Chapter Seventy-Six: The Inside Story

Some of the young men who had begun to recover now found themselves retching again at the scene before them. Their stomachs emptied of food, they could only dry-heave bitter, yellow bile.

“Damn! Who is that freak?” An old employee frowned as he asked someone nearby.

Beside him stood the leader of a squad from another security firm. The two had worked together often enough to converse easily. The other shook his head. “I don’t know the details, but I heard he’s some kind of supervisor sent by the company that hired us.”

“Supervisor?” The man was displeased. “At a time like this, what use is a supervisor? The mission’s already failed! Shouldn’t they be dispatching a large number of reinforcements from their own company?”

With the current situation, relying solely on the combined strength of our firms—even if every last person was called in—wouldn’t be nearly enough. Honestly, I still can’t believe our five elite security squads were annihilated in a single encounter, with the enemy suffering zero casualties. We couldn’t even injure them, let alone kill one. Most crucially, no one knows who the enemy is, or what they look like.”

“Hm...” The companion shared the same doubts, his tone uncertain. “I heard the enemy might be invisible.”

“Using some kind of invisibility camouflage?” someone guessed.

The companion shook his head. “I don’t know. But from the footage recorded by our team’s body cameras, it doesn’t seem like camouflage. You know how it works: so-called invisibility camouflage relies on reflectors and countless tiny cameras to capture and project the surrounding environment, simulating the background. Even then, a moving person leaves a humanoid outline—it’s not true invisibility. With careful observation, you can spot something.”

“Exactly.”

The companion continued, “But these enemies left no outlines at all. It’s as if they were genuinely invisible—no trace, no shape.”

“Is that even possible? That’s absurd,” the other said.

The companion shrugged. “Who knows? But the facts are plain to see. Our adversaries are either far more advanced technologically, or physically beyond our imagination. Either way, they’re out of our league. If it’s tech... humanity hasn’t reached that level yet. If it’s the latter, then the enemy must be a species entirely different from humans—perhaps one that doesn’t exist on Earth. We know nothing about them, and judging by the outcome, their combat prowess far surpasses ours, or any of our security firms. Do you think we stand a chance?”

“Uh...” The man was stumped. “My friend, you’re always so wise. Compared to us who only rely on brute force, your mind truly is your greatest weapon. So, based on the current situation, do you have any thoughts or advice?”

His praise was met with worry. The companion shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m just as lost as you. From what we know, it’s clear our enemy is unprecedented, beyond our power to resist.

I think the only sensible action now is to immediately halt the mission—whether by breach of contract or negotiation. We must not continue. Even if it means paying penalties, for the sake of our companies, we should withdraw at once.”

The man looked at him in disbelief. “You really think that’s necessary?”

The companion nodded solemnly. “Yes. In fact, before coming here, I’d already studied the available information and promptly advised our CEO to do just that.”

“How did he respond?” He regretted the question as soon as it left his mouth. “Uh... since you’re here, I guess your advice was rejected?”

Contrary to expectation, the companion shook his head. “No. Actually, our CEO agreed with me.”

The man was surprised. “Then why did you bring your team here?”

The companion smiled. “Someone has to handle the aftermath at Kostal. Even if all our staff are dead, we still need to recover their bodies for their families, and search for those missing—even if there’s little hope they survived. We have to try. Besides, we can’t just leave all these weapons and equipment behind—they’re company property.

And I want to find the person who hired our firms, to get some answers. I’m convinced that, given they hired five firms for this job, they knew the enemy was formidable.

I suspect they know exactly who the enemy is. Even...” He suddenly lowered his voice, leaning in close. “What I’m about to say, I’ve told no one—not even my CEO. Keep it to yourself.”

Seeing his companion’s seriousness, the man nodded discreetly. He trusted his friend deeply; his intelligence and leadership were renowned in the industry. The man had served as chief commander in joint operations, saving many lives and reducing losses with his quick thinking. All who knew him respected him.

He heard the man say, “I even suspect our five security firms’ advance teams were deliberately hired as bait.”

The other’s eyes widened. “You mean...”

“I mean we’ve all been played. The people who hired us clearly knew the dangers and the enemy’s strength. Or maybe they weren’t certain, and hired us to test the waters—to see how powerful the enemy really was. In short, we were paid to be cannon fodder.”

“Why do you think that?”

The companion shook his head. “It’s not hard to guess. Even if you didn’t know the company that hired us before, after this, you must have looked them up?”

The man nodded. “They’re backed by a powerful conglomerate, and this is just a subsidiary.”

The companion agreed. “Exactly. Such a vast multinational group—according to the records, they have their own security force, with numbers dozens or even hundreds of times greater than all our firms combined.

They possess far more advanced weapons, superior intelligence networks, and their personnel have seen real combat—most are veterans from special forces. I don’t mean to belittle us; you and I are on par with them individually, but what about the rest of our teams? How can they compare? Any random pick from their company would match us. Why would they need to hire weaker firms like ours?”

The man pursed his lips. “That’s odd—we really have become second-rate companies...”

“It’s true, relatively speaking. Compared to them, we are second-rate,” the companion said. “That alone is enough to question their motives. A company with ample skilled staff and advanced weaponry hires weaker outsiders to do a job they could handle themselves—if not as bait, then what?”

“...”

Seeing his friend’s understanding, he patted his shoulder. “My friend, there are few veterans like us left. Security is a dangerous business—living on the edge. For your sake, and your family’s, stay out of this mess. If your company insists, take a leave—or just resign and join ours.”

The other gave him a grateful look. “I understand. I’ll speak to the boss privately and see how it goes.”

“Oh!” The companion seemed to recall something, grabbing his arm. “I just remembered something important—it might get your boss’s attention.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember Dong Wei?” he asked.

“Of course! How could I forget? If you’re the brightest mind in our field, Dong Wei is the fittest. Why bring him up? Wait—you’re not telling me...”

“Exactly! He was among the first to arrive. Though his body wasn’t found, he disappeared in the battle two days ago!”