Chapter 176

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she aimed at the Mutationist charging at the forefront, attempting to attack two soldiers. Her finger twitched, and she pulled the trigger.

With a deafening roar, rain and grass clippings were blown away by the powerful recoil. Through the scope, a huge, gray, bloody hole was blasted open in the chest of the Mutationist. The sprawling vines quickly lost their strength and slowly fell to the ground like rubber bands that had lost their elasticity, while the Mutationist collapsed and died instantly.

--As Efnir once said, the weakness of these Mutationist is likely the suspicious plant that parasitizes the heart.

This information was merely Efnir's speculation and had not been verified, but it was clear that they had made the right bet.

"Attack their hearts!!"

Anilas shouted.

At this moment Herul also rushed to the front of the western Defense Line, wielding an Order Weapon rifle and pistol, and opened fire rapidly. Countless bullets accurately hit the heads, chests, or limbs of the Mutationist, either killing them directly or temporarily taking away their ability to move. With unbelievable agility, she moved and fought among the vines, unleashing her firepower.

Although she lost to Canary in the battle, Herul was a well-trained and excellent warrior, and this level of threat was not enough to stop her.

She single-handedly held off the Mutationist's onslaught, and with Anilas's powerful offensive and support capabilities, the two of them managed to kill all the Mutationist had broken into the Defense Line.

The crisis was briefly averted.

But Anilas was not happy—she increasingly felt that these suspicious enemies, whose origins were unknown, were derailing their battle.

Inside the tank at the temporary command post, Kusei Maki silently watched the scene unfolding in front of the Defense Line, her brows furrowed tightly.

She sensed that something was very wrong with this Maesakagawa Battle.

At the same time, underground tunnel--

Under Efnir's leadership, the team quickly cleared the tunnel, laid cables, and set up equipment.

The soldiers still have plenty of ammunition and rations, and their advance is progressing at a steady pace. However, the problem lies in the fact that the engineering teams cannot guarantee the speed of equipment maintenance and installation, as well as cable laying.

The tunnel contains artifacts from the Old Era. Technology has been disrupted over the past twenty years, and many interfaces and terminals are incompatible with modern ones. They can only be disassembled manually or rebuilt entirely, which takes a lot of time.

The only good news is that the journey has been relatively smooth, and the mission is progressing much faster than the originally planned ground route.

The amount of Dregs in the tunnel was limited and posed no threat to the soldiers.

The greatest threat lies in the hidden enemy.

Underground tunnels are not simple, straight linear passages. Dregs can lurk in inspection ports, equipment windows, and some emergency escape routes. Overlooked dangers lurk in intersections and equipment rooms. This Dregs can always attack unexpectedly.

But as they approached the exit leading to the Relay Station, the soldiers noticed something unusual—dust was swirling, and deep within the dark tunnel, a network of vines, like ivy spreading out, appeared in Efnir's field of vision.

All of this, like a spider web, converges among a pile of corpses leaning diagonally in a corner.

Or rather, those humanoid shadowy figures that looked like corpses—half of their bodies were already rotting, but they swayed with their heads hanging down, occasionally letting out suppressed groans.

The air was chilly, and the stench of decay was exactly the same as the stench Efnir had noticed near the ICS Research Institute, even thicker, stickier, and nauseating.

"What are those? Corpses?"

"Wait, something's off about those things..."

The soldiers nervously raised their guns, huddled together, hoping to get as far away from the eerie corpses as possible.

Unlike Efnir, who could make judgments based on "dust," those figures were no different from ordinary Dregs in the soldiers' eyes. They could only make judgments based on their impressions of the strange parasitic plants they had discovered earlier.

"It's those 'Mutationist'!"

At the soldier's low shout, the others immediately raised their guns in alertness.

The strange creatures that appeared on the ground were encountered again here.

Efnir believes this is definitely not a coincidence.

At that moment, the eerie figures also noticed the commotion, and as the soldiers pulled the triggers, they let out shrill screams.

"Step back, leave this to me."

In such a confined area, these soldiers would likely be unable to handle those things, and Efnir took over the battle without hesitation.

She and Iris exchanged a glance, then looked at Yukina behind them.

"Yukina, I'm counting on you from now on."

"Um!"

"A swift and decisive victory!"

[Because it's the end of the year, recent updates have been really slow, I apologize... If I find any shortfall in content at the end of the month, I will make up for it quickly with double the amount after the New Year!]

42. Assembly

Deep in a dark and dirty alley in the East District of Xijing City--

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood.

The two lay motionless on the ground, their eyes wide open, their lifeless pupils fixed on a black figure.

Their necks were ripped open by sharp blades, their heads and bodies almost severed. They had died from fatal wounds. Apart from that, there were no other injuries on their bodies, no Trace of a struggle around them, and not even the pistols at their waists were drawn.

Clearly, they were killed by people far stronger than them, dying instantly without even a chance to resist.

At that moment, the black figure slowly emerged from the shadows.

Beneath the jet-black hooded robe, her light purple hair, as white as the starry sky, gradually turned inky black, flowing down her shoulders.

The silver chains transformed into silver light, slowly disappearing into the air like rippling waves.

Uzuki Saori lifted her hood, revealing her delicate, sculpted profile. She glanced at the corpse on the ground, her eyes devoid of any emotion.

"The mission went smoothly."

At that moment, a sound came through the headset.

"Shadow, can you hear me?"

It's Shinomiyami Nami.

Shadow, this is Saori's new codename. Although she still uses the beacon Beacon Lily, Saori has actually been stripped of her agent status by the Human Federation and the Orderkeepers Organization the Xijing City organization due to her previous betrayal. She has been completely removed from the Agent System network and become an "ordinary person," with no record of her being reactivated in the file.

But Masaki Hina gave her a second chance. Although she was removed from the system, she was given a new mission and codename, and was to operate as "Shadow," who was not registered in the system.

Therefore, Masaki Hina gave her a new code name.

This means that "Lily" no longer exists; she has completely said goodbye to her past self.

"This is Shadow. We've confirmed the leader of the 'Kolen Reisban Bandits' is dead. Any new instructions?"

"Shadow, let's meet back at the usual spot. I have something new to ask you."

Saori's existence is kept secret both internally and externally; only the members of Third Group know about it. Therefore, Saori always stays in a hidden safe house specially arranged by Third Group and is rarely summoned or called upon directly by Shinomiyami Nami.

She couldn't help but wonder, "Is it some special mission?"

"It's something very important, concerning the Beyond-the-Boundary Investigation Corps. Here's the situation: we received drones sent back by the unit and gathered a lot of intelligence from them, but we also obtained some very bad information..."

Shinomiyami Nami told Saori about the Beyond the Boundary Division's encounter with the Angel.

She tilted her head slightly, having completed the secret assassination mission, but her face showed no sign of relief; instead, it grew increasingly serious, her brows furrowing.

She heard the news she least wanted to hear.

"You're saying Senior Efnir and the others were ambushed!?..."

The voice of Shinomiyami Nami came through the communication headset.

"The intelligence we received ten minutes ago is confirmed; they've encountered the worst-case scenario— Angel have appeared."

Shinomiyami Nami's voice was filled with urgency and anxiety.

"It's Angel..."

The "Angel" awakened a memory that Uzuki Saori didn't want to mention. She pursed her lips and withdrew her gaze from the corpses and pools of blood.

"Angel... is it Qinglan?"

"Based on intelligence, this Angel might not be her."

That means there is more than one powerful opponent like the Angel.

Saori could sense the tension and pressure in Shinomiyami Nami's tone, and she herself felt a moment of suffocation.

Without Efnir, even if all the remaining agents were sent out, it's uncertain whether they could subdue the Angel —for Xijing City at this stage, the Angel's threat level is overwhelming.

A month ago, Efnir was seriously injured in battle, but she also severely injured the Angel Qinglan. Everyone was hoping that the Angel's serious injury would give them a chance to catch their breath.

However, it now appears that the combat power shown to them by the Apostle is only the tip of the iceberg of the Apostle Organization. The Apostle, who possess greater power than ordinary agents, the Angel who are extremely threatening, and the mysterious Codename H, the Apostle Organization has gradually demonstrated their unfathomable strength in each battle.

Saori became increasingly worried.

... Rin followed Efnir on the expedition to the Beyond the Boundary. Is she alright now? Have the others encountered any danger?

This is what Saori cares about most.

Suppressing the wavering in her heart, Saori raised her voice and asked:

What can I do?

"The situation is very unclear right now. We are waiting for further intelligence, but we are currently gathering reinforcements. I hope you can join us in the battle."

"I'm coming right away."

At the same time, at the Orderkeeper Headquarters—

After walking through a long corridor, it took Elincia five minutes to reach the headquarters.

The command post was heavily guarded, and soldiers would hurry past her from time to time. Occasionally, someone who knew her would nod to her in greeting.

Agents hold a high position within the organization, are of great strategic importance, and are respected. Although many people have never seen what agents actually look like, quite a few sergeants still recognize them.

However, Elincia always had a "What are you talking about? Are you talking to me?" look on her face, which made many people who wanted to greet her stop in their tracks.

That's just her personality.

Upon arriving at the command post, Elincia saw Shinomiyami Nami, Fushihara Ayaka, and a group of officers gathered there.

These people were either soldiers or department heads and deputy heads of the Orderkeepers Organization who remained in Xijing City. Now that the main force had all left Xijing City, they each shouldered important responsibilities within the organization and the army.

At this moment, they were all gathered around Shinomiyami Nami and Fushihara Ayaka, their eyes craning upwards as they nervously stared at the screens above them, seemingly centered around the two of them.

"Any progress?"

Shinomiyami Nami asked a sergeant.

There was more than one drone. As the only means of communication and distress in the vast, foggy Beyond the Boundary region, the combat troops carried a large number of drones as communication tools.

Moreover, the Orderkeepers have been waiting for a wave signal from the Maesakagawa Garrison District —once they receive the signal, they can temporarily establish a brief response communication through Resonance to know the current situation of the troops.

But after waiting for a long time, they still hadn't made any progress.

"Not yet. We are trying to increase the load power to induce Resonance and pinpoint the agents' location."

"We need to act quickly! Do everything we can to find out their current situation!"

At this moment, Fushihara Ayaka saw Elincia, handed the command in her hand to Shinomiyami Nami, and came to greet her.

Are you ready?

Without exchanging pleasantries, they both got straight to the point.

Elincia nodded.

43. Reinforcement Plan

Like Saori, Elincia also received a message from Shinomiyami Nami immediately, learning about the situation of the Beyond the Boundary Force, which is why she was ordered to come to the Orderkeeper Headquarters.

After making contact with Fushihara Ayaka, Elincia followed Shinomiyami Nami to the headquarters helipad.

Several non-commissioned officers and several helicopters are already waiting here.

Shinomiyami Nami quickly explained the current situation, and then spoke privately with Elincia about the mission and operational intelligence.