# 577
Chapter 577
The City That Returned
Somewhere in Great Xia.
“Hmm?”
Wang Mian, who had been tracking a “mystery,” suddenly looked up toward a distant spot.
“What’s wrong, Captain?” Swirl asked, puzzled.
“Nothing.”
Wang Mian stared in that direction for a long time, then shook his head. “Probably just my imagination…”
Rose shrugged. “False alarm. I thought you’d found that ‘mystery.’”
“We only started the investigation—how could it be that fast?” Wang Mian sighed. “I’m not a god.”
“Soon, soon.” Tianping counted on his fingers. “Right now you’re peak Klein; breaking into Human Apex is just a matter of the next year or two. With a bit of luck you smash that ceiling and—boom—you’re a god.”
“…I’m not that incredible.”
“Captain, don’t be modest—you’re the greatest genius Great Xia has seen in decades!”
“What about Lin Qiye?”
“Er… Captain, you’re the second-greatest genius Great Xia has seen in decades!”
“…”
“When you become a god, we’ll be Great Xia’s first special team with a deity on the roster,” Swirl’s eyes lit up. “When we ask for leave, will the Night Watch brass dare say no?”
“Makes sense,” Tianping nodded thoughtfully.
He turned and solemnly patted Wang Mian’s shoulder. “Go for it, Captain—our vacation freedom is in your hands!”
Wang Mian: …
“Cut the chatter.” Wang Mian tapped Tianping’s head with his scabbard. “Nobody sleeps until we drag that ‘mystery’ out tonight!”
…
Great Xia border.
The Fog.
Chen Han, protecting the heart, stood on the edge of the shattered city. He frowned at the hazy mist ahead, his face grave.
“Senior Chen Han, that’s…” Lu Yu turned to him.
Moments earlier the entire sea had seemed to come alive. Though the fog blocked their view, the giant vortex at their feet was impossible to miss.
A vortex that size doesn’t appear for no reason—something had gone wrong on their side!
Chen Han drew a slow breath. “We can’t interfere with whatever happens in the fog. We stick to the plan: protect the heart and bring this city back to Great Xia…
They’re no ordinary people; they won’t fall so easily.”
Worry filled Lu Yu’s eyes, but he could only nod and sit back down.
Time trickled by. As the broken city drifted on, they began to make out what looked like a cliff of fog ahead—dense masses of mist piled up, forming a wall that cut off all sight.
It was as if an invisible glass plate blocked the fog; the mist banked against it, sketching a boundless line that stretched to the horizon.
The border of Great Xia.
“We’re here.”
Seeing that line, Chen Han’s gaze turned complicated.
From being swept out of Great Xia by the Wind God, to the Sword Sage’s arrival and god-slaying strike, to the Fifth Special Team carving a path—then vanishing without a trace…
They should have been overjoyed to come home, yet their hearts were heavy.
They had returned…
but only they had returned.
Behind the border line, dozens of military aircraft streaked across the sky, circling along the fog’s edge, scattering as they searched.
“Eagle-1, no anomalies.”
“Eagle-2, no anomalies.”
“Eagle-3…”
Just then, one plane skimmed a section of the border. The pilot’s peripheral vision caught something in the fog wall and his brows knitted.
Beyond the swirling mist, a huge shadow was approaching—about to pierce the fog barrier and emerge inside the border…
“This is Eagle-9, anomaly spotted.”
Another voice answered over the channel.
“Eagle-9, what do you see?”
Before the pilot could reply, the black colossus slid out of the fog. First a corner of a street appeared in mid-air, then an entire vast city wrapped in dim light slowly revealed itself.
Fog rolled and spat outside the pale radiance; with the city’s arrival the whole sea fell under its shadow.
Eagle-9 stared for a long time, then croaked:
“A city…”
“What?”
“I see a city… riding on a sword.” He squinted at the city’s foremost edge. “At its prow stand two men in dark-red cloaks.”
As his words faded, a shaft of dim light tore through the sky and halted before the broken city.
Clad in an imperial black robe, holding a slowly spinning silver sphere, the figure hovered in the void, eyes fixed on the light-shrouded ruin.
“You’re back…” he murmured.
Then his gaze shifted to the two cloaked men at the city’s front and his pupils narrowed.
He stood for a long moment, then flipped his hand, stowed the silver sphere, and stepped forward—turning into a wisp of light that flashed into the city.
…
Inside the broken city.
A flicker of dim light, and a middle-aged man appeared on an empty street—grease-stained old army coat, tousled hair, deep eyes.
Hands in pockets, he scanned the surroundings as if searching for something.
“Over there, huh…”
A moment later he stepped again, re-appearing at the entrance of an underground garage.
He walked in.
The garage lay silent, filled with the residents of Anta County. Eyes closed, brows furrowed, faces pale—they looked trapped in nightmares.
Beside them, neatly placed stoves burned with bright, comforting flames; thick blankets covered a few of the sleepers.
At the entrance the man stood watching, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
He moved softly among the slumbering people.
With each step, a faint gleam slipped from under his coat and darted into a sleeper’s body. Where the light merged, souls injured by the gale-force wind were mended; color returned to ashen cheeks, furrowed brows relaxed…
No more unease or fear lingered on their faces; they drifted into tranquil, peaceful dreams.