Chapter 130: Attack
Chapter 130: Attack
Xiao Lin’s two-day leave passed quickly. He received no further notice stating that the leave would continue, which meant that he had to report to Professor Brown as usual. He got up early in the morning and waited for a long time at the inn entrance, but his escort Norn was nowhere to be seen.
As the intern from the Foreign Affairs Department who was responsible for picking Xiao Lin up every day, Norn had never been late, which left Xiao Lin scratching his head. Norn still did not appear after ten or so minutes, so Xiao Lin decided to go to the palace by himself. Brown was a very harsh old man, and Xiao Lin’s pay might even be deducted if he was late. All of a sudden, Norn finally arrived.
“I was going to be late. Why are you only here now?” Xiao Lin complained, somewhat dissatisfied.
Norn acted quite strange that day. He did not even say a single word, even though he was usually very talkative, and his face was lowered slightly, making it difficult to see his expression. Xiao Lin wondered if he had seen things wrongly after noticing that Norn’s clothes were very messy, giving off a rather awkward vibe. He nodded to Xiao Lin and proceeded to set off at once.
Xiao Lin shrugged. He and Norn were not really that close, and since the other party did not want to explain, Xiao Lin naturally did not bother to say anything. Norn’s purpose of picking him up was to provide the necessary documents when entering and leaving the palace area every day. Xiao Lin found it quite troublesome, but the Americans seemed reluctant to hand over such documents to other colleges.
New Washington was already very lively in the early morning, and people were bustling on the clean streets. Even so, Xiao Lin was quite surprised to see that there were a lot of heavily armed people patrolling back and forth, and their equipment looked rather sophisticated. The conspicuous red dragon-eagle logo on their armor belied their identity: they were the dragon-eagle knight regiment, and they stopped people on the street from time to time to commence random interrogations.
Xiao Lin looked pensive throughout their journey, but those dragon-eagle knights did not give him and Norn a hard time because the Norn was leading the way. They went straight through the periphery of the palace grounds and reached the desolate palace. As always, their fingerprints were verified under the watchful gazes of two guards stationed outside.
Xiao Lin then bid farewell to Norn and entered the palace hall. He arrived there early, and only three or four people were present. The others were not there yet, and none of them went to work immediately. They instead chatted with each other during that spare time.
“Have you noticed that the city’s defenses increased significantly today!”
“The Dragon-eagle Knight Regiment seems to have been dispatched.”
“Tsk, tsk. The Americans are probably a little scared after Ivan’s name appeared on that slate.”
“In fact, I think the Americans are making a big deal about nothing. Even if the high priest lives to the present, the possibility that he’d instigate a rebellion is very low. I don’t think the second or even the third generation of local natives will band together, especially when their strength is far behind that of the dragon-eagle knights.”
“The success of a rebellion would definitely be zero, but they might still be able to inflict some damage. The Americans are really terrified of terrorist attacks and the like.”
“Heh, doesn’t matter. We’ll be back home in just over half a month.”
The significance of the name on the stone slab from two days ago was easy to understand with a bit of critical thinking, but the others were similarly unconcerned like Xiao Lin. Whether the high priest was dead or alive, or whether he was instigating a rebellion or trying to wreak havoc, they were all Judge Academy’s headaches and had nothing to do with them.
A new round of work began as soon as everyone else came. Professor Brown, who finally showed up, did not express any opinions on the matter, but verbally asked everyone to speed up their progress.
They had just started their work when a dull explosion suddenly occurred outside the palace. What soon followed was a clamor of voices, hasty footsteps, and the clanging of blades. Another, more violent explosion soon occurred, and everything soon reverted back to calm.
Xiao Lin and the others raised their heads and looked at each other. Their eyes were filled with bewilderment and confusion. That was the deepest part of the palace district and the central area of New Washington, so it was quite impossible for a battle to occur there.
Bang!
The palace gates were pushed open heavily and several of them stepped back instinctually. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the person who broke in: Commander Harry of the dragon-eagle knight regiment.
“Excuse me. What happened?” Lolander asked, but Harry kept quiet and glanced at him sternly.
After Professor Brown came down, Harry nodded at him slightly and said in a deep voice, “Someone tried to break into the palace area just now, but I happened to be nearby.”
Brown frowned in surprise. “They were targeting this place?”
“From the other party’s path of movement, this place is the only possibility.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know. He escaped.”
“The palace area is heavily guarded and you need special documents to get in and out. How could someone just enter like that!”
“I’m still investigating. The other party’s objective is unclear and I’d like to strengthen the security of this palace from today onward. I’m sure you have no objection to it, Professor.”
“I’d have to trouble you to do that, Commander Harry.”
“Don’t worry. No matter who that person is, they’re in New Washington City after all. It’s not somewhere they can just mess around!”
Harry left quickly again, but dozens of other knights that came with him stayed behind. Several of them were stationed in the hall itself. Dressed in sturdy armor, only their expressionless eyes were exposed and they swept their gazes across everyone.
The feeling obviously made Xiao Lin and the others uncomfortable. Chloe protested, feeling that Judge Academy did not trust them and therefore came to monitor them on purpose. She felt insulted, but with things reaching that point, no one in America would heed her protests.
Xiao Lin’s heart was gradually shrouded in a haze and he was feeling unwell. The Americans’ actions were clearly a sign that they suspected the presence of a mole who provided help for the mysterious intruder.
There was a chill in the hall. No one felt interested in chatting anymore with those cold eyes staring at them. In light of that, their progress accelerated tremendously, and everyone had the same thought in mind—finish all the work as soon as possible and leave the city at the soonest available opportunity.
After returning to the inn, Xiao Lin informed Song Junlang of the matter, causing the latter’s expression to turn even more solemn. He did not express any opinions about it, but repeatedly told Xiao Lin to watch himself and refrain from interfering regardless of what happened. After all, they were from Dawn Academy, and New Washington’s affairs had nothing to do with them.
Life returned to peace and calm again in the next few days. The mysterious man who broke into the palace disappeared and never reappeared again. No one knew if the other party had left New Washington or was simply laying low.
Xiao Lin’s routine had not changed much either. He worked for Professor Brown during the day and trained at the inn at night. Once he could do a higher number of push-ups in the gravitational environment, he planned on trying night runs.
Unfortunately, he was quickly caught by the guards barely seconds after leaving the inn. Once he went through some troublesome procedures and had his identity confirmed, they proceeded to release him. He then learnt of some unexpected news from Department Head Song.
New Washington was officially going to implement a curfew from that week onward!