Late at night, Security Bureau Northern Mountain District Office.
Right after shutting the office door, Wen Wen's phone rang.
It was a call from Su Zi.
"Hello? Sister Wen, I've found the files you wanted." As soon as the call connected, a voice tinged with residual fear and fatigue from overworking spoke from the other end.
"Did you find anything?"
"Yes, quite a lot, way too much!"
Su Zi's tone was full of complaint, "It's terrifying, okay! Where the hell did you dig up these two freaky things? Each of them has exceptional abilities, each with their unique skills... Do a favor and don't surprise with this kind of stuff next ti, will you?"
"Let's start with Lu Feng."
Wen Wen leaned back in her chair, legs propped on the desk, swinging, "He's not what he claims to be, so law-abiding Joe Public, right?"
"... Law-abiding is a stretch, but Joe Public depends on how you see it."
On the other end, there ca the sound of flipping pages, "His file cos in two parts; one from Cliff City, looking all normal, just everyday normal.
A foster family, the fosterer is the owner of a car repair shop, always got into fights growing up, never gave anyone peace of mind, he lied about his age to join the military before coming of age, later after his service, he returned and helped out at the family's car repair shop, gained a bunch of bad reviews for his lack of custor service and frequently cursing people... Just an ordinary guy getting by."
"What about the not-so-ordinary other part?"
"That's where it gets scary. It's sealed in red, highly confidential, directly under the Central City Military Departnt, with six security stamps on it, damn six!"
Su Zi couldn't help but swear, "I've been in the investigative departnt for years, and it's the first ti I've seen a file stamped for secrecy like it's collecting stamps; just applying for access brought a warning email from the military departnt."
"Normal."
Wen Wen understood, in fact, from the first glance she took at Lu Feng, she already knew—on his arm, among the common military adornnts, was a half lion, half skull emblem.
From what she knew, those who had been to Central Earth and had such tattoos were only from a place outwardly known as the Parachute Battalion, and within the upper echelons of the Federation, its existence was hardly a secret.
They were all doers of the Federation's dirty work.
Including but not limited to assassination, kidnapping, experints with inhumane weapons contrary to international human rights charters, even acts of terrorism...
That's why it was so bizarre.
How did you manage to retire alive?
You should know that in the quagmire that is Central Earth, except for the oil field security forces, it's tough for the rest involved in the war and operations to make it to retirent, not to ntion withdrawing intact from the Parachute Battalion.
Not dead on the battlefield, not dead on a secret mission, and not suicided with thirty-sothing bullets in the back... Such a person either has excessive good fortune where whoever ets him dies or definitely has a very thick thigh to lean on.
Whichever it was, the Federation's lapdogs ssing with this kind of person ant they had just stirred a hornet's nest for the military departnt.
"Finding out he's connected to the military departnt is enough, the Security Bureau's job is to prevent abnormal criminal incidents, even if he's got nothing better to do than murder and arson, that's for the military departnt to worry about, not my bloody problem."
Wen Wen asked directly:
"What about the other one?"
"The other one is even more terrifying."
Su Zi rubbed her temples, "Sister Wen, you've only been back these two years, you must have heard about the big incident in Hai Province ten years ago, right?"
Wen Wen fell silent for a mont, pondering for a long ti before straightening up in her chair, "You an... the Day of Sea Fire? Does it have sothing to do with the Calamity of the Tidal Flas?"
"Yes, he's a survivor."
Su Zi sighed, "To be exact, Ji Jue is the only survivor of the Calamity of the Tidal Flas."
In a dream that seed far too long, Ji Jue once again heard the sound of the train pounding against the rails, so familiar.
He opened his eyes, leaning against the window, gazing out at the rapidly passing view; mountains, wilderness, sparse and desolate villages, and the sun-scorched evening sky.
The sunset lit up the child's eyes, the crimson hues dancing in the sky.
This was his childhood.
"Awake? Rest a bit more, we'll arrive at Cliff City soon."
Soone patted his head with gentle motions, "After we get there, how about Mom takes you to see the sea?"
"..."
Ji Jue remained silent for a long ti, then whispered softly, "Actually, I don't like the sea, it gets annoying after a while."
"You quietly saved up for a swimsuit when you heard we were moving to Cliff City."
The person beside him laughed, drawing him into an embrace and tousling his hair lightly and airily, "Don't worry, the new school will have new friends and classmates to play with."
She said, "You'll adjust, the past will beco distant, and you'll embrace your new life."
"But the new life is so hard, Mom, much harder than I thought."
Ji Jue leaned on her shoulder, head down, "The food in Hai Province tastes so bland, I always find it hard to get used to, and the dialect is so complex, I never understand it.
The dicine in the hospital tastes awful, the nurses are an, the old house gets damp, and during the humid season, water is everywhere at ho, if not dealt with quickly, it'll mold. So classmates at school also like to bully , teachers always pick on ..."
"It's tough," she whispered.
"Don't worry, I've handled it all, Mom. None of them can defeat ; I've already been admitted to university, just like you, to Tiann University. The scenery there is just as beautiful as you said, even though the braised pork rice in the cafeteria is hard to co by."
He gently grasped his mother's hanging hand, as if cradling that exceedingly fragile dream,
"Lu Ma throws temper tantrums but is very kind to , treating like her own child. Professor Ye is very strict, always says she'll kick out if I don't do well but has never looked down on . If anyone bullies , Brother Feng will help fight. The older student also takes good care of , never gives a hard ti over a project...
They are all good people, and they all like ."
"So, don't worry, Mom, I'm doing very well."
Ji Jue smiled, assuring her, "I will surely beco soone of significance... no matter how hard it gets."
"Then why are you so sad?" The mother stroked his cheek, so tenderly, making Ji Jue's nose unable to resist the sting.
"I just... miss you."
" too."
Soft arms embraced him, like an eternal sanctuary and care, making the cruel world and all its suffering no longer frightening.
Ji Jue closed his eyes and snuggled into her arms.
No longer looking at the scenery outside the window.
The dancing rosy glows emitted their last brightness and then were swallowed by the black clouds, which eventually disappeared.
Among the turmoil of heaven and earth, screams and shouts arose, as they had in countless nightmares before.
The black clouds died and shed crimson rain.
The rain hit the ground, igniting inextinguishable flas that rose to the sky where they converged, like a tide with no end in sight.
Everyone called it the Vortex of Fire.
It was a natural disaster nad for destruction; when it appeared, even the oceans would boil, and the invisible flas like a deluge swept over everything, leaving only ashes.
Ten years ago, without warning, it appeared in Hai Province, streaming southeast, leaving a scorched trail in its wake.
Whether mountains, wilderness, villages, or a train accidentally caught in the aftermath.
Just like that, it carelessly took away everything that belonged to Ji Jue.
Four hours after the disaster, the rescue team from Cliff City was the first on the scene, finding the only surviving child among the wreckage of the train.
Severely burned, barely alive.
He was held by his deceased mother, not crying or struggling, letting the rescue team take him away.
Afterward, experts tediously detailed how this was a stroke of luck and coincidence. People looking at the newspaper headlines exclaid it was a miracle of life and celebrated joyously.
But the so-called miracle sotis is no different from a curse.
And Ji Jue was never the lucky one.
He didn't know how many tis he would relive this dream, but the ending never changed because of his actions.
Each ti, at this point, the dream should have ended.
But this ti, he did not wake up.
He lifted his head, looking toward a patch of sky that didn't belong to this dream.
Above the shattered night sky, countless shining stars slowly appeared, moving, overlapping, intertwining, forming an indistinct silhouette, like magnificent deities revealing themselves in the mortal world.
One after another.
They, or It, were watching him.
Solemn and silent.
Always waiting.
.
.
The office was silent.
Only the whisper of smoke rising from the ashtray broke the stillness.
Even within the Federation's history of disasters, the Firestorm of Hai Province ten years ago was a rare calamity.
The collapse and descent of a Crack Realm spike once sent alert levels soaring, with fiery winds tearing through the south of Spring City ruins and boiling the West Sea in its wrath.
Though no major city was destroyed, the consequent economic toll on Hai Province was severe, nearly crippling it, and the tragedies it caused were countless.
As the sole survivor of that incident...
Wen Wen didn't know whether to count Ji Jue's luck as good or bad.
Facing such a disaster, survival didn't necessarily an fortune; it was often the start of misfortune—for soone who faced such a catastrophe and lived, there was a usual term: 'Cursed'.
Common people who entangled with disasters, if rely unlucky, that was fortunate; their rate of mutation was much higher than average, seldom eting a good end.
That Ji Jue hadn't spontaneously combusted over the years was already incredibly lucky.
"Why are you suddenly looking this up, Wen Wen?"
After a lengthy silence, the voice of Su Zi ca from the other side of the phone, curious, "He's not gotten involved in so incident, has he?"
"No, he hasn't."
Wen Wen shook her head decisively, "Just t him while fixing a motorcycle, just curious."
"…Eh?"
Su Zi's voice dragged out in a long, obviously polite disbelief, "Then you've got to treat to a al later, and don't even think about using the Security Bureau cafeteria."
"Alright, alright."
Wen Wen nodded her head, then after a mont of contemplation, suddenly asked, "Su Zi, you've worked in the investigation departnt for so long and seen so many profiles.
If, I an if, a Cursed one were to be chosen by destiny..."
"Are you serious?"
Su Zi sounded surprised, "That likelihood? Without relying on an Upper-level Summoning, an independent awakening isn't outright impossible I guess, but it's more like daydreaming—it'd be more practical to buy a lottery ticket.
Ordinary people affected by the Mutated influence are almost marked by the vortex.
To give an analogy, it's like walking across a tightrope on the edge of a cliff with hundreds of pounds of iron balls tied to your ankles; it's already impressive if you manage two steps, not to ntion, flying into the sky."
"I see, thank you."
Wen Wen said no more after listening.
The phone clicked off, and once again silence enveloped the office, save for the ticking clock.
Staring at the blank docunt on the computer screen, Wen Wen's mind wandered again, gazing out at the sky.
If one day, a person dood to fall into the abyss could soar in the sky... then their wings would certainly be beautiful, wouldn't they?
Wen Wen smiled.
The night sky was clear, unobscured by clouds.
Stars twinkled, their light gentle.
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