At 4 pm, the freight train from the ONCF arrived at Duca Mines as per schedule. Following their usual routine, the armed cavalry guards from the Third Company guided the train onto the platform, detaching the empty freight cars. One of them would guide the driver to reverse the locomotive while others loaded the freight cars.Roy was internally thrilled even as he stood alongside the rest of his company, watching as the train slowly accelerated and pulled out of the platform.Once it left, all that awaited them was the evacuation! Across centuries and generations, they and their forebearers could only dream of escaping the despotic clutches of the Qing Eliminating Society. Now, only a few hours remained for that dream to come true!Nonetheless, the mining machinery was still working even after the train departed.Then, as darkness fell, the armed cavalry guards from the First Company moved everything to the clearing around the office building. Every piece of heavy machinery aft

The driver quickly pointed out, "Could it be because of the Transition? It's only natural that they had to pause to send off their comrades while waiting for the fresh faces to arrive. With all the adjustments necessary, a pause would simply facilitate the Transition much better.""That's true," Marvin sighed. "And I guess the Transition can be a sensitive period for the armed cavalry guards, if not a bit cruel. I mean, I've worked with Roy for years, and we get along pretty well. I wouldn't mind saying that the sudden change in hierarchy annoys me too, but all we can do is pray that we don't get Transitioned too."One of the men in the back seat asked nervously, "Sir, are you saying it could happen to us?""How should I know?" Marvin sighed in exasperation. "I will only find out if we're getting Transitioned too. Otherwise, there won't be a peep. And if it ever happens to us, we have no choice but to follow orders."The man appeared mournful right then. "My son isn't even a year o

However, Marvin couldn't do anything after Reuben had given him explicit orders. All he could do was urge the driver to send him the dashcam video along with the videos he had recorded from his own phone, sending everything to Reuben.Reuben didn't immediately contact Arlo as he had said, however.He wasn't at the scene and hadn't seen what had truly happened, so he was waiting to confirm that there was indeed a grave situation before actually reporting to Arlo.And soon, two videos of the scene arrived on his phone, and he was overwhelmed once he watched both, as he never expected it to be that horrific.Judging by the extent of the damage, the entire mining zone must be completely destroyed.The destruction of the dead soldiers' base was already a severe loss. Even then, the more pressing question was whether the armed cavalry guards and the dead soldiers had defected, as theorized when the Cyprus base had turned out empty.So, he called Arlo without another moment's delay, whi

Therefore, it was only natural for Arlo to call Tarlon 'Gramps'.Upon hearing about the situation, Tarlon immediately demanded, "Has the mysterious foe struck again? Shouldn't he have attacked Nigeria instead?!""No!" Arlo cried, utterly aggrieved. "The mysterious foe must have seen through our plan. That’s why he never came to Nigeria, even after all this time. Although the three elders are in seclusion, they take turns using Reiki to survey the surrounding area almost every hour, and they have never noticed the presence of any cultivators. And just now, I was called about our dead soldier base in Morocco… It was destroyed, and even Penny's whereabouts are unknown..."Tarlon exclaimed, "What?! Penny Singer was there, too?! Why?! Shouldn't she be in your base?!"Arlo explained, "I just thought she should gain some experience and see the world… It was just a formality at best, but I didn't expect something like this..."Tarlon paced anxiously around the room, immediately angry and

Tarlon gathered himself before speaking grimly, "Arlo called… The Dead Soldiers base in Morocco. It's… completely destroyed..."Fleur looked stupefied. "Morocco?!"Tarlon nodded. "Yes. I've seen videos. The base was completely destroyed."Fleur bellowed, "It must be that pest again! Shouldn't he have attacked Nigeria?!""No," Tarlon shook her head. "I've asked Arlo. The three elders have been monitoring the base in Nigeria since we began, but no one who could manipulate Reiki ever showed up. I think they must have seen through our trap and deliberately avoided Nigeria by targeting Morocco."Fleur's face was ashen as murderous intent spilled from her, and she growled, "When he saw that Nigeria was a trap, he deliberately chose Morocco because it's not that far away. They mean to provoke us! Just because they can!"Under these circumstances, Tarlon was afraid even to flatter or soften the blow. He simply nodded and said, "Yes, I agree. Our mysterious foe is stronger than we belie