Chapter Eighteen: The Void from the Sky

After the meal, Shion was ready to take her leave immediately. As the chief steward of the Bureau, she was responsible for managing everything, large and small. She was grateful to Shakya for sparing the time to have a meal with her.

"Miss Shion, you're always in such a rush. Please be careful on your way," Shakya said, bidding farewell to Shion as she climbed into her car.

"Thank you. You should get some rest early as well."

"Hic... alright..."

Under Shion's recommendation that evening, Shakya had tried drinking some beer. Surprisingly, she didn't find it unpleasant at all. In fact, she felt it carried a sense of nostalgic flavor. Perhaps, deep down, Shakya was unexpectedly older than she seemed?

"Then you should drink more; maybe it will help restore your memories?" Shion teased.

"Hmm... don't joke around, Shion. I still have to go to school." The image of Shakya showing up to school smelling of alcohol was far too vivid.

Tranquility is always fleeting. Shion understood this clearly. Perhaps Shakya, currently living as Qin Yun, had not yet completely detached from her daily life, but for the agents of Schwager, things were different. From the moment they became agents, they had essentially forsaken their identities as ordinary people. After all, if those monsters were allowed to destroy cities and homes, what meaning would "daily life" even hold?

Back in her dormitory at the underground base, Shion took a shower to mark the end of the day. Ever since she met the Director and learned the secrets of the ancient past, she had made her choice. Soon after, Shion received a notification from the Director. She rolled out of bed, and living in the Schwager dormitory complex, she quickly arrived at the conference room. She understood that it was time for everyone to get to work.

This was intelligence received that morning. Much like the first monster that appeared before human eyes, this one also approached from the sky. It employed a form of stealth, drawing near without a sound. Unfortunately, a passenger airliner had collided with the invisible entity, and there were no survivors. Furthermore, many people had captured strange anomalies in the cloud layers on their phones and uploaded them to the internet. The bizarre air disaster and the videos quickly reached the authorities, who immediately notified the Director.

The command staff determined that this was a new member of the "Kin," and the military immediately launched a reconnaissance mission. It was unclear where the entity had come from; even military radar could not detect its position. Only when military aircraft approached for reconnaissance could they vaguely perceive subtle distortions of light and the voids left behind as it passed through clouds. Thermal imaging and other sensors were completely ineffective. Although the fighter jets that conducted the close-range observation did not suffer any counterattacks, the military, having learned from previous lessons, did not dare to act rashly.

What it looked like and how it would attack remained entirely unknown. The only certainty was that the traces it left behind indicated it was approaching New Chunqiu City.

"How are we supposed to fight this... an invisible target that can't be seen or detected by radar..." Shion felt dizzy just listening to the report.

"Correct... current human technology cannot cope with this kind of stealth," the Director said, scanning the people present, including the supervisors sent by the United Nations. "Do not forget that we have Traum."

The UN delegates were silent for a moment. "Are the observation devices on Traum the only way to detect its position? How are other units supposed to share the information? Are we limited to physical marking?"

Shion looked at the Director.

"Rest assured, we will force it to reveal itself. It won't be too late to launch a full-scale attack then. Please understand that we have not yet fully decoded the observation capabilities of Traum."

The Director's words did not completely put the delegates at ease. "Reveal itself? How will you do that?"

"By subjecting it to the right energy impact, it will become visible. That is all I can say for now."

The Director's ambiguous response did not seem to resolve their doubts. "Vague rhetoric like that won't suffice for establishing an operational plan."

The representative of the UN forces sighed. "Fine. Just tell us what to do."

"Thank you for your understanding."

Compared to previous operations, this one could only be described as brutal. In short: Traum would be responsible for observation and firing the first shot as a marker. If successful, the enemy would reveal itself, and then the military would unleash a barrage of artillery fire to finish the job.

As usual, Shion went to school to pick up Shakya.

"What? This..." After Shion handed the operational plan to the summoned Shakya, a look of distress crossed her face. "You want me to use long-range precision fire to create a marker? I don't have much confidence in my marksmanship."

"It's alright. You are only responsible for marking this time. You just need to hit any part of it. We have too little information on this enemy, so we are conducting a probing operation first," Shion explained.

"Isn't that a bit too simple?"

"That is assuming everything goes smoothly..."

This time, Traum would use a cutting-edge electromagnetic railgun developed by the United Nations. The projectile it fired possessed the power of a battleship's main gun. Because the adversary's nature was unknown, the UN's stance was: detect the enemy first, then destroy them first.

It seemed that even the Director lacked much information on this particular monster; he did not propose a contingency plan as he had done before. Instead, he repeatedly and unusually warned everyone to proceed with caution.

"Be careful. If anything goes wrong, prioritize your own survival above all else."

Shion's exhortations added a layer of unease to Shakya.

"Hey, hey, you're being a bit dramatic today. It's making me feel..."

"Cough... is that so..."

The alarm sounded in New Chunqiu City. All citizens were ordered to enter shelters. Although the battlefield was in the suburbs rather than the city center, it was necessary to have the citizens evacuate just in case.

"Report from the reconnaissance unit received. The target is approaching the city from high altitude at 200 km/h. It is expected to arrive at the interception point in half an hour." The communications officer was working intensely.

"Very well. The UN forces have also arrived at their positions."

For once, the Director was personally commanding the operation.

"Shion, Shakya, how is the situation on-site?"

"Logistics units are deployed. The railgun is charging." Shion was in the on-site command room, responsible for coordinating between Shakya and the military. "Charging is expected to be complete in five minutes."

"Good. What about the UN forces?"

"Ready." The commander responsible for coordinating the UN forces was also on-site with Shion.

Hopefully, the ambush would be effective. There were multiple ways to detect a target. Since they did not know whether the opponent perceived them via optics or thermal energy, the ambushing units were spread out as much as possible across the terrain. Missile launchers, armed helicopters, and main battle tanks were hidden in the mountainous areas. Once the signal was given, they would be able to pour their ammunition onto the target.

It would be best to intercept the target in the suburbs.

"Shakya, sortie."

Traum was activated, and Shakya's field of view shifted to the machine's perspective. Following the instructions of the ground personnel, she picked up the railgun and lay prone on the designated hillside.

"Entering search mode."

Shakya felt her palms slightly sweating as she gripped the trigger.

"Come on!"