Divine Oracle [Transmigration] (ORACLE)
At this moment, Xu Xinxin's voice came through the earpiece: "Xiao Li and I have arrived on-site. Yiming, sync the target's location."
Song Si's phone buzzed with vibration. He opened the screen to see a 3D structural diagram of F City Airport transmitted to him, with a red dot rapidly moving from the customs checkpoint toward the exit on the third-floor departure level.
Lin Zheng said, "Local police have been dispatched, but the airport is too crowded to evacuate everyone quickly. Keep your actions low-key and avoid causing too much commotion."
Chu Mingyi glanced at the location map and said, "Xiao Li, lure him to an open area. Xinxin, find a vantage point to control the situation."
In unison, the team responded, "Copy that."
The channel fell silent again, the air thick with tension. Song Si watched Li Yunan's movement direction. About five minutes later, just as their helicopter entered F City airspace, the red dot suddenly vanished.
Li Yunan stood inside the men's restroom, removing all electronic devices from his person and tossing them into the toilet.
Wearing a fisherman's hat and a backpack, dressed in casual travel attire, he stepped out of the stall as if nothing had happened. Pulling the brim of his hat low, he blended into the flow of passengers, abruptly changing direction and striding back toward the customs area.
This was the largest international airport in the country, with surveillance cameras every ten steps and security checkpoints every hundred. But it was exactly 8:00 PM—peak passenger traffic—and the flood of images and facial recognition data being transmitted created an unimaginably massive data stream, causing the computers to lag for several seconds during synchronization.
Yu Yiming sat at his workstation, sipping black coffee strong enough to kill a rat. His pupils reflected thousands of densely packed surveillance windows as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
His calm voice sounded through the channel: "Target became aware of tracking at 12 minutes and 34 seconds. Signal lost in the fifth restroom southwest of the third floor. Surveillance shows 18 people exited the restroom within five minutes of signal loss—14 were clearly photographed, while 4 obscured their faces. Of those four, two have significantly different builds. The remaining two split directions—one headed for the exit, the other toward customs."
"Fifty-fifty odds," Tian Li said, dressed in form-fitting athletic wear with her hair in a high ponytail. She drew a compact dagger from her lower back as she stood near the airport entrance. "I'll bet on the exit."
"Wait," Yu Yiming interjected. "Head to customs. The person going that way disappeared from surveillance three seconds ago. No ordinary person would be that alert."
Tian Li whistled. "Copy that. What's he wearing?"
Yu Yiming replied, "You'll know when you're inside."
The flight to Country A was boarding in twenty minutes. Airport announcements echoed through the terminal, urging passengers to proceed to their gates.
The departure level was lined with transparent one-way floor-to-ceiling windows. During daylight, the waiting area offered panoramic views of the airport. Now, under the cover of night, Li Yunan glanced sideways, catching a faint glimmer of light streaking across the sky—a helicopter.
Judging by its trajectory, it was heading for the rooftop of another departure terminal.
He withdrew his gaze, quickened his pace, and took a slight detour along the blind spots of the surveillance cameras.
The surrounding area buzzed with voices as the airport announcement continued to broadcast: "Flight XXX89 to Country A will soon close its boarding. Passengers who have not yet boarded, please proceed to Gate A34 for check-in and boarding... static..."
The announcement suddenly cut off.
Passengers exchanged puzzled looks and murmuring to their companions, speculating whether the broadcast system had malfunctioned. Moments later, the static noise faded, and a male voice amplified through the speakers echoed across the entire airport.
"Attention all passengers currently on the third floor," the calm male voice announced, "there is a fugitive criminal hiding among you. Male, wearing a black fisherman's hat, approximately 175 cm tall, dressed in a white T-shirt and light blue jeans, carrying a gray backpack. If you encounter anyone matching this description, do not panic or attempt to intervene. Evacuate the area immediately and call 110 to report any relevant information to the police. Thank you."
The announcement was like a bomb, instantly igniting tension on the third floor.
Li Yunan's gaze swept across the surrounding passengers. Dozens of eyes turned toward him. Some whispered among themselves, others retreated cautiously, while a few turned and ran while dialing their phones as they fled.
Yu Yiming's voice crackled over the comms: "Target reacquired. 600 meters ahead at customs. Unusual activity observed among passengers in surveillance footage. Tian Li, Xinxin, move in."
The corner of Li Yunan's mouth twitched unnaturally as he muttered under his breath, "You're the ones escalating this."
No longer avoiding cameras or passengers, he strode openly onto the main path.
A few bold onlookers stared from a distance, only to meet Li Yunan's sweeping gaze. In the next instant, their expressions turned vacant, and they began following him in a daze.
Six hundred meters—just a few minutes' walk. No one dared to stop him. Unhindered, he reached the customs checkpoint while being trailed by dozens of passengers with glazed eyes and sluggish movements. The sight made the alerted customs officers pale. Armed police drew their weapons—
"Let me through customs," Li Yunan commanded, "then seal all entrances to the departure level."
The armed police officer slowly lowered his gun with his expression blank, and saluted before opening the staff passage at customs.
Li Yunan advanced unchallenged, leading his dozens of human shields past customs. As he turned toward the departure gate, a sharp crash shattered the silence—the explosion-proof glass on the right disintegrated into fragments.
Tian Li hadn't used any entrance. She vaulted up from the second floor through the shattered glass and landing squarely in front of Li Yunan. Grinning like a child who'd pulled off a prank, she taunted, "Got you."
Li Yunan glanced at his watch.
Fifteen minutes until takeoff. The cabin door hadn't closed yet.
Gate A34 was five minutes away.
Tian Li steadied her dagger in her left hand and her pistol in her right, aiming unwaveringly at Li Yunan a hundred meters away. The slide clicked as she chambered a round.
"If I die," Li Yunan said, "everyone behind me dies too."
Tian Li puffed her cheeks. "You villains are all the same with your lies." But she didn't fire immediately, waiting instead for instructions through her earpiece.
Li Yunan ignored the handgun in her grip and walked straight toward her. The voice of the Chief Chu came through her earpiece: "What he said is true. Don’t act rashly. Stall him—I’m on my way." Tian Li froze while locking eyes with Li Yunan.
Those eyes had pupils so dark they seemed to absorb all light. The moment their gazes met, Tian Li felt her consciousness slowly being drained away, as if something had seeped into her mind—like puppet strings, gradually taking control of her thoughts.
Her hands began to tremble and the muzzle of her gun slowly turning until it pressed against her own temple.
"Mm—mm!" She forced out two muffled sounds through gritted teeth.
Past customs, without the cover of one-way glass, the space opened into a vast hall. The overhead lights cast a long shadow behind Tian Li.
"Mm—mm—mm!" Her fingers tightened uncontrollably, about to pull the trigger...
"Xinxin, take the shot."
A red laser dot settled on Li Yunan’s left shoulder.
Sniper!
Li Yunan’s expression twisted in alarm as he threw himself to the side, but the bullet was faster and far more relentless. Fired from the rooftop of another departure building, it pierced through his left shoulder in an instant, shattering a nearby water dispenser.
His face contorted in pain as he struggled to rise from the ground, turning to charge toward the hostages. Behind him, Chu Mingyi finally arrived on the scene, scaling the third floor through the spot Tian Li had shattered earlier. Spotting Li Yunan rushing toward the hostages, Chu Mingyi fired a shot that struck his right leg. Then, flanking him from either side with Tian Li, they swiftly cut off Li Yunan’s escape.
"Chu Mingyi..."
Clenching his teeth, Li Yunan tried to seize control of the hostages behind him—only to find the connection severed.
Something stood between him and the hostages now. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reestablish the link with those he had already controlled!
Just a minute ago, the connection had still been intact.
Li Yunan jerked his head up, glaring at Chu Mingyi.
"Haven’t you always wondered how an ordinary person like me became the chief of Third Division?" Chu Mingyi looked at him as he holster his gun before hauling Li Yunan up with one hand and signaling Tian Li to cuff him. "Because I specialize in dealing with flashy superpowers like yours. People who think a little ability makes them invincible? I can take down ten with one hand."
Yu Yiming’s voice crackled through the earpiece: "Chief, that’s a bit of an exaggeration."
Xu Xinxin chimed in: "You don’t get it. The chief’s using verbal deterrence—what people call trash talk!"
Tian Li secured the handcuffs around Li Yunan’s wrists, then considerately pulled out a bandage to wrap around his bleeding shoulder before hoisting him over her shoulder. Li Yunan, pale with pain, rasped out, "You... hid..."
Tian Li accidentally brushed against his wounded ankle, eliciting a scream from him. With a sincere "Sorry," she shifted to carry him horizontally—only to find he had already passed out.
Chu Mingyi said, "Mission complete. Wrap it up. We made a bit of a scene today—Zheng-ge, cleanup’s on you."
Lin Zheng replied, "Copy that. Get back soon."
Standing on the windy rooftop, Song Si listened blankly to the voices in his earpiece.
Just like that... it was over?
Xu Xinxin beside him put away the sniper rifle, wearing an expression that practically screamed "Praise me now," as if he were wagging an invisible tail. "Sisi, how did I do today?"
Song Si glanced in the direction he had fired, seeing only the vast darkness. With his eyesight, forget sniping—he couldn't even make out which opening Tian Li had blown apart.
He gave a thumbs-up. "Impressive."
Xu Xinxin's face flushed instantly.
He turned around and secretly pumped his fist with a silent "Yes!" before tossing the gun aside and rushing over to hug Song Si, and planting a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek. Then, before Song Si could react and smack him, he jumped back a few steps while exclaiming excitedly, "Let's take the helicopter to pick them up!"
Song Si touched his cheek. "..."
Having done nothing, he climbed back into the helicopter.
It seemed like everyone in Third Division was a pilot—Xu Xinxin hummed a tune as he started the helicopter and chattering nonstop about his heroic feats. Song Si couldn't help interrupting him to ask, "What exactly is Chief Chu's superpower?"
Xu Xinxin replied, "The Chief? Oh, he's just a Human-shaped Blocker! Make sure to stay far away from him when you're gaming—he messes with your phone signal."
A Human-shaped Blocker??
What kind of superpower was that?
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