novelraw Chapter 54 : A New Transcendent
Chapter 54 : A New Transcendent
Chapter 54: A New Transcendent
“Ah——!!!”
The destructive soundwave continued to reverberate. The entire 869 Bureau base trembled and groaned under the terrifying sonic storm.
Cracks like spiderwebs spread across the alloy walls, the lights on the ceiling exploded one after another, sparks flying, shards of glass raining down like a storm.
Amid the chaos, however, a lone figure strode steadily forward, moving against the current of disorder.
Bai Yu pressed his hands over his ears, but the soul-piercing sound still drained the color from his face, his temples throbbing violently.
Yet in those gentle eyes of his, there was not the slightest trace of panic—only calm and focus.
He saw the guards who usually patrolled the corridors, armed and sharp-eyed, now lying collapsed on the floor. Some were bleeding from their seven orifices, their life or death uncertain.
“What a… waste.”
Bai Yu murmured under his breath. It was unclear whether he was lamenting the loss of life or sighing over such power being used so crudely.
He soon arrived outside Meng Chao’s room. The heavy alloy door had been warped and battered by the sonic waves, sparks flickering from the lock.
Bai Yu placed his palm gently against the cold metal surface and closed his eyes.
“All things grow.”
With his low incantation, from the cracks in the alloy floor and the concrete base, countless dark-green vines burst forth!
They slithered through the twisted gaps of the door, hung down from the vents in the ceiling, and surged up from the conduits beneath the floor.
Inside the room, Meng Chao’s frenzied roar still continued—but she soon realized something was wrong.
Vines were coiling toward her from every direction.
They were unnaturally tough. Her sonic blasts struck them, making them quiver faintly—but they refused to break.
“Get away! Get away from me!”
Meng Chao tried to shatter the strange plants with her soundwaves, but there were simply too many—an endless flood.
Finally, one vine silently wrapped around her ankle. Then came a second, a third… In the blink of an eye, her limbs and waist were tightly bound by those dark-green tendrils.
Last of all, the thickest vine twined around her neck and slowly tightened.
A suffocating sensation seized her. Her shriek stopped abruptly. Her mouth opened wide, but only a hoarse “hah… hah…” rasp came out.
Then, the door swung open, and Bai Yu stepped calmly inside.
His face was pale, yet that gentle smile remained. Adjusting his glasses, he said softly, “Miss Meng, you need to calm down.”
……
After Bai Yu subdued Meng Chao, the base’s order finally began to stabilize—barely. The command center was deathly silent.
Chen Mo sat on the only chair that was still intact, his face dark as iron, listening to the casualty report.
“Director, seventy percent of the base’s surveillance equipment is destroyed, forty percent of the electronic systems are down. Preliminary estimate—at least one week for full repair.”
“In terms of personnel: seventy-seven critically injured, all with severe brain and auditory nerve damage; five hundred and twenty-one lightly injured… Fortunately, there are no deaths.”
“As for the players… 【Singer】 Meng Chao has been confirmed subdued by 【Forest Whisperer】 Bai Yu. She’s currently unconscious and has been transferred to the highest-grade soundproof containment cell.”
The analyst paused, his throat dry. “However… 【Frost Whisperer】 Chu Hanyue and 【Painter】 Mo Fan… are missing.”
“Missing?” Chen Mo’s gaze sharpened like a blade. “Explain clearly!”
“Chu Hanyue’s door lock was destroyed by low temperature. We found frozen steel debris at the end of Ventilation Duct Three. She likely escaped through there.”
“As for Mo Fan… his room was untouched—no sign of forced entry. The surveillance went dark the moment the chaos began. He… simply vanished.”
The air in the command center grew heavy.
Two players—one defected, one disappeared.
It was like having the 869 Bureau’s face rubbed repeatedly into the dirt.
“Useless! A bunch of useless fools!”
Chen Mo finally lost control. His fist slammed onto the table, scattering shards across the floor.
“Immediately issue an A-class wanted order! Lock down every exit in Haicheng! Use the Sky Eye system and every available technology—turn the city upside down if you must, but find them!”
“And conduct a full internal investigation—someone must have helped Chu Hanyue and the others!”
Not long after he gave the order, a red encrypted phone on his desk suddenly rang.
Chen Mo took a deep breath, suppressing his rage, and picked it up.
On the other end came an old but steady voice.
“Chen Mo.”
“Commander.” Chen Mo instinctively straightened his posture.
“I heard you’re launching an internal investigation. End it here.”
“What?” Chen Mo thought he misheard.
“Commander, there must be a problem within—”
“I’ll say it again,”
The voice remained calm but carried an undeniable authority. “Stop the internal investigation. That’s an order.”
“Why?!” Chen Mo couldn’t understand.
“You don’t need to know why. Just follow orders.”
The call was cut off decisively.
Chen Mo muttered under his breath, “The Ascension Alliance…”
He was no fool. That one call had made many things clear to him.
He had long heard of the secret organization formed by the nation’s most powerful elites and magnates, all obsessed with transcendence.
The 869 Bureau had been secretly investigating them—but every time they got close to the truth, an unseen hand would sever the trail.
Now he knew.
That hand came from above.
They had lost faith in the 869 Bureau.
Haicheng’s chaos, the chain of player deaths and defections… all had tested the patience of those high-ranking figures.
They no longer wanted to put all their eggs in one basket.
So while officially supporting the “869 Bureau,” they were also covertly funding the “Ascension Alliance”—a more radical, more ruthless organization.
A crushing sense of powerlessness and humiliation welled up inside him. Chen Mo sank slowly back into his chair, feeling as if all strength had drained from his body.
After a long silence, he lifted his head, eyes now cold and clear.
“Cancel the internal investigation order,” he rasped. “List Meng Chao as a top-level supervision subject. Without my approval, no one is to contact her.”
“Also, inform everyone—raise Li Wei and Bai Yu’s clearance levels. From now on, they have full operational freedom in all areas of the base except the core zone. Fulfill all their reasonable requests.”
“Director…” His subordinates exchanged uneasy looks.
“Execute the order!”
Chen Mo knew—Li Wei and Bai Yu were the only cards he had left.
He had to secure them, or the 869 Bureau would lose all its worth.
Sure enough, shortly after, an encrypted directive arrived directly from the supreme authority of the Longxi Republic.
“At all costs, the Bureau must gain full control of at least one player in this round of the game—and obtain a ‘sample’ of their transcendent ability.”
“If the mission fails, the 869 Bureau will lose all current support.”
Control a player. Obtain a sample…
Chen Mo gave a bitter laugh.
The higher-ups didn’t care who won the game. They only wanted that power beyond the mortal realm—even if it meant taking it from a corpse.
Just as the suffocating pressure nearly crushed him, a communications officer burst in, eyes wide with excitement.
“Director! New discovery!”
“We just received a report—a witness claims to have seen a transcendent incident in the west of the city!”