Why Did You Come in Person?

Cloud Mountain.

A construction site blazed with lights in a mountain hollow deep in the woods.

The once peaceful hollow had been blasted open, leaving a huge pit and exposing an enormous entrance.

Tomb bricks decorated with Han-style patterns and southwestern motifs lay scattered across the ground.

Looking through the entrance, one could see the palace-like underground tomb, with carved beams and painted rafters, as well as a burial chamber and coffin enclosed by rows of cypress logs.

It should have all seemed gloomy and eerie, but power cables had been run inside, and large floodlights illuminated every corner as brightly as day.

Many investigators in protective suits were going in and out, conducting various inspections.

A dozen or so archaeologists looked utterly stricken. Tears were practically streaming down their faces.

This was a major archaeological discovery—the tomb of the ancient Dian King—and it had been blasted open just like that.

But they had no choice. More than a dozen of their colleagues had already died, so they had to heed the Anomaly Bureau's advice.

The matter had now shifted from archaeology to anomaly response, and they were no longer in charge.

The good news was that the tomb of the ancient Dian King was now completely clear. They could carry out their work without restraint.

Inside a tent on a nearby mountaintop stood a woman in a black trench coat and sunglasses, carefully surveying the great tomb below.

Faint red points of light flickered in and out of her eyes.

After a while, the woman returned to the tent and said to Cultural Relics Bureau Director Kong Wenqing, who had been waiting for her:

"Director Kong, we've confirmed that the anomaly has been cleared. You can begin work."

The white-haired scholar-looking man immediately brightened.

"Good, good, good. Thank you, Anomaly Bureau. Thank you, Captain Zhang. We'll begin an emergency excavation of the Dian King's tomb now. As for these tomb robbers... do you need us to help with statements or anything?"

In one corner of the tent, more than a dozen people sat crouched together with their hands cuffed and their mouths sealed. According to the Anomaly Bureau, they were tomb robbers they'd captured.

These tomb robbers were truly despicable. After discovering the Dian King's tomb, they had dug a tunnel and started robbing it. When they realized the archaeological team had arrived, they had used despicable methods to torture the archaeologists to death.

Fortunately, the Anomaly Bureau had intervened and dragged the tomb robbers right out of the ancient tomb.

But the damage to the Dian King's tomb was irreparable, and it had to be excavated immediately to salvage what they could.

Of course, all of that was what the Anomaly Bureau had told him.

The whole affair was, in truth, riddled with oddities.

But after years in public service, Kong Wenqing knew that some questions were best asked, and others were best left alone.

The Anomaly Bureau's security classification was far higher than that of the Cultural Relics Bureau.

The important thing was that they were all working for the government, and the despicable tomb robbers had been caught and the Dian King's tomb protected. That was enough.

"No need for statements," the woman in the trench coat replied with a faint smile. "The evidence and witnesses are all here. These tomb robbers will face the punishment they deserve."

Kong Wenqing nodded repeatedly and smiled.

"That's good, that's good. Then I'll go oversee the excavation. My student, Dong Hua, was borrowed by your Director Zhao for an assignment. Looks like these old bones of mine will have to do the work themselves."

The woman in the trench coat smiled.

"Don't worry. Director Dong's help is needed for a mission tonight. Once he's finished, he'll come meet you."

Kong Wenqing thanked her again, then hurried out of the tent and rushed toward the Dian King's tomb below.

To an archaeologist, a tomb of this caliber was like a dream lover. He could hardly wait to move right in.

As soon as Kong Wenqing left, the smile vanished from the woman's face. She went over to the "tomb robbers" crouched nearby, unlocked one of their cuffs, and tossed him a string of keys.

The "tomb robber" froze for a moment, then snatched up the keys and quickly unlocked his companions' cuffs.

The woman in the trench coat sat on a chair made from stacked crates, turning several objects over in her hands.

They were two small jade figurines covered in cracks, a damaged bronze arrowhead, a jade thumb ring, and a decayed wooden mallet.

In recent days, the Anomaly Bureau's investigators at the Dian King's tomb site on Cloud Mountain had encountered many anomalous incidents, most of them caused by these anomalous objects.

There was a strange illness that fused people with trees, an investigator who suddenly hallucinated and attacked others, and missing people who appeared in the tomb after spending the night outdoors, among other things.

These incidents had indeed consumed a great deal of the Anomaly Bureau's attention. After analyzing the situation, the Command Center had even concluded for a time that the enemy's target was Cloud Mountain.

The area around the Dian King's tomb had once registered an excessive level of anomalous mental radiation, so it had become a top priority.

At the time, the Anomaly Bureau's Research Department had concluded that some sleeping anomaly was likely about to awaken, and that this powerful anomaly was the enemy's target.

Fortunately, the enemy's deliberate misdirection had made the bureau's leadership suspicious. They had ordered the ancient Dian King's tomb blasted open.

Human lives mattered more than the loss of cultural relics.

In the end, the Anomaly Bureau's Investigation Department overcame the interference from several anomalous objects and captured more than a dozen criminals hiding inside the ancient Dian King's tomb.

Two of them were Awakened. The rest were ordinary people with unusually strong mental strength.

The mastermind behind the scenes had finally shown their true colors: the Unity Society!

The dozen or so Unity Society members in the tent had all been uncuffed. They stared at the woman in the trench coat in disbelief.

Were they really being let go just like that?

The two Awakened, in particular, looked wary.

They had felt firsthand how powerful the woman in the trench coat was. She certainly didn't seem like the sort to let them go so easily.

They exchanged a glance, their muscles subtly twitching as they prepared to attack her.

Just then, the woman in the trench coat, who had been turning the jade figurines in her hands, spoke.

"There are some bags in the pack beside you. Take one each."

Immediately, the dozen or so men began opening the pack like puppets on strings, pulling out black bags one by one.

The moment they recognized the bags, their faces changed.

Body bags!

"Get inside."

The woman's voice was gentle, but left no room for argument. The dozen Unity Society members obediently climbed into the body bags.

Their faces were full of terror. They had no control over their own bodies!

"Zip them up," the woman in the trench coat continued.

The terrified, sweat-soaked men pulled the zippers shut from inside, plunging into darkness.

At last, a trace of mischief appeared in the woman's smile.

"Hold your breath."

The dozen black body bags lay still. After a while, they began to twitch faintly.

But the twitching lasted only half a minute before stopping completely.

Everything fell silent.

"Headquarters, this is the Cloud Mountain base. Do you copy? Over." The woman in the trench coat returned to her expressionless self and spoke into her headset.

"Cloud Mountain base, this is Headquarters. Go ahead. Over."

"The Unity Society suspects attempted a mass escape and attacked me. I fought them off and killed them all. Over."

The voice on the other end of the communicator fell silent.

A few seconds later, a stern voice came through. It was Director Zhao Yifeng.

"Zhang Lan, pack up the bodies and have the personnel staying behind send them back tomorrow. Return to the city immediately and head to Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station."

After a pause, Zhao Yifeng added, "Come back by helicopter."

Zhang Lan smiled faintly, understanding that the bureau had tacitly approved her actions. "Understood."

Then she turned and walked out of the tent.

A helicopter was parked on a makeshift landing pad nearby.

Once inside, she opened the tablet in her hand. A map of Gu City was displayed on the screen.

The Anomaly Bureau's cordon was divided into four sections. At the very center was Bright Mall Subway Station, where an Amalgam infection had once occurred; next was Happiness Road Subway Station, where Tai Sui had been discovered; and beyond that was Huting Park Subway Station, where a battle involving anomalous mental radiation had taken place.

Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station was the outermost point of the entire cordon, left in the hands of a bunch of useless people from the Support Center.

It seemed her actions just now had still made the director uneasy. He only planned to have her lie in wait at the perimeter tonight.

He wanted her to protect the Support Center's useless people?

Power that was too great really did invite suspicion.

The Southwest Branch had such a narrow outlook. Once this matter was over, she would send a transfer request to the Central Bureau.

The helicopter blades roared as it lifted off, cutting through the night sky and speeding toward Gu City...

Were all the people in the Anomaly Bureau's Command Center useless?

Li Fan stared at Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station, stunned.

What was going on?

Bright Mall Subway Station was a full two stops away from Silver Glow Cinema!

Were they sending the Dissection Department to its death?

"Everyone, hurry up and get into your protective suits. We're heading into the subway station to stand by. There'll be two trains running as transport trains tonight. If anything relevant comes up, it'll be sent straight to the Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station where we'll be stationed."

Wu Qian clapped his hands as he called out.

The Dissection Department personnel immediately changed into their protective suits. This time, everyone had also been issued a specially made riot gun that could fire regular bullets or deliver a powerful electric current.

A number of armed police officers had gathered around the subway entrance, clearing out a cordoned-off area.

Residents from several nearby blocks had already been evacuated. Even the premiere scheduled at Silver Glow Cinema that night had been canceled.

Apparently, some of the fans had been unhappy when the area was cleared and had clashed with the police. A few had been detained.

Fortunately, Legend of the Dian King was also premiering online, so most people were waiting at home for its midnight debut.

"Why are you still standing around? Come on, Fan. Want to watch a movie? The department can organize a group screening in a couple of days." Seeing Li Fan staring at Silver Glow Cinema, Wu Qian urged him on.

"Got it," Li Fan replied, following the group toward the subway station.

He figured he was probably worrying too much.

He had called his father and the others and given them their orders more than half an hour ago.

Given the Cleaning Association's combat strength, they had probably already found the Unity Society's hideout, wiped out those nobodies without breaking a sweat, and completed the mission.

The Anomaly Bureau would probably end up making a wasted trip tonight.

The subway was empty, clearly having been evacuated.

But there was no sign of a battle.

Perhaps the Cleaning Association had already cleaned up after themselves.

Wu Qian was quite relaxed. He was clearly certain that they were just a second-line support department and wouldn't be in danger.

They soon reached the platform and began setting up various pieces of equipment, such as field dissection tables.

Wu Qian suddenly spotted two figures on the tracks nearby, dressed in subway maintenance uniforms and wearing hard hats. He immediately said to Li Fan:

"Fan, there are a few subway workers over there. They're probably doing line maintenance tonight. They aren't wearing proper protection. If an anomaly really does show up, they'll be in trouble. You're in charge—go get them suited up and take them into the maintenance tunnel nearby."

Li Fan nodded, picked up several protective suits, and headed toward the two workers.

But to his confusion, the farther he walked, the deeper into the subway tunnel the two workers went.

When they were about to disappear completely into the shadows, Li Fan called out, "Stop!"

The two figures stopped at once, not daring to move.

Li Fan grew wary. He put one hand on the pistol at his waist and approached quickly.

"Who are you?"

The two figures trembled, seemingly terrified, then slowly turned around.

His father and Old Sun, wearing masks, gave him a timid smile.

"Y-you came in person..."