Chapter Ninety-Two: Legion

"Huh? What’s going on? Why have the two strange psychic sources both vanished in succession?"

Members of the anomalous psychic intensity monitoring team stationed near Minsheng Mall turned in bewilderment toward one another, every face filled with unconcealed confusion.

Only moments ago, the two overwhelming anomalous signatures had been surging with terrifying force. Yet after persisting for merely a few minutes, they had both plummeted almost simultaneously, as if they had fallen off a cliff. All that remained on the monitors was a tiny trace of psychic intensity that had not yet fully dispersed.

"Boss... the equipment didn’t really malfunction just now, did it? We didn’t send a false report to headquarters, did we?" one of the team members asked nervously, afraid that the urgent information they had just relayed had been a mistake.

Their team leader gritted his teeth and slammed a hand against the instrument in front of him. "Damn it... even if it’s an error, I’ll own it! I’ll take the responsibility. A mistake is better than a real crisis! Report to headquarters and to Captain Fu immediately!"

...

...

As before, Fu Ying’s own senses had been even faster than the monitoring team’s.

Everyone present stared at one another in silence. Prism slapped her own cheek, mouth agape, and muttered, "W-what... what on earth is all this?!"

Warmhearted, the first to recover from his stupefaction and confusion, said nothing at all. He sprinted straight toward Minsheng Mall. Even when Prism’s urgent cries rang out behind him, he paid them no heed, head down as he charged into the mall.

Inside, there was not a single level patch of floor left to stand on. The air still reeked of the lingering, dissipating aura of anomaly. Drawing on his Warmhearted power, he moved over the broken, uneven ground as if walking on level earth.

His eyes darted anxiously from side to side, as though searching for something.

"Mask! Qi Chen! Where are you, you brat!"

He roared at the top of his lungs, unwilling to overlook even a single corner, desperately trying to find his young partner amid the ruins.

In his heart, he had already made up his mind long ago: Qi Chen would be his last partner.

The crimson-orange glow of Warmhearted’s power hovered at his side, using C-rank strength to turn over piles of shattered stone. Warmhearted himself knelt on the ground with his own hands, pulling aside broken, enormous roots and one disfigured husk after another.

Every time he uncovered a husk, his heart sank a little further.

But he kept his face dark and said nothing, repeating the same motions like a machine, while continually probing the remaining traces of anomalous energy in the space around him. And yet he could never detect that familiar aura.

As he searched, Fu Ying and the others rushed into the mall as well.

Everyone, even the seasoned anomaly operatives who had handled many such incidents before, was struck speechless the moment they saw the devastation inside.

They could scarcely imagine what form the anomaly had taken while it was still alive, and even less could they imagine how a newcomer like Qi Chen had managed to endure in such a place for so long before, in the end, actually destroying it.

"Uncle Warmhearted..." Prism tugged at Fu Ying’s sleeve, biting her lip as she pointed toward the figure still searching frantically across the floor in the distance.

"Search together," Fu Ying said. Even her expression had changed, a rare alteration. After issuing the order, she too silently plunged into this world of husks and the shattered remains of the giant tree.

Because the mall still held lingering power and aura from the anomaly, neither the city guards nor the special operations unit could enter to assist. The task of finding Qi Chen could only be left to these few anomaly operatives, no more than a handful.

Each of them activated their abilities, hoping to find the newcomer’s figure more quickly.

Silence dragged on in suffocating tension, until a lethargic-looking anomaly operative suddenly raised a hand and said, "Is it him?"

In a flash, Warmhearted dashed over. He reached the speaker’s side and, no longer able to hold himself together, drew a deep breath and removed the overcoat from his shoulders, wrapping it around the sleeping figure lying on the ground.

"Brother, I’ll take you home."

...

...

The news that the anomaly at Minsheng Mall had been resolved spread at astonishing speed through many circles.

While the administrative hall directed the Public Security Bureau and the City Defense Army to work together in handling the chaos in City Three, conversations were taking place in several places beyond public notice.

On the rooftop of a high-rise at the edge of City Three, several people in matching uniforms stood gazing in the direction of Minsheng Mall.

"Tsk, tsk. As expected of City Three—even one of these carefully crafted anomalous weapons can be dealt with." The man, barely five feet tall, clicked his tongue and commented with obvious interest.

Beside him stood another man, tall and striking, no less handsome than the Old Monarch. His red hair framed a pair of eyes fixed on the distance, deep and unreadable.

"Every city in the Alliance hides secrets we know nothing about," he said. "On the surface, their power is more than enough. Who knows what else they’re hiding in the dark?"

"The boss is right." A man seated on the edge of the rooftop, one leg crossed lazily over the other, chimed in with a careless air. "Good thing we didn’t make a move this time. We just let that bunch of useless people from the Vertical Pupil Society serve as targets. At least that gave us a proper chance to test the depth of City Three... Still, I’m curious what method City Three used to deal with that anomaly. If our legion could get hold of that method, maybe our future operations would go a lot more smoothly."

"That depends on Second Brother," the dwarf said with a broad grin. "Isn’t he right now at the side of the one in City Three? Maybe he’ll bring back some good news for us."

...

"Sir, it has been a pleasure working with you."

In a luxurious room, an elegant man in a custom-tailored suit gave a slight bow to the middle-aged man seated in the chair, cigar in hand, wearing a perfect smile that even the most exacting artist could find no fault in.

"The pleasure is mine," the middle-aged man said with a smile, rising to his feet and reaching out his hand in a friendly gesture.

The elegant man stepped forward with measured, almost calculated grace, took his hand, and said softly, "The legion will remember the bond of fighting side by side between us and you. I hope that next time, our cooperation will finally bring your wish to fulfillment."

"I’m looking forward to our next cooperation with the legion as well. Still... I hope that when we work together next time, we can be a little more straightforward about it. This is all the intelligence I have on City Two. Consider it the payment for this time." He handed over a thick, stuffed folder. "It includes the residences and ability characteristics of most of City Two’s anomaly operatives, as well as some information about the anomalous weapons possessed by City Two."

"I wish you success in your operation."

The elegant man accepted the bulging folder, his smile growing even brighter.

"Thank you very much. When the legion has taken control of City Two, I believe that when I next have the honor of seeing you, I should address you as Chief Administrator."

"Haha! Your good words to the ears. I won’t see you out."

As soon as the words fell, the elegant man vanished swiftly from the luxurious room.

The middle-aged man, meanwhile, let out a cold laugh and drew a document from the desk drawer. Looking over its contents, he split his mouth in a grin.

"Old Li, if you can come back alive, then accept the gift I’ve prepared for you!"