As soon as he set foot on the land of L Country, Ji Chenjiao felt a familiarity hidden deep within his soul. He was born here and had briefly possessed a mother’s love. Perhaps there was always a subconscious force that wanted to use the warmth of his childhood to keep him here.

Now, that familiarity was even stronger.

He had seen this magnificent entertainment palace many times in the footage Ling Lie brought back. It stood in this war-torn nation, where laughter and opulence seemed like a joke floating in the air.

He had thought that one day he would stand here and see the sculpture belonging to his mother that Ling Lie had mentioned, but he hadn’t expected it to come so soon.

Because of the sudden turmoil, the carnival had stopped opening to the public. The palaces at the foot of the mountain had no guests, replaced by groups of heavily armed mercenaries. This made the carnival appear even more absurd; what they were guarding seemed like a fragile crystal music box that shouldn’t exist here.

But since entering the carnival, Su Yi seemed much more at ease, as if no danger would be encountered once they were here.

“Officer Ji, you rest here first. I’ll go ask the police what exactly is happening.” Su Yi took Ji Chenjiao and the other two to the closed hotel.

Ji Chenjiao said, “I heard there’s a ski resort in this carnival?”

Su Yi raised an eyebrow. “Correct. That is Mr. Wonder’s residence, sometimes open to guests as well.”

Ji Chenjiao looked at him but didn’t speak for the moment.

Su Yi said, “Officer Ji, you want to go up and see?”

Ji Chenjiao: “If you allow it.”

Su Yi laughed heartily. “No problem. But I must ask you to stay here for now; I have some matters to attend to.”

“Alright.”

After Su Yi left the hotel with his men, Ji Chenjiao immediately tried searching for a signal, but the signal here was cut off even more completely. Ji Chenjiao instantly had a very bad feeling. Salingauke City was “Jasmine Tea’s” core controlled area; how exactly did “Wang Ting” launch an attack here?

What conspiracy did “Jasmine Tea” have?

After checking every corner of the room, Xiao Ling and A’Xun found no listening devices but frowned and said, “Strange, we shouldn’t be unable to find a signal here.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “Unless they deliberately cut off our contact with the outside world.”

A’Xun’s alarm bells rang. “What does ‘Jasmine Tea’ want to do?”

Ji Chenjiao folded his hands against his chin. The situation in L Country was complex. Multiple forces colluded with and plotted against each other; every side attempted to gain benefits from the Special Action Team’s operation to capture “Black Peacock.”

Ji Chenjiao stood up. “We can’t sit and wait for death. Split up. I’m going to watch Su Yi.”

Mercenaries guarded outside the hotel. When Ji Chenjiao and the other two appeared at the hotel entrance, they looked over but had no intention of stopping them.

Just then, an explosion suddenly came from the distance. In the direction of the city center, a thick plume of smoke rose, and the earth seemed to tremble.

The mercenaries cursed loudly. Ji Chenjiao took advantage of the chaos to leave their field of vision.

The gunfire in the air became more urgent, seemingly heading toward the carnival. The carnival’s main gate opened again. Hiding behind a majestic column, Ji Chenjiao looked toward the gate and saw four modified off-road vehicles drive in.

Who were they?

The cars drove straight into the underground garage and disappeared from view.

Ji Chenjiao was about to turn around when laughter suddenly came from behind him. The laughter was too relaxed, making his scalp tingle instead. He turned and met Su Yi’s eyes. Su Yi had changed clothes, washed his face, and wiped his hair; he didn’t look as disheveled as when they met at the mine.

“Officer Ji, why are you here? Didn’t I ask you to rest in the hotel?”

Ji Chenjiao deliberately shook his phone. “I came out to find a signal.”

“Oh?”

“No signal in the room. I need to contact headquarters.”

Su Yi narrowed his eyes. “Then did you get through?”

Ji Chenjiao put away his phone. “No signal here either.”

“Sorry, ‘Wang Ting’ destroyed our communication equipment,” Su Yi said. “Workers are rushing to repair it. I also want to contact the police quickly.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “Who were the people who just came in?”

Su Yi’s look was strange. “I’ll arrange for you to meet in a while.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “Right here?”

Su Yi: “Where would Officer Ji like?”

Ji Chenjiao looked toward the mountain and smiled. “Since I’m here, I want to see what the ski resort actually looks like.”

Su Yi was silent for a moment, a faint smile curling his lips. “Alright, then in the words of your country—since you’re already here.”

The elaborate mountain gate opened, and the car wound its way up. Although this was a mountain forest, the smoke from the distance seemed to have drifted over; there was a burning smell in the air.

Ji Chenjiao observed his surroundings in detail until a huge sculpture loomed in the forest sea.

“That is the sculpture Mr. Wonder built for the goddess in his heart, the Statue of Alice.” Su Yi had the driver stop the car. “Captain Ji, motor vehicles aren’t allowed ahead. Let’s walk.”

Ji Chenjiao got out of the car, his gaze unable to leave the sculpture. It was magnificent and pure, overlooking the vast forest with a calm demeanor.

“The ski resort is over there.” Su Yi pointed behind the sculpture, saying regretfully, “But these are special times; we cannot activate the snow-making equipment.”

Ji Chenjiao continued to gaze at the sculpture, the surrounding sounds suddenly becoming distant.

---

L Country Police Headquarters Command Center. Asak was raging madly. “Why is there trouble in Salingauke City too! How did ‘Wang Ting’ fight their way there? Is ‘Jasmine Tea’ doing their job or not? Get me Su Yi immediately!”

The command center was already a mess. The deputy was covered in cold sweat. “Sir, communications are cut. We can’t reach them at all!”

“Useless! All useless!” Asak paced rapidly in the room, throwing documents like snowflakes, then asked, “What about the Tianma Mountains? Have Shen Xun’s people gone over?”

The subordinate stammered, “Search and rescue is underway. Casualties for us and ‘Wang Ting’ are heavy. Among the bodies found on site, not a single one from ‘Floating Light’ has been discovered yet.”

“I asked you where Shen Xun’s people went!”

“No, don’t know!”

Asak grew even more irritable. “Gather the police force. Capture all ‘Floating Light’ people and bring them back to me!”

“But… Mr. Asak, our goal isn’t to catch ‘Floating Light’!”

“But Shen Xun’s goal is ‘Floating Light.’ If ‘Black Peacock’ ends up in our hands, guess whether Shen Xun will help us do some work in exchange for ‘Black Peacock’?”

---

Communications were intermittent. Shen Xun was also very anxious. The Tianma forest bordered L Country. The L Country police had been utterly defeated in the Tianma forest. What exactly the situation was with “Wang Ting” couldn’t be clarified in a short time. They couldn’t let “Black Peacock” leave. The two teams from earlier had already arrived at the border, but if “Black Peacock” really wanted to go, without L Country police support, it would be hard for them to stall him.

Ling Lie and Zhao Fan had just applied to enter the Tianma forest to track from the explosion site. This was a very dangerous mission, but it was probably the only way to intercept “Black Peacock.”

Now, the signal from Ling Lie’s group had disappeared. Shen Xun tried contacting Ji Chenjiao, but the signal was still cut off.

Thick smoke billowed in the Tianma forest; flames were everywhere. The closer to the explosion center, the more flames there were, and the harder it was to breathe.

Ling Lie saw more than ten pickups burned into empty frames. Severed limbs and charred flesh hung from tree branches, and even the relatively intact bodies were hard to identify. The entrance to the air raid shelter was smashed in, white smoke pouring from the cracks. This place had the most severed limbs, and the trees were destroyed most severely.

Air raid shelter? “Wang Ting’s” lair. Which suicidal gang would blow up their own lair? Was this “Floating Light’s” masterpiece? But why would “Black Peacock” do this?

Offended? Cooperation talks failed? Even if business fails, benevolence remains; “Black Peacock” doing this had only one possibility—he never intended to cooperate with “Wang Ting” from the start, and this mountain forest also had to be blown up.

Strange. What secret was inside this mountain forest? Or perhaps… the explosion was purely to attract police attention?

Ling Lie carefully examined the wreckage outside the shelter. Judging from the tire tracks, the people leaving here went east.

At this moment, noisy sounds came from the team channel. Ling Lie pieced together Zhao Fan’s words—L Country police were ignoring “Wang Ting” now and had sent a large number of troops, looking like they wanted to snatch the kill from them.

“Fuck!” Ling Lie cursed, hesitating no more. He quickly jumped onto the off-road vehicle and chased east.

The Tianma forest was huge. The police Asak sent were crashing around like headless flies; it was almost impossible for them to find “Black Peacock’s” trail. But this saved Ling Lie effort. The places they searched were places “Black Peacock” couldn’t go, so the scope for interception narrowed further.

Relying on communicators that didn’t work half the time, Ling Lie and Zhao Fan’s two teams created a relative dead angle in the northeast corner of the Tianma forest. The other two Special Action Team groups were also rapidly approaching this area.

If “Black Peacock” hadn’t left the country yet, he was extremely likely hiding in this zone!

The wind seemed to quiet down. Ling Lie stopped the car and turned off the engine, closing his eyes to listen to the extremely subtle noises in the forest. Suddenly, the sound of vegetation being trampled came from the ten o’clock direction!

He signaled to A’Chang. The two left the car one after another. There were too many dead branches and rotten leaves in the forest; no matter how light their movements, silence was impossible. Ling Lie raised his index finger and pointed up. A’Chang understood immediately.

The two quickly climbed trees, agile as leopards.

The view from the trees was better, and these tall primeval trees provided the key tool for “monkey swinging”—vines.

Ling Lie grabbed a vine and flew forward like lightning, lightly grabbing another vine just as he was about to swing back.

It wasn’t silent, but compared to the sound of boots on dead branches, this noise of breaking through the air was more like the movement of the forest itself.

Ling Lie crouched steadily on a branch and saw footprints below. “Floating Light” people were indeed here. Four, five… at least five people.

Another swish of a vine came from the forest; A’Chang had gone in another direction. Ling Lie held his breath, judging “Floating Light’s” position. Now he occupied the high ground. Although Zhao Fan and the others hadn’t arrived yet, he and A’Chang weren’t without a chance of winning.

Aiming for the two o’clock direction, Ling Lie grabbed a vine and swung away. After several hand-offs, he landed on a treetop.

Target sighted!

Two hundred meters away, five people in combat formation surrounded a tall, thin man in the center. He couldn’t see the man’s front, but that person was likely “Black Peacock” Yan Xi!

Ling Lie slowly raised his gun, judging A’Chang’s position from the sound of vines. But suddenly, his pupils constricted. Wrong!

Vines cut through the air, but why did he hear the sound of two vines crossing?

There’s someone else!

Suddenly, an imperceptible movement came from diagonally above a nearby tree, like a sparrow shaking its wings.

But that was definitely not a sparrow!

Ling Lie slowly raised his head, looking toward the source of the movement, and unexpectedly collided with a pair of eyes full of killing intent.

Ling Lie’s eyes widened. He leaped from the branch quickly. In that instant, a bright dagger flew from that person’s hand, nailing into the spot where he had just stood!

Escaping disaster, Ling Lie grabbed a vine and flew to a neighboring tree. That person also leaped over, pouncing on Ling Lie like a giant spider. Standing on a thick branch, the moment the man rushed over, Ling Lie leaned back as if falling from the tree!

The man couldn’t brake. Just as his toes touched the branch, Ling Lie curled his abdomen around the branch, actually stopping his fall. He leaped up in mid-air, straddled the attacker’s chest, and stabbed down.

But the man reacted extremely fast too, turning his face to the right and slamming into Ling Lie with all his strength. It was hard to stabilize on the tree. Ling Lie was knocked away, nearly falling. Seeing the opportunity, the man threw a heavy punch at Ling Lie. Ling Lie leaped to dodge. As he slipped, he grabbed a vine, used the swing to wrap his legs around the man’s neck, and slammed him hard against the main trunk.

This kick had immense force. With a crisp crack, the man’s neck tilted to one side at an unnatural angle. His body gradually tilted and crashed down from the tree.

Ling Lie wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, scanning the canopy vigilantly.

Now he and A’Chang must have been exposed. “Floating Light’s” snipers might be hiding in the leaves.

Dense footsteps came from the three o’clock direction. “Black Peacock” was trying to flee!

Ling Lie immediately shifted positions, using vines to chase. A shadow flashed ahead; looking closely, it was A’Chang. A’Chang was flying very high, obviously looking for high ground. Ling Lie made a prompt decision, letting him cover while he continued to leap through the forest.

Close! “Black Peacock” was right ahead! One kilometer forward was the L Country border. Once they were outside the border, the Special Action Team couldn’t continue the pursuit.

Ling Lie aimed his gun, but suddenly, abrupt gunfire rang out in the forest. “Black Peacock’s” group quickened their pace.

Ling Lie smelled blood, only then feeling a piercing pain in his left arm.

He was hit by a sniper!

He immediately looked at the path of the bullet. Where? Where was the sniper?

If he couldn’t take out the sniper immediately, future actions would be pinned down!

Bang—another gunshot. In the area Ling Lie had locked onto, a person fell straight down from a branch.

A’Chang took out the sniper!

Ling Lie felt reassured. He leaped toward “Black Peacock,” hung on a branch, stabilized, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

“Floating Light” members fell one by one. Finally, two remained protecting “Black Peacock.”

Ling Lie couldn’t avoid those two to aim at “Black Peacock,” and “Black Peacock” had to be taken alive! Seeing them getting closer to the border, ignoring the wound on his left arm, Ling Lie could almost hear the sound of muscle tearing from bone as he swung. He gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and fired three consecutive shots from the last position viable for shooting. The last bullet hit “Black Peacock’s” right knee.

“Black Peacock” stumbled and fell. Ling Lie couldn’t hold on anymore; the pain from the torn muscle in his left arm made him grit his teeth.

Whooshing wind came from behind; A’Chang, having finished his sniper cover mission, arrived. Ling Lie told him to ignore him and secure “Black Peacock” immediately.

A’Chang dared not delay and leaped toward the border. At this time, Zhao Fan and Xiao Hui rendezvoused with the other two teams, cutting off “Floating Light’s” exit route.

When Ling Lie came down from the tree, his arm had no strength. He fell halfway down and twisted his ankle.

“Hiss—” He cursed and called A’Chang on the team channel.

Zhao Fan’s voice came through. “We got him!”

Ling Lie was instantly invigorated. The pain in his arm and leg seemed imperceptible for a moment as he limped forward.

Seeing him like this, Zhao Fan immediately checked his injuries. Ling Lie slapped him away and walked toward “Black Peacock.”

“Black Peacock” was wearing jungle camouflage. The gunshot wound to his knee prevented him from standing. When Ling Lie approached, he raised his head and looked at Ling Lie.

The moment their eyes met, Ling Lie felt drained of strength and took two steps back.

Zhao Fan supported him. “What’s wrong?”

Tinnitus struck Ling Lie again, sounding like countless people scratching a blackboard with their fingernails. He stared at “Black Peacock” and shook his head. “He’s not Yan Xi.”

Hearing this, “Black Peacock” gently curved his lips and said in E Country language, “Correct, I am not. You caught the wrong person.”

---

Asak was hell-bent on capturing everyone from “Floating Light” to use as leverage for the next step of cooperation with Shen Xun. But wave after wave of L Country police rushed into the Tianma Mountains, finding only the blasted and charred bodies of their compatriots and “Wang Ting” members.

When communications were briefly restored, Zhao Fan reported the specific location to Shen Xun. Shen Xun immediately contacted the L Country police, demanding they bring the people out.

The fact that “Black Peacock” wasn’t Yan Xi was very fishy. Ling Lie saw at a glance that he wasn’t, and he didn’t continue to pretend. But why was there a fake “Black Peacock” here? Could it be that “Black Peacock” never entered the country at all? Was the Special Action Team played from beginning to end?

Shen Xun shook his head. “Black Peacock” had indeed entered; the initial intelligence wasn’t wrong. But “Black Peacock” had long since left the Tianma forest, perhaps not even in the Weimannu region anymore.

Where could he be?

Shen Xun didn’t tell Asak about the fake “Black Peacock.” Asak seemed very dejected. Now it was great; lacking skill meant losing bargaining chips. But things being as they were, Asak had to do as Shen Xun said and bring the injured Special Action Team members back from the border.

Lying in the ambulance, although Ling Lie’s tinnitus had eased, it still buzzed from time to time. This feeling was more unbearable than the gunshot wound on his arm, like someone was working on his eardrums with a drill.

The gunshot wound was treated quickly; the bullet had grazed the flesh without damaging blood vessels. The leg injury was a bit troublesome; bone injuries took a hundred days to heal. Although he could hop around, he had lost combat capability.

If they had really caught “Black Peacock,” these injuries wouldn’t matter. But now the situation was even more out of control. They caught a fake “Black Peacock.” What about the follow-up operations? A lame God of War?

Ling Lie was irritable inside, and being unable to contact Ji Chenjiao made him even more irritable. He smashed his phone on the camp bed, but Shen Xun called at this moment, demanding he interrogate the fake “Black Peacock.”

The fake “Black Peacock” only spoke E Country language; only Ling Lie among the team members could communicate with him.

They had arrived at the southern edge of the Tianma forest, where the L Country police had set up a temporary command post. The fake “Black Peacock” was detained there. when Ling Lie hopped into the room, the man looked at Ling Lie’s leg and chuckled softly.

Ling Lie kicked a chair over and sat down. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be laughing right now.”

The fake “Black Peacock’s” smile faded as he looked at Ling Lie thoughtfully.

Ling Lie spun a gun, the muzzle pointing at the fake “Black Peacock” from time to time. “There were seven of you hiding in the woods. Four died, two were seriously injured. Only you got off with a bad knee. Do you know why?”

The fake “Black Peacock” didn’t speak. Those light brown eyes proved he was a counterfeit.

“Because I’m an idiot who thought you were ‘Black Peacock,’ my old friend Yan Xi.” Ling Lie tsked, propping his injured leg on the table. “I advise you not to provoke me. I’m in a very bad mood right now. If you try to fool me, don’t blame me for getting violent and blowing your head off.”

“Anyway, you’re a fake. A fake is useless to me.”

The fake “Black Peacock” frowned, seemingly analyzing the truth of Ling Lie’s words.

Ling Lie waited a while, then asked, “What is your goal? Why blow up ‘Wang Ting’s’ people?”

The fake “Black Peacock” remained silent.

Ling Lie suddenly clicked the safety off. “I’m not joking with you.”

The fake “Black Peacock” swallowed, finally showing a trace of panic in his eyes. “I, I don’t know. I was just executing orders from above.”

“What orders?”

“Come to L Country as ‘Black Peacock’ and trade with ‘Wang Ting,’ the controller of the Weimannu region.”

Ling Lie shook the gun. “You’re still not telling the truth, friend. Does your ‘Floating Light’ blow up business partners the moment there’s a disagreement?”

The fake “Black Peacock” said, “The mission I received was to create chaos in the Tianma Mountains.”

“Create chaos? Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have the clearance to know.”

Ling Lie thought for a moment, then asked, “What about the cooperation between ‘Floating Light’ and ‘Wang Ting’? ‘Wang Ting’ wants to make L Country a drug production and transit hub for this region, so they sought cooperation with ‘Floating Light.’ This has to be true, right?”

The fake “Black Peacock” said, “But why would we cooperate with a small gang like ‘Wang Ting’? We just used the cooperation with ‘Wang Ting’ to find an opportunity to enter L Country.”

Ling Lie asked again, “What do you want this opportunity for?”

The fake “Black Peacock” shook his head again. “I don’t know. My superior asked me to play ‘Black Peacock’ and negotiate business with ‘Wang Ting.’ My mission is complete.”

Ling Lie continued playing with the gun.

The fake “Black Peacock” added, “By the way, I can tell you a detail I observed. ‘Wang Ting’ didn’t seem sincere about cooperating with us either, because the person they sent was a traitor from ‘Jasmine Tea.'”

Ling Lie thought of a name. “Shu Tong?”

“Exactly. He is already dead.”

Ling Lie asked again, “Where is the real ‘Black Peacock’?”

The fake “Black Peacock” remained silent.

The gun muzzle pressed against the fake “Black Peacock’s” temple. More than ten seconds later, the fake “Black Peacock” smiled. “I can only say, Mr. ‘Black Peacock’ is still in L Country.”

---

Alice Crown Carnival Ski Resort. Su Yi said to Ji Chenjiao, “Officer Ji, I want to formally introduce a guest to you.”

Ji Chenjiao looked toward the shadows of the main gate. A figure went from blurry to clear. The moment he saw the person’s face clearly, he felt the blood in his entire body freeze.