Portents

Everything Canglong Company promised arrived in less than a day, including four armored vehicles, twenty crates of weapons and ammunition, an array of protective gear, and a substantial supply of replenishment materials and spare parts. Once tallied up, it was enough for their squad to fight a small-scale war. Yet these supplies had not been requested on a whim. Once the Fumu began its fission and reproduction, there was no telling where its split offspring might emerge. If one appeared nearby, it could very well tear open a fissure between the two worlds right here, and no one knew what kind of horrors might crawl out of it when the time came. They had all fought in the Confluence and knew full well how formidable the creatures from the other side were. If such a scenario unfolded, this mansion could serve as a fortified defensive stronghold. Aware of the situation's complexity, Chen Chuan and his squad members spent two days fortifying the estate. The four set up several razor-wire barricades along the perimeter and erected electrified fences. Fortunately, they had also requested additional generator sets and a large supply of algae fuel; otherwise, the mansion's own generators would never have met the demand. The four of them were not the only ones stationed at the estate. A five-man sword guard squad had already been patrolling and guarding the grounds, and Yan Yi had gone out of his way over the past few days to dispatch an additional squad to assist, providing more than enough manpower. By this time, the interference organism leased from the Bureau, along with several small field organisms, had all been delivered. Qin Qingque tuned and adjusted them. Once everything was set up, he transmitted a comm signal to Chen Chuan. "Captain, this is our dedicated frequency. Once the interference organism is activated, any transmission outside this frequency without prior authorization will be jammed." Once the Fumu began its fission, most boundary nodes would become unusable. It would be nearly impossible for resonants to observe distant scenes or personnel through boundary nodes; however, if other portable field organisms reached their vicinity, it could still be achieved. Field interference organisms, meanwhile, could perform long-range monitoring and eavesdropping, prevent hostile forces from detecting their situation, and disrupt communications between boundary credentials. Chen Chuan logged into the frequency on his boundary credential and tested communications with the team members. Qin Qingque added, "The leased field organism has a coverage radius of about three kilometers. As long as our squad stays within that range, keeping in touch won't be an issue. "I also located the internal platform frequencies issued by the City Administration and the Defense Department. If anyone falls outside our communication range, they can try logging into those field organisms to hop frequencies and locate teammates." Su Wei looked at him with admiration. Considering himself uneducated, he had always held great respect for technical specialists like Qin Qingque; back in his former squads, people with such skills typically held high status. Yuan Qiuyuan walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. "What are you daydreaming for, Officer Su? Come on, let's head out to test the frequency range and get some sparring in while we're at it." Over the past two days, whenever they had downtime, they sparred to familiarize themselves with each other's fighting styles for better teamwork in the future. Su Wei's combat prowess had genuinely impressed him. The man was older than him and had never received formal training; every ounce of his skill had been forged through real combat in the Confluence, and all his cultivation resources had been earned with his own blood and sweat. That earned Yuan Qiuyuan's sincere respect. Su Wei glanced at Chen Chuan. Seeing no objection, he left with Yuan Qiuyuan. Chen Chuan made another round of the perimeter. Seeing that all was in order, he said goodbye to Qin Qingque and returned to Wuyi Academy. Cultivation within the academy was unmatched by anything outside, and Hongfu could temper his spirit daily. In the remaining time before the opening of the Heavenly Gate, he could still push for further improvement. When he returned to the Xuangong Building, he saw students hurrying back and forth and occasionally caught sight of familiar academy instructors riding the elevators up and down. A solemn tension permeated the academy. This was because many faculty and students without official duties had been drafted into defense units by the Municipal Administration, spending the past two days in squad drills and formation training. Although most students were merely at the second limit, once outfitted in protective gear and fighting in coordinated teams, security detachments or military squads without heavy weaponry stood no chance against them. They constituted a formidable force. Yet how would the Center City government explain the anomalies when they appeared? After all, matters concerning the Great Impact were strictly classified from both the common populace and ordinary students. He accessed the platform to check. His expression grew slightly subtle. This explanation... was passable, in a way. One could say it had a certain plausible logic to it. After returning to his dorm room, he suddenly heard a soft thud against the window, as though something had slammed into the glass and dropped onto the sill. A bird? It didn't sound like one. Normally, due to the influence of Hongfu's field around the Xuangong Building, birds rarely flew into the structure. In all his time at the academy, he had never witnessed it happen even once. He walked over, opened the adjacent maintenance hatch, and stepped out onto the exterior sill ledge. There, he found something twitching on the surface. It was a flying insect roughly the size of a finger, its wings already shattered. Though small, it possessed savage, monstrous mouthparts, and judging by the sound of the impact, its carapace was remarkably hard. Was this... a creature from the Confluence? His gaze sharpened slightly. The appearance of such a creature was unmistakable proof that even though the fissures had not yet widened and opened, minute apertures had already begun to form. He looked up at the towering skyscrapers outside. A brisk wind blew his hair back. Beneath the horizon stretched the sprawling silhouette of the city, while a bank of leaden-gray clouds hung heavy across the upper vault of the sky. It seemed it would happen within the next day or two. And it was not just here. Across every district of Center City, swarms of small insects of unknown origin were cropping up one after another. Passengers inside trams could constantly hear the crackling rattle of impacts against the windows. Once the trams rattled past, they left behind carpets of insect carcasses, while far more swarmed through the sky. Given the lush greenery throughout Center City, some attached themselves directly to foliage and began gnawing away. Along the streets, the sounds of pedestrians swatting and cursing echoed from time to time. Aside from biting, these pests burrowed into people's eyes, noses, ears, and collars, driving everyone to distraction. Fortunately, most of the insects were quite tiny, and since it happened to be spring—a season naturally prone to bugs—passersby merely cursed in annoyance without it causing much panic or disorder. Within half an hour, City Patrol units took to the streets, while airships cruised overhead, spraying copious amounts of pungent chemical pesticide over roadside greenery and climbing vines on high-rises. At that moment, Old Qi and Wu Han were sitting in a car driving back to their lodging. Following Chen Chuan's earlier warning, they had stopped accepting new commissions, but they couldn't abandon the jobs they had already taken. Only now had they finished their final assignment and rushed back from out of town. Watching the insects continually smacking into the windshield, Wu Han remarked, "Bizarre. Where did all these bugs come from? Didn't see any a few days ago. Old Qi, is this a local specialty of yours?" Old Qi turned on the wipers, sweeping away the chemical fluid and bug splatters. "Never seen them before. Didn't Brother Chen tell us to be careful a few days back? Could it be this? Still, now that you mention it... this looks like something I saw once before, about twenty years ago..." "What happened back then?" Old Qi recalled, "They said it was an invasive species or something, came in from across the ocean. Can't remember too clearly." "Hold on, let me check." Wu Han looked it up on his boundary credential. He found lively discussions across the platform and quickly got an answer. "Looks like that's really it. They say these bugs migrated from across the ocean, caused by some biological experiment the Linax Federation ran back then. This is only the first wave. Supposedly, massive swarms will arrive in a few days. The Linax Federation really never does anything decent." Just then, the giant advertising screens flanking the road flickered, and the bust of a well-known news anchor appeared on display. "...This marks another massive invasion of non-native species in twenty years..." "Thirty years ago, disregarding all warnings, the Linax Federation conducted biological experiments across the ocean spanning a decade, resulting in marine environmental degradation and mutations among biological populations... "The invading organisms possess severe destructive potential. The Center City government has implemented rigorous defensive measures, and Center City citizens are urged to reduce outdoor travel during this period..." Old Qi instinctively grew vigilant. "Doesn't look simple. I'd better pick up Qiqi early today..." As their car drove forward, an armed patrol vehicle from the Bureau approached from the opposite direction and crossed paths with them. Inside sat Sun Rao and Wei Yuji. Watching the broadcast on the screen, Wei Yuji suddenly asked, "Senior, do you buy that story?" "What do you mean?" Wei Yuji replied, "Just to deal with some bugs, the higher-ups made such a grand show of force? Mobilizing so many people to step up security patrols?" "What else could it be?" Sun Rao thought he was overthinking things and cautioned, "Don't underestimate these things. Supposedly this is just the vanguard with minimal threat; nastier things are coming behind them." Wei Yuji chuckled derisively. "Setting aside where these things came from, if it were merely an invasive species, do you really think Center City's field organisms are just for show? And what about all the foreign fighters pouring in lately? What are they here for?" "It's possible they were hired by the government, or they're looking for opportunities to harvest these organisms for research. After all, they have value," Sun Rao offered as a plausible explanation. Wei Yuji said, "You believe that? I don't. The higher-ups are definitely hiding something from us." "So what if they are? None of that has anything to do with us. All we have to do is obey orders." Wei Yuji said, "That's why I say you're too rigid, Senior. Even when opportunity knocks, you can't seize it. The brass probably finds a subordinate like you useful enough, but that's as far as you'll ever go. "You're always bragging to me about how you showed Captain Chen the ropes when he first joined the Bureau, but now he's an enforcement captain, while you're still stuck doing patrols." Sun Rao's face darkened at his words. Bragging? That was the honest truth! He said, "Junior, I don't care what you think. Right now, you're on patrol duty, and you'd better do your job right. If you step out of line, I'll report you up the chain, and that will reflect poorly on your record. Think it over." Wei Yuji let out a dry scoff. "Then you're mistaken, Senior." Gazing out the car window at the flitting insects, he said, "Rules are made for the mediocre. Those who truly rise above are never bound by them."