Glass shards mixed with the shockwave’s blast surged inward with a piercing shriek!
She closed her eyes and hunched her shoulders. Mu Xi froze in terror, her mind going blank, able only to react instinctively—
The anticipated pain never came, but the faint sting of glass fragments scraping across her skin and the sensation of air pressure slamming into her face were unmistakably clear.
Still shaken, she opened her eyes. A figure in black combat gear had already smashed through the window frame and rolled inside!
The person moved with incredible speed. Without a moment’s pause after landing, the pitch-black muzzle of a gun snapped up, its target clear—Mu Xi, the one closest to the window and seemingly completely defenseless!
The shadow of death instantly loomed overhead!
“You’re asking for death!”
A cold, low voice rang out.
The Captain moved. Almost at the same moment the black-clad figure raised his gun, the Captain of the Personal Guard, who had been keeping watch nearby, sprang into action.
Her speed was so fast it left only a violet afterimage. The weapon in her hand let out a short, muffled click.
The black-clad intruder who had just burst through the window gave a violent jerk. A precise, charred hole appeared between his brows. His eyes instantly glazed over, and he toppled straight back, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Before Mu Xi could even react, the crisis had already been resolved.
Yet before she could breathe a sigh of relief, more black silhouettes emerged one after another outside the shattered window like vengeful spirits. Their target was clearly not just Mu Xi, but also Ye Lan—the one occupying the obvious command position in the room!
“Little Xi!”
Ye Lan barked, abruptly reaching out her arm and yanking the still-dazed Mu Xi behind her with force. The movement was swift, the strength immense.
Caught off guard, Mu Xi collided directly into Ye Lan’s back. Through the thin fabric of their clothes, she could clearly feel the stiffness in Ye Lan’s body and her instantly taut muscles.
A suppressed grunt escaped Ye Lan’s throat. Her body swayed almost imperceptibly, and her face paled several shades more. The movement had clearly aggravated the severe wound on her back.
Mu Xi’s heart clenched tight. Instinctively, she moved to support her, but Ye Lan pressed her back with a reverse grip.
Ye Lan shielded her firmly behind herself, turning sideways to face the enemies flooding in through the window. Those originally icy phoenix eyes now blazed with a terrifying killing intent—like magma surging from the depths of hell, enough to incinerate everything.
Her gaze swept over the black-clad intruders, finally landing on the Captain of the Personal Guard, who had reacted swiftly and had already fired again, dropping another enemy.
“Initiate the ‘Purification’ protocol.”
Ye Lan’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried a nearly cruel resolution. Every word seemed dipped in ice.
“Eliminate all unauthorized entrants, no matter the cost!”
The Captain of the Personal Guard paused for a moment, a swirl of extremely complex emotions flashing through her eyes—determination, reluctance—but ultimately resolving into absolute obedience.
“Yes, My Lord!”
She answered in a deep voice, turned without hesitation, and while firing to suppress the enemies at the window, rapidly charged toward a control panel on the wall at the other end of the room.
‘Purification?’
Hiding behind Ye Lan, Mu Xi listened to that icy word, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
She didn’t understand exactly what it meant, but from Ye Lan’s utterly emotionless tone and the fleeting resolve in the Captain’s eyes, this was by no means a gentle measure.
Mu Xi watched Ye Lan’s figure standing in front of her—slightly hunched from pain yet still upright—watched her pale profile etched with cold killing intent, and a chill shot straight from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
‘Eliminate all unauthorized entrants… no matter the cost… What does that mean?’
‘In this Silent Language Building, not just outside—even inside… is about to become a sea of blood and hell.’
At the command, the cold whir of machinery immediately filled the entire Silent Language Building.
Mu Xi could even feel a slight vibration in the floor beneath her feet.
Then, from the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor cracks she had never paid attention to, came the metallic clack of sliding panels.
Disguised alloy plates silently slid aside, revealing pitch-black gun barrels and energy ray emitters gleaming with dangerous, faint light.
The next second, dense beams of energy and solid bullets wove together into a net of death, blanketing the entire floor except this secondary bedroom without warning!
Hum—
The piercing whine unique to high-frequency energy weapons nearly tore through Mu Xi’s eardrums.
Following closely was the even denser rattle of automatic machine guns, like torrential rain hammering on tin, dull and unsettling.
Screams erupted abruptly, then were instantly drowned out by the roar of gunfire.
A nauseating smell quickly spread through the air—the acrid stench of flesh seared by high heat, mixed with gunpowder smoke and thick blood, seeping in through the cracks of the door in thin wisps.
Mu Xi’s stomach churned violently. The color drained from her face, leaving it deathly pale.
She instinctively covered her mouth, fighting the urge to vomit, her body trembling uncontrollably.
‘This sound, this smell… it’s terrifying.’
‘So this was the “purification” Ye Lan spoke of? Using indiscriminate firepower to completely annihilate all intruders?’
The secondary bedroom where Ye Lan stood was temporarily safe for now. The heavy alloy blast door had already descended, completely sealing off the inside from the outside.
However, the sounds outside didn’t stop. In addition to the continuous gunfire, there came heavy, violent pounding! One thud after another, like a heavy battering ram slamming against the alloy door. Each impact made the entire room tremble, sending fine dust falling from the ceiling.
Occasionally, muffled explosions punctuated the noise—some type of high-yield breaching weapon attempting to forcibly tear open this last barrier from outside.
‘The enemy had even prepared means to break through this level of defense? Their determination far exceeded expectations.’
Ye Lan stood in the center of the room, her back to Mu Xi, her gaze locked onto an inconspicuous dark screen on the wall.
It was displaying real-time surveillance feeds from every corner of the building.
Because it was a backup screen, usually hidden away, now was the critical moment—she had no choice but to use it.
She stood straight, as if the fatal wound on her back didn’t exist at all.
But Mu Xi could see her fingers gripping the edge of the control console turning white from the strain, could see the fine cold sweat seeping from her temples, and her lips, too pale from enduring the pain.
On the surveillance feed, a bloody massacre was unfolding.
The violet-clad figures of the Escort Team engaged in fierce firefights with the black-clad invaders in the narrow corridors and rooms.
Automatic weapons protruding from walls, floors, and ceilings spewed tongues of fire, shredding and charring every figure that tried to approach.
Severed limbs. A river of blood.
The invaders surged in like tides, then broke apart like waves shattered against reefs, but those behind still charged forward fearlessly.
Their assault was so frenzied it bordered on irrational, as if they cared nothing for how many they lost—only for achieving their objective.
Ye Lan’s expression grew increasingly grim. In her deep phoenix eyes, killing intent and coldness intertwined, yet a hint of barely perceptible gravity also seeped through.
She clearly hadn’t anticipated that the enemy’s assault would be so recklessly costly.
Mu Xi watched those bloody, cruel images, feeling cold all over, as if every limb and bone had frozen solid.
She wanted to look away, but found herself helplessly gripped by those horrific scenes.
The cramping in her stomach grew stronger. She bit her lower lip hard, refusing to let any sound escape, afraid of disturbing Ye Lan as she assessed the situation.
Ye Lan seemed to sense the movement behind her. She slightly tilted her head, her gaze landing on Mu Xi’s deathly pale face.
Her eyes held a complex, unreadable expression—coldness, scrutiny, and perhaps something else even she herself hadn’t noticed.
“If you’re scared, close your eyes.”
Her voice came out hoarse from her injuries and suppressed emotions, carrying a stiff, commanding edge.