In Mingde Hall's underground core storage area, the heavy alloy gate slowly closed with a grinding sound, shutting out the night wind.
The three transport vehicles that had just entered still carried the acrid smell of gunpowder and scorch marks left by battle.
While transferring from the outer city, the convoy had run straight into an ambush by the Body Sect.
Three Level 8 Soul Engineers had died on the spot, and even their bodies could not be recovered. Had Jing Hongchen not arrived in time with Mingde Hall's elite forces, the convoy would never have reached the inner city gates.
The gate locked tight, and the escort guards' taut nerves finally gave way.
Some slid down against the wheels and sat on the ground, taking hemostatic medicine from their clothes to treat wounds with curled-back edges; another kicked a warped vehicle door hard and cursed through gritted teeth:
"Those lunatics from the Body Sect actually dared to kill us right here in Ming Capital City!"
Jing Hongchen stood before the convoy, his expression so dark it seemed ready to drip water.
He could accept the deaths of three Level 8 Soul Engineers, but he could not accept losing them so senselessly in the streets, their deaths utterly meaningless!
"Unload the other cargo here first." Jing Hongchen suppressed his fury and pointed at the least damaged transport vehicle in the middle.
"Get the God-Sealing Platform into the Inner Vault first! Seal every backup defensive door along every passage. Send the wounded to the side section for treatment. Everyone stays at their posts tonight. No one leaves without permission, not even half a step!"
The orders spread swiftly. The guards rallied their spirits and began unfastening the cargo.
No one noticed the silent breath that had appeared at the very edge