High above the Mediterranean Sea, the transport plane flew steadily over the clouds.
The autopilot system emitted a regular, faint hum, like a lullaby.
The cabin lights were dimmed low, with only a few indicator lights emitting a faint green glow.
Tang Rou unbuckled her seatbelt and lazily stretched her long legs, resting her military boots lightly on the empty seat across from her.
She toyed with an old Spanish silver coin in her hand.
The coin flipped nimbly between her slender fingers, reflecting the dim light—a souvenir X had casually tossed to her after returning from the ruins in South America.
“Such a busy man, going from one mission to the next, leaving a girl like me to escort a Divine Artifact all alone…” she murmured to her blurred reflection in the window.
The seat across from her shouldn’t have been empty.
However, after they retrieved the Eye of Ra, The School had issued another mission to her boss, X—the ace of the Operations Department.
Consequently, she was left to bear the task of transporting the Eye of Ra back to The School by herself.
She closed her eyes, preparing to take a short nap amidst the roar before arrival.
The silver coin was held in her palm, its warm texture providing a sense of comfort.
However—
*Rustle, rustle—clatter, clatter!*
A dense, ear-piercing sound, like billions of fingernails scraping against a blackboard mixed with the frantic clashing and rubbing of shells, erupted from outside the plane without warning.
The sound was incredibly piercing, instantly drowning out the roar of the engines.
Immediately after, the entire plane lurched violently to the left.
A massive tremor shook the aircraft, as if it had been struck hard by an invisible giant hand.
Tang Rou woke up instantly.
Her physical instincts were faster than her thoughts.
She grabbed a nearby handle to steady herself, the laziness and smile in her eyes replaced by absolute coolness and sharpness in one-hundredth of a second.
She lunged toward the window.
The once-clean glass was now completely covered by countless Scarabs composed of particles of light and ancient sand!
They hissed, their mouthparts opening and closing as they frantically gnawed at the plane’s hard skin.
A golden tide of insects surged over the wings.
The left engine had already caught fire and exploded, trailing a long plume of black smoke!
“Damn it! Where did these Divine Parasites come from?” she cursed under her breath, instantly assessing the situation.
This wasn’t an accident; it was a calamity drawn by the Divine Artifact.
But the Divine Artifact had already been isolated in the storage box and entered a sealed state.
Why was this still happening?
There was no time to think.
She pounced back to her seat like a leopard and grabbed the encrypted communication headset.
Her speaking speed was rapid yet clear, without a hint of trembling.
“Command Center! Command Center! This is ‘Messenger’! The flight has encountered a high-intensity divine creature attack at 32°30′ N, 30°30′ E! I repeat, coordinates 32-30 N, 030-30 E, under attack! Requesting—”
*Sizzle—! Bang!*
A burst of static, sharp enough to pierce an eardrum, suddenly exploded.
The communication channel was instantly flooded with indescribable noise before falling into a dead silence. Even the red light of the emergency channel went out.
It wasn’t just a cut; it was more like a powerful interference on a conceptual level, forcibly erasing all signals in this airspace!
True isolation!
A chill crawled up Tang Rou’s spine, but she took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed all her chaotic emotions.
Her brain began to function like a highly efficient computer.
She pulled her SIG P320 XCompact from her thigh holster with a backhand motion.
*Click.*
She chambered a round, her gaze fixed on the force field box that was vibrating violently, its surface runes flickering like a pulse.
‘I can’t stay here like a sitting duck!’
The Eye of Ra, which should have been in a dormant state, was now resonating strongly with its Creation and was on the verge of losing control!
Deciding instantly, she pointed her gun at the cabin door to stay alert while her other hand entered a long, complex emergency override code on the touchscreen side of the force field box.
This was a highest-clearance protocol known only to her and X, meant for desperate situations.
The runic light flickered sharply a few times before dimming.
A soft *click* came from the box as the lid popped open.
She quickly pulled out a specialized storage cloth woven from Mithril threads, lined with Ice Silkworm Silk and inscribed with multiple isolation runes.
With practiced movements, she wrapped it layer by layer, finally stuffing it into a hidden pocket of her multi-layered protective runic tactical belt.
The moment she completed these actions—
*Boom!*
An explosion far more violent than the gnawing of the Scarabs erupted from the rear of the cabin!
Fire and thick smoke instantly engulfed the back half of the cabin.
A heatwave rushed toward her.
This was definitely not caused by the Scarabs; it was clearly an explosion from some modern weapon.
As expected, it wasn’t just gods.
Other… people had also infiltrated?!
There was no time for her to think.
The structure of the plane was emitting bone-chilling groans.
A sudden sensation of weightlessness hit as the aircraft began a spiraling descent.
The red emergency lights cast a glow through the thick smoke like a blood mist.
‘Jump!’
That was the only word left in Tang Rou’s mind.
She aimed at a relatively weak spot on the cabin wall, identified from her memory of her structural diagrams, and pulled the trigger repeatedly!
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Three specialized .357 SIG armor-piercing rounds tore through the reinforced metal at close range, blasting open a hole large enough for a person to pass through.
Outside was the cold night sky, the violent airflow, and the boundless, pitch-black Mediterranean Sea below.
She took one last look at the burning, falling cabin.
Her eyes reflected complexity for a split second before being replaced by resolve.
She leaped out of the hole!
“Hey, Senior, are the classes at The School difficult?”
Li Hao racked his brain to come up with a conversation starter for Mu Chengfeng.
In Dorm 126, the three of them looked at one another after finishing breakfast, the air thick with awkwardness.
This situation had persisted for several minutes.
After returning to the dorm from breakfast, Mu Chengfeng had been staring at them with a stern face.
They were completely bewildered and could only look back at him, unsure of what to do.
No one spoke until Li Hao finally couldn’t help but speak up.
“That depends on which department you plan to join,” Mu Chengfeng replied.
Departments?
Lin Yu remembered Christina mentioning job assignments.
“The School mainly has two departments for students to join after graduation: the Research Division and the Operations Department. Just like the names suggest, the Research Division is primarily responsible for deciphering, researching, and experimenting on ancient texts, relics, gods, and equipment. The Operations Department handles events related to gods.”
“I heard from Professor Corso that your Divine Sense is ‘Creation,'” Mu Chengfeng paused.
“From the looks of it, you’re very suited for the Research Division. Both the Equipment Department and the Research Division will probably be fighting over you.”
“If your goal is to enter the Equipment Department, your course selection must include *Basic Materials Science* and *Mechanics*.”
Li Hao nodded, seemingly understanding.
“Based on Professor Corso’s description of you, your plans should both lean toward the Research Division. I’m already an intern student in the Operations Department, so I might not be able to help you much with course selection. Additionally, the graduation standard for The School is to complete all credits and participate in at least three B-rank Missions.”
“Aren’t missions the responsibility of the Operations Department?”
Li Hao asked, confused.
“No. The Operations Department only carries them out. That still requires help from the Research Division. The impact of intelligence and equipment on the success of a mission is no less than that of the people participating in it.”
Mu Chengfeng paused.
“Furthermore, Research Division personnel also need to go out on missions, such as exploring ruins or conducting experiments. If the intelligence is incorrect or there’s an issue with the equipment, they might need to move with members of the Operations Department. But there’s no need to worry. Most missions are similar to archaeology. The slightly more dangerous ones are just for clearing out ‘Ghosts’…”
“Ghosts? There are even ghosts? What kind of ghosts? Like Sadako?”
Li Hao asked.
“How do we clear them? Do we use garlic or peach wood swords?”
“What The School calls ‘Ghosts’ usually refers to two types… In most cases, it refers to Divine Sense users who have lost control.”