Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

Type 95... RPG-7... and Su Wanxi's most commonly used plastic explosives; she brought almost all the thermal weapons that could be used in the crack environment.

Packing these heavy items into the pre-prepared weapon case, Su Wanxi minimized their weight, making them barely heavier than a feather when lifted. Apart from her, the other members could only carry as much as possible without compromising their agility.

Zhang Yizhe was relatively relaxed. Because of his special ability, he could carry less ammunition—he could generate bullets by using "projection and manifestation" and they would immediately dissipate after being fired and hitting the target. This method consumed very little mental energy, which was negligible for a B+ level awakener.

While everyone was equipping their weapons, Xu Bai went to the washroom and only took some guns and ammunition when he returned.

"Is it ready?" Su Wanxi looked around, her cold eyes showing neither joy nor sorrow.

"Hmm." Qi Bei touched the blood pack stored at his waist and answered in a low voice.

After leaving the logistics department by elevator, the Hermit Bureau had prepared a transport vehicle specifically for its members to store their weapons.

"Captain Su, the personnel in charge of the site are ready." A man dressed as a secretary nodded to them. Su Wanxi recognized him; he was Secretary Xu, who usually accompanied Mr. Song.

"Thank you." Sitting in the passenger seat, Su Wanxi thanked him softly.

Glancing back, the girl placed her pale hands across her chest, her tone serious: "You should all have already received the news that we are dealing with a strong neutral rift this time..."

"Once we enter the crevice, there is a very high probability that the team members will be separated. Our primary goal is to ensure that all personnel are present and that no one is allowed to go in without authorization."

"These are the rules for using signal flares. Blue indicates safety, and yellow indicates that a message has been received..." At Su Wanxi's instruction, Qin Kexin distributed the rulebook to each member.

"If nothing unexpected happens, I will find a relatively open location to launch the signal flare, and all members should keep an eye on the sky."

Seemingly infected by the tense atmosphere, after explaining the specific tactical plan, everyone just silently stared out the window.

A low, rumbling vibration came from her waist. Su Wanxi took out her phone and turned on the screen.

Orange: "Su Wanxi... I'm heading towards the office building."

There's only one possibility for going there at this time," Su Wanxi bit her lip and sent a message.

"Go home immediately, that's an order." Before the other party could reply, her fair fingers danced rapidly across the keyboard.

“I told you, don’t participate in the Rift until you’ve settled down. Go back immediately.”

This is utterly absurd. If she faints in the crack... Su Wanxi's knuckles, gripping her phone, turned slightly white. Even Zhou Li, who was driving beside her, noticed something was wrong.

"Captain Su?"

"It's okay, keep driving."

......

On the other end of the phone, Gu Cheng frowned slightly as she looked at the blue-eyed ragdoll cat's reply.

A strong neutral rift... Even from that distance, the girl could feel the chilling aura emanating from the black mist.

Is it really unnecessary for me to participate...? According to the information provided by the anonymous version of the Hermit Bureau, the Strong Neutral Rift is the highest level rift that Lanjiang has detected so far, only on par with one two years ago. And it was after that rift that the only Awakened in Lanjiang were Su Wanxi and Zhou Li.

Su Wanxi is now an A-level Awakened, so she shouldn't be in that much trouble. Gu Cheng reassured herself with this thought, while gently pressing the elevator button.

"Go home immediately, that's an order..." The elevator doors opened, and the girl swiped her black card while simultaneously pointing her pupils at the iris scanner.

The buttons lit up one by one. Gu Cheng scanned them from bottom to top, but her gaze lingered briefly on the buttons on the top floor.

Su Wanxi didn't understand her specific situation, but Gu Cheng herself was very clear that after understanding the nature of the monster, she could no longer be stimulated by her own kind to the point of falling into a coma.

Giving up on the idea of ​​continuing training, Gu Cheng lightly pressed the button for the top floor.

If Mr. Song were here, she could bypass Su Wanxi and apply for a gun permit from him... It's fortunate that the black card was upgraded before, otherwise Gu Cheng's permissions wouldn't allow her to click the top floor button at all.

Walking through the narrow corridor, the sneakers made almost no sound as they stepped on the carpet.

As Gu Cheng approached Song Shiyan's office, she was about to knock when she heard a soft sound coming from inside.

That sound was very familiar...it sounded a bit like...a silenced gunshot?

Chapter 124, Section 126: Old Acquaintances

2089年10月21日，下午6点48分，澜江。

A middle-aged man in a suit sat at a desk, the glass lens reflecting a faint blue light.

"Pour me a cup of coffee." Song Shiyan stared intently at the computer, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

This is the second strong neutral crack to appear since he took office as the branch director, and it is also the strongest crack detected in Lanjiang City in recent years.

The numbers on the screen fluctuated violently, repeatedly coming close to the red line but never quite crossing it. There is a qualitative change between strong neutral cracks and strong cracks; that red line is the dividing line between the two.

Confirming that the value wouldn't exceed the threshold, Song Shiyan sighed softly, his worries slightly lessened—the value was so close, even if it was still a strongly neutral crack, it represented a great danger.

"Mr. Song, the coffee is ready." After a long while, Secretary Xu placed the freshly ground coffee on the table and then slowly stood behind Song Shiyan.

He looked at the man's slightly graying hair, and the corners of his mouth gradually turned up.

Song Shiyan...long time no see... He reached into his inner shirt pocket and took out a black M1911 pistol, pressing the muzzle against the back of the man's head.

A cool sensation ran through his scalp, but Song Shiyan didn't release the mouse, maintaining his calm and composed demeanor.

"Xiao Xu... how long have you been working here?"

"Three years or four years, I can't quite remember." Secretary Xu answered in a low voice, his fingertip pressed against the trigger.

"Hehe." Song Shiyan picked up the coffee spoon in his cup and stirred it gently. The heat wave mixed with water vapor formed a layer of white mist on the transparent lens.

Secretary Xu suddenly chuckled, lowered the gun, aimed at the man's knee, and fired a shot, instantly splattering blood everywhere.

"..." The fingers holding the coffee spoon twitched slightly, and a cold glint flashed in his usually calm eyes.

"Bang!" Another shot was fired, this time aimed at the man's right hand. The bullet went straight through the flesh, leaving a trail of brownish-red.

“We have plenty of time… Song Shiyan…” As soon as he finished speaking, Secretary Xu’s skin began to writhe, as if countless maggots were crawling on it. Her cheek muscles contracted and rolled, and fleshy buds piled up one after another.

Song Shiyan's pupils dilated slightly, his eyes reflecting a face that was once so familiar: "You are..."

"I thought you'd forgotten what you'd done," Liao Xiuran said calmly, sitting at his desk as if he were talking to an old friend he hadn't seen in years.

"So, this is considered revenge?" Song Shiyan looked at the other person helplessly. The bullet had pierced his knee, and he couldn't even make a simple bending motion.

"It's just part of the plan. If it weren't for you, I'd be playing with Miss Su in the Cracks right now." Liao Xiuran took out a pack of cigarettes from his desk drawer and slowly lit one in front of the man.

"What, is it strange?" Liao Xiuran exhaled a breath of stale air toward the ceiling and tucked the yellow cigarette between his fingers.

"parchment..."

"You guessed right." Liao Xiuran pressed the lit cigarette butt against the man's skin and rubbed it gently, maintaining his smile.

"Doing quite well in the Hermitage Bureau, you've become a branch chief in less than ten years..."

Feeling a burning pain in his arm, Song Shiyan remained silent.

"You sit at your desk drinking coffee every day, earning a high salary... Do you know how I live?" Liao Xiuran casually tossed the cigarette butt aside until the last spark died out.

“They would come regularly to inject me with medication, keeping me in a state of lethargy, unable to move or think, and every week I had to cooperate with those doctors in white coats to test my blood.”

"But you know what? Every time I think about the culprit who caused all this, my mind becomes as clear and alert as if pricked by needles..."

Song Shiyan frowned slightly: "That's your own fault."

Liao Xiuran snapped his fingers and jumped down from the desk, a mocking look on his face: "Well said... Song Shiyan, you are still as 'righteous' as before."

He pointed the gun at the man's temple and slowly pulled the trigger with his fingertip.

"I hope you can be just as stubborn in your next life."

The instant the bullet left the barrel, Liao Xiuran broke out in a cold sweat; this was a sign of impending danger.

The next second, the dream shattered, and Song Shiyan knelt down in front of the desk, one hand covering his knee, the other holding a silenced pistol.

When?! Before Liao Xiuran could even think, his body instinctively rolled behind the sofa.

The Dream Weaver's ability strength is A-.

How could I, also an A-level, not have noticed anything unusual? Alarms blared in Liao Xiuran's mind. Ten years ago, when Song Shiyan worked with him, he was only a B-level. He never expected that Song Shiyan could achieve such a level now.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Song Shiyan quickly hid behind his desk. His kneecap had been pierced at close range, staining his suit trousers bright red. He needed to stop the bleeding immediately.

Just like Liao Xiuran thought, Song Shiyan needed to consume a huge amount of mental energy to force an awakened person of the same level into a dream. This meant that during the dream weaving, Song Shiyan could not achieve exquisite control over his body. Otherwise, he could have killed Liao Xiuran with a single shot.

"Having been in a high position for so long, your combat skills seem to have declined..." Noticing that the other party's knee was injured, Liao Xiuran's tone became calm.

"Maybe." Just as he finished speaking, the office door was kicked open, and Gu Cheng aimed the Colt Python at Liao Xiuran.

In less than a second, six Magnum bullets were fired.

Liao Xiuran tried his best to dodge but was still hit in the left arm and lower abdomen by two bullets. In addition to the kinetic energy carried by the Magnum itself, each bullet was also attached with paralyzing electric current. A normal person would fall to the ground immediately after being hit by one bullet.

However, the victim was clearly not an ordinary person. During Gu Cheng's reload, granulation tissue surged up all over Liao Xiuran's body again, instantly repairing his shattered muscles and bones, and even the adverse effects of numbness gradually subsided.

Despite his physical discomfort, the man fired two shots at the girl, then smashed open the window and jumped out.

Gu Cheng activated his ability again, and a thick current surged from his fingertips. However, Liao Xiuran was too fast, and the lightning strike only hit the eaves, leaving a black spot on the wall.

I rushed to the window and looked down, but all I could see was an empty square.

"He ran really fast." Gu Chengyan sighed softly. It only took two or three seconds from when Liao Xiuran broke the window and escaped to when he disappeared. It seems that the other party had planned the escape route in advance.

"Mr. Song?" The girl turned around and helped Song Shiyan to the sofa. She quickly tore open his suit jacket and gave the bleeding knee a quick bandage.

Upon hearing the silencer fire, Gu Cheng did not immediately push open the door and enter. Instead, he took out his pistol, loaded it with bullets, and simultaneously used an electrostatic field to scan for any creatures inside the room.

Thankfully... I made it in time...

Chapter 125 Variables (Section 127)

Pushing open the car door, a refreshing autumn breeze greeted her. Su Wanxi covered her ears with her fingers to prevent her long, dark hair from swaying in the wind.

"Captain Su, everything is ready." The Hermit Bureau members in charge of the area saluted them and then dispatched logistics personnel to help move the weapons.

Strong neutral cracks can form over a very wide area; the designated warning zones alone encompass several streets.

"Let's go..." Su Wanxi, standing at the front of the group, reminded them softly.

At this moment, the sun is setting, and the distant sky is tinged with deep red light. The black mist that has formed from the cracks continues to rise and spread, intertwining and reflecting the sunset like a burning flame.

A pillar of calamity pierced the universe, thick smoke engulfed the mountaintop... Suddenly, descriptions of apocalyptic prophecies flooded her mind, and Su Wanxi subconsciously frowned, her long, curled eyelashes fluttering slightly.

She turned on her phone, and the time displayed in the upper right corner of the screen was 18:32. Gu Cheng's last message to her had been sent ten minutes earlier.