Chapter 35: The Second Squad of Hidden Dragons
Li Lin was jolted awake from a deep sleep by the shrill ringing of his phone. Along with the ringtone, a sudden sense of alarm surged from deep within his intuition.
As a highly trained operative of the Special Affairs Bureau, he instantly realized that something was amiss. In a flash, he was wide awake, leaping off the bed in his temporary rental. Grabbing his phone from the bedside table, he dashed toward the window overlooking the street.
“This is Li Lin,” he answered swiftly, sitting by the window and pointing a complex lens device toward the street below. “What’s happening?”
Song Cheng’s voice came through the earpiece, unusually serious. “Do you observe anything on your end?”
Li Lin focused on the lights and shadows refracted through his lens device, stealing a quick glance at his laptop that was automatically monitoring data. Scrolling rapidly through the logs, he replied quickly, “All surveillance data is normal. There was a minor energy fluctuation at 1 a.m.—a small, periodic ‘surge’ typical of the Boundary Zone…”
“Xu Jiali has already set out and should be arriving at your location shortly,” Song Cheng said gravely. “Maintain surveillance of the neighborhood, but don’t step outside even if you notice anything. Report immediately—remember, until Xu Jiali arrives, do not leave the base alone!”
“Ah? Oh, got it!” Li Lin was momentarily stunned but quickly agreed. He couldn’t help but ask, “What’s actually going on?”
“The Boundary Zone is experiencing large-scale temporal and spatial dislocations and resets for unknown reasons, occurring every five to ten minutes.”