can be communicated with… It’s just that we discovered it too late.“
Haili Huikewen behind Kieras placed a fist against the doorframe, a look of sorrow on his face.
Whether in prophecy or in the memories of today, this was the onset of the world sinking completely into its final end.
As Rayne stepped into the room and closed the door, he said in a low voice, “Master Huikewen, let us return to the family first. Regardless of the situation, we must ensure everyone is prepared.“
Haili Huikewen turned his head and said in a low voice, “Prepare to go where? “
Rayne’s mouth opened slightly; this family did not even own a private airship.
“At the very least, we can distribute leaflets, doing our utmost to make everyone… not believe the rumors that will spread. “
After pondering for a moment, Haili Huikewen said, “All signal stations — we need to find a way to silence every single one of them today! “
He suddenly regained his spirits, even becoming so excited that he opened his eyes as if intoxicated, radiating a murderous aura as he spoke rapidly:
“Many countries only started frantically trying to fight back after the crisis information erupted at noon. But now, we have an extra five or six hours! “
Kieras calmly cast a subtle glance at his companion guarding the key beside him, who nodded almost imperceptibly in response.
Then they heard the sound of taking off clothes. They saw Ma Shuo strip off the “faded old T-shirt ” he had found on the sea vessel to block the sea breeze.
“What’s wrong with you? “
Seeing their gazes sweep over him, this medium-built man—with a solid, almost seamless abdomen and a fairly muscular physique—said with a heavy breath due to nervousness:
“Ha, nothing really. I just wanted to feel things out again. “
……
In the pitch-black night, Marlenlint Fort, an old, small city filled with the rooftops of many tile houses and single-story homes, was now illuminated by flickering chaotic flames, casting scattered shadows of people everywhere.
A large crowd of men and women, young and old, was packed into the circular square connected by three winding alleys and two roads.
In the center of the square, atop a long-dry old fountain, stood a bronze sculpture of a child missing an arm. All around this sculpture, the gathered crowd sat or half-knelt on the ground, their hands tied behind their backs with ropes, jostling together.
“You are surrounded! People inside! “
A large number of personnel from outside the winding streets approached swiftly, encircling the circular square and packing it tight, leaving it completely blocked. They could see two narrow entrances barricaded with stacked sandbags, and machine guns set up on the defensive line.
Faint voices of the people came from the square in the distance.
“Who will come and save us? “
“Has anyone come? “
Hearing the murmurs from the square within, two men who looked like commanders exchanged information about the layout from the square. On the road over there were trucks laden with explosives, and a four-wheel cannon cart acquired from somewhere.
But amidst their discussion, this group of soldiers, who had just reached the target position with rifles raised, were not yet properly stationed. Suddenly, they all felt their breath and blood begin to converge toward the front of their bodies.
They felt their steps being drawn as if by some invisible force.
Many soldiers looked down and noticed that the muscles in their calves, bellies, and even their internal organs felt as if a scorching force was rapidly burning through their physical strength.
Gurgling sounds of digestion rose and fell one after another.
“What? ” The soldiers looked at each other in astonishment, eyeing one another’s bodies.
……
At the entrance of the alley, a Major General riding a horse saw two guards running swiftly to his side from the left and right.
“Report! The enemy possesses at least a Fourth Ring or higher ‘Feng Ji’ Blood Corruption ability! “
The reporter who had run from another intersection immediately cut in and continued:
“Other than repeatedly asking when the target will arrive, the kidnappers have ignored our encirclement. “
“Feng Ji! “
The Major General ground his teeth. No wonder the enemy dared to ignore the military’s concentration and act with such reckless abandon.
“Order everyone to retreat. “
Soon, the command was relayed to the inside.
“Fall back! ” From within several alleys, two or three figures emerged from behind the soldiers, quickly directing, “Everyone retreat. Leave this place. “
The sounds of these military figures withdrawing echoed from behind.
Near the two campfires in the center of the square, a man wearing a uniform similar to that of the refuge area guards paced back and forth, a faint, cold sneer spreading across his face.
The people, who had begun to harbor hope, finally heard the dense sound of footsteps from all directions, mixed with the rumble of a few motorcycle engines, signaling the start of the withdrawal.
They looked up in panic, but could hardly see what was actually happening beyond those winding roads.
Then, the front-row civilians sitting on the ground with their hands bound heard in despair the sound of the two men talking ahead.
“They don’t dare to force things. “
“It doesn’t matter if they do, ” Wilson said in a low voice, his face covered in a fine, bristly beard.
“Ever since I came to this world and was stuck at more than two thousand hours of sequence that never started, I’ve understood. These alien mongrels see us as nothing but weeds. Hmph, now that treasure even they covet mindlessly has appeared. Rather than going to the next continent and following their rules, where we might die for God knows what reason someday, it’s better to gamble our futures this very day. “
The man beside him let out a soft cough and whispered, “Keep it down. That deputy captain’s hearing is still sharp. “
Wilson glanced at the truck in the distance and gave a light nod with a snort.
“It’s already been over an hour. If they still don’t start responding about when they’ll deliver the World Ark president’s key… “
“Then let’s teach them a lesson. “
After saying these words, the man who had been walking and talking beside him glanced at the group of civilians enveloped in a bloodline power imperceptible to ordinary people. Noticing that a few of them at the front were already being dragged out by a machine gunner, he turned around and headed toward a cannon truck nearby.
But suddenly, both these two men and those on guard by the distant trucks and machine gun positions saw a faint, mixed white light screen slowly rising from the outline of a residential building pierced by winding alleyways.
The man’s leg immediately came to a halt.
Seeing the appearance of the huge white screen, the two people near the campfire turned their heads to look around them, their eyes filled with a hint of panic.
In the dawn sky tinged with dark blue, one after another similar faint white light screens stretched slowly upward!
“This is… “
They counted a few, and then their hearts grew cold as they saw five beams of light slowly forming an encircling perimeter, like an inverted palace dome!
Amidst the crackling fire, the bound crowd instinctively shrank back, huddling together to watch this bizarre scene.
“Hey! ” Wilson in the square finally couldn’t help but spread his arms and shout, “What do you think you’re doing! “
“Don’t you know what the three thousand people here represent! This is more than half the refugees of Marlentint City! “
After roaring, they held their breath and listened intently, but no response came from outside the light curtains.
A flicker of fear struck them, followed closely by anger!
— “Did you think we were only prepared with these! ” The man on the truck roared through a tin megaphone.
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