The Illusory God of Civil War

The "Jackal" that Miao Xin had her eye on, namely Alituo and Aisaikena (the case code name), have re-entered the country.

They didn't dare go through the official channels.

Instead, they came on foot from a densely populated border area.

The border is too long, and people living along the way frequently travel between the two sides.

It is impossible to completely seal off these places.

The two killed two travelers along the way, stole their identification documents, disposed of their bodies, and then transformed into their appearance and features.

Having lived on Earth for so many years, they have long since learned how to hide in crevices and survive.

I've never been this disheveled before.

Afterwards, the two drove the car left behind by the travelers towards a small mountain village called "Songguotun".

"Grown ups."

As Aisaikena drove, she spoke.

"Should another Clock Hand be able to pass through the massive spatial rift a month from now?"

"It's hard to say."

Alituo gazed out the window, his voice calm.

"It's also possible that what arrives isn't the Clock Hand, but rather a dozen or so Quarter Hand."

"But a Destiny level expert is ultimately much more useful than a group of Quarter Hand," Aisaikena said.

Alituo looked at the scenery rushing past the car window and sighed softly.

Unlike Eden, the mirages that roamed the skies above Earth went extinct as early as 12,000 years ago.

Sunlight was no longer absorbed or transformed, and the last ice age ended.

The source of magic energy was completely cut off, and its concentration continued to decline.

Those new species capable of using Magic Power gradually became the weaker ones.

On the contrary, the primitive, ancient races rose up, wielding axes with stone blades, and chopped them one by one, burying them in the soil of history.

Ultimately, they became the masters of this world.

Today, the Magic Power of this world has almost completely faded away.

"We'll find out then," Alituo said calmly.

Their purpose in coming here was to inspect the spatial connection array and ensure that everything was in perfect working order.

"It's all that Traitor Qingming's fault."

Aisaikena's tone was full of resentment.

"If she hadn't killed Lord Kui, we wouldn't have lost direct contact with the Supreme God."

"Actually, over the years, I've come to understand why Qingming betrayed us," Alituo suddenly said.

These words startled Aisaikena.

She jerked her hand, and the steering wheel veered slightly.

She nearly grazed the car behind her.

The car suddenly accelerated and sped up from the side. The driver stuck his head out and cursed a few times.

Alituo raised his hand, intending to bestow misfortune upon the other party.

But thinking of his precious Magic Power reserves, he ultimately held back.

After cursing, the driver stepped on the gas and drove away.

"My lord, such words—" Aisaikena hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.

"No need to say more." Alituo's eyes darkened. "Qingming is willing to give up herself for this world, but I don't want to die!"

As he said this, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Therefore—the only option is for this world to die!"

****

After finishing his work for the day, Su Ming leaned back in his chair.

During this period, his mind was filled with all sorts of numbers and parameters.

I can't help but reminisce about the brilliant tactical maneuvers during the desert war.

He raised his hand and dialed a video call.

The call was connected very quickly.

There was no one in the scene, only the sound of dripping water.

Su Ming wasn't in a hurry; he simply waited.

Did you miss me?

Zijin's voice came from the speaker, carrying a slight echo unique to the bathroom.

Then, enveloped in a misty haze, she slowly walked into the frame.

"Yes, I think about you every day." Su Ming also became affectionate.

Zijin merely glanced at the time.

"Half an hour earlier than usual."

"Speak, what is it?"

Su Ming recounted what had happened to Miao Xin during the day.

"Has Miao Xin's self-control become this strong?"

After listening, Zijin was slightly surprised.

"Based on your description, if she were to use the power of the Nether Sea, I probably wouldn't be able to defeat her."

"Jin Rongjia's side is discussing whether to change her codename to '639'."

Su Ming said half-jokingly.

"Uh, what's 639?" Zijin tilted her head, poking her lower lip with her finger. "Is it some kind of... new position?"

"---- is the code name for a nuclear weapon development project."

After that, Su Ming got down to business.

Jin Rongjia admitted that Ling Wen's team is conducting a hunting operation against the "Jackal."

"But he declined to provide any specifics."

"For Jin Rongjia and his team, even if the hunt for Alituo fails, they absolutely cannot accept any harm to Miao Xin."

"Would Miao Xin?" Zijin asked.

"I'm really quite unwilling," Su Ming sighed, "But I didn't throw a tantrum."

"That's not necessarily true." Zijin dried her hair. "So, what exactly do you want from me?"

"Help me analyze what kind of configuration the pioneers active on Earth have," Su Ming said.

After thinking for a while, Zijin quickly got into the zone.

"Judging from the physical details, the Jackal Shatter who was initially killed by the tungsten rod in the Vietnam industrial park" should be a Minute Hand.

"The second Chai Zhan, the one you lured out and killed using Miao Xin as bait, should have been a Provisional Quarter Hand- level warrior."

"One of the remaining two must be the holder of the power of 'Calamity'."

Zijin continued to organize her inferences.

"The power of calamity may not be particularly strong in a positive light, but the threshold for mastering it is extremely high."

"According to Eden's power system, someone who possesses this kind of ability is probably at least a Clock Hand."

"That is the Twelfth Time Sequence, Alituo," Su Ming said.

Among the seized data on the Plundering Clock, there was still basic information such as the names of the members of the Clock Hand.

Zijin was somewhat surprised.

Why are you so sure it's twelve?

"Aren't there still so many unknown Clock Hand sequences?"

She counted on her fingers.

"Seven? Or eight?"

"But the problem is," Su Ming explained, "That among those sequences we haven't met, only sequence number one and sequence number twelve are human."

"----That's true." Zijin realized.

Unlike the diverse intelligent races of Taya, Earth is a world dominated by humans.

If you want to infiltrate there long-term, you can't just send a dragon over.

Otherwise, with the continuous influx of humans, their sheer numbers would overwhelm it.

"The power of 'calamity' is naturally restrained by technology, but from the perspective of extraordinary confrontation, it is not considered a direct and overwhelming force."

Su Ming explained.

Therefore, I determine that it corresponds to the lower-order Clock Hand.

"That's how it should be." Zijin nodded in agreement.

She picked up the tablet and looked through the fragmented information extracted from the data of the Plundering Clock.

The mention of Alituo, though brief, is enough to form a puzzle.

"The other female member is very likely his most trusted subordinate, Aisaikena," Zijin said.

"It seems like he's a full-fledged member of the Quarter Hand team with special abilities." Su Ming also took the same information and analyzed it.

"I just can't figure out what kind of ability it is."

The two sighed.

****

When Su Ming switched his view to Earth, he found Miao Xin sneakily rummaging through drawers and cabinets in a room.

"What are you doing again?" Su Ming asked in surprise.

[Jin Rongjia won't tell me where Ling Wen is, so of course I have to find clues myself.] Miao Xin said matter-of-factly.

This is a small dormitory room.

She had rummaged through the floor and found all sorts of clothes and miscellaneous items, which, judging from their style, belonged to women.

[Ling Wen's dormitory?]

"Yes," Miao Xin replied.

Ling Wen has been on the mission of hunting down Alituo for a long time.

She returned once a few months ago to submit reports and exchange intelligence.

She stayed here that night.

Miao Xin quickly found the outfit Ling Wen was wearing at the time.

[Hmm, this is it!] She quickly rummaged through her pockets, [If only I could find a plane ticket or something!]

Although Ling Wen does indeed travel for business using various convenient modes of transportation, Su Ming complained, "[----These things are all completely electronic now, okay?]"

Miao Xin indeed found nothing.

But soon, she noticed something.

There are several scratches on this outfit.

Su Ming saw it too.

"[It's wear and tear from carrying things on my back,'" he concluded.

Miao Xin unfolded the clothes, glanced at the distribution of the abrasion marks, and her soul fire suddenly jumped.

It was a shape she knew all too well.

She immediately lay down and continued searching the room.

Soon, another discovery was made – a rain cover for a cell phone that had been carelessly discarded.

[That's most likely it!] Miao Xin immediately made the judgment.

[Huh?] Su Ming was completely out of sync.

[Since Ling Wen found the clues on those dead geese, it means she must be active in the nearby area.]

Miao Xin paced back and forth, reasoning rapidly.

I need to make a phone call.

She immediately reached for her phone.

To Su Ming's surprise, Miao Xin didn't use the tri-fold phone she had on hand, but instead skillfully pulled an old cell phone from her chest cavity and dialed a number.

The call was answered quickly.

"Hello, who is this?" The voice on the other end spoke very quickly.

"Hey, Brother Liu."

Miao Xin's voice instantly became eight degrees sweeter.

"It's me, Xiaona."

"The one who used to work for you."

"There's something I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Are you coming back to work?" The person on the other end seemed a little hesitant. "My station is already full."

"No, no," Miao Xin quickly said, "Brother Liu, could you help me check the work groups for your area and see if there's a site manager whose nickname is 'Clever Little Pig'?"

[A clever little piggy?] Su Ming looked puzzled.

[Ling Wen's commonly used nickname.] Miao Xin answered naturally.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"----There really is one! Over in Lancheng!"

Miao Xin immediately made a fist gesture.

Thank you, Brother Liu, mua

~~

An angry female voice immediately boomed from the phone. "Which vixen is calling you?!"

"Wife, I'm innocent!"

****

Miao Xin slammed down the phone.

Immediately afterwards, she took out paper and pen and began to plan her actions.

"Today's patrol shift change is at 10:50."

"From an external perspective, there are almost no gaps."

"But if you're running from the inside out, there are actually quite a few gaps you can squeeze through—"

"It's been a long time since I've ridden a high-speed train."

"Tsk, no, high-speed rail is too easy to expose."

"It's safer to target larger shipments."

Miao Xin muttered to herself.

"I should also leave a note for Jin Rongjia."

"I need to let him know that I left on my own because of the situation, but I also need to mislead them and steer the investigation astray—"

Su Ming was utterly speechless.

Watching her series of smooth and fluid actions, he was even reminded of a certain famous war god.

[Miao Xin,] he couldn't help but sigh, [Why are you so exceptionally gifted at dealing with your own people?]

"Because people don't feel tired when they do bad things," Miao Xin replied confidently. "What, you don't support me?"

[This Alituo- ]

Su Ming.

[That is, the "Jackal Curse," which Ling Wen and her group might not be able to truly defeat.]

[But Jin Rongjia will absolutely not allow us to interfere.]

"Should we go or not?" Miao Xin asked directly.

Miss Ghost was very uneasy.

Su Ming pondered quietly for a moment.

Then, an answer was given.

Go!

In the realm of the mind, the two, separated by emptiness, gave each other a high five.

[You're such a good owner.]

"[----You're a good vengeful spirit too.]" Su Ming replied irritably.