All preparations were complete.

Personnel were assigned accordingly.

Streamlining the process, a lean team of thirteen was selected.

The Assault Corps provided six members: Zhang Shihao himself leading, plus five Ghost Agents. The other four were from the Investigation Legion, belonging to the ‘Iron Teeth’ special investigation squad.

While the Ghost Agents were individual soldiers forged with a massive investment of resources, the Iron Teeth squad was a top-tier unit focused on synergy. The goal was to make them not only powerful on their own but also complementary, creating an effect where the strong made each other even stronger.

Two others came from the ranks of top-tier independent powerhouses.

One was ranked ninth on the contribution board, codenamed ‘Wild Beast.’ This brawny, muscular man had just advanced to a Five-Star Desert Beast Master, his power template comparable to the previous Wyatt.

The other was ranked twelfth, nicknamed ‘Little Zeus.’ He had the youthful face and childlike build of a pretty boy but possessed exquisite lightning magic.

His class was the hidden Five-Star Thunder Lord.

One could say the entry threshold for this small team was already the top-thirty standard on the contribution board.

And this was with many other top-tier powerhouses not having been teleported here yet.

“No chance at all.”

Not far away, the Demon Sword Master who hadn’t been selected was feeling rather unbalanced. What really got to him was the absurd feeling of stumbling into a high-tier match, despite being ranked a respectable 88th.

‘Who the hell is that guy?’

Not only was the young man who claimed to be in the top 100 selected, but he was even highly regarded by Captain Zhang and treated like an honored guest.

‘Top five?’

‘Or even number one?’

The team members also had some theories about this cool and aloof handsome guy in the white tracksuit.

Someone recalled the figure of the number one player bathed in a golden crown at dawn; their builds seemed to be a perfect match.

‘This guy’s just acting all mysterious, pretending to be some master, huh…’

Nearby, the pint-sized Ji Xiaoyue said nothing. When he looked at her, she just nodded in acknowledgment. Seeing that the operation was about to begin, she silently began wiping her anti-materiel sniper rifle.

There was no time to waste, lest complications arise.

「Two minutes later.」

The decapitation strike officially began.

Operation Codenamed ‘Annihilate Evil’!

The target: Lorentz Manor.

The thirteen figures were already speeding toward the border of Oran City.

“If those guys aren’t there, we’ll just push straight through and raid their conglomerate’s headquarters,” Wild Beast said, his temper flaring. After pulling down the visor of his combat helmet, his gruff voice gained a reverberating quality.

“Success or failure, we withdraw afterward.”

As the leader, Captain Zhang wasn’t so reckless.

To push deep into that downtown Financial Street, the straight-line distance would increase by more than half.

There were too many variables, and the risks would skyrocket.

This operation had gathered too many top-tier powers. Losing even one person would be a lamentable tragedy. If they suffered more than fifty percent casualties, it wouldn’t be worth it even if the decapitation strike succeeded.

“Everyone, remember: personal safety is the top priority. If you encounter a lethal threat, you can use any means necessary to escape,” Captain Zhang said. He was no stickler for rules.

Dying in battle would also mean gifting your lifetime’s worth of Rune Essence to the enemy. That would be a complete net loss.

“I have a special ‘Teleportation Skill’ Rune. I can definitely get you out,” Ji Xiaoyue said to the man flying beside her.

“Alright. Thanks in advance,” Su Chen replied nonchalantly.

Ji Xiaoyue scoffed internally at his calm and unbothered expression.

“Everyone, radio silence.”

After the command, the group had already arrived one kilometer from the Oran City border.

“Here it comes.”

Someone holding a scepter cast a Lv8 Invisibility Skill on the group, adding a layer of Light Element camouflage.

Once it was done, the group, their Element fluctuations now concealed, shot forward.

The border before them was completely unguarded.

Or rather, the sprawling city border wasn’t important to the four ruling powers. Protecting the city center and their own assets was the top priority.

They were not even a hundred meters into the city when the acrid, mixed smell of gunpowder and rot hit them.

On both sides of the street, the embers from last night’s chaos hadn’t fully cooled. Black smoke still drifted up from the rubble and ruins.

Looting!

Seeing the many burned-out shops, many in the group couldn’t help but feel a sense of dismay.

And none of the Olan People they passed had the ability to detect the thirteen figures stealthily advancing.

Su Chen didn’t do anything special, just followed the group’s lead and moved forward.

Of course.

Everyone’s Flying Skill was at least Lv7, and they all had some form of Rune Equipment boosting their movement speed, allowing them to advance with incredible swiftness.

In less than eight minutes.

At Captain Zhang’s signal, the entire team came to a halt.

At the edge of their vision, in the suburban woodlands, Lorentz Manor lay sprawled between the forested foothills like a dormant beast.

A towering Obsidian Wall encircled the entire estate. On the front facade alone stood eight defensive towers of various designs. The faint glow of Runes flowed across their tops, clearly indicating they were no mere decorations.

Even more unnerving, the entire outer surface of the wall was covered in eerie, crimson Ghost Vines. Their branches writhed slowly like living things, exuding an aura that warned all to stay away.

“Damn…”

Wild Beast lowered his voice, a mixture of shock and unconcealed envy in his tone. “This is way more over-the-top than the Godfather’s estate in the movies. That guy had bodyguards; this one has a whole private army.”

“A more apt comparison would be a medieval castle with a heavy fantasy twist,” a Ghost Agent said in a muffled voice.

According to intel, all the surrounding private manors and villas had been ‘amicably’ acquired and merged by members of the Lorentz Clan during the apocalypse.

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