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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nThe kitten had probably starved all night since it devoured the food as soon as it saw it. Mei Xiawen even opened a bottle of spring water that was delivered with the food for it to drink from. Not even five minutes later, the kitten lurched forward and collapsed on the floor softly. It was completely knocked out.

n“Hah! It was because there’s something wrong with the free food! But why would the resort staff do this?” Strongman cried. “Class Two was passed out in Mingyue Court like this!”

nThank god they hadn’t eaten the free food! Mei Xiawen had chills running down his back. Outside, the storm was getting worse; the entire Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa was at the mercy of the strong winds and rain.

n…

n25 kilometers away in a small and secluded mechanical room in the C City Special Forces Operations base, a giant computer was receiving a certain electronic signal every five minutes. The transmission of this type of signal relied on cell signal towers from different locations. As long as the cellphone was not damaged, this signal could continuously transmit to the hidden mechanical room at the Special Ops base. It was a Saturday and the personnelle stationed outside the mechanical room were more relaxed than usual. They sat on their office chairs with cups of tea and played video games with each other. The computers in the base couldn’t connect to the internet, so everyone could only browse on the intranet in teams. Roughly half an hour before, the computer especially setup to receive electronic signals had been unable to receive the scheduled signal. After failing to receive a signal for over half an hour, the computer was programmed to initiate an emergency command and activate a siren.

nBeep! Beep! Beep!

nA shrill and long call sounded in the mechanical room at the same time that a red light began to flash. Zhao Liangze had been showering in the bathroom when he heard the siren; he didn’t even have time to wipe the soap suds off his body before he cloaked his lower half in a large towel and stormed out. He promptly opened his computer and checked the program he had designed for Gu Nianzhi. His heart dropped.

nIt had been half an hour since they’d failed to receive a signal.

nWhat was going on?

nGu Nianzhi also had on her a special transmitting device that sent her location using the pervasive cell signal towers in the Empire to send an electronic signal. If the signal failed to come for over half an hour, the program would automatically determine the level of crisis.

nZhao Liangze immediately called Yin Shixiong, “Big Xiong! Big Xiong! What happened?! Did something happen to Nianzhi?! And Little Li?1 Didn’t he go to Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa with her?Why have both of their signals disappeared?!”

nLittle Li was a member of the base and he also carried the same kind of location signal transmitter when he was out on a mission. It allowed the Special Ops to easily locate them and also enabled the wearer to instantly contact the base. If they were disconnected, something was definitely wrong.

nYin Shixiong had just finished dinner and was laying on the couch to digest. He got Zhao Liangze’s call and shot up. “What’s going on? Did something happen to Nianzhi and Little Li? Nianzhi texted me ‘Goodnight,’ just last night!”

n“Last night? I’m talking about right now! Their signal has disappeared for half an hour.” Zhao Liangze said in a panic. “I’ll check the cell signal tower.”

nYin Shixiong also got up. “I’ll go to the office and call the resort.”

nZhao Liangze accessed his highest level of permission and entered the C City government infrastructure website. From there, he could check the status of the cell signal towers within 250 kilometers of the villa. He instantly saw that the only tower by the villa was marked with a big red “x,” meaning that the tower had broken down and couldn’t function.

nZhao Liangze gave a slight sigh of relief and put on his headset to call Yin Shixiong again. “The cell signal tower by Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa broke down. I checked the weather and it’s storming there, so that’s probably why they lost signal.”

nYin Shixiong answered him but kept dialing the phone, his eyes growing more worried.

n“Little Ze, can you check the status of the resort? It seems that their landline is down too.”

nZhao Liangze froze. A cell signal tower could break down from incelement weather, but there was something fishy about the landline being down as well. Zhao Liangze opened the instant communication program he had written himself and sent separate messages to Gu Nianzhi and Little Li. This program differed from the typical kinds on the market because Zhao Liangze could use it to get feedback on the status of the recipient’s connection, similar to a “PIN” function. It could determine the strength of the recipient’s signal.

nThe results shocked him even more. The resort had also lost its internet connection. There was no cell signal, landline connection, or internet. What kind of natural disaster was causing such extensive damage?

nZhao Laingze furrowed his brows and said to Yin Shixziong, “I think you should call the local police. There’s something seriously wrong at the resort!”

n“How serious?” Yin Shoixong’s hands were also trembling as he looked up the phone number of the police station near Dufeng Mountain.

n“It’s either a catastrophic natural disaster or a case of human sabotage. No matter what it is, it’s not going to be good.” Zhao Liangze’s fingers flew across the keyboard as they tapped out strings of commands in attempt to establish connection with the resort. However, it kept failing and he concluded that it was due to physical destruction and not a programming error.

nIn the night of heavy rain, the office at the police station near Dufeng Mountain received a call from the parents of a C University Faculty of Law student.

n“What’s going on with the Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa? Why is the phone not working? Is the cell signal tower down too? Our child is vacationing there; can you afford it if something were to happen?”

nThe person hung up after speaking and the policeman on duty was perplexed. He didn’t even get a chance to ask for their name. From the caller ID, it looked like a normal phone number from C City. The junior officer looked at the torrential rain outside the window and considered how Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa was nearby. He dutifully put on his raincoat and took his large flashlight, baton, and a small pistol. All the policeman on night duty carried guns and ammunition. The twenty-something year-old junior officer was a local and familiar with Dufeng Mountain. Although the rain was heavy, he successfully got onto the main road to the resort. Not long after, he suddenly tripped and almost fell over. He quickly steadied himself and shone the powerful flashlight on the ground.

n“Ah!!” He let out a scream and almost threw his flashlight to the ground.

nThe thing he had tripped over was a person! The person had a black plastic bag tied over his head and his sprawled body was huge. He also had a rifle in his hand.

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