Chapter 238: A Meeting Between Officials

After ending the call with August, Daniel immediately left the secured district and flew straight toward the Awakened Association building.

The city was in complete darkness. Military forces and Awakened were patrolling everywhere, sweeping through the streets and searching every corner.

Surveillance helicopters were still flying in the sky, reporting every single Corruption Beast they spotted.

’Even with all these forces deployed, the dimensional break still hasn’t been resolved. Just what level was it?’ Daniel thought, frowning.

He increased his speed, and it didn’t take long before he arrived. The Association building looked like a heavily guarded fortress—obviously, he couldn’t just fly in casually.

He landed in front of the guards. The moment they saw him, they raised their weapons and pointed them at him.

"Who are you?" one of the guards asked.

"Daniel Noir. I’m here on the order of Association President August."

The guards exchanged glances, and one of them quickly entered the building to verify the claim. A few minutes later, he returned and whispered something into the ear of the one who seemed to be the commander.

"Your identity has been verified. You can go in."

Daniel gave a slight nod and entered the Association. He went upstairs to the floor where August’s office was and knocked on the door—but there was no response.

He frowned and tried to open the door, but it was locked—and not with any ordinary lock he could just break through with force.

He went back downstairs and asked one of the staff members. He learned that August was currently in a security meeting and wouldn’t be available until he returned.

Naturally, Daniel had no patience to wait—he had no clue where his family was.

He asked where the meeting was being held. Without much thought, the staff member pointed toward the underground floor—apparently, there was a bunker down there where the city’s top officials were currently gathered.

Daniel headed that way without hesitation.

"Access to the general public is restricted," two guards blocking the entrance stopped him.

"Get the hell out of my way. Or I swear, I’ll take out all my anger on you."

The two guards looked at each other and then suddenly burst out laughing—clearly, they thought his words were nothing but a joke.

"Pffft—haah! Are you stupid, kid? You better turn aroun—"

Before the guard could finish, Daniel’s fist smashed into his face and sent him flying dozens of meters away.

"Shit, we’re under attack!" the other guard shouted, raised his weapon, and opened fire immediately.

However, the bullet smashed and flattened against Daniel’s forehead.

"Impossible..." the guard collapsed onto the floor in fear.

The bullet wasn’t a regular one—it was a magical round capable of killing C-rank Awakened.

But when it hit this kid, not only did it not even scratch him—the bullet itself was crushed. How was that even remotely logical?

Daniel didn’t care about his fear and headed down into the basement.

"Shit—I’m screwed!" the staff member who had seen everything from a distance panicked and immediately hit the emergency alert button.

Siren sounds began echoing throughout the entire building. Guards from other floors and the outer perimeter rushed in immediately to neutralize the threat.

Meanwhile, Daniel walked down the stairs slowly, completely unfazed. His eyes radiated a coldness that felt like the entire world was burning within them.

"Hey, who the hell are you?"

"Ahh—no, help!"

"We’re under attack!"

Boom! Boom!

Along the way, he encountered a few more guards. He tried explaining the truth nicely, but they all attacked him like maniacs.

He was forced to knock them out temporarily. Eventually, he reached the last step.

"I think I’ve arrived."

At the deepest level of the Awakened Association’s headquarters, twelve people sat around a glass table.

The most powerful and influential people in the city were all here—from the mayor to the head of the Awakened Academy, Philip, and of course, the Association President, August.

"We still don’t know what happened?" the mayor asked, sitting in the central chair.

"Mr. Mayor, we’ve used all our intelligence resources, but we still haven’t figured out why a dimensional break occurred. We’re sure there wasn’t any dungeon even remotely close to the break site."

"Then someone explain to me where the hell this damned break came from! And why the hell haven’t we managed to contain it yet?" the mayor growled.

His city was in absolute chaos. His citizens had been forced into shelters—how the hell was he supposed to stay calm?

What made it worse was that they still hadn’t been able to suppress the break.

He turned his gaze toward August and Philip. If there were anyone in this room he still had faith in, it was those two.

"To stabilize the break, we need to find and kill the Boss. But we haven’t even been able to locate it. It’s like it’s intentionally hiding," August finally spoke with a sigh.

"Is there no way to track it?" another official asked.

"We’re doing everything we can. We’ve even requested help from the capital. Reinforcements should be arriving soon."

"All this time has passed, and those bastards still haven’t sent anyone. When exactly will the reinforcements get here?" the mayor growled again.

"Mr. Mayor, all the roads into the city have been destroyed. Even the airspace is partially controlled by Corruption Beasts. Even if they want to come, they can’t get here easily," Philip finally spoke.

Everyone sighed at his words. Only now did they realize how crucial a teleportation portal would’ve been. They had planned to build one in the city but didn’t have the budget.

"Until they arrive—"

Before the mayor could finish, the door to the meeting room suddenly opened.

"Who the hell are you?"

Everyone turned to the young white-haired man who had entered. For a moment, their eyes met his—and they felt fear.

The coldness in those golden eyes was like staring into the eyes of death itself—as if the god of death had just walked into the room to claim all their lives.

"Daniel?"

August and Philip, however, immediately recognized him.

"You know him?" the mayor asked, looking at the two.

They both nodded. Seeing their response, the mayor let out a breath of relief—and even felt slightly embarrassed. For a second, he had truly thought death had come for them.

"They told me you were in a meeting, Mr. August. But my current mental state isn’t stable enough to care about things like that," Daniel said with a voice colder than ice.

But before anyone could respond, the sound of dozens of footsteps echoed from behind.

An armed squad of elite guards rushed into the room and pointed their weapons at the white-haired boy. The tension in the room immediately skyrocketed.

Dozens of guns—some of which could even injure B-rank Awakened—were aimed directly at Daniel’s head.

"Put your hands up right now and surrender!"

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( A/N : I forgot to include something in the previous Chapters:

Daniel won’t be able to use his offensive or defensive skills for a whole week due to the aftereffects of using Transcendent Self,

but he can still use his regular abilities like Fallen Step and Fallen Vision.

I just realized I hadn’t mentioned this before, and it could’ve caused a plot hole.)