Chapter 293: Trust

All the other survivors were dead, meaning that the three of them were the last survivors of Sector Three. The city would not remember the winds that once blew through Sector Three; only they would remember the poor souls who silently froze to death in the frost and snow.

They were also the only ones who could avenge them.

Chen Ling remained silent for a long time, unsure how to comfort Zhao Yi. He could only speak in a hoarse, grim voice: “The dead cannot be brought back to life… In that case, we’ll drag more people down with them.”

A bone-chilling wind, as if from the underworld, swept across Century Avenue, making the hearts of the three major guild members tremble. They watched in terror as the three figures stood side by side in the distance, sensing a fierce, blazing fire burning within them.

“Hey, hey, hey… an Enforcer, the Twilight Society, and some kind of monster? What kind of combination is this?” The squinting man was seeing such an odd scene for the first time, and his heart was pounding.

Sweat beaded on Yu Zi's palm, where she gripped her dagger, quickly freezing into frost. She watched the three of them with extreme vigilance, lowering her voice. “We can’t confront them directly… We just need to buy time for the Guild Leader. The train is about to depart.”

“...I hope we can hold out until then,” she added.

Just as the two were about to act, a rune flashed in Zhao Yi's eyes. He roared, his body shooting forward like a cannonball, carrying terrifying force as he slammed towards their faces!

The squinting man took a deep breath, slashing his long scythe forcefully towards a nearby building. The tall, magnificent structure was instantly cut into countless heavy bricks. With a flick of his finger, these bricks accumulated into a gigantic hand, large enough to obscure the sky, which then slammed down on the rapidly approaching Zhao Yi!

Paths of the War God: Myriad Defense.

A resounding thud!

The colossal hand, weighing hundreds of tons, crashed down, leaving exaggerated spiderweb cracks on Century Avenue and crushing the black monster into the ground.

After a brief pause, an even louder explosion erupted from underground. A large hole was gouged through the center of the giant hand, and dense runes immediately spread wildly around it as Zhao Yi's figure emerged from within.

At that moment, Yu Zi's figure materialized behind him. Her dagger, glinting with cold light, tore through the air with astonishing speed, striking towards the back of his head!

As Yu Zi softly uttered the word “Judgment,” her pupils suddenly contracted. Her figure vanished again, retreating just in time to narrowly avoid a beam of gunfire that disintegrated everything.

Within mere seconds, a gap appeared in their interception. Han Meng expressionlessly lowered his gun, wisps of smoke drifting from its muzzle.

“Go,” he said.

“What?” Chen Ling asked.

“The path has been opened for you,” Han Meng stated calmly. “We will deal with everyone here. Yan Shang’s life is in your hands; he cannot leave Aurora City like this… He has too many sacrificial artifacts on him, which you should be able to handle.”

Chen Ling turned to meet his gaze and asked, “You trust me that much?”

“The infamous Heart 6 of the Twilight Society doesn't miss a kill,” Han Meng paused. “And the Enforcer Chen Ling I know wouldn't let a beast who profits from human suffering get away.”

Chen Ling froze for a moment, then gave a helpless smile, looking in the direction Yan Shang had departed.

“Yan Shang won't leave Aurora City.”

A shrewd glint flashed in Chen Ling's eyes. He already had a plan and turned to walk in a certain direction.

***

Enforcement Headquarters.

“Teacher, the person you requested has been brought,” Chu Shiduo said, walking to the office door and knocking gently.

Tan Xin's gaze was fixed on the window.

“Bring him in.”

As the office door opened, several enforcers brought a disheveled figure to the room's entrance. It was Wen Shilin, who had been arrested earlier at the Aurora Base.

“You are Wen Shilin?” Tan Xin asked, waving for the escorting enforcers to withdraw. “I've heard much about you.”

As the other enforcers left, Wen Shilin finally had a free hand. He tidied his clothes briefly and spoke in a deep voice:

“You are a Deputy Chief. I am merely an ordinary reporter; I cannot possibly live up to such praise,” he replied.

“Ordinary?” Tan Xin chuckled softly. “Which ordinary reporter could investigate inside the Aurora Base?”

Wen Shilin did not answer Tan Xin. Instead, he stared directly at him and asked, “Just how much have you been hiding from the citizens of Aurora City?”

“A great deal,” Tan Xin calmly replied. “Didn't you see it all yourself in the base? Human experimentation, prolonging the Aurora Lord's life, and…”

“I'm not talking about those!”

A sharp glint appeared in Wen Shilin's eyes. “I had already guessed the Aurora Lord's lifespan was ending, and your human experiments were within my expectations… But tell me, what were those explosives on the second floor of the base for?”

“I found the list of consumed materials on the second floor. If the amounts listed are accurate, you've already produced enough explosives to destroy Aurora City three times over… After processing such high-yield explosives at the base, you sent them all back to the surface. What exactly are you planning to do?”

Wen Shilin's focus was entirely different from Chen Ling's and the others'. His keen journalistic intuition told him that the most dangerous aspect of the base was not the human experimentation, nor the missing Aurora Lord… but the explosives that had been processed on the second floor and then disappeared without a trace.

“It's related to the ‘Hand of Redemption’ project, isn't it?”

Tan Xin quietly observed Wen Shilin.

“Do you… want to know?”

At his words, Wen Shilin froze for a moment. “What do you mean? You can tell me?”

In Wen Shilin's understanding, the ‘Hand of Redemption’ was Aurora City's top secret, known only to one or two high-ranking enforcers. Yet, Tan Xin's casual remark suggested he could simply ask and be told.

“I can tell you. Not only that, you can record it and write an article.”

As Tan Xin spoke, he took a pen and a notebook from a drawer and placed them before Wen Shilin.

Wen Shilin looked at the items, still seeming somewhat bewildered. Both the pen and notebook were his, confiscated when he was arrested… Now Tan Xin was returning them to him?

“Why?” Wen Shilin asked, his eyes full of confusion.

“The low temperatures and snow have destroyed our communication systems, and we've completely lost contact with other territories,” Tan Xin explained. “But there are some things, some words, I still want to get out.” He pulled a train ticket from his pocket and offered it to Wen Shilin.

“This is a ticket for the last inter-territory train. If you promise me to record everything with your writing and send it to other territories, I will tell you all the plans.”

Wen Shilin gazed blankly at the offered ticket and at Tan Xin's serious, earnest eyes.

After a long silence, he nodded emphatically.

“Alright, I promise.”