Outside, the full moon hung high in the sky, its glow occasionally obscured by wisps of fog. The residual light mingled with distant city neon lights, while dark red fireflies scattered, resembling bloodstains.
In the abandoned factory, heavy panting echoed, and the air was thick with the scent of blood.
"Melissa, I love you... I love you!"
"Melissa, I'm sorry... I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry! I love you! I'm sorry! I love you! I'm sorry! I love you..."
The shadows in the dim light undulated, murmuring madly. The faces, shrouded in darkness, alternated between grotesque, painful, infatuated, and gentle expressions.
Scattered limbs lay strewn about, and the viscous blood flowed like a babbling brook, painting deathly patterns on the ground, illustrating the brutality of the scene.
Only the torso remained on the ground, trembling with the movements of the figure above. The owner's once neat golden hair was now disheveled, and the frozen expressions of anger and terror on her face spoke of her past resistance. Her elegant attire, now soaked in blood, only occasionally reflected a glimmer of light from the silver emblem of the half-decayed World Tree in the dim environment.
...
At Cassel Academy, it was another beautiful morning.
After getting up, Lu Chen stood by the window, stretching his muscles. Fingall, unusually awake early, was already engrossed in his notebook.
"Oh, by the way, little brother, aren't you curious about who buys your photos the most?" Fingall turned with a mischievous smile.
"Isn't it Milandra?" Lu Chen wondered, vaguely aware of Milandra's family wealth.
"No, no, no, Milandra is just the number one fan of yours in the Lionheart Club, but she's not the one who buys the most."
Fingall wagged his fingers, adopting a mysterious demeanor that screamed mischief.
"Then who is it?" Lu Chen indulged Fingall's banter as he dressed. It was just another pointless conversation with the seasoned troublemaker.
"It's your dear senior sister, Luthizia."
Fingall's casual remark nearly made Lu Chen choke on his water.
Luthizia!?
He hadn't seen his senior sister for a while since they were in different grades, and he didn't have any particular reason to ask her after Fingall showed up, the self-proclaimed expert.
"Hehe, I told you, for someone like you, certain aspects of your senior sisters can be more appealing. Besides, she did spend some time with you."
Fingall smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Your choice of words is problematic. What do you mean by 'spent some time'? She just picked me up with you and Chuhao to bring us to the academy."
Lu Chen rolled his eyes, brushing off Fingall's insinuations. After finishing his morning routine, he picked up his phone to head to class. It was another day of the Principal's lecture, and skipping wouldn't look good.
But as he glanced at his phone to check the time, a new email notification caught his eye. It was a message from Norma.
"AI031718S, Lu Chen, please report to Meeting Room 1012 at the Executive Building within 30 minutes of receiving this email."
Lu Chen glanced at Fingall, who was still enjoying the gossip, and thought it was quite a coincidence that just after Fingall mentioned the war practice lesson yesterday, it seemed to be happening today.
After a quick tidy up, he headed out the door.
In the meeting room of the Executive Department, the atmosphere was solemn.
A man stood in front of a huge projection screen, his expression serious, while Schneider sat on a nearby chair, his face covered with a mask hiding any expression, behind him was a cart carrying an oxygen tank.
There were 20 seats around the long table below, all occupied. Nearly half of them were veteran A-level commissioners, while the freshmen present were all A-level elites, except for one, who sat at the front, an S-level.
Not every meeting before a mission was attended by Schneider in person, indicating the severity of the situation this time.
"Allow me to introduce myself first. I am Philimon Kammings, a commissioner of the Executive Department and the executive officer of this mission. I am responsible for arranging your tasks this time. I won't go into much detail about myself, as I believe you are not interested. Before we proceed to the main topic, please turn off your phones to avoid the possibility of information leakage."
Commissioner Philimon stood straight and firm in front of the projection screen, exuding a sense of alertness. He had to act this way because Minister Schneider was present, listening to this mission meeting.
Without any chatter or noise, everyone turned off their phones and looked up at the big screen, indicating that Philimon could continue.
Philimon was very satisfied with the performance of the freshmen. They were indeed the elites of A-level bloodlines - silent, efficient, and obedient.
"Very well, then let me explain the content of this mission. Please be mentally prepared and then look at the big screen."
After saying this, he did not immediately start the presentation. Instead, he looked at these elites.
Lu Chen was also puzzled. What was this about? Were they supposed to take a deep breath?
What exactly was it that they needed to be mentally prepared for before it was revealed?
But next, Philimon lightly tapped the control pen in his hand, and the slideshow on the screen opened.
"Hiss—"
"Ugh—"
There were sounds of inhaling cold air and even some sounds of nausea, but they were short-lived. As Philimon had said, this room was filled with either veteran commissioners or the most elite A-level freshmen, and the commotion quickly subsided.
The content on the screen was undoubtedly impactful. Even Lu Chen, accustomed to the carnage of the battlefield, couldn't help but have his pupils constrict.
It was a woman, her body torn apart, only the upper torso intact. It seemed she had experienced an exceptionally terrifying ordeal before and after death. The brutal aura permeated the room through the images, causing some people to struggle for breath.
The screen switched to another scene, this time showing a tall, blond woman in a black trench coat, holding a large-caliber Desert Eagle in one hand, her gaze cold and fierce.
"Marion Hersch, 03rd grade of Cassel Academy, commissioner of the Executive Department, bloodline rating A, Yin Thunder of the Word Spirit, completed A-level tasks twice, B-level tasks twelve times, just like you, she is an elite."
As Philimon spoke the last sentence, he emphasized his tone.
The room fell silent. The A-level freshmen were proud, but seeing this brutal and bloody scene, as well as the glorious achievements of their predecessors, they couldn't lift their heads in arrogance. That would be reckless and disrespectful to the deceased.
"I hope everyone recognizes the seriousness of this matter. The Executive Department has classified this mission as AA-level. Originally, it should have been handled by the ace commissioners of the Executive Department, not something to be used as a practice session for you in your war practice class."
With that, he scanned the room, lingering for a second on Lu Chen in the front row, the meaning couldn't be clearer.
"Because we have an S-level."
Lancelot raised his hand and spoke, glancing at Lu Chen.