Port Belen The daylight did not dispel the haze shrouding the dock area. The sunlight struggled to penetrate the thick sea fog, casting mottled light and shadow on the slippery stone road.
Seventh Shipyard in the eastern part of the port is one of the few private shipyards in Port Belen. It should have been a noisy place with the sounds of work in the past, but today it seems unusually quiet.
A three-masted sailboat that was about to be completed was docked in the huge shipyard, but there was not a single busy worker around. There were only a few "believers" wearing gray and white robes with eye-catching red crosses embroidered on their chests, wandering around the factory area doing nothing. Their expressions were solemn, and their eyes held a vigilance that was incompatible with the surrounding environment.
On the roof of a freight warehouse not far from the shipyard, four dark figures were like perched falcons, silently observing what was going on below.
"The target area has been confirmed. There are four outposts on the periphery and two secret outposts. They are located at the main entrance, the back alley and the watchtower on the south side. There is little movement of people inside the factory, and most activities are concentrated in the main workshop in the center. The energy response is mixed, and it is impossible to accurately judge the number and level of extraordinary people." Lina took back the monocular telescope in her hand, and a faint magic light flashed on the lens. She reported the observed information to the captain beside her concisely.
"A bunch of hidden bastards, they even imitated the regular army in setting up sentries." Anles said with disdain in his tone, "If you ask me, just rush in and catch them all and that's it."
"Anles, haven't you suffered enough losses because of your carelessness?" Edgar interrupted him coldly without raising his head, "Remember, our mission is to stop them from setting sail, and our priority is to destroy ships or capture key personnel. There are too many innocent people who have been deceived among Eternal Life Blessing Cult's followers. Be careful when taking action, but never hold back in times of crisis."
He paused and glanced at the youngest member of the team, "Philip, do you remember your mission?"
The boy whose name was called immediately straightened his back, his face flushed with nervousness and excitement. "Yes, captain! I will be on guard outside and provide support and ensure a retreat when necessary!"
Edgar hummed noncommittally. He looked past Philip and towards the eerily silent shipyard. There was always some inexplicable force like an invisible net that forcibly pulled them here from their original mission trajectory. He doesn't like this feeling of losing control, but as a member of the Investigation Bureau, executing orders is his first duty.
"Okay, let's stop chatting." Edgar lowered the brim of his hat, and the shadow almost covered his entire face, "Lina, start clearing the area; Anles, you and I will deal with the outside; Philip, watch our retreat. In five minutes, we will gather at the gate of the shipyard."
"Yes, Captain!" The three of them responded in unison, their voices low and neat.
Lina took out a palm-sized, simple-looking brass box from the inside of the windbreaker. Complex runes were engraved on the surface of the box. She opened the lid of the box and found a shell the size of a pigeon egg, emitting a faint white light.
"Sound Repelling Shell, this is a new gadget distributed by the General Administration Alchemy Department." Lina explained softly, as if he was talking to Philip, or talking to himself, "It is ineffective against extraordinary people, but it can produce persistent and unbearable irritability in ordinary people. The effective range is one hundred meters."
She injected a trace of magic power into the sound shell, and the shell immediately emitted a high-frequency buzz that was inaudible to human ears. The invisible sound waves centered on the warehouse and spread quietly like ripples on the water.
Changes start to show after a few seconds. The passers-by, dockworkers and vendors who were still wandering on the streets near the shipyard frowned almost at the same time. They seemed to have suddenly smelled an unbearable stench or heard an extremely harsh noise, with expressions of irritability and disgust on their faces.
"The weather today is really unbearable!" A sailor who was repairing the fishing net cursed and stood up, threw his tools on the ground and walked away from the shipyard.
"Why does my head hurt so suddenly..." A vendor pushing a truck stopped and rubbed his temples with a painful expression on his face. He looked at the quiet shipyard in front of him and felt a heart palpitation for no reason. Then he turned around without hesitation and left in a hurry.
More and more people are showing similar discomfort. They do not panic or notice anything abnormal. They just instinctively want to stay away from this area that makes them feel uncomfortable. In less than three minutes, within a few hundred meters of the shipyard, except for the guards of the divine religion, there was no longer an unrelated civilian.
Philip was dumbfounded. He had never thought that the clearance could be so quiet, so... "civilized". This was very different from the vigorous and resolute law enforcement method he imagined Investigation Bureau, but it also revealed a kind of heart-stopping professionalism and efficiency.
"Don't be dazed, kid." Anles patted the back of his head with great force, "It's our turn to work."
Before he finished speaking, Anles's figure had slid down from the edge of the roof like a ghost, quietly blending into the shadows of wooden boxes and canvases piled on the ground. Edgar followed closely behind. His movements were more concise and neat, and he didn't even make a sound when he landed.
Anles's target is the two guards standing side by side at the main entrance. Like a hunting cheetah, he uses the blind spots in the field of vision and the obstruction of objects to silently shorten the distance. Although the two guards became alert and confused because the crowd suddenly dispersed, they were more focused on the deserted streets and seemed completely unaware of the approaching shadows behind them.
One of the guards suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart. He turned around suddenly, a trace of alertness flashed in his eyes. "Who?"
What greeted him was Anles's face that looked particularly cold in the shadows, and a big hand that strangled his throat like an iron pincer. The guard's exclamation was abruptly blocked, and he only made a sound of unknown meaning.
The other guard was stunned by the sudden change. He opened his mouth and was about to shout, but Anles had already left the unconscious guard behind, stepped forward and hit him accurately on the back of the neck with his elbow. The guard didn't even have time to hum before he rolled his eyes and fell down softly.
The whole process was smooth and neat, taking just half a second from start to finish. Anles dragged the two unconscious bodies into the shadows, and then made a simple gesture in the direction of the warehouse roof.
At the same time, Edgar had already circled to the south side of the shipyard. The secret sentry on the watchtower was a lean man carrying a short bow. He was scanning the surroundings vigilantly, yawning from time to time. In the shadow of the tower at his feet, the figure of Edgar slowly emerged, like an ink stain seeping out of the darkness.
Edgar did not choose to climb directly, he just raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
"Boom!"
A dull crashing sound sounded, and the whistle on the tower trembled. He immediately stuck his head out and looked down, cursing. "What is this? What did the people below do to you!"
The moment he stuck his head out, Edgar moved, and his figure was as fast as an arrow. When the secret whistle noticed the unusual wind sound behind him, it was already too late. Edgar's hand was already on his shoulder, and a soft but irresistible force came. An Shao's eyes darkened and he lost all consciousness.
The last secret sentry was hidden in the garbage dump in the back alley. He thought he was hidden, but he didn't know that Lina's "True Sight Lens" had already marked him like a bonfire in the night. The person responsible for dealing with him was Anles. This experienced picket officer didn't even bother to sneak around. He just picked up a stone and threw it casually, but it hit him on the back of the head accurately, causing the other party to faint on the spot.
Three minutes and thirty-seven seconds.
Edgar glanced at the pocket watch, and the four of them reunited in front of the rusty iron gate of the shipyard. All threats on the periphery have been eliminated, the process was as quiet as if nothing had happened, and Investigation Bureau followed Investigation Bureau's consistent principle of not taking the lead in using extraordinary power unless necessary.
Edgar raised his hand to signal everyone to stop. He listened carefully to the movement inside the door, and there were faint human voices and the low roar of some kind of mechanical operation.
"The situation inside is more complicated than we expected." Edgar's voice was low and calm, "Everyone, prepare to rush in. Remember, try to catch as many people alive as possible unless necessary."
He put his hand on the cold door, and a weak magic power surged out of his palm. There was a slight strange sound inside the door, as if something was melting.
Then the door opened silently a crack.
"Action."
Edgar spat out two words and stepped in first.