From the perspective of historical trends, Su Xiji’s plan was a success.
The Variants ultimately failed to break through the Beihai defense line, which stabilized the war situation in the Province of Nanwan.
This allowed the defenders at the main battlefield to calmly block the offensive of the primary Variant force.
The strategic objective was perfectly achieved, and the pressure on the entire Eastern Theater was drastically reduced as a result.
However, the foundation of this success was the sacrifice of the 103rd Division—an elite, fully reorganized division with a long history and countless meritorious deeds.
Aside from this tragic price, Su Xiji’s decisions and layout seemed to have few points worth criticizing in the face of cold battle evaluations.
He had accurately predicted the Variants’ main direction of attack and the rhythm of the campaign, using a single pawn to firmly draw the enemy’s most ferocious wave of impact, winning crucial time and space for the overall situation.
For a moment, Chu You and Lin Mo, who held information about the future, felt a wave of confusion and heavy powerlessness in the face of this established success.
They knew the 103rd Division was destined to be sacrificed, but after seeing the outcome and looking at Su Xiji’s plan—which was cold to the point of cruelty—they did not know how to begin their words of dissuasion.
Sacrificing the few for the survival of the many was the darkest paradox of war.
Moreover, the most important thing was…
This was the Dead Realm, not the actual progression of history.
Even if they persuaded Su Xiji here and changed the fate of the 103rd Division, history could not be changed in the real world outside the Dead Realm.
Thus, Chu You and Lin Mo implicitly avoided the topic.
After an open and honest conversation, both sides let go of much of the wariness and resentment caused by the information gap.
Su Xiji saw that they were not just prophets talking nonsense, but participants carrying heavy evidence.
Chu You and Lin Mo, in turn, understood the choices this young commander had made under immense pressure—choices that could not be reconciled with ordinary human emotions.
Finally, Su Xiji personally led Lin Mo and Chu You out of the warehouse, passing through heavily guarded corridors to the brightly lit yet somber core command center.
Seeing that the two sides had seemingly come to an agreement, Gao Yuan and Du Qiang, who had been hiding near the core area for security and contingencies, reappeared in Su Xiji’s line of sight.
Although the two did not know the specifics of the conversation, their tense expressions relaxed slightly when they saw Lin Mo and Chu You walking with the commander.
At this point, the remaining primary officers of the 103rd Division’s frontline headquarters, along with the visitors from the future—Lin Mo, Chu You, Gao Yuan, and Du Qiang—finally gathered in the command room that symbolized the brain of the division.
Cold electronic equipment hummed, and the theater situation map on the giant screen remained vivid.
“Currently, the plan is proceeding smoothly, but…” A Colonel pointed at the strategic lines on the map and said in a heavy voice, “Among the personnel sent to install the electronic fuses, how can we guarantee there are no traitors?”
“If there are, will the Variants learn of our plan in advance and withdraw from the core explosion zone?”
“Even if there are no traitors… the traitor in the Operations Staff department hasn’t been identified yet. How can we ensure that those going out won’t leak the situation here?”
“Commander, we can’t afford to gamble.”
Upon hearing this, most of the officers in the command room nodded in agreement.
The detonation time was less than 24 hours away.
Although the Variants did not seem to have noticed anything based on their movements, this plan was of great importance.
There was no room for error, so they could not afford to be careless.
Even if the possibility was slim, they had to consider it over and over again.
“Old Zhang makes a good point.”
Su Xiji tapped the table and looked at Lin Mo.
“My intention is to find that big fish in the Operations Staff department as much as possible, then make specific arrangements.”
As he mentioned specific arrangements, a flash of murderous intent crossed Su Xiji’s eyes.
Although he did not say it explicitly, his thought was obvious.
Find him, then kill him!
Lin Mo strongly agreed with Su Xiji’s line of thinking.
He had a premonition.
‘The big fish hiding in the Operations Staff department… might be another force that secretly sneaked into the Dead Realm!’
Thus, for the next half an hour, both sides pooled their ideas, combining existing intelligence and memories to begin sorting through potential internal traitors.
As time passed, three candidates were listed one by one, each name carrying complex clues.
First was the highest-ranking officer of the Operations Staff department, Chief of Staff Tang Chunsheng.
This veteran and steady Chief of Staff had publicly expressed concern multiple times during pre-war military meetings, emphasizing that the 103rd Division’s defense line was too long and their troops were stretched too thin to withstand a large-scale, multi-wave integrated offensive by the Variants.
His comments were based on realistic caution, but in hindsight, such pessimistic predictions were hard not to re-examine.
Was it a form of psychological preparation?
Or perhaps a disguised excuse for being unable to hold the line?
Next was the Secretary-General of the Operations Staff department, Qiao Chendong.
This man’s reputation in the division headquarters had always been poor.
Relying on his status as a military special envoy, he was arrogant and often showed contempt for his colleagues and even some subordinate officers.
What was even more despicable was that his reputation for shirking responsibility and avoiding heavy burdens had long since spread.
If anyone were likely to commit an extreme act purely for personal survival, Qiao Chendong was intuitively the most suspicious.
On the other hand, would such a calculating and self-preserving man have the courage and ability to plan and execute such a decisive betrayal?
Finally, there was the Deputy Chief of Staff, Zhao Zhenwu.
Contrary to Qiao Chendong, Zhao Zhenwu was a typical man of action.
Regarding seniority, he had worked his way up from the grassroots.
Regarding military merit, his body bore the scars and medals of several campaigns.
Given his background and daily performance—loyal, brave, and responsible—he seemed like the last person who would defect.
But this was exactly what made him more suspicious; a perfect disguise is often the most successful.
Furthermore, there was an unavoidable technical point: according to the wartime duty roster, the moment the frontline headquarters conducted its last confirmation call with the division’s Operations Staff department, Zhao Zhenwu was the one in charge of the duty room.
The communication was interrupted suddenly and completely without warning; the duty officer was responsible regardless.
On this point alone, no matter his past, the suspicion could not be entirely cleared.
Once the list was made, the air in the command room seemed to freeze.
Each name represented a possibility and involved past friendship, trust, and evaluation.
Once the seed of suspicion was planted, everyone looked as if they were covered in a layer of shadows.
Su Xiji’s gaze swept across the three names and then looked at his remaining subordinates and the allies who had traveled through time.
He knew the true test was only just beginning.
They not only had to survive the threat of external enemies but also had to dig out that deadly venomous snake from the ruins of trust.
“Relying solely on motives and character speculation will never give us an answer.”
Su Xiji suddenly spoke, his voice steady as he transmitted a set of data to the central screen.
“These are the last fragments recorded by the automatic logs before communication was completely cut off.”
“There is no active communication content, only some system access records, energy fluctuations, and… abnormal physical channel opening and closing signals.”
Everyone’s gaze focused on the screen.
The scrolling data stream was complex, but through Su Xiji’s highlighting, several key pieces of information emerged: Timestamp T-47 minutes:
There was a high-level, non-routine batch export of encrypted data packets from the internal network of the Operations Staff department.
The destination address went through multiple jumps and eventually pointed to an external transit node that could not be instantly resolved.
The authorization key used was identified as the Staff Department’s Level 1 General Key.
Timestamp T-39 minutes: The division’s emergency communication station recorded a “ready to open” status that was unplanned and not triggered by an alarm, but it was immediately canceled.
The source of the command pointed to a tactical terminal within the Staff Department area.
Timestamp T-22 minutes: The backup power for the main communication array was remotely engaged, causing a brief conflict between the primary and backup systems, resulting in approximately 17 seconds of full-band noise interference.
Silence filled the room.
Data did not lie, but the direction it pointed in made their hearts turn cold.
“Tang, Qiao, and Zhao all have the authority to activate the Level 1 General Readiness Key, but to batch export data to an unknown external node…” Du Qiang’s eyes were sharp.
“This looks more like a pre-planned theft or transmission of information.”
“The emergency communication station can cover all of Huafu,” Gao Yuan said with a grim expression.
“In the entire 103rd Division, fewer than ten people have the authority to operate it!”
Lin Mo frowned and said in a heavy voice, “It’s useless for us to sit here guessing. In my opinion, it’s best to send an elite team to explore outward. If we can find the Operations Staff department, perhaps everything will come to light.”
“Exactly,” Su Xiji concluded.
“If that big fish wants to cause trouble, he will definitely find a way to eliminate the other two. If, out of the three suspects we deduced, only one happens to survive and takes over command…”
“Then he is definitely the traitor!”
The Colonel who had spoken earlier finished the sentence for Su Xiji.
“Yes.”
Chu You nodded and looked at Su Xiji.
“Commander Su, let us take a team.”
“You?”
Su Xiji turned to Chu You, his eyebrows arching slightly.
“…Miss Chu, you said in the warehouse earlier that if you die in the Dead Realm, you are truly dead.”
“You must understand that this scouting mission involves not only evading the Variants that are everywhere but also facing the traitor who has seized control of the remnants of the 103rd Division.”
“One wrong move, and the consequences…”
Before Su Xiji could finish, Lin Mo interrupted him.
“Commander Su.”
Lin Mo looked at Su Xiji, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.
“We Enforcers are more accustomed to keeping our fate in our own hands.”
“Besides, as part of Huafu’s armed forces, from the day we joined the Enforcers, we understood one thing…”
“When the sky wants to fall, those of us who are tall must hold it up!”