What happened over at the laboratory?

Twilight Tavern in the outskirts of Luocheng.

The night sky was brilliant with stars, the streets were peaceful and serene, and inside the neon-lit glass doors, soft piano music mixed with wonderful saxophone melodies echoed through the lounge bar.

"Quick, quick! Pour the boss another Negroni; I don't have much time."

Completely unaware of the gravity of the situation, Cheng Sanli held his glass, splayed his limbs into a star shape, and leaned drunkenly against the bar table, sipping his drink while trying to strike up a conversation with the blonde, tattooed woman beside him.

"Beauty, here alone? Want to see a magic trick?"

Cheng Sanli's lips curled into a wicked smile, and from time to time, he exposed his wrist, rubbing the replica Rolex Green Submariner he had acquired from Huaqiangbei.

"Magic?"

The tattooed woman blinked, asking in a low voice with a hint of confusion.

"Yeah, I'm the legendary master illusionist David Cheng. If you want to watch, this drink is on me," Cheng Sanli said brazenly, his lewd eyes sweeping over her body a few times.

Hearing that someone was about to perform magic and buy drinks, the tattooed woman stroked her blonde hair, a flicker of interest showing in her eyes.

"Let's see it then."

"Are you sure you want to watch?" Cheng Sanli lowered his head, a serious look flashing in his eyes.

Prompted by his question, the tattooed woman grew even more curious: "What are you going to perform?"

Hearing this, Cheng Sanli shamelessly snatched the top hat off the head of the saxophone player, placed it on his own head, and opened his palms right in front of her.

After building her anticipation to the maximum, his expression suddenly shifted into a lecherous gaze and a wretched smile, and he clapped his hands together a few times.

"Catching twin peaks with one hand, oh."

"Per—pervert!"

The tattooed blonde frowned, feeling at a loss for words. The chubby fellow's eyes grew increasingly obscene, and she could not help but scold him.

Then she immediately stood up, turning and leaving the bar as if she were dodging some filthy cycle of grain reincarnation.

"Hahaha!"

Having achieved his wicked scheme, Cheng Sanli clutched his chest with his right hand and laughed out loud, returning the top hat to its owner.

"Such a fine babe, too bad I'm just out slacking off, otherwise I'd definitely chase her properly..."

As the "Little Prince of the Tavern," Cheng Sanli adhered to the principle that any beauty he couldn't hit on had to be disgusted into leaving, and he must never let anyone else have her.

He never blushed doing such things.

The Special Operations Unit was great in every way, except the discipline was far too strict. Most of the time, they operated in border regions and frequented desolate outback places, which was enough to drive a living person to death.

It was so hard to finally get an easy gig guarding students that he simply couldn't hold back; not coming out to play a little would truly make him unworthy of being a man.

The laboratory was under strict confidentiality, and slipping away to slack off for just a little while shouldn't cause any problems.

Unless that fellow Xu Chen was completely impervious to reason and snitched on him—if the guy actually dared to do that, Cheng Sanli decided he would not only revoke the fine liquor he had promised, but also sneak back and delete his thesis from his computer.

However, the ringing of his phone next completely shattered his mood.

"Cheng Laosan! What happened at the laboratory? Why can't we get through? Xu Chen just called Mr. Xidai, but he hung up immediately. Is someone attacking?"

"......"

"Hey, don't play mute, speak!"

Meng Xi's voice on the phone grew increasingly anxious, sounding as if she were questioning and roaring at him all at once, repeatedly demanding confirmation of the situation.

Cheng Sanli instantly felt as though the sky were falling.

His lingering drunkenness vanished in an instant. He truly never expected something to happen just half an hour after he left. Now that he wasn't even at the lab, he had no idea what was going on there.

"Ah?! Uh—"

"Ouch, Ah Xi, listen to me, I spotted suspicious personnel near the outside of the lab and am currently in pursuit; I don't know the situation inside the facility yet. Wait for me to head right back and check."

"Damn it, why is this guy so fast, leading me all the way out here? What a hearty and spirited battle!"

Tilting his head and clamping the phone between his ear and shoulder, Cheng Sanli blurted out one lie after another, attempting to muddle through.

He casually fished a few banknotes from his chest pocket, threw them onto the counter, and without waiting for change, ran frantically back toward the research facility.

"You bastard didn't go out drinking, did you?!"

At those words, Cheng Sanli's entire body shuddered violently, his confidence instantly collapsing, but a second later he shamelessly argued back:

"Ah Xi, am I that kind of person? How could I slack off on such an important mission? Just wait, I'm heading to the research facility right now!"

Meng Xi didn't believe a single ghost word from Cheng Sanli. She shouted with an ice-cold voice dripping with murderous intent:

"Cheng Laosan, if anything happens to the research facility this time, you can just wait to die!"

The blast nearly deafened the ear Cheng Sanli had pressed against the phone.

"Aiya, let's talk later, I'm hanging up first..."

At this moment.

Luocheng High School.

The campus, which should have fallen silent due to the end of the school day and the falling night, suddenly erupted into turmoil.

Special operations members disguised as teachers in suits rushed hurriedly into a row of black commercial vehicles, exchanged all their equipment inside the cars, and the drivers slammed hard on the gas pedals. After accelerating rapidly out from the campus grounds, they drove out of the school gates amidst the biting, howling cold wind.

Fine snowflakes began to drift from the sky, appearing mottled and speckled under the cold, icy gleam of the moonlight.

Xidai leaned on his gold-threaded cane, standing at the entrance and watching them leave. The wind blew the flagpoles into a continuous rattle, and a hexagonal snowflake drifted onto his palm, rapidly fading, melting, and vanishing as if sinking into flesh and blood.

He nodded almost imperceptibly, as though deep in thought, gripping his cane even tighter.

About two minutes later.

Meng Xi, dressed in a suit and black silk stockings, hurried over. Before she even had time to catch her breath, she began reporting: "M-Mr. Xidai, Cheng Sanli doesn't know what he went off to do; he wasn't at the research facility."

"I asked him, but he claims he doesn't know anything! Dammit, he completely ignores what the current situation is."

"I thought a few years of discipline would make him more sensible, but he's still like this. We shouldn't have assigned him there in the first place—Sir, please punish me!"

Hearing this, Xidai exhaled a long cloud of white vapor, his expression exceptionally grave.

"Now is not the time for punishment."

He had originally thought the laboratory's security was airtight.

Yet who could have imagined it would fall so easily, with so many special operations personnel stationed there failing to transmit even a single accurate piece of information.

What happened, who the attackers were, and what the current status was—they knew none of it.

They had been exceedingly cautious when selecting the site for the laboratory, and even members of the Special Operations Team rarely knew its location.

It had only been completed three days ago; logically speaking, such an accident should not have occurred.

Yet the speed of intelligence leakage was terrifyingly fast. At present, there seemed to be only one possibility: there was a mole.

High-ranking military officials or members of the operations team could all be involved.

This was a gravely serious issue; the collapse of any organization always stems from within.

The snow grew heavier and heavier, the ground gradually blanketed in pristine white, but the coldness in Xidai's hawk-like eyes was far more freezing than the surrounding air.

The importance of supernatural beings to Daxia was self-evident, and this kind of treacherous, inside-and-out betrayal filled him with incomparable fury.

"Sir, what should we do next? Should I rush to the research facility as well?" Meng Xi asked.

Xidai shook his head. "Enough people have already gone. We must prevent this from being a diversion; you take the remaining people and secure the campus."

"As for the laboratory, I have already contacted Elder Li to provide reinforcements. I just don't know if, even with his advanced age stepping in, those students can still be saved."