Chapter 278: Fierce Battle |
RUMBLE—!
Darkness loomed, and in the sky above, the center of a polar vortex crackled with violent lightning. Silver bolts lit up a vast storm canopy, like a giant beast poised to devour the earth.
The blizzard howled. Ice crystals froze even reinforced concrete solid. Under the raging winds, icicles formed horizontally from buildings, like spears piercing the air.
In such extreme conditions, even with cold-weather suits, ordinary people could no longer survive outdoors.
Bzzz~
A convoy of over a dozen military-grade polar vehicles sped through a remote, open area of Xilan City. Special combat vehicles and small aerial drones followed closely, guarding what was essentially a mobile scientific research lab.
Inside one of the trucks, the cramped cabin was packed with equipment. Data constantly streamed across the computer screens. Wei Kexue sat dazed in a corner, clad in a protective suit issued by the Investigation Corps.
Yu Yuheng tapped away at the computer beside him, calling up various datasets.
“The aerial patrol squad was marked—that proves our theory’s right,” Wei Kexue said as he removed his battered black-rimmed glasses and wiped them with a cleaner part of his sleeve. “Those monsters… whatever command they’ve received, they’re deliberately not using Dark Marks on us.”
“If that’s true, it confirms we’re on the right track—‘Bonfire’—no, the Dark Mark really does exist, doesn’t it?!” another female researcher added.
“What Professor Yu wants to know,” Wei Kexue muttered, rubbing his temples from exhaustion, “is how they passed the message down to that giant worm… how it ended up attacking the lab building.”
Perhaps due to days without rest, whenever he closed his eyes now, he could still see the faces of his dead colleagues. His whole being radiated a quiet, defeated sorrow.
“I think the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum might be the key,” Ding Junyi said.
She had just finished a call with Lin Xian and now stood beside the cultivation pod. The black flower was dormant. She stared at it and continued, “Professor Guo’s experiment probably exposed the Disaster Flora’s presence to the Snow Wraiths. The berserk reaction may have just been a symptom. These Eerie Entities likely have their own ways of transmitting information—we just haven’t figured them out yet.”
“You mean Test Subject No. 13 biting off its limbs and going berserk could be a form of communication?” Yu Yuheng stopped typing and looked up at her.
Ding Junyi shoved a hand in her coat pocket, coolly checking her watch. “We’ve got no better explanation.”
“I don’t buy it,” Wei Kexue said, putting his glasses back on, his voice tired. “Here’s the first problem—there are no Marks inside the city. If the Snow Wraiths and Snow Fiends were ordered not to release them, then by ‘Silent Night’ theory, Xilan shouldn’t be under attack at all. But we’re still getting hit with monster tides every single day.”
“Second issue—if they’re avoiding detection, then why did the aerial patrol squad suddenly get hit with a Level 5 Mark? Isn’t that contradictory?”
The cabin fell into silence. Outside, the polar vehicle creaked over snow and ice. The lab rocked slightly with every bump, and the equipment inside clattered rhythmically.
The researchers frowned deeply. As darkness approached, a growing sense of dread filled the cabin.
Then Ding Junyi turned to Yu Yuheng. “I remember the Emperor Group’s prior theory: high-tier Eerie Entities can command lower-tier ones, right?”
“Correct,” Yu Yuheng nodded.
“Then let’s assume,” she continued, “that an S-class Eerie Entity is currently hovering above Xilan. It could have issued an order to the monster tide not to use Dark Marks. But maybe that same entity already discovered Xilan long ago—or has been hiding nearby—and now it’s directing the assault. Does that track?”
Yu Yuheng and Wei Kexue exchanged a glance.
“So… you’re saying this whole thing is to stop our research?” Wei Kexue asked skeptically. “Sounds like a stretch. I mean, wouldn’t it be simpler to just hit people outside the city with the Marks and mess up our tests that way?”
“Exactly,” Wei Kexue frowned. “If Professor Guo’s experiment exposed the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum, why weren’t there any Marks in the city before that? Unless you’re saying these creatures can predict the future and already knew we were working on Dark Marks?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “The idea that one plant exposed our entire study? It’s just… hard to believe.”
“Or maybe,” Yu Yuheng suggested, “the monsters simply want to steal the Disaster Flora. We might be overthinking it. Given how rare it is, and its unique properties, it’s valuable to both humans and these Eerie Entities.”
Ding Junyi fell silent.
She stared at the black chrysanthemum inside the transparent pod. Her thoughts were a tangled mess. But then—suddenly—a new idea came to her.
Maybe… don’t think about it scientifically…
What if… use an Ability?
The idea took root in her mind, rapidly expanding. As someone who always approached problems with logic and theory, this felt unnatural. But still—she reached up and gently touched the little green sprout hidden in her hair, her pupils narrowing.
She steadied her breathing, focusing on the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum, and activated her Plant-type Ability.
At that moment, an invisible force of plant affinity radiated from her eyes and enveloped the Disaster Flora.
18:19
According to Nightwalker monitoring, one minute remained until darkness fell.
Inside the lab vehicle, Wei Kexue glanced nervously at his watch. “It’s almost nightfall. The plan was to evacuate the city tomorrow. Who knew this would happen now…”
“Professor Ding, do you think that Level 5 Mark was a sign that they sensed—”
He stopped mid-sentence.
Because Ding Junyi stood motionless next to the chrysanthemum. Her eyes were pure white—no trace of black left—and more terrifyingly, the Disaster Flora had started glowing again… pulsing with an eerie crimson light.
“Professor Ding?!”
Wei Kexue cried out. Everyone was stunned by the sudden change.
As he rushed to check on her, the entire vehicle violently jolted. From far down the road, something massive was rapidly approaching. Buildings on either side shook as ice and snow came crashing down.
Xiao He, riding shotgun, glanced at the instruments. The alarm was blaring.
“They’re coming! Accelerate now!!”
18:20
The skies went black in a flash. The wind howled. Already shrouded by the blizzard, the research convoy—barely visible in the snow—was suddenly plunged into pitch darkness.
BOOM!
At the exact moment darkness fell, an earth-shattering roar erupted behind the convoy. Glass shattered. A giant Abyss Worm burst from underground, swallowing the last two vehicles in one bite—along with nearby high-rise buildings torn apart like paper.
The ground quaked violently. Shockwaves rippled like tsunamis beneath the earth, nearly flipping the entire convoy.
SKRRRT!! THUNK THUNK!!
Concrete exploded. Steel broke. Shockwaves rippled outward like a megaton bomb, shaking the souls of tens of thousands across Xilan City.
“THE BIG BUG’S HERE!!”
Despite nearly flipping the vehicle, Xiao He immediately called it in.
“Turn the convoy—circle through the inner city!”
Inside the lab vehicle, Wei Kexue—just about to reach Ding Junyi—was flung into the ceiling by the impact, then crashed to the floor.
Others fared no better. Equipment shattered and slid everywhere. Everyone was tossed like rag dolls.
Wei Kexue ignored the pain and crawled up—only to see that Ding Junyi was still standing. Eyes glowing white. Staring straight ahead at the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum.
In that moment, her ears rang. Everyone else had vanished from her vision.
Before her, crimson ripples surged from the Disaster Flora’s glow. Her pupils reflected a shattered hallucination.
Tens of thousands of pale eyes merged into a massive compound eye in the void. Veiny tissue wrapped each eyeball in hive-like mucus. Countless Snow Wraiths and Snow Fiends writhed like a black tide, their limbs warping into vessels fused with the eye.
From the depths of the Polar Abyss Rift, a wet, squelching sound echoed—something slithering. Its body was made of multiplying ice-tipped tendrils and rotting flesh sacs. Ding Junyi’s eardrums were pierced by the overlapping howls of countless Eerie Entities.
She saw it.
A monster—floating high above the blizzard—staring down at Xilan City beneath Mount Fenglan.
For a moment, she was plunged into an infinite space of cold and horror.
At that moment, six Warhawk-Class Aerial Gunships lifted into the air, forming a formation every few hundred meters atop the northern city wall.
Clank! Clank!
The missile bays of the gunships slowly opened, firing off several large air-to-air missiles with explosive force. Simultaneously, the gunship-mounted I-17 Multi-Leaf Plasma Cannons began charging, arcs of energy gathering at their tips.
Boom! Boom!
Twelve streaks of blue plasma, each millions of degrees in temperature, tore through the sky, blinding and blazing as they exploded in the midst of the Winged Fiends, blooming like superheated blue fireworks. In an instant, swathes of monsters melted away, their bodies and bones incinerated by the scorching plasma, the blasts radiating out in blazing waves.
“1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 4th Battalion—hold your lines! Wait until they’re closer to open fire! Mecha Units, front and center!” He Zhen barked out calmly, unshaken as he watched the monster horde surge like a flood across land and sky. “Shift your firepower priority to airborne targets! On the ground—activate the High-Voltage Ion Walls! Let the beasts throw themselves at us—let’s see what gives first: their lives or our nuclear-powered reserves!”
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The densely arranged Great Wall-50 Rail Cannons roared again, their 300mm-caliber warheads blasting into the sky like Carbon-Based Lifeform Shredders, raining down flesh and blood with every hit. Missed rounds slammed into the snowfield, erupting into massive explosions, each capable of wiping out dozens or even hundreds of Snow Wraiths, leaving behind terrifying craters.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
The entire snowfield, stretching several kilometers, was pitch-black with the writhing Monster Tide, surging forward like a deadly mudslide. Soldiers of the Investigation Corps heard nothing but roaring winds and the thunderous boiling of the ground beneath their feet.
The world between heaven and earth had become a horrifying battlefield.
At that very moment, the canyon east of the city and the frozen river to the south erupted with artillery fire that shook the heavens.
Inside Xilan City, the air was thick with tension. From the gaping crater torn open by the Abyssal Worm, countless Snow Wraiths and Snow Fiends surged out, flooding into every street and alley.
“Pingjiang Road, Future Street, East Xin Garden—multiple sinkholes have emerged, flooding with Eerie Entities! Central Avenue, city east and south convoys—prepare for engagement!!”
Ratatatat! Bang bang bang!!!
Phoenix’s inner-city observation posts urgently relayed reports through the comms. Just seconds later, gunfire erupted around a dozen streets near the sinkholes, rapidly spreading to alleys, plazas, and more. Like a lit fuse, within moments, half of Xilan City was plunged into chaos and flames.
BOOM!
WHIRRR!
Explosions, gales, beams, shockwaves, missiles, and arc pulses tore through every district. Buildings exploded, and the public broadcast channels descended into chaos—filled only with the sounds of gunfire.
“Head toward Arctic Wind Alliance’s location!”
“There’s too many! TOO MANY!!”
Ratatatatatat!! Bang bang bang! Beep beep!
“Ram through them!”
“It’s the Snow Fiends!”
“Forget that convoy—fall back!!”
“Quick! Quick! Nightwalkers are here—let’s hit them together!!”
“Hold the line!!”
“The road’s blocked! Someone help! We’re on Shunan Street!”
“Everyone stay away from the TV Tower—a convoy’s gone rogue! There’s a Corrupted Ability User!”
“Cover fire! Pull back, pull back!”
“AHHH!!...”
At the North Rail Terminal, dozens of Doomsday Trains opened fire, unloading barrages of autocannons. As the monster horde poured in from multiple streets, the heavy weaponry created a fireline worthy of world war—so intense that it vaporized even the street snow.
“Suppress them! Suppress them!”
“Airborne targets incoming—bring in the Anti-Air Cannons!”
“Don’t let them breach the rail terminal!”
WOOOOOOOOM!
Pulse weapons swept across the passenger station plaza, toppling even its massive light pillars. Layers of ice pillars shattered, and the flamethrowers mounted on several Doomsday Train rooftops ignited infernos that lit up the entire terminal.
From the sinkhole emerged wave after wave of Winged Fiends, unfurling their massive wings as they dove toward convoys. Even if shredded by artillery mid-air, their crashing corpses crushed entire vehicles on impact.
RUMBLE RUMBLE!
Thunder and fire engulfed Xilan City, with every block erupting into fierce battle—artillery and gunfire blazing without end.
But in the West Freight Mine Station, it was strangely quiet.
The teams from the Infinite Train, Dragon Mountain No. 1, and the United Convoys stood ready, every nerve stretched taut as the distant city sounds roared with war.
Lin Xian, clad in his Active Exoskeleton, stood atop a shipping container, eyes not on the city, but fixed on Mount Fenglan in the near distance.
RUMBLE!
“Lin Xian!” Chen Sixuan, also in Power Armor, sat atop the highest apartment building near the rail yard, holding the Meteor-3 rifle and scouting the mountaintop. Beside her, Miao Lu was ready to cover her.
“They’re coming—from the mountain!”
After a night of stoking boilers, Lu Xingchen stretched his shoulders and stepped up to the train’s front, eyes glowing red with fire.
Above them, KIKI hovered midair, power gathered. Shasha, fully geared up in the Sally, stood at the very front. In the cockpit, the little rascal was chewing gum, trying to stay focused despite her nervous expression.
Big Luo and Shu Qin covered Lin Xian from the platform below.
On the Dragon Mountain No. 1 side, Shi Diyuan, Ning Jing, A’Bai, Xiao Qing, and Lu Yong were all battle-ready.
“Son of a b*tch... they really came over the mountain,” Shi Diyuan growled, his presence radiating brute force.
“Not just that.”
In Lin Xian’s comms, his armor’s radar picked up tremors intensifying across Mount Fenglan.
“Watch out—it’s an avalanche!”
BOOM BOOM!!
In a flash, the mountaintop erupted—an immense white wall of snow roaring down. A thousand meters tall, carrying millions of Snow Wraiths, it crashed toward them. Within the crumbling mass, lights flickered as Snow Fiends crawled down in waves.
Everyone below froze in shock.
“Hold your ground! Defend the camp! Engage only at close range—don’t break formation!”
Lin Xian’s eyes were sharp, his jaw clenched. Trying to flee now would only lead to disaster—sandwiched between enemies, they'd be doomed.
Outside the walls was hell itself—no escape. In this Endless Night, they had only one path: hold the defensive lines and endure!
WOOOOOO!
In that instant, every train-mounted weapon on the Infinite Train, Dragon Mountain No. 1, and United Convoys rotated toward Mount Fenglan and the mine station.
“All melee units—only deal with enemies that breach the line! Don’t charge out. Let the trains and convoy armor absorb the hits!”
“Agreed!” replied Uncle Wu.
“Copy!” Li Yi and Liang Lei shouted.
“Understood, Captain Lin,” said Luo Yang.
“We can hold!” Shen Yao, commander of the North Wind Convoy’s heavy base vehicle, responded grimly.
“Listen up—tonight’s going to be brutal!” Shi Diyuan shouted over the comms.
“KIKI! Fire Bro!”
Lin Xian called out as the avalanche's roaring soundwaves drew near.
“Breakthrough Formation!”
“Been waiting for it!” Lu Xingchen roared. Flames burst from his body as he leapt forward, landing in front of the mine station, igniting a massive blaze.
“Divine: Flame Realm!”
Lu Xingchen unleashed a searing technique—using adiabatic compression detonation, he formed a blazing fireball over ten meters wide. Crimson flames with a white-hot core evaporated the snow within dozens of meters, creating a miniature sun.
“Let the flames of the divine realm descend.” But Fire Bro wasn’t talking to the monsters—he was speaking to KIKI.
Whoosh—
Eyes glowing with terrifying power, KIKI soared high above the mine, spreading her arms. A massive psychic field blasted outward, scattering the blizzard.
Using the rising heat from Lu Xingchen’s flames, she began spinning her psychic field, forming a colossal firestorm. The blazing fireball was swept into the vortex—becoming a hundred-meter-wide, several-hundred-meter-tall flaming tornado!
“Riding the winds of fire—yes!” Lu Xingchen kept blasting fire upward, fueling the vortex.
KIKI gritted her teeth and shouted, pushing the flame twister slowly toward the avalanche.
In an instant, scorching waves drove back the freezing wind, the heat brushing every face in the convoy. The flaming cyclone tore through the mountain, lifting even steel mine carts, and collided with the avalanche and monster tide head-on.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The explosion was deafening—the avalanche evaporated on contact. Black smoke and steam surged skyward as the roar reached a fever pitch, even the air itself trembled.
BANG!
The landslide shattered in a cataclysmic blast, spraying blinding snow and ash. But much of it was swallowed by the firestorm, flung toward the freight warehouses and container platforms on either side of the rail yard.
Lin Xian raised his arm, deploying a force field shield to block the blast. At that moment, the full force of the avalanche had been stopped—but the snowstorm clouded all visibility.
The entire terminal was swallowed in thick white dust, the world reduced to shadowy silhouettes.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
As everyone braced against the storm, the sound of the approaching monster tide grew louder. Then, from within the obscured mine field—dense, black shapes emerged rapidly.
Above, in the blackened snow mist—massive wings cut through the sky.
Bang!
The thunderous ignition of Meteor-3 marked the first shot in the defensive counterattack.
Atop the Infinite Train, Miao Lu shielded Chen Sixuan from the howling snowstorm. Now composed and cold-eyed, Chen Sixuan raised her gun and fired a devastating shot at a large Winged Fiend approaching through the swirling snow haze!
The high-energy armor-piercing round tore through the blizzard and shattered the creature’s skull before it even fully emerged—chunks of flesh and bone exploded outward in a gruesome spray!
Woooo—!
In the next instant, the G3-Rail Electromagnetic Cannon and the 1130 CIWS atop the Infinite Train began to rotate on their mounts in sync. Fire-control radars locked onto targets. All systems—open fire!
Dooo!! Woooo! Zzzzt!
The heavy artillery and machine guns from Dragon Mountain No. 1 and the allied convoys unleashed a torrent of high-energy firepower!
At the same time, the Infinite Train, Dragon Mountain No. 1, and the convoy’s YJ03 Anti-Air Cannons erupted with relentless force, launching successive volleys into the sky!
Bang bang bang bang bang!
In an instant, the sky lit up like a festival—explosions blooming from low altitude to high altitude in dazzling waves!
“They’re here!!”
At the front of the rail station, Shasha, sitting in her Fire God Mecha, even paused chewing her gum. She held her breath—her line of sight obscured by smoke and snow, searchlights utterly failing to pierce the veil—but on her mecha’s radar, the forward arc was now swarming with targets rapidly closing in.
“Come on then, bring it!”
Gripping the mecha’s arm controls with both hands, she raised them high. Left arm: autocannon. Right arm: main gun. The central Arc Pulse Resonator had been upgraded by Lin Xian to a high-power version—its defensive capabilities stepped up a level.
Whooosh!
RAAARGHH!!
Shrieking sounds drew closer. Beneath the snow curtain, the first barrier to erupt was the High-Voltage Ion Wall deployed by the Chasing Sun Convoy. Horizontal ion beams flashed brilliant blue, instantly shredding a swath of charging Snow Wraiths.
But there were too many of them. In seconds, the Unified Convoy’s extreme-energy capacitor voltage dropped significantly. Countless Snow Wraiths surged forward over their mangled comrades’ remains and launched themselves at the rail station.
“Open fire!”
Bang bang bang bang!! Ratatatatatat!!
As the dark shapes drew close, the train and convoy unleashed a full barrage. Dense metal streams ripped the charging tide to pieces, halting the assault—for now. But from behind, more Snow Wraiths poured down from Fenglan Mountain in waves!
RAAARGHH!! BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
The towering Snow Demons, thick-skinned and tough, advanced through the hail of bullets, some making it several meters before being blown apart—only to be replaced by more charging from behind.
In the skies above, Winged Fiends swooped down endlessly. After the first wave of dense suppression, a few large ones slipped through the firepower gaps and breached the convoy, closing in on the train’s rooftop.
That’s when Luo Ye, Lü Chang, Shu Qin, Shi Diyuan, Ning Jing, Xiao Qing, Lu Yong, and several elite melee fighters from the convoy sprang into action, smashing back the creatures that had broken through the lines.
Boom!
Ning Jing, the powerhouse, leaped into the air. Her first punch bent a Winged Fiend’s wing backward. Her second caved in half its skull, slamming it into the ground in an eruption of snow and dust.
“This won’t work—watch the firepower gaps!” she roared over comms.
Just then, Luo Yang leapt onto a truck roof, aimed with his fingertip, and his eyes flashed—BOOM! A series of blue ion blasts erupted in the sky. On the other side, A’Bai, removing his sunglasses, fired twin beams of deep red laser from his eyes, slicing through multiple swooping Winged Fiends.
Li Guangwen and Liang Lei took positions beside Shasha’s Fire God Mecha—one using shockwave punches, the other fully metallized—blocking monsters at close range.
The Gemini twins, Amin and Luoluo, wielding chain-swords with radiant brilliance, danced among the invading Snow Wraiths. Liao Ming joined Shu Qin and Luo Ye’s brutal melee. Uncle Wu’s artillery and Xu Jin’s barrage rained down destruction. And Shen Yao, a Breakthrough-Level Ability User of the Energy Condensation class, charged into the horde alongside several soldiers clad in full-body armor. The surge of impact channeled into his body made his skin glow with a blinding orange-white light.
Next second, he unleashed it all in a single punch—BOOM!
A massive energy burst carved a fan-shaped kill zone through the horde, reducing hundreds of Snow Wraiths to dust.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Lin Xian’s Black Rifle darted through the blizzard like a death-reaping shuttle. Combined with the radiant blaze of his mechanical cannon, he weaved through the Eerie tide, harvesting their lives one after another.
Step!
After a Backlash, Lin Xian landed on the shaft of his flying Black Rifle, soaring a dozen meters. An electric surge activated his AT Field, blocking an ambush from behind. In a flash, he reversed and fired a mechanical cannon blast through the Snow Demon’s skull—just before Xiao Qing zipped past and cleanly decapitated it.
He was conserving energy, just as Ding Junyi had warned him.
High altitude? S-Class?
He’d already told KIKI and Fire Bro to conserve their strength. As for him, he needed every ounce of stamina ready—for the moment the worst-case scenario emerged and he had to unleash the Gravity Lens!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Above the skies, aerial support squadrons from the western city began fierce bombardments on the monsters crossing Fenglan Mountain.
BOOM! BOOM!
Off in the distance, outside the city, thermobaric bombs unleashed shockwaves that felt like they’d tear the sky apart—deafening thunder that made eardrums bleed.
Within the city, the ground never stopped shaking. That Abyss Worm continued to rampage. Many high-rises had collapsed completely. The entire city was engulfed in explosions and constant sirens.
Lin Xian, holding his Black Rifle, charged up an office building. He blasted down a pack of Snow Wraiths trying to climb from the rear, then turned to gaze over the city—still shrouded in darkness, yet blazing with fire and artillery.
His heart sank.
How many more people would die tonight? While he worried about the front lines and Ding Junyi, a deeper fear gnawed at him: Would the city even last until dawn and evacuation?
Wooo—Vrrrrr!
At that moment, Xiao He’s research convoy was racing along the city’s perimeter highways. The tremors had somewhat stabilized since they’d escaped the first worm attack. To avoid a larger Snow Wraith onslaught, Xiao He directed the team away from major camps, sticking to remote routes.
The convoy, guarded by Wen Zhu’s Nightwalkers led by Jing Tian, had just over a dozen vehicles left. Inside, dozens of scientists whispered over a secure frequency, brainstorming solutions.
In the lead experimental vehicle, Wei Kexue, Yu Yuheng, and others focused on Ding Junyi’s status.
Earlier, that strange outburst from Ding had frightened everyone. Then, without warning, she collapsed—and the red glow of the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum vanished.
It threw everyone into chaos. Had her vital signs not remained faintly stable, they would’ve thought she was already dead.
“We’ve notified the med team, but we can’t stop the vehicle—what now?” Yu Yuheng asked anxiously.
“Team Leader Yu, how’s Professor Ding’s condition?!” Xiao He’s voice came through the comms.
“Stable for now, but we don’t know what happened. We need to find a safe place fast so the medics can assess her properly.”
Xiao He frowned, eyes on the seismic reader. “Tremors are easing. The worm may have moved elsewhere. I’ll have the aerial units scout ahead—finding a safe zone ASAP.”
“Good. Hurry!”
Inside the lab vehicle—
“Have you noticed?” Wei Kexue spoke, eyes on the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum. “That A-Class Abyss Worm—this was its second attack. But none of us were marked.”
“What do you mean?” Yu Yuheng asked. “A higher directive?”
Wei looked toward Ding Junyi, his expression complicated. “What if she was right? What if the creature is trying to stop our research?”
“Didn’t you say that was too much of a stretch?”
Wei nodded, but pressed on urgently. “It is, unless there’s something else—something we and Professor Ding both don’t know. We can’t just sit here. That worm could strike again at any time. And people are dying all over the city. We need to act.”
Yu Yuheng frowned. “Our research is about the behavioral patterns of Dark Entities. Even if we find answers, it won’t change tonight’s outcome.”
“No!” Wei suddenly looked consumed by a wave of logic-driven obsession.
“Why did the lab get attacked? Why did that supposedly dead worm get dragged outside Xilan City? Why did our aerial patrol get marked? There’s got to be a reason behind all of it. If our research is related, that means something else is hiding in this blizzard, something that could determine whether the city survives or not!”
Yu Yuheng froze. As a scientist, logical reasoning meant everything. Wei’s words ignited all the doubts that had been festering in his mind.
His gaze shifted. “…So what do we do?”
“I think we have only one path left,” Wei said. “Zhao Yu was right—the more the enemy interferes, the more we know we’re right. If we can successfully capture a Dark Mark, we may uncover everything!”
“How?!” Yu Yuheng snapped. “You said it yourself—the A-Class worm didn’t even leave a mark. So how are we—”
“Then we go to the skies!!” Wei spun around, trembling all over, his eyes wild.
“If only the one in the sky—the S-Class—emits a mark, then that’s our observational target!”