After finishing her meal, the hour promised by her Revelation was nearly up. Just as she prepared to head toward the painting to investigate, her Revelation suddenly told her it was no longer necessary.
This was the first time Jeanne had encountered such a thing. You are a Revelation! Aren't all your actions supposed to be the optimal solution? Why would you suddenly change your mind at this moment?
At that moment, she heard a series of rumbling sounds coming from deep underground. Jeanne immediately looked around and noticed that she wasn't the only one; even the staff members present wore expressions of astonishment. It seemed that even these people had no idea what was happening. Moreover, the manager was nowhere to be seen—had something outside of the plan occurred?
Thinking of this, Jeanne remembered the ten little fellows she had sent underground to dig holes. Not one of them had responded yet; had they failed to find anything, or had something gone wrong?
"BOOM!!!!!"
Just as Jeanne was speculating, a pillar of towering flame streaked past the window. The firelight reflected on everyone's faces, illuminating nothing but boundless terror.
"Officer Swire! An accident has occurred at the target location! We've detected fluctuations of Originium Arts, and the destructive power is immense!"
Seeing this, the scouting officers on the perimeter immediately reported to Swire. At this moment, Swire was like a cat with its fur standing on end, staring blankly at the apocalyptic scene. Though it might be an exaggeration, the flames shooting dozens of meters into the sky were truly soul-shaking. No one could imagine what it would look like if released horizontally.
"Quickly, everyone move out! Drop their weapons to them immediately! I don't care if they have spies anymore—the charge of deliberate destruction in Lungmen and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction is now set in stone!"
Swire gave the order immediately. Although the hour Jeanne mentioned hadn't passed, the operation had to begin early! However, it wasn't much earlier; by the time they reached the gates of Rhine Gold, it would likely be the hour Jeanne had predicted. It seemed her timing was accurate; one just wondered if Jeanne had foreseen this particular accident.
The LGD support units mobilized collectively to support the three members of the first squad inside enemy territory. If the tracking system hadn't confirmed that Ch'en and the others weren't at the epicenter of the explosion, a squad probably would have borrowed a city-defense Originium cannon to level the place first.
Inside, Ch'en and Hoshiguma immediately entered a combat stance, wary of any enemies that might appear. But after waiting a long while, no enemies showed up. Instead, everyone gasped as they looked toward the sky.
They couldn't be sure if this was a ruse to distract them. Under Hoshiguma's protection, Ch'en squinted at the sky to check the situation. It was a black dot—likely something thrown into the air by the explosion. As the dot descended, the distinct shape of five limbs became visible.
Ch'en realized that the object in the sky was actually a person! Judging by the thick tail, it was a Pythia.
The Pythia in the sky was silent as he fell, whether killed by the blast or merely unconscious. He was likely regretting his life choices—why did he have to go watch the commotion of them trying to catch that monster? Now, he was about to become a pile of "Pythia jam."
Still, it was slightly better than his colleagues who were currently "cooked well-done." At least when he smashed into pieces, he would get his own urn, while the dozens of them below would have to share one. He owed his survival to his Originium Arts; when that giant fireball-like thing hit him, he managed to hang on.
His Arts involved manipulating soil and basic shield fortification—ranking him as a Senior Operator. He was only "Senior" because his range was limited to two meters around him. He survived by constantly dispersing the soil behind him as he was blasted away, flying out of the hole. If not for that, the flames wouldn't have shot from the basement to the surface, and he would have ended up in the "collective dormitory" with his colleagues.
"SMASH!"
The soldier used every ounce of strength to reinforce his crumbling shield. He no longer hoped to live; he only hoped his death wouldn't look too hideous. He crashed through the glass skylight and fell not far from Ch'en and the others. The overloaded shield finally stopped functioning, and though it had protected him, the countershock killed him nonetheless.
The people in the room stared dazed at the man coughing up blood and organ fragments. His breathing grew slower and slower until it stopped entirely.
"Nobody move! The Guard Department is taking over the investigation of this incident!" Ch'en shouted as she snapped back to her senses, pulling out her badge and declaring that the LGD had officially seized Rhine Gold.
Actually, Ch'en and Hoshiguma could have tried to catch the falling man, but from such a height, even they couldn't have saved him; they likely would have suffered comminuted fractures in both arms.
They didn't approach the body because an even larger black dot was plummeting from the sky. No one could tell what that dark mass was, so they ducked away from its trajectory. Meanwhile, the rumbling underground continued, accompanied by bursts of explosions, as if an army were fighting a desperate battle against a terrifying monster in the depths.
"BOOM—"
The black dot finally slammed down, piercing through the floor and plunging into the level below, leaving a massive gaping hole. Jeanne looked down the hole; it looked like a massive, solidified ball of magma. One could see the indentation of a shield on its surface—likely left by that unlucky fellow earlier.
Due to the fall, the magma ball had cracked open, revealing unmolten red lava inside that flowed onto the floor before solidifying.
Ch'en, breathing a sigh of relief, slowly walked over to the dead Pythia. Judging by his tail, he was a species of python; no wonder his physical stats were so high. But in a high-altitude fall, no matter how tough your body is, it's useless unless you have a way to buffer the impact. Falling like this, one could only hope for an intact corpse.
Wearing gloves, Ch'en carefully flipped the Pythia over. She saw a weathered face covered in scars, telling the story of his past. When she saw the shield in his hand, her gaze was immediately drawn to it. She tried to take the cracked shield to inspect it, only to find it gripped tightly by a stiff, broken hand.
Using a clever bit of leverage, she pried the shield from the shattered hand and inspected its design. She recognized this shield—this specific shape was a shield-type staff exclusive to the Ursus military. It allowed for easy use of shield-reinforcement spells and provided buffs for other Arts. This was definitely military hardware; she could even find an Ursus military serial number that hadn't been erased yet. The charge of military smuggling against this company was now ironclad!
Even if the company hadn't smuggled it into Lungmen themselves, it was definitely obtained from somewhere shady. They wouldn't be able to explain how Ursus military gear ended up in Lungmen.
"Everyone, put your hands up! Put them where we can see them! Otherwise, you will be arrested for obstructing official business!" Ch'en shouted at the staff members, who all had varying looks of guilt. It seemed they knew this was illegal; they might even be complicit!
"I believe there has been some misunderstanding. Please, officers, stay calm!"
As he spoke, Ivanov walked out of the elevator with a hideously pale face. Covered in dust and looking disheveled, it was obvious he had rushed over from somewhere in a hurry. Behind him stood at least a hundred soldiers in full Ursus gear, their weapons pointed directly at Ch'en, Hoshiguma, and Jeanne in the center. The tension was so thick it was clear a war would break out at the slightest provocation.