Why Did You Come Personally?

Cloud Mountain.

Deep within a mountain hollow in the dense forest, a brightly lit construction site hummed with activity.

This once-tranquil hollow had been blasted open by explosives, revealing a massive, gaping hole.

Tomb bricks, adorned with patterns blending Han Dynasty aesthetics and southwestern regional flair, lay scattered across the ground.

Looking into the opening, one could see the carved beams and painted pillars of the underground palace, along with the huangchang ticou burial chamber and its coffins.

Under normal circumstances, this place would be eerie, but now that power lines had been run inside, high-wattage floodlights illuminated the interior and exterior as if it were broad daylight.

Numerous investigators in protective gear moved in and out, conducting various inspections.

A dozen or so archaeological team members stood by, looking as if they had lost their parents, tears welling in their eyes.

A major archaeological discovery, the Ancient Dian King Tomb, had been blasted open so crudely.

Yet, there was no choice; they had already sacrificed over a dozen colleagues, and they had no option but to follow the recommendations of the Anomaly Bureau.

The matter had shifted from archaeology to the handling of an anomalous event, and it was no longer under their control.

The good news was that the Ancient Dian King Tomb was now thoroughly "cleansed," allowing them to carry out their work without restraint.

Inside a tent on a nearby peak, a woman in a black trench coat and sunglasses stood, carefully scrutinizing the massive tomb below.

Deep within her eyes, faint red sparks flickered and vanished.

After a while, the woman in the trench coat returned to the tent and spoke to Kong Wenqing, the head of the Cultural Relics Bureau, who had been waiting for a long time:

"Director Kong, it has been confirmed that the anomaly has been cleared. You may begin your work."

Kong Wenqing, a scholar-like man with graying hair, was overjoyed and said:

"Good, good, good. Thank you to the Anomaly Bureau, and thank you, Captain Zhang. We will now proceed with the emergency excavation of this Dian King Tomb. As for these tomb raiders... do you require our cooperation with statements or anything of the sort?"

In the corner of the tent, a dozen or so people were huddled together, handcuffed and gagged. According to the Anomaly Bureau, these were the tomb raiders they had captured.

These tomb raiders were truly detestable; after discovering the Dian King Tomb, they had dug a shaft to loot it, and upon discovering the arrival of the archaeological team, they had used vile methods to torture the members to death.

Fortunately, the Anomaly Bureau had intervened, dragging these tomb raiders directly out of the ancient tomb.

However, the damage sustained by the Dian King Tomb was irreparable, and emergency excavation had to begin immediately.

Of course, all of the above was the explanation provided to him by the Anomaly Bureau.

The matter itself was actually riddled with oddities.

But Kong Wenqing had been in politics for many years and naturally understood that some things should be asked, while others should not.

The secrecy level of the Anomaly Bureau was far higher than that of their Cultural Relics Bureau.

What mattered was that everyone was working for the public good, and ultimately, these detestable tomb raiders had been caught and the Dian King Tomb protected; that was enough.

"No need for statements," the woman in the trench coat said with a faint smile. "With both human and material evidence in hand, these tomb raiders will receive the punishment they deserve."

Kong Wenqing nodded repeatedly and laughed:

"That's good, that's good. Then I shall go and oversee the excavation work. My student, Dong Hua, has been borrowed by your Director Zhao for official business, so this old bag of bones will have to handle these matters personally."

The woman in the trench coat smiled:

"Rest assured, there is a mission tonight that requires Director Dong's assistance. Once he is finished, he will come to join you."

Kong Wenqing thanked her again, then impatiently walked out of the tent and rushed toward the Dian King Tomb below.

For an archaeologist, a tomb of this caliber was like a dream lover, making him wish he could move in immediately.

Once Kong Wenqing left, the smile on the woman's face vanished instantly. She walked over to the "tomb raiders" huddled to the side, unlocked the handcuffs of one of them, and tossed him a ring of keys.

The "tomb raider" was stunned for a moment before quickly grabbing the keys to unlock his companions.

The woman in the trench coat sat on a chair made of stacked crates, toying with several items in her hands.

They were two small, cracked jade figurines, a damaged bronze arrowhead, a jade archer's ring, and a rotted wooden mallet.

Over the past few days, investigators from the Anomaly Bureau had encountered many anomalous events at the Cloud Mountain site, essentially triggered by these anomalous items.

A strange disease that fused humans with trees, investigators who suddenly suffered hallucinations and attacked others, missing persons who appeared in the tomb after sleeping in the open—and so on.

The occurrence of these anomalous events had indeed consumed a great deal of the Anomaly Bureau's energy, and the command center, after analysis, had even once believed that the enemy's objective was Cloud Mountain.

The area where the Dian King Tomb was located had once measured excessive anomalous spiritual radiation, and thus it was treated as a top priority.

At the time, the Anomaly Bureau's research department analyzed that some sleeping anomaly was likely about to awaken, and the enemy's goal was this powerful anomaly.

Fortunately, the enemy's diversionary tactics alerted the bureau's leadership, who directly ordered the Ancient Dian King Tomb to be blasted open.

Compared to the loss of cultural relics, human lives were more important.

In the end, the Anomaly Bureau's investigation department broke the interference of several anomalous items and captured over a dozen bandits hiding in the Ancient Dian King Tomb.

Among them were two awakened individuals, while the others were ordinary people with strong spiritual power.

The mastermind hiding behind the scenes had finally revealed their true face—the Unity Society!

At this moment, the dozen or so Unity Society members in the tent had all removed their handcuffs, turning to look at the woman in the trench coat in disbelief.

They were just... being let go?

The two Awakened ones wore expressions of heightened vigilance.

They had felt the full extent of the trench-coated woman's power; she was certainly not the type to let them off easily.

The two exchanged a glance, their muscles tensing beneath their skin as they prepared to strike.

Just then, the woman, who had been toying with a jade figurine, spoke up:

"There are some bags in the pack nearby. Take one each and pull them out."

Immediately, the dozen or so people moved like puppets on strings, obediently opening the bag and retrieving the black sacks inside.

The moment they saw what the bags were, their faces drained of color.

They were body bags!

"Get inside."

The woman's voice sounded gentle, yet it brooked no argument. The dozen Unity Society members submissively crawled into the body bags.

Terror filled their faces, yet they were utterly unable to control their own bodies!

"Zip them up," the woman continued.

With faces full of horror and brows slick with sweat, the men pulled the zippers shut from the inside, plunging themselves into darkness.

The woman finally revealed a mischievous smile and said:

"Hold your breath."

The dozen black body bags lay silently on the ground. After a moment, they suddenly began to twitch slightly.

But the twitching lasted only half a minute before it ceased entirely.

Everything returned to silence.

"Headquarters, this is Cloud Mountain Base calling Headquarters. Over." The woman's face returned to its blank expression as she opened the communication channel and spoke into her headset.

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

"Unity Society suspects attempted a mass escape and attacked me. I resisted with all my might and have neutralized them all. Over."

The voice on the other end of the line fell silent for a moment.

After a dozen seconds, a stern voice replied—it was the Bureau Chief, Zhao Yifeng:

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

After a pause, Zhao Yifeng added, "Take a helicopter back."

Zhang Lan smiled faintly, understanding that she had received the Bureau's tacit approval, and replied, "Understood."

She then turned and walked out of the tent.

On the makeshift helipad not far away, a helicopter sat waiting.

Once seated inside, she opened the tablet in her hand, which displayed a map of Gu City.

The Anomaly Bureau's containment perimeter was divided into four sectors: at the very center was the Bright Mall Subway Station, where the Amalgam infection had occurred; then the Happiness Road Subway Station, where the Tai Sui had been discovered; and finally, the Huting Park Subway Station, where there had been a previous battle involving anomalous psychic radiation.

As for the Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station, it was already on the outermost edge of the perimeter, manned by a group of useless personnel from the Support Center.

It seemed the Bureau Chief was still uneasy about her actions earlier, intending to keep her on the periphery to wait for an opportunity tonight.

Was he asking her to protect the trash from the Support Center?

Excessive power, as expected, only invites suspicion.

The Southwest Branch was too small a pond. Once this matter was concluded, she would submit a transfer request to the General Bureau.

The helicopter's rotors roared to life, lifting the craft into the air. It cut through the night sky, speeding toward Gu City...

Are the people at the Anomaly Bureau command center all idiots?

Li Fan stared at the Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station before him, feeling dazed.

What was going on?

The Bright Mall Subway Station and the Silver Glow Cinema were two whole stops apart!

Was this a suicide mission for the Dissection Department?

"Everyone, hurry up and change into your protective suits. We're entering the subway station to stand by immediately. There will be two transport trains running tonight; once any relevant items are secured, they will be shipped directly to our location at the Silver Glow Cinema Subway Station."

Wu Qian clapped his hands and shouted.

The members of the Dissection Department immediately changed into their protective gear. This time, everyone was also equipped with a specialized riot gun capable of firing both standard rounds and high-voltage electrical charges.

The subway entrance was currently surrounded by armed police, who had cleared a perimeter.

Residents from the surrounding blocks had long since been evacuated, and even the premiere scheduled for tonight at the Silver Glow Cinema had been canceled.

It was said that the fans had been quite dissatisfied during the clearing process, clashing with the police and resulting in a few arrests.

Fortunately, Legend of the Dian King was also being released online simultaneously, so most people were waiting at home for the midnight premiere.

"What are you staring at? Let's go, Fan. Want to watch the movie? Our department will organize a group screening in a couple of days." Seeing Li Fan staring blankly at the Silver Glow Cinema, Wu Qian urged him on.

"Copy that." Li Fan acknowledged, following the main force toward the subway station.

He figured he must have been overthinking things.

It had already been over half an hour since he gave the order to his father and the others.

Given the combat prowess of the Cleaning Association, they had surely already located the Unity Society's nest, wiped out those scumbags after a light skirmish, and successfully completed the mission.

He reckoned the Anomaly Bureau would be making a wasted trip tonight.

The subway was empty, clearly having already been evacuated.

However, there were no signs of a struggle to be seen.

Perhaps the Cleaning Association members had already tidied everything up.

Wu Qian was quite relaxed at the moment, clearly convinced that they were merely a secondary support unit and would not be in any danger.

They soon arrived at the platform and began setting up equipment like field autopsy tables.

Suddenly, Wu Qian spotted two figures in the distance on the tracks, wearing subway construction uniforms and safety helmets. He immediately said to Li Fan:

"Fan, there are a few subway workers over there; they must be here for maintenance and support tonight. Their protection is inadequate—if an anomaly actually appears, they'll definitely be in trouble. You're in charge; go get them to put on some protective gear and take them into the maintenance tunnel nearby."

Li Fan nodded, grabbed a few sets of protective suits, and walked toward the two workers.

What puzzled him, however, was that the closer he got, the further the two workers retreated into the depths of the subway tunnel.

Seeing that they were about to disappear completely into the shadows of the tunnel, Li Fan called out:

"Stop!"

The two figures froze instantly, not daring to move a muscle.

Li Fan's guard went up. He gripped the pistol at his waist with one hand and approached rapidly, asking:

"Who goes there?"

The two figures trembled, appearing terrified, before slowly turning around.

His father and Old Sun, both wearing masks, gave a timid smile:

"You... why did you come in person..."