Chapter 122: Murder Before the Heavenly Pillar

A piercing screech of brakes rang out.

Cao Fusheng brought the vehicle to a steady stop at the entrance to Sky Pillar Bridge. Once they crossed it, they would enter Sky Pillar itself.

In truth, the place where they had stopped was already safe. Sky Pillar Bridge lay within the range of the holy light.

The corpse creatures had been firmly held back outside the dazzling white radiance, much like the circle a certain monkey from an old legend had drawn around his master.

“I never imagined… I would stand here again. To come back alive… it feels so good.” Chu Wei stepped out of the vehicle and stared blankly at the familiar Sky Pillar. Tears streamed down her face of their own accord. Perhaps she was thinking of the teammates who had perished. Perhaps she was remembering Shen Dong, who had just burned through the last spark of his life.

Those who were seeing Sky Pillar up close for the first time all fell silent beneath its holy radiance.

For a moment, none of them knew how to express what they were feeling.

Complicated? Bittersweet? Accomplished?

Complicated, certainly. Bittersweet, inevitably. As for accomplishment, anything bought with Shen Dong’s death hardly seemed worth celebrating.

Yet Sky Pillar’s grandeur was undeniable. This structure, rising from earth to sky, was a masterpiece of uncanny craftsmanship—something the humans of the Old Era could never have built.

Directly ahead stood the resplendent Sky Pillar Bridge, adding an even more sacred and mysterious quality to the scene.

But this was no time to admire the wonders before them. Countless rifles at the far end of the bridge were aimed straight at them.

If they made even the slightest hostile move, Cao Fusheng had no doubt they would be shot dead on the spot.

The weapons in those soldiers’ hands were not standard military firearms from the Old Era. They were genuine Sky Pillar technology.

Behind them, the predators continued to roar furiously. They hurled stones and various other objects into the holy light, attempting to attack Cao Fusheng and the others, who had just treated them as though they were nothing.

But the action troops at the end of Sky Pillar Bridge provided excellent cover. They fired at the incoming objects, beams of blue, green, and red light striking them and reducing them to powder in an instant.

Some of the beams even pierced through the corpse horde behind them.

Although the troops had yet to determine whether the people ahead were friends or enemies, there was no question that the predators at the forefront were enemies.

The action troops were governed by strict discipline. Besides, Bian Qiu was here, so no one dared act recklessly. The covering fire had been ordered by the minister himself.

Han Shuqing walked gracefully over to Chu Wei, wiped the tears from her eyes, and gently stroked her cheek.

“Little Wei, it all depends on you now. We’ve done everything we can. Trust us—Fusheng will find a way to save Sky Pillar.”

Chu Wei nodded lightly, then shouted toward the people across the bridge, “I am Chu Wei, captain of First Squad, Division One, Action Troop Group! I have returned, having fulfilled my mission! I request authentication by my comrades in Sky Pillar!”

A commotion rippled through the ranks of the action troops. An ordinary soldier might have been a stranger to the thousands of men in the force, but Chu Wei, captain of First Squad, Division One, was well known to them.

Bian Qiu asked the director of Division One beside him, “Is that woman from your division?”

“Distance makes it difficult to tell, but her figure does resemble Chu Wei. She’s the only person stationed outside who activated her identity badge every day, so the Information Office of the Service Department never marked her as deceased.”

“Have her come over alone and activate her badge. Once her identity is confirmed, we’ll investigate what the others are doing.”

“Understood.”

Lan Bei called out, “Chu Wei? Come over here. Bring your identity badge and come alone!”

Chu Wei turned to look at Cao Fusheng and the others. He smiled faintly and nodded.

For Chu Wei, she had finally come home.

The joy on her face was impossible to hide. After composing herself, she slowly crossed Sky Pillar Bridge.

A sharp crack rang out.

Chu Wei’s body stiffened. She stared at the action troops ahead in disbelief, then fell backward.

“Chu Wei!”

Gao Yi let out a heart-wrenching roar. Ignoring whatever the people ahead intended, he sprinted forward and hurriedly lifted Chu Wei’s head.

By then, Chu Wei was barely breathing. A beam had pierced through the right side of her chest, leaving behind a ghastly hole.

Her bones and internal organs were clearly exposed.

“No! Why did you shoot her?! She’s one of your own! You bastards!”

Gao Yi’s face flushed red. Trembling with fury, he rose and pointed at the action troops, cursing them at the top of his lungs.

Cao Fusheng’s expression turned icy. Everything had happened too suddenly, and even he could not understand why they had fired at Chu Wei.

Han Shuqing was left alone to take Chu Wei into her arms, resting the wounded woman’s head against her chest so she could lie a little more comfortably.

Bai Ye’s figure appeared at the edge of the ruins at some unknown point. Shaking his head with a sigh, he murmured to himself, “People… I think I’m beginning to dislike them. Perhaps being like me isn’t so bad after all…”

Bian Qiu had sensed the killing intent beside him the moment it appeared. However, the shooter was hidden among the people farther back, and he had been unable to stop him immediately. Still, he had deflected the shot that was originally aimed at Chu Wei’s head.

Who could have expected the shooter to act so decisively? When he saw that the first shot had missed, he bit down on something in his mouth. Two or three seconds later, he spat out black blood and died.

Bian Qiu’s deep-set eyes narrowed in thought. Without the slightest hesitation, he twisted off the shooter’s head, then looked toward the people shouting on Sky Pillar Bridge.

“Lan Bei!”

“Here!”

“Send people to bring them inside.”

“Yes!”

“As for the rest of you, get back to your assigned battle stations! Anyone who leaves without authorization will be executed by fire! Lan Bei, come with me. Xiao Li, director of Division Two, will temporarily assume command!”

The action troops fell silent as though facing a natural disaster. No one dared oppose the formidable Minister Qiu. They quickly formed up and moved outward.

After making the necessary arrangements, Bian Qiu turned and headed back into Sky Pillar.

“Minister Tong, prepare for surgery. We have a captain who’s been seriously injured and needs immediate treatment… No, she must be brought back. She undoubtedly carries information of immense importance to us. You’ll have to perform the operation yourself this time. I have another matter that must be reported to the Boss immediately.”

Tong Yueting’s cool voice came from ahead.

“Understood.”

“Don’t move! Put down your weapons and come with us!”

Gao Yi and Han Shuqing instinctively looked toward Cao Fusheng. If he refused to surrender, neither of them would simply submit.

Cao Fusheng gave a slight nod.

Several people carried Chu Wei away on a stretcher, while the others confiscated the weapons Cao Fusheng and his companions were carrying.

There were plenty more of those things in the dimensional space. Giving them up cost them nothing; they were hardly valuable.

Cao Fusheng had witnessed Bian Qiu’s actions just now. It seemed the action troops had not deliberately intended to kill Chu Wei. There was a spy among them.

Was the Northern Kingdom truly that powerful? It had even managed to plant agents within the action troops. It seemed trouble had already begun here.

It had begun the moment Chu Wei was shot.

Cao Fusheng pondered in silence, then thought of the horrifying hole in Chu Wei’s body. Whether she could be saved was still uncertain.

Now that her injuries had been compounded, her life was in grave danger. She truly was a woman beset by calamity.

More importantly, Chu Wei was unconscious. Who would speak for them now?

Entering Sky Pillar was not the end of their journey.

On the contrary, everything had only just begun.