Night Journey

Chapter 148 The Last Enemy
With the final operation briefing carefully placed on Decal's desk, the long, bloody night finally came to an end.

Hannah rubbed her tired eyes and then kneaded her numb and aching fingers.

She didn't stop typing all night, and her ten fingers suffered varying degrees of bruising. She also experienced dull pain in her shoulders and neck, and the muscles in her entire back felt as if they were stuck together.

Working through the night at high intensity was nothing short of a battle and torture for her.

Hannah, suppressing her physical discomfort, tidied up the mountain of manuscripts, thinking to herself.

"ended."

She first categorized the manuscripts by hour, then further subdivided them into ten-minute units, arranging them neatly together.

After finishing the document, Hannah forced herself to cheer up and went to the other side of the office.

There was a tape recorder sitting there.

Hannah took out the tapes, labeled them, and then sorted them by time, putting them all into the box.

"Isn't the director's meticulousness a bit too pathological...?"

She kept busy while muttering to herself.

I thought De Karl's demand for written records was already demanding enough, but then he also got a tape recorder to record all the conversations that night.

Hannah questioned this, arguing that it was unnecessary.

Decal then offered his explanation.

"Information recorded through different media and methods can be compared with each other to prevent anyone from tampering with or contaminating the information."

Upon hearing this explanation, Hannah suddenly understood, and all she felt was admiration for De Karl.

So meticulous, so incredibly meticulous!
Hannah organized the series of records, while Decal picked up the last briefing.

He didn't immediately turn the pages, but instead cast his gaze out the window, into the gray morning mist of Hull City, his fingers unconsciously tapping the smooth tabletop, making a rhythmic, soft sound.

A moment later, De Karl opened the briefing and read its contents.

The briefing briefly described the results of the operations in each area, casualties, etc. The staff were still compiling more detailed information, but they rushed to produce this one so that De Karl could review it.

Lines of data, rows of names—some were injured, some were unconscious, and some were dead, their bodies placed in the cold morgue.

De Karl indifferently turned page after page until his gaze lingered on a particular passage for a long time.

"Watergate Fortress target Darren Kaza, Mech Soul, Tier 3, Mech Soul, confirmed kill, all team members survived."

A fleeting, almost imperceptible hint of surprise flashed across Dekar's cold eyes, as quick as a hallucination.

He put down the briefing and lightly tapped the names of the presenters with his fingertips.

"Dailing's team survived."

His voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger, as if he were stating an objective fact that had deviated from expectations.

Hannah keenly noticed Decal's rare pause, recalling Daelin's request for support, but Decal hesitated.

She approached the desk and asked cautiously, "Do we still need to take notes?"

De Karl pondered for a long time, then shook his head.

"No need, the operation is over."

Hannah breathed a sigh of relief, her gaze returning to the briefing in his hand, and said with relief.

"It's great that Dailin's team suffered no casualties."

Decal said dismissively, "It's nothing. The Daelin Group has always been very capable and reliable."

Hannah relaxed and started chatting casually, "I heard from others that the newbie in their group is really amazing, I think his name is..."

Decal answered for Hannah.

“Cillian”.

“Yes, that Cillian,” Hannah recalled, “I heard he was a very hardworking guy, always at the forefront of the fight.”

Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she cautiously asked, "Director, you seem to care a lot about their team... do you think highly of that newcomer?"

De Karl turned his head slightly, his deep gaze falling on her with a penetrating power that seemed to see through everything, making Hannah feel a chill instantly.

“Cillian? Just a young man with some potential and good luck.” Dekar’s voice was deep and clear. “What I care about is Daelin.”

Hannah was stunned.

I thought the director would pay attention to Cillian, who had a close relationship with Miss Love and had performed well, but it turned out that the director was more interested in him, Dalyn Morrison, who was manipulated by Anya and was ridiculed by everyone in private.
"Dailin?"

Hannah couldn't help but repeat it, then immediately changed the confusion in her tone.

“I remember him; he was a capable assistant whom you personally trained.”

"A capable assistant?"

DeKarl smirked. "I did indeed groom him as my successor, but, Hannah, he made a mistake." Hannah's heart raced inexplicably as she realized she was about to touch upon a hidden corner of the truth.

De Karl's gaze returned to the window, as if penetrating the wall to see a deliberately preserved corner deep within the archives.

His voice was as cold and hard as iron.

"He kept the file on the reverse falcon."

Hannah said in disbelief, "This... how could he..."

The city council made no attempt to conceal its hostility toward the Reverse Falcon, and in order to completely eliminate his influence on Hel City, it erased all information related to him.

From the perspective of the city council, Dalin's preservation of the Reverse Falcon Archives was undoubtedly a crime.

"Are you surprised?"

Decal's tone carried a subtle hint of mockery, directed at Hannah, and perhaps also at himself.

“Dai Lin always thought that he left behind the file on the Reverse Falcon because of his own cleverness, but little did he know that I had tacitly approved his actions.”

"acquiescence?"

Hannah was completely stunned.

“Yes, tacit approval.” De Karl’s words carried an unquestionable authority. “No matter how those high-ranking members of parliament try to whitewash the situation or rewrite history, the truth must be recorded.”

Every action, every detail, whether glamorous or sordid, must be documented. This is one of the cornerstones of the City Guard Bureau's existence, a guarantee of order. Even if... this record itself might become a thorn in the side of some.

Hannah felt a wave of dizziness.

She admired de Karl's almost obsessive insistence on "rigor," which gave her meaning in countless days and nights of tedious record-keeping. But she never imagined that this insistence would extend into forbidden territory.

"but……"

Dekar abruptly changed the subject, his cold gaze once again focusing on the void, as if he could see Daelin's face, which always carried a hint of cynicism and stubbornness.

“I acquiesced to the preservation of the files for the sake of the truth itself, for the sake of future order, but Dalin…”

For the first time, De Karl's tone carried a clear hint of disappointment, even... disgust.

"He kept that file not for the truth, but for the sake of the Reverse Falcon itself."

He idolizes the Reverse Falcon, idolizes that pure violence that uses violence to combat violence and disregards rules, and perhaps, harbors a ridiculous, outdated sense of 'naive righteousness' deep within him.

De Karl's voice was full of disdain for the word "naiveté".

In Hull, a city overflowing with sewage, and in the game of power, a naive sense of justice is the greatest weakness, a ticking time bomb that could destroy everything carefully constructed.

He stopped looking at Hannah's shocked face, wearily waved his hand, and completely brushed away all thoughts about Dalin.

Hannah wisely lowered her head, her pen moving swiftly across the notebook as she recorded this crucial and dangerous exchange.

Decal's gaze returned to the map covering the entire city. The pins representing the Claws had been almost completely wiped out, the smoke of the purge was dissipating, and the City Guard's power had reached an unprecedented peak.

"The evil claws have lost their momentum and no longer pose a threat."

The path to power has been largely cleared, leaving only one last, and most stubborn, obstacle preventing Dekar from fully controlling the power of Hel.

"Although Dalin has many unpleasant problems, with his understanding and passion for the Reverse Falcon, he is the most suitable person to investigate the Reverse Falcon... I guess he must have made quite a few new discoveries."

In those deep, icy eyes, the last trace of hesitation was replaced by a chilling killing intent.

"There is only one enemy left before we can completely unify the city of Hel."

De Karl's voice echoed clearly in the silent office, like a final verdict.

"It's time for Reverse Falcon to pay the price for everything that happened in the past."

Hannah's pen slammed down on the paper, leaving a deep ink dot. It took her a long time to realize what she had actually written.

Staring intently at the messy handwriting, his hands unconsciously gripped the edges of the paper tightly, making it crumpled.

Outside Decal's office, in the office area on the first floor.

After dealing with a series of trivial matters, Dai Lin returned to his office.

He forced himself not to be defeated by exhaustion, and with the last bit of clarity in his mind, he closed his eyes and thought about the intelligence provided by the golden duo.

“I reviewed all the group reports, and there was nothing related to the Invisible One. In fact, as usual, no one was aware of his presence.”

He muttered to himself.

Are you still at large?

Dailin opened his tired eyes, and as he pondered all of this, a perfect trap for the invisible beings appeared in his mind.

He smiled slightly and said softly.

"It's time for the final battle, my friend."

(End of this chapter)