138: Chapter 138 Hidden Dragon Enters the Abyss, Observing the Winds of Change

He must immediately cut off all social networks and physical locations that could be linked to him. In this concrete jungle of a city, he needed to find an unnoticed corner, like a wounded beast licking its wounds, silently observing, accumulating strength. This required him to have sufficient understanding of the city, and possess extremely strong wilderness (urban) survival and anti-tracking capabilities. But this was the optimal solution to ensure his own safety and gain freedom of action at present. Only by ensuring he was invincible could he calmly observe the movements at the center of the storm, assess the reactions of all parties, and formulate the next plan.

Ling Ye sped through the cold and empty streets, his mind rapidly retrieving memory fragments of this city from the original "Ling Ye," combined with his own observations over these days. He needed a place: sufficiently remote, not easily covered by regular patrols and surveillance; relatively complex in structure, convenient for hiding and moving; preferably with a basic Water Source and shelter; and, it must not be an obvious gathering place for homeless people or a hot spot for public security, so as to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

Soon, he locked onto an area—located on the edge of the Dawn City Old Factory District, an abandoned Warehouse area waiting for redevelopment but with stalled demolition for many years. The buildings there were dilapidated, the roads complex, surveillance scarce, and because there were old air-raid shelters and pipe networks underground, the terrain was intricate. In the original owner's memory, he had gone there to "explore" with playmates when he was a child, and knew some hidden entrances and relatively intact empty rooms. It was about five kilometers from the Oak Street Community, in the opposite direction of the academy, fitting the principle of "staying away from the focus."

With a clear goal, Ling Ye no longer hesitated, specifically choosing to travel through small alleys and shadows, avoiding main roads and potential traffic cameras. He tried his best to imitate someone out for a night run or heading to an early shift, his pace steady but not slow. Occasionally, early-morning sanitation vehicles or transport hovercars drove by, and he would dodge in advance, walking past with his head down.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the outskirts of that abandoned Warehouse area. At this time, the sky was already slightly whitening, the darkness before dawn at its deepest. The abandoned factory buildings stood silently in the dim light like the skeletons of giant beasts, with rusted metal and broken glass reflecting a faint glimmer. The air was filled with the smell of dust, rust, and a faint damp mold.

Ling Ye did not enter directly from the main gate, but circled to the side of the area, found a section of the wall that had largely collapsed, and crawled in through the gap. Inside, it was overgrown with weeds, piled with various construction waste and discarded machinery. He lightened his footsteps, elevated his "Spiritual Sense," and carefully sensed the movements around him.

There were no signs of life, only the rustling of rats and the wailing of the wind. Electronic surveillance equipment was even scarcer, and most were already damaged.

Relying on his memory, he moved toward a relatively low, semi-underground Warehouse in the depths of the area, its outer walls covered in vines. Half of that Warehouse was built underground, the entrance was hidden, and there was a ventilation duct leading to an even deeper old air-raid shelter.

Arriving in front of the rusted rolling shutter door of the Warehouse, the lock had long been damaged. Ling Ye lifted it with force, creating a gap, and squeezed in sideways. The interior was pitch black, filled with a heavy smell of dust. He took out a portable light, adjusted it to the lowest setting of faint glimmer, and scanned quickly.

The interior of the Warehouse was empty, piled with some old wooden crates and discarded tires. In the corner, there was a flight of concrete stairs leading downward, heading to the underground part. At the end of the stairs was a half-open, thick explosion-proof door, inside which was a pitch-black air-raid shelter passage.

Ling Ye checked the air in the underground part; although stuffy, it was still breathable. He chose to stay in a relatively clean corner of the Warehouse's ground level near the stairwell, as it was convenient for observing the entrance and also convenient for retreating underground if necessary.

He put down his backpack and did not rest immediately, but first carefully inspected this temporary stronghold. Confirming there were no traces of recent human activity, no hidden cameras or sensors, the ventilation was acceptable, and the entrance was hidden. He took a multi-function knife out of his backpack and, on the inside of the entrance and several key locations, set up several extremely simple early-warning traps using dust and debris—once someone entered and triggered them, it would make a subtle sound or change the position of the debris.

After doing this, he sat down leaning against the cold wall and let out a long breath of turbid air that carried white mist. His tense nerves relaxed slightly, followed by a tidal wave of exhaustion and cold. The continuous high-intensity escape, mental shock, and physical exertion made him feel weak all over, his forehead burning hot.

But he could not sleep. He must immediately understand what happened outside.

He opened his personal terminal, first activating the strongest signal shielding and privacy protection mode (which would consume a lot of power and might be detected by some Advanced monitoring equipment, but he couldn't care about that), and then connected to the city's public network (not the academy's internal network).

Social platforms, news pushes, Municipal Government announcements... relevant information surged like an explosion!

Headline news (rolling updates): "A serious industrial accident has occurred in the Oak Street Community of Dawn City (suspected to be a chain reaction caused by an underground pipeline explosion), and a Level 3 emergency response for the whole city has been initiated!"

Municipal Government emergency announcement: "Residents within a one-kilometer radius of the Oak Street Community are being urgently evacuated! Citizens in this area, please do not approach! Temporary shelters have been set up..."

Security Department statement (brief): "The incident is under investigation, preliminary exclusion of terrorist attacks, please citizens do not believe rumors or spread rumors, and cooperate with the evacuation and investigation."

Internet rumors (massive, some already deleted): "What industrial accident! I saw a blue-white beam of light! And shadows like monsters!" "Something came out from underground! The army has been dispatched!" "Communication is cut off! Lots of people in black clothes with strange guns!"

Local forums exploded: "I felt the vibration even in the East District!" "My cousin is in the Municipal Government, saying it's not an accident at all, it's that the thing under 'that factory' couldn't be suppressed anymore!" "There is a video! But it can't be posted! Deleted in seconds!"

The information was mixed, and it was hard to tell truth from falsehood. But the official stance had already been set as a "serious industrial accident," and large-scale evacuation and blockade were underway. Network control was obviously strengthened, and all remarks mentioning "blue light," "monsters," "army," and "anomaly" were being quickly cleaned up. But the panic and speculation among the people could no longer be suppressed.

Ling Ye browsed quickly, his heart sinking continuously. The officials indeed chose "cover-up" and "control," which was within his expectations. But what about the "Cleaning" operation? What role did the forces behind that mysterious warning call play in this "accident"? What was the result of their collision with the "anomaly"? Was that thing under the Old Factory District temporarily suppressed, or had it already partially "come out"?

He needed a more direct source of information.

He thought of Su Qing, thought of the "Anomaly Research Society." As a "semi-official" research force, what were they doing right now? Were they involved in the incident assessment? Or had they also become objects of control?

After hesitating for a moment, Ling Ye logged into the academy's internal forum (non-real-name area) using an anonymous account he had registered before and never used. It was relatively closed here, but perhaps there could be clues.

The forum was equally chaotic. Many students were discussing the vibration and loud noise in the early hours, speculating wildly. Ling Ye searched quickly, and soon, in an inconspicuous sub-board (similar to an "Urban Legends" section), he saw a post that had just been published and not yet deleted. The poster's ID was a string of garbled code, and the title had only one word:

"E-7 confirmed Breakthrough. Cleaning in progress. Casualties unknown. Observation point evacuated."

E-7? Could it be the code name for the Old Factory District within the "Anomaly Research Society"? "Confirmed Breakthrough"—the containment was breached! "Cleaning in progress"—the action of that mysterious force was still continuing! "Observation point evacuated"—was the observation point of the "Paranormal Research Society" forced to evacuate? Or other observation parties?

The post disappeared a few seconds later, obviously deleted by the administrator. But Ling Ye had already seen it.

The situation was even worse than he had expected. The "Cleaning" operation seemed to have failed to immediately resolve the "anomaly," the "Breakthrough" had already occurred, and the operation might have caused casualties. Various observation forces (including the "Paranormal Research Society") were forced to retreat.

He turned off the terminal, leaned against the cold wall, and closed his eyes.

In his mind, that blazing blue-white flash, the twisted shadows, the mysterious warning, the cold "Cleaning" order, and "Old Zhao's" terrified face... intertwined into a suffocating picture.

The Oak Street Community, I'm afraid, had already become a battlefield, or... Hell.

And he, having luckily escaped, was hiding in this dark and cold abandoned Warehouse.

But this was by no means the end.

That thing came out, at least part of it came out. This disaster that swept through the entire community, and might even spread wider, had only just begun.

And he, this otherworldly visitor burdened with the secret of Reincarnation and the duty of the Gatekeeper, could he really stay out of it?

No, from the moment he came to this world, from the moment he was chosen by the "Ancient Ring" and the "Star Gate," from the moment he came into contact with the secret of the Old Factory District as "Ling Ye," he was already in the game.

It was just that, before, he was a chess piece secretly observed on the chessboard.

And now, the chessboard had overturned, and the rules had collapsed.

He needed to find his position again, find a way to break the game, find... the path of the Guardian and the way home.

Before that, he must survive, must become stronger, must see clearly every party and every detail under this chaotic situation.

Outside the window, the sky finally brightened completely. Pale light, through the broken windows and gaps in the vines, stingily sprinkled into this dark Warehouse.

A new day had begun.

But for many people, this might be the beginning of a nightmare.

Ling Ye slowly opened his eyes, there was no more confusion in them, only a bottomless coldness and determination.

He took out the last two high-energy nutrient pastes and swallowed them expressionlessly. Then, he closed his eyes again and entered the deepest meditation.

Not to rest, but to sharpen his sword.

In this unknown corner, on the edge of this storm, he needed to recover as quickly as possible, needed to become stronger.

Because, very soon, he would have to step back into that chessboard that had already turned into scorched earth.