Xi Renjie swiftly crossed the headquarters lobby and entered the telegraph room.
Two enforcers were on duty inside. Seeing Xi Renjie arrive, they immediately stood from their seats.
"Chief Xi..."
"A message came from Aurora City?"
"Yes."
"Does anyone else know?"
"No. We notified you immediately... And this message requires your identity code to decrypt."
Xi Renjie frowned slightly. He waved his hand, dismissing everyone from the telegraph room, then locked the door behind them and approached the specialized telegraph machine at the center.
Han Meng hadn’t returned. No reinforcements had arrived from Aurora City. And now, at this critical moment, Aurora City had suddenly sent a message—one encrypted specifically for him...
Xi Renjie sat before the telegraph machine, inputting his identity code. After a brief pause, a message began printing automatically.
Click... Click-click...
The white paper slowly emerged from the machine, lines of text appearing before Xi Renjie’s eyes.
"[Operation Severed Tail]..." The four words at the top struck him like a hammer. His gaze fixed on the unfolding message, his expression twisting with shock.
The message outlined Aurora City’s impending abandonment of the seven districts—without explanation and directly ordered Xi Renjie to lead the listed enforcers to evacuate to Aurora City via train immediately.
Chen Ling’s guess had been right. Aurora City... was truly abandoning the seven districts?!
Xi Renjie’s mind went blank. He stared at the names printing out one by one, unable to process the reality.
District Three’s fall was now inevitable, a matter of time at most. This list was likely Aurora City’s final attempt to recruit personnel from the districts to fill gaps within the city. But what baffled Xi Renjie was... Chen Ling’s name wasn’t on it.
Chen Ling was a [Judgment] path enforcer. Though only first-tier, his potential was undeniable. Even the laziest, most incompetent enforcers had made the list—so why not Chen Ling?
As if answering his silent question, after the last name printed, one final line of text clicked into place:
[Order Two: Before full evacuation, eliminate the heretic Chen Ling by any means necessary.]
The moment Xi Renjie read those words, his pupils contracted violently.
No explanation. No justification. This single command was the message’s final line—an ironclad decree from Aurora City.
"Heretic... Chen Ling?" Confusion flooded Xi Renjie’s face. Why was Chen Ling a heretic? Why did Aurora City want him dead?
Xi Renjie immediately sent a follow-up message via telegraph, demanding an explanation for Chen Ling’s execution order. But after waiting nearly half an hour, no reply came. The line had gone silent again.
Outside the window, the clamor of unrest grew louder. Xi Renjie could sit still no longer. With one last glance at the telegraph machine, he rose and pushed open the door.
"Chief Xi, why were you in there so long?" The enforcer guarding the door asked anxiously. "What did Aurora City say? Are reinforcements coming?"
This enforcer was one of Xi Renjie’s most trusted subordinates, a decent man. But faced with his urgent questions, Xi Renjie could only fall silent...
"Chief Xi, the situation outside is getting worse. A crowd has gathered at headquarters’ gates," several more enforcers rushed over to report. "They’re demanding answers about Districts Two and Four... asking if District Three is next. They’re terrified."
"Chief, residents in the south reported strange noises approaching from District Four. Could it be the calamity that slaughtered them moving this way?"
"Sir... what do we do now?"
More enforcers crowded around Xi Renjie, their faces pale. Though seasoned veterans, none had faced a crisis of this scale. Like the civilians outside, they were gripped by panic.
Beyond headquarters’ doors, shouts and pounding echoed endlessly. Inside, the enforcers’ faces flickered with fear and anxiety under the kerosene lamps’ glow.
Xi Renjie’s gaze swept over them, his grip on the list tightening unconsciously...
"Tan Ming. With me."
After a long internal struggle, he finally spoke hoarsely, then pushed through the crowd toward the headquarters’ back exit.
The enforcer named Tan Ming froze, then hurried after him. The two figures slipped through the narrow back door into the fog-shrouded night... leaving the remaining enforcers standing in bewildered silence.
"Brother Jie, what’s going on?"
Tan Ming had served under Xi Renjie for years—a loyal and capable subordinate. His name was on the evacuation list.
Xi Renjie walked silently through the dim streets, weaving through alleys. Through gaps between buildings, they could see the crowd still swarming headquarters’ main gates... They didn’t stop, moving wordlessly deeper into the night.
"Aurora City is abandoning the seven districts," Xi Renjie rasped.
"What?!" Tan Ming’s eyes bulged.
Xi Renjie handed him the message. After reading it, Tan Ming’s face twisted with horror.
"Then... what about these people? There are still forty thousand alive in District Three!" Tan Ming couldn’t help but protest. "If we leave, we’re condemning them to die!"
Xi Renjie’s footsteps halted.
He looked toward the gradually brightening streets, guilt and conflict raging in his eyes.
"I don’t know... Before leaving, Brother Meng told us to protect District Three... But we can’t. If we stay, we’ll just die with them..."
"And this list? Most of these names are the lazy, corrupt leeches! The truly capable enforcers aren’t even on it!" Tan Ming said indignantly. "Is Aurora City seriously taking these parasites while leaving our brothers to die?!"
"...I don’t know. I really don’t!"
Xi Renjie clutched his hair, eyes bloodshot as reason and emotion waged war in his mind.