"Put me through immediately!"
The moment Manstein finished speaking, a somewhat blurry virtual image popped up before him. On the other end of the communication was a young man with black hair and black eyes, his face drenched in rainwater. The background was pitch-black, but the endless downpour, circling wind and thunder, and chaotic noise could all be heard clearly.
"Emergency report from Cheng Shuangfan, head of the Secret Party Executive Department's Divine Land branch, S-Rank Specialist!"
"Speak!"
"...We've sent the coordinates to headquarters... This industrial park is nominally an investment project of the Chen Family, one of Divine Land's great clans. Starting two hours ago, abnormal storm clouds began gathering in the area..."
The image suddenly shook violently. A burst of shouting or some tremendous crash came through, interrupting Cheng Shuangfan's report.
Manstein frowned and looked toward the intelligence officer beside him. "What's happening over there? Are the communications being affected?"
The latter wiped away cold sweat. "Even during severe thunderstorms, the electromagnetic radiation generated by lightning should be concentrated in low-frequency transmission bands, with almost no effect on high-frequency signals... But if this abnormal weather was created by a super-high Word Spirit, elemental turbulence might cause unforeseen interference...?"
The more the intelligence officer spoke, the less confident he sounded. This had already exceeded his ability to judge. Manstein made a snap decision. "Norma, retrieve the weather satellite records!"
A satellite cloud map was quickly sent over. It showed a black, vortex-shaped cloud mass covering a region in central-southern Divine Land. Its range was extremely small, yet its rainfall and wind strength were abnormally intense, like a black hole continuously drawing clouds in from every direction.
"Oh... damn it!"
Manstein nearly let loose a string of curses. He desperately wanted to ask why something like this had happened without