2:01 AM.
Divine Heart Association Base, Basent Level 3.
The cold light in the surveillance room cast its pale blue-white glow on the floor, making the surroundings feel even more chilling and murderous.
The entire room was surrounded by dozens of monitors, displaying real-ti footage of the base's various corridors and laboratories, large and small.
On the laboratory screens, each fra revealed chillingly grotesque scenes—those being experinted on were all Spirit Beasts under second-level to first-level protection, whose capture and trade were strictly forbidden by Great Xia.
A Moon Shadow Deer, once silver-white and elegant, was now shackled to an operating table, its limbs tightly bound by heavy tal chains, its antlers entwined with wires, and the energy symbolizing moonlight charm was being forcibly extracted and converted into a viscous silver liquid;
On another screen, a Blue Tide Scale Shark, which originally lived in the deep sea, was dragged out of a tank, its scales peeled off to reveal a bloody body. Researchers in white lab coats, wearing masks that only exposed their eyes, continued injecting unknown fluids into its wounds, calmly recording experintal data.
There was also a Rainbow Plumage Sparrow, forced to ingest various toxic reagents, its once radiant feathers gradually dimming and falling out, its cries echoing silently in the soundproof chamber, visible only through the desperate tremors on the screen. In another adjacent incubation chamber floated the lifeless remains of its kin.
If this surveillance footage were to leak, under Great Xia law, those primarily involved would face at least decades of imprisonnt. Yet, none of these people showed the slightest hint of worry or hesitation, clearly indicating that they'd been doing this for so ti.
The pain and struggle of the Spirit Beasts seed frozen on the screens, suffocating even within the surveillance room.
In the surveillance room, two n in black uniforms sat with their backs to each other.
The young man reclined in his chair, feet propped up on the edge of the surveillance station, casually flipping through a comic book, boredom written all over his face. The middle-aged man behind him lounged similarly in his chair, occasionally lifting his head to glance at the screens.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man sat up straight, touched the device in his ear as if listening to sothing, then said to the young man, "Tell those researchers that Professor Gu's experint has reached its final stage and needs more power. Have them stop everything and take the materials back to the cages on the fourth floor."
"Sure, got it."
The young man pressed a button on the surveillance desk, repeating the middle-aged man's words. Watching as the researchers orderly evacuated with their materials on the surveillance screen, he lazily tossed the comic onto the desk and said:
"It's so boring. I've been assigned here for months, just staring at these screens and delivering ssages. It's enough to drive soone insane without even a hint of excitent."
"Heh, do you think this is so ordinary place? This is one of the core bases of the Divine Heart Association, and working in the surveillance room is a testant to our trust. Being transferred here is a blessing for you."
"That's easy for you to say, but it's too boring. I haven't even seen a mouse invade... hey." The young man suddenly raised his eyebrows, "Do you think soone might have sneaked in without us noticing?"
"Absolutely impossible."
The middle-aged man chuckled, his tone leaving no room for doubt:
"The base is filled inside and out with surveillance and detection Spirit Rune Arrays. Leaving from inside is manageable, but if anyone or a Spirit Beast tries to enter from the outside, even a Tier Five Ghost-type Spirit Beast skilled in stealth couldn't make it in unnoticed."
"Besides, do you think anyone would dare to break into our Divine Heart Association base? You should know, even with the current descent of Tier Seven Secret Realms, the base still has a captain and the 'Three Beast Warriors' on standby."
"True, but..." the young man was distracted, "didn't Lord He Wu leave not long ago?"
The middle-aged man was montarily speechless, looking a bit perplexed: "This has never happened before; maybe it was a direct order from the BOSS or one of the two vice presidents."
"So, our defense is the weakest now?"
"So what?"
The middle-aged man snorted coldly, "This base has a permanent staff of over a hundred people. Right now, apart from Four-Star Captain Yang Jian, there are ten Three-Star Spirit Masters and over twenty Two-Star Spirit Masters, not to ntion the hidden traps and those Spirit Beasts."
"Do you really think the Education Bureau and Spirit Alliance people don't know about this base? Even those two giants don't dare to touch us. Who in Zhen Sheng City would dare to invade our Divine Heart Association base…"
BOOM—
Before he could finish, an explosion of fire suddenly appeared on a surveillance screen, illuminating the display.
As the cara shook, one could vaguely see the ground cracking, several guards being blown away, and the scene descending into chaos.
The young man abruptly sat up, staring at the screen in wide-eyed astonishnt, murmuring involuntarily, "No way, is soone really bold enough to co?"
But soon, the young man's shock turned into a sneer as he pressed the alarm button, his lazy tone tinged with a few traces of malice and disdain: "Ha, so fool is courting death, people these days will do anything."
…
Divine Heart Association Base, Basent Level 1.
BOOM—
The violent explosion sound suddenly jolted the young man in the room awake.
"What?!"
Just as he was confused, one of the three lights on the door suddenly started flashing red, and his expression changed.
This ant there was an intrusion, and backup was needed.
Ever since moving to Mingguang District two and a half years ago, this base's alarm system had never sounded for real, except during drills.
If it weren't for the constant reminders during training when joining the Divine Heart Association, he might not even rember it.
He instinctively jumped out of bed, grabbing the black uniform from the coat rack. The uniform bore a slanted red "X" on the chest, the emblem of the Divine Heart Association. He moved to the door to press the open button and take a look outside.
Suddenly, there was a rumble outside.
The young man froze in place.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Successive explosions erupted in very short intervals, accompanied by various cries and shouts, filtering in through the door crack.
But in just tens of seconds, everything ca to an abrupt halt, leaving only the relentless wailing of the alarm.
It was as if sothing had consud all the people and Spirit Beasts outside.
The young man's whole body stiffened, his heart pounding to the extre, and intense fear welled up inside him, cold sweat quickly soaking his clothes, yet he dared not move, not even daring to breathe deeply.
After a few minutes, when he was certain the threat had passed, he mustered the courage to open the door.
In his sight, there lay a scorched wasteland.
The sound of the fire alarm mixed with the invasion alert, and the ceiling sprinklers continuously sprayed water, already extinguishing the fire.
The young man looked around and discovered a dozen or so severely burned guards and their Spirit Beasts, as well as walls dented from impacts, lying by the wall.
He nervously checked for breath and couldn't help but sigh with relief.
—They were still alive.
But soon, the young man was terrified again.
On this path alone, there were at least more than ten Two-Star Spirit Masters, which ant at least twenty Spirit Beasts.
From the ti the alarm sounded to the signs disappearing, it all occurred in just a few tens of seconds. The intruder swept through with overwhelming force in such a brief ti, even leisurely sparing lives, not killing a single one.
Could it be a group of Three-Star Spirit Masters? Or perhaps a lone Four-Star or even Five-Star powerhouse?
When gods wage war, mortals suffer…
No, I must retreat quickly!
The young man dashed toward the exit, and along the way, he saw many colleagues also getting up from the ground and running, clearly sharing the sa thought.
As for risking their lives for the Divine Heart Association to block the intruders?
Don't be ridiculous; the other side obviously held back, yet people still didn't appreciate it. A few bucks a month, was it worth risking their lives for?
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