The lollipop hung loosely between Wenzhi’s teeth as he watched Duan Ze and Ru Yi argue about a game or something along those lines.

He wasn’t listening to them.

Frankly, he had been existing among them like a ghost for the past six hours. Mostly because Zhaohe’s cooking had given him food poisoning.

He still wasn’t over it.

He rose to his feet, pressing a hand firmly against his stomach. His freckled face creased in discomfort as he walked out of the room, heading down the main halls of the shelter.

Children were running from one side of the corridor to the other, laughing and playing games, while the elderly sat in clustered groups. Elsewhere, the injured gathered to talk and laugh with one another.

They were currently stationed at one of the emergency shelters built close to Sector Two, which had rapidly escalated into a highly potent red zone.

Wenzhi was starting to get really dizzy, the waves of nausea hitting him hard, but he held himself upright, forcing a steady pace as he moved through the building.

Most of the refugees who recognized his face offered polite greetings or waved. Wenzhi could never quite get used to the attention. But then again, he was the Faction Leader now, and it had been exactly two months since their clash with the Old Blood.

Two months, and the Sovereign Faction had experienced an explosion of positive growth, easily outstripping the negatives.

The only glaring failure was that they still hadn’t identified the mole. The unresolved threat kept Wenzhi, Xinyuan, and Zhaohe hyper-vigilant.

When the other inner-circle members demanded details about the breach, the trio deliberately omitted the existence of the traitor to prevent paranoia.

Beyond that, the foundational levels of the underground city had been successfully built. Even though heavy construction was still actively ongoing, many districts were already functional and lived-in.

Unfortunately, Wenzhi hadn’t slept in a comfortable bed for a week. Rifts were rupturing across the sectors at an unprecedented rate, forcing the combat Espers and field guides to constantly deploy. As a result, a massive rush of survivors was being routed here to be treated in the shelters.

The Sovereign Faction was universally recognized as one of the fastest-rising organizations in the region. The sudden prestige was drawing the attention of highly powerful figures who wanted to negotiate for protection, bringing their own vast resources to the table in exchange.

New Espers and Guides were also streaming into their ranks daily.

As Wenzhi stepped out of the shelter’s automatic doors, he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the harsh sun.

Ahead, a familiar jet busted through the atmosphere of the red zone. Paramedics immediately moved into position, ready to take in the incoming survivors.

The jet’s landing gear hissed onto the tarmac, and the rear cargo ramp dropped. As the wounded were carried out on stretchers, Wenzhi walked toward the vessel.

Shu Yuzhen jumped out of the hold first, with an exhausted-looking Zhiyao trailing closely behind him.

"Boss!" Yuzhen’s eyes brightened as he spotted Wenzhi, but the excitement quickly turned to concern when he clocked his pale, sick complexion. "Wow, you look awful, Boss. Are you okay?"

Wenzhi ignored the question, his brow furrowing. "How is the extraction going?"

"Well, as much as there are many survivors, there are so many dead people. Monsters are already terrifying. Why do they even have to mutate?" Yuzhen said dramatically, tossing his hands up before jogging past him into the shelter to coordinate with the paramedics.

Zhiyao approached him next, exhaustion written all over his face. But his eyes stayed sharp and curious. "You okay, boss?"

"I’m fine," Wenzhi breathed, keeping his arm firmly braced against his abdomen to suppress a rogue wave of nausea.

Zhiyao stared at him for another second like he clearly didn’t believe that. Then he smiled. "You know... when the rifts calm down, maybe we should all go do something."

Wenzhi frowned. "Something like what?"

"Something fun." Zhiyao’s smile widened. "You especially need it."

Wenzhi gave him a flat look.

Zhiyao only laughed and walked past him toward the shelter with the paramedics.

"It’s time to go, Lin Wenzhi," Commander Fu Muhan announced loudly as he stepped onto the loading ramp.

Behind him, Espers and Guides from the Rift Bureau were moving out. Some leaning heavily on their guides, while the most severely wounded were being wheeled toward the shelter on stretchers.

Within minutes, Wenzhi, Duan Ze, and Ru Yi boarded the jet. The thrusters roared to life, and the craft pitched sharply up into the sky, moving into the red zone.

As everyone began checking their gear, Fu Muhan crossed the deck and approached Wenzhi. "Are you doing okay?"

Wenzhi tightened his jaw. The sheer frequency of people asking about his health made him aware of just how vividly Zhaohe’s culinary disaster was painted across his face.

In that exact moment, he silently vowed to never touch a plate of her food again, even if she begged him on her hands and knees.

"What are the latest reports saying about the rifts?" Wenzhi asked immediately, moving the conversation away from his stomach.

Fu Muhan lips curled into a small smirk. "The new rifts are smaller than the current red-zone rifts but dangerous enough."

His expression darkened. "Death count is high. We’re currently salvaging barely twenty percent of the civilian population."

Wenzhi nodded slowly, his expression flattening as he snapped his mask into place.

"The Rift Suppression Corps deployed their own Espers to the coordinates last night," Fu Muhan added casually.

Wenzhi wasn’t surprised. The red zones were expanding and overlapping, swallowing vast pathways across the regions. To reach a newly affected sector with any kind of speed, one had to move directly through the affected lands rather than taking the long, cleared detours.

"Thank you for the briefing," Wenzhi said.

Looking past the commander’s shoulder, he caught the piercing gaze of Fu Muhan’s Guide, Yifan. The man was staring at him with unblinking intensity as he pulled on his own oxygen mask.

Fu Muhan noticed the shift, nodding to Wenzhi before walking back to occupy the seat next to his partner.

Wenzhi raised an eyebrow at his departure, then stood up, pulling his fingerless gloves tight across his knuckles as he joined Duan Ze and Ru Yi near the equipment racks.

"Did you catch that absolute death stare?" Ru Yi asked, her voice muffled slightly as she adjusted the straps of her face mask.

"I did," Wenzhi replied smoothly.

"You attract a lot of those." Ru Yi teased.

"No," Duan Ze snorted loudly from the side, checking the magazine of his gun. "It’s just because Yifan is an asshole."

Ru Yi let out a genuine, clear laugh.

Wenzhi watched her for a brief second. She was fully recovered now, though they had found her bound and completely unconscious in the mansion’s lower basement after the incident.

She had claimed she never saw the face of the person who ambushed her, but looking at her now, Wenzhi couldn’t deny the sense of relief that settled in his chest that she was alive.

Suddenly, a massive wave of turbulence rocked the cabin, causing the metal hull to groan loudly. The sudden drop made everyone freeze for a second, their hands instantly reaching for the handrails before they collectively shook it off and went right back to prepping their gear.

They were deep inside the red zone now. But the turbulence wasn’t a natural weather pattern.

BOOM.

Something massive slammed into the side of the jet. The entire cabin tilted.

Outside, a mutated Dovos shrieked, the sound a piercing, metallic wail that rattled the glass as the beast claws scraped across the hull.

The aircraft pitched into a tailspin.

"Land the damn jet! Land it now!" someone screamed in panic over the roar of the failing engines.

Everyone immediately grabbed onto the safety belts as the jet sharply dropped altitude, swerving to avoid the mutated Dovos tearing through the sky above them.

Its shriek rattled through the metal.

"Brace for impact!" The pilot screamed it.

Then, the jet hit. Hard.

The force slammed through the entire cabin like a bomb.

Several Espers reacted instantly, forcefields flared.

Barrier abilities expanded. Others reinforced the hull with raw energy to soften the collision.

Even so, metal screamed. Bodies crashed forward.

The jet plowed into the ground and dragged through dirt and ruined concrete before finally grinding to a halt.

Silence. Heavy breathing. Then, everyone started moving fast.

Doors were kicked open. One by one they spilled out into the ruined outskirts of the red zone.

"Check injuries!"

"Anyone bleeding?"

"We’re fine!"

Ru Yi turned immediately toward Wenzhi. "Are you okay?"

Wenzhi opened his mouth then abruptly doubled over and vomited hard onto the ground.

Duan Ze blinked.

Ru Yi froze.

Duan Ze crouched beside him and patted his back. "Well."

He glanced at the others. "That answers that."

Wenzhi breathed hard through his nose, his stomach twisting.

This was humiliating. Absolutely humiliating.

Ru Yi looked half-concerned, half-horrified.

Fu Muhan stepped out of the wreckage and looked up.

Three mutated Dovos circled above them. Their screams tore through the sky.

"We move now," Fu Muhan ordered.

Duan Ze glanced ahead. "At least we’re close to the others."

Wenzhi steadied himself, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Even from here, he could feel it. Xinyuan’s wavelength.

"Yeah," he breathed.

And then, the Dovos dove fast like missiles.

The ground shook beneath their impact.

Every Esper moved at once, their abilities erupting.

The first Dovos tore through the formation anyway. Its claws ripped through two Espers in a single sweep.

Blood sprayed.

The second smashed into the ground, crushing another beneath its weight.

The third screamed and lunged straight to the others.

Fu Muhan’s eyes widened. "Run!"