**Seventh Ring.**

"There's no signal on the phone, I still can't contact my younger brother, and I can't find Little Saren either..."

Chen Shaoyan's eyes were red, while Chen Xin, holding Silly Girl, comforted her, "My younger brother is from the Giant Academy; he'll be fine. And as for Little Saren, once things settle down and I can reach the chief, I'll launch a large-scale search. It'll be alright... it has to be."

Chen Shaoyan silently nodded.

The siblings, with Silly Girl, squeezed through the crowded streets filled with refugees from the Eighth Ring. Despite the upper echelons only allowing the elite to enter the Seventh Ring, the Eighth Ring was the second-largest area in the Great City, and the most populous—within nearly twenty thousand square kilometers, there were a hundred million people...

Even the elite numbered in the millions. Now, in the chaos, they were all temporarily refugees. Even though Chen Xin was a senior inspector, the Seventh Ring police didn't care about officers from the Eighth Ring.

Even with verified identities, they'd have to wait several days until the situation stabilized.

Moreover, people from the Seventh Ring didn't look kindly on these Eighth Ring refugees.

"Let's find a place to stay first. Sister, did you bring your bank card?"

"I was too busy escaping to think about that! Let's find a bridge or something to stay under for a day or two, and wait until things stabilize. I'll see when the signal comes back..."

Winding through the crowd, the three finally found a relatively secluded spot behind a large factory, where there were few people around.

Chen Xin frowned slightly.

Some factory workers noticed them, and before long, a group stepped out, led by a middle-aged man with a fierce look.

"Eighth Ring refugees?"

The middle-aged man sized up Chen Shaoyan, a strange gleam appearing in his eyes:

"What a pretty girl... take the girl back, and the guy can go to Old Song."

About a dozen people surrounded them, and Silly Girl burst into tears.

Chen Xin's expression turned solemn. Holding Silly Girl, he stepped forward and said in a deep voice,

"Friends, I'm Chen Xin, a senior inspector from the Eighth Ring. We mean no trouble; I hope you can spare us a way out. Once things settle down, I'll repay you with gifts."

The dozen or so people exchanged glances and then burst into laughter.

"Senior inspector?"

The middle-aged man smiled:

"Even the director of our ring would have to send us a greeting! You think you can just give us your identity?" He paused and ordered,

"Break his hands, cut out his tongue, and slash his face, so he can't write or speak or be recognized. Then we'll hand him over to Old Song for disposal; we don't want trouble later."

Chen Xin's face changed; disposal?

Organ traffickers?

He took a deep breath:

"Really, can't you give us a way out?"

The group closed in silently, weapons drawn. The middle-aged man slowly pulled out a gun from his waist and aimed it at Chen Xin's forehead.

Chen Xin sighed, covering Silly Girl's eyes, and stepped back quietly.

As he retreated,

Chen Shaoyan, only about 1.5 meters tall and looking like a ten-year-old child, suddenly kicked up the dirt, throwing dust into the middle-aged man's eyes!

He instinctively covered his face, and as he rubbed the sand from his eyes, he heard a deafening gunshot. When he cleared his vision, he saw the people around him sprawled in pools of blood, the black, hot muzzle of the gun aimed at him...

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So fast, so ruthless.

He'd kicked into an iron plate.

The middle-aged man, with a parched mouth and dry tongue, stared at the girl before him, struggling to speak:

"We're from the Seventh Ring Construction; if you let me go, I might have a chance to live..."

Chen Shaoyan pulled the trigger, and the middle-aged man's head exploded.

Expressionless, she reloaded her gun and quickly looted the money from the bodies around her, saying,

"Let's change locations and run to a more crowded place."

Chen Xin covered Silly Girl's eyes, silently nodding. His sister's appearance had allowed her to survive the flames and even gain some standing for a reason.

Before the security from the factory could catch up, the two, along with Silly Girl, fled. During their escape, Chen Xin noticed a pitch-black crow perched on a tree, observing them.

He didn't know why he felt he could perceive ‘observation' in the gaze of such a scruffy creature, but... it felt that way.

...

The roar of the air vehicle engines grew closer. Chen Xiang focused his mind, his expression tightening. Without hesitation, he hoisted the sack containing the unconscious Professor Su and opened the secret chamber, tossing it inside.

As the chamber closed, he returned to the living room just as the air vehicle stabilized outside the window, the door opening as someone jumped inside.

"So you are indeed here."

Lin Yulang smiled, followed by the vice president, who also smiled as he jumped in:

"Little Chen, this is Wei classmate, right? The academy was worried about you; I've been searching the Eighth Ring with Instructor Lin and finally found you."

"Vice President, Instructor Lin," Chen Xiang and Wei Qingqiu greeted in unison.

The vice president nodded casually at Wei Qingqiu, not giving her much importance, then turned to Chen Xiang, patting him on the shoulder warmly, sighing:

"The changes came too quickly; the outer three rings are in complete chaos. Now the academy has relocated to the Sixth Ring... The dean is worried about you and asked me to find you. You can't afford to have any accidents."

Chen Xiang was taken aback:

"Vice President, I'm unworthy of such attention..."

"You are one of the few true geniuses since the establishment of the academy, daring to stand up for your teachers and classmates in critical moments. In this era, that's rare; no matter how much we value you, it's worth it!"

After a pause, the vice president continued in a friendly tone:

"There's a new policy from above; our academy must completely withdraw from the outer three rings. I'm here to take advantage of the fact that the policy hasn't fully implemented to return to the Eighth Ring... Let's go; we need to head to the Sixth Ring. The dean wants to see you."

The academy is withdrawing from the outer three rings?

Chen Xiang's heart sank; was it because the Seventh and Eighth Rings had been abandoned like the Ninth Ring?

He didn't know what the dean wanted to do, but it certainly wouldn't be anything good—there were deep calculations involved.

Amidst the swirling thoughts, gratitude appeared on Chen Xiang's face:

"I appreciate the academy's good intentions, but my family is currently missing. Vice President, could you please wait until I find them?"

"Don't worry, I checked before coming. Your sister and second brother were on the elite list that entered the Seventh Ring yesterday, oh, and there's a girl named Chen Xiaoya too."

The vice president smiled and said,

"They will be properly arranged for in the Seventh Ring. It's hard to find them there right now, but once things stabilize, the academy will send someone to bring them to the Sixth Ring. Don't worry."

Chen Xiang nodded gratefully, his heart tightening.

His sister, second brother, and Silly Girl had all entered the Seventh Ring, so... what about Little Saren?

His sister would never abandon Little Saren; something must have happened, especially at this critical moment...

He wasn't overly worried but speculated that there might indeed be an issue with Little Saren, possibly related to the first generation.

Now, it was just a matter of why the dean was so eager to see him and how Lin Yulang was involved with the academy's upper echelons.

Chen Xiang no longer refused, exchanged a glance with Wei Qingqiu, and nodded,

"Alright... I'll follow the academy's arrangements!"

"Good, get in the car. We need to head back to the Sixth Ring quickly; if they find out I came here, it could cause some trouble... Don't worry; policies come from above, and there are always ways to deal with things. Any trouble will just be a minor inconvenience for now."

He took Wei Qingqiu into the air vehicle. Chen Xiang was somewhat worried about Professor Su's condition but didn't show it, quietly listening to the roar of the engine.

As the vehicle ascended slowly, the situation in the Eighth Ring came into view,

Everywhere there were flames, and the dust had yet to settle, the air thick with the scent of concrete dust and despair. The area near the massive spatial rift had been completely turned into ruins.

The sun was setting, and night was approaching;

The Eighth Ring no longer had its past neon glow, replaced instead by flames everywhere, fires that the floods hadn't extinguished and torches held by desperate people who hadn't managed to escape.

In the areas not submerged by the flood, remnants of vehicles lay scattered, and shop windows were already shattered...

Thick smoke rose from the ruins, drowning out some of the flood's sounds, resembling a faint cry from the Eighth Ring.

"That crow is flying really high,"

Wei Qingqiu suddenly spoke up. Chen Xiang followed her gaze and saw a pitch-black crow soaring nearby.

The crow glanced sideways, as if assessing them, its dark red pupils carrying an ominous aura.

Chen Xiang noticed Lin Yulang lowering his head, his brows furrowed, almost as if...

...paying respect.

...

"Death's Harbinger?"

In a villa in the Eighth Ring that had narrowly escaped disaster, Lu Saleng sat alone in a wheelchair, crushing a crow in his grip. No blood or guts spilled out; instead, sharp strands of straw emerged.

He looked at the large box containing wooden crates that hadn't been taken away, his expression darkening.

"The Abyssal Void Church isn't bringing a false god."

"This is troublesome."

Lu Saleng sighed softly, peeling a boiled egg that he usually disliked, chewing it slowly.

"Without that guy around, at least there's no nagging."

He touched his ear, sitting alone in the wheelchair, expressing his regrets to himself.