Thirty kilometers west of the compound, a stretch of forest spread across the hills. Ta Xiao’s unit had set up camp there.

After six hours of searching, the drones had found nothing. Since demons weren’t living organisms, the drones’ infrared and heat-sensing equipment was useless. They could only drift aimlessly over one patch of green trees after another.

“It’s hiding in there and won’t come out.”

“If it doesn’t attack the drones, it’ll be hard to pinpoint its exact location.”

The team leaders discussed what to do next.

“Why not send people in to search? Once we find it, we can flatten the area with artillery. A few rounds should be enough to take it out.”

“Are the soldiers’ lives worth nothing to you?”

“They’ll all be wearing steel armor. It won’t dare attack them.”

“How about incendiary bombs? Burn down the woods, and there’ll be nothing left to hide behind.”

“There are too many trees. It’d take days to burn them all, and the smoke would block the drones’ view. Remember, we’re dealing with something that doesn’t need to breathe. Fire and smoke won’t do a thing.”

“What do you think, Commander Ta Xiao?”

Ta Xiao rested his chin on his hand and studied the circle on the map before replying slowly. “The higher-ups want it captured alive. Demons are extremely valuable research subjects.”

His subordinates’ faces fell at his words.

Capturing it alive was far more difficult than simply killing it. That meant all the risks would fall on them—and their lives would be on the line.

“The people from the Science Council again? Why don’t they do it themselves?” someone grumbled.

“Relax. I’m not going to gamble my men’s lives. That’s why I asked them to provide weapons support.”

“What kind of weapons?”

“Heh. They’ll be here any minute. They’re a lot more useful than incendiary bombs.”

Gussy curled up inside a hollow tree, watching through gaps in the leaves above. Three drones had already passed right over its head, but Gussy was well hidden, and they hadn’t spotted it.

“Damn these people. Once I’ve recovered my energy, I’ll kill every last one of them,” Gussy thought furiously.

It knew the drones could detect heat, so it didn’t dare start a fire. All it could do was absorb the sunlight filtering down through the shade.

For now, Gussy planned to make the troops waste their time. It didn’t need food or sleep, and it could survive on solar energy.

“What are they going to do next? Keep dragging this out with me? It’s about time they set the mountain on fire, isn’t it?”

Gussy was actually looking forward to them starting a fire. It would let it quickly absorb the flames and recover its energy, while the smoke would cover its movements. Once it absorbed 30 percent—no, 20 percent—of its energy, it’d have the confidence to take on machine guns and artillery and charge straight into the enemy’s base.

As Gussy was thinking this, a sudden chill ran through it for no reason. It couldn’t help looking up.

Two bombers roared overhead, their thunderous noise piercing straight through the soul.

Four black objects dropped from the planes, falling toward the forest where Gussy was hiding.

What the hell are those?

They’re too small to be nukes. Aerial bombs? Incendiaries? Or…

Gussy watched the black objects fall, its unease growing stronger by the second.

The energy density inside those black objects was far too high!

Wait. Those aren’t explosives, and they aren’t incendiary bombs. Is that high-energy fuel?

A fuel-air bomb?!

Gussy didn’t have time to think. It jumped down from the tree and burrowed into the ground as fast as it could.

The sky suddenly turned white.

A murky cloud rapidly swelled above the treetops and spread, covering the sky over the entire forest. In an instant, it contracted inward—and then came a devastating blast. The roar tore through the air as orange-red flames swallowed the white cloud, swelling into a huge, savage ball of heat that devoured everything around it.

A terrifying shock wave followed. Neither the slender branches nor the mighty trunks stood a chance. An invisible force swept away everything on the ground. Wherever it passed, the air was compressed at tremendous speed, then abruptly sucked away, creating a suffocating vacuum. The firestorm vanished in an instant, leaving behind a dead, scorched silence and a forest floor in ruins.

Watching it all through a drone camera, Ta Xiao grinned. “See? That’s what I call efficient. We even skip the firefighting.”

His subordinates nodded. Compared with incendiary bombs that would burn for three days and three nights, fuel-air bombs could flatten the forest in an instant. Their only drawback was the price.

But since the weapons were being supplied by the Science Council, the cost wasn’t their problem.

H City.

Ever since their failed attempt to capture the demon, Night Hawk and his assistant had been lying low at a safehouse. Every day, they searched for clues related to the lunar base.

The Science Council insisted that the entrance hadn’t disappeared, only changed location. But after weeks of searching, they still had no information about it. Meanwhile, the upper echelons of Huaguo seemed to have noticed something and tightened H City’s military security. Inspections at checkpoints had become stricter than ever.

Night Hawk had been undercover in Huaguo for years, with a false identity dating back to infancy. No one would uncover him easily. As long as he didn’t slip up, Huaguo’s people wouldn’t catch him.

In the early hours of that morning, Night Hawk was browsing Huaguo’s news as usual when he received an anonymous message.

“All units, attention: Operation Clean Sweep begins now. Deadline: 16:00 today.”

Night Hawk froze when he saw the message, his face full of disbelief.

What on earth had happened to the higher-ups that they’d ordered an evacuation so suddenly, without even leaving them a chance to come back?

Night Hawk didn’t believe it at first. He replied, “Confirm the logistics supply list number.”

The response came quickly: “List number: NSSD-7-Alpha. Stock is sufficient.”

Night Hawk stared at the anonymous reply, then took a deep breath to steady himself.

Whatever his doubts, he had to obey the organization’s orders. He needed to act immediately.

“Clean Sweep” meant destruction and evacuation. Destruction came first. Night Hawk had to erase every trace he’d left in Huaguo and destroy everything valuable in his possession, whether physical objects or information.

Night Hawk called in his assistant and told them what had happened. Then the two of them got to work destroying everything.

Night Hawk had a public identity in Huaguo as an executive at a cutting-edge chip development company. He’d stolen all kinds of data, but unfortunately, he’d never obtained the most sensitive information. After this evacuation, he’d never get another chance. Before leaving, Night Hawk deleted and destroyed all the research data in his possession, causing Huaguo losses worth billions. Then he and his assistant bought tickets to the United States and left Huaguo.

At that very moment, Organization K agents undercover throughout the country were all doing the same thing as Night Hawk.

The citizen identity database mysteriously leaked. A factory halted production after losing its formula. The entire city lost power. The national archives caught fire. One disaster after another, large and small, struck across Huaguo. Any single incident would’ve been insignificant to the country, but when they all erupted on the same day, the whole nation was shaken.

The storm hit so suddenly that Organization K had no time to stop it. Its secretive, loosely organized structure made it impossible to intervene effectively in time.

…

“Who the hell did this?”

Ta Xiao barely had time to enjoy the weapons support before bad news arrived from the Science Council: Organization K’s assets in Huaguo were withdrawing en masse, despite the Council having given them no such orders.

The answer was obvious. Someone had overstepped their authority and impersonated a high-ranking member of Organization K, sending out false orders and deceiving most of its members.

This move had completely wrecked Organization K’s decades-long operation in Huaguo. Having learned its lesson, Huaguo would undoubtedly tighten its security against K and even launch an internal investigation. In the future, it would be much harder for the organization to infiltrate the country.

Who on earth had done this?

Ta Xiao didn’t know the whole story. He only knew the timing was terrible. With a fire breaking out in the backyard, it might soon spread to him.

They’d have to face Huaguo sooner or later, but not now. Organization K still couldn’t afford to openly provoke Huaguo.

The Science Council sent Ta Xiao its orders: capture the demon and transport it to North America within 24 hours; the unit in Myanmar was to destroy everything and withdraw; all other members were to go into hiding where they were.

Ta Xiao sensed the danger. The higher-ups had sensed it too.

Ta Xiao gazed at the white mushroom cloud from the fuel-air blast, still lingering in the distance. He picked up his radio and ordered everyone: “Set aside ten percent of the shells. Use the rest to shell the area for two hours. Helicopter and off-road vehicle teams, get ready. Once it cools down, search methodically from the outside in. You have 12 hours!”

…

Xu Fang and Owen had set up a private group chat where they could share the latest information in real time.

“I exposed all of Organization K’s covert operatives. They can forget about operating in Huaguo from now on.” Owen proudly showed off his achievement. “I also sent a tip to the Huaguo authorities. They’ll be going after the people at the compound soon, I bet. Hahaha!”

After becoming a digital life-form, Owen had devoted most of his energy to fighting Organization K. He’d never underestimated this greatest threat to world peace, and the intelligence he’d spent years gathering had finally paid off. He’d wrecked Organization K’s plans, but unfortunately, he could only use this method once. From now on, Organization K would be much more careful about information leaks.

“I just finished negotiating with Ashatemi. They still haven’t given me an answer. I know they don’t want to cooperate in good faith.”

As long as it didn’t involve the author or Horror Novel Web, the author could learn almost anything through the Consultation Center—provided the author was willing to spend the points. Ashatemi probably had no idea that the moment he made his decision, Xu Fang already knew his stance.

“What the hell? Why’s that Indian guy so nasty?” Owen snorted. “Let’s just kill him. Give those idiots a taste of an author’s power. My settings panel still works.”

“No need. They’re not our real enemies—not yet, anyway. We still need to get the money.”