Chapter Twenty-Six: A Silent Crisis

Nighttime, 19:25. B District of Ruxia City, Tianhua Street.

Nangong Yuchen arrived earlier than usual today. Standing at the street corner, his gaze pierced through the tide of passersby, settling on the refined coffee shop directly ahead.

As he drew closer, he realized the shop was shrouded in darkness; even the wooden door was tightly shut. He was taken aback. “Closed?”

“That can’t be right, it’s Sunday!” He couldn’t believe it, stepping forward to push at the door, but it had already been locked from the inside.

Helpless, he pulled out his phone to call Xia Yue, hoping to find out what was going on.

The dial tone rang out.

No one answered.

“Looks like I came for nothing!” He hadn’t expected the coffee shop to be closed today, nor had he received any notice from the proprietress. Resigned, he turned and headed toward the bus station.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Lu family villa in A District of Ruxia City, the proprietress led Xia Yue and Chen Hao inside, the three entering one after another.

Here, in stark contrast to the bustling streets outside, silence and coldness prevailed.

Strangely, as they walked deeper into the Lu family villa, not only did they encounter no guards or soldiers, but they were treated as if they were masters of the house.

Soon, the trio passed through the garden and entered a room at the corner of the villa’s ground floor.

No lights were on inside, yet they seemed able to see in the dark. After pressing several spots on the wall, a heavy thud resounded as the thick wall split open to either side.

An eerie green light seeped from the opening, revealing a long, winding staircase.

The click of heels echoed as the three descended, the proprietress’s high-heeled shoes lending an unsettling air to the proceedings.

The room above restored itself as soon as they stepped onto the stairs.

After about ten minutes, they reached the bottom. Before them stood a tightly sealed steel door. The proprietress tapped in a sequence of numbers at the corner of the wall, and the door slowly slid open.

As the interior came into view, it revealed a vast underground processing facility.

Bright lights illuminated rows of towering cylindrical glass containers, filled with green liquid bubbling ominously. A closer look revealed they were packed with sealed beast specimens.

Dozens of people in white sterile suits clustered together, engrossed in their research and discussion.

Footsteps sounded.

The researchers turned as one, their expressions suddenly tense. “Madam!”

The proprietress merely nodded, leading Xia Yue and Chen Hao toward a secret chamber in the central hall.

As they drew near, furious voices echoed from within.

“Useless! It’s been three days now—has Tianyou vanished from the face of the earth?”

“…Master… Patriarch, we really have searched every place Chief Cheng might appear, but we haven’t found him!”

The rage flared again. “So you’re telling me Tianyou was killed by Mu Feng? He’s only just broken through to Tier One as a mecha warrior—how could he possibly defeat Tianyou? He’s a power-type, besides!”

The subordinate stammered, words sticking in his throat, making the patriarch even angrier. A slap rang out, followed by a roar: “Out with it! If you’ve got something to say, spit it out!”

“Today, our people found Mu Feng safe and sound at the Shangguan family…”

“What!” The fury gave way to shock and dread.

At that moment, the proprietress and her companions pushed open the door.

The middle-aged man addressed as patriarch and his subordinate spun around in alarm. “Madam, why are you here?”

The proprietress snorted coldly, then demanded, “Lu Bolong, where is the Quantum Breaker?”

At her words, Lu Bolong and his subordinate trembled, unsure how to respond.

“I asked you—where is the Quantum Breaker? Didn’t you promise to deliver it to me three days ago? Tell me, where is it now?” The proprietress’s face twisted with rage. She seized Lu Bolong by the throat and lifted him effortlessly, her slender arm impossibly strong.

“Cough… Madam, the Quantum Breaker has indeed been completed, but it’s currently in my brother-in-law’s hands… cough…” Lu Bolong’s face turned purple, his words squeezed out with the last of his strength.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. If you delay Lord Christian Raphael’s mission, your entire Lu family won’t be worth the price of your lives!” With a venomous glare, she flung Lu Bolong aside.

Then, turning to the nearby subordinate, she raised her hand. Instantly, her arm darkened, and a pitch-black spike emerged from her palm, plunging mercilessly into the subordinate’s skull.

A brief scream, and in seconds, the man was lifeless, terror and confusion frozen on his face, never understanding what had happened.

A sickening squelch followed.

In that moment, the stately proprietress transformed into a massive spider, eight long legs braced on the floor, gleaming like razor-sharp blades.

Her upper body retained its human form, save for its dark skin and the terrifying maw lined with fangs.

She gripped the corpse and fed it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing before Xia Yue, Chen Hao, and Lu Bolong’s horrified eyes.

Blood and flesh splatter reflected in Lu Bolong’s pupils, his face pale as death, his whole body trembling. “Ma… Madam…”

But the proprietress ignored him, continuing to feast.

After a while, having devoured the corpse, she licked her lips with relish, her monstrous form shrinking back into her elegant human shape.

“Lu Bolong, five months ago, how many corpses did you bring back from beyond the crystal wall?” Perhaps sated, her tone softened.

“About two hundred…” Lu Bolong recalled hastily.

“Two hundred?” The proprietress pondered, then said, “In a week, let’s trigger another small-scale war. This time, you must bring back another two hundred corpses, so the Quantum Breaker can operate perfectly, leaving nothing to chance.”

“Yes… understood!”

With everything settled, the proprietress led Xia Yue and Chen Hao out, but before leaving, she tossed back a final warning.

“Lu Bolong! If you mess up the Quantum Breaker and four hundred corpse deliveries again, prepare for your Lu family to vanish!”

After the trio departed, Lu Bolong’s expression slowly recovered, soon twisting into a sinister glare, eyes as cold as vipers lurking in a dark pit.

“Shangguan family… Shangguan Yufeng… just wait. This time, you all will die!”

His face contorted with malice. His collusion with the beasts was entirely because of the Shangguan family. If they hadn’t oppressed him for so long, he would never have chosen this path of betrayal.

It all began half a year ago, when the city at the edge of the human safe zone was beset by beast attacks. Shangguan Yufeng, mayor of Ruxia City, ordered the Lu and Mu families to each send mecha warriors for support.

He himself led the Lu family, while Mu Xiyan commanded the Mu family’s forces.

But who could have predicted that within a month, the Lu family would be besieged by beasts? In the end, for survival, he had no choice…

He stepped onto this path of no return.

He never imagined he would betray humanity, but now he was powerless to escape, and could only regret his choices.

What enraged him most was his wife’s younger brother—Cheng Tianyou!

Three days ago, he had been tasked with escorting the Quantum Breaker to the madam, but who could have foreseen that Mu Feng would slay him? Now Lu Bolong was in an extremely difficult position, since the plan depended on using the Quantum Breaker to shatter the crystal wall surrounding all of Ruxia City…