Chapter 97 - 92: The Countermeasures Bureau’s Attitude

Chapter 97: Chapter 92: The Countermeasures Bureau’s Attitude

Baijiang City, Countermeasures Bureau Headquarter.

A celebration banquet was being held to congratulate the warriors returning from the front lines. Throughout the entire Countermeasures Bureau, countless Dream Descenders in black trench coats and ordinary clerks were cheering and marveling.

"To think we cleared dozens of Nightmares in just a few short hours? Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!"

"It’s not entirely our doing. I heard we had outside help."

"Rumor has it that this operation wasn’t just about clearing dozens of Nightmares. The Headquarter took down an even trickier enemy and fiercely repelled a wave of Nightmare corruption. For a long time to come, the situation in our Baijiang City will definitely ease up a lot."

The celebration wasn’t just at the Headquarter; the branch offices were equally festive. Even though most Dream Descenders and ordinary staff members in the branch offices had only just learned about the "operation"...

Invasive disasters and anomalies devouring people! Everyone worked at the Countermeasures Bureau and was well-informed. Even the most oblivious among them had faintly sensed something amiss earlier, vaguely aware of the increasingly frequent Nightmare invasions. Sure enough, the Headquarter reacted faster than they did, eliminating the source of the crisis in one fell swoop.

"That’s amazing," Colleague Jiang Yilu marveled. "Such an operation must have been extremely dangerous! It’s a pity we don’t know the specific details. The Headquarter hasn’t disclosed anything at all. Team Leader, do you have any news?" she asked Song Qiming.

Old Song said in exasperation, "Your Team Leader is just an ordinary person. How could I possibly know such inside information? This kind of operation was definitely led by Captain Level experts, and who knows how many Control Stage and Refining Stage experts participated in it."

"The Control Stage..." That was already considered a master in the eyes of ordinary people. As for the higher Refining Stage and Captain Level experts, Jiang felt she might never get the chance to meet them in her entire life.

"Hey, Brother An, do you have any news?" She propped her chin up and looked at Shi An.

Shi An was surprised. "What makes you think I’d have any news?"

"Because you’re so calm, Brother An. Just now, the Team Leader’s jaw dropped when he heard the news, but you acted as if you knew it all along."

Jiang Yilu continued, "But the Team Leader did say you have a strong heart, Brother An. You can stay calm even when encountering anomalies. You really have the demeanor of a powerhouse who wouldn’t bat an eye even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of them. Brother An, if you ever become a big shot, can I cling to your coattails? Ah, even a single thread would do!"

She looked at an empty desk not far away. That was Zhou Luokai’s seat.

"It’s a shame Kai hasn’t come to work for a few days. He’s an outstanding rookie heavily nurtured by the Headquarter, so he probably knows some secrets. I’ll have to gossip with him when he gets back."

"There’s no need to wait for Kai to come back."

A slightly chubby figure walked in from the office entrance. It was their colleague, Li Hao. He chuckled, "I got some inside information. This time, our Baijiang Headquarter dispatched dozens of experts above the Control Stage, and even several big shots at the Refining Stage! Not only that, but our Headquarter also borrowed experts from organizations like the Wizard’s House and the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall, assembling a super luxurious clearing team. And guess what?"

"What?"

"They failed at the beginning!"

"They still failed with all that?"

Jiang Yilu and Zhang Yuning were astonished. They previously couldn’t even imagine that Control Stage experts could operate in groups of dozens!

Li Hao said, "Yeah, the enemy’s strength was beyond imagination. The strike team couldn’t take it down after a long time. If a mysterious expert hadn’t stepped in to help later, our Countermeasures Bureau’s tactical operation would have likely ended in failure."

This Li Hao was quite well-informed. Shi An showed a look of surprise just like the other colleagues.

Seeing everyone’s shock made Li Hao feel as refreshed as drinking an ice-cold soda in the middle of summer. It couldn’t be helped. Countermeasures Bureau employees were bound by confidentiality regulations, so he could only show off in front of these few colleagues. Showing off felt absolutely cathartic; his effort to dig up this information had not been in vain.

Shi An asked, "Then do you know who this mysterious expert is?"

Li Hao scratched his head. "That I don’t know. But I think this mysterious expert must be a hidden senior master."

...

"Could this Manager be a hidden senior master?"

A higher-up proposed this idea. They were discussing this mysterious Manager and the Safe Zone.

Although this operation was accomplished beyond expectations, it was actually entirely due to the Manager’s help. Otherwise, even if the strike team managed to clear the Ancient Village Nightmare in the end, at least half of their Elites would have been buried in that foreign land. No, they might not have been able to clear it at all.

At the final moment, the power unleashed by the anomaly boss was too terrifying. It was as if the entire Nightmare had been awakened and transformed into a monster.

After Long Niu returned to reality, he immediately reported this matter and worked non-stop to look up information. He was currently discussing it with several more experienced Captains, as well as Vice Director Yan.

Yan Xiangtian said, "Intelligent anomalies do exist. In the depths of the Nightmare, the more lives an anomaly devours and the longer it exists, the more likely it is to awaken its intelligence. However, it is indeed the first time we’ve seen an intelligent anomaly in the shallow layers of a Nightmare.

"But we can’t assume this is just an accident. After all, this was our first time clearing a Shallow Core Level Nightmare. We have no experience, and it’s possible that the other Core Level Nightmares are in the same situation.

"It’s just..."

The fact that the intelligent anomaly sacrificed itself to briefly resonate with the entire Nightmare at the end was very unexpected! Logically speaking, an anomaly of this level shouldn’t have been able to do that!

Long Niu said, "If the Manager hadn’t stepped in at that time and shattered the black fog with a golden Heaven and Earth Sword, I’m afraid very few of us would have been able to return to reality."

So, what kind of existence was the Manager who wielded such mighty power?

Long Niu looked at Director Yan. Unsurprisingly, Director Yan had absolutely no impression of the mysterious existence codenamed Manager.

Third Captain Li Yunfeng spoke up, "I did hear the Dream Descenders in my team mention the Manager and the Safe Zone before. But at that time, I thought the Manager was just an ordinary expert possessing a domain-type Curse Object. I didn’t expect the reality to be a world of difference!"

Second Captain Bai Yu said, "This Manager shouldn’t be someone from our Baijiang City."

Fourth Captain Lu Qing said, "Could he be from Lindong City or Chongshan City?"

Hearing this, the group fell deep in thought. Since the ’Fallen City’ disaster occurred, Baijiang City hadn’t locked itself away. It was still trying everything possible to establish contact with the outside world and true reality. Connecting with Blue Star had failed, but during their explorations, Baijiang’s experts accidentally discovered several cities in the exact same predicament as theirs.

Lindong City and Chongshan City were two of them. They were all cities of Great Xia. Previously in reality, these two cities and Baijiang City all belonged to the Celestial South Province.

Director Yan spoke, "Most likely not. The situations in Lindong City and Chongshan City are no better than ours in Baijiang City. It’s unlikely they’d have an expert of this caliber holding down the fort. I also agree with Little Niu’s guess. That Manager is actually still very far from our Baijiang City; he resides in the depths of the Nightmare.

"However, barring any surprises, this Manager should be one of the Great Xia People. No matter how you look at it, this is good news."

They analyzed the situation in the Safe Zone.

A higher-up asked, "What kind of attitude should we adopt toward the Safe Zone? The freelance Dream Descenders over there, along with all that equipment, props, and the Safe Zone itself... it’s too beneficial for our Nightmare-clearing operations. We must firmly seize control of the Safe Zone! That’s the only way to maximize its value!"

As soon as he finished speaking, one could hear a pin drop in the small conference room. Several Captains looked at this higher-up with rather strange expressions.

Lu Qing spoke up, "Advisor Lin, why don’t you go fight the anomalies!"

Director Yan sighed. "Do you even need to ask what our attitude toward the Safe Zone and the Manager should be? It’s cooperation! Cooperation! And nothing but cooperation! In this cooperation, we must be humble and remember that we are the ones begging them!"

Director Yan waved his hand and had Advisor Lin escorted out of the conference room, after which the rest of them continued their discussion. They continued to analyze the various aspects of the Safe Zone.

He did indeed want to firmly lean on a ’tall pillar’ like the Manager, but how to lean, how to cooperate, and how to gain more benefits—all of these required careful strategy.

Director Yan noted, "You’re saying there are two permanent employees in the shop?"

Under the Countermeasures Bureau’s powerful intelligence gathering capabilities, the identities of these two were instantly uncovered.

"Hair Ghost, one of the former managers of the Wanmeng Dreams Black Market."

"Lin Xiao, a former freelance genius."

"Both of them are Dream Descenders from our Baijiang City. This is a good thing. Since the Manager has the intention to recruit staff, we should try our best to send our own people over. Another point is to secure more membership slots," Director Yan said.

But looking at it this way, did it seem like the Safe Zone itself was a bit short-handed? Building and maintaining a camp usually required quite a bit of manpower. How had the Safe Zone been reduced to needing to recruit outsiders?

Bai Yu rejected this notion. He said, "No, no, Hair Ghost and Lin Xiao are merely the Safe Zone’s Waiters. Waiters don’t need much skill, so recruiting from the Dream Descenders or the Lost is sufficient. However, we shouldn’t assume from this that the Safe Zone has no other experts aside from the Manager.

"I believe there must be."

The other Captains shared this sentiment.

Long Niu pondered in deep thought. But why did he feel like the Safe Zone genuinely seemed to be lacking in manpower?

...

At the same time, the higher-ups in several other major organizations were also hotly discussing the Safe Zone. In the end, they came to similar decisions.

—They needed to secure more Safe Zone memberships!

Setting aside long-term influence and bargaining power, the membership itself came with tangible benefits. Xi Xue and Peaches had experienced this firsthand.

"The organization will provide some assistance to help our people secure membership faster. However, the organization can only support a few slots. Now, let’s discuss who these slots should be reserved for."

Seated at the high table, the Third Seat, Ms. Luo, and the Second Seat, Grey Robe, looked down at the younger generation of experts from the Wizard’s House.

The Refining Stage and Control Stage experts present exchanged glances, sparks flying in their eyes.

"I’ll do it! Running errands for the organization is my unshrinkable duty!"

"No, the waters in the Safe Zone are too deep, and the competition is too intense. You guys can’t handle it; it should be me!"