B-Grade Aberration Event, Emergency Mission

Having received confirmation from Si Tingfeng, Si Chengxin fell silent again.

When he spoke, his tone had grown even more grave:

"In any case, get over here."

"Yes."

Elsewhere, in another estate, while Si Chengxin and Si Tingfeng were still speaking.

Gu An stood reading an email on his phone, brow deeply furrowed.

"Someone is targeting the underground Aberration Entities? Enough to trigger a mass disturbance?"

His thoughts went to A39's outburst earlier that day. His gaze shifted, a cold light settling in his eyes.

"No wonder there was such a disturbance today — so that's what was behind it... According to this letter, a Battle Emperor-rank powerhouse is involved? Someone at that level is no simple matter... And the Tong family is actually in league with such a figure..."

Gu An drew a slow breath, then gently closed his eyes and considered for a moment.

After a pause, he opened them again, a sharp glint crossing his expression.

"Hard to say whether this letter is genuine... Let's investigate first. Then I'll report the situation to the Battle Emperor lords and see how they want to handle it."

The information in Lu Yuan's letter had already sent shockwaves through many of the Red Maple Empire's upper echelons.

Two days later.

Lu Yuan received a message from Night Watchman Headquarters: there was an urgent mission, and they were hoping he could help.

His eyes lit up as he read it, anticipation rising in his chest.

His Evolution Cube was almost ready for another metamorphosis. The underground containment facility was definitely off-limits for now — he'd been waiting two full days for an Aberration-related mission to come along.

The full details would only be available at Headquarters; the message was simply asking whether he was willing to help.

He was.

Since Li Qinghe was still in the Land of Origin, Lu Yuan made his way to Night Watchman Headquarters alone.

He soon found himself outside the office of Milne Julian, head of the mission department.

After knocking, the door opened. Milne Julian — brown-haired and mild-mannered — spotted Lu Yuan and his face broke into a wide smile.

"Ha! Elder Lu, you actually showed up! You're far more decisive about these things. If it were Elder Li... ahem — let's talk about the emergency mission."

Milne changed the subject.

Lu Yuan smiled, understanding perfectly well. Qinghe was famously lazy — if it had been her, she'd have shuffled the job onto another Honorary Elder and only budged when she had absolutely no way out of it.

"Director Milne, go ahead — what's the mission?"

Milne invited him to sit on the office sofa, his expression turning serious.

"Here's the situation: a few days ago, large numbers of people in Yali City began disappearing one by one — including local Night Watchmen. We've even lost contact with a Battle Venerable among them. The local branch has called headquarters for backup. We suspect a B-grade Aberration event has emerged, and headquarters intends to assign you to lead a team of our Night Watchmen to deal with it. What do you think?"

"No problem on my end," Lu Yuan said with a smile.

Milne's face relaxed into a grin. "Perfect. I'll put the team together right now — they're experienced veterans and will support you on the ground."

Lu Yuan nodded.

Milne picked up a communicator, said a few words into it, and shortly a powerfully built man walked in.

"Director, you called for me?"

Lu Yuan froze at the sight of him, eyes going slightly wide.

"Brother Ming?"

The man was none other than Franming.

Franming spotted Lu Yuan and blinked — then a surprised grin broke across his face.

"Ah Yuan?! What are you doing here? It's been ages!"

Milne smiled and stepped in. "Lu Yuan is our newly inducted Honorary Elder."

Franming froze, eyes going wide, then quickly straightened up. "Greetings, Elder Lu."

"You two know each other?" Milne said with a smile.

Lu Yuan nodded. "Yes — when I had just Awakened, Brother Ming taught me combat techniques. He helped me out a great deal."

Franming shook his head vigorously, laughing through a grimace. "Please, please, Elder Lu — you're an Elder now. Call me Franming, Xiao Ming, Ah Ming — anything works. I can't take 'Brother Ming' from you anymore. What I did back then was nothing. Besides, it was Elder Li who asked me to look after you in the first place."

He was clearly flustered.

"Elder Li?" A look of understanding crossed Milne's face. "Elder Li Qinghe? I see."

Now Milne understood why Lu Yuan and Li Qinghe had always been so close.

They had known each other from the very moment Lu Yuan Awakened?

He found himself quietly marveling at Li Qinghe's eye for talent — a casual favor extended to some young kid, and that kid had turned out to be a monstrous genius like this. Though Milne also knew that Li Qinghe herself was a supreme talent in her own right; the kind of person you couldn't even envy properly.

He smiled and continued:

"Well, if you already know each other, that makes things easier. Franming — emergency mission, location: Yali City. Elder Lu will be in command; your squad will support him."

Franming drew himself to full height, expression serious. "Yes, sir! Understood."

The two left the office together to link up with Franming's squad.

As a regular Night Watchman squad, they were ordinarily on duty at Headquarters — and so they were today.

Lu Yuan followed Franming through the corridors and soon reached another office. Franming pushed the door open and they stepped inside.

Lu Yuan recognized several familiar faces.

Xue Wang needed no introduction — the two still kept in occasional contact. Lin Hong was there too, along with several others he remembered from his days in Xili City.

Some were playing phone games, some reading, others in quiet cultivation.

The noise of the door brought every head around.

Seeing Lu Yuan, they all froze.

Lin Hong was first to speak. "Lu Yuan?"

Xue Wang, who had been absorbed in a phone game, actually jumped to his feet. "Old Lu? What are you doing here? You're famous now — how do you suddenly have time to drop by Night Watchman Headquarters?"

Xue Wang wasn't wearing sunglasses anymore, and his eyes had returned to black. The Silver Wolf Gene had evidently been fully integrated — whatever outward signs it had once displayed had settled back to normal.

Something occurred to him and he grinned. "Here to see Elder Li?"

Lu Yuan smiled but hadn't yet answered when Franming shot the group a sharp look.

"Settle down, all of you. Lu Yuan is our newly inducted Honorary Elder. There's an emergency mission, and our squad will be operating under Elder Lu's command."

The room went quiet for a beat, everyone stunned.

Lu Yuan smiled. "I'll be counting on everyone's support from here."

They snapped out of their collective daze — nobody had expected Lu Yuan to already be an Elder.

After a brief pause, Franming smiled. "Alright — you all know each other. Emergency missions don't wait. Let's move out."

The squad rose with peculiar expressions, stealing glances at Lu Yuan as they filed out of the office.

In the Night Watchman transport, Xue Wang stared at Lu Yuan the entire ride — so intently, and for so long, that it began to set Lu Yuan's nerves on edge.

Lu Yuan gave him an odd look. "Old Xue, why do you keep staring at me? Now that your eyes are healed, have you developed a thing for good-looking guys?"

"Pfft!" Xue Wang rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to call Lu Yuan conceited — but one glance at that annoyingly handsome face and the words shriveled up before they reached his tongue.

He shook his head in disbelief instead. "When I was running a materials shop in Xili City and you used to come in selling materials — that all feels like it was yesterday. And yet here you are, already an Elder, and at one point number one on the Prodigy Rankings! Sometimes I genuinely wonder if I'm dreaming."

"Want me to punch you?" Lu Yuan offered. "See if that clears things up."

Xue Wang's mouth twitched. "...If you want me dead, just say so."

Franming laughed from beside them. "Your intel is outdated, Ah Wang — Elder Lu hasn't been number one on the Rankings for a few days now."

"Huh?"

Xue Wang blinked and looked at Lu Yuan. "Don't tell me someone stronger than you showed up?"

He hadn't witnessed Lu Yuan's final challenge in person, but someone had recorded the bout using a Communication Crystal. He knew exactly how terrifying Lu Yuan's strength was — and even so, he'd lost his top spot?

That was genuinely unsettling.

Franming grinned wide, flashing a row of white teeth. "Elder Lu has already broken through to Battle King."

Xue Wang: "..."

He shut down entirely.

The transport moved quickly, and by the time their conversation wound down, they had already arrived at the airport.

Lu Yuan spotted the familiar triangular black fighters — Nighthawk Type 5s.

He'd ridden one all the way from Xili City to the Imperial Capital back when. That had been his first time seeing such an impressive aircraft, and it had left a deep impression.

Looking at them now, a quiet wave of nostalgia washed over him.

Just as Xue Wang and Franming had said — the days in Xili City truly did feel like only yesterday.

They boarded, the fighter lifted off, and they headed toward Yali City.

Yali City lay to the west of the Imperial Capital, over thirty thousand kilometers away — no short distance. Had Lu Yuan used Space Teleportation, he could have brought the entire squad there in an instant. By fighter, the flight took several hours.

By the time they touched down at Yali City's airport, evening had settled in.

They disembarked to find four vehicles from the Yali City Night Watchman branch waiting outside. Standing before them was a beautiful black-haired woman in a black suit.

She stepped forward with a smile, her eyes sparkling as they landed on Lu Yuan — bright with undisguised admiration.

"Elder Lu Yuan, I'm Anna from the Yali City Night Watchman branch. I've been assigned to receive you."

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded. "Thank you for the trouble, Miss Anna."

"No trouble at all. Please, get in."

Still smiling, she opened the rear door for him. Lu Yuan felt a flicker of awkwardness at having a girl open his door, but since she already had, he climbed in.

Xue Wang, right on his heels, moved to follow — but Anna slipped in after Lu Yuan herself and pulled the door shut with a firm click.

Xue Wang: ???

He stood there completely at a loss.

Franming patted his shoulder and laughed. "Let's take one of the other cars."

The rest of the squad made their way to the remaining vehicles.

Inside, Lu Yuan was equally bewildered. He glanced at Anna sitting beside him with her pleasant smile, then looked out the window at the others walking away without a backward glance. He hadn't expected them to simply leave him like that.

Anna's face was lit with barely contained excitement. "Elder Lu, I'm such a fan of yours — could I get your autograph? You're incredible! You hit number one on the Prodigy Rankings, and now you're already a Battle King! That's absolutely amazing..."

Lu Yuan listened to the nonstop stream of words and rubbed the back of his neck. *Sure enough — get famous enough, and you'll run into fans everywhere.*

He smiled. "An autograph is fine, but I don't have paper or a pen on me."

"I do!"

Paper and a pen materialized in Anna's hands and were promptly extended toward him.

*Good grief,* he thought. *She must have been planning this the whole time.*

But he signed for her anyway.

Afterward, Anna settled down considerably — sitting quietly in the back seat, though every so often her eyes drifted to his face.

Lu Yuan pretended not to notice and turned to look out the window.

There were very few people on the streets.

At first he assumed it was just a quieter part of the city, but as the drive continued, he could barely spot a soul anywhere along the entire route — and many storefronts were shuttered.

Lu Yuan furrowed his brow slightly. "Why are there so few people?"

Anna's expression grew a shade more somber. She answered quietly:

"The Aberration event has been severe. Over ten thousand people have already vanished. The entire city is in a panic — many have fled to other cities. Most disappearances happen at night, so those who've stayed behind won't leave their homes after dark, and most businesses close at this hour."

Lu Yuan took that in with a small nod.

It was becoming clear that a serious Aberration event, even before it fully erupted, was enough to bring an entire city to its knees. Yali City was already close to that point.

He thought back to the Aberration incident in Xili City's Slum District and realized that compared to this, what had happened there had been almost tame.

The vehicles arrived in Yali City's central district, pulling up before a black building more than ten stories tall. Its architecture was strikingly similar to Night Watchman Headquarters. In the small plaza out front stood a stone monument carved with a sword and shield encircled by stars — identical to the one at Headquarters.

"We've arrived, Elder Lu," Anna said with a smile.

Lu Yuan nodded and followed her out. From the vehicles behind, Franming, Xue Wang, and the others climbed out and gathered together.

A small delegation was already waiting at the building's entrance. As the group stepped out, they came forward.

At the front was a tall, lean middle-aged man whose face was filled with visible relief.

"Elder Lu, welcome! We've been counting down the days waiting for you! If this goes on much longer without a resolution, Yali City will become a ghost town. We're counting on you!"

"I'll do my best," Lu Yuan said with a smile.

At that very moment, the smile on his face stiffened the slightest bit.

Deep inside him, the Evolution Cube had begun to vibrate.