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Chapter 327 Anticipatory Countermeasures
……

"how are you feeling?"

Chen Xuan sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the woman in front of him with complicated emotions. He had thought that she would not wake up for a while after suffering so much, but he did not expect to hear the news of her awakening so soon after leaving room 202.

She looked haggard, completely different from Honglian a few days ago—the physical pain was one thing, but the mental setback was even more obvious; her eyes seemed to have lost their sparkle and become dull and lifeless.

It's like a flame that has burned to its end, leaving only a few embers.

"Who...are you?" Honglian glanced at him and asked weakly, "And where...is this place?"

“You’ll never find a place in an organization, so you’re safe here,” Chen Xuan replied. “My name is Chen Xuan, Lin Qing’s partner. You may not recognize me, but I’ve actually seen you many times.”

Their earliest contact actually dates back to the time when Joan of Arc was imprisoned.

"So...you were also chosen by Shixin..."

"You can say that."

Once Honglian is recalled to the store, there is no need to continue concealing this information. Besides, given her current miserable state, she certainly won't be able to return to the Limitless Agency.

"Where is Miss Lin? Is she here too?"

At this, Chen Xuan's heart suddenly felt heavy. He shook his head, "She disappeared to save you."

Honglian was stunned.

The room fell silent for a moment.

In the midst of this long silence, Chen Xuan actually heard a sob. He looked at the head of the bed in surprise and found that Honglian was already in tears, but she was biting her lip hard to keep herself from making too much noise.

Are their feelings for each other really that deep?
Or perhaps the word "disappeared" was inappropriate and caused her to misunderstand it?

Seeing that she was overwhelmed with emotion, Chen Xuan planned to let her rest a bit longer and come see her later. But as soon as he got up, she grabbed his hand. "You must take action immediately—your affair... Shi Xin's affair... has probably already been exposed!"

Chen Xuan looked surprised. "How were you exposed?"

Did she confess?

No, according to Lin Qing, Honglian is the kind of person with extremely strong will; otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to openly defy the organization when it was at its peak. Therefore, the person who confessed is most likely Wang Baihu—

“It wasn’t us who said it… Wang Qianduan… cough cough…” She spoke too quickly and couldn’t help coughing, “It was Wang Qianduan! His ability is very likely related to mind reading; he read our consciousness! Wang Baihu… was also killed by them!”

"what?"

Chen Xuan's expression immediately turned serious.

Wang Baihu is dead? The image of that young agent immediately flashed into his mind.

...And what about Jiang Siqi?
"They used this method to break down my psychological resistance and force me to recall everything about him... I don't know how much intelligence Wang Qianduan can obtain, but to put it in the worst case, my interactions with Shixin, Elori, and Lin Qing have all been taken into their hands!"

Even in her overwhelming grief, even with tears streaming down her face, Honglian didn't cry out loud for a moment. She had no time to vent her sorrow; she had to convey this most important message.

Chen Xuan quickly reviewed his interactions with Honglian. The concept of Shixin was fabricated, and Lin Qing had already disappeared. Therefore, the only remaining targets for the organization were Elori and Beitianyuan, who had cooperated with the "illegal wanderers".

As for the main store of the Tianlu Community's ability shop... it has not been revealed to Honglian and the others yet.

They can't possibly go to Beitianyuan to snatch people, can they?
After all, this is not 2050 now. The government has become a world leader, and at least in Jiangcheng, they cannot do whatever they want.

Chen Xuan was about to comfort Honglian, but the words caught in his throat.

Will the Security Agency really remain inactive and continue to observe? Especially after they learn that the Northern Heavenly Academy may be harboring wanderers...

This operation was clearly premeditated. Xiao Kanong not only wanted to snatch the artifact from the demon, but also planned to eliminate the traitors within the team. That's why they hadn't made a move until now, and once they did, they gave Honglian almost no chance to resist.

This attitude clearly indicates a consensus within the organization: the wanderers appearing in Jiangcheng pose a significant threat and must be eradicated as soon as possible. Now that they possess concrete intelligence, it might be wishful thinking to assume they will hesitate to act.

"I understand, I'll make the arrangements right away," Chen Xuan said, changing his mind.

Honglian nodded and struggled to get out of bed.

"What are you trying to do?" he quickly stopped her.

“I…I want to help too, any kind of help…” Honglian wiped away her tears. “The other team members are still in Wang Qianduan’s hands. He said that if I’m not willing to cooperate, Jiang Siqi and Xiaojiu’s lives will also be in danger…”

As expected, Jiang Siqi's affair was also exposed. As for Xiaojiu... she was probably implicated simply because she was close to Honglian.

Without saying a word, Chen Xuan pressed her back onto the bed. "Your internal organs and bones are damaged. Resting is the fastest way to recover. If you take proper care, you can recover in a day. There's no need to rush these few hours."

"But--"

“If you want to help, you should lie down and think about this problem,” he interrupted. “What exactly makes you so important that you can cause the organization to split apart in the future?”

“Split…?” Honglian asked blankly. “Me?”

"That's right. Understanding our role within the organization is the greatest help we can receive."

Chen Xuan had previously been skeptical of this claim. After all, from any perspective, Honglian was just a minor character, and it was hard to imagine that she could ultimately split the Dimensional Mechanism in two at its peak. But now he believed it, because history had proven it—the future was rewritten, and the world underwent earth-shattering changes, simply because he had teleported Honglian back to the Ability Shop.

Finding the reasons behind it is the key to winning the war against the machine.

Chen Xuan walked out of the room and found Xu Xuanling and Liuli waiting for him at the door.

"Tell me, who do you want to kill this time?" Liuli asked, adjusting her bamboo hat.

"That's too blunt, not elegant at all," Xu Xuanling pouted.

"Then how are you going to ask?"

“Master, your will is the mission of the disciples of the Lotus Cloud Sect!” she said with a chuckle.

Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was going to make a move?"

“Your murderous intent is written all over your face.” Xu Xuanling shrugged.

Liuli nodded in agreement, "Even when I'm in a stable state, I'm happy to accumulate more stability points."

Is it that obvious? Chen Xuan touched his cheek, trying to remain calm. "This may not happen, but if the enemy comes knocking on my door, I will definitely make them pay."

It's around 3 a.m. now, and the security agency should still be in another world.

It's not hard to deduce that they won't easily return to this world before they've completely extracted all the information from Honglian; even if they were to transfer, they would inject Honglian with anesthetic drugs beforehand to prevent her from using the ability to change the king's throne.

The sudden disappearance of Honglian must have caused some chaos within the organization.

Whether they search for operators on the spot or take action against Kitaten-in based on intelligence, it will take a considerable amount of time.

Chen Xuan judged that he had at least several hours to prepare.

It is essential to discuss with Dean Sun. No matter what he wants to do, he cannot do without the trust and cooperation of Beitian Academy. Secondly, he must inform Liu Shuyue. Since he does not know whether the agency will target Beitian Academy or when it will take action, he must be prepared to keep a long-term watch. The rotation of personnel in Mala Village will be very important.

Elori also needs to be moved; as a guest, she should ideally be within the shop's reach. Even if Kitaten-in cannot keep the traps out, the Dean and the others will not be in any danger.

However, before implementing these countermeasures, he had an even higher priority: to see what changes the LV6 store manager had brought about.

Chen Xuan returned to the bar and opened the butler app.

(End of this chapter)