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Chapter 329: Undercurrents Surging

At four in the morning, Chen Xuan was already sitting in the headmaster’s guest room at Beitian Academy.

"Oh dear... I haven’t been woken up from my bed in ages." Sun Suigong yawned as he descended from the attic, accompanied only by You Chi from Venus, "Little Friend Chen, you’re not considerate of us elderly folks."

Even though Chen Xuan had become somewhat familiar around Beitian Academy, he hadn’t gotten to the point of contacting the headmaster at midnight, and his calls typically went unanswered. But that couldn’t stop him; if he couldn’t reach the headmaster, couldn’t he try You Chi? After making several urgent calls that pulled You Chi from his sleep, he personally informed his master, which let Chen Xuan see Beitian Academy at four in the morning.

"If we delay important matters out of courtesy, that would truly be inconsiderate of you," Chen Xuan said nonchalantly. "Time is pressing, so let me be brief: Beitian Academy has already caught the attention of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism. You must prepare for them forcing their way in."

These words clearly startled You Chi.

Dean Sun also raised his eyebrows and, after a moment, smiled while stroking his beard and said, "Little Friend, aren’t you exaggerating? This isn’t a place just anyone can come and cause trouble. Even if the Mechanism has the police backing them, we have our own connections to lean on. If it gets messy, they’re the only ones who’ll lose face."

If the Honglian incident hadn’t happened, Chen Xuan would’ve thought the same.

The order in Jiang City was very stable, and the Mechanism couldn’t act unchecked. If they wanted to continue their operations here, they had to follow the nation’s laws...

The Mechanism had always presented themselves in this way.

But what if it was all a disguise?

When Xiao Canong decided to act against Honglian, his subordinates could kill Wang Baihu without hesitation, and the Mechanism itself could slaughter demons in future Jiang City, surviving unscathed at the center of what was comparable to a small nuclear explosion.

To count on restraining such an organization by law would be overly naive.

Chen Xuan did not mention what had happened in another world, simply saying, "I also hope they won’t openly cause a conflict, but things are more serious than you might imagine."

"How serious?"

"At worst... Beitian Academy will become a battlefield, and you’ll either have to surrender or be killed by them."

"Mr. Chen... you’re exaggerating." You Chi couldn’t help but interject, "Murder is illegal! As long as the master makes a call, the Sha Jiang District police station can surround this place in five minutes!"

"The police can’t handle such matters, just as they couldn’t handle the Five Rings Machinery Factory case." Chen Xuan replied bluntly, "Even if Beitian Academy were wiped out, those outside might not know. If the Mechanism is thorough enough, this will just be yet another site of an ability crime, where a deranged new Awakened killed you, only to be eliminated by the Mechanism, providing more evidence of them maintaining social order."

You Chi opened his mouth but was momentarily speechless.

"So, Little Friend Chen must have tangible evidence, suggesting the Mechanism will certainly act adversely against Beitian Academy?" Dean Sun’s expression gradually turned serious, "Might this evidence be..."

"I’m afraid I cannot divulge that." Chen Xuan interrupted decisively, "However, on my way here, I noticed there were many people on the mountain, like those in the woods outside the courtyard, watching from the treetops. Your academy shouldn’t have that many early-risers, right?"

This was no threat, just truth.

Chen Xuan likewise opted not to alert them, simply pretending not to see those people as he passed by.

"What? At this time?" Sun Suigong was quite surprised and instructed You Chi, "Have security look outside."

The latter nodded and left the guest room.

Chen Xuan did not stop him.

These people might suffer losses, but better they do than Beitian Academy be caught unawares.

"I don’t get it, what exactly does the Dimensional Limit Mechanism want from us?" the headmaster questioned with lingering doubt, "Surely it’s not just about forcing their way in?" He squinted at Chen Xuan, "Could it possibly relate to you and that unconscious girl?"

"I won’t deny it." Chen Xuan shrugged, "So I will relocate her. However, there are many reasons for the Mechanism wanting to move against Beitian Academy, and that’s just one. Your medical technology, commercial channels, relationships with other companies... they want it all."

"If what you say is true, what do you think we should do?"

"Temporarily evacuate the area."

"Impossible!" Dean Sun immediately rejected, "Even if I were to die here, I would never hand over Beitian Academy, let alone to these ill-intentioned outsiders! I may be a doctor, but I’ve also practiced a few cultivation techniques, you can’t expect me to flee without a fight!"

Chen Xuan sighed, knowing it wouldn’t be easy to persuade them, but he didn’t expect the old man to be so resolute, "You misunderstand. By evacuation, I don’t mean abandoning Beitian Academy. You previously told me you didn’t trust international organizations like the Dimensional Limit Mechanism, which is why you decided to ally yourselves with me. Now I can tell you, not only do I not trust the Mechanism, but I also regard them as an enemy that must be eliminated. To achieve this, I’ve been gathering like-minded people and, as of today, have formed an ability-user organization."

Sun Suigong’s hand, which had been stroking his beard, froze.

He knew this young man was quite capable, but hadn’t expected him to achieve this extent.

Chen Xuan continued, "You’re not adept at combat, remaining here won’t help. So, why not withdraw from Beitian Academy and let my people replace you. Should the Mechanism dare a desperate attempt at assaulting Beitian Academy, we’ll fight back without hesitation and smash their plans head-on!"

Simply put, Beitian Academy was both bait and battleground.

Whether the Mechanism got their intel from Honglian or Wang Baihu, it all ultimately pointed to Beitian Academy: Elorie being hidden here, and even Wanderers would converge here... The force within Jiang City resisting the Mechanism was stationed right in Beitian Academy!

"How many people do you have?" the headmaster asked in disbelief.

"Hundreds to thousands." Chen Xuan replied.

Sun Suigong was utterly stupefied.

If memory served, the Dimensional Limit Mechanism’s recruiting might have caused a great stir, but only ended up recruiting about thirty ability users. Yet this young man spoke of thousands? Did Jiang City... no, did the country have that many ability users!?

Just then, You Chi hurriedly returned, "Master, the head of security just reported, saying an external patrol has gone missing!"

The headmaster widened his eyes, "When did this happen?"

"Unsure, previously they answered the radio, and now they can’t be found."

He decisively said, "Call the police."

You Chi nodded, pulled out his phone, and after explaining his situation to the headmaster, said, "They said they’ll arrive in five minutes."

But Chen Xuan faintly frowned, "You have connections with the police in Tianlu and Sha Jiang District, right? Try calling personally."

Following advice, You Chi made another call over to Officer Tian, who had come previously, "It’s late, he might not answer..."

Unexpectedly before his words finished, his expression suddenly froze.

"What’s the matter?" The headmaster asked keenly.

"He said he was patrolling nearby and would be over shortly..." You Chi showed a puzzled look, "But that doesn’t sound like something Officer Tian would say, he still held a grudge against us for involving ourselves last time..."

He immediately dialed his senior brother Yue Beifeng’s number.

The call was quickly answered, and this time You Chi finally realized the problem, "No, this voice sounds like my senior brother, but the inflection is odd, as if pieced together by AI!"

"What about the internet?" Dean Sun motioned him to stay calm.

He quickly checked, "All can connect, but... the content doesn’t seem right. The medical forum I frequently visit, even at night, usually has people discussing professional knowledge, but these new contents are more like casual trivia."

"Net Mirage attack." Chen Xuan spoke.

"Net Mirage... attack?" You Chi asked, puzzled, "What is that?"

"A type of network attack that implements information isolation on the opponent, delaying detection to achieve surprise in action." He had heard Lin Qing mention various combat methods of the Mechanism before, and Net Mirage was one of them. Utilizing supercomputers and intelligent AI technology, the Mechanism could execute a Net Mirage attack that isolated even a small country, leaving those trapped unaware that all information they received online was a fabrication by AI.

Turns out, in this era, the Mechanism had already developed the Net Mirage system... Just the technology wasn’t mature enough yet, with AI traces still quite obvious.

"I thought they would act within a day or two, but it seems their reaction is even quicker than I anticipated." Chen Xuan said in a deep voice. When did the Net Mirage begin? Or was calling the headmaster obstructed by the Mirage? Coincidentally, You Chi didn’t reside in the courtyard, and since he was contacted in person, he wasn’t affected.

"Dean Sun, our time to prepare is limited, have you made your decision?"