After finishing her game of "Yumikou" (a type of card game involving ghosts), Yumikou went back to work.
Meanwhile, Alister and Luorou remained in the office.
During this time, they dealt with a few female colleagues who came to chat and then visited other departments. They saw the powerful female leader, Ji Yi, being criticized by Minister Ji Yi.
Time passed peacefully, and Himizuki, the president, didn't show up the whole day. It seemed like she was not in the company building...
At exactly 5 PM, it was time to get off work.
The city of A was immersed in orange hues, and the faint rosy clouds between the buildings were like red marks left by the reluctant departure of the setting sun.
Standing in the spacious lobby of the Ji Corporation's first floor, employees kept passing by Luorou...
After hesitating for a moment, Luorou finally gathered her courage and spoke up:
"Alister!"
Upon hearing the girl's voice, the young man near the entrance of the lobby stopped in his tracks.
Against the backdrop of the evening glow, his deep black eyes left her momentarily entranced.
"What's the matter?" Alister's figure reflected on the white, clean tiles, and his tone was calm and composed.
"The day after tomorrow, would you like to go to the observatory to watch the meteor shower together?" Luorou clutched the corner of her clothes and made up her mind, "Let's invite Yumikou sister too. I've reserved the tickets!"
"Yumikou will be busy the day after tomorrow!" Alister's voice was mixed in the crowd's bustle.
The rush hour of leaving work had officially arrived, and even the vast lobby of the Ji Corporation was now crowded, not to mention the streets outside.
In the next moment, Luorou took a deep breath, cupped her hands in front of her mouth like a trumpet, and said loudly:
"Then, the two of us will go to watch the meteor shower, okay?!"
Amidst the crowd, Alister turned to the side and raised his left arm, making a gesture of "Okay" towards Luorou.
Upon seeing Alister's response, the charming and adorable girl with light blue hair showed a pleased expression. Leaning forward slightly, she shouted again:
"Don't be late!"
As she finished her words, Alister had already disappeared from Luorou's sight, leaving only the bustling city of A in view.
...
...
In the Seventeenth Bureau office in A city, Qingxian was sitting upright at the long table, exuding an icy aura akin to that of a celestial being, earning respect from everyone present.
The attendees included the core members of various departments in the Seventeenth Bureau's A city branch, a meeting recorder, and projections of A-tier executors stationed in other areas of Z country.
"So, the possible landing point for Perpetual Night's Lament's tenth celestial magic has been analyzed, and it's highly likely to be A city, Qingxian."
Facing the gaze of all the executors, Qingxian remained unfazed and said coldly, "I'm already aware of the situation. A city is strengthening its barrier patrols, and I am doing my best to eliminate the possibility of a catastrophe."
Following Qingxian's response...
"I wonder what's gotten into Perpetual Night's Lament. The A-tier sequence game still has some time before it arrives."
"There's an abnormal report in the distant seas, so I can't provide support to A city for now, I hope you understand."
"It's been a while since we've seen the Witch's trump card, and it's quite exaggerated..."
"Perpetual Night's Lament's first seat may have the ability to modify the border's spatial rules, and I can't afford to be distracted. It's indeed troublesome."
"Go and ask Dìxiān, Qingxian, isn't that your master?"
"..."
The executors stationed in various regions all chimed in, seemingly burdened with considerable frustration and weariness, eager to let it all out.
Z country, North Continent Federation, and Perpetual Night's Lament were the top three powers in the world, and they were also each other's headaches.
It seemed that to trigger the fall of this great meteor shower, Perpetual Night's Lament had been making significant moves recently.
There were over a dozen reports of anomalies at the borders alone.
Z country's borders were vast and difficult to patrol entirely, which was a headache for the Seventeenth Bureau.
This problem didn't exist before Dìxiān went into seclusion.
Just then, a prompt popped up in the meeting projection: "Member access in progress, establishing contact."
In the next moment, Himizuki, the young lady with black hair and red pupils, appeared.
In the projection, she was in a certain neighborhood of A city, yawning from exhaustion.
"East district, west district, north district... I've patrolled them all, but I haven't found the eleventh seat. She's probably hiding in the south district."
"By the way, A city has you and Qingxian guarding it. How did that woman manage to intrude?"
"How would I know?!"
"Quite fierce."
"Alright."
Qingxian timely interrupted the accusations and said calmly, "I think the immediate concern is to figure out the reason behind Perpetual Night's Lament initiating this large-scale disaster."
"Indeed, even if we can't afford to be distracted, Dìxiān's barrier should be able to stop them. So what's the true purpose of this catastrophe?"
At this point, the representative of the Intelligence Department in the A city branch stood up and interjected, "Apart from the possibility of damaging A city, they may also intend to infiltrate Z country during the chaos and use it as a cover to evacuate their subordinates."
Pausing for a second, the Intelligence representative continued, "Our department leans towards the third possibility."
Following his words, records of past world wars were displayed.
On a list were hundreds of player war criminals who had disappeared within Z country's borders.
Starting from C-tier, the ranks increased as the list went on.
Finally, the top twenty reached B-tier, which could cause mass panic.
At the top of this war criminal list, one German man's information stood out, or rather, stood out differently.
"D-tier 1st Place"
A German postal worker during the world war, his age and real name were unknown, with the codename "Death's Leader," possessing the A-tier "Super Speed Regeneration."
He was a representative figure during Germany's extreme regime, with extremely terrifying combat awareness.
His slaughter records alone numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and he had even killed fourteen B-tier players...
In a sequence game where tier was everything, being able to kill B-tier players with D-tier strength made him undoubtedly the most terrifying player in history.
As for why this D-tier 1st Place hadn't advanced in rank for so long, it remained unknown...
"The final report on this 'Death's Leader' was from four years ago, in a peripheral abandoned factory area in A city..."
The Intelligence representative calmly narrated, "The operation team's report stated that they had killed him, but when we rechecked a day later, the entire team had already been wiped out."
"I remember, Qingxian investigated this matter, right?"
"It did happen." Qingxian remembered it very clearly.
So, the Intelligence representative's implication was clear.
Perpetual Night's Lament was probably going to retrieve "Death's Leader," this highly potential piece, and was willing to expend the Witch's resources for it.
After all, possessing the A-tier "Super Speed Regeneration" made him an extremely formidable presence even among A-tier abilities, and there was no reason to give up on him.
After a short silence, Qingxian collected her thoughts, focused, and made a solemn promise:
"I will pay attention to this matter. If 'Death's Leader' appears, I will use my master's talisman to seal him. He won't get away."
...
The meeting continued until 8 PM before finally concluding.
As Yumikou walked on a skybridge in A city, the night sky's moon shimmered, and the stars sparkled like a dream.