Panshi Fortress Central Command Center.
The air was solidified like poured concrete.
On the gigantic holographic sand table, the area representing the core zone of the ‘Ruins’ research institute was currently completely covered by dazzling crimson alarm lights!
A piercing hum echoed in the dead silent space, striking every taut nerve.
Qin Weiguo stood with his hands behind his back, like an iron-cast statue in the eye of a storm, his back to the sand table. The general stars on his epaulets shimmered with a cold and heavy light, illuminated by the red alarm.
His face was expressionless, but in the depths of his profound, abyss-like eyes, raged a fury capable of incinerating everything, and… a trace of astonishment, forcibly suppressed, like a venomous snake biting his heart!
Wu Zhengde… was missing!
Along with the two trusted guards he had brought into the ‘Ruins’ core laboratory! And… that reverse scale pendant, which had just been rigorously protected!
At the scene… there were no signs of struggle! No energy residue! No bloodstains! No corpses! Not even… a single abnormal movement of dust! It was as if… three people and one jade pendant had simply evaporated into thin air! Vanished without a trace! As if an invisible giant hand had… completely erased them from this world!
“Investigate!” Qin Weiguo’s voice rang out, low and hoarse, yet with a chilling calmness.
“Dig three feet deep! Investigate! All surveillance! All entry and exit records! All energy fluctuations! All… suspicious personnel! Not one person missed!”
“Yes, Commander!” Zhou Zhengyang’s face was ashen, covered in fine cold sweat. He stood at attention and saluted, his voice betraying a hint of imperceptible tremor.
Elder Wu disappeared on his watch! The jade pendant was lost right under his nose! This responsibility… was enough to condemn him to eternal damnation!
“All passages on the Underground Seventh Floor! Completely sealed! Entry allowed, no exit! All personnel! Isolated for interrogation! Including… the research institute’s cleaners!”
Qin Weiguo’s orders fell like cold iron hammers, word by word, “Activate the highest level ‘Silent Protocol’! The news… absolutely cannot be leaked! Especially… we cannot let those hyenas outside catch even a whiff of blood!”
“Understood!” Zhou Zhengyang gritted his teeth and responded, then turned and rushed out of the command center, like a warrior heading to the execution ground.
Qin Weiguo slowly turned around. His gaze, like a tangible probe, pierced deeply into the crimson alarm area on the sand table.
His fingers unconsciously caressed the old photograph in his military uniform pocket—his son holding Lin Wei in his arms, smiling as brightly as the sun.
reverse scale pendant… Wu Zhengde… missing… erased…
All of this… was too bizarre! Too… clean!
So clean… it was like a meticulously planned… murder! A… perfect crime… leaving no trace!
Who was it? Oracle? Impossible! Their hands couldn’t reach the core of The Boulder! Crows? They were only interested in genetic samples! Could it be… inside The Boulder? Someone… coveted the power of the jade pendant? Or… was it that madman Wu Zhengde… stealing from his own custody? Running off with the jade pendant?
No! Impossible! Wu Zhengde’s fanaticism for research was almost pathological! He would never give up a “divine object” within his grasp! And… those two guards… he had cultivated them into absolute loyalists through drugs and mind control! They couldn’t betray him!
The only clue… or rather… the only “variable”…
Qin Weiguo’s gaze, like a cold blade, slowly shifted to another area on the holographic sand table—the special care ward. There… the light spot representing Ling Chen’s vital signs still flickered weakly and steadily.
Ling Chen!
That severely wounded, comatose Beast Control ability user, whom Wu Zhengde had temporarily transferred for “examination”! He was the only one… who had entered the ‘Ruins’ core laboratory as an “outsider” before Wu Zhengde’s disappearance!
Coincidence? Or… inevitability?
Qin Weiguo slowly closed his eyes.
In his mind, he saw Ling Chen’s pale, weak face, full of “survivor’s relief.” He saw Lin Wei’s hesitant, doubtful eyes. He saw Chen Xue’s unreserved trust and concern.
A severely wounded, near-death C-rank ability user, whose ability was overdrawn and potential mediocre… had the ability to silently kill Wu Zhengde and two elite guards in the heavily guarded ‘Ruins’ core laboratory? Erase all traces? And take the reverse scale pendant?
This… was simply a fantasy!
But… if it wasn’t him… then who could it be? That masked man who disappeared like a ghost? Or… a deeper hidden… ghost within The Boulder?
Clouds of suspicion! Like a thick fog, they enveloped Qin Weiguo’s heart! Making him feel an unprecedented… irritation and… unease!
“Report!” an intelligence officer strode in, his face grave, “Commander! The outer energy barrier of the ‘Ruins’ research institute… detected extremely faint, unresolvable spatial fluctuation residue! The time… matches the time of Elder Wu’s disappearance!”
Spatial fluctuation?!
Qin Weiguo’s eyes snapped open! A sharp glint burst forth from them!
Space-type ability?! Could it be… that masked man?! He infiltrated The Boulder?! Silently took Wu Zhengde and the jade pendant?!
This conjecture, like a giant rock thrown into still water, instantly stirred up a storm in his heart! If this were true… then The Boulder’s defenses… would be virtually nonexistent! The opponent’s strength… unfathomable!
“Strengthen all Boulder spatial fluctuation monitoring! Boost energy shield power to the limit! Activate anti-space jump disruptors!” Qin Weiguo ordered sharply! His voice carried an imperceptible… urgency!
“Yes!” the intelligence officer acknowledged and left.
If Ling Chen were to see this scene, he’d probably burst out laughing. Lightning or other high-concentration energy explosions can indeed cause spatial distortion, but then again, there wasn't a single space-type ability user in Panshi Fortress right now, so it was normal for them to think he did it.
Qin Weiguo looked at Ling Chen’s life light spot on the sand table again. The doubt in his eyes… far from diminishing, deepened even further.
Ling Chen… what role exactly… are you playing? A pawn? A bait? Or… a crucial link… that even you don’t know about?
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his tumultuous thoughts. Now… was not the time for deep investigation. The Boulder’s interior could not fall into chaos! Morale could not crumble! Especially… with the zombie tide threat still present, Oracle watching covetously, and Crows lurking in the shadows!
He must… stabilize the situation!
“Order!”
Qin Weiguo’s voice regained its usual composure and authority.
“Ability User Special Training Camp! Activate the ‘Thorns Plan’ ahead of schedule! All newly promoted ability users! Including… Ling Chen in the special care ward! All will be assigned to reserve squads! Three days from now! Begin ‘Core Crystal Hunt’ combat training!”
“Thorns Plan”? “Core Crystal Hunt”?
The chief of staff was stunned. This plan was originally an elite combat training for ability users with excellent potential, aimed at rapidly increasing combat power to deal with the increasingly severe zombie tide threat. But now… the Commander was actually going to throw all newly promoted ability users, including the severely wounded Ling Chen… into it?
“Commander… Ling Chen’s injuries…” the chief of staff hesitated.
“He won’t die!” Qin Weiguo interrupted him, his tone unyielding, “The Boulder does not support useless people! To survive… one must prove their worth! Severe injury… is not an excuse! Ability users… should grow in battle! In blood and fire… they should be tempered!”
His gaze swept over the still crimson zombie tide area outside The Boulder on the sand table, his voice cold: “Tell those greenhouse flowers… in the apocalypse… there are no safe zones! Either… get stronger! Or… die!”
Special care ward.
Ling Chen still lay “weakly” on the hospital bed. The cold will of the Soul Jade Physique, like the most precise radar, scanned the sudden increase in energy fluctuations within The Boulder and… the tension and oppression that permeated the air, like before a coming storm.
The news of Wu Zhengde’s disappearance… though strictly sealed, the instant tightening of nerves among The Boulder’s high command and the sudden increase in defense levels, like lighthouses in the dark, were clearly exposed to Ling Chen’s perception.
Spatial fluctuation residue? Interesting… Qin Weiguo was unexpectedly misled. He successfully diverted suspicion towards that mysterious masked man (or rather, the Crows organization). The Boulder’s attention… was temporarily shifted.
As for the “Thorns Plan” and “Core Crystal Hunt”…
Ling Chen’s lips curved into a cold arc in the unnoticed shadows.
Just as I wished.
The door to the ward was pushed open.
Chen Xue and Lin Wei walked in. Chen Xue’s face showed a hint of worry and unease, clearly sensing the unusual atmosphere within The Boulder. Lin Wei silently followed behind, the hint of doubt and curiosity in the depths of her amber pupils rippled again, like a stone thrown into a lake.
“Ling Chen…” Chen Xue walked to the bedside, her voice tinged with concern, “You… have you heard? It seems… something happened in The Boulder… the alert level suddenly increased a lot…”
Ling Chen “blankly” shook his head, his voice weak: “No… no… what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know…” Chen Xue shook her head, looking at Ling Chen’s pale, weak face, her worry deepening, “How… how are you feeling? Elder Wu… didn’t he come to check on you today?”
“Elder Wu…?” A perfectly timed “confusion” flashed in Ling Chen’s eyes, “He… didn’t come…”
Lin Wei’s gaze, like an invisible probe, landed on Ling Chen’s face. Her Discernment was forcibly suppressed, not daring to extend easily.
But that instinctive perception of “abnormality” made her feel that… Ling Chen’s current “weakness” and “blankness”… seemed… too “perfect”?
Just then.
The ward door was pushed open again. A young military officer in a crisp uniform with a lieutenant’s insignia on his shoulder walked in. His face was stern, his eyes sharp; it was Zhou Yunguang!
“Ling Chen!” Zhou Yunguang’s voice carried a hint of impersonal coldness, “By Commander’s order! All newly promoted ability users are assigned to reserve squads! Three days from now, participate in the ‘Thorns Plan’ combat training! Core Crystal Hunt! You… prepare yourself!”
“Thorns Plan? Core Crystal Hunt?” Chen Xue exclaimed, her face instantly drained of color, “Ling Chen… his injuries aren’t healed yet! How can he participate in combat training?! This is too dangerous!”
“Commander’s order!” Zhou Yunguang was expressionless, his voice cold, “The Boulder needs combat power! Severe injury… is not an excuse to shirk responsibility! Either participate! Or… give up your ability user status! Go to the outer survivor camp!”
His gaze swept over Ling Chen’s bandaged arm and pale face, a hint of imperceptible… contempt and… an indescribable… complex emotion flashed in his eyes.
Although he saved him and helped him cultivate, it was just this favor, nothing to be considered a great kindness (that’s what he thought).
Why did this good-for-nothing… make Xiao Xue so concerned?
“I… I’ll go!” Ling Chen “struggled” to sit up, his voice carrying a hint of “weak” determination, “I… I can…”
“Ling Chen!” Chen Xue was so anxious that tears were about to fall, “No! You’re too badly hurt! You’ll die!”
“Xiao Xue…” Ling Chen “difficult”squeeze out one“comfort”smile，“I…fine…Always…Try it…”
Lin Wei looked at Ling Chen’s “forced” appearance, then at Zhou Yunguang’s cold eyes, and frowned slightly. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
Zhou Yunguang snorted coldly: “At least you have some backbone! Three days from now! Eight AM! Assemble at Training Ground Number Three! Late… military law will be enforced!”
With that, he no longer looked at Ling Chen, turning his gaze to Chen Xue, his eyes softening slightly.
“Xiao Xue, you prepare too. Your Silver Priest ability… is very crucial on the battlefield.”
Chen Xue bit her lip, not answering, only looking at Ling Chen with worry.
A shadow flashed in Zhou Yunguang’s eyes, he said no more, turned, and left the ward.
Behind him, Ling Chen’s lips curved slightly, as if he had discovered something interesting.