Chapter 54: The Tide Rises

Not long after Sirian left, Anya pushed open the office door.

“It seems you had a good chat with Sirian. Did you find any clues?”

“A little,” Dailin said slowly, stretching lazily.

“Anya, the past few times we raided the dark alleys, we came up empty-handed, not even touching the shadows of those Chaos Followers. Yet, Sirian, on his first night patrol in the City-state, swaggered right into their lair.”

Anya listened quietly.

Dailin continued, “There are only two possibilities: either Sirian is a fated jinx, or Sirian possesses some means to detect traces of Chaos.”

Anya didn’t finish her sentence, “You think…”

“I think Sirian is a secret agent from White Sun Holy City. Perhaps the Keepers of the Flame Sect is about to make a big move in Heer City, no… throughout the entire Outer Flame Frontier.”

Dailin reminded, “Remember the Star Gazers’ prophecy a while ago?”

Mentioning the prophecy, Anya felt an inexplicable sense of oppression, “The Star Gazers’ prophecies are sometimes inaccurate.”

“But this prophecy was only known to the City-State Council. The only reason we know about it is because you got it from Director Dekar’s mouth.”

Dailin emphasized, “This is enough to prove the importance of this prophecy.”

Thanks to her ambiguous relationship with Dekar, Anya often obtained confidential information from him.

“Neither the City-State Council nor Director Dekar has announced this prophecy, probably fearing it would cause chaos.”

Dailin recited the content of the prophecy.

“The blazing sun shall rise from the dark frontier; all evils shall converge, and strife shall begin.”

He continued, “Since this prophecy appeared, the Claws of Sin have become increasingly active within Heer City. Then came that strange Source Energy Tide a while ago, and the extinguishing of White Cliff Town…”

“Something is definitely going to happen.”

Their conversation fell into a long silence. After a long while, Anya slowly said, “Dailin, we are just humble nobodies.”

“So what?” Dailin shook his head. “Can nobodies just surrender in the face of the era’s torrent? If we were truly so easily compromised, we would have probably died many years ago.”

Dailin also agreed, “We are indeed nobodies, but nobodies have their own way of living.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Nothing,” Dailin pulled out another cigarette. “There’s no direct evidence to prove Sirian’s identity. Before anything happens, we just need to wait patiently.”

“Wait… wait for the event to happen, wait for the event to change.”

Dailin suddenly added, “But before that, life still has to go on.”

He looked at Anya with a smile, “Excuse me, are you free this weekend? I found a nice restaurant downstream on Flower River.”

…Sirian arrived at his post as scheduled, sitting at his workstation.

It was just a table and a chair, empty, with nothing on it. Behind the partition on one side was Elton, whose desk was filled with all sorts of strange tools and equipment. Behind the partition on the other side was Meifuni’s workstation, with cute little toys covering her desk.

As the eldest daughter of the Centipede Merchant Guild, Meifuni clearly didn’t need to report to work on time.

Elton, on the other side, had arrived early, adjusting the knobs on the Yanxun communication console, putting on his headphones, and catching fragmented whispers amidst the static.

Sirian didn’t idle. He brought over a pile of case files and diligently read through them, trying to find any clues of the Evil Claws from these cases.

Unbeknownst to him, it was already noon. Someone tapped Sirian on the shoulder.

Sirian turned around, not knowing when Meifuni had arrived. She was holding out a cup of coffee, a smile on her face.

“You’ve all worked hard.”

Meifuni placed the coffee on Sirian’s desk and handed another cup to Elton.

Sirian said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Meifuni sat back at her workstation, opened a dessert box, and began to bite into a biscuit while reading a book.

Sirian had been working at the City Guard Bureau for a while, but during this time, he hardly ever sat at his desk. He was either on duty outside or catching up on sleep at home.

Today was Sirian’s first full day at the City Guard Bureau, and also his first time understanding the daily work of his colleagues.

Meifuni noticed Sirian’s gaze, wiped the crumbs from the corner of her mouth, and after some hesitation, reluctantly picked up a biscuit and offered it to him.

“Would you like one?”

Sirian was startled for a moment, then waved his hand, “No thanks, you eat it.”

“Alright then.”

Meifuni quickly popped the remaining biscuit into her mouth, crunching away.

Sirian shifted his gaze, turning to Elton, who was still fiddling with the Yanxun communication console, nervously twisting the knobs as if disarming a bomb, as if one wrong move would blow up the entire office.

After a considerable wait, Elton exhaled tiredly and slumped into his chair, as if he had just fought a great battle.

Sirian asked curiously, “What were you doing just now?”

Elton and Sirian had become somewhat more familiar, not as aloof as before.

“I was searching for a friend’s signal, but the spirit world seems to be quite turbulent lately, full of chaotic interference, so I can’t extract any useful information.”

Sirian asked, “What is a ‘friend’?”

“Yanxun technology enthusiasts. We live in different City-states and use Yanxun communication consoles to communicate, connect, and share our lives, like another form of pen pals.”

Usually, Elton was rather lifeless, but whenever Yanxun technology was mentioned, he would radiate enthusiasm.

However, this enthusiasm was fleeting, and Elton became dejected again, muttering.

“Since the Source Energy Tide a while ago, I haven’t been able to contact her for a long time.”

After a short break, Elton began to adjust the Yanxun communication console again. Seeing him so engrossed, Sirian didn’t want to disturb him.

“Hey!”

Meifuni quietly called out to Sirian.

Sirian moved his chair closer. She leaned against the partition and whispered into Sirian’s ear.

“Do you know why Elton is so dejected?”

“What happened?”

Sirian’s curiosity was piqued.

“His ‘friend’ is a girl, and they’ve been in contact for many years,” Meifuni chuckled mischievously. “Elton thought he was hiding it well, but everyone could see he had fallen in love with that girl.”

“Now that he’s lost contact with her, he’s naturally worried sick.”

“Known each other for many years?” Sirian didn’t understand. “Has he never met her?”

“She’s in another City-state, after all. Besides, Elton is just an ordinary person… He tried to become a Transcendent, but after several attempts, he couldn’t wake up from the Soul Dream.”

Meifuni spoke of this helpless fact, “How can an ordinary person cross the wilderness and reach another City-state?”

“Even if he were to travel with a caravan, it would be full of deadly risks. Moreover, caravan tickets are very expensive; he’d probably have to go bankrupt just to afford one ticket, and there would be no return trip.”

In the fragmented era of City-states, the cost for an ordinary person to travel from one City-state to another was unimaginable.

Therefore, for most people, the City-state they lived in was the entirety of their world. No matter how glorious the so-called White Sun Holy City was, to them, it was merely a rumored existence.

Looking at Elton now, Sirian somewhat understood his personality.

Elton was reclusive and uninteresting, all his energy and emotions were placed on his elusive ‘friend’.

Sirian also lowered his voice and asked in return, “Alright, Meifuni, are you the know-it-all here? How do you know everything?”

“Clerical work is boring, so I have to find my own fun.”

Meifuni blinked and then said, “I also know a lot of gossip about Dailin and Anya, you…”

Sirian waved his hand, “Forget it, forget it. It’s best I don’t know too much about such things.”

“Haha.”

Meifuni chuckled a few times and asked, “Oh, by the way, aren’t you interested in Valerie? I heard her say you were very cold to her.”

“I’m not interested in romance at the moment.”

Sirian cut off the topic decisively.

Time passed bit by bit, the sun set, and dusk enveloped the City-state.

Sirian’s shift tonight had been assigned to someone else. As closing time approached, Sirian was idle, unsure of where to go.

“Work’s over! Want to grab a drink together?” Meifuni invited Sirian.

“If it’s just with you, I don’t mind,” Sirian guessed, “but I’m afraid your friend, Valerie, will also come, won’t she?”

Meifuni’s expression was a little awkward. She said tiredly, “She keeps pestering me to introduce you to her.”

Sirian complained, “I don’t get it. Did she fall in love with me at first sight?”

“I don’t know, she rarely acts like this.”

Meifuni didn’t force him and suggested, “How about this, Sirian? You meet her once and reject her decisively. That way, she won’t bother me, or you, anymore.”

Valerie’s overtures made Sirian uncomfortable, and he couldn’t just outright refuse. Meifuni’s suggestion was excellent; it would solve all the troublesome matters.

Just as Sirian was about to agree, a strong sense of crisis erupted from the bottom of his heart, followed by a bone-chilling coldness.

Not only Sirian noticed this anomaly, but Meifuni’s face also turned pale, her body trembling instinctively.

A cold wind swept through the streets. Before the two could leave, a piercing alarm blared throughout the streets and alleys.

“Source Energy Tide detected, estimated to arrive in three minutes. Citizens are advised to seek immediate shelter.”

A firm female voice came over the broadcast. Moments later, the streets erupted in chaos. Citizens rushed to the nearest buildings for shelter, and terrified screams were incessant.

“Sirian!”

Dailin strode over, followed by Anya and other City Guard Bureau staff.

“The Star Gazers predict that a Source Energy Tide is erupting around Heer City. We need to go and defend the high walls.”

Sirian didn’t hesitate, drawing his boiling sword decisively.

They moved like a gray torrent, swiftly passing through the chaotic crowd, boarding an emergency light rail that would take them to the high walls.

Sirian muttered, “This happened too suddenly.”

“This isn’t the first time,” Dailin said. “It was like this a while ago too; a Source Energy Tide suddenly erupted, catching us off guard.”

“Heer City has fallen into chaos. The Claws of Sin will surely take advantage of the situation, won’t they?” Sirian silently tightened his grip on his sword hilt. “Perhaps this Source Energy Tide was even caused by them.”

“What happens within the City-state is no longer our concern.”

Dailin looked at the streets outside the train window. Humanoid armored units appeared abruptly. They continuously issued warnings, dispersed the crowds, and announced the beginning of Heer City’s curfew.

Sirian had seen these iron giants before. They were creations of the Myriad Machine Concordance Institute. With the assistance of Source Energy Engines and Source Crystals, even mortals could easily control them.

When Sirian ascended the high wall, in addition to the City Guard Bureau staff, Transcendent from other factions had also arrived at the scene.

Even though there was still some time before the sunlight completely vanished, the pitch-black sky was visibly devouring the remaining light, until a pure black cover shrouded Heer City.

Dailin whispered, “It’s coming.”

At the end of the pitch black, gray mist engulfed the land.