Chapter 131: Aurora City's Order

Xi Renjie quickly crossed the headquarters hall and entered the telegraph room.

There were two Enforcers on duty in the telegraph room. Seeing Xi Renjie arrive, they both stood up from their seats.

"Officer Xi..."

"A message came from Aurora City?"

"Yes."

"Does anyone else know?"

"No, we notified you immediately... and the content of this message requires your identity code to be received."

Xi Renjie frowned. He waved his hand, dismissing everyone in the telegraph room, then locked the door behind him and walked toward the special telegraph machine in the center of the room.

Han Meng hadn't returned, and Aurora City hadn't sent reinforcements. Yet at this critical juncture, Aurora City had suddenly sent a message to the Third District—and an encrypted one directed at him personally...

This meant that the thick fog hadn't actually blocked the transmission of messages, and Aurora City knew that he was the acting Chief of the Third District. With a little thought, one could sense something amiss.

Xi Renjie sat down at the telegraph machine, typed in his code, and after a brief pause, a message was automatically printed out.

Click... click-click...

White paper rose from the top of the machine, and lines of characters appeared before Xi Renjie’s eyes.

"【Tail-Cutting Plan】..." Seeing the four large characters at the beginning, Xi Renjie’s heart gave a violent jolt. He stared intently at the characters appearing one by one, his eyes unable to hide his shock!

The message explained that Aurora City was about to abandon the Seven Districts, but without offering an explanation, it directly ordered Xi Renjie to lead the Enforcers on the list and board a train to Aurora City immediately.

Chen Ling’s guess was right. Aurora City... was really going to abandon the Seven Districts?!

Xi Renjie felt his mind go blank. He looked at the names being printed out, unable to recover for a long time.

The fall of the Third District was now inevitable; it was only a matter of how long they could hold out. Aurora City providing this list was likely an attempt to select a few people from the Seven Districts to fill vacancies in the city. But what puzzled Xi Renjie was... Chen Ling’s name was not on the list.

Chen Ling was an Enforcer of the 【Asura】 path. Although he was only Tier 1, his potential shouldn't be bad. Even those Enforcers who did nothing but eat and laze around were on the list, so why not Chen Ling?

As if to answer the doubt in Xi Renjie’s heart, following the last name on the list, a solitary line of characters popped out with a click:

【Order Two: Before the full evacuation, by any means necessary, eliminate the heretic Chen Ling!】

The moment he saw this line, Xi Renjie’s pupils contracted sharply!

No reason, no explanation. This line of command was the final text in the encrypted message, like an unquestionable directive from Aurora City.

"Heretic... Chen Ling?" Xi Renjie’s face was full of confusion. He didn't understand why Chen Ling would be a heretic, or why he would be hunted by Aurora City.

Xi Renjie immediately used the telegraph machine to send another message to Aurora City, asking for the reason behind killing Chen Ling, but he waited in the room for nearly half an hour without receiving a response, as if they had lost contact again.

The commotion and noise outside the window grew louder. Xi Renjie couldn't sit still. He took one last look at the telegraph machine, stood up, and pushed the door open.

"Officer Xi, why were you in there so long?" asked the Enforcer who had been guarding the door. "What did Aurora City say? Are reinforcements coming?"

This Enforcer was Xi Renjie’s confidant and a decent person, but under his anxious questioning, Xi Renjie could only fall into silence...

"Officer Xi, the situation outside isn't looking good. Quite a few residents have gathered at the headquarters gate." Several more Enforcers ran over. "They want to know what happened to the Second and Fourth Districts, and if the Third District is in danger... They all seem terrified."

"Officer Xi, some residents from the south say there are monster roars constantly approaching from the Fourth District. Could it be that the disaster that slaughtered the Fourth District is coming here?"

"Officer... what should we do next?"

More and more Enforcers gathered around Xi Renjie, their faces pale. Although they had been Enforcers for many years, this was the first time they had encountered such a situation. Like the citizens outside, they were all somewhat panicked.

Outside the Enforcer headquarters, the noise and knocking were incessant; inside, the faces of the many Enforcers were anxious and fearful in the light of the kerosene lamps.

Xi Renjie’s gaze swept over these Enforcers, his hand gripping the list tightening involuntarily...

"Tan Ming, come with me."

After struggling with himself for a long time, he spoke in a hoarse voice, then pushed through the crowd and walked straight toward the back door of the headquarters.

The Enforcer named Tan Ming was stunned, then immediately followed. The two figures opened the narrow back door in the night and disappeared into the thick fog... leaving the other Enforcers standing there, their eyes full of bewilderment.

……

"Brother Jie, what happened?"

Tan Ming was an Enforcer who had followed Xi Renjie for many years. He was a good man and considered a confidant, and his name was on the transfer list.

Xi Renjie walked silently through the dim streets, passing through alley after alley. Through the gaps in the alleys, he could see that the headquarters gate was indeed surrounded by a crowd... They didn't stop, walking silently further away.

"Aurora City is going to abandon the Seven Districts." Xi Renjie said hoarsely.

"What?!" Tan Ming’s eyes widened.

Xi Renjie handed him the message directly. Tan Ming read it carefully, and a look of deep shock appeared on his face!

"Then... what about these people? There are forty thousand people alive in the Third District right now!" Tan Ming couldn't help but ask. "If we leave, are we just going to leave them to fend for themselves?"

Xi Renjie’s footsteps faltered.

He looked at the many streets that were gradually lighting up, guilt and struggle appearing in his eyes.

"I don't know... Before Brother Meng left, he told us to guard the Third District well... but it's impossible for us to hold it. If we stay, we can only die with them..."

"Then what’s with this list? Most of the people on it are those parasites who just eat, drink, and cause trouble! The truly capable Enforcers aren't on it at all... What is Aurora City thinking?" Tan Ming said indignantly. "Are they really going to take these parasites and leave our brothers here to wait for death?"

"...I don't know, I really don't know!"

Xi Renjie grabbed his hair with both hands, his eyes bloodshot. Reason and emotion were fighting a fierce battle in his mind.