Chapter 1095 - 417: Hidden Threats (2)

He looked at Lin Xian and said, "It could very well have something to do with you too, Lin, you need to be careful."

"Thanks for the warning."

Lin Xian looked at the marker Ryan made on the map and said, "This is very helpful."

"Taboo items, crystal grids, Holy City, be specific..." Monica came forward and cut straight to the point, "How do you want to cooperate?"

Ryan shook his head, "Hasn’t Lin already said it? Taboo items and crystal grids are less important than lives. We’ve been tracking Holy City’s movements inside the city, which might involve you. Whether we engage with them or discover something, we can proceed as allies."

Lin Xian smiled and immediately took out a special communicator and handed it to him, saying, "Alright, see you on the island then."

"Lin."

Seeing Lin Xian about to leave, Ryan took the communicator and said to him, "On the sea, don’t get entangled with the Dark Mark lightly, or you’ll never know what monster might appear beneath the surface."

Lin Xian nodded, then two of Lin Xian’s teams closed the masks on their power armor, took off one by one from the deck, and sped towards the distant sea.

Inside the bridge information room, Ryan watched through the porthole as Lin Xian and the others left, his expression calm.

"It seems like nothing was really achieved."

Gedi said, "The Sword Holder is a Mechanical Superpower User; air, land, or sea shouldn’t pose a problem for him. Their teams are all powerful elite superpower users, so they might be interested in the crystal grid."

Ryan waved his hand and said solemnly, "The crystal grid isn’t important. If they want, they can easily get enough information from the Phoenix Society."

Azir said at this moment, "The situation at Sea Rock Island might completely go out of control, and besides giving a warning, it seems we can’t offer any other collaboration. What’s the point in that?"

Vanessa smiled and said, "You silly fool, since you know Sea Rock Island is having problems, they surely can see it too. Ryan’s point is even if we can’t help, giving a friendly warning shows goodwill; at least we won’t be enemies with the Sword Holder."

"Who says we can’t help?"

Ryan turned around, looked at everyone seriously, and said, "Be ready, we’re landing on the island tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Exactly." Ryan walked quickly towards the information room door, not looking back as he said, "If Holy City’s target is them, that taboo item will reveal itself tonight!"

...

As they skimmed the surface of the sea from above, Lin Xian felt the air was a bit oppressive. He constantly searched the sea with radar and, seeing Sea Rock Island getting closer, tried to connect with Qian Deli and Ning Jing’s teams.

"Everyone, what’s the situation?"

"The weather doesn’t look good." At the top of a tall building, Qian Deli, holding an electronic telescope, looked towards the sky covered in black clouds to the southeast and said in the communicator: "The meteorological system detected a rapidly expanding storm over there, and it might rain on the island."

"Zzzt zzzt..."

At this moment, Ning Jing’s voice came through the communicator: "Captain Lin, there’s no one in town, the coastline connection port in East City has been attacked..."

On Ning Jing’s side, countless drones were rapidly patrolling and scanning. In the sky, Brother Huo swept past swiftly, strong winds whipping the garbage in the city’s ruins into the air. This outbound port looked like it had been scorched by a big fire, charred all over, with the massive track foundation half-exposed on the sea surface like a giant kneeling in the water.

"Brother Huo just went out to investigate; the nearest track section is still several kilometers away, and the condition further isn’t certain... Looking at it like this, we can only fly over or row a boat."

Hearing the report in the communicator, Lin Xian’s expression tightened. The two teams landed on a hillside top along the West Coast. Lin Xian looked at the dead-silent city area below and fell into contemplation.

The oddity appeared after the Dawn City battle, the "No Resistance" on the defense platform, the metal dice at Taku Deep Water Port, the storm and floating island heading for Sea Rock Island...

Lin Xian felt like a fog lay before him, obscure and unclear. He could sense that although the Infinity only had about 20 people, it was under some unseen watchful entity, giving an oppressive feeling of quietness.

"Such a big city, how come there isn’t a single zombie..."

Sha Sha stopped her Flying Peach, jumped down, and twisted the power armor mask’s scanner towards the city: "Don’t you think it’s so quiet here..."

"The quieter it is, the more cautious we need to be." Monica said at this moment: "That Holy City Organization must be watching us."

"Lin Xian." KIKI turned to Lin Xian: "With the undersea volcano and some Abnormal Body Nest coming this way, should Brother Huo and I conduct an aerial reconnaissance along the track out to sea?"

Lin Xian looked up at the sky, the massive altocumulus clouds slowly blocking the sunlight, large shadows sweeping over the urban landscape. At this point, he summoned Viola from the Black Star Forge, equipped with a special Flying Power Armor.

"Viola, conduct high-altitude surveillance as per the Hawk Sea Group’s sea area intelligence, then patrol rapidly along the ocean track from G3 to G25 stations, and report back."

[Viola understands. If any anomaly is discovered with an Abnormal Body, should I return immediately?]

Lin Xian nodded: "Yes."

Receiving the order, Viola turned, activated the flight suite propeller, and soared into the sky, breaching the sound barrier swiftly and shooting through the clouds.

"With the track damaged and trouble both underwater and above the sea, I’m thinking about activating the Sky Dome, but I can’t shake off the feeling that what’s up there could be even more troublesome."

"Then what should we do, wait here for Viola to return?" KIKI asked.

"Even though the Hawk Sea Group said the people from the Holy City Organization have eyes on us, I think that’s not the biggest trouble." Monica crossed her arms and looked at Lin Xian.

Lin Xian nodded, indicating he understood too.

"Volcanoes, floating islands, maybe these are more concerning."

"And..." Monica looked at Lin Xian: "Luring Agent."

"We can’t ignore this thing."

Lin Xian contemplated for a moment and said, "We probably can’t leave today; let’s search the city while it’s daylight and make some preparations."

"That’s the best course for now~" Monica nodded.

Then, according to the city’s area situation, Lin Xian dispatched Monica’s team to the Marine Commercial District, Qian Deli was responsible for the industrial port area along the Southeast Coast and rendezvous with Ning Jing’s team, while he took KIKI Shizhi to explore the White Tower District in the center of Sea Rock City. However, before that, he sat on a hillside on the West Coast, taking advantage of the early hour, and submerged into the Black Star Forge to connect with Chu Yan with his consciousness.

On the Heavenly Calming Ship, in Ye Lan’s office, Lin Xian appeared beside Chu Yan in his long-unseen consciousness form, communicating with Professor Ye.

"I mentioned to Chu Yan that you’d soon be asking about the crystal grid."

Ye Lan sat in his seat, looking at the empty chair beside Chu Yan, with a gaze as if he could see him.

"Does the Phoenix Society think there are risks with crystal lattice?" Lin Xian asked.

"It’s not that simple." Chu Yan answered him, "Roughly a month ago, superpower users began appearing in the Pacific Ocean. We received much data and information from Noah, and the Dawn Center and Phoenix City started their research. Our North American United Front began organizing investigations in major cities throughout North and South America."

"Lin Xian."

Ye Lan looked at him calmly: "What do you think when you saw the four-character information conveyed by the South Heavenly Gate’s photovoltaic wing?"

"I don’t know, it’s strange." Lin Xian didn’t know why Ye Lan suddenly asked this, so he replied, "It sounds like nonsense."

Chu Yan conveyed Lin Xian’s meaning.

Ye Lan nodded and said, "When dealing with inter-civilization information, we are usually very cautious, including the connection between you and Chu Yan with the Dark Civilization. We actually don’t know what kind of information we will receive or what kind of cost it might bring. The crystal grid is just like this."

Lin Xian’s eyes narrowed.

Ye Lan continued, "Our Nightwalker Organization has conducted hundreds of experiments on crystal lattice, combining and merging the continuous information from each region. The superpower research team has accumulated much experience and methods from this superpower breakthrough, which is much like you imagined. It can be regarded as a breakthrough leap in human control over superpowers. With this crystal grid power storage, superpower users can achieve new breakthroughs beyond Angel Level. For those exceeding the 30,000 peak value, we coined a new superpower user level..."

"A new level?"

"Transcendent Level." Chu Yan replied.