We're a Long Way from the Front Lines

Father's voice trembled slightly as he hurriedly replied:

"Alright!"

Hanging up the phone, Li Fan returned to the lounge. He had just lazily sat down on the sofa when a steaming cup of ginger tea appeared before him.

Ke Ke lowered her head and whispered:

"Li Fan, if your stomach hurts, drink some ginger tea. You might have caught a chill."

Li Fan took the ginger tea and said with a smile:

"Thank you, Sister Ke Ke."

The lounge was well-stocked with everything one might need.

Ke Ke beamed and said:

"Drink up. Whenever my younger sister had a stomachache, I always brewed ginger tea for her."

By now, everyone had finished their work and gathered in the lounge to rest.

Some were smoking, others were drinking tea or coffee, and Liu Dalong had even prepared some pig head meat to go with his liquor, seemingly having cast the night's horrific encounter to the back of his mind.

The group from the Dissection Department was in high spirits, chatting happily.

Li Fan took a satisfied drag of secondhand smoke, sipped his ginger tea, and watched the Ancient Dian Dynasty TV series half-heartedly.

This is what life is about, he thought. I hope my family finds those Unity Society scumbags soon and strangles them all so I can finally have some peace.

The Cleaning Association, the Prison of Suppression—that can wait until I retire.

Just as he was thinking this, Wu Qian pushed the door open and said:

"Brothers, emergency mission from the Bureau. Gear up, we're all heading to Cloud Mountain for support."

Li Fan was stunned. Cloud Mountain?

Did the Anomaly Bureau get the wrong direction?

Perfect, a trip to Cloud Mountain would be a safe and quiet vacation.

By the time he returned, he figured the Blood Pearl and the others would have already finished off the scum from the Unity Society.

How delightful.

Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station.

Father, Mother, and Auntie Zhang, dressed in casual clothes and wearing masks, followed the crowd inside.

Father wore plain clothes, while Mother and Auntie Zhang were dressed in luxurious designer brands, chatting and laughing as they walked, looking like wealthy women experiencing the lives of commoners.

They soon arrived at the platform, where they saw Old Chen and Old Sun dressed in subway staff uniforms.

Immediately after receiving the call from the Collector, they had rushed to the subway station and used their methods to replace two of the staff members.

Seeing the three arrive, Old Sun, who was standing in front of the utility room, nodded slightly and opened the door.

The platform security cameras swiveled away at the perfect moment.

The group filed inside one after another.

Once inside the utility room, Old Sun immediately handed the three of them sets of subway construction worker uniforms, along with hard hats.

After they quickly changed, Old Sun asked Father:

"Has the recording been confirmed?"

Father nodded:

"The recording is confirmed. It is indeed Silver Glow Cinema. Clearly, he has already found the lead."

Auntie Zhang said with a look of shame:

"As expected of him, to be able to pinpoint the location within the subway network so quickly. By comparison, our efficiency is truly..."

Mother waved her hand and said:

"No need to blame yourself. He is the all-powerful Collector, not someone we can compare to. We are better at executing orders."

She then scanned the people present and said:

"Since he has already determined the location, all we need to do is resolutely carry out his orders: find the bastards from the Unity Society and make them disappear."

Let the guest be satisfied.

"Knock, knock." A rapping sound suddenly came from the door.

Old Sun opened the utility room door to find the driver, Old Chen, standing there, his face expressionless as he whispered:

"The Gu City Subway has suddenly suspended operations. They are evacuating passengers, and this station is about to close."

Mother elegantly raised her wrist, glanced at her watch encrusted with tiny diamonds and gemstones, and said:

"It is 11:05. The station closing is a good thing for us. Execute the mission immediately."

Auntie Zhang also raised her wrist, revealing a Patek Philippe, and said:

"Alright, everyone synchronize your watches. Let's move as quickly as possible."

Father exchanged a glance with Old Sun and Old Chen. He sighed and said:

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

Auntie Zhang covered her mouth and chuckled:

"Rest assured. Since he entrusted this mission to us, he naturally won't come here himself. It's just killing people, after all; why would we trouble him to do it personally?"

Mother offered an elegant smile, her tone chilling:

"Let's go. Find them, and then kill them all..."

The night air was cool.

The entire Dissection Department had been mobilized this time.

It was said that the Bureau had made a major discovery on Cloud Mountain, and almost the entire Anomaly Bureau had been deployed.

It could be considered a full-scale mobilization.

"They say a massive tomb was unearthed on Cloud Mountain. Could an anomaly have emerged from within it?" Hu Zhengqi speculated.

Zhang Hongbing shook his head. He puffed on his cigarette, squinting his eyes as he said:

"There's something fishy about this... If it really were some tomb on Cloud Mountain, they would have had us preparing to head up there long ago. Why wait until now? Middle of the night, not letting anyone get any rest..."

Li Fan was leaning back comfortably in the backseat of the minibus, eyes half-closed, in a great mood.

Whatever they were going to Cloud Mountain for, it didn't matter; the Unity Society wasn't there anyway.

Tonight's battle had nothing to do with him.

Once the members of the Cleaning Association wiped out the Unity Society, he could finally rest easy.

Having witnessed the power of the Blood Pearl, he had great confidence in the strength of the Cleaning Association's members.

It was nearing midnight, and the vehicles and pedestrians on the road had become sparse.

The black motorcade departing from the Anomaly Bureau moved in total silence, without sirens, advancing swiftly and stealthily.

From time to time, a few vehicles would peel off from the convoy, heading off to unknown destinations.

Li Fan couldn't help but give the Anomaly Bureau a silent thumbs-up.

They were quite professional when it came to operations.

Except for picking the wrong location.

A few minutes later, Zhang Hongbing, who was sitting in the front, suddenly let out an "Eh?" and said:

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

Wu Qian, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around with a grave expression:

"We are nearing our destination, so I can now disclose the details of this mission. According to the notice issued by the Bureau, this mission is of extreme importance, hence the high level of secrecy. Cloud Mountain was merely a decoy; our true destination is the Gu City Subway!"

Wu Qian scanned the people in the vehicle and said:

"After extensive and repeated investigations, the Bureau's command center has confirmed that the recent series of anomalous cases were all planned and executed by a shadowy group, and the lair of this group is located within the Gu City Subway!"

These words made everyone's hearts tighten, and the atmosphere 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 completely incompetent; they had actually found the location of the Unity Society's lair.

But it didn't matter. Their Dissection Department would inevitably be assigned to a safe area as a second-line support unit.

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

They wouldn't even see the battle.

He would just wait to dissect the corpses and provide information support later.

Wu Qian also smiled and raised a hand to reassure everyone:

"Don't worry, everyone. We are a second-line support unit and won't be on the front lines. The Bureau has already determined that the group's lair is near the subway platform beneath the Guangming Mall in the north of the city. The main force has already surrounded the area. Our Dissection Department has been stationed here at the Silver Glow Cinema subway station in the city center. We just need to wait here; we're far from the front lines."

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