CHAPTER 388: CHAPTER 388: BAD NEWS (SEEKING SUBSCRIPTION)

Sun Changzong, who was beside Pei Yan, noticed the changes in his expression, realized something was wrong, and hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "Xiaopei, what’s wrong? What happened?"

Pei Yan had no time to explain, threw the half-smoked cigar in his hand to the ground, cursed under his breath without worrying if any bystanders would notice, and immediately mechanized himself to fly up into the sky and head towards the distance.

It was only then that Sun Changzong’s earpiece transmitted a frantic cry for help; "Captain! Captain! Requesting support, something major has happened here! Heavy casualties, heavy casualties!"

"What’s going on? How can there be heavy casualties? What about the on-site personnel?" Sun Changzong’s head buzzed after hearing this. Heavy casualties were impossible! There were five elite field personnel left on the scene; how could there be heavy casualties?

"One of the field team is dead, the others are all seriously injured! Two are in a coma and in critical condition! Critical condition! Captain, six of our people were affected and died! Six! Everyone else is wounded! Wuuu wuuu wuuu!" The sobbing voice in the earpiece pulled Sun Changzong back to reality. This was a major casualty incident. How did this happen, how did this happen! He was incredulous and urgently shouted, "Is it Shen Yu? Have people from Shen Yu come back to kill?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized it was unlikely; if Shen Yu’s people were capable of this, they wouldn’t have fled earlier.

And the words in the earpiece confirmed his doubts: "Not Shen Yu’s people, I can’t say for sure, but it’s definitely not the group we were monitoring before. It was an old man and a child! That old man was just, just too powerful!"

"Old man? Child?" Upon hearing this, Sun Changzong froze on the spot, falling into deeper confusion.

Unlike Sun Changzong, who could only drive back after receiving the news, Pei Yan, who could fly at high speed, flew over the strange city’s sky at a tremendous pace toward his previous mission location. But the message coming through his earpiece was not as detailed as the one Sun Changzong received, only four words!

"Help!" Shortly after, another weak two words came, "Flee fast!"

These four words nearly caused Pei Yan’s heart to jump into his throat. "Help" was worrisome enough, yet still within his understanding; perhaps Shen Yu received reinforcements and launched a surprise attack. But "flee fast" implied much more: saying these words not only meant the entire team was in a desperate situation, but they also believed even Pei Yan, upon arrival, would be powerless to change the situation.

Both scenarios left Pei Yan feeling uneasy and desperate, and when he arrived at the site with maximum speed, this unease and desperation turned into reality.

The defensive wall he had prepared just in case before leaving had vanished. The undrained water within the array poured out, carrying debris and flooding the ground floor residents of nearby housing complexes.

Pei Yan, now without the mind to care about these issues, landed and trudged through the muddy surface, looking at his colleagues groaning on the ground, then briskly walked toward the center of the site, finally spotting a familiar silhouette in his vision.

"Zhao Yuanhu!" Seeing the fallen comrade by the wall, Pei Yan wailed and rushed over. This previously cheerful, Hanfu-loving girl he secretly admired, now lay powerlessly against a broken wall, her face pale. A sturdy broken piece of wood had pierced her abdomen, blood continuously seeping from the wound, staining the wall she leaned against, evidently also suffering substantial injuries from behind.

"What, what happened! What exactly happened! Zhao Yuanhu, talk to me, talk to me!" Pei Yan’s hands trembled as he cradled her face, placing his hand under her nose—still breathing, still breathing!

"Leave me, go, go save Jiumu!" Feeling the person’s call before her, Zhao Yuanhu exerted all her strength to weakly open her eyes but fell back into a coma before finishing her words, unresponsive no matter how much Pei Yan called.

Pei Yan wasn’t a doctor, but with basic first-aid training, he knew not to blindly pull out the wood from Zhao Yuanhu’s wound. As he released nanomechanical insects to tend to Zhao Yuanhu’s wound, a heart-wrenching cry reached his ears.

Hearing this sound, Pei Yan abruptly stood up, stumbled toward the source, and over low walls, he saw the crying person and the scene in front of him. Despite having faced life and death many times, he couldn’t help but go weak in the knees and collapse down upon seeing this.

That once formidable female role model, Xia Yu, now more pathetic than he was, covered in blood and filth, was holding Shangxing, whose chest had a large hole, crying loudly. Beside her lay the unconscious Ye Jiumu, life or death unknown, and not far away was Zheng Jia Ru, with his right arm and foot severed, panting heavily in a pool of blood.

"Who! Who did this!" After the initial pain, anger! Overpowering rage filled Pei Yan’s head. His eyes bloodshot, veins bulging, Pei Yan crawled over to Xia Yu, grabbed her, and screamed.

Grieving beyond her limits, Xia Yu almost cried herself into respiratory difficulties; Pei Yan knew she was in more pain than he was, yet he needed to know the truth. Biting down on his teeth tremulously, Pei Yan gritted and gave Xia Yu a fierce slap, aligning her face with his and loudly interrogating, "Tell me who! Xia Yu! Tell me who was it! Was it Shen Yu? Why didn’t you notify me immediately!"

"No time!" Zheng Jia Ru’s weak voice came from behind. Upon hearing this, Pei Yan turned abruptly to see Zheng Jia Ru lying on the ground, trying to get up using his hand for support. Pei Yan hurried over to help him straighten up and pressed, "Who was it! Who did it!"

"It was people from the Magic Realm, from the magic plane, no exchange of words; they attacked upon encountering! That person... was too... too powerful!" Zheng Jia Ru spoke with tears uncontrollably streaming from his eyes. He hammered his fist against the wall behind him in sorrow, "We’re simply no match against him; in an instant, in an instant Shangxing fell!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Yan glanced toward Shangxing, who had already lost all signs of life, clenched his iron fists, and suddenly heard Xia Yu shout loudly from afar, "It was Lei Yunzhu!"

At this name, Pei Yan was initially stunned, then the associated image of a girl appeared in his mind, but he couldn’t comprehend how this little girl showed up here. Just as his confusion grew, Xia Yu continued to shout, "It was the Vlad family, they did it! The Little Vlad who escaped from the Secret Prison occupied Lei Yunzhu’s body! It was him who requested that old man to kill!"

"Vlad!" After Xia Yu’s explanation, enlightenment struck Pei Yan. Recalling Bai Ze’s words, Pei Yan immediately pieced together the background. He bellowed with anger, "Bai Ze! Bai Ze, it’s right, it must be linked with him! Bai Ze! Vlad! I will make them pay with blood! I swear! They’ll pay with blood!"

"Quick! Medical team! Elder Lin! The people are here! Quickly, urgent care is needed here! Can anyone tell me what exactly happened here!" Yu Zhongmin shouted frantically, startled as he climbed over the low wall and witnessed the devastating scene.