The building before them collapsed, and the beasts crawled over the rubble, launching an attack on the armored convoy.
“Priority: protect General Chen!” the squad leader of the guards shouted into the radio amid the chaotic convoy.
The machine guns continuously swept the advancing beasts, and a wall separated the beast horde from the convoy.
“Is that direction the underground command center?” Chen Hanjun asked the secretary accompanying him.
“Probably. The communication unit inside the command center has already lost contact.”
“What’s their background? How did they manage to infiltrate the underground command center?” Chen Hanjun pondered.
After the incident, Ma Xinyin and Chen Hanjun had a video call.
“Xiao Ma, share your speculation,” Chen Hanjun said, removing his military cap and rubbing his temples. The exhausting work these past days often gave him headaches.
On the other side of the video, the now-dismissed Ma Xinyin looked quite relaxed.
“All I can confirm is that their base of operations is probably not domestic—after all the investigations by the Magic Management Bureau, it seems they rely on certain hidden teleportation nodes to operate nationwide, and the endpoints of these nodes likely originate from higher-dimensional space.”
“General Chen, are you familiar with the concept of higher-dimensional space?”
“Experts mentioned it to me before. Applying that to the military would guarantee victory in every battle.”
“The most crucial thing in war is information—enemies who come without a trace and leave without a shadow, whose exact location cannot be determined, are the most dangerous.”
“Exactly. Also, the members of their organization are likely all magical girls, including unregistered ‘black market’ magical girls.”
“The greatest feature of magical girls is their agility and strong destructive power, but they can’t endure prolonged combat.”
“There are only a handful of cases worldwide where magical girls have intervened in human conflicts; the tactics and defenses against magical girls are almost nonexistent here domestically—these efforts are just beginning…”
After rubbing his temples, Chen Hanjun put his cap back on and continued analyzing:
“They can also control beasts and excel at asymmetric warfare.”
“If it’s a full-scale battle, their tactic would be hit-and-run, leaving beasts behind to delay us, which is very troublesome, not to mention that so-called higher-dimensional space. Sigh, our national defense and security construction still have a long way to go”
“At 3:15 this afternoon, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the northeastern region of our country, formerly the Liaobei Province, with an epicenter ten kilometers underground..”
The TV was airing dull news, often accompanied by harsh static due to speaker issues. Luo Xi returned to her home in Heping County. Inside, the television played alone, without an audience.
Her father had probably gone to play mahjong again and forgot to turn off the TV.
She pushed open her brother’s room door. The room was a mess; he never had the habit of tidying up.
The draft recruitment poster on the wall was glaringly prominent. Luo Xi used to hate that poster, always thinking it was the reason her brother went to the battlefield.
But now she felt indifferent.
She rummaged through the cabinet under her brother’s desk, finding only miscellaneous items, nothing valuable.
Luo Xi didn’t know why she was doing this now—her brother’s departure left her in a daze.
When she received the report of her brother’s death, it felt as if a crucial part of her soul had been lost…
Her brother’s laptop sat on the desk; it looked new. Luo Xi opened it—there was no password, and inside were all her brother’s games. She glanced briefly before shutting it.
Then, the photo on the desktop caught her attention—it was taken while her brother was in the army, surrounded by comrades from his squad.
—Her brother must be reunited with them now in heaven.
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
“Xi Xi? You’re back.” Her father stood at the doorway.
“Yeah, Dad, I just came to get something.”
“Where’s Luo Zhizhou? He hasn’t called or messaged me these past few days.”
“Dad, he…”
Luo Xi couldn’t bear to speak the truth.
“He’s sick. I’ve been taking care of him. Dad, you don’t need to worry.”
“That’s good.” Her father smiled—middle-aged smiles were always plain.
“By the way, Xi Xi, you must be careful on your missions. Didn’t a girl like you disappear a few days ago? Be careful!”
“I know, no need to worry, Dad.”
Luo Xi stayed home a while longer, then left again.
“Who exactly is the murderer of my brother?”
Luo Xi investigated almost daily but never found any substantial evidence.
After completing the routine cleanup task, she returned to the place where her brother was assassinated.
That damned park.
It was the place where she had a date with Sister Ciyue and also where her brother was attacked. So many fates intertwined here.
She approached a bush. Bullet holes were scattered nearby—that was where the bullet that killed her brother was fired.
The assassin had used a Type 191 assault rifle, firing 5.8mm caliber bullets, precisely hitting her brother’s left chest.
Since she was present at the scene, Luo Xi was granted partial permission to review some reports on the assassination.
The report indicated that twenty special ops personnel were deployed nearby at the time. However, Luo Xi did not have clearance to view the mission details of this unit’s deployment and found it suspicious.
At 5:30 PM, ten minutes before the time her brother had arranged to meet her, five operatives stationed together fired at her brother but only one bullet hit because they were immediately suppressed by other units’ firepower.
The firefight ended with all five traitorous operatives killed. Preliminary investigations showed their family backgrounds and personal data had no issues—but why they turned traitor was a mystery.
Since they were under the direct command of the Supreme General Staff, the possibility of a sudden mutiny was minimal…
Luo Xi didn’t have clearance to access more detailed information.
Could it have been the organization behind Tianlang? Luo Xi primarily suspected them—they were a group of antisocial elements capable of anything.
But why specifically target her brother? She didn’t understand.
Luo Xi planned to check records of another assassination attempt, this one involving Tianlin. The perpetrators behind both cases might be the same.
As she was about to leave the park, she encountered Lei Mang at the gate.
“Miss Luo Xi, are you still investigating your brother’s murderer?”
“Yes, I must bring them to justice and avenge my brother.”
“I understand how you feel, but isn’t the culprit already quite clear?”
“You mean Tianlang and her group?”
“Exactly. They have the capability for such operations, just like the kidnapping of Bai Lingluo—well-organized and schemed.”
“Perhaps those who killed your brother had long been mentally controlled by them; after all, no one can say for sure if they have that technology.”
“You make a valid point, but I still need solid evidence proving it was them… and Tianlang’s organization must be eradicated.”
“I’m glad you have that resolve. However, I came here for another reason—the new director of the Magic Management Bureau has reached an important strategic cooperation with our Shengli Group.”
“Since you, Miss Luo Xi, are one of our preliminary cooperative partners, the director hopes you can deepen your cooperation with our group and sign further contracts… Miss Luo Xi, are you interested?”
Lei Mang revealed a deadly yet elegant smile, as venomous as a snake’s, reminiscent of Tianlang’s maniacal grin.
“I’ll consider it.”