There were three seconds of silence on the other end of the communicator.
For Yan Pengcheng, those three seconds felt as long as three centuries.
He didn’t dare speak, and even his breathing subconsciously lightened.
He could almost see Zhuang Heng sitting behind that wide desk, his thin face devoid of expression. His half-closed, triangular eyes would be fixed on a spot on the desk, and his fingers would be rhythmically tapping the armrest.
“Speak.”
Only one word.
But the power contained within that single word made Yan Pengcheng’s heart skip a beat.
He instinctively bowed his head, even though Zhuang Heng couldn’t see him.
“The 3rd Mobile Brigade... has been completely wiped out.”
“Four Predator-II armored vehicles and one Destroyer fire-support vehicle... all destroyed.”
“Six Level 2 Ability Users... four were spared because they were on preliminary missions, and of the remaining two... one is heavily injured and one was killed in action.”
“Four Level 3 Ability Users... survived, but all have varying degrees of injuries...”
Yan Pengcheng finished in one breath, fine beads of sweat already seeping from his forehead.
Another silence followed on the other end of the communicator.
This time, the silence lasted even longer.
Yan Pengcheng bowed even lower. The sweat on his forehead trickled down the tip of his nose and dripped onto the desk, making a faint sound.
He didn’t dare wipe it away, nor did he dare to breathe loudly.
He could only wait for Zhuang Heng to speak.
After an unknown amount of time—perhaps only a dozen seconds, though to Yan Pengcheng it felt like a lifetime—Zhuang Heng’s voice finally rang out again.
“The details.”
Yan Pengcheng took a deep breath and recounted everything the commander had reported.
The mysterious person, the aberrant attack, being lured into the Non-Safe Zone, the Blood-Scythe Ant swarm, and how four Level 3s working together were completely helpless...
He emphasized the presence of that “mysterious person.”
“Commander Zhuang, according to the commander’s description, that mysterious person appeared without any warning.”
“The four Level 3 Ability Users pursued him together, but the man didn’t even engage them directly. He simply kept luring them deeper into the Non-Safe Zone.”
“Then, they encountered the Blood-Scythe Ant swarm.”
Yan Pengcheng paused, lowering his voice slightly. “The commander said that person’s ability to control aberrants was extremely eerie.”
“The Blood-Scythe Ant swarm didn’t appear by chance; they were lured there by him.”
“To be able to retreat calmly from the vicinity of a Blood-Scythe Ant nest and leave four Level 3 Ability Users with no way to fight back...”
“The commander’s judgment is that the person is at least Level 4, if not higher.”
After finishing, Yan Pengcheng kept his head bowed, waiting for Zhuang Heng’s response.
Zhuang Heng didn’t speak immediately.
Yan Pengcheng could hear an extremely faint sound from the other end—it was the sound of Zhuang Heng’s finger lightly tapping the armrest.
The rhythm was very slow.
One, two, three...
Every tap felt like it was striking Yan Pengcheng’s heart.
“Colonel Yan.”
Zhuang Heng finally spoke.
Yan Pengcheng’s body trembled slightly. “Present.”
“What are your thoughts on this Level 4 Ability User... does he actually exist, or not?”
Yan Pengcheng’s heart rate suddenly accelerated.
He knew his chance had come.
“Commander Zhuang...” Yan Pengcheng took a deep breath, his voice carrying a hint of suppressed trembling.
“I... have something I must report to you.”
“Speak.”
“I... was attacked shortly after I cut off communication with you earlier.”
The sound of the tapping stopped.
Yan Pengcheng continued, “I didn’t even notice anything unusual before my consciousness was crushed.”
“By the time I woke up, more than three hours had passed.”
“In other words, during the most critical moments of the 3rd Mobile Brigade’s operation, I... was unconscious the entire time.”
“That is why the Command Office did not receive any of the 3rd Mobile Brigade’s communication requests.”
After finishing, Yan Pengcheng lowered his head, his voice deep. “Commander Zhuang, my command was ineffective, and my dereliction of duty is severe. I am willing to take full responsibility.”
The other end of the communicator fell silent for several seconds.
Then, Zhuang Heng’s voice rang out again, still calm and devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
“You are saying that you were attacked inside the Command Office, within the City Defense Force branch building, under heavy guard?”
“Yes.” Yan Pengcheng’s forehead almost touched the desk. “I am incompetent.”
“How strong was the attacker?”
“I... don’t know.” There was a hint of lingering fear in Yan Pengcheng’s voice that he couldn’t hide.
“My ability is Rock Armor, which specializes in defense, and I have a certain degree of resistance to mental attacks.”
“But before that person, I didn’t even have a chance to react.”
“If that person had wanted to kill me, I... wouldn’t have the chance to speak with Commander Zhuang right now.”
Zhuang Heng fell silent.
How much of Yan Pengcheng’s words did he believe?
A mysterious person who could defeat a Level 3 Mid Stage defense-type Ability User inside the City Defense Force branch building without being noticed.
A mysterious person who came from the direction of the Terminal Station, could control aberrants, and could leave four Level 3 Ability Users helpless.
These two were very likely the same person.
Zhuang Heng’s finger resumed tapping the armrest, the rhythm even slower than before.
He was thinking.
The Terminal Station...
That mysterious building that had appeared on the edge of the Ruin Zone, remained intact under artillery fire, and could shelter thousands of people during a Death Tide.
The time it had been around was too short.
In just one month, it had grown from an ignored unfinished building into a large-scale shelter with over two thousand vagrants.
Such a rate of expansion defied logic.
It was hidden too well. The City Defense Force’s Sky Eye system covered most of the Ruin Zone, yet before this, they had never discovered anything unusual about that building.
This level of concealment also defied logic.
But what if there was a Level 4 Ability User stationed inside the Terminal Station?
Then everything would make sense.
A Level 4 Ability User would have the power to gather a large number of vagrants in a short time, the ability to shield against the City Defense Force’s detection equipment, and the strength to protect that building during artillery fire and a Death Tide.
A Level 4 Ability User would also be capable of infiltrating the City Defense Force branch and defeating a Level 3 Mid Stage Ability User without being detected.
And a Level 4 Ability User should also be able to control aberrants and lure a fully armed elite unit into a Non-Safe Zone to be annihilated by a Blood-Scythe Ant swarm.
Any faction possessing a Level 4 Ability User has the qualifications and strength to stand on equal footing with the core figures of Panshi City’s Inner City, as well as powers like the City Defense Force and the Panshi Company.
In all fairness, the City Defense Force would have to send someone with the appropriate status and strength to the Terminal Station to investigate.
This was for their own peace of mind.
Rate on N.U.
