Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Chapter 118: Chapter 99: The Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team’s First Strike

Had he been secretly executed by Charles?

The outside world was incredibly curious. But the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team’s base had such a fearsome reputation that the media and reporters didn’t dare get too close. Otherwise, the paparazzi would have been lining up around the block to interview Little Charles.

Just as everyone was wondering what was happening inside the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team…

One day, six months later, helicopters loaded with members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team took off from their base, just as they always did, and headed for the skies over Night City.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been anything worth noting.

After all, with cyber psychos and Extraordinary monsters becoming more active over the years, the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team had been deploying on missions with increasing frequency.

It wasn’t unheard of for them to deploy five or six times in a single month.

However, as the gunships slowly flew overhead, residents of Night City quickly noticed that this deployment was different.

“One, two, three, four, five, six… seven, eight, nine, ten!?”

“More than a dozen Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team gunships deployed at once? What’s going on, did Superman show up in Night City?”

“Such a huge force… Could a legendary Tier Nine Transcendent have appeared in Night City? Or are a bunch of cyber psychos throwing a party somewhere?”

The residents of Night City were arguably some of the most jaded people in the world. Street shootouts, gang wars, cyber psycho hunts, sieges against Extraordinary monsters…

While ordinary people in other cities might go their whole lives without seeing such things, the average resident of Night City witnessed them five to ten times!

Of course, many residents had seen far more.

But those “veterans” rarely lived to a peaceful old age; you never knew when you might get caught in the crossfire and have a bullet take the top of your head off.

But even for the jaded residents of Night City, this was the first time many had ever seen more than a dozen Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team gunships deployed at once!

The only comparable event was probably the terrorist attack that had shocked the entire world thirty years ago.

A group of terrorists with unknown origins smuggled a nuclear bomb into the Yunxiao Group tower and detonated it, destroying what was then the corporation’s main office building.

Back then, the entire Night City Police Department had mobilized in full force.

Gunfire echoed throughout the night.

While the current scene wasn’t quite as dramatic as that, the number of Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team units deployed was certainly on par.

…

Under the shocked and uncertain gazes of the crowd, the helicopters flew across the skies of Night City and landed in the Taiping State district.

Director Anderson of the Taiping State NCPD, having just gotten the news and rushed over, strode forward with a look of shock and anger, a contingent of his officers trailing behind him.

He was ready to unleash his fury.

After all, even for the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team, suddenly mobilizing so many personnel without orders from high command was a major breach of protocol.

If one were to press the issue, such an act was practically a mutiny!

But when he saw that the one leading the team was none other than Li Chang’an…

Anderson couldn’t help but recall the traumatic incident in the conference room six months prior, and most of the fiery rage burning in his chest was instantly stifled.

—After all, this was the madman who had cut off his own superior’s foot on a whim, and to this day, Mills still hadn’t dared to retaliate.

Even though Li Chang’an was no longer the Crown Prince of the Yunxiao Group and had in fact been marginalized within the corporation…

…in his presence, Anderson was still like a mouse before a cat, not daring to make a single wrong move.

Wiping a bead of nonexistent sweat from his brow, Anderson forced himself to remain calm and spoke. “Little Charles, sir. What brings you here today?”

Having not seen him for six months, Anderson found the young man’s aura even more unfathomable, like a bottomless pool. On the surface, it appeared cold and clear.

Only those who had personally experienced his cold, tyrannical methods could truly sense the bottomless vortex swirling beneath his nonchalant exterior.

Li Chang’an approached with a smile, patting Anderson on the shoulder. “Director Anderson,” he said warmly, “we meet again!”

Behind him, dozens of Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team members, like silent statues, jumped down from the helicopters, all of them masked and expressionless.

They now stood in perfect formation on either side of Li Chang’an, looking from a distance like an array of inseparable shadows.

Only the cold glares that occasionally swept out from beneath their masks hinted at the power contained within their silence.

A chill ran down Anderson’s spine. He swallowed hard and whispered, “Little Charles, sir, please don’t make this difficult for me. Why have you suddenly mobilized so many of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team’s gunships?”

He had originally planned to take the initiative and accuse these men of inciting a riot.

But now, standing before this squad of freaks, he had abandoned any such notions. His only option was to appeal to their past acquaintance, hoping Li Chang’an might deign to reveal some information.

After all, as the nominal head of the Taiping State NCPD, being kept completely in the dark would put him at a serious disadvantage.

Li Chang’an raised his wrist to look at his watch and smiled. “No need to be nervous, Director Anderson. We just received a tip from an informant that the Taiping State Voodoo Gang is holding a grand cult ritual. Two cyber psychos and two Third-rank Transcendents are expected to be in attendance, so I brought my men along…”

He paused for a moment, then added with a smile, “Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. I recently revised the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team’s operational charter. Our primary directive is now ’to protect the people and property of Night City’!”

Hearing Li Chang’an’s deadpan delivery, Anderson’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

Taking a deep breath to suppress the urge to make a snide remark, Anderson turned to the aide behind him and asked, “Is there any truth to this?”

The aide hesitated for a moment.

Then, he spoke, his tone uncertain. “The Voodoo Gang has been acting suspiciously lately. It’s possible!”

Hearing this, Anderson’s eye twitched again. He glanced back at the stone-like members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team behind Li Chang’an, took a deep breath, and said, “Even so… surely you didn’t need to bring this many people?”

The Voodoo Gang holding rituals and stealing corporate secrets to sell them was nothing new.

In the past, as long as such things weren’t done in public and didn’t cause a major stir, the NCPD’s standard procedure was to turn a blind eye.

Let alone the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team.

Unless a cyber psycho was killing people in the streets or an Extraordinary monster had kidnapped the child or relative of some bigwig, these guys would barely lift a finger.

So what was this all about? Had the Voodoo Gang broken some sacred law?

Li Chang’an had personally led a deployment of nearly a hundred Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team members… just to arrest a bunch of cultists?

Li Chang’an’s face was still wreathed in a smile as he said lightly, “Didn’t I just tell you? We’re cracking down on crime and rooting out evil. The Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team is committed to seeing this fight through to the end!”

…