Chapter 60: The Pressure of Sole Authority
Chapter 60: Chapter 60: The Pressure of Sole Authority
As the last transport Flying Shuttle, loaded with personnel and equipment, disappeared down the street outside the branch office, official command of the defenses for the City Defense Bureau, and by extension all of Qianjiao County, fell onto Yang Wenqing’s shoulders.
He returned to the command center, where only essential personnel and his communications team remained.
Crushing pressure washed over him, and the thought that he was merely bait grew ever clearer. But Yang Wenqing did not panic. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and began to exercise his command.
"Wu Yan."
"Captain?"
"Readjust the patrol routes immediately. Abandon all peripheral and non-essential areas. Pull back the defensive perimeter and switch from a three-shift to a two-shift rotation. Focus our defenses on the central administrative district, the main granaries, the Rune Towers, and the arterial roads connecting the districts."
"Right, I’m on it!" Wu Yan acknowledged the order and immediately began adjusting the deployment map.
"Liu Rong, strengthen intelligence monitoring. In addition to regular communications, focus on feedback from the energy monitoring Arrays and the image-recording Arrays in each district. Pay special attention to high-crime areas like the Port District and the West City Trade District. Report any energy anomalies or gatherings of suspicious individuals immediately, no matter how small."
"Understood!"
"Wait, one more thing. Post notices informing the citizens that for the next three days, anyone caught committing a crime will be punished to the fullest and most severe extent of the law."
Yang Wenqing then turned to his communications specialist. "Fang Che, keep the channel to the Government Military Command Center open. Confirm the signal every hour."
"Yes, Chief!"
With each order he issued, the defensive network—which had been stretched thin by the loss of manpower—was pulled back together, becoming orderly once more under Yang Wenqing’s decisive command.
Once the deployments were set, Yang Wenqing didn’t just sit and wait in the command center. He took Wu Yan and discreetly ascended in Team Three’s old, inconspicuous ’Wind-Go II’ Flying Shuttle, personally flying a full circuit of the new, condensed core patrol route.
After completing the patrol and returning to the branch office, Yang Wenqing had a lengthy discussion with Liu Xin, who was in charge of internal security, to hash out the details of internal-external coordination and emergency response protocols.
When Yang Wenqing emerged from Liu Xin’s office, the sky outside was already pitch black. He didn’t immediately return to the command center, but instead strolled to the training ground behind the branch office.
The training ground was empty and quiet, a stark contrast to the daytime’s clamor. Bright moonlight spilled onto the flat field, and the only sound was the chirping of insects.
Yang Wenqing walked to the center of the field. With a thought, the Cyan Blade shortsword slid silently from its sheath at his waist and hovered a foot in front of him, emitting a faint, clear hum.
He then held his breath and focused, his hand forming a sword seal. The body of the Cyan Blade flashed. Guided by the seal, it transformed into a streak of pale cyan light, instantly stabbing toward a humanoid target over ten meters away.
PFFT!
With a soft sound, the sword tip sank a precise inch into the target’s chest area. The blade trembled slightly. This power was a far cry from that of a true master, but compared to before, when he could barely control its flight, it was a world of difference.
Yang Wenqing walked up to inspect the mark, then returned to his spot. He changed the sword seal, and the Cyan Blade hummed as it flew upwards. It circled once in mid-air before returning to his side, where it danced and spun around him, carving sharp trajectories that made faint whistling sounds as they cut through the air.
At the edge of the training ground, Wu Yan, Liu Rong, and the communications specialist Fang Che had appeared at some point. They stood there quietly, watching the figure dancing with the flying sword while they handled a few non-urgent alerts.
After practicing for about a quarter of an hour, Yang Wenqing slowly withdrew his power. He studied the shortsword for a moment, then let out a slow, heavy breath, feeling his mind had calmed considerably.
SHIING~
The shortsword returned to its sheath. Yang Wenqing walked over to the three of them. "Let’s rest in the command center tonight."
Back in the command center, Yang Wenqing had Wu Yan and the other two take turns resting. He himself sat cross-legged in the lounge area by the main console and began meditating to practice his Qi Cultivation. With his current Cultivation, he could go ten days and nights without sleep and still maintain his energy. Right now, however, it was more important to use his practice to maintain mental clarity and keep himself in peak condition.
In front of the Water Mirror Screen, members of the communications team recorded and marked data. The central administrative district was brightly lit, with the highest concentration of patrol teams.
Along the main streets, patrol Flying Shuttles occasionally skimmed by at low altitudes. The abandoned peripheral areas, however, were plunged into darkness and silence, home only to a few guards on patrol, the darting shadows of stray cats, and the mournful sound of wind blowing through debris.
The entire night, the command center maintained a state of outward calm but inward tension. Though Yang Wenqing was meditating, he kept a sliver of his consciousness focused on his surroundings, waiting to see if any news came from the *Lingxi Core*.
Thankfully, the night passed quietly and without incident. But just as the first light of dawn touched the horizon, a flood of alerts began pouring into the command center.
"Report from North City District C. Three shops were burglarized overnight. Losses consist of miscellaneous goods."
"Report from the abandoned Warehouse District in South City. A group of vagrants gathered and a small-scale armed brawl broke out. They’ve been dispersed."
"West City..."
In just half an hour, dozens of minor cases like thefts and brawls were reported from the peripheral areas where patrols had been abandoned—the sum total of incidents from the previous night.
Wu Yan frowned as he looked over the compiled reports. "These local thugs... they know it’s the assessment period and the City Defense Bureau has tightened control, yet they’re choosing now to stir up trouble?"
’Something isn’t right,’ Yang Wenqing thought as he looked at the incident locations on the map. They were all on the outskirts of the defensive perimeter, in blind spots. ’These minor cases feel like probes... or a deliberate distraction.’
"Ignore them for now," Yang Wenqing ordered decisively. "Notify all patrol teams to hold their designated positions and not to leave the core patrol zones without authorization. Log these cases. We’ll deal with them all after the assessment is over."
The sense of alarm in his heart grew stronger, but he remained calm as he gave his orders. He was fond of a line from a book on military strategy he remembered: ’Engage with the orthodox, win with the unorthodox.’
’For this mission, stability is victory. Therefore, all I need to do is maintain our position, and we win. To put it another way, as long as I’m careful not to make any mistakes, I can’t lose.’
’Those eight words sounded simple, but their practical application was profound. To use them effectively, one needed an iron will—the ability to distinguish a trap from a genuine opening.’
A little after eight-thirty, Yang Wenqing, along with Wu Yan and Fang Che, boarded the old ’Wind-Go III’ Flying Shuttle to begin the new day’s patrol.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye. The alert channel from the communications team hadn’t gone silent for a moment, but Yang Wenqing was resolved to ignore it.
As the Flying Shuttle traveled through the West City District, Wu Yan suddenly slammed on the brakes. His eyes were locked on a young man at the side of the street, who was running frantically toward the opposite side, clutching a purple token.
"Captain, that’s my informant! I told him if there was trouble, he should run to the branch office with the Token I gave him!"
He finished speaking, threw open the door of the shuttle, and gave chase to the panicked young man.
However, at that very moment, a massive boom echoed from the sky to the west...
BOOM!!!
Yang Wenqing immediately jumped out of the shuttle as well. That sound was an explosion!