Event Escalation

Daoist Wang had thought he might get a chance to experience the central elevator for free.

Who would have thought?

They were taking the fire escape again.

In the darkness, seven figures equipped with various lighting devices made their way down the pitch-black fire stairs in a two-three-two formation.

Ling Tong and a fully armed burly officer took the lead. Wang Jixuan, Zhou Zhengde, and the female officer were in the middle. Zheng Shiduo and another burly man brought up the rear.

The seven carried large amounts of ammunition and emergency medical supplies. The two burly officers had what they called "the village's finest Sniper Rifles" on their backs—two multi-shot individual Rocket Launchers.

Zhou Zhengde wore lightweight trigger-activated protective gear. It did not hinder his joints, but a thin layer of Composite Material wrapped around his skeletal muscles, making him look twice as bulky.

Compared to Zhou Zhengde, Wang Jixuan and Zheng Shiduo had it much harder.

Each of them carried an enormous black metal case weighing sixty to seventy kilograms.

This was Ling Tong's specialized equipment.

—Because the fire escape stairs were old, poorly maintained, and relatively narrow, the two all-terrain robotic dogs could not enter this passage. The burden had therefore fallen to the two of them.

Wang Jixuan also carried a small-caliber Sniper Rifle and an Assault Rifle.

C-Class Psionicist Zheng Shiduo had not been issued any weapons... he had more than enough confidence in Ling Tong's strength.

At the head of the team.

Moderately bright miniature searchlights sat on both of Ling Tong's shoulders.

The fully armed burly officer beside her held an electric shock pistol in his left hand and an all-terrain 3D radar detector in his right, meticulously watching every direction.

Zhou Zhengde muttered, "Mu Liang, when are we getting to the bottom?"

"At our current pace, about another two hours."

Wang Jixuan quietly reminded him:

"Rest if you get tired. Otherwise, your Two Legs will keep shaking. There may be fighting once we get down there."

"I'm not tired."

Zhou Zhengde pointed at the "swim rings" around his body.

"It just feels like I'm bread preserved with nitrogen... I'm an honorably retired soldier, and I've never stopped training."

Zheng Shiduo clicked his tongue from behind them. "Heh heh, no wonder Young Master Zhou has such a great body."

The burly man beside Zheng Shiduo twitched at the corner of his mouth. Remembering that thing the man carried around with him, he deliberately edged farther away...

Zheng Shiduo spoke over the radio channel.

"Ling Tong, can this old man apply for a change of position? I want to get a little closer to Team Leader Mu Liang."

Listening to sounds coming simultaneously from the headset and beside him, Wang Jixuan found it a little strange.

Ling Tong instructed, "The two of you should keep your distance as much as possible. The structure here isn't very stable, and you're both carrying too much weight."

"Received!"

The female officer protecting Zhou Zhengde stopped to wait. Carrying his metal case, Zheng Shiduo strode forward several steps.

A faint green glow shone in Zheng Shiduo's eyes. Clearly, he could adapt to this environment.

Zheng Shiduo deliberately passed Zhou Zhengde and Mu Liang, walking ahead of them so that his every movement remained exposed to their lights and line of sight.

—He was doing his utmost to show that he had no hostile intentions.

"Team Leader Mu, can you communicate mentally? That way, they won't hear us planning how to destroy the world."

"Apparently not."

"Fine, then we'll use tiny voices."

Ling Tong's voice came through the headset. "Headsets may not be removed during the operation."

"Fine, fine, fine!"

Zheng Shiduo curled his lip and rolled his eyes. Then he turned to Wang Jixuan, pointed at Ling Tong, and made a ferocious face.

Zhou Zhengde nearly laughed out loud.

Wang Jixuan did not relax in the slightest. He was ready to strike with everything he had at any moment.

He could not help it. Whenever Zheng Shiduo got close, Wang Jixuan's Spiritual Sense kept jumping.

Zheng Shiduo seemed to want to say something but could not find a suitable topic, so he called out.

"Captain Ling Tong, why can't we take the elevator?"

A round opening opened behind Ling Tong's shoulder, and a bee-shaped drone flew out.

The drone spiraled upward and flew before Zheng Shiduo and the other two. Several rays bloomed from its rear, interweaving into a blurry display screen.

A cross-sectional map of the fortress appeared on the screen. All forty-nine levels, along with the complex underground caverns beneath the forty-ninth level, were displayed at once. Dozens of Light Spots flickered faintly across it.

Ling Tong explained calmly:

"This is synchronized data from the Fortress internal monitoring system. The data source is the Frontline Command Center.

"Six hours ago, there were thirty-eight Psionicists inside the fortress.

"Half an hour ago, there were fifty-four Psionicists inside the fortress. The identity codes of the newly added Psionicists are unknown, and they have placed all elevators under tight surveillance."

Wang Jixuan and Zhou Zhengde exchanged a look, their expressions turning grim.

"Huh?" Zheng Shiduo frowned. "What's going on? Is that trash Kong Nu really trying to make headlines?"

Ling Tong said simply, "Current assessment: Fortress No. 76's Psionic Outbreak Level is Level 3. The Fortress Special Cleanup Regulations have been activated. I will kill any Psionicists who attempt to attack us, as well as armed personnel under their control."

"A Level 3 incident? Wasn't it still Level 2 before? Wait! I need to contact Professor Zhuang!"

Zheng Shiduo hurriedly said:

"Every C-Class Psionicist is valuable combat power. They aren't expendable material like D-Class and E-Class Psionicists! Ling Tong, you've always been heavy-handed! Let me contact Old Zhuang!"

"You cannot contact any Psionicists or Psionicist organizations right now, unless you want me to eliminate you immediately."

Ling Tong's voice was calm and cold.

More than a dozen red dots suddenly appeared on Zheng Shiduo's forehead, heart, and joints throughout his body.

Wang Jixuan's eyes lit up.

Because he saw more than a dozen miniature weapons emerge from Ling Tong's arms.

Was this humanity's high-end combat strength against Blade Beasts? How was it achieved? There was clearly no qi within her body.

Zheng Shiduo anxiously patted his forehead.

Zhou Zhengde asked, "Kong Nu has that much influence?"

Ling Tong replied, "Due to historical reasons, the 13th Institute's multi-level management system is extremely chaotic. Though he is merely the person in charge of a local station, he has the authority to contact the Psionic Capital."

"Well... I actually knew about this. Before I came, Professor Zhuang secretly told me."

Zheng Shiduo pondered for a moment.

"According to our internal investigation, over the past twenty-plus years, Kong Nu has continuously exported material to other fortresses, formed factions for personal gain, and attached himself to certain important figures I cannot name.

"That is probably what gives Kong Nu the confidence to strike back at us today."

Zhou Zhengde asked, "What exactly is this material?"

"People. Human beings themselves."

Zheng Shiduo shrugged and said simply:

"I can't disclose the specifics. There are confidentiality regulations... The 13th Institute has three or four Command Systems in total. Kong Nu and I aren't under the same Command System. On my side, Professor Zhuang commands us directly.

"Kong Nu's cleverest move was that he did not send all the material to the Psionic Capital.

"He distributed the material among neighboring fortresses, built up personal connections, and kept smoothing his way upward. That guy's ambitions are not small.

"I think the batch of Psionicists that suddenly appeared in the fortress were borrowed from his partners."

Zhou Zhengde frowned. "Can we determine which fortress they came from?"

"Most likely Fortress No. 82. The Senior Researcher there is Kong Nu's close comrade-in-arms.

"Honestly, I really don't understand why these researchers from the 13th Institute have to play politics. A bunch of idiots who can't even figure out psionic principles."

Zheng Shiduo smiled and made a serious suggestion:

"We could really try contacting Professor Zhuang and resolve Kong Nu peacefully together. Every Psionicist is piled up from human lives. It'd be such a waste to kill them over Internal Strife. Better to send them to fill the front lines."

Wang Jixuan softly asked, "Can't we just arrest Kong Nu directly?"

"Certain procedures are necessary," Ling Tong said. "We need to gather evidence, submit it to the Command Center, and obtain its authorization before we can act against Kong Nu within the fortress."

"Heh heh heh."

Zheng Shiduo threw Wang Jixuan a flirtatious glance.

"I've shared so much intelligence. Team Leader Mu, shouldn't you share some information about yourself too? Where did you come from?"

Several gazes fell on Wang Jixuan at once, and Zhou Zhengde stepped forward on his own.

"Cosmic rays? Radiation? Mutation?"

Zheng Shiduo kept muttering to himself and did not chatter for half an hour.

He was seriously considering the possibility of such a thing happening.

Zhou Zhengde had explained earlier. His lie was that an aurora had struck Mu Liang, and he made it sound as though he had witnessed it himself.

When they rested on a steel platform, Zheng Shiduo slowly let out a breath.

"So you're not actually a Psionicist, but a mutated individual. The biological Energy Reaction in your body is roughly that of an E-Class Psionicist, really quite low... Then how did you kill An Qian and severely injure Wen Heisen?"

Wang Jixuan looked at Zhou Zhengde.

The latter immediately said, "I prepared all kinds of weapons and equipment for him. When he entered Black Fire Gang territory, he was actually gathering evidence of Kong Nu's crimes."

Zheng Shiduo asked again, "That can't be right. Did the D-Class Psionicist not have weapons and equipment?"

"A sneak attack," Zhou Zhengde said with a smile. "Of course, we couldn't take her head-on. Besides, An Qian's death was caused by her own severe violation of regulations. Naturally, we also bent the rules a little by borrowing a large-caliber Sniper Rifle."

"I saw pictures of An Qian's body just now. All right, she died horribly... When she was young, I was only a simple bisexual free-love advocate. I even wanted to pursue her."

Zheng Shiduo frowned at Zhou Zhengde and muttered quietly:

"But, Young Master Zhou, are you this guy's spokesperson?"

"We're ironclad brothers, the kind who can entrust our backs to each other on the battlefield."

Zhou Zhengde answered seriously:

"Mu Liang is rather... shy, socially anxious, and not good at communicating with people."

Ling Tong, who was keeping watch not far away, turned toward the darkness.

Wang Jixuan had been observing everyone's movements and the surroundings. He clearly caught the instant Ling Tong fought back a laugh.

All right.

The incident where he had mistaken the date's target before really was somewhat embarrassing.

Zheng Shiduo snickered. "Luckily, it's on a battlefield. If you could entrust your backs to each other in a bathroom too, then... heh heh heh."

Wang Jixuan's ears suddenly twitched. He clasped a nut in his palm and flicked it with a finger.

Whoosh!

A sharp tearing sound rang out. A "cockroach" hiding in a dark corner was blasted away. Tiny electric arcs crackled across its body, and a wisp of white smoke rose from it.

Ling Tong said calmly, "We have been exposed."

"Fuck!"

Zheng Shiduo dropped his joking manner and shone the flashlight on his head at the mechanical cockroach, cursing as he spoke:

"That idiot Kong Nu! What level of reinforcements did he call in? How does he even have bionic detectors like this? These things are used for exploring Blade Beast caves, and now they're scouting us?

"Right... Team Leader Mu, how did you spot it?"

Zheng Shiduo looked toward Wang Jixuan.

Daoist Wang shrugged. "I hate cockroaches. I just swatted it."

"Should we go back?"

The female officer quickly asked:

"Although the Cleansing Force is stationed on the forty-ninth floor, they only occupy certain areas. If the enemy intends to ambush our investigation team, there will be vast areas ahead where they can strike us."

Zheng Shiduo suggested, "How about I go calm Kong Nu down? This might be better resolved using our Psionicist methods."

"Split into two groups."

Ling Tong had already arranged the battle plan:

"Captain Zheng will act with me. We will continue downward into the fortress's Lower City to conduct... an investigation and collect evidence.

"The rest of you will enter the fortress's thirty-second level nearby. Captain Zhou will contact military reinforcements he can trust. The four of you will protect Captain Zhou.

"Captain Zheng and Team Leader Mu will exchange supply cases."

Wang Jixuan wanted to volunteer to lead the way, but before he could speak, Zhou Zhengde raised a hand and pressed his arm.

The military only obeyed orders.

"Yes, Major!" they answered together.

Zheng Shiduo walked toward the case Wang Jixuan had carried all the way and muttered with a frown:

"Something's off. You're really off, Ling Tong.

"The case I've been carrying isn't even your Core Equipment! My god, you don't trust your old comrade-in-arms! Instead, you trust some handsome guy you just met!

"Handsome guys are all scumbags, don't you get it... I really hate acting with you. I'm a dignified C-Class High-Tier Psionicist, yet I can only be your logistics mechanic, carrying your load..."

The middle-aged Psionicist bent down to lift the case, and a pendant slipped from his collar.

Clink, clink-clink.

Wang Jixuan's pupils suddenly contracted.