A perfectly arrayed sixty-eight Twin-Winged Angels lay sprawled on the ground, men and women alike. Each bore walnut-sized lumps on their heads, their garments tattered rags, their fair skin caked with dust. Their faces were withered, etched with despair—they looked like a clutch of ground rats that had been trampled hundreds of times by a maddened herd of elephants.

Gu Xiechen knelt before Angela, a faint smile playing on his lips as he gently, intermittently, patted her cheek.

“Twin-Winged Angels? Ha! Twin-Winged Angels with the strength of a Golden Core cultivator? Your Intelligence Chief should offer himself up as tribute to the world. The mistake he made is far too great!”

Corpse Emperor stood to one side, hands clasped behind his back. Hearing Gu Xiechen’s taunt, he couldn't help but purse his lips. Old Madam Hu, on the other hand, was eagerly fiddling with the wing of one of the defeated angels she had taken down, murmuring to herself, “What a superb material for refining a Dharma Treasure!”

Lion Venerable and Eagle Saint exchanged knowing smiles, their gazes sweeping over the angels’ bodies with the critical eye one reserves for inspecting choice cuts of pork.

Angela’s body trembled violently, and she let out a desperate, drawn-out cry, “Why is this happening?”

Gu Xiechen casually brought his palm down on Angela’s neck. She let out a soft groan and passed out. Gu Xiechen looked toward the Corpse Emperor and chuckled, “Master, this matter, I must trouble the elder to handle. The Holy See and the Asian Dao Alliance have always kept to their own waters; why is it this time they seem intent on netting all of the Dao Alliance’s elite disciples?”

The Corpse Emperor nodded, sweeping his great sleeve and gathering all the fallen angels inside it. He sneered, “This much I can overlook; the Holy See has always looked upon the Dao Alliance with disdain. But where did such a massive contingent of Twin-Winged Angels emerge from? Heh heh, does the Holy See still have reserves of their Saint Angel Blood? We will have to have a serious discussion with them about this.”

After conferring for a while, the Corpse Emperor and the other four grand Soul Transformation experts escorted the Little Daoist Zhang and his entourage back to the Dao Alliance headquarters. They needed to share the immense spoils from this encounter with the various sects of the Alliance, while simultaneously dealing with Angela and the others. This plot, wherein these suddenly appearing angels aimed to wipe out the Dao Alliance elites like Little Daoist Zhang, reeked of deep conspiracy.

Watching the streams of light that marked the Corpse Emperor and the others vanish into the distant horizon, Gu Xiechen let out a few cold laughs and immediately issued a series of commands.

The bearded leader was to return to Copenhagen at once to mobilize elites from the Hardwar Defense Company to reinforce the Special Operations Bureau, filling the gaps left by the exiled regular troops as quickly as possible.

Siren and Aredia were to cooperate with Yun Hua, who served as Gu Xiechen’s aide-de-camp, to process the necessary paperwork, ensuring the swift issuance of all credentials for the newly recruited Special Operations Bureau members.

Prajna and Mo He were tasked with handing over the spoils of this operation—the Crystallo beings—to Wolf of Poison, under the condition that Wolf would oversee the distribution. Gu Xiechen added a specific requirement: given the exceedingly high grade of these crystal spheres, Wolf must agree to allow the Special Operations Bureau to establish its own dedicated new recruit training camp before the crystal orbs would be transferred to him.

As for Gu Xiechen himself, he flew directly towards Paris. His first order of business was to pay a visit to the newly promoted Lieutenant General Alexander, wanting to see exactly what kind of man he was.

Following Gu Xiechen’s orders, everyone sprang into action, all matters proceeding with methodical efficiency. Gu Xiechen watched with satisfaction as the people around him operated like a precisely calibrated instrument, a flicker of pride rising in his heart—these were his people, a force he had built with his own hands!

A small shuttle craft launched from the base, traversing the void of outer space for less than an hour before arriving in Paris from the heartland of Australia.

Several officers in Military Intelligence uniforms awaited him at the airfield, bearing all the necessary documents Gu Xiechen required.

After exchanging pleasantries with the officers and quickly skimming the documents they provided, Gu Xiechen settled into a high-speed maglev vehicle prepared for him. He leaned out the window, asking the officers, “Lieutenant General Alexander, where is he? At the official residence prepared for him in Paris?” A colonel from Military Intelligence frowned, glanced at the time, and stated in a low voice, “Miss Juliss is conducting an experiment today, so he should currently be waiting outside the First Branch of the Special Operations Bureau’s Aptitude School Experimental Building.”

“Ah, understood.” Gu Xiechen waved to them, depressed the accelerator, and the maglev vehicle emitted a low roar, rapidly ascending to three hundred meters and speeding towards the First Branch Aptitude School on the western outskirts of Paris at near-supersonic velocity.

The maglev vehicle settled down in front of the Comprehensive Experimental Building at the First Branch. Several patrolling sentinels immediately turned their attention towards the arrival with vigilance. When they recognized the person emerging from the vehicle as Gu Xiechen, the sentinels smiled and rendered him a salute. All security for the Aptitude School was managed by the Hardwar Defense Company, and these guards were all veterans from Hardwar. Furthermore, many had fought alongside Gu Xiechen from Paradise Star; they naturally recognized him.

Exchanging warm greetings with the sentinels, Gu Xiechen smoothed down his attire and strode briskly toward the main entrance of the Comprehensive Experimental Building.

Juliss required vast amounts of physical data from espers. To facilitate her experiments while ensuring better supervision, Gu Xiechen had allocated two entire floors within the First Branch’s Comprehensive Experimental Building for her laboratory use. Since Military Intelligence stated she was conducting an experiment, she must be here.

As soon as he stepped into the experimental building, Gu Xiechen sensed an unusual tension in the atmosphere.

Four burly men, dressed in charcoal-gray suits, their latent murderous intent subtly palpable, were seated in a straight line on a bench just outside the building’s entryway. Their gazes were sharp, scrutinizing every person entering or leaving. Their armpits bulged conspicuously, clearly concealing weapons, and their hands hovered no more than three inches from the holsters at their waists, poised for an immediate draw.

As a smiling Gu Xiechen entered the building, the fingers of all four men almost simultaneously brushed against the weapons concealed beneath their jackets.

The duty staff inside the entrance hall immediately stood up and respectfully saluted him. “Colonel, you’re back?” Gu Xiechen smiled, casting a sidelong glance at the four sturdy men. The staff member inside the entryway shrugged with an expression of helpless resignation.

Gu Xiechen chuckled. He nodded once toward the staff, shot a hard glare at the four burly men, and strode purposefully toward the elevator.

One of the strongmen abruptly stood up, glaring at Gu Xiechen with unconcealed defiance, seemingly eager to gauge his mettle. The other three stood up as well, eager for action. The four exchanged knowing glances, seemingly spurring each other on to deliver a swift lesson to Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen stepped into the elevator, offered the four men a smile, then suddenly stiffened his features and let out a cold snort.