192: Chapter 192 Tutubailam

Lin Ning stood at the door, his heart suddenly twitching.

Three months ago, he had stood outside a door just like this, looking at Gao Yayin inside.

Had it only been three months? Yet it was far more exciting and happy than the previous twenty-odd years of his life.

Shaking off that momentary trance, Lin Ning no longer hesitated.

His Psychic Power condensed into sharp, thin tentacles, reaching directly toward the cluster of light representing the future above Ryan Muller's head.

Intense pain exploded in an instant.

It was a pain far beyond that of the flesh; it was the agony of his consciousness being forcibly torn apart, as if a red-hot needle were being driven straight into the deepest depths of his mind.

Lin Ning gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white from clenching his fists, but he didn't make a sound.

Before his eyes, countless chains of light twisted and rotated frantically—bright ones, dark ones, thick ones, thin ones—all tangled together like a mess of hemp.

Lin Ning had analyzed before that the brighter the line, the more likely that future was to occur, based on the person's current experiences.

The brightest ones were nothing more than Ryan Muller dying here, being imprisoned, or being deported...

What Lin Ning needed to find was the darkest, most improbable one—the one most likely to contain the answers he sought.

His gaze sharpened, locking onto a dim chain of light that looked like it might snap at any moment.

That was Ryan Muller's most absurd and impossible future—leaving alive as a 'hero,' achieving fame and fortune.

Lin Ning's Psychic Power plunged down, grabbing onto it fiercely.

An even more violent pain swept over him. His Psychic Power drained at a terrifying rate, his body trembled uncontrollably, and every inch of his consciousness and every cell in his body screamed:

Stop.

You'll die.

STOP!!

Lin Ning did not stop.

Images flickered frantically before his eyes—

A small, dark prison cell where, day after day, Ryan Muller withered and aged in loneliness.

The scene changed abruptly.

Someone was respectfully escorting him into a hospital. Camera flashes, reporters, assembly halls, applause...

Lin Ning forcibly seized the image, staring at it intently.

A man on stage in a suit and tie spoke in a piercing voice:

"...fighting for freedom! A hero imprisoned for twenty years without cause by an authoritarian government! He did it for..."

Lin Ning's already blurred mind suddenly became clear with rage. Fuck your ancestors!!!

Even though he knew this was the most unlikely scenario, Lin Ning's anger still burned.

The scene shifted again.

A reception room. Opposite Ryan Muller was a bald old man, his face full of smugness:

"Back then, you opposed placing XX in religious venues. But it was precisely because the attacks at Erxunhanna and Tutubailamu succeeded that we were given the opportunity, step by step, to eliminate the USA's greatest threat and turn it into a spiritual colony... Only then could you become a hero and live to breathe the fresh air outside..."

Lin Ning couldn't hold on any longer; his five senses were rapidly fading.

He didn't need to see the rest of that trash's life. He only needed to grasp those two names.

Before his consciousness completely snapped, he had only one thought—spit the information out.

Lin Ning fell backward.

Exerting the last of his strength, he murmured repeatedly, his voice soft but clear:

"Erxunhanna... Tutubailamu...

Erxunhanna... Tutubailamu..."

His voice grew weaker as his consciousness plunged into total darkness first.

"Lin Ning!!"

Chen Zhi caught Lin Ning's suddenly withered body in terror.

In just a moment, Lin Ning seemed to have had all his vitality drained. His cheeks were sunken, his eyes hollowed, and blood flowed from his seven orifices, with large gulps of blood gushing from his mouth.

His nearly 1.9-meter frame was now hunched like a pile of bones about to fall apart.

Chen Zhi's arms couldn't stop shaking. His fingertips touched Lin Ning's skin, which was bone-chillingly cold, like a stone losing its warmth.

He was used to seeing comrades fall and was accustomed to life-and-death partings, but at this moment, his heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, a dull pain making it hard to breathe.

Lin Ning wasn't his comrade-in-arms; he was supposed to be a civilian he protected with all his might. Yet, Lin Ning had taken on the most dangerous task, leaving the chance of survival to countless strangers.

Chen Zhi's Adam's apple bobbed as he gritted his teeth hard, suppressing all the surging grief, guilt, and fury into the deepest part of his heart. The bloodshot streaks in his eyes grew more intense until only a cold resolve remained.

"Medical team! Medical team to the entrance of Interrogation Room A1 on the third basement floor immediately!" Chen Zhi growled into his walkie-talkie, his voice raspy yet exceptionally steady.

Medical staff rushed over, pushing a gurney. Chen Zhi steadily placed Lin Ning onto the bed, his fingertips finally brushing the cold forehead. His voice was pressed extremely low, audible only to himself:

"Hang in there. I won't let your suffering be in vain." After speaking, he turned and didn't look back at the gurney again. His back was as straight as a pine tree, and the pressure around him was terrifyingly low as he walked toward the third-floor office with an aura that seemed to crush everything in its path.

When he reached the office door, the high-ranking officials from the Ministry were still standing there, their expressions solemn.

Chen Zhi wasted no time on pleasantries and quickly reported the situation.

Except for Director Li, the other old men looked somewhat hesitantly at the elderly man in the center.

The white-haired old man narrowed his eyes, staring at the large bloodstains on Chen Zhi's white shirt, his eyes as dark as ink. He lifted his eyelids and said with dissatisfaction, "Then what are you still waiting for? Arrange the operation!"

Chen Zhi immediately gave a military salute, pulled out his phone, and dialed the local Ministry of State Security office with white-tipped fingers.

Word by word, he said, "Erxunhanna and Tutubailamu. Seal off these two mosques immediately. Respond to the A2-99 warning issued today. Not a single inch is to be missed!"

"Division Chief Chen, it's three in the morning. There's less than two hours until the Fajr prayer. Time is too tight!" an urgent voice came from the other end. "Requesting support from the Armed Police."

"Fine! I'll give you authorization." Chen Zhi's voice carried an unquestionable murderous intent. "In addition to the lockdown and search, drag out every piece of trash hidden in this matter! Ensure the evacuation of the public; absolutely no one is to be hurt!"

Hanging up the phone, Chen Zhi walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and heavily wrote down those two locations, his force so great he nearly punctured the board. "I want all information on these two places. Every person, vehicle, object, and message related to them in the last three months—I want it all!"

His tone when giving orders was full of ruthlessness, a side of him no one had ever seen before.

Outside Erxunhanna, green military vehicles silently surrounded the area. Silent soldiers quickly disembarked and entered the mosque to begin the search.

Many police cars arrived outside, setting up cordons and orderly evacuating the early-rising crowd preparing for the Fajr prayer. Members of the Armed Police, holding equipment, cautiously entered the interior, meticulously searching every corner with solemn and tense expressions.

On the other side, inside the Tutubailamu Mosque, several suspects disguised as worshippers were just about to plant bombs when they were subdued in one fell swoop by the waiting team members. The smugness on their faces hadn't even faded before they were handcuffed, their eyes filled with panic and resentment.

Successive reports kept coming over the phone:

"Division Chief Chen, two timed bombs were found inside the Erxunhanna Mosque and have been successfully defused!"

"Division Chief Chen, five suspects have been captured at the Tutubailamu Mosque and are being interrogated!"

"Division Chief Chen, the public has been completely evacuated. No casualties!"