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Chapter 318: Blood-Soaked Conference Hall

The alarm blared loudly on the upper floors of the hotel!

However, this was a hotel, not a company headquarters, so it wasn’t equipped with automatic turrets or poison gas devices everywhere. Through the corridor cameras, many people with automatic weapons could be seen heading toward the conference room. Clearly, in this world’s Jiang City, firearms were no longer exclusive to the military and police.

However, a scene that shocked Chen Xuan occurred.

These reinforcements quickly stormed the conference room, but the cameras inside captured none of them! The doors on both sides remained tightly closed, as if the reinforcements had broken into a completely unrelated hall!

"Can you connect to the perspectives of these people?"

Silence filled the headset.

"Lin Qing?" Chen Xuan’s heart sank. "Hey, can you hear me?"

"...I can hear you, I’m looking for the access node." Lin Qing finally responded as if suddenly awakened from a dream.

"What’s wrong with you?" He realized something was off with his partner.

"These ability users... I’ve fought them in the future..."

"What?" Chen Xuan was taken aback. "They lived until a century later?"

"No... I’m not talking about individuals, but the ability users belonging to the Arbitration Court." Lin Qing murmured, "Did you see the insignia on their arms? That’s the symbol of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism’s Arbitration Court."

It wasn’t hard for Chen Xuan to notice that although these people were dressed in various ways, each had a shield-shaped insignia on their right arm. However, the image was so blurry that beyond the red and black color scheme, he couldn’t make out the pattern on the insignia.

"Are these people very powerful?"

"They are the most elite execution unit of the mechanism." Lin Qing’s voice had a faint hint of fear, "My team once attacked an ability user from the Arbitration Court, and the mission failed. Out of twenty-two team members, only four survived, and I was one of them."

This can’t be...

If he understood correctly, those twenty-two were future warriors, with combat abilities on par with Lin Qing at full strength. With fully equipped firepower, they could have overturned a city, but they were defeated by a single ability user?

"Of course, at that time, the arbitrators had the most advanced technology of the mechanism, and could even equip prosthetics while using abilities. But in any era, they were among the strongest ability users." Lin Qing added, "Chen Xuan, unless absolutely necessary, avoid encountering these people... If they remember you, they’ll find you no matter where you hide."

Just one is that formidable, let alone a group?

There were at least five people with insignias in the conference hall at this moment!

Doesn’t this suggest that the mechanism deployed a full Arbitration Court team for this operation?

The effect was indeed evident.

When Lin Qing switched some of the footage to the cameras on the reinforcements, the battle in the hall was nearing its end—among the thirty-plus attendees, at least half were demons, and half of these demons had turned into corpses with their eyes wide open in death. They couldn’t have imagined that the people they just struck a deal with would wield a butcher’s knife in their territory.

Chen Xuan saw it clearly: in the conference hall observed through the soldiers’ eyes, it was empty, the teacups on the table were still steaming, the chairs were neatly arranged, only the alarm was blaring continuously. They anxiously searched everywhere, including opening windows, drawing curtains, and turning over cabinets... But all in vain.

All the attendees seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Yet the footage on the other side told a completely different story.

"Where are the guards... why haven’t they arrived yet?"

"The doors, doors and windows can’t be opened!"

The scene was in chaos, with tables and chairs toppled over, blood and body fragments scattered everywhere, and the dying wails of people echoed, resembling a desperate arena.

Demons didn’t excel in combat strength as ability users, and coupled with their preference for puppets to serve them, this head-to-head slaughter quickly shattered their fighting spirit.

A middle-aged man clutched his bisected abdomen tightly, glowering at Xiao Canong with a pale face, "Why are you doing this? You’ll never get the remaining artifacts!"

"No, Mr. Zhao, we’ll certainly get them. Some will survive here, and from those lucky ones, we’ll obtain all the information we want." Xiao Canong replied indifferently, "As for why... the answer is simple, what happened in Paris reminded us."

"What do you mean?" The counterpart was astonished.

"I sold you the Angel’s information, and in return, your enemies sought you out and gave you a thrashing, proving once again that demons aren’t all that potent." He wore the same familiar, friendly smile, "If Angels can intimidate you, then why can’t we seize the opportunity? It’s also proven... the mechanism’s power far exceeds yours. Without the contract... you’re nothing but a bunch of incompetents."

As Xiao Canong finished speaking, the last three surviving demons were all subdued, including the elder with the surname Qi, the young demon Shang He, and Zhao Zhilei, whose lower body was completely severed.

The Arbitration Court’s ability users sustained no casualties.

The entire massacre lasted just over ten minutes...

"Look at the ’business partners’ you brought in!" The elder glared at his compatriot through gritted teeth. With one arm dismantled and both knees crushed, he could only lie on the ground, cursing.

"Don’t be like that... wasn’t the decision to expand the business mutually agreed upon by everyone? It’s unfair to blame just one person." Xiao Canong shrugged, "But Mr. Zhao’s introduction has indeed been quite beneficial to the mechanism, and our initial transaction went very smoothly. It’s only right we give a little something in return."

"Let’s do this... we’ll leave just two survivors. Originally, I planned to choose the young master Shang from the Yupan Group and Elder Qi from the Eastern Industry. Now, Mr. Zhao can also be a candidate. Whoever begs me to spare a life first, I’ll save them, picking the first two who speak." He raised two fingers, "I hear that demons are inherently selfish, cowardly, and willing to sell everything for their benefits... I’m curious whether this is true. I hope the three of you can give me an answer."

Not good, Chen Xuan thought to himself. Though he didn’t know what method the mechanism used to completely isolate the conference hall, the members of the Red Lotus Team were still in the adjacent lounge!

Now, if the demon’s subordinates couldn’t find their master, they would undoubtedly turn their attention to the other members of the mechanism. If conflict broke out between the two sides, the Execution Team would surely be in grave danger.

He immediately conveyed his thoughts to Lin Qing, "We need to evacuate as many people from the hotel as possible!"

"I’m on it!" Lin Qing realized this too, as the AI assistant spun rapidly, "This should work—"

— "Emergency notice: A fire has broken out at Cui Ting Building, lockdown canceled, guests are requested to evacuate immediately. Repeat, lockdown canceled, guests are requested to evacuate immediately! Suggested self-evacuation methods to follow..."

The synthesized electronic voice echoed throughout the building.

Immediately, the sprinkler systems in the corridors and all rooms activated.

"Rain" poured down with a splash, catching the reinforcements and security off guard.

Theoretically, it should be raining in the lounge as well, making it impossible for the Execution Team members to stay any longer.

Chen Xuan, while keeping a close eye on the corridor surveillance, noticed that firefighting water was also spraying out from the conference hall where Xiao Canong was located!

Could it be... though these individuals appeared separated from reality, they were still inside the hotel, and all the facilities remained connected to the building.

"Honglian hasn’t come out yet!" Lin Qing couldn’t help but worry at this moment. She couldn’t accept the future leader of the resistance army perishing here, "I’ll go check myself."

"No, you should take this chance to leave the hotel now." Chen Xuan rejected the idea, "They’re likely no longer in the room."

"Not there? They never even left the lounge!"

"That’s the crucial point." He said solemnly, "First, there was the lockdown alarm, now a fire alarm. How could Honglian, while bearing the responsibility of a protector, sit idly by? Trust my judgment."

Lin Qing hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Alright, I’ll retreat. But communication might be interrupted once I’m outside, and we won’t have access to enemy intel. To ensure everything goes smoothly, recall Honglian now."