When Shen Ge and Fang Mingyue arrived at the spot where the transport vehicle had been intercepted, they saw it overturned by the roadside. Tang Laoya was squatting there with an innocent look on his face, while two Anti-Paranormal Agents and several police officers were handing over the scene.
Seeing Fang Mingyue approach, one of the Anti-Paranormal Agents quickly stepped forward. “Captain, there were three vehicles in the assault. Preliminary suspicion points to a premeditated ambush—a modified truck blocked the road, with two black sedans pinning the target vehicle. Afterward, the assailants left in an SUV. I’ve reported the license plates of all four vehicles to the traffic police department, and they are currently pulling footage from the surveillance system.”
After finishing his report, the agent provided an update on the casualties. The attack resulted in injuries to two Anti-Paranormal Agents and six Anti-Paranormal Fighters from the escort team.
The driver, an Anti-Paranormal Agent, was the most severely injured. However, the injury wasn’t from a direct attack but from being thrown from the vehicle and colliding with a moving car, causing internal damage. Another Anti-Paranormal Agent sustained minor injuries while protecting Tang Laoya when he was surrounded by two assailants.
The six injured Anti-Paranormal Fighters were all in the same vehicle. Their injuries occurred when their car swerved to avoid the suddenly blocking truck and ended up rolling over.
Fang Mingyue nodded upon hearing this and then looked toward Tang Laoya by the roadside. “If I remember correctly, he and the other person were in the same vehicle. What happened?”
As Fang Mingyue asked her question, Shen Ge happened to walk over to inquire about Tang Laoya’s condition. The moment Tang Laoya saw Shen Ge, his face fell miserably. “Brother Shen, I… well, that… sigh.”
“What exactly happened?” Shen Ge asked.
Tang Laoya glanced at Fang Mingyue, who had walked up behind Shen Ge, and with a pitiful expression that suggested he had been insulted, he said, “I was dozing off in the car when it came to a sudden stop. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw two black sedans closing in on our vehicle. Then two people on motorcycles rushed up, yanked the door open, and threw the driver out. Those guys took a look inside the car and said something like ‘target located’… I thought I was about to be kidnapped. But then one of them looked at me, said ‘get out of the way,’ and tossed me out of the car, even causing one of the agents to get hurt in the process.”
Although Tang Laoya described the situation in just a few sentences, his aggrieved expression made it clear that the assailants had looked at him with something like… disdain.
“…” Shen Ge was momentarily speechless seeing Tang Laoya’s reaction. Seriously, old buddy, were you actually hoping to get kidnapped along with them?
Fang Mingyue’s expression turned serious. “So… the target was Kaede Hananako? Could it be people from Division One? Trying to investigate Japan’s movements through her? Although it would be foolish for Division One to directly act like this, someone like Song Zhengjun might very well do something this stupid.”
“I doubt it,” Shen Ge said. “Song Zhengjun just suffered a setback at our hands. Even if he wanted revenge, he’d have to consider whether his backers would truly support him without any reservations. And if it were him, he could have taken Mr. Tang as well. After all, he could use Tang’s status as a survivor of the Paranormal Plane incident to stir up some trouble.”
“But the assailants only took Kaede Hananako. That almost certainly points to Japanese operatives. I had assumed their base would be near Rong City, but I didn’t expect their reach to extend to the capital… Wait, that’s not right. Elder Fang just recently conducted a purge of spies based on information about the Twelve Branches. The situation in Japan is quite severe; they simply don’t have the resources to focus on both Rong City and the capital simultaneously.”
“Have your people investigate flights around the time of the Paranormal Plane incident. I suspect these individuals came over from Rong City as an extraction team for Kaede Hananako. They probably planned to set up an ambush in the capital ahead of time but didn’t anticipate the Paranormal Plane incident and Kaede Hananako getting ‘captured’.”
“This would explain why she was snatched the moment she left the base—because their people have been watching, worried she might expose more secrets. So they had to take her at all costs.”
Fang Mingyue thought Shen Ge’s reasoning made sense and instructed her subordinates to follow Shen Ge’s suggestion, starting with the flight records, to use this opportunity to root out the remaining Japanese spies.
After giving her orders, Fang Mingyue looked at Shen Ge. “Agent Shen, what’s next?”
“Next?” Shen Ge glanced at Tang Laoya. “Mr. Tang, I’m afraid you’ll still need to make a trip to Division Two. But don’t worry, this incident was just an accident; their target was someone else. I can guarantee your journey from here on will be safe.”
Tang Laoya nodded. Fang Mingyue asked again, “Then what about us?”
“Us? Of course, we stick to the original plan and return to the hotel to rest…” Shen Ge said matter-of-factly.
Fang Mingyue glanced at a traffic officer holding the latest surveillance report. “Um, they’ve tracked where that vehicle went. Aren’t we… going to follow up and check it out?”
“No need. Since we’ve confirmed it’s the Japanese, even if I don’t go looking for them, they’ll come looking for me,” Shen Ge stated with certainty.
Kaede Hananako didn’t possess the value of being “kidnapped by a Paranormal-human organization.” Even Division One wouldn’t be foolish enough to cause trouble at this time. Moreover, the transfer route Fang Mingyue arranged was confidential. Neither a Paranormal-human organization nor Division One could have precisely intercepted a route that was decided on the spot and kept secret.
Therefore, only one possibility remained: Kaede Hananako had actively sent a signal, or her companions had located her through some means and taken action.
After returning to the hotel, Shen Ge had dinner with Fang Mingyue, then went back to his room and made separate calls to Deng Yuqi and Cheng Shengnan.
Time flew by, and soon it was late at night. Lying in bed, Shen Ge appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, he was pondering information about the Dream World and the Paranormal-human Association in his mind.
Ever since he broke through to the third tier, his need for sleep had diminished significantly. By the fourth tier, he could go several days without sleep without any issues.
However, those few experiences of “drowsiness” in the Dream World gave Shen Ge a feeling akin to “sleep debt” piling up. To be safe, he forced himself to rest daily. Even if he truly couldn’t sleep, he would lie in bed with his eyes closed, relaxing as much as possible.
But since this was a hotel in the capital, not the Rong City Special Strategy Division, Shen Ge didn’t force himself to rest as usual. Instead, he first had the system “scan” the surroundings, then put Little Seven on alert to prevent any covert actions by the Paranormal-human organization.
As it turned out, the system scan actually picked up something. Not just around the hotel, but even within this very building, there were Paranormal Energy reactions.
Nowadays, judging solely by Paranormal Energy reactions, it was increasingly difficult to determine whether it was a Paranormal Entity or a Paranormal-human. If it were the former, fatalities would almost certainly occur, making it easier to locate. If it were the latter, hiding among people or lurking in a room, finding them would be time-consuming and laborious.
Fortunately, Shen Ge now had methods beyond the system for hunting Paranormal Entities. If he really wanted to find them, the system’s scan could pinpoint a general location, and then Little Seven could conduct a carpet search. As long as he was willing to invest the time, he could still accurately locate a Paranormal-human.
But… this was the capital.
Shen Ge was well aware of the headquarters’ rapid growth over the past six months. As the place in China with the greatest concentration of talent, once resources were available, the growth of Anti-Paranormal Agents here could be terrifying.
Moreover, that was just the surface. Based on reliable intelligence, the covert experiments had already achieved significant breakthroughs!
So, if traces of Paranormal-humans appeared in this hotel, unless their power was so immense that even headquarters couldn’t detect them, only one possibility remained—
Headquarters’ sanction.
In that case, Shen Ge couldn’t be bothered to expend energy playing hide-and-seek with them. If their target was him, they would find an opportunity to come to him.
Bang!
Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the quiet of the night.
Judging by the sound, it seemed to have come from one of the hotel floors. Following the gunshot, the hotel’s alarm began blaring.
“Little Seven, what time is it?” Shen Ge asked.
Little Seven replied, “Report, Master. The current time is 2:00 AM. Based on the distance of the gunshot, it likely originated between floors 10 and 20. Should I dispatch Blood Spiders for reconnaissance?”
“No need. I left two Blood Spiders at the research institute. Remote control consumes a significant amount of Paranormal Energy, and it’s not worth wasting it on minor matters like this,” Shen Ge said.
Shen Ge’s thinking was simple: if they were coming for him, they would find him without the need for Blood Spider reconnaissance. If they weren’t targeting him, then he couldn’t be bothered. This was headquarters’ turf. Headquarters now had vast resources and more Anti-Paranormal Agents than all other divisions combined. He refused to believe they couldn’t secure a hotel in the city center.
Especially since this was the venue for the upcoming Asian Anti-Paranormal Research Conference. If security couldn’t be guaranteed, the nation would lose more than just face.
Unexpectedly, a few more faint gunshots were heard afterward, and then Shen Ge received a call from Fang Mingyue.
“Agent Shen, I’ve received word that there were gunshots at the Peace Hotel…” Fang Mingyue’s voice sounded urgent over the phone.
Shen Ge interrupted, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. Even if there were artillery fire, I’d be fine. Thank you for your concern. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back to sleep…”
“Agent Shen, please wait!” Fang Mingyue exclaimed urgently.
“Something else?”
“Yes… I know that even if the Paranormal-human organization launched a full-scale attack, with your abilities, Agent Shen, you wouldn’t be in any danger. It’s just that… my friend is also at the Peace Hotel. Do you remember Hu Tinglan? Back when we attended the Asian Anti-Paranormal Research Conference in Korea, she helped you pick out gifts for your girlfriend?”
“Hu Tinglan from the Headquarters Logistics Management Department?” Shen Ge did recall someone like that, who had enthusiastically taken him around duty-free shops in Korea to select gifts.
Fang Mingyue quickly confirmed, “Yes, yes, that’s her. Based on her experience from the last conference, she was assigned to the Peace Hotel to prepare for this year’s Asian Anti-Paranormal Research Conference. After I got the call about the incident at the hotel, I tried contacting her, but her phone is unreachable… It’ll take me some time to get there. She’s in room 18-5. Agent Shen, could you go check on her for me first?”
Shen Ge could hear the sound of a car engine starting on Fang Mingyue’s end, indicating she was already on her way to the hotel while talking to him.
Since she was a loyal fan of his, and Fang Mingyue had asked directly, Shen Ge felt it would be impolite to refuse. “Alright, I’ll head down and take a look now.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Fang Mingyue said gratefully.
Regardless of whether Hu Tinglan was in trouble or not, as long as she could hold on until Shen Ge arrived, she would be absolutely safe. Fang Mingyue had absolute confidence in Shen Ge.
After hanging up, Shen Ge took the elevator from his penthouse suite down to the 18th floor. Upon exiting, he had Little Seven scan the surroundings and then walked to room 18-5.
The door was closed, with no signs of forced entry.
The hotel alarm was still blaring throughout the building. Several doors on this floor were open, and Shen Ge had encountered evacuating guests in the elevator lobby on his way down.
With the situation as it was, if the door was still closed, it either meant the room was unoccupied or the occupant inside was already in trouble.
Having promised Fang Mingyue, Shen Ge naturally needed to enter and determine Hu Tinglan’s condition. He coated his hand with the Red Mist Armor, gripped the doorknob, and exerted force. With a crack, he forced the door open.
The room was pitch dark, and a faint smell of alcohol lingered in the air. Shen Ge suddenly had a bad feeling. He walked to the bedroom and switched on the light.
Click. The light came on, revealing a woman wearing only underwear sprawled face-down on the large bed in a starfish position, emitting faint snores.
“…”
Just as Shen Ge was about to turn off the light and leave, Little Seven suddenly spoke up. “Master, a Paranormal Space reaction has been detected in the hotel. It is spreading upward from the lower floors and has currently reached around the 16th floor.”
Shen Ge frowned upon hearing this. What is headquarters trying to pull?
A test for me?
Or has the Paranormal-human Association figured out my intentions and decided to strike first, aiming to trap me permanently in this hotel?
Or perhaps, it’s all just a coincidence?
Shen Ge raised his hand and knocked on the bedroom door, but the woman on the bed was dead asleep and didn’t react at all. It wasn’t until Shen Ge punched a hole through the door that Hu Tinglan jolted awake with a start. In her panic, she tumbled right off the bed and onto the floor.
“You!”
“Hel— Huh? Agent Shen?” Awoken abruptly from her deep sleep by the loud noise and seeing a man standing in the doorway, Hu Tinglan’s initial instinct was to scream for help, even though he was quite good-looking. But just as the word “help” was about to leave her lips, she suddenly realized it was someone she “knew”?
Shen Ge sighed. “You sleep really soundly, don’t you? Didn’t you hear the hotel alarm? There’s trouble at the hotel. Fang Mingyue couldn’t reach you by phone and asked me to check if you were dead.”
“Ah?” Hu Tinglan grabbed her phone from beside the pillow and looked—dead battery.
Shen Ge said, “A Paranormal Space reaction has been detected here. If you don’t want to die, get dressed and come with me, quickly.”
Although Hu Tinglan worked in logistics, she had handled her share of Paranormal incidents. She was well aware of the terror of Paranormal Entities and Paranormal-humans. With Shen Ge as her lifeline now, she didn’t dare hesitate. She grabbed a trench coat and threw it on over her pajamas, not caring that she was barely dressed underneath, and headed for the door.
“What are we waiting for? Let’s run!” Hu Tinglan urged anxiously, seeing Shen Ge still standing by the bedroom door.
“…”
Shen Ge really wanted to tell her not to dress like that—with him here, she had time to put on proper clothes—but she was already heading for the main door. He quickly followed, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back, then reached out to grasp at the “air” beyond the doorway.
Crack!
The moment Shen Ge’s hand touched the “door,” his fist met an invisible barrier. Immediately, cracks appeared in the barrier, spreading like shattered glass.
“The Paranormal Space… it’s spreading this fast?” Shen Ge muttered, his brow furrowed.
