Traces

A Class C civilian airship is flying in the vast airspace, from south to north.

Airships are divided into four classes: A, B, C, and D.

Both Class A and Class B are military-grade and can be equipped with weapons.

Class C and Class D are civilian-grade. The former can be used for commercial purposes, such as between City No. 10 and City No. 18. The most common high-end transportation is the Class C airship.

Grade D is for home use and is exclusively for the wealthy.

There were four people in the cabin. One was in charge of controlling the course, while the other three were frantically cleaning the cabin, even using strong acid detergent, in an attempt to wash away all the bloodstains.

They wore simple, transparent face masks to prevent the inhalation of toxic gases generated during disinfection.

The cabin had already been cleaned, but they were worried that any DNA residue inside might not pass the airspace blockade detection.

The pilot of the airship said, "We're only 120 kilometers from entering the airspace controlled by the Federation Group Army. That area is now completely covered by radar by that crazy woman, Li Changqing. Clean it up quickly! If anyone boards the ship to inspect, we absolutely cannot let them discover anything, or we'll all be dead!"

"We want to be fast too, but how the hell can we be fast? And I just don't understand, didn't the higher-ups say there wouldn't be any danger? Why does it suddenly seem like the whole world is looking for us?!"

"Especially yesterday, if another airship hadn't suddenly attracted the Qing family's attention, we would probably have been caught by the shadows by now."

The person piloting the airship muttered, "That's strange. Who's drawing our attention?"

"Perhaps the higher-ups want to help us get out of this predicament?"

"Do you believe me? We're already expendable pawns; the higher-ups won't help us."

Just then, the sky suddenly darkened.

The shadow of dark clouds loomed over the airship.

The pilot cursed, "Why is it snowing again? I need to switch to my regular flight route... Wait! Holy crap!"

The driver casually turned on the 360-degree surround view camera, and in just a moment, his scalp felt like it was exploding.

He felt as if a colossal mountain had fallen from the sky.

Its unparalleled sense of oppression makes you want to kneel down and worship its majesty with just one glance.

That was humanity's most extreme imagination regarding the term "war machine."

The pilot turned around and roared hoarsely, "It's the Qingshan Aerial Fortress! That crazy woman Li Changqing actually brought the Qingshan Aerial Fortress out! Damn it!"

It turned out that the shadow that had just enveloped them was not the dark cloud that preceded the heavy snow, but the sky-covering Qingshan Aerial Fortress!

The majestic figure of that aerial overlord was so vast that they almost mistook it for a natural weather phenomenon.

This is Aerial Fortress of the same level as the Qing Clan's Deity's Scepter, a strategic weapon on the front lines of the battlefield.

It is equipped with a state-of-the-art nuclear-powered reactor, a 230-kilometer-range electromagnetic railgun, and cruise missile silos.

There are also countless drone battle groups.

This is merely the basic function of the Aerial Fortress. Just like before Prison No. 18 was destroyed, no one knew that the Deity's Scepter was connected to the Deity's Scepter 800 kilometers in the sky...

Inside the airship.

The four watched in despair as the shadow in the sky drew ever closer. "Is it here to capture us?"

"Nonsense, without a clear objective, the Qingshan Aerial Fortress would never take off!"

"What do we do then? How can we escape?"

The driver looked at his companion with an expression of utter disbelief. "The Qingshan Hao is here, and you're asking me how to escape? All I can tell you is to apologize politely, and that should at least leave you with a whole body."

Companion. "..."

The driver took a deep breath. "Activate the self-destruct program, for our families up north."

After saying that, he entered the password and pressed a red button in the cabin.

However, at that moment, they suddenly felt themselves enter a state of weightlessness, as if something in the sky had taken them hostage.

The next moment, an extremely thin laser beam swept across and sliced the huge airship in half.

Just like slicing bread, the tail of the airship was cut off by laser.

That's a timed bomb controlled by the self-destruct program of the airship...

The driver was finally in despair. Li Changqing was going to capture them alive!

In the sky, a huge gate opened beneath the Qingshan Hao, like a giant beast opening its blood-red maw, swallowing the shredded airship whole!

Not long after, an A-Class Airship flew out from the bottom of the Qingshan Aerial Fortress and headed straight for the western mountains.

Although the Aerial Fortress is magnificent, the A-Class Airship is still faster.

Next to the lumberjack's hut, an A-Class Airship slowly descended.

Li Changqing, dressed in the uniform of the Federation Group Army, and Old Nineteen led dozens of fully armed soldiers out of the cabin.

They each had a metal disc attached behind their ears; it was the highest-grade bone conduction communication equipment used by the Federal Military, concealed and with a longer effective range.

As soon as he pushed open the door, Li Changqing saw six corpses that had died from poisoning, as well as the bed where Qing Chen had once lain.

She calmly surveyed the scene, her slender fingers tracing patterns on the bed where bloodstains still lingered, and nearby lay bandages that had been changed.

Within minutes, Li Changqing made his judgment. "These six people were silenced. They changed Qing Chen's medicine here, and then Kamiyo Yunhe took him away alone. Bring the mechanical hunting dogs and track Qing Chen's bloodstains."

Six mechanical hunting dogs were brought in, and after sniffing the bloodstains on the bandages, they ran wildly toward the mountain path outside the house.

Li Changqing followed behind, but the Old Nineteen said, "Boss, it's cold. You should go back to the airship and follow us in the air."

Li Changqing shook his head. "We're already very close to Qing Chen. If we suddenly clash on the mountain road, you won't be able to handle it. Enough talk, let's go. The airships are on alert in the air, ready for battle."

As Li Changqing walked along the rugged mountain path, he saw traces that had been dug up by soldiers...

Bloodstains were left on the mountain road and on the stones after someone was dragged.

Bloody footprints, one deep and one shallow.

Li Changqing knew that this was all evidence of Qing Chen's torture.

It only took a little thought to understand that Qing Chen had been dragged along this mountain road before, without even being given shoes, forcing him to walk dozens of kilometers of snowy road.

Thinking of this, Li Changqing clenched his fist so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palm.

Old Nineteen was also extremely distressed to see this. He had followed Li Changqing for nearly ten years and had never seen his boss like this before.

He whispered, "Boss, you should be careful too. There might be traps on this road. What if someone is trying to use Qing Chen to lure you out..."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Li Changqing said calmly, though his calm tone concealed boundless anger.

She wanted to walk this path of Qing Chen's suffering, to remember everything Qing Chen had endured, and then repay the divine generation tenfold.

There were no ambushes along the way, and when they arrived at the farmhouse, it was already quiet.

Several bodies of the Kamiyo assassins were scattered outside the farmhouse; they were the "extras" that Qing Chen had killed when he first arrived.

Old Nineteen crouched down and examined him for a moment, then whispered doubtfully, "Boss, did someone rescue Qing Chen? He was so badly injured, and he was dragged barefoot for dozens of kilometers along mountain roads. He shouldn't have been able to kill so many people, right?"

Li Changqing nodded. "Perhaps, maybe they were rescued when they arrived here."

Many people are searching for Qing Chen, and their ability to find the trail of that Class C airship was also thanks to an anonymous tip from a mysterious person.

Throughout the Central Plains, there are over a thousand airships taking off and landing. Verifying the flight path of each one would take time, and the other side also has disguises.

Li Changqing wanted to find the airship, and he would find it sooner or later, but now, to save Qing Chen, the most important thing was timeliness.

The anonymous person was very mysterious. Even with the military's most powerful information technology unit deployed, Li Changqing was unable to find any trace of them.

This is very strange. Does Qing Chen know someone who can fight against the Federation Group Army? I've never heard of such a hacker before.

The Old Nineteen ordered his soldiers to search the farm, but he stopped Li Changqing and insisted on making sure there were no traps in the farm before letting the owner in.

As soon as the soldiers rushed in, someone shouted, "There's a neural network device here!"

Li Changqing was stunned for a moment, then rushed in like a madman.

However, when he saw the two vegetative state patients and the corpse beside the bed, he suddenly felt relieved. "They must have tried to possess Qing Chen, but they failed."

If it had succeeded, three lives wouldn't have been lost here.

At this moment, the Old Nineteen frowned. "There's no sign of anyone trying to rescue us inside... So, those corpses outside were all killed by Qing Chen?"

It seems so.

No one came to rescue Qing Chen. Qing Chen carried dozens of kilometers of mountain road by himself to reach this place and killed seven assassins from the Divine Era.

Thinking about this, the Old Nineteen felt it was hard to believe, but for some reason, he felt that this was indeed something that the boy could do.

Li Changqing examined the two devices that connected and possessed the neurons, and suddenly asked in confusion, "That's strange, these two devices seem to be malfunctioning?"

A soldier connected his laptop to the device, checked for a moment, and said, "Boss, this device wasn't damaged from the outside; it was formatted from the inside... That's strange. Also, the internal nanobots are severely damaged; only 27% of their storage remains. These nanobots should have undergone a strict federal burning process; they shouldn't be able to remain inside a human body, but there are no remnants on the ground at the scene."

Just then, a soldier outside shouted, "Sir, we've found the burial site!"

Li Changqing got up and strode out. The mechanical hunting dog was barking wildly at a patch of fresh mud. A soldier used a tool to dig away the mud and was shocked to see more than a dozen corpses underneath, including women, children, and men.

Others, wearing gloves, were collecting samples beside the pit; the brownish-black soil contained dark purple stains seeping through it from blood.

The soldier said, "Sir, we checked, and they are all agricultural producers from this production base, citizens of the Federation... Kamishiro didn't even bury their own people's bodies, that's suspicious. There are traces of human fingers digging around the edge of the pit, and bloodstains."

Looking at the edge of the pit, Li Changqing suddenly said, "Bury them and fill the pit back in. This wasn't buried by Shen Dai; it was Qing Chen who dug the grave with his own hands. He buried these people himself."

A dull ache lingered in her heart. She shouted, "We're very close to Qing Chen now! Find them! Even if the gods run to the ends of the earth, find them for me!"

However, at that moment, the A-Class Airship in the air suddenly issued a warning through the communication channel. "Life form is rapidly approaching from the ground 2.2 kilometers away."

The life detection radius of A-Class Airship is 10 kilometers. The fact that someone suddenly appeared at a distance of 2.2 kilometers indicates that someone had already used camouflage coating technology and was lying in ambush nearby.

Li Changqing calmly asked, "People from the Age of Gods? Are they coming for us? No, that can't be..."

Li Changqing always felt that if they were from the Age of Gods, they should have chosen a better ambush location and shouldn't have exposed so much information here, such as their attempt to possess Qing Chen's body using neural connections.

But if it's not the Age of Gods.

Who else knew that Qing Chen had been brought here, and that Li Changqing would be coming?

There will be another chapter before 11 PM.