In the apocalypse, I hoarded goods and handed over my storage space to the government.

North America, Detroit.

Provisional Presidential Palace of the Free Beacon Federation.

Inside the meeting room, no one could sit still.

Old Luke stood behind the main seat, clutching a stack of paper reports in his hand.

Say it again.

The intelligence officer's throat moved.

"Mr. President, as of one hour ago, 97 awakened individuals have been reported missing from various camps."

The conference room was deathly silent.

A military representative immediately spoke up.

"Mr. President, the Tier 3 bounty missions have recently been opened, and many Awakened squads are out in action. Disappearance does not necessarily mean an attack; it could also mean that no one retrieved the terminal after someone was killed."

Another official chimed in.

"With the regular armed ranks just being integrated into the points system, backstabbing and treachery are bound to occur. It's not impossible for Awakened Ones to compete for missions and crystal cores."

Old Luke raised his head.

"Do you think this is just a typical case of double-crossing?"

No one spoke.

Old Luke slammed the first report on the table.

"Three Awakened have gone missing at the Ohio camp. They did not take on any bounty missions that day; they were simply patrolling the perimeter of the camp."

The second report has been submitted.

"At the Indiana temporary fortress, five Awakened Ones are missing. Mutant beasts attacked the camp, killing 346 ordinary survivors. And these five people, not even a single body could be found."

The third one.

"Seven Awakened Ones have gone missing in the Missouri Valley. All wrist terminals at the scene have been destroyed, and the positioning chips have been burned through by high temperatures."

He paused for a moment and looked at the military representative.

"Tell me, what kind of mutant beast can extract chips and process them using high temperatures?"

The military representative's lips moved slightly.

"Mr. President, it might be a third-tier fire-type mutated creature, the current mutated creatures..."

Old Luke stared at him.

"Twenty-seven camps, all of them fire-based?"

The military representative shut up.

Hunter, standing to the side, swallowed hard and asked in a low voice, "Father... could it be Da Xia...?"

"idiot!"

Old Luke grabbed a coffee cup and smashed it at Hunter's feet, sending shards of porcelain flying.

"If the Great Xia wants someone, all they need to do is give the order, and I'll personally tie them up and send them to Kunlun. Why would they need to resort to such underhanded tricks?"

Hunter lowered his head, not daring to utter another sound.

Old Luke straightened up and adjusted his suit and tie.

"Continue to compile the information."

The intelligence officer immediately switched the projection.

A map of North America appears.

Twenty-seven red dots, stretching south from the Great Lakes region.

"All attacks share three common characteristics."

"First, the outer perimeter of the camp was attacked by mutated beasts of varying sizes, but all of them were enough to cause chaos."

"Secondly, the Awakened Ones did not disappear on the main battlefield, but near the camp."

"Third, all the terminals distributed by Daxia were destroyed. The method of destruction was uniform: first the positioning module was destroyed, then the storage chip was destroyed."

A cabinet official turned pale.

"This is not a monster."

The intelligence officer nodded.

"It's a person."

Old Luke sat down.

The chair made a soft creak.

He didn't speak.

This is more troublesome than monsters.

Monsters eat people; at least there are traces.

The arrest of individuals implies organization, intelligence, planning, and subsequent objectives.

Hunter whispered, "What are they going to do with the Awakened?"

No one answered.

Old Luke raised his hand and rubbed his temples.

The Beacon of Freedom has just been integrated into the Great Xia system.

Da Xia gave them terminals, points channels, and partial rights to procure crystal core weapons.

A large number of awakened individuals are now missing in North America.

If he conceals it, and the Great Xia finds out, the consequences are unimaginable.

If he can't find out, and the situation continues to worsen, the Beacon of Freedom will be questioned by all surface camps.

He, as president, had barely settled into his position when he was dragged off his chair.

Moreover, he already had a vague suspicion in his mind.

"Contact Kunlun Base. I need to speak directly with Advisor Su."

An official suddenly looked up.

"Mr. President, should we report this now? Won't it make us seem like we have very poor control?"

Old Luke watched coldly.

"Do you think the Great Xia Dynasty doesn't know?"

The official got stuck.

Old Luke picked up the report, his voice low.

"Instead of waiting for the Great Xia to hold us accountable, we should report this proactively. We can't investigate this matter, nor can we cover it up."

The Pangu supercomputing system of Daxia constantly monitors terminals worldwide. If all ninety-four signals simultaneously go offline, they will quickly detect the anomaly.

He looked at the intelligence officer.

"Pack up all the on-site data, survivor testimonies, and scanned copies of the terminal debris."

"Use my highest level of privileges to access the Kunlun base."

……

Kunlun Base.

Main hall of the Global Awakeners Headquarters.

Su Ran is looking at the real-time rankings.

Mo Yun walked over quickly.

"Brother Su, the North American Free Beacon Federation requests the highest level of communication."

"Old Luke?"

"Yes. He said there was a major security incident and he wouldn't go through the usual diplomatic channels; he wanted to report directly to you."

Su Ran looked up.

"catch."

Switch to large screen.

Old Luke appears in the frame.

He didn't sit, but stood ramrod straight.

"Mr. Su."

Su Ran looked at him.

"Get to the point."

Old Luke didn't exchange pleasantries.

"Within the Free Beacon Federation, 27 camps have been attacked within ten days, and 97 Awakened Ones have gone missing."

Mo Yun stopped pointing, and Su Ran's eyes darkened.

"Missing?"

"That's right, they've gone missing."

Old Luke immediately said, "They didn't die on the battlefield. Most of them didn't accept high-risk bounties. There are traces of mutated beast attacks at the scene, but the way the Awakened ones disappeared is abnormal."

Su Ran said, "The information."

Old Luke turned back.

"transmission."

Seconds later, a flood of images, statements, and scanned copies of wreckage poured into the headquarters system.

Mo Yun quickly invoked the Pangu subsystem for matching.

Images popped up on the screen one after another.

Collapsed walls, corpses scattered everywhere, shattered terminals, and burnt-through positioning chips.

There's also a blurry photo.

It's not a zombie.

are people.

They were wearing low-temperature camouflage uniforms, and their helmets had no markings.

One of them carried an unconscious Awakened One on his shoulder.

Su Ran stared at the photo.

"enlarge."

Mo Yun immediately took action.

The image has been repaired.

On the shadowy figure's arm was a very faint gray number.

E-17.

Su Ran tapped her fingers on the table.

"Old Luke, do you guys in North America have this kind of equipment?"

Old Luke shook his head extremely quickly.

"The Beacon of Freedom has none. All our combat unit numbers, paint schemes, and weapon origins are open to verification by Great Xia."

He paused, lowering his voice even further.

"Mr. Su, I dare not hide it. Nor will I hide it."

"The Beacon of Freedom is not capable of investigating this matter on its own."

"I request that Great Xia intervene."