Chapter 1259

Brother Lin

In the meeting room with just the two of them, An Jing Tian looked at Lin An somewhat nervously, burdened in his heart, and subconsciously only dared to stand.

Brother Lin suddenly called for him to stay—what is it for?

Since Lin An entered the third rank, he hardly had any time to see Lin An.

As the gap in strength and status grew wider, he found it hard to describe how he felt toward Brother Lin.

"What are you staring for? Sit down."

With a smile.

Breaking from his usual calm demeanor, Lin An rarely showed a smile, as if before the apocalypse, gently greeting An Jing Tian to sit down.

"Brother Lin... do you have something to tell me..."

After hesitating and sitting down, An Jing Tian still felt somewhat ill at ease, even though Lin An now appeared extremely easygoing, just like the Brother Lin of his memory.

But...

As Lin An was about to enter the fourth rank, he continually felt that the person before him exuded an overwhelming pressure far beyond his own level of existence.

It was like humanity facing mountains and seas, facing ferocious beasts...

"Before I returned, did an invasion incident occur in the outer city?"

"Someone infiltrated the supplies warehouse, burned the supplies, and intended to take hostages among the survivors."

Just as his words fell.

An Jing Tian's heart jolted, his face instantly turning pale.

"Brother Lin, you still found out!?"

"Indeed, he shouldn't have listened to that squad leader! Suppressing this matter—what's the difference from deceit in some sense!?"

"Brother Lin, I'm sorry...!!"

Although Lin An still wore a smile, under intense guilt An Jing Tian subconsciously wanted to explain.

In his view, Lin An keeping him behind must mean deep dissatisfaction.

Taking hostages...

No, that's already a euphemism... actually, the other side nearly threatened AnXia.

If AnXia were merely an ordinary person, perhaps something would have happened.

Seeing An Jing Tian's face suddenly turn pale, Lin An raised his hand to press down, his expression unchanged:

"There's nothing, I don't mean to blame you."

"Problems arising in Long An are inevitable. Previously there were no issues—that was just luck. The problem isn't yours alone, but the whole of Long An."

Speaking calmly, Lin An recalled a scene from the assembly.

Actually, Long An's development to today has already begun breeding many problems internally. It hasn't erupted because it has been developing rapidly.

Such matters will only increase, not decrease, from now on.

Power corruption, internal and external collusion, factions proliferating, bullying downwards and flattering upwards—this is inevitable.

Human nature is inherently like that.

In fact, Long An has managed to last until today without becoming like other safe zones largely because resources are still sufficient, and because when he founded the city he planted a "shadow" in the hearts of the first members.

But to continue maintaining it, periodic purges are inevitably needed.

He previously had no time to do this, but now it's different...

Or rather, before expansion he must, as much as possible, cleanse a batch of people.

"Jing Tian, starting tomorrow you will step down as head of the Armed Department, and Huang Haitao will take your place."

His whole body shuddered, An Jing Tian opened his mouth, and moments later his heart filled with bitterness.

"Brother Lin, is this disappointment in myself..."

Indeed, he actually isn't suited for this position; there are far too many people in the base more suitable than him.

However, before he could lower his head in assent, the next second Lin An spoke calmly:

"I intend to form a special unit dedicated to monitoring all departments of Long An; compared to the previous oversight department, this newly established unit will not be made public and will enjoy special privileges."

"For anyone violating regulations, approval is waived and they may be executed on the spot."

"After the trials conclude, I will assign roughly eighty third-rank individuals to you."

While speaking, Lin An handed over a card and pushed it toward An Jing Tian.

He had already considered it.

Within Long An, up and down, the only two he truly trusts are An Jing Tian, who grew up with him since childhood, and Zhang Tie, that simpleton who fears no death.

For Long An and future external "handling" of high-level matters, clearly only An Jing Tian is suitable.

He suddenly lifted his head.

An Jing Tian stared blankly at the card Lin An handed over, instantly grasping his meaning.

This is!?

Knowing the card's function, gazing at the silver card before him, a surge of indescribable shock and panic welled up from his heart.

"Brother Lin, is this meant to push me behind the scenes!?"

A few minutes later.

Standing alone in the empty meeting room, An Jing Tian clenched the card tightly in his hand, somewhat dazedly watching Lin An's retreating back.

In silence, he drew a deep breath, as if making some resolution.

Perhaps he cannot help Lin An openly.

But in the darkness, he can become that blade.

"Chu An, why didn't you attend the meeting."

In the underground core of Long An, a gloomy blue light filled the entire underground hall.

Lin An frowned, looking at the dim surroundings, he raised his head to look at Chu An, who seemed to be doing some experiment again.

For some reason, he always felt that Chu An, who liked staying underground, was like a movie villain who couldn't stand the light.

"It's fine if you convene the meeting; whether I go or not doesn't matter much."

Taking off the rubber gloves in his hand, Chu An wore a stiff smile as he walked out of the lab.

As if he was sensing something.

He silently sized up Lin An from head to toe, and after a few seconds, his smile widened.

"Very good."

"The progress is faster than I imagined."

"In about three days, you will become Fourth Stage."

Hearing Chu An's quick judgment, Lin An glanced at him, somewhat surprised.

Although Chu Colonel could see how far his strength had progressed, that wasn't strange to him. What was strange was that, even though he was about to step into Fourth Stage, Chu An before him still showed no concrete strength.

"Yes."

Since their first meeting, Chu An seemed to always be First Level.

His spiritual energy was so weak it seemed like that of an ordinary person, but Lin An would never believe, even if beaten to death, that Chu An was merely First Level.

Ignoring the strange look in Lin An's eyes, Chu An collected his smile and spoke softly:

"The Capital Military Region cut off all external communications four hours ago."

"Precisely, it was three hours and forty-nine minutes."

"Electromagnetic, systems, props, even permissions... none can transmit any message."

"If nothing unexpected, it should be the Alien Species' doing."

As his words fell, Lin An's expression suddenly sank.

In fact, he had also just learned this news.

"That's right."

Now the Capital War Zone, as if fallen into darkness, no information has been transmitted out.

It is obvious, it couldn't have been a voluntary cutoff.

Then the only possibility is that some special means were used to forcibly sever all connections; the implication goes without saying.

"They have moved."

"Those Alien Species revealed their identities in the confrontation match."

The meaning was simple yet shocking; a hint of gravity flashed in Lin An's eyes as he spoke in a low voice:

"What do you think, when will they act against us?"

"Or rather, I.."

"Capital Military Region, is there a possibility to hold out?"

Faced with Lin An's question, in the silence, Chu An rarely took a long time before slowly speaking.

"The timing of their move depends on how long it takes them to consume the capital."

"At most a month, they will wait until the carrier becomes Third Stage, that is, after the trial."

"If it's fast, maybe three days later."

"The fastest speed at which Alien Species fuse with humans is three days..."

Hearing Chu An's rough estimate, Lin An's heart sank.

"As fast as three days?"

"Fortunately, he too would reach Fourth Stage around that time."

"As long as the Alien Species don't send too many Fourth Stage, he might still have a fighting chance."

"In fact, if delayed longer, the situation might become worse."

"But before he could say anything more,"

"Just then, Chu An standing before him suddenly took off his glasses and spoke again."

"Lin An, actually there's something I've never told you."

"Alien Species..."

"Actually, I released them."