The person in the smock sat down and said, "Ma'am, we've heard about your situation, regarding Mr. Cui and your father..."
Before he could finish, Luo Weina waved a hand, showing she did not care in the slightest.
"In life, that old man was never good to my mother or me. He would lose his mind from time to time; my mother didn't even dare live near him, or I probably wouldn't have survived to be born. I have no real affection for him. To be honest, if my mother hadn't wished for me to stay here, I wouldn't have even remained in Vea State, because I had no desire to see him."
As for her maternal grandfather, Cui Xuanhui, she had no real impression of him whatsoever. Before she was even born, he had been slain by a Great Shun martial artist.
Her mother had also grown up with an adoptive mother, and that man had never fulfilled a single day's duty as a father. Even when he later married her mother off to Luo Xiao, he had only sent a letter, never even showing his face.
She even doubted whether there was any actual blood relation between them at all.
Seeing that she disliked the topic, the smocked man promptly dropped it. "Well, Ms. Luo, has there been any trouble with your dojo recently? We can help you."
Luo Weina shook her head. "I can handle these matters. If you don't want to be discovered, avoid coming to my place so often lately. Rest assured, what we promised you, we will deliver."
The smocked man scrutinized her expression, seemingly trying to confirm something. After a moment's thought, he said in an earnest tone, "Ms. Luo, please trust us. We are truly willing to help you. If anything comes up, you know how to reach us."
Luo Weina gave a slight nod in response.
The smocked man then bowed to her with dojo etiquette. "Then I won't disturb you any longer. I'll take my leave."
With that, he slowly backed out the door, and outside soon fell silent.
Luo Weina remained seated, motionless. Though she was the daughter and granddaughter of martial artists, she did not seem to have inherited either of their outstanding talents. Her physique was merely somewhat better than average, and she had barely cultivated her way to the third limit.
Yet compared to that, she possessed a spiritual ability that ordinary people lacked. This spiritual ability possessed certain peculiar traits. In the past, even she hadn't understood it, until that day when she had suddenly let out a soft sigh. After that day, her entire life was changed. Perhaps for this reason, she did not fear others trying to seize her dojo, for she always had a way to deal with it.
She looked down at her shadow cast across the floor and spoke softly: "Isn't that right?"
No one answered her, but she knew it heard.
She gazed out at the sky. That day, the one it and so many others had been waiting for all along—it was probably coming soon, wasn't it?
***
In the northern sewer conduits of Center City, Vea State.
Inside a secret chamber, a young man stood before a desk, pulling an astral chart from its surface.
The day of the three stars convergence was drawing near, and the opportunity they had been waiting for was about to arrive.
But exactly which day would it be?
Whether in the old era or the new, calculating the precise date and time of a three stars convergence was exceedingly difficult. More often than not, it required state-organized observation rituals to obtain an approximate timeframe.
In this regard, those proficient in Eastern Continent esoteric rituals held an advantage, as Eastern Continent rituals were the most closely integrated with celestial and terrestrial phenomena. Their team had managed to find several such experts.
Even so, when faced with stellar orbits that typically required high-end ritual apparatus to observe, they had made corrections repeatedly before finally estimating the date to fall roughly between January 10th and 15th.
He frowned at the chart. A five-day window was still too broad, introducing far too much uncertainty. It would be best if they could narrow the range further—even down to two days, or better yet, a single day.
As he was pondering, footsteps echoed from the conduit outside, and he instantly tensed with alertness.
He could tell three people were approaching. Two sets of footsteps were familiar, while the third was somewhat foreign, yet vaguely reminiscent of someone he had heard before.
He immediately drew the firearm tucked at his waist, cleanly flicked off the safety, and pulled a lever on the wall. A hidden panel slid open, exposing rows of apertures along the walls.
If anything was amiss, corrosive toxic gas would flood the room instantly, rapidly dissolving everything inside, including himself.
Once the footsteps halted outside, several knocks matching the code sounded, but he did not make a sound.
Then came the turning of a valve, and the door slid open slowly. Three figures appeared before him amidst the purification vapor drifting behind them. All three wore protective smocks. Two had builds and postures he knew intimately, while the one in the center...
The man glanced at the gun in his hand, then at the apertures on the flanking walls, before reaching up to remove his protective mask, revealing a square, stern face.
The young man started in surprise. "Commissioner Qu?"
He had never expected the commissioner overseeing overall affairs from above to come here in person. He hastily set his pistol aside and pulled the lever back, closing the apertures, and said apologetically, "Commissioner Qu, forgive me. I had no idea you were coming. I have nothing prepared—"
Commissioner Qu said, "Vigilance is a good thing."
As the young man looked around for tea canisters to brew him a drink, Commissioner Qu raised a hand. "Don't bother." Turning to the two behind him, he said, "You two wait outside."
The two exchanged glances with the young man. Seeing him nod, they withdrew and stood further down the corridor.
Rather than taking the seat the young man had arranged, Commissioner Qu remained standing and asked, "Team Leader Lu, how are your preparations coming along?"
The young man said, "As you instructed, Commissioner, all parties have been notified. Ever since the New Year incident, we have complied with your orders and suspended all operations. However, some comrades below have voiced concerns that doing nothing at all might make the Government Affairs Department even more suspicious."
Commissioner Qu said in a deep voice, "In our past plans, minor skirmishes were manageable, but for major operations, the more intricate the steps, the more traces they leave behind. That cannot be concealed from an active conscious entity like Alu, which is why you barely ever succeeded in the past. However, we aren't doing nothing this time. Headquarters has run exhaustive deductions and will deploy several consecutive actions to mask our true intention."
His tone turned intensely grave. "Team Leader Lu, I need the full cooperation of your Vea State cell."
Team Leader Lu straightened solemnly. "Our cell has long been prepared. We will carry out your orders with everything we have, Commissioner!"
Commissioner Qu nodded. "The first task assigned to you: launch an assault on a diplomatic delegation."
Team Leader Lu was startled. Currently, there was only one delegation in Center City—the Great Shun delegation. Leaving aside whether attacking them made any sense, they simply lacked the capability to pull it off.
Commissioner Qu glanced at him, seemingly reading his thoughts. "Do you think I've lost my mind?" He then revealed the answer. "It's the Tawatinia delegation."
Due to the earlier clashes between the two settlements, the Tawatinian community had suffered a severe setback. In particular, the death of 'Madman' Lodewijk dealt a tremendous blow to the entire Tawatinian population settled in the Federation.
For historical and geographical reasons, numerous Tawatinian immigrants lived in the Federation, yet among the world's influential martial artists, those emerging from the Tawatinian diaspora were exceptionally scarce.
Toward the end of the old era, the newly formed Tawatinia Region's coalition government sought to take advantage of internal turmoil in the Eastern Continent's final dynasty to seize interests in the Southern Outer Ocean. Borrowing heavily, they ambitiously assembled a fleet and fought a major naval engagement against the dynasty. Instead, they were utterly annihilated at sea by the dynasty's renowned naval admiral, Wei Hudu, commanding an understrength fleet, resulting in the deaths of more than four martial artists.
This disaster tore the freshly integrated regional coalition apart, abruptly halting their self-proclaimed rise. Even now, it remained a source of bitter regret for many Tawatinian scholars.
Yet in truth, that was not the sole reason. At the time, the region had not sunk into complete ruin. Rather, the Federation and the nations of Yono took advantage of Tawatinia's internal disarray to launch comprehensive political, economic, and military infiltration and suppression against it. That was what truly dealt an irreparable blow to its ascent.
Nevertheless, the upper and middle classes of Tawatinia blamed everything on the Eastern Continent, leading to terrible relations between the two immigrant communities.
Having heard what took place in Vea State, the region viewed it as yet another instance of Great Shun's oppression and bullying. Believing the coalition government had to speak up for its overseas diaspora, they hastily organized a diplomatic delegation whose airship was now nearing the Federation's borders.
Commissioner Qu walked over to the map and tapped a specific location with his finger. "Based on their route, the airship will arrive here in two days."
Team Leader Lu looked. It was an airship supply station on the Taissa Highlands, merely a day's drive from Vea State.
"I need you to organize an elite strike team, disguise yourselves as people from Great Shun, and inflict sufficient casualties on the delegation. This will inevitably provoke their outrage against the Great Shun delegation. If a clash erupts between them, it will trigger even greater conflict and chaos in Center City, which works in favor of our plan."
Team Leader Lu frowned. He felt deep internal resistance to such an operation. Although they were a resistance organization, they were not rioters who resorted to any unscrupulous means to achieve an end. Attacking a delegation, inciting clashes among the populace, and causing pointless sacrifices—how was this any different from what Diego and his lot did?
Commissioner Qu said in a severe voice, "Team Leader Lu, for our cause, some sacrifices are necessary. This order comes from me. Only my signature will be recorded in the archives, and I will bear all the condemnation that follows. Right now, I only require you to obey orders. Can you do it? If you can't, say so now, and I will find someone else to carry it out!"
Team Leader Lu fell silent for a moment before finally looking up. "Commissioner, I will obey orders."
Chapter 1135