Real World, Azure Federation.
Central Ring District, Splendid City.
On the right side of the main road in the remote suburb, there is a bar nad "Blood and Fire" that has been closed for a long ti. Even the transfer notice pasted on the anti-theft railings is tattered, indicating it has been abandoned for quite a while.
The shops along the alley are all closed, and even a few vending machines have their lights off, their rchandise shelves empty.
It’s a desolate place with barely any traces of people.
But inside the "Blood and Fire" bar’s basent, the lights are on.
The tables, chairs, and bar counter once covered in dust have been simply wiped clean; Polaris Squad mbers are taking refuge here.
"I didn’t expect you could still find such a good place, Gizmo..."
Horseman familiarly opens a cardboard box in the corner, pulls out a pack of eight cans of "Green Craft Beer", pops the tab with a hiss, and gulps down two mouthfuls, letting out a breath.
He then casually tosses the remaining beers. As the aluminum cans spin through the air, the six n including Polaris and Dongyang reach out in unison, effortlessly catching them with a slap.
"This place was opened by my dad and a friend together, but they didn’t manage it well, so they stopped running it and never got around to selling it..."
Doghead Gold plops down onto the bar counter, takes a lazy sip of beer, fiddles with his proudly spiked hair, and grins.
"The ’Tumor Alley’ by ’Neural Avenue’ is famous for being deserted; opening a bar here is worse than opening an electronic graveyard. Closing down was a matter of ti... But it’s also a good thing. Look, it’s perfect for us to lie low here, and we don’t have to worry about the Ard Division finding us for now."
"That’s true too."
Horseman smiles gently.
Polaris circles the bar’s basent, carefully checking every corner to ensure there are no caras or other hidden dangers before finally turning back and saying in a deep voice:
"Dong, did you find a suitable place for the ritual?"
"Yeah."
Dongyang casually sets his beer on the bar, adjusts his glasses, and nods solemnly.
Glancing at Kuang Benkuang and Dragon King beside him, he adds:
"According to the ritual requirents, it’s best to choose a high place, the higher, the better... In the Central Ring District, only the Federation’s governntal building and the three major Consortium’s headquarters can et this requirent. Let’s choose ’Flash Eagle Building’. The Hall of Valor Guild is just in the top area, and I have a way to bypass security and surveillance to get to the rooftop."
"Good job Dong, you should have done like and Forget No Taboo, flipped with the Guild long ago... No sense staying in that broken place, look at this world, what good does working for the Consortiums bring? Now the Federation sent the Ard Division to hunt us, and the Consortiums don’t even care enough to fart; I even suspect they are involved behind the scenes!"
Doghead Gold scoffs.
Dongyang only offers a wry smile.
He has a family and can’t just move on like that.
Who living in the Azure Federation can truly escape the Consortiums’ control?
It’s impossible.
"As long as you have a way, that’s good. That just leaves Chenxi Su Keying’s part... Once the ritual materials are ready, we’ll start the operation."
Polaris breathes a sigh of relief.
He then pops open his beer can and takes a hearty swig.
Silence falls for a mont.
"To avoid surveillance and tracking, we’ve disconnected all communication devices and positioning systems... Let’s hope everyone’s families are safe."
The atmosphere suddenly becos quiet again.
Heavy and worriso feelings begin to spread.
Soon enough, Polaris suddenly frowns, gestures for silence, and points upwards.
Dongyang and the others imdiately beco alert.
Very subtle footsteps can be heard next, followed by the sound of fingers gently tapping on a tal door, four fast and one slow, repeated twice.
"It’s Chenxi and the others back, I’ll get the door."
Doghead Gold’s face relaxes, and he says.
As he speaks, he finishes his beer, crushes the can into a small coin-sized ball, tosses it into the trash, and strides out.
Before long, Chenxi returns to the basent with Honey Polo, Tutu, and Kuchan Nana; Polo is carrying two boxes, one a sealed case, the other a pet cage.
The cage holds a white snake.
"We’ve got everything, gold, silver, eralds, and other seven types of tal ores, plus an Albino Brocade Snake."
Chenxi hooks a tall stool with her long leg, elegantly sits on it, pops open a can of beer, and says as she drinks.
"tal and ores were relatively easy to handle, but this snake was troubleso. I got it through a contact in the black market."
"No chance they could trace it back here?"
Doghead Gold shuts the door and asks cautiously.
Honey Polo sets down the boxes and rolls her eyes.
"Sister Chenxi’s a top hacker, she cleaned everything up nicely, didn’t leave any traces during the transaction, so how would they find us?"
"Hmm?"
The n present are a bit surprised.
Chenxi never ntioned this before; everyone thought she was just the Chuxi Guild’s leader, a senior white-collar worker in a comrcial building for the past two years.
Unexpectedly, she’s also a top hacker behind the scenes?!
In this era, that’s an astonishing profession... After all, every Federation resident has a personal terminal chip installed in their brain from birth, and if it’s hacked, the protocol could self-destruct, turning them into a vegetable.
Top hackers can even alter ordinary people’s mory and databases, which is quite terrifying.
Therefore, "hackers" are not only deeply loathed by the Federation, but they’re also a main target for the Ard Division’s crackdown.
"I was just third-rate before, a hobby on the side... After inheriting supernatural strength in the ga and achieving an extraordinary transformation in reality, advancing to Sequence Seven as a Mage, my ntal capacity developed, and my skills skyrocketed."
Chenxi flicks her gradient purple hair and smiles faintly.
The n exchange glances, looking surprised.
"Great to have Sister Chenxi with us, our actions will go much smoother..."
Dragon King flatters.
Polaris can’t help but acknowledge the fact, nodding and smiling:
"Once Su Keying and her team bring back the materials, we’ll start the operation."
The others nodded in agreent.
After a few casual exchanges, Chenxi suddenly rembered sothing.
"By the way, I captured sothing on the way back; you should take a look..."
The others glanced over.
Chenxi raised her arm and operated a sleek wristwatch-style personal terminal, projecting a holographic image.
The footage showed several Federation Ard Departnt hover vehicles surrounding a luxury apartnt building. The walls and glass shattered, explosions and gunshots resounded, a fierce conflict seed to have erupted.
A few minutes later, Ard Departnt personnel escorted three severely injured youths onto a vehicle and quickly withdrew.
"Those caught are high players who inherited supernatural strength, just like us."
Chenxi explained solemnly.
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions turned grave, furrowing their brows slightly.
"This seems to be a large-scale operation, and from the information I obtained through secret channels, it’s evident that since this server suspension update began, there have been hundreds of similar captures in different parts of Splendid City over the past few days."
Chenxi continued.
The others gasped.
What is the Federation trying to do?!
Polaris looked thoughtful and spoke up:
"According to Jack, if the Federation had preditated this, they knew from the start that supernatural power could be extracted from the ga. Previously, they hadn’t acted, perhaps because the timing wasn’t right. Now that players have hit a bottleneck because of the Saint Ritual, the Federation has chosen this mont to close the net."
Listening to his words, the others found it reasonable.
Simultaneously, the atmosphere grew more tense.
Chenxi took a backpack from Tutu, opened it to retrieve a small laptop, set it on the bar counter, then started typing aggressively, finally pulling out a data cable from behind her ear, connecting it to the laptop.
Whish!
She raised her hand, projecting another holographic image before the group.
The screen displayed nurous grid regions, corresponding to each person’s ho, various Splendid City streets, apartnts, neighborhoods, even luxury villas.
Judging by the angles, Chenxi seed to have hacked the area surveillance caras.
"Fortunately, the Federation hasn’t lost all sanity by deploying Ard Departnt personnel to capture our families for leverage..."
Chenxi remarked.
But Polaris noticed sothing, squinting.
"Yet, there are Ard Departnt ambushes nearby, waiting to capture us if we appear."
"Damn it!"
Doghead Gold couldn’t help but curse.
The fury in everyone’s hearts was hard to suppress.
Chenxi then revealed a series of the latest Federation Security Departnt notices, surprisingly the wanted orders for the Polaris Squad!
Besides, there were hundreds of additional wanted orders, including guild mbers from major guilds to individual high players, those renowned on the ga leaderboards.
The Security Departnt stated the charges as involvent in illegal organizations and activities, participation in cults, etc.
"For their undisclosed purposes, they’ve completely exposed themselves."
Polaris remarked coldly.
"And this is just one city in the Central Ring District—across the Federation, they plan to capture every high-level player from the ga!"
Everyone’s faces darkened, the n couldn’t help but clench their fists.
Beep! Beep!
Just then, a ssage notification appeared on Polaris’s personal terminal.
He glanced, his expression slightly changed.
"What’s wrong, North Brother?"
Dragon King noticed and couldn’t help asking.
Polaris raised his head and spoke gravely to the group:
"Su Keying and her team have been exposed; they’re being pursued by the Ard Departnt!"
"What?!"
Everyone was shocked.
The impulsive Doghead Gold jumped off the counter.
"We must rush to rescue them!"
Saying this, he opened the basent door.
However, Polaris stopped him first.
"I’ll go!"
He turned to the rest of the squad.
"As a Magician, I have high mobility, convenient for rescuing... Dongyang, you set out to collect the remaining materials, while Chenxi and the ladies stay here, keeping an eye on the Federation’s movents."
"North Brother, you’re alone and vulnerable. I’m also a Magician; I’ll go with you."
Dragon King quickly said.
Polaris shook his head, stating seriously:
"Only by gathering the materials and arranging the ceremony to summon Jack, can we solve the current predicant—this is the utmost priority... I can move more freely alone, that’s it."
Saying this, he pulled the hood on his high-collared jacket over his head and turned away without looking back.
Seeing this, the others took a deep breath.
Dongyang packed his things, slung a backpack, and headed to the door.
"Let’s listen to Polaris. The situation is indeed urgent, we must collect the materials quickly..."
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