Go to war
Twenty minutes later, the task force took a detour and arrived at the southernmost border mountain. Driving on the mountain was inconvenient, and they were worried that the unknown energy might be a living thing and alert the enemy, so Ying Yungui ordered everyone to get off the car.
After treatment and recuperation, Tim's condition has recovered a lot, so he took the initiative to say: "Captain, it's better for you to save your energy to prepare for the battle. Let me do it." Yan Zhiyuan also advised him, and Ying Yungui agreed after thinking about it.
So, under Ying Yungui's guidance on the direction, Tim moved everyone to the middle of the mountain.
Ying Yungui looked at the dark cliff cave in front of him and said, "It's in here." He raised his foot as if to enter first, but Yan Zhiyuan stopped him and said, "Don't be in a hurry." Water droplets gushed out from the ground and slowly gathered into a thin stream, which meandered into the interior of the cliff cave under Yan Zhiyuan's control.
Feeling the direction of the water flow, Yan Zhiyuan breathed a sigh of relief after a moment and said, "There is only one path, but it is quite deep. Besides, there is no sound of any living creatures in it."
Ying Yungui nodded: "Since there are no living creatures, Zhuo Ri, you lead the way." A sturdy man named Zhuo Ri stood up, a beam of fire rose in his palm, using it as a means of lighting and defense, and was the first to step into the cliff cave.
Yan Zhiyuan's words were profound and not a joke or exaggeration. After walking for more than ten minutes, they felt an increasing chill. Finally, they saw the unknown energy source.
A black sphere glowing with silver light, when the thirteen people finally walked in front of it, a silver eye opened on it.
......
Shi Youchen looked at the people blocking the way in front of the car and was about to go around them when he saw them holding up a banner.
"We have something important to discuss with you. Please follow us." Quite polite.
Shi Youchen wanted to pretend he didn't see it, but then he saw them turn over again -
"I know who you want to investigate." It seemed like he had no choice but to go. Shi Youchen rolled down the window, patted the car body, and motioned for them to get in. But they shook their heads, turned around, and jogged off. So Shi Youchen had no choice but to follow them at a snail's pace.
Finally, they arrived at a row of houses at the foot of the mountain. Shi Youchen was ushered into a reddish-brown house. Two men were sitting in the living room, waiting for him. "You're here," the older man said, speaking in standard District 8 dialect.
When Shi Youchen saw the younger man's face, he felt strangely familiar. "What do you know?"
"Please sit down." The older man continued, "My name is Song Yao, and this is my nephew Jiang Rucheng. You've met him before."
Shi Youchen frowned, and then he heard Jiang Rucheng say, "A few days ago, at a farm in the mountains."
Suddenly, he remembered the old woman's words, "A big man and a small child went out to open a restaurant. I didn't expect them to actually make a name for themselves."
These two people turned out to be her son and grandson, so the person they said knew what they were investigating should be——
"Lu Shen, you're here for him, right?" Song Yao looked into Shi Youchen's eyes and said, "I have information about this person that I can tell you."
Shi Youchen's expression was calm: "Why should I believe that your information is true?"
As if he had guessed what he would say, Song Yao calmly asked Jiang Rucheng to take out a laptop and opened a surveillance video. The time displayed in the upper right corner was "02:52, August 13, 152".
Song Yao: "This is a surveillance video from my home twenty years ago. With the current technology of the Superpower Association, it is completely possible to verify whether it is fake or not. After watching it, you will believe us."
The video began playing, and just as Shi Youchen had guessed, it showed Lu Shen staying overnight on the night of the town's flash flood. The video clearly showed them chatting and laughing while eating noodles.
Jiang Rucheng said with red eyes: "This is my father Jiang Da." He pointed to the man washing dishes sideways on the screen and said, "You know this person." The video was paused at the moment he turned around, and his face was completely exposed to the camera.
"He is Lu Shen."
Shi Youchen remained silent. Based on Lu Shen's notes, the old woman's statement, and the current surveillance footage, he knew Song Yao and Jiang Rucheng weren't lying. "So? I'm investigating his connection to you."
Song Yao held Jiang Rucheng's shoulder and said, "My eldest brother Jiang Da disappeared during a mission three years ago, and Lu Shen also died in the same mission. Since you are investigating Lu Shen, I think..." He took a deep breath and said, "Please find the whereabouts of my eldest brother."
Shi Youchen asked, "Do you know what it means to be listed as missing in the association's mission report?" He looked at the two men, who still had hope in their eyes and said, "If no body is found or any vital signs are detected during a mission, they will be declared missing, but this is actually just a euphemism."
Jiang Rucheng: "He said that even if he died, he would definitely leave something for us, and he wouldn't just disappear like that. But we checked all the 12 people who survived that year, and there's no information about him at all!"
Shi Youchen was acutely aware of something. "Neither of you possess special abilities. How did you find the association's important information? And how did you discover and find me here?"
"Who is helping you behind the scenes?"
Jiang Rucheng realized that he had let something slip and looked at his uncle in panic. Song Yao comforted him with his eyes and remembered what the uncle had told him - "If he asks who the helper behind the scenes is, just tell him."
"Yes...Mr. He."
Shi Youchen was silent for a while, then suddenly chuckled.
No wonder, the controller of the mission vehicle, the discussion on the farm, the deployment of the S-level mission, the communication on the night they first arrived in District 9...it might even be earlier, before he and Ying Yungui found out that Lu Shen had not come to District 9, He Xian had already secretly found out and controlled the uncle and nephew.
And I was just the accident in his inevitable plan.
Song Yao was a little worried: "Mr. Shi?"
"In exchange, tell me everything you know about Lu Shen." Shi Youchen had made a decision.
This is a promise! Song Yao and Jiang Rucheng were both relieved. "He and my eldest brother met during a mission. We have similar personalities, so we became friends after a while. But my eldest brother is filial, and Rucheng was still young and needed care, so he only accepted missions within District 9."
"Lu Shen used to only come to District 9 occasionally, but from a certain point on, he started coming here quite frequently. Every time he came, he would greet my eldest brother. I also saw him a few times when I had dinner with my eldest brother."
"My eldest brother was once worried about Lu Shen's condition because he was always going on dangerous missions. However, we don't know the specifics, but we only heard that he had a great need for money."
Shi Youchen interrupted him: "How do you know this?"
Song Yao scratched his hair and said, "My brother... asked me to borrow money, but he didn't say what it was for, and in the end he returned it without using it. After thinking about it, I realized he didn't have any use for the money, so he probably lent it to others. He was close to Lu Shen at the time, so I guess that's the case."
Shi Youchen took note of it silently and motioned Song Yao to continue.
"Later, Lu Shen came to District 9 less frequently, and I never saw him again, but he and my brother always kept in close contact. I even noticed that my brother would buy extra clothes, toys, and other things for Rucheng."
"I asked him who it was for."
"He said it was for Lu Shen's son."
Shi Youchen's breath hitched: "Lu Shen's...son?"
"Yes, he should be around the same age as Rucheng. Then it was the year 169. At first, we only knew that my brother was on another mission, but we didn't expect... Later, the association sent a notice to my family, and we learned that he was missing."
"When did He Xian find you?"
"Around the beginning of the 170th year, Mr. He approached us and offered to help us. However, considering that the Association's surveillance of him might affect us, he let us run the farm and assisted us in gathering intelligence."
"He also said that someone would definitely show up to change the situation, and told us to wait patiently. We waited for two years. A few days ago, he took you there for dinner, and Rucheng heard your conversation."
“We knew the time had come.”
Shi Youchen listened quietly, then reached into his pocket and fiddled with the controller of the mission vehicle. After a long pause, he said, "I'd like to ask you a question."
Song Yao was flattered: "Please...please go ahead."
"Your brother's surname is Jiang, your surname is Song, you..." Shi Youchen seemed to be thinking about something.
"Ah, this is a custom here. If the parents haven't divorced, the first child usually takes the mother's surname, and subsequent children take the father's. If there's only one child, we'll discuss and decide."
Shi Youchen took his hand out of his pocket and put it on the table: "My ability is limited, but I will do my best to help you investigate Jiang Da's whereabouts. Don't take any more rash actions before I contact you." Only in this way can they avoid attracting the attention of the association and be in a safer situation.
Jiang Rucheng nodded repeatedly, while Song Yao looked at Shi Youchen with a hint of apology and said, "Sorry, thank you." Shi Youchen got up and left, waving his hand to tell them not to see him off.
After returning to the car, knowing that the other party was probably busy with the tracking and investigation of the mission, he still dialed He Xian's number. Unexpectedly, the call was connected quickly.
"I'm sorry." Before Shi Youchen could even speak, he heard He Xian's voice, "But even if it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. This is what I told the old man."
Having previously heard from him about the old branch director, Shi Youchen had naively assumed He Xian was a naturally open-minded person who wouldn't get bored. He hadn't expected to discover the truth under these circumstances. "You must be very tired," he said in a calm voice.
There was silence for a moment, and finally a voice came again: "Yeah, very tired, but I'm used to it."
"Come back to the base. If you have any questions, I can tell you in person."
Shi Youchen started the car and said, "I'm hungry. Let's have a meal together later."
"Okay." He Xian knew that from this moment on, he would no longer have any delusional thoughts about Shi Youchen.
In the afternoon, He Xian took a half-hour leave, invited Shi Youchen to dinner, and then took him to a special place. "I accidentally walked into this place before," Shi Youchen said, looking at the familiar courtyard.
He Xian looked at him in surprise. "You walked in by yourself?" Seeing him nod, he added, "This is a special space, permanently covered in the abilities of psychics. It's the only place in the base that's not under surveillance."
"Ordinary people would get lost if they got close, or would have to go back the way they came and wouldn't have been able to get in here."
Shi Youchen: "I don't know how I got in last time. There was a little boy who seemed to be the gardener here. And there was also the lady we met in the elevator."
He Xian pointed at the colorful flowers and plants around them and said, "Those are what they cultivated. They are experimental organisms with special effects. This is one of the most important laboratories in District 9. I have some connections with that lady, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get in here. You may have stumbled into it by accident."
The two sat down on rattan chairs, and He Xian began to talk about his experiences and plans.
"When I was 14, my parents died and I was officially adopted by the Association. Ever since then, I've been particularly sensitive to matters in the border regions. The old branch chief promised me that I could participate in any mission in the border regions. The S-rank mission in 169 was a 'once and for all' operation organized by the Association due to the uncontrollable conflicts three years after the Light Domain was shattered. I wasn't ranked high enough to participate, but the old branch chief went in my place."
"At that time, I was young and had become the head of a department. I was at the peak of my career, so the branch tried every possible means to test me, trying to see if I harbored any resentment towards them and whether I would harm them if I gained power."
"I can't let go of the old man's death, and the Southeast Border has always been a thorn in my heart, so I secretly investigated the people involved in that mission. Living, dead, missing, I will not let go of anyone I can find."
"In the end, I found out that most of them or their families avoided talking about that past. Only Jiang Da's brother and son, Song Yao and Jiang Rucheng, insisted on finding his whereabouts."
"But the association has issued instructions, so I can't conduct a direct investigation. So I had to ask them to find another way to collect intelligence and let them wait patiently. Until you came here a while ago, I found out that you were investigating Lu Shen's case in the archives, so I took you to Song Yao's farm for dinner and passed on the news to them."
"I didn't say it before, firstly because Yun Gui and the others were still on a mission, and secondly to give Song Yao and the others some buffer time. You all know what happened next. I won't intervene openly in Lu Shen and Jiang Da's affairs, but I will provide any assistance you need."
Shi Youchen observed a blood-red flower for a while and found that it was slowly spinning clockwise. "Did you know that Lu Shen has a son?"
He Xian was stunned: "I know, Song Yao told me."
Shi Youchen reached out to touch the flower, leaving a small cut on his fingertip. It didn't hurt, but it tingled. "He's the younger brother of the current head of the Lu family in District 8. The association's records state he's unmarried and childless, and his own notes don't mention anything about it. So, I have an idea about this partner and child he's trying so hard to hide."
"The frequency of his missions in Area 9 has increased abnormally for a while. Perhaps it's related to his child."
He Xian: "Are you saying his wife and children are from District 9? But I haven't heard of any woman or child coming to claim Lu Shen after his death."
The identity of Lu Shen's illegitimate child was his private matter, and Shi Youchen couldn't bring himself to say it openly, so he simply said, "Since he was determined to hide the identities of his wife and children, he should have also told them not to reveal them."
He Xian speculated: "Is it possible, I mean maybe, Lu Shen never told his wife about his life experience?"
Shi Youchen recalled the contents of his notes and the information Ying Yungui had received from Lu Ming—the S-rank mission of 169, that this time it would definitely succeed, and that Mr. Lu was worried about the marriage...
"He probably didn't even intend to return to District 8 after the mission was over. He wanted to take this opportunity to stay in District 9 because he needed to completely break free from the Lu family's control over him."
"As for his original plan, it might be to fake his own death or disappear. There's no better way to escape the family's control than this."
"It's just that he didn't expect that the mission would go wrong and he would actually die."
He Xian: "Then how do you explain his wife and children? They just disappeared from the face of the earth and didn't care about his news at all?"
Shi Youchen pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't know, but there's someone who might know."
"Jiang Da."
"If we can find his whereabouts, maybe we can know the truth."
He Xian sighed, "How can it be that easy? I've been helping Song Yao and the others secretly investigate for so many years, but there has been no progress. If they hadn't insisted that Jiang Da was not dead, I wouldn't have risked spending so much energy on this matter."
Shi Youchen hummed and said, "I know it's not easy, but all the clues Ying Yungui and I have found so far, as well as the information you, Song Yao, and Jiang Rucheng have, can only take us this far. Jiang Da is the only new entry point."
"So in the final analysis, we still have to investigate the mission in 20169." He Xian flexed his wrist, "We have to go against the association." Shi Youchen did not comment.
He Xian stood up: "Okay, I can't leave for too long, I have to go back first. If you are not in a hurry, you can rest first. If you have anything, please send me a message."
Shi Youchen also stood up: "Well, let's go."
The two walked through the colorful flowers and plants, heading back the way they came. The moment they unknowingly walked out of the courtyard, they heard a deafening "boom" of collapse.
In their field of vision, the regulatory building was reduced to ruins by huge rocks falling vertically from the sky.
Everything happened too suddenly. Before they could think about anything, several figures appeared in the air above the base.
The woman's lazy voice reached the ears of every sentient being in the base. "The battle you have been waiting for is here. Kill now."
The base was damaged and invaded by outsiders. The central system directly activated the highest level of defense, raising a barrier space with four gates as the boundary. The eight boundary corners summoned high-dimensional factor cannons, automatically scanning and aiming at the unregistered invaders in mid-air.
Without any preparation time, a black beam of light was emitted, and all living and non-living things in the path were instantly annihilated.
Several black lights concentrated on the positions of those people. After the light mist dissipated, they did not move at all!
He Xian exclaimed: "This is impossible!" The high-dimensional factor cannon can ignore any physical or chemical defense. It does not break or disperse, but completely swallows it. Moreover, it is impossible to dodge it with human reaction time.
The Association's psychics appeared one after another in the open space. The current situation was so chaotic that no further explanation was needed. As soon as they met, they engaged in combat. For a moment, afterimages filled the air, and all kinds of psychics were unleashed.
He Xian came back to his senses from his astonishment and pulled Shi Youchen back to the special space.
"The base has been invaded. You can't stay here. The base barrier has been deployed, isolating the inner and outer spaces from each other. They can't get out."
He gripped Shi Youchen's wrist tightly and led him through numerous natural barriers, darting towards a destination. "There's a spatial passage in there that can teleport you out. Once you're out, find a way to find Ying Yungui and the others. We're definitely out of contact with the base for the time being."
He thought quickly and calmly, "I can't go with you. I'm needed here. It should be safe outside for now. Headquarters and other districts will be notified of an attack of this magnitude immediately. As long as we can hold out for a while, we can be at ease."
Somehow, Shi Youchen felt unusually calm now, and could even be said to be looking forward to something.
He Xian led him to a humble pot of lilac. "From what I know, they were last in the southernmost part of Area 9, heading west. They're not too far from the base. You can judge for yourself."
"Please be careful about your own safety when you go out, please." The last thing Shi Youchen saw was He Xian's firm and sincere eyes.
The next second, he appeared in an old park at an intersection outside the base, flanked by dilapidated flower bushes. Shi Youchen glanced around and walked out, contacting Ying Yungui.
Without a response, the worst-case scenario unfolded. Shi Youchen walked out of the park gate and stood dazed by the roadside. The mission vehicle was inside the base, and the wristband couldn't reach him. How could he get south?
At that moment, a white mission vehicle sped toward him from a distance, stopping in front of Shi Youchen in the blink of an eye. The window rolled down, revealing a pair of narrow eyes. "Get in," a cold and arrogant voice commanded him.
Shi Youchen swiftly opened the door and got into the car, saying, "The base has been attacked and communication has been severed. Go find the S-level task force."
The woman introduced herself: "My name is Lan, his name is Wuyan, what's your address?" The co-pilot popped his head out, it was the little gardener boy.
Shi Youchen clenched his fist and said, "The southernmost part." He chose to believe the last message Ying Yungui sent him.
In the southernmost cliff cave, thirteen people lay on the ground, their eyes tightly closed, a silver-white mark flickering faintly between their brows. Simultaneously, all the villagers of the village they had bypassed poured out, heading towards the southernmost border mountain in a daze. Each of them also had the same silver-white mark between their brows.
The entire area was silent, like the dormant sea before a storm.
While driving fast, Lan did not forget to ask Shi Youchen: "Who are you? Why did you appear in our space node?" Shi Youchen immediately understood the significance of the dilapidated park.
"I'm He Xian's... friend. He helped me get out." Youchen hesitated when he said the word "friend." Sure enough, Lan said, "I've never heard him mention a friend like you. Could you please tell me your identity?"
"Number 8463, Shi Youchen, Level 3 Healing System."
The car came to an abrupt stop. Lan turned to look at him, his eyes sharp. "Your name is Shi Youchen? From District 8?"
"yes."
Lan's eyes stayed on his face for a few seconds, and the car started again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
