"Because of the series of assassinations suspected to have been orchestrated by Dragon Kind behind the scenes, the college had no choice but to deploy a large number of elite personnel to protect key figures in America's current government.
"The agents permanently stationed at critical points around the world couldn't be casually reassigned either. Otherwise, gaps would open in the surveillance network, creating opportunities for other potential Dragon Kind activity—
"So for this mission, the only people we could count on were basically this temporary team we'd thrown together. There might not even be any meaningful follow-up support—"
Finn laid out the brutal reality, his gaze sweeping over Lu Mingfei's face as it suddenly drained of color.
Lu Mingfei leaned against the back of his chair, his eyes unfocused as he stared at some nonexistent point on the ceiling. His face was expressionless as he dryly spat out one sentence: "Just kill me—"
Chu Zihang's gaze remained steady, as though the warnings about their lack of support had done nothing to affect his judgment.
He spoke in a low voice. "It does sound like an almost impossible mission. But before that, there's a crucial question we need to clarify—why did the Feathered Serpent God, Kukulkan, suddenly leave the Amazon Rainforest, where it had dwelled for years, cross the ocean, and head for Japan? Its motive could directly determine both our strategy and the level of danger we'll face."
Finn nodded, clearly prepared for that question.
"There are currently two main theories within the college. The first—" He raised one finger.
"Based on the limited intelligence we have, during last year's encounter, we used air-to-air missiles launched from fighter jets and injured it.
"Afterward, its physical characteristics underwent extremely obvious changes that conventional biology couldn't explain.
"The experts in the research