Reborn as a lotus, she initially refuses to hand it over to the state.

The temporary outpost was deathly silent; everyone in the command vehicle stared blankly at the screen.

The images that were being transmitted in real time were now just a jarring static screen, and intermittent electrical noise could be heard from the communication channel.

【Cheying-1 goes missing】

【Cangying-2 goes missing】

[Cheerwing-3 signal interrupted]

The detector fell from Gu Yan's hand to the ground. His face was deathly pale, and his throat was dry: "All...all wiped out?"

No one answered, because everyone had seen it. Those three fireballs in the sky. It wasn't a plane crash; it had been violently destroyed.

An air combat task force composed of elite soldiers, tasked with high-risk decapitation missions, didn't even have a chance to evacuate.

Ten seconds or so.

In just over ten seconds, the entire army was wiped out. Su Wan felt a chill run down her spine, and her fingers clenched involuntarily.

The scene from just now was still lingering in her mind: the enormous roots bursting forth from the depths of the thick fog.

Piercing through steel and tearing apart helicopters, it didn't resemble a plant at all, but rather a monster from some mythology.

"team leader…"

Su Wan's voice was somewhat hoarse: "What exactly is it?"

Lu Cang didn't speak, but stared intently at the black screen, his hand gripping the communicator, the veins bulging.

His face was frighteningly grim; this was the first time he had ever truly felt a sense of powerlessness. He could suppress a third-tier white tiger, and he could slaughter a second-tier beast tide.

But that thing was unharmed by missiles, it could cause mental shocks, hunt from extremely long distances, and even launch attacks from underground, accurately locking onto targets thousands of meters in the air.

This ability has completely surpassed the scope of ordinary mythical beasts.

It wasn't a ferocious beast, but a natural disaster—a true catastrophe of life.

Lu Cang took a deep breath and suddenly cursed under his breath, "Damn it."

Everyone in the car instinctively looked at him, because they knew that the bureau chief rarely swore.

Unless things have become extremely serious. Lu Cang looked up, gazing into the depths of Black Dragon Mountain.

The seven-colored spiritual light still surged there, and the thick fog obscured the sky, as if some ancient being was entrenched there, coldly looking down on the entire mountain range.

Lu Cang's face was grim as he said, "Withdraw."

Gu Yan was stunned: "Withdraw?"

Lu Cang: "If we don't retreat, we'll just die. The Eagle Squad has already proven that conventional firepower is meaningless. Continuing to get closer will only increase casualties. From now on, Black Dragon Mountain is completely sealed off, with the area expanded by fifty kilometers. All residents are to be forcibly evacuated, traffic is prohibited, and signal control is in place. No one is allowed to enter."

Su Wan's pupils contracted: "Fifty kilometers?"

This is almost a wartime-level lockdown. Lu Cang turned to look at her: "You think it's not enough? If that thing leaves the mountain, the entire Linjiang City won't last a single night."

One sentence sent chills down everyone's spines, and Gu Yan couldn't help but swallow hard: "What about headquarters?"

Lu Cang paused for a moment, picked up the satellite phone, and said in a low voice: "Report to headquarters, the A-level incident has been upgraded to an S-level response. Black Dragon Mountain has been confirmed to have a fourth-order disaster-level life form that resembles a lotus plant. Request national-level supernatural support and name this anomaly: Azure Lotus."

As he spoke, his gaze returned to the churning fog, his expression complex, for he had suddenly realized something.

From beginning to end, that thing never left the lake on its own.

They didn't even pursue them, acting as if they were a disturbed entity. They simply casually slapped the trespassers to death.

If it had launched a counterattack earlier, it wouldn't just be the Eagle Squad that's dead now, but the entire Ninth Intent.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, at the headquarters of the Ninth Bureau.

Deep within a seemingly ordinary but heavily guarded building, three underground floors house the highest-level conference center.

A piercing alarm suddenly sounded, and red lights flashed instantly.

[Level A Abnormal Event Escalated]

[Request an S-level response]

Location: Heilong Mountain, Lingnan

Code Name: Azure Lotus

The staff on duty were initially a bit tired, but when they saw the words "Tier 4 Disaster-level Life Form," they suddenly stood up.

"Quickly, notify the director to activate Level 1 meeting privileges."

The entire headquarters instantly erupted in excitement. A large number of staff members in black uniforms rushed around, and all communication lines were switched to encrypted channels. Three minutes later...

In the underground conference room, a huge holographic screen lit up, displaying images transmitted from Heilong Mountain.

A seven-colored aura covered the mountains and forests, a thick fog obscured the sky and the sun, and there was that scene that silenced everyone: three armed helicopters were blown apart from the sky by a giant root.

The conference room was eerily quiet; no one spoke, because everyone realized that this was no ordinary anomaly.

Rather, it was an event that could influence the fate of the nation. In the main seat, an elderly man in a gray Zhongshan suit put down some documents.

The old man was about sixty years old with gray hair. His name was Zhou Zhenshan. He was the director of the Ninth Bureau and one of the strongest superhumans in Kyushu at the public level.

He was at the peak of the third tier, and it was said he was only one step away from the fourth tier. Staring at the thick fog on the screen, he asked, "Confirmed?"

The intelligence chief said in a deep voice, "Lu Cang, the director of the Ninth Bureau of Linjiang City, personally confirmed that the psionic detection exceeded the equipment's limits."

"The target possesses super-range mental suppression, long-range hunting, and high-level spiritual domain abilities, and can withstand air-to-ground missile attacks head-on without injury. Danger rating is at least level four."

The conference room fell silent. Everyone gasped in shock. This was the first time since the revival of spiritual energy that a wild, disaster-level life form had been discovered in the country.

A military representative said in a deep voice, "I suggest an immediate and devastating strike. Deploy strategic forces and send missiles to cover Black Dragon Mountain, eliminating the target completely before it leaves the mountain."

The other person immediately retorted, "What if we fail? You want to provoke a catastrophic life form? Besides, Black Dragon Mountain is close to Linjiang. If it goes berserk, how many people will die? Are you going to take responsibility?"

A debate immediately erupted in the meeting room, with some advocating for war, others for a blockade and observation, and still others believing that it was necessary to first ascertain whether the other side was hostile.

Just then, Zhou Zhenshan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced all the arguments: "Enough."

The entire conference room fell silent.

Zhou Zhenshan stood up, his eyes fixed on the screen: "Did you notice? From beginning to end, it never left that area?"

Everyone was taken aback.

Zhou Zhenshan continued, "It did not attack the city, did not actively hunt down the surrounding residents, and did not even actively attack humans before being attacked by missiles. The people who died were those who voluntarily entered its territory."

The conference room fell silent. Some people's expressions changed slightly as they carefully observed the situation. It seemed to be true. Zhou Zhenshan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze deep: "Disaster level doesn't necessarily mean hostile. If it really wanted to kill, Lu Cang's team would already be wiped out."

"But now it's just guarding Black Dragon Lake."

The old man paused for a few seconds, then suddenly narrowed his eyes: "Considering that it is a mutated life form of a lotus plant, it also inherits the characteristics of plants and does not like to attack."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression turned somewhat strange. A fourth-tier catastrophe-level life form was guarding the home?

Zhou Zhenshan said, "Play Lu Cang's complete report again."

The scene changes, starting from the initial spiritual energy anomaly, the escape of the third-tier white tiger, the riot of strange beasts, the spiritual energy explosion in Black Dragon Lake, and then the missile attack.

Zhou Zhenshan suddenly pointed to a detail: "Stop."

The technicians immediately stopped.