Chapter 156: Preparation

Watching Liu Jianming’s stiff body slowly fall backward, Zhang Wenda stared at Tan Yougen in disbelief. It all happened too fast—so fast he couldn’t even process it.

But Tan Yougen acted as if he had just done something utterly insignificant, like squashing an ant. His expression didn’t change in the slightest.

It was as if killing a junior he’d known for over a decade was more normal than smoking a cigarette.

"Are you threatening us?! Is this you trying to intimidate us?" Zhang Wenda said in disbelief.

Tan Yougen walked over and rolled up Liu Jianming’s left sleeve. There, he revealed a thumb-sized, bone-like typewriter.

"He was just spying on you, using this to transmit your identity as our mole. Just think about it—what would happen if they found out you were working undercover for Bureau 507?" Tan Yougen said calmly as he placed the typewriter into his drawer.

"I thought I might get some details out of him, but I didn’t expect the kid to be so resolute. You can go now. Tell your uncle that Liu Jianming is dead. He’ll know what that means."

After a few seconds, Tan Yougen noticed Zhang Wenda was still standing there and asked curiously, "Hm? What is it? Why haven’t you left?"

Zhang Wenda watched as the body was dragged away. A living, breathing person, gone just like that. And it was someone he knew. Even though he knew the man was an enemy, he still found it hard to accept.

If his uncle’s barbecue had made him think this whole situation wasn’t so serious, Tan Yougen’s gunshot instantly dragged him into the cold, harsh reality—a reality where people die.

Thinking again of their tangled relationships, Zhang Wenda’s expression was incredibly complicated as he said, "You knew all of them. Did it have to be this way?"

"You watched them grow up. Just because of a simple difference in ideas, does it really have to become a life-or-death struggle?"

Tan Yougen looked at Zhang Wenda and sighed. "This is why you’re still just a child. You haven’t grown up yet. You don’t understand that the deepest hatreds and grudges are always between your own people. I don’t want to kill anyone, either. I don’t want to fight. But is that even possible? The entire world can’t just have Thought Wave One."

As Hu Maomao’s fingers relaxed, the surroundings gradually returned to normal. After putting on her tinfoil hat, she looked at Zhang Wenda and asked, "What did the Director say? Does he have any new orders?"

Zhang Wenda didn’t say a word. He now had a new thought about Tan Yougen: ’The guy isn’t just insidious, he’s utterly ruthless.’

’Even if I really do join Bureau 507 in the future, I’ll never work under him.’

Zhang Wenda ignored Hu Maomao’s question, stood up, and headed for the door. He had to find his uncle as soon as possible and sync up with him.

As for what to do next, he needed to discuss it with his uncle before making a decision.

However, he searched all around the Cavalry but couldn’t find his uncle. The only thing he learned was that on that night, Tang Xingxiong and his uncle had a real, no-holds-barred fight on the computer, and his uncle had vanished ever since.

Standing in his dormitory-style apartment, Zhang Wenda gazed out the window at the bizarre, fantastical world outside. For the first time, he felt a rare flicker of annoyance at his uncle’s habit of appearing and disappearing without a trace.

’Of all times to not leave a way to contact him...’ He was actually very unsure if his uncle had gone to scout out that computer intelligence for him directly. If that was the case, they were in real trouble.

Even though he had only seen the tip of the iceberg, he felt that the two of them had unknowingly stumbled into an extremely dangerous situation. Whether it was Qianxi or the ruthless Director Tan, they couldn’t afford to provoke either of them.

Ever since seeing the Angel Engine, the Cavalry had felt like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment. He needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

’Uncle, don’t play the disappearing act now. Come back, quickly. What the hell is going on? What kind of deal did you make with that old fox Tan Yougen?’

Just as Zhang Wenda was lost in these thoughts, a loud CLANG! rang out, accompanied by the sound of tearing metal. The entire giant Cavalry began to shake violently, as if in an earthquake.

Outside the window, people and pieces of buildings slid right off and fell. Screams of terror and pain became a chaotic mess of sound.

Zhang Wenda’s body tilted abruptly, and he quickly reached out to catch a television set that was falling toward him from the left.

’What’s happening? This is strange. Is this a new opportunity created by my uncle? Or did Bureau 507 make its move ahead of schedule? Why didn’t anyone tell me?’

Anxious, Zhang Wenda looked out the window and saw that it wasn’t just his building—the entire city was starting to tilt.

Hearing a much louder tearing sound coming from the distance to his left, he quickly clambered outside and looked nervously in that direction.

The sound was coming from the computer. Right now, a large crack had split open its casing. Peeking through the gap, he saw the Angels pinned to a green circuit board, gradually merging with it.

One, two, three... Zhang Wenda saw three frantically struggling Angels inside.

"Shit! Not one! There are three Angels!" The sight made Zhang Wenda’s skin crawl.

It wasn’t just Zhang Wenda who saw it now; everyone on the Cavalry saw it too, and they immediately started pointing at the crack.

This sudden development took not only Zhang Wenda by surprise, but Tang Xingxiong as well. The Crows frantically swarmed inside, trying to regain control of the Angel that had broken free.

"What are you standing around for?! Get over here and help! Stop it! Don’t let it get out!" a Crow yelled, flying up to Zhang Wenda.

To be honest, Zhang Wenda didn’t want to go, but running away now would undoubtedly expose him.

He didn’t know if his uncle was over there. If his uncle was there, he could pitch in and help, depending on the situation. If his uncle wasn’t there, he could use the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. If he could gather some intelligence, he could get away immediately.

By the time Zhang Wenda arrived, he found that many people were already there, most of them Tang Xingxiong’s men. Other people from the Cavalry who tried to come and help were being blocked and turned away.

"O Lamb, save me, save me, Lamb!" As Zhang Wenda got closer, the Angel’s voice played in his mind like a radio broadcast.

Zhang Wenda rushed over to grab a loose chain, simultaneously scanning the chaotic scene. As Tang Xingxiong’s reinforcements gradually arrived and quickly took control of the chains on the Angels, the situation was slowly being brought under control.

However, this wasn’t what Zhang Wenda wanted to see. The waters weren’t muddy enough yet. The muddier, the better.

Glancing again at Tang Xingxiong, who was completely preoccupied, an idea sparked in Zhang Wenda’s mind. ’Whether someone else created this situation or not, this is definitely an opportunity!’

In the midst of the chaos, Zhang Wenda’s body vanished for a split second. With a sharp SNAP, a chain on one of the Angels broke as if out of thin air.

Then a second, and a third. Finally, after the fifth chain was severed, the Angel, shimmering with golden light, broke completely free of its restraints. Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, it crawled out of the giant computer.

Immediately, the golden ring above its head shone like a sun, illuminating the entire Internet World. Everywhere the golden light touched began to transform.

The pixelated sky turned into golden clouds. The river of black-and-white static on the Cavalry became a river of milk and honey. Even the clothes on everyone’s bodies turned into white silk.

Under the golden light, everything it illuminated began to shift toward the ideology of Heaven.