Raging Void Essence swept across the earth, and the pitch-black storm destroyed everything.

The storm subsided. The entire fortress had vanished without a trace, leaving only a circular "vacuum zone" five hundred meters wide. Within it, not a blade of grass remained; nothing survived the attack.

Lixin stood at the center of the vacuum zone. She pressed her hand against the earpiece communicator, testing for a signal—but found none. Her watch still had a positioning signal, though weak. It wasn’t faint enough to disable the communicator entirely.

"What the? Did they just unilaterally wipe me out from their end?"

Even Lixin realized something was off. Ever since they assigned this mission to her—a person officially Class C—she’d felt uneasy. No matter how impressive her file was, it shouldn’t have warranted such a decisive assignment.

Well, this belated realization was pure Lixin. Swap her for Cleyna or Qin Fan, and either would’ve questioned it immediately.

"Let me try contacting them…"

Lixin planned to reach Cleyna and Qin Fan via her watch. But their signals were dead…

"Huh?"

Now she was certain: the command center’s signal had been cut off.

Better hurry back.

………………………………………………………………

Inside the command center, Cleyna and Qin Fan were resting in their room when a tremor shook them.

"What’s going on?"

The tremor wasn’t momentary. After the initial jolt, it continued as a low, persistent vibration.

Both tensed instantly. What happened? A fight? No—this feeling was unmistakable. A quick thought made it clear.

The command center had started moving.

"Oh right, where’s Lixin? Why hasn’t she returned?" Cleyna tried contacting her. No signal.

Finally realizing the problem, Cleyna told Qin Fan to stay put and stepped out to check.

Stepping out only startled her more.

Cleyna looked down from above. The operations hall—once crowded but orderly—was now utter chaos.

People below scrambled like ants on a hot pan, clueless and frantic. Some rushed upstairs to pack their rooms, preparing to evacuate.

"It’s over. Something’s happened."

Cleyna’s thought: Why was this mission so cursed? How many disasters in one day?!

She hurried back to the room. "How are you? Can you walk now?"

"I can walk," Qin Fan replied without confidence, kicking his legs slightly. "But running, jumping, or using my ability? Tough."

"That’s enough." Cleyna dragged him off the bed. "Find Lixin. We’re evacuating."

"What?" Qin Fan was shocked. Following her out, he saw the chaos too. Lixin had gone to find the Commander—she should be downstairs.

They headed down but met the senior sister in the stairwell—the one who’d first brought them. The Commander had called her Xiaoya, but they didn’t know her full name. Cleyna called out, "Hey—"

"You two? Where’s the other one?" The senior sister sounded urgent.

"She went to find the Commander. She hasn’t returned," Qin Fan answered.

The senior sister’s face darkened. "Follow me."

???

Confused but unable to wander aimlessly, they followed.

"What’s happening? What exactly went wrong?" Cleyna pressed anxiously.

"Just follow me. You’ll see."

Two minutes later, they reached a corridor. The senior sister opened an automatic door at the end. "Inside."

Hesitating briefly, they entered.

"Oh?"

The room was lined with monitors, showing every corner of the base—including the chaotic operations hall.

The senior sister sat at a console, fiddling with controls. She explained to the dazed pair, "The command center is moving. Target: Preyas Military Base, thirty kilometers away. The Commander initiated it; we can’t stop it. And now he’s… gone. Since Lixin went to find him and vanished too, there must be a link."

She stopped, turned, and gestured to a screen. "Watch this recording."

They leaned in. It showed the operations hall from two hours ago—Lixin and the Commander talking.

"What are they saying?" Qin Fan asked.

"Quiet. Watch." Cleyna kicked him lightly, nearly toppling him.

Audio was recorded but drowned in noise. Isolating their voices would take too long—no time.

?

Soon, they spotted a key moment.

The Commander handed Lixin a paper. The senior sister paused and zoomed in.

"What is this?!"

She recognized it instantly. After a brief explanation, she frowned deeply. "This was from three months ago. Search teams—all the command center’s few remaining A Rank Ability Users—vanished without return. Why give it to Lixin now…?"

She pieced it together: Battle command errors and reckless missions had gutted all high-threat, high-burst Ability Users. Only A Rank users like her remained. He’d sidelined—or schemed against—Lixin, an unexpected threat. Then he ordered the move and disappeared. All in one smooth move…

"Wang Wei… you bastard!"

The senior sister cursed fiercely. No doubt now—Wang Wei did this. His purpose unknown, but he’d betrayed humanity.

"You know the situation. Formal introductions: I’m Li Xiaoya. Class A ‘Overclock’ Ability User. At the academy, I’m two years your senior—your senpai."

"Cleyna. Gigantic Strength Ability User. He’s Qin Fan. Light Flow Control. Both A Rank… though right now, we’re practically useless," Cleyna said with a wry smile.

"I know. But no time for chatter. If we want to live… we pull off something big."