Chapter 1

At this very moment, in the Kachin Mountains, deep within a dense forest, before a concealed underground cave...

Lush vegetation and towering mountain rocks overlapped, forming a primeval forest that covered the entire mountain. Small patches of dark green shrubs, like the scales of giant pythons, grew between ancient trees – this dense greenery made the mountain range, located on the border between two countries, look almost like a part of some enormous creature's body.

And in an inconspicuous corner of this dense forest, at the foot of a small hill, one could see a cave hidden in the shadows and rocks.

The cave wasn't large, about four meters high and nearly five meters long, like a perfect square door. It had definitely been artificially widened, and one could even see faint mine lights flickering deep inside, with a smooth and open passage.

In front of the cave was a small, deliberately cleared open space, with two guards holding submachine guns, cautiously watching from behind sandbag fortifications.

The two guards didn't have Asian faces; one was Caucasian, and the other was African. Their guarded postures weren't professional, and even their gun-holding stances were slightly off, making them seem like they were just filling a role.

But guarding the cave entrance didn't require expertise. As long as they stood there with guns in their hands, it was almost foolproof.

The sound of vehicles stopping could be heard not far away. Soon, several people pushing carts loaded with unconscious bodies hurried along the forest path.

Seeing these people, the two guards immediately perked up and nodded to Sukra, who was leading the group.

"You're the last batch to bring offerings."

"Hurry inside, the leader is waiting for you, the ritual is about to begin."

Sukra returned the greeting with a slight bow, without saying much.

The organization's members came from every corner of the world. This time, they simply chose to hold the ritual in the Southeast Asian region, where national power was weakest.

After all, whether it was the 'Hundred-Headed Typhon' ruins in Mycenae, Europa, the 'Nine-Headed Xiangliu' or 'Eight-Headed Yamata no Orochi' ruins in the Eastern Lands of Zhen and Fusang, the 'Thousand-Headed Naga Shesha' palace in the Indian subcontinent, or the 'Feathered Serpent Kukulkan' pyramid within the Federation's jurisdiction, the difficulty of exploration was far greater than that of the 'Seven-Headed Serpent God' ruins located in Shan.

The facts proved that, compared to the above countries, Shan State had not discovered any infiltration or activity by the organization from beginning to end. Even now, as the Void Ritual was about to begin, the entire Shan State remained completely unaware.

The eight people pushing the carts and offerings entered the depths of the cave one after another. The two guards relaxed, chatting and joking in low voices, seemingly talking about some crude jokes, occasionally punctuated by a few vulgar laughs.

The sound of wind rustling through the forest could be faintly heard, but neither of them paid any attention to it. After all, mountain winds were common at this time of year, and their eyes were at least looking at the deliberately cleared open space around them.

If anything were to happen, the two wouldn't miss it – there were no hiding places nearby.

But, precisely at this moment.

A figure, like a raindrop falling from the sky or a fleeting shooting star, jumped up from the slope above them and landed ferociously!

"What..."

Sensing the sudden increase in wind noise above, the white guard instinctively looked up – but in the next instant, accompanied by a rapidly enlarging fist imprint on his nose, he didn't even have time to scream before his vision went black.

And at this time, the black shadow had already landed. Before the white guard could fall, he delivered two more knife-hand strikes, hitting the guard's ear root and temple in succession, with great force. The strikes caused the guard to lose his balance, the world turned upside down, and by the time he realized what was happening, he was already face-to-face with the ground, completely unconscious.

"f—"

The black guard didn't even have time to react. In his perception, there was a gust of wind, and then the guy who had been chatting with him was knocked down by a black shadow. And at the instant their eyes met, the black shadow had already leapt up and pounced on him with full force, kicking out.

In his haste, the black guard didn't even have time to complete the simple actions of 'raising gun' and 'shooting.' He could only roll awkwardly to the side – if he hadn't dodged, the high kick would have struck him in the groin, solar plexus, or throat and chin.

However, even a guard thrown into the role had basic qualities. After the black guard finished rolling, he lay half-prone on the ground, raising the submachine gun in his hand and aiming it at the area in front of him!

—He didn't care if he accidentally injured his companion, he didn't care if he had clearly seen where the black shadow was, as long as the submachine gun fired, no one in that area could survive!

That was the function of the submachine gun: short-range, high-firepower suppression!

But the black shadow was faster – or rather, he had already thought of all the countermeasures before launching the attack.

Whoosh!

A stone the size of a fist flew by with a sharp whistling sound. It accurately hit the fingers of the black guard holding the gun, and the force was so great that it bent and fractured the four fingers except for the thumb. The sudden pain and powerlessness made him want to die, and he subconsciously let go of the gun.

The weakness of a gunman… is that they can only hold a gun!

If it weren't for the need to hold the gun, with the black guard's physical fitness, a slight block with his arm would have rendered the thrown stone useless.

Even though the enemy's gun had been dropped, the black shadow didn't stop at all. He let out a low shout, strode forward directly, then raised his leg and transformed it into an axe, chopping down on the black guard, who was stunned and in pain!

Facing the fierce attack that was crashing down on his skull, the black guard wanted to dodge, but at this moment he was lying half-prone on the ground, with sandbag fortifications in front of him and mountains and rocks behind him. He couldn't move for a moment, so he could only turn his head slightly, trying to avoid it… but that was even worse, because the swift and fierce heel strike hit his ear root and cheek firmly, and his breath became weak and shallow.

The black shadow, which was Su Zhou, was now breathing rapidly, stopping his movements.

He swallowed, glanced warily at the depths of the cave, and then resolutely lowered his body, twisting the necks of the two guards who had already fainted with two cracking sounds.

Since he had made up his mind, there was nothing to hold back.

"Huff… huff… it went smoothly, worthy of my efforts, detouring around half the mountain from the side and climbing to a high place…"

Su Zhou exhaled a long breath, relieving the heat and fatigue brought on by the strenuous exercise.

From the beginning, he had discovered that there were no hiding places in the open space in front of the cave, and two armed guards could cover the entire area with a casual shot.

And his speed, even with his excellent physical fitness and being a psionic, could only reach ten seconds for a hundred meters at full speed, far from the inhuman level of being able to dodge bullets.

So, he immediately changed direction, detouring a large circle through the forest, going up the mountain, and launching a surprise attack from above.

This mysterious organization obviously wanted to remain hidden, and their defense perimeter couldn't be too large or too obvious. Otherwise, even if the Shan State government was sluggish, the neighboring country of Zhen would notice the anomaly.

Judging from the current results, this attack from the sky did catch the other side's guards off guard.