Chapter Thirty-Two: Cracks
The bad news came in the darkest hour before dawn. A warehouse located on the edge of the eastern district, near the dock, which nominally belonged to an independent smuggler but actually served as a transit point for intelligence and supplies for the Xuyue organization, was reduced to a charred ruin in a sudden explosion caused by a gas pipeline leak last night.
The number of bodies recovered from the scene was not large, but they were all carefully placed and experienced veterans by the organization.
What's even more alarming is that the scene was cleaned up exceptionally "cleanly," leaving almost no indicative evidence, except... a professional technique that was too perfect, as if deliberately erasing all unplanned traces.
This was no accident. It was a precise, cold-blooded warning, or rather, a declaration of war.
The news exploded like ice water poured into boiling oil within the headquarters of the Xuyue Organization. Although Gongyang Yandaosi immediately issued a complete blockade and silence order, the invisible, suffocating tension still spread like a plague among the core members.
Two hours later, in the strategic conference room deep inside the headquarters.
The heavy oak door was tightly shut, cutting off all outside noise. Only a few gas lamps were lit in the room, casting a dim, yellowish light that cast flickering shadows on everyone's faces.
The air was thick with the smell of tobacco, the lingering stench of gunpowder, and a deeper emotion called fear and anger.
Xu Yue sat at the head of the long table, her back ramrod straight, like a cold sculpture.
She wore a plain black outfit, her long silver-gray hair tied back, and her face was pale, but her eyes were sharp as ice-cold blades, slowly sweeping across every face in the room.
She didn't speak immediately, but gently pushed a preliminary assessment report on the warehouse explosion to the center of the table.
Gongyang Yandaosi sat in the first seat to her right, with a thick map of defensive fortifications and a personnel dispatch table spread out in front of him.
His silver-gray eyes were tinged with tired dark circles, but his gaze remained clear and focused. His fingertips tapped the table unconsciously, producing a rhythmic and subdued soft sound.
He broke the silence first, his voice hoarse but steady: "The scene was handled very 'professionally,' not the work of an ordinary gang. We lost seven men, three intelligence lines were temporarily cut off, and a batch of weapons that was about to be transferred was lost."
The outer perimeter security network has been raised to the highest level, and all non-essential contact points have been placed under deep silence.
His report was concise and objective, focusing on damage assessment and immediate response, typical of the Rams style—prioritizing stabilizing defenses and controlling the situation.
"Professional?" A voice, laced with suppressed anger, rang out like a muffled thunderclap. Xiya sat to Xuyue's left, leaning forward, his elbows resting on the table, his clenched fists white at the knuckles.
In the dim light, the red-haired man resembled a burning ember, his eyes bloodshot—traces of a sleepless night and extreme rage.
“This is fucking provocation from those bastards from BXX! They’re telling us they know our hideout, how to find us, and can crush our people like ants at any time!” He slammed his hand on the table, making the cups on it vibrate. “We can’t just cower like this! We have to fight back immediately! Find them, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! Let them know what the price is for messing with the ‘Saltwater Crocodile’!”
His voice echoed in the closed room, filled with violent killing intent. This was the "Whale Shark's" most direct reaction—the best defense against an attack is a fiercer, more brutal counterattack.
"Counterattack? Counterattack against whom?" A cold voice came from the other end of the long table. Mu sat in the darkest part of the room, almost blending into the darkness. There were no papers in front of her, only a small, portable decoder that flickered with a faint light.
Her silver-gray eyes were devoid of warmth as she stared directly at Xiya.
"What concrete evidence do we have right now? An 'accidental' explosion. We know our adversary might be BXX, based on previous signal analysis and intuition. But where are their core strongholds? What are their operational plans? Who is their next target? We know nothing."
She paused, her voice as precise and cold as a scalpel: "In a situation where the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, what purpose would it serve other than to rashly launch a large-scale counterattack, besides exposing more of our strength and operational patterns and attracting more precise strikes?"
West Asia, your anger is understandable, but it's the most dangerous luxury right now. What we need is intelligence, patience, the ability to lie in wait like hunters, observe, find the enemy's fatal weakness, and then... strike a fatal blow.
Mu Ye's views were in sharp opposition to those of Xi Ya. One advocated an immediate and forceful military response, while the other advocated cautious, intelligence-based infiltration and planning.
The Ram intervened at the opportune moment, attempting to reconcile the situation, but his stance was clearly cautious: "Mu also has a point. The immediate priority is to strengthen our existing defenses and ensure the safety of core areas and key personnel."
At the same time, mobilize all intelligence resources to track down BXX. Before we understand their true nature, any large-scale operation could have disastrous consequences. He looked at Xiya, his tone softening. "Xiya, I know you're heartbroken over the loss of our brothers; we are all in the same boat. But what we need now is calm, not impulsiveness."
"Calm down? Wait until the next stronghold is taken down? Wait until more people disappear without a trace?" Sia's voice trembled slightly with anger. He glared at Gongyang and Muye with red eyes. "Your slow, sluggish approach of waiting for others to come to you before figuring things out will only make us passively take hits like targets! BXX aren't street thugs; they won't give us time to investigate slowly!"
The meeting reached a stalemate. The tense atmosphere was almost frozen, and the clash between loyalty and ideology clashed fiercely in the silence.
Just then, a slightly timid but exceptionally clear voice rang out from near the doorway.
“Perhaps…” Zhong Si raised his head, his violet eyes flashing with unease, but more so with the analytical instincts forced out by immense pressure, “Perhaps this attack… is itself a larger ‘intelligence’.”
All eyes instantly turned to him. Zhong Si subconsciously shrank his shoulders, but under the gaze of Xi Ya, filled with complex emotions of anger, protectiveness, and a hint of barely perceptible expectation, he took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice steady: "The other side chose that warehouse... It's important, but not irreplaceable. Its loss will anger us, but it won't fundamentally damage us. The fact that they did it so 'cleanly' is less about hiding and more about... demonstrating their capabilities and... style to us."
He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, and the insightful talent unique to "Butterfly Sea" gradually emerged in his eyes: "They are telling us that they are very professional, very patient, and... they are very interested in our reactions."
They wanted to see which fang we would bare first after being attacked… Mr. Xiya's martial prowess, or Ms. Mu Ye's intelligence network, or… something else entirely. It was like… like deliberately sacrificing a piece on a chessboard to test the opponent's response.
Zhong Si's analysis, like a cold ray of light, pierced through the fog of anger and anxiety that filled the room. He elevated this attack from a simple act of revenge to a matter of psychological and strategic maneuvering.
Xu Yue had been listening silently. At this moment, her gaze fell on Zhong Si, a barely perceptible glint flashing in her gray eyes. Then, she spoke slowly, her voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable decisiveness that instantly quelled all the argument.
“Zhong Si’s observation makes sense.” She affirmed the boy first, which brought a barely perceptible blush to Zhong Si’s pale face.
“BXX is testing, provoking, and observing. They want to know our bottom line, our reaction patterns, and our… weaknesses.”
Her gaze swept over Xiya, Muye, and Gongyang in turn. "Xiya's anger is our strength, but it must not be used by the enemy. Muye's caution is our shield, but it must not become a shackle. Gongyang's defense is our foundation, and it must be absolutely foolproof."
She stood up, placed her hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and exuded a powerful sense of pressure. "From now on, everyone is on high alert."
"Gongyang, you are in charge of the entire defense system. I want every link to be impregnable. Muye, use all the resources at your disposal to comb through the shadows of London like a comb. I need to know the direction of BXX's next breath. West Asia..."
She looked at the red-haired man with sharp eyes, "Your power needs to be released, but not now, nor on a battlefield pre-planned by the enemy."
I want you to select the most elite personnel, form a rapid response team, and maintain maximum mobility. The moment Mu Ye finds his target, I want you to tear them apart like a real shark. But until then, hold back.
Finally, her gaze fell on Zhong Si, and her tone softened slightly: "Zhong Si, you follow Mu Ye. Use your eyes to help her see those details that might be overlooked. Your talent shouldn't just be used on the training field."
The orders were clear, and the division of labor was well-defined. With her absolute authority, Xu Yue forcefully united any potential internal disagreements, pointing the organization in the right direction under the pressure of a powerful enemy—to hold the line, conduct reconnaissance, and strike decisively when the opportunity presented itself.
The meeting ended, and the members silently rose and left, each shouldering their heavy responsibilities. As Xiya passed by Zhong Si, she paused, the ferocity in her red eyes still lingering, but she raised her hand and roughly ruffled the boy's hair. The gesture was somewhat rough, yet it conveyed a silent approval and... "Stay close to me" implication.
Zhong Si raised his head and looked at Xi Ya's broad but tense back. His purple eyes were filled with complex emotions—a glimmer of recognition, fear of the coming storm, and a determination to stand with Xi Ya.
Cracks may have already appeared under the pressure, but at this moment, under the cold will of Xu Yue and the common external threat, this flock of crows roosting in the shadows still tightly clustered around their throne, preparing to face the coming, even more violent storm.
However, the suppressed disagreements and deep-seated emotional entanglements, like magma beneath the earth's crust, will eventually erupt violently at some point in the future.
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