The office area of the Countermeasures Section Special Investigation Room Six was located in a gray building in the Seventh Administrative Ring of Akasha City.
It was already 3:00 AM. The woman codenamed “Phantom”, real name Asakura Minori, was sitting at her workstation, staring blankly at an encrypted file on her computer screen.
File Number: SSS-017.
The content summary was just one line:
“Cradle Weapon Development Department · Seventh Underground Facility. Coordinates [Encrypted]. Target: ‘God’s Remains’ Prototype.”
The back of her head still ached faintly.
Two weeks had passed since the observation mission that day. The report she submitted to the section stated “No anomalies discovered,” and the section hadn’t pressed further, but she still felt something was off.
The memories of that period felt as if they had been erased.
“Not asleep yet?”
Shirada Sanae’s voice came from behind her. Asakura Minori turned her head and saw her partner walking over with a cup of hot coffee.
“Can’t sleep.”
“Because of Bai Ye?”
Asakura Minori didn’t answer.
Shirada Sanae sat down at the desk next to her, placed the coffee cup on the table, and held it with both hands, as if warming herself, even though the office wasn’t cold.
“The section chief held a meeting this afternoon,” Shirada Sanae said. “About the operation plan for the Seventh Underground Facility.”
“I know. The Joint Defense Department’s operation.”
“It’s not just the Defense Department.” Shirada Sanae’s voice lowered slightly. “They brought in an S-class from the Third District.”
“Who?”
“Iron Wall.”
“…Sergei?”
“Not Sergei.” Shirada Sanae shook her head. “The real Iron Wall, Artyom Volkov, Sergei’s older brother.”
Asakura Minori’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Artyom Volkov was an S-class Esper from the Defense Department with the ability “Absolute Rigid Body.” His defensive capability ranked first among all known S-class Espers in Akasha City.
Rumor had it that he had once withstood the explosion of an intercontinental missile head-on without a scratch.
“And what about Cradle?” Asakura Minori asked.
“Intelligence indicates the facility is guarded by a Knight of the Round Table.”
“…Which one?”
“Codename ‘Surtr.'”
The air in the office seemed to freeze for a moment.
Surtr was the fire giant, the destroyer from Norse mythology. All of Cradle’s Knights of the Round Table took their codenames from mythical or legendary beings, and those who earned such titles were, without exception, overwhelmingly powerful S-class Espers.
“So on our side, we have one S-class, and on theirs, they also have one S-class.” Asakura Minori leaned back in her chair. “So us A-class and B-class are just going to be cannon fodder?”
“No, the higher-ups are just sending us to lock down the perimeter.” Shirada Sanae took a sip of coffee. “The battles between S-class aren’t something we can interfere with.”
Asakura Minori was silent for a few seconds.
Then she asked the question that had been weighing on her mind:
“Shirada, about Bai Ye… what do the higher-ups think?”
Shirada Sanae put down the coffee cup, and her eyes behind the thin-rimmed glasses became somewhat complicated.
“The higher-ups mean to put it on hold for now.”
“Hold?”
“The operation for the Seventh Underground Facility has the highest priority. If Cradle completes the development of ‘God’s Remains,’ the entire structure of Akasha City will be shattered. Comparatively, Bai Ye is just a public order issue in the underworld.”
Asakura Minori pressed her lips together and murmured, “A public order issue…”
She and her senior had been investigating Bai Ye for nearly half a year now. Every time their investigation was about to make significant progress, some inexplicable accident would occur. She certainly didn’t think that someone of such unknown origins was a “superhero” fighting for justice like in some juvenile hero comics.
“…I don’t like this decision,” Asakura Minori said.
“I don’t like it either.” Shirada Sanae’s tone was calm. “But it’s an order.”
She paused.
“Also, the higher-ups said one more thing.”
“What?”
“Bai Ye’s area of activity happens to be in the Seventh District as well. If… just if Bai Ye is also targeting that facility…”
Shirada Sanae didn’t finish.
But Asakura Minori understood.
If Bai Ye also got involved, the operation would become a three-way melee. And chaos often meant more casualties.
“So the higher-ups mean, if Bai Ye shows up…”
“Then we still prioritize dealing with ‘God’s Remains.'” Shirada Sanae interrupted her. “Everything else, we’ll handle later.”
Asakura Minori didn’t speak again.
She turned her head to look out the window. The neon lights in the night of the Seventh District seemed particularly clamorous in her eyes at that moment.
She suddenly had a premonition.
That white-haired, red-eyed girl would not just quietly stay in her corner.
She would definitely show up.
From some shadow untouched by moonlight, with those emotionless red eyes, she would be watching all of this.
At the same moment.
In the bedroom of Lingling Apartment.
She was curled up in the chair in front of the computer desk, staring at the three monitors on the desk. They were displaying the classified files of the Countermeasures Section that she had obtained through “special channels.”
Her white hair was casually spread out, and her red eyes looked somewhat eerie under the blue glow of the screens.
Lin Jiu walked over carrying a glass of hot milk and sat down beside her.
“Big Sis, it’s already three.”
“…Mm.”
“You have class tomorrow.”
“It’s Saturday.”
“Oh.” Lin Jiu tilted her head. “Then you can pull an all-nighter.”
Ling Ling didn’t respond. Her gaze was fixed on a file marked “SSS-017.”
“God’s Remains.”
These two words reminded her of something she had seen in the “Cradle” facility.
Back then, she was still “Zero,” the first successful product of the Killing Angel Project. The facility’s researchers would often test various ability armaments on her, record data, adjust parameters, and then proceed to the next round of tests.
She had seen how things called “weapons” went from concept to physical reality.
But “God’s Remains” was something on a different level entirely.
According to the Countermeasures Section’s intelligence, “God’s Remains” was an ability armament created through reverse engineering fragments of the “God Seed.”
Although she still didn’t know what this ability armament was for, she had a vague feeling that this thing was extremely dangerous.
Lin Jiu looked at her sister, who was deep in thought. A slight frown creased her normally expressionless little face. Seeing her sister like this, she couldn’t help but worry.
“What’s worrying you, Big Sis?”
Lin Jiu’s voice broke her train of thought.
Ling Ling was silent for a few seconds.
She had given up speculating about the purpose of “God’s Remains.” What truly furrowed her brow was the fact that the enemy stationed at this research facility was an incredibly powerful Esper from the Cradle organization.
Only such individuals could earn a seat among the Knights of the Round Table, and their codenames were all taken from mythological and legendary figures. Surtr was one of them.