!!!

Bell’s eyes suddenly widened, his beer mug swayed, and foam splashed onto his messy beard.

It’s ruined.

The same thought appeared in the minds of all the mercenaries, and several pressed their hands on the bar, using the automatic checkout system to transfer the consumed Game Coins to Yokogi Bar’s account,

then disappeared one after another from their original location—clearly they had teleported away from Game Square.

"Ah this... I..."

Bell looked around for a while, then turned his head to look at David at the door of Yokogi Bar with a bitter smile that was uglier than crying.

"..."

David coldly glanced at the group of mercenaries, too disinterested to argue, and walked through the crowd along with his colleagues from the Federal Bureau of Investigation towards a secluded corner booth in Yokogi Bar.

There were already several figures seated in the booth, agents from other intelligence departments of the United States, and a liaison from the higher-ups.

Players have a myriad of means, and the phone lines and network communication in the real world are no longer 100% safe,

instead directly logging into Game Square and having secret conversations in a secluded corner verified by the system, without eavesdropping devices, is much safer and more reliable.

"Everyone, take a seat."

David invited everyone to sit down, and as soon as he sat, a stern-faced white male agent with a receding hairline spoke up, "We need to respond to this."

"Respond?"

A stout agent beside him frowned and asked, "What kind of response?"

"This time, the bases of both us and other organizations in Yin City have been destroyed, and the Special Affairs Bureau has refused us entry into the reconstruction site under the guise of post-disaster rebuilding.

The confidential intelligence placed inside the base building, the personnel list of undercover agents, and the equipment stored in the warehouse,

all may already be in the hands of the Special Affairs Bureau."

The agent with the receding hairline said solemnly, "We need to condemn and denounce them on an international stage, ideally forcing the Special Affairs Bureau to return everything to us."

"Condemn? If condemnation worked, we wouldn’t be sitting here."

The stout agent shook his head and said, "Wake up. Those Orientals have completely changed; they no longer care about external noise and harassment,

no matter how much we jump or shout, they won’t care.

This will only make us look like clowns jumping up and down."

With time passing, the isolationist tendency of the Special Affairs Bureau has become more apparent,

ignoring external voices and quietly advancing various projects according to the original plan—laying the Skynet, relocating residential areas, constructing city skyscrapers, building ultra-high-speed railway, free healthcare for all...

The Special Affairs Bureau used remote areas as a testing point, quickly completing the first phase of the city skyscraper project,

relocating town and countryside residents, as well as people living in backward areas deep in the mountains and forests, into city skyscrapers.

Reducing patrol areas, alleviating the Special Affairs Bureau’s pressure to resolve abnormal events, while facilitating the promotion of various benefits.

The Medical Robots manufactured by the Special Affairs Bureau’s equipment development department independently handle simple diagnoses and surgeries,

and the fully automated medical beds equipped with numerous mechanical arms inside can automatically identify conditions, performing complex surgeries on patients who lie within them, including anesthesia, removal, suturing, etc.

Healthcare coverage has further increased, while overall medical expenses have significantly decreased—the Medical Robots and Mechanical Caregivers can replace healthcare personnel in performing simple and mechanical tasks,

alleviating the shortage of healthcare personnel,

and reducing medical costs.

New Medicines continuously developed by the Special Affairs Bureau in collaboration with pharmaceutical factories (many suspected to be magic potion products) have also significantly alleviated the medical burden on the populace, rendering them unnecessary to pay exorbitant prices for foreign drugs, preventing families from falling into poverty due to illness.

Meanwhile, as a surveillance system, the Skynet’s authority has further expanded,

collaborating with the Special Affairs Bureau’s newly launched intelligent decision-making system, similar to the one Li Ang encountered in the script mission "True Name and Real Identity,"

where supercomputer systems collect massive information, coordinate, plan resource allocation, make decisions, issue commands, supervise the entire process, and properly execute.

After reducing the influence of the "human" variable, work efficiency skyrocketed while costs dropped dramatically.

The impact of the above changes is extremely profound,

in the perspective of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other organizations, the Special Affairs Bureau suddenly lost interest in overseas matters.

Neither the proxy war planned by the European Heavy Industry Group in Africa,

nor the modern warfare deliberately incited between banana countries (referring to corrupt and weak entities with a single economy mainly exporting bananas, cocoa, etc.) by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Central America and South America,

could capture the attention of the Special Affairs Bureau,

at most garnering a few verbal denunciations.

The tricks and traps set by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whether overtly or covertly, were completely ignored by the Special Affairs Bureau—only one point remained, that those who had abandoned their household registration, emigrated abroad, and want to return to the Orient to enjoy universal welfare, would find it exceedingly difficult.

"They have gained huge benefits from the portal, which is why they no longer care about external affairs."

The stout agent said irritably, "They no longer crave the resources of other regions on Earth, only symbolically continuing to import a bit of oil and crops to maintain the import-export industry.

They also no longer desire scientific technology from other regions on Earth—the technology tree provided by the slaughter game is vast and diverse enough, they can’t even research it all,

just symbolically maintaining academic exchange activities.

I suspect they got a complete, large-scale immigrant planet from the portal,

maybe its resources and climate can’t compare to Earth, but it’s completely under their control.

Earth, in their eyes, might simply be a homeland and a temporary residence.

If other Otherworldly realms pass through the portal and launch an attack, they might just abandon Earth and collectively flee to the new colony."

"Doesn’t need you to say? Everyone now knows the Special Affairs Bureau no longer cares about external affairs, most probably has an alternative dimension space for colonization and refuge."

The agent with the receding hairline complained in a low voice, "But what’s the solution? God knows where they hid the portal in those deep mountains and forests!"

The agents present grew inexplicably furious, although they knew that if the United States obtained a colonizable planet, they would certainly act more excessively—

such as massively assassinating scientists from other regions, blocking their technology, wantonly inciting political turmoil and wars, and even dropping nuclear bombs.

David looked expressionlessly at the white agent with the receding hairline, calmly saying, "Are you suggesting that the portal I acquired isn’t good enough?"

The agent instantly stiffened, hastily straightened his back, and stutteringly said, "No, not at all.

I just meant that the Special Affairs Bureau needs to pay a price."

"Price."

David withdrew his cold gaze, leaned back, and calmly said, "What kind of price?"

"This..."

The agent licked his lips, gritted his teeth, and said, "We could move our updated naval fleet to the east coast of the Pacific under the guise of joint military exercises with Japan Islands..."

"Fool."

David mercilessly berated his colleague, making the latter’s face turn blue and white, "Do you think it’s the past now?

Using Area 51 technology, equipped with new Electromagnetic Railguns, Riding Wave Aircraft Missiles, and the Hawk Falcon hypersonic unmanned fighters, the naval fleet is indeed strong,

but can it deal with the Phantom Vermilion Bird?

"""

Can it handle the River Map Array of the Special Affairs Bureau that’s everywhere?

You should have seen that battle video. The Phantom Vermilion Bird is an insubstantial shadow, unaffected by conventional explosions or kinetic impacts,

Things like electromagnetic railguns, rocket missiles, and machine guns have no effect on it,

and the Phantom Vermilion Bird is just one of the cards the Special Affairs Bureau has hidden away!

Who knows how many similar things they have."

"But..."

The expression of the Caucasian agent changed several times, and he said with difficulty, "The stronger the transcendent element, the more severe the suppression it will face.

The Phantom Vermilion Bird likely has some sort of vulnerability or Achilles’ heel that could cause it to collapse at a touch,

like it can never leave the confines of Yin City..."

"So,"

David sneered and glanced at him, "Are you willing to bet?

Bet that the Special Affairs Bureau won’t release the Vermilion Bird,

Bet that the Vermilion Bird can’t fly over the sea,

Bet that the exotic fire emitted by the Vermilion Bird cannot penetrate the thin energy shield newly developed by the Navy’s giant warships."

"..."

The Caucasian agent completely shut his mouth. No one dared to join such a wager; even his superior’s superior wouldn’t dare to propose such a notion.

"Everyone just shut up."

David said coldly: "Let’s pretend nothing happened this time, and everyone remains unharmed. This is also what DC means."

David’s authority within the various intelligence agencies in the United States was extremely high. After he said this, the others remained silent, only sighing quietly.

’Sigh...’

David looked at his colleagues, who were all filled with melancholy, and he sighed silently to himself.

As the game of killings progressed, the authority and importance of intelligence agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation were actually increasing.

They could monitor, surveil, review, use gray methods to collect information data, investigate enterprises or individuals, build their own bases, train armed personnel, and review everything they deemed a threat.

Whoever mastered transcendent powers held the real power.

David’s adoptive father, who was also the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, always believed in this principle.

By leveraging their early advantage, the Federal Bureau of Investigation acquired transcendent powers, providing protection to American dignitaries in need, while also holding countless secrets that could ruin anyone’s reputation.

David’s adoptive father knew how to keep secrets, and no one knew what information he held, hence no one dared to challenge his power and position, hold a hearing, or weaken the authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

With time, the size and status of the Federal Bureau of Investigation continued to grow, reaching and even surpassing the scale of the Edgar Hoover era.

The agents also gained unprecedented powers—even influencing the United States Navy fleet.

’Only power is the root of everything. Illusory power will only intoxicate and numb people.’

Looking at all his indignant colleagues, David remembered his adoptive father’s words.

The battle between the Deadwood Titan and the Phantom Vermilion Bird wasn’t just a personal challenge to the Superhuman Organization,

It also signified the dissemination of the concept of Cataclysmic Expert—the bearded mercenary in the bar might be full of nonsense, but everyone could see,

An apex transcendent is enough to cause destruction comparable to modern warfare in the real world.

Players of the Cataclysmic Level would rise above most things, becoming the embodiment of order itself.

No doubt the bigwigs in the United States are sleepless and anxious at the moment. They know more than these agents in front of me,

For example, the one who, in the script mission ’The Long Night is Coming,’ folded an entire world into a box,

using the power of shadow to singly suppress Hoenhem, David, Li Rising, Amber, Liu Wu Dai, and Ding Zhensi, the six top-tier players,

Su Ni Sheng.

David slowly exhaled a breath, determination flashing in his eyes.

Su Ni Sheng, Hoenhem, Li Rising...

Cataclysm, huh, truly a seductive title...

————

A situation similar to what happened with the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents was also occurring in other boxes at the Yokogi Bar,

Everyone was discussing the impact of the emergence of apex transcedents and how top-tier players would profoundly change the future order.

In comparison, the specific reason for Li Ang’s conflict with the Special Affairs Bureau,

the face the Special Affairs Bureau lost in front of other organizations,

no longer mattered—trivial face, when compared to the invisible threat posed by mastering the Phantom Vermilion Bird, was insignificant.

The current Deadwood Titan and Phantom Vermilion Bird represent the pinnacle of combat performance in the game of killings,

If anyone’s dissatisfied, other organizations are free to nurture their own Vermilion Bird.

"..."

In the corner of the Yokogi Bar, a person wearing a white horse mask,

listened with a complex expression as people around talked about the bizarre rumors of Li Ang.

Some said Li Ang was actually a secret genetic modification experiment runaway developed at the Special Affairs Bureau’s Hidden Dragon base over a decade ago, a [Dragon Group] member, who initiated the conflict to seek justice for his experimental brothers and sisters who died in childhood;

Others claimed Li Ang was a reincarnation of an ancient deity, the Kui Mulang of the Western White Tiger among the twenty-eight constellations;

Some suggested he was a Special Affairs Bureau-sponsored talent secretly cultivated, causing a fallout due to a secret romantic entanglement with Michael.

The tales grew more exaggerated.

The person shook their head, stuffing a bottle into the mouth of the white horse mask, guzzling it down.

Who would have thought... The novice player who once sought Longheng Square building blueprints from me would grow to such an extent, renowned worldwide, forcing major organizations to bow, and celebrated by players as a cataclysmic anomaly.

Her relationship with Li Ang had always been good, mutual cooperation, helping each other to the point of friendship,

Perhaps...

Her revenge finally held hope?

But, if she wanted to ask Li Ang for help,

What kind of price would she have to pay...

Feeling somewhat troubled, she firmly placed the bottle on the table, ran her hand over the bar to transfer payment,

turned around and jumped off her seat, logging out of the square, to meet up with her sister Laura.

At the moment of leaving the Game Square, her gaze swept over the noisy Yokogi Bar,

spotting in a corner box, a crowd that left a particularly deep impression on her.

All of the Syndicate’s... Disciples?