Chapter 176
The conference room fell silent for a moment, and the other side of the screen was quiet too.
Lana kept her composure and said calmly, “Explain.”
Lyra started with the woman with the braided hair, then explained how Clara transferred to a new host, how Snow woke up even faster than Lyra’s aunt, and how Snow opened her eyes and began to speak.
“Her name is Snow. She’s a local from Sunvale. She lived here before the invasion, died after it, and became a soul.” Lyra explained.
“She told us that all the souls heard an oracle,” Lyra added.
Lana frowned. “An oracle?”
Lyra spoke each word with deliberate clarity: “Our homeland will fall, foreign invaders will breach our borders. The souls who return must forge a wall with their very bodies, stand against the outsiders, and guard the land and rivers of our hom
No one spoke in the conference room.
On the other side of the screen, Lana closed her eyes for a moment.
The young staffer’s hands hovered over the keyboard, all ten fingers frozen in the air.
“An oracle,” Lana repeated, tasting the words. “Who sent it?”
“No idea. Snow doesn’t know either,” Lyra replied.
“What about the core of the Ghost Wall?” Lana asked.
“She said there’s a core, but she has no clue who it is,” Lyra answered.
Lana paused for a few seconds. “So the Ghost Wall didn’t form naturally. Someone, or something, is directing the souls to build it. That matches what Ms. Reed suspected before.”
Lyra nodded.
Lana tapped her fingers on the table twice, then looked up. “Lyra, if you can, keep waking them up tomorrow. Don’t stop.”
“Yeah, we told Snow we’d see her again tomorrow,” Lyra replied.
“Not just her, Lana said, speaking faster. “Wake as many souls as possible. One person may not know, but ten might. Someone must know the oracle’s source, the core’s identity, or the truth behind the invasion.”
“By the way, didn’t she say she saw your aunt standing there when she showed up?” Lana asked.
“Let’s use that as a starting point. Did she only see one person, or were there already a bunch of people there when she arrived? We can trace things back from there,” Lana suggested.
“Like, if she saw ten people standing there when she got there, then we should try to wake up the ten who arrived before her. Maybe they’ll know more,” Lana explained.
“Got it! No problem!” Lyra nodded.
After nodding. Lyra looked at Lana and grinned mischievously. “Lana, are you actually happy right now?”
Lana looked at the smiling face on the screen, her lips twitching for a second before she quickly hid it. “Happy? There’s still
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not enough information, and a million questions left.”
Lyra didn’t buy it for a second. She saw it plain as day, Lana definitely smiled just now.
35 vouch
“Chief Advisor, the reports from Nancy and the other three are done. After the meeting, I’ll have them upload to the internal channel for everyone to reference,” Zoe said, taking over the conversation.
“Sounds good,” Lana said.
“I’ve also uploaded the combat footage from inside the Invasion Zone,” Zoe added.
“Mm.” Lana nodded. “The base analysis team will dig into it, especially Nancy and Toni’s moves. The rest of the soldiers who’ve mastered the Vital Flame should get some real combat experience too. Who knows, maybe we’ll see some new sparks fly.”
“Yes, Chief Advisor. It’s already been arranged,” Zoe replied.
The next morning, just as the sky was starting to lighten.
The roar of helicopter blades filled the air as it touched down on the Sunvale Base’s helipad.
Lyra walked out of the cafeteria, chewing on a warm breakfast roll, while Zoe was already waiting by the edge of the helipad.
Once the helicopter was steady, the door swung open.
Three people in dark blue work uniforms hopped off, nearly losing their balance as they landed.
The one in front had massive dark circles under her eyes, her short hair tousled, and her eyes rimmed with red. She hugged a silver metal case tightly to her chest.
“I’m Emily Clark from the Weapons Research Institute,” the woman said, her voice raspy. “Which one of you is Captain Zoe?”
Zoe stepped forward. “That’s me. Hello, Engineer Clark.”
“Hello, Captain Zoe. Is it okay if we head to the conference room now?” Emily asked.
“Of course. Please, follow me,” Zoe said, leading the way. The three followed, and as they walked, Zoe spotted Lyra and waved her over to join them.
In the conference room, Emily set the metal case down on the table with a loud bang. She quickly spun the combination lock, and the lid popped open.
Inside, five pistols lay quietly in the foam padding, with rows of dark gray bullets lined up beside them.
Zoe glanced at them. They looked pretty much like standard-issue pistols, but the barrels had some special engravings and were a darker color.
Emily pointed at the bullets and spoke rapidly. “Regular brass can’t hold the Vital Flame for long, so we cut special energy grooves into the tips, adjusted the ammo mix, and lined the barrel interiors with top-tier heat-resistant coating.”
She looked up, her exhausted face lit with wild energy. “Toni’s report was a total breakthrough. We worked through the night to put together these prototypes using her theory. Now we need data, tons of live-fire test data!”
Lyra wolfed down her breakfast roll and leaned in for a closer look. “How far can this thing shoot?”
Leon shook his head. “We’re not sure how far it can go in theory. We’ll only know for sure once we test it out in the Wraith mist.
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Chapter 176
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