Zhou Hu and Shadow Blade were the aces of Panshi Company’s Outer City branch. They had been with the company for many years, handling countless dirty jobs and risking their lives time and again.
Why would they betray the company now?
What kind of methods did this woman use to make these Level 3 Ability Users obey her every command?
The commander thought back to his twenty-year career in the City Defense Force.
He had started as a common soldier, then became a Squad Leader, a Platoon Leader, and a Company Commander, before finally being transferred to lead the 3rd Mobile Brigade.
He had been climbing for twenty years.
Among those who had enlisted at the same time as him, some had died in the maws of Aberrants, some had fallen to the blades of vagrants, and others had perished in the schemes of their own people.
But he had survived.
Not only had he survived, but he had also reached his current position.
He could not afford to die here.
The commander took a deep breath and looked up at Su Wan.
That young face remained calm, and those eyes were still clear, betraying no emotion whatsoever.
His voice was so raspy it was almost inaudible. “I want to live, but...”
“But what?”
The commander looked at Su Wan. “It’s just that reporting it like that... won’t work.”
Su Wan raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
The commander grit his teeth as if reaching a final decision. “The Command Office at the Outer City branch has very advanced monitoring equipment. It’s connected to surveillance cameras in multiple key locations across the Outer City and the Ruin Zone. They can pull video records of specific times and areas.”
“There’s a high chance that everything we went through on the way was captured by that equipment.”
His voice grew lower, tinged with obvious dread. “If I report it the way you said, Colonel Yan will immediately realize I’m lying as soon as he checks the surveillance records.”
“When that happens, we...” He didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication was clear.
Su Wan watched him silently, a slow smile spreading across her lips.
“Don’t worry. Just report it exactly as I told you.”
The commander was stunned.
He looked at Su Wan’s young face. In those clear eyes, there wasn't a trace of hesitation or worry—only a calm, certain composure.
“But...” the commander tried to protest.
Su Wan raised a hand, cutting him off.
“You only need to do your part.” Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable power. “Don’t worry about anything else.”
The commander opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.
Su Wan’s gaze shifted to Chen Chen. To her confusion, Lu Ming was nowhere to be seen.
“Chen Chen is here, but where is Lu Ming?”
“Shadow Blade took care of him,” Iron Bone replied.
“That guy tried to use his ability to send a message back to Headquarters. Shadow Blade caught him, so...”
Su Wan nodded and didn't say another word.
...
...
The Command Vehicle and one armored vehicle slowly approached from the direction of the Non-Safe Zone, crushing the rubble at the edge of the ruins and kicking up clouds of dust.
Zhao Long stood on a relatively flat piece of high ground within the ruins. As he watched the two battered vehicles approach, his expression darkened instantly.
Behind him, the other three Level 2 Ability Users and the twelve soldiers also stood up, their eyes filled with shock and unease.
“How... why are only two vehicles coming back?”
“Where are the others? Where are the infantrymen?”
“What’s going on...”
Whispers spread through the group, every face etched with confusion and a growing sense of dread.
Zhao Long raised his hand to signal for silence and quickly walked forward to meet them.
The Command Vehicle came to a halt, and the door opened.
The commander was the first to jump out. His face was pale, and his uniform was covered in dust and dark red bloodstains. His steps were unsteady, but he kept his back ramrod straight.
Cold Wind followed behind him, his stern face devoid of any expression.
Iron Bone jumped down from the armored vehicle, a bleeding wound marring his rugged face. He looked completely disheveled.
Chen Chen was being supported by Iron Bone. His face was as white as paper, veins bulging on his forehead. His lips were parched and cracked, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Zhou Hu and Shadow Blade were the last to exit the Command Vehicle. Both bore obvious signs of combat with torn clothing, but their mental state was far better than the others.
Zhao Long’s gaze swept over each of them, the ominous feeling in his heart growing stronger by the second.
“Sir...” Zhao Long spoke, his voice tight. “Where is everyone else?”
The commander looked at him and remained silent for several seconds.
Complex emotions swirled in those bloodshot eyes.
Pain, lingering fear, resentment, and something Zhao Long had never seen on the commander’s face before...
Terror.
“Gone,” the commander’s voice was incredibly hoarse. “They’re all gone.”
Zhao Long’s pupils shrank violently.
Even though he had already suspected this outcome, hearing the commander say it out loud still sent a shock through his heart.
Over a hundred elite infantrymen, four armored vehicles, a fire-support vehicle...
All gone?
“Sir, what exactly happened?” Zhao Long took a deep breath, suppressing his roiling emotions. “When we finished our task and came back, we found the unit was gone.”
“We tried to contact the Outer City Command Office, but there was no response. We had no choice but to wait here...”
Yan Pengcheng, who was in charge of the Outer City branch command, had been knocked unconscious by Su Wan. Without his approval, no one else dared to enter the Command Office, so it was no surprise there had been no response.
However, Su Wan calculated that Yan Pengcheng should be waking up around now.
“It was a Level 4 Ability User,” the commander answered Zhao Long’s question.
Zhao Long was stunned.
Not just Zhao Long—the three Level 2 Ability Users and twelve soldiers behind him all froze in that moment.
The commander’s gaze swept over them, his voice low and raspy. “During our march, we encountered a mysterious individual.”
“That person... controlled Aberrants and attacked our unit.”
“We tried to capture him, but even the four of us Level 3s working together couldn’t take him down.”
“He intentionally lured us away, and before we knew it, the entire unit had been led into the Non-Safe Zone.”
The commander paused, his voice dropping even lower. “There, we were hit by a Blood-Scythe Ant swarm...”
“Only we Ability Users managed to fight our way out and escape.”
After listening to the story, a layer of cold sweat had already broken out on Zhao Long’s back.
The faces of the three Level 2 Ability Users behind him also turned incredibly grim.
They all knew how terrifying a Blood-Scythe Ant swarm was.
And a Level 4 Ability User was an existence they had never even faced.
“Sir...” Zhao Long spoke with difficulty. “That person... is he related to the ‘Terminal Station’?”
The commander nodded, his gaze solemn. “He... he should have come from the direction of the Terminal Station.”
“And his strength...” The commander paused, seemingly weighing his words. “The four of us Level 3s fought together, and we didn’t even have a chance to strike back against him.”
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