We're Nowhere Near the Front Lines

His father's voice trembled slightly as he hurriedly replied:

"Okay!"

After hanging up, Li Fan returned to the break room. He had just lazily settled onto the sofa when a steaming cup of ginger-brown-sugar water appeared in front of him.

Ke Ke lowered her head and said softly:

"Li Fan, if your stomach hurts, drink some ginger-brown-sugar water. You might have caught a chill."

Li Fan took the cup and smiled.

"Thanks, Sister Ke Ke."

The break room was well-stocked.

Ke Ke smiled brightly.

"Drink up. Whenever my little sister had a stomachache, I'd make her ginger-brown-sugar water."

By then, everyone had finished their work and come to the break room to rest.

Some smoked, some drank tea, and some had coffee. Liu Dalong had even brought out some pig's head meat to go with his liquor, as if he'd already put the terrifying events of the night behind him.

The people from the Dissection Department were getting along famously, chatting and laughing together.

Li Fan contentedly inhaled a lungful of secondhand smoke, took a sip of ginger-brown-sugar water, and half-watched the TV series Ancient Dian Dynasty.

Now this was the life. He hoped his family would find the scum from Unity Society soon and kill them all. Then he could finally live in peace.

Cleaning Association, Prison of Suppression—whatever. I'll deal with all that after I retire.

Just then, Wu Qian pushed open the door.

"Listen up, everyone. The bureau has an urgent assignment. Grab your gear and head to Cloud Mountain to provide support."

Li Fan was taken aback. Cloud Mountain?

Had the Anomaly Bureau got the location wrong?

Perfect. He could take a vacation in Cloud Mountain—safe and peaceful.

By the time he got back, Blood Pearl and the others would probably have taken out the scumbags from Unity Society.

Lovely.

Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station.

His father, his mother, and Auntie Zhang, all dressed in civilian clothes and wearing masks, followed the crowd inside.

His father wore casual clothes, while his mother and Auntie Zhang were decked out in designer labels. They chatted and laughed along the way, like wealthy women out to experience everyday life.

They soon reached the platform, where they spotted Old Chen and Old Sun in subway staff uniforms.

As soon as they'd received a call from the Collector, they'd rushed to the station and used their methods to replace two subway employees.

Seeing the three of them arrive, Old Sun, who was standing by the staff room, nodded slightly and opened the door.

At just the right moment, the platform cameras turned away.

The group filed inside at once.

As soon as they entered the staff room, Old Sun handed the three of them subway construction uniforms and hard hats.

They quickly changed, and Old Sun turned to his father.

"Have you confirmed the recording?"

His father nodded.

"I've confirmed it. It really is Silver Glow Cinema. Clearly, he's found a lead."

Auntie Zhang looked ashamed.

"As expected of him. He managed to pinpoint the location so quickly within the subway network. Compared to that, our efficiency is truly..."

His mother waved a hand.

"Don't blame yourself. He's the all-powerful Collector, beyond our reach. We're better at following orders."

She glanced around at everyone present.

"Now that he's confirmed the location, all we have to do is carry out his orders without question. Find those bastards from Unity Society and make them disappear."

Make sure our guest enjoys himself.

"Knock, knock." A sudden rapping came from the door.

Old Sun opened it. Old Chen, the driver, stood outside, his expression blank as he said in a low voice:

"Gu City Subway has suddenly shut down. They're evacuating passengers, and this station is going to close too."

His mother elegantly raised her wrist and glanced at the watch set with diamonds and gemstones.

"It's five past eleven. The station closing works in our favor. Let's get started at once."

Auntie Zhang raised her wrist too, revealing a Patek Philippe.

"Good. Let's synchronize our watches and move quickly."

His father exchanged a look with Old Sun and Old Chen, the three men sighing together.

"I suggest you try not to let him see your watches. After all, these were... ahem... bought."

Auntie Zhang covered her mouth and giggled.

"Don't worry. Since he assigned us this mission, he won't come here himself. It's only killing people. How could we trouble him to do it personally?"

His mother smiled elegantly, her expression chilling.

"Let's go. We'll find them, then kill them all..."

The night air was cool.

The entire Dissection Department had been mobilized this time.

Apparently, the bureau had made a major discovery on Cloud Mountain, and nearly the whole Anomaly Bureau had been deployed.

It was practically an all-out mobilization.

"I heard they dug up a huge tomb on Cloud Mountain. Could something strange have happened inside it?" Hu Zhengqi guessed.

Zhang Hongbing shook his head. He exhaled a cloud of smoke and narrowed his eyes.

"Something's off about this. If it really had something to do with a tomb on Cloud Mountain, they'd have had us prepare to go up there ages ago. Why wait until now? In the middle of the night, no less. Can't a man get any peace..."

Li Fan was lounging comfortably in the back of the minibus, eyes half-closed and in high spirits.

Whatever they were going to Cloud Mountain for, Unity Society wasn't there.

Tonight's fight had nothing to do with him.

Once the Cleaning Association took out Unity Society, he'd be able to rest easy from then on.

After seeing how formidable Blood Pearl was, he had great confidence in the Cleaning Association's strength.

It was nearly midnight, and the roads had grown quiet, with few cars or pedestrians around.

The black convoy that had left the Anomaly Bureau sped along in silence, neither honking nor slowing down.

Every so often, a few vehicles broke off from the convoy, heading to who knew where.

Li Fan couldn't help silently giving the Anomaly Bureau a thumbs-up.

They were quite professional when it came to operations.

Except for getting the location wrong.

A few minutes later, Zhang Hongbing, sitting up front, suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?"

"This isn't the road to Cloud Mountain. Why are we heading downtown?"

Wu Qian, who was in the passenger seat, turned around with a serious expression.

"We're almost at the destination, so I can reveal the details of this mission now. According to the notice from the bureau, this assignment is extremely important, so secrecy is paramount. Cloud Mountain was just a false target. Our real destination is Gu City Subway!"

Wu Qian looked around at everyone in the vehicle.

"After numerous investigations over an extended period, the bureau's Command Center has confirmed that a certain organization is behind a series of recent anomalous incidents. Their base is in Gu City Subway!"

His words made everyone's hearts tighten. The mood inside the vehicle turned tense in an instant.

Li Fan raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly.

He hadn't expected the Anomaly Bureau to be entirely useless. They'd actually found Unity Society's base.

But it didn't matter. The Dissection Department was bound to be assigned somewhere safe as a second-line support unit.

With so many Awakened and investigators from the Anomaly Bureau, the Dissection Department probably wouldn't even see anyone from Unity Society.

They wouldn't even witness the fighting.

They'd just wait to dissect corpses and provide intelligence support.

Wu Qian smiled too and raised a hand to reassure everyone.

"Don't worry. We're a second-line support department, so we won't be sent directly to the front lines. The bureau has confirmed that the organization's base is near the subway platform beneath Guangming Mall in the north of the city. The main force has already surrounded the area. Our Dissection Department has been assigned to the Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station downtown. We just have to wait here. We're nowhere near the front lines."

As he spoke, the black minibus screeched to a halt in front of Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station.