Twilight cascaded from the firmament onto the old streets, the scattered neon lights appearing one by one, their assorted colors flickering and casting reflections on the silver-blue antique luxury car. He Ao opened his eyes and, seeing the flashing call notification on the car’s screen, raised his hand to answer the phone. Tucker’s face appeared on the vehicle’s screen, as he looked at He Ao and quickly said, "About the warehouse, chemical plant, and machinery factory you wanted me to investigate, we’ve got some new leads." "One at a time, take it slow." He Ao rested his hands on the steering wheel and replied calmly. Tucker nodded slightly, raised his hand, and sent over a file. Eve automatically unfolded the file and projected it onto the car’s screen. Meanwhile, Tucker began his briefing, "First, about that warehouse, I managed to get quite a bit of information from the owner after his arrest. "Ever since the Prisoners’ Gang completely took over the Southern District, his business of selling stolen goods to the various gangs there had indeed suffered greatly. There was a period when he even listed the warehouse for sale online. "However, just a month or two later, around the time when the Prisoners’ Gang had the Southern District firmly under their control, things took a turn, "He was approached by an ’acquaintance’ from the gangs in the Southern District, who introduced him to a mysterious client, "This client immediately rented his entire warehouse, for several years at a time, and paid him a hefty sum in rent. With this money, he bought several prime shop locations, and his life once again flourished. "However, this mysterious customer was rather demanding, asking for the highest administrative rights for the warehouse management and even removing him from the list of administrators." "Did he leave a backdoor in the management system?" He Ao glanced at Tucker on the screen. If Tucker had come away empty-handed, he would not have been so relaxed. Tucker nodded, "Although his warehouse uses the Triton Group-developed warehouse management system, it’s not a legal copy. Instead, it’s a pirated system bought from hackers on the black market, "For those involved in underground trade, very few are willing to expose everything they have to the watchful eye of the consortiums. "With his pirated warehouse management system allowing for a degree of ’customization,’ he added a backdoor that could bypass all administrative protocols and ’secretly’ access all the warehouse surveillance and material data." Here, Tucker paused, waved his hand, and a string of account credentials appeared. He continued, "We’ve obtained the backdoor’s account password from him, "Although many of the critical surveillance cameras he originally installed were directly deactivated, we still managed to spot many large cargo trucks entering the warehouse, as well as some boxes that faintly bore the Yiwis Space System logo, from the surveillance footage on the warehouse perimeter. "Especially in the last few months, the number of trucks going into the warehouse had increased significantly." "Is it military arms?" He Ao looked up at the screen and stretched out his hand, letting Eve log into the back end of that management system to analyze the data. "At least some of it should be, but the logos on most of the goods were completely painted over, leaving us unable to discern exactly what they are," Tucker said slowly, "Another thing is, in some of the surveillance footage from last night, we spotted vehicles likely transporting personnel." Almost the moment he finished speaking, Eve had already pulled up several segments of the footage, displaying them split-screen on the monitor. The surveillance cameras captured a series of modified off-road vehicles that seemed to be rushing into a warehouse, clearly moving in haste without much concern for privacy, faint shadows of individuals could be seen crammed inside. "The ’mysterious customer’ who rented the warehouse paid the rent with cryptocurrency, making it impossible for us to trace the source of the funds," Tucker continued, "However, the ’contact’ who approached the warehouse owner was a friend from his gang days. After the Prisoners’ Gang took over the Southern District, most of the local gang members chose to continue working for the Prisoners’ Gang, so it’s likely that this ’contact’ was employed by them. "But according to the warehouse owner’s description, shortly after renting out the warehouse, he could never get through to the ’contact’ again. That contact has probably disappeared permanently, physically, "And since then, the warehouse owner has also never been back to the Southern District. "That’s all the intelligence we’ve gathered regarding the warehouse so far. I’ve sent you all the documents." He Ao glanced at the screen, where Eve was rapidly deciphering the intelligence Tucker had sent, cross-referencing it with the management system’s backend data. He nodded slightly, "I understand. Any new information about the chemical plant and the machinery factory?" "We found some employees recently hired in the Southern District and through them, some ’employees’ with a wealth of information, to inquire about the two factories." Tucker raised his hand and sent over two new intelligence files, "The machinery factory has a lot of information because many people from the Southern District work there, "They also have a warehouse there, but it’s not big, heavy trucks take away the products produced in the factory daily, and there’s seldom any stock left behind. "According to our research, the products manufactured by the Yiwis Space System’s machinery factory in the Southern District are not sold directly, but are merely basic mechanical parts, "These parts are then transported to a military factory in the Saint Ilan District to the east, which also belongs to the Yiwis Space System for further processing, and then shipped out through the east gate to Dawn City or other eastern cities. "As for the chemical plant, there is less information. From what we’ve gathered, the construction of this chemical plant predates the founding of the Prisoners’ Gang by a few years, and they have never hired local employees since they built it, as it appears all the staff comes from outside, "However, this chemical plant has a high degree of mechanical automation with very few human employees, which is rare among similar chemical plants due to the high cost of wear and tear on advanced automation devices compared to human labor. "The output of this chemical plant doesn’t seem to be large either; according to the residents around, the vehicles that come and go to transport goods are not large heavy trucks but small trucks with low capacity. Only one or two trucks enter and exit daily, so the throughput is very small. "Such logistics would make it difficult to transport large-scale military equipment." After finishing, Tucker turned his gaze to He Ao outside the screen, concluding, "This is all the intelligence we have gathered about the three locations so far. The richness of it might not be sufficient and thus may not be very accurate." "To gather this much in such a short time is already quite good," He Ao shook his head, glanced at the intelligence unfolded by Eve on the screen, and asked in a calm voice, "Any new intelligence from the Wilderness?" "I’ve made contact with some old Wanderer friends, who are now in Dawn City, and they seem to have joined some kind of alliance organization. They’ve agreed to help us gather intelligence, and they’re still collecting information. It might take a couple more hours before they can respond," Tucker quickly replied, "But from the news we have so far, there seem to be signs of a small mechanized Mercenary Corps moving in the wilderness to the north of Yilan City. Oh, right," At this point, Tucker hesitated for a moment and asked softly, "Would you like direct contact with those Wilderness Wanderers? It could facilitate smoother communication." Many details can inevitably become distorted when relayed through intermediaries. Because the intermediaries haven’t taken part in the actual collection and processing of the information, they may not be able to understand fully which details are important and which are not. He Ao nodded, "Give them my contact details." Linen was well accustomed to surviving in the Wilderness and had no fear of communicating with Wilderness Wanderers. Tucker quickly complied. "Thank you for your hard work," He Ao spoke in a hushed tone, "Stay vigilant, increase patrols around the Mayor’s Mansion, and let no one know I’ve already left. Contact me immediately if anything happens." Tucker nodded emphatically. He Ao stretched out his hand and disconnected the phone communication. He lifted his head, looking toward the end of the city ahead; twilight laid out a golden pathway between buildings, leading straight to the glorious high wall where the setting sun was gradually fading away. The ambiguous mantle of night had already silently crept into the corners of the city. He lowered his head, looking at the summary report on his bracelet, which Eve had completely deciphered. The report’s content was not much different from Tucker’s briefing, only more detailed in calculating the possible number and types of weapons in the warehouse, the specific traffic volume of the chemical factory, and the living transport trajectory of the mech factory. After skimming through the entire report and corroborating it with his own mental conjectures, He Ao raised his wrist, opened his contacts, and dialed Corvey’s number. After a brief busy signal, the call connected, and the image of the Elderly man in military uniform appeared on the car’s screen. From the screen behind him, it seemed he was currently in a war room. "How are things now?" He Ao asked Corvey in a low voice. "The Yiwis Space System’s air force has already reached the area outside the safety zone," the Elderly man’s hoarse yet steady voice echoed through the old car’s sound system. He lifted his hand and swiped across the table in front of him, projecting a real-time live feed onto He Ao’s screen. "But it doesn’t seem like they’re planning to set up camp." The content in the live feed was that of three majestic Sky Behemoths, along with the dense air force surrounding the Sky Behemoths. "I’ll try to contact my friends in the Central Army and have them divert troops as much as possible," He Ao lightly rubbed at his temples, "But it’s going to be difficult in practice. We don’t have as much influence in the Federal Assembly and the Federal Cabinet as the Consortiums do. Even if we persuade the Central Army to relocate, it’s a distant solution to an imminent problem. But there’s one issue," he raised his head to look at Corvey, "Do you think they will launch an attack?" Corvey said hoarsely, "The first wave of mechanized forces might have been just for show, to intimidate us, but when the air force arrives, their likelihood of attacking increases significantly. Whether or not they truly intend to attack, we must treat them as a real enemy." "If they launch an attack, can South City’s army withstand it?" He Ao asked in a low voice. Corvey shook his head, "A regular Mercenary Corps is about the size of a division of the City Defense Army. The Yiwis Space System’s mechanical Mercenary Corps alone has already surpassed the South City Defense Army’s size, and their weapons are more advanced than ours. "The design of the High Wall itself can withstand a prolonged attack from the Sky Behemoths, but the city gates cannot. If they launch a robust assault, the best combat tactic is to use the Sky Behemoths and air force to quickly breach the gates, covering the entry of the mechanized forces into Jar City, "Then through Jar City to infiltrate the High Wall, destroying the anti-air equipment on the High Wall and taking control of the wall. Once we enter High Walls defensive war, our disadvantages in equipment and numbers will become apparent, and the countdown to war failure then begins." "So the most crucial point is whether we can hold the gates?" He Ao pondered as he asked. Corvey nodded slightly, "However, our defense systems aren’t bad either. If they want to blast open the city gates, they’ll probably have to leave their entire aerospace forces here. Even if they win, it will be a Pyrrhic victory." Overall, when comparing the comprehensive strengths, Yiwis Space System had the advantage, but not by a large margin. "The ones outside are mercenaries from the Yiwis Space System, not an army from some kind of alliance," He Ao leaned back in the driver’s leather seat, slightly holding his forehead, as all the clues in his mind connected. "They may not be willing to pay such a high price, after all, the consortium is not a monolith. If the Yiwis Space System suffers too much in this battle, next month, they’ll face a united front from their competitors." "But they probably don’t think that just flexing their muscles at the door will intimidate you." Corvey looked at He Ao, "If you were the type to surrender at the first scare, you wouldn’t be sitting here on the phone with me right now." He Ao smiled, "So I also think it’s highly likely they’ll launch an attack, just in a way that minimizes their losses and is more cunning." He looked up at Corvey on the screen, "Are you at the South City Command Center now?" Upon hearing this, Corvey’s expression shifted subtly, "What about it?" "Do you remember the Prisoners’ Gang we dealt with last night?" He Ao raised his bracelet, projecting a three-dimensional map, "Excellent military equipment, powerful Transcendents, all stationed right beside the South Gate and the South City Command Center—what does that look like to you?" "A knife stuck at my throat." Corvey spoke hoarsely, "If Yiwis Space System attacks from the outside, and the Prisoners’ Gang cooperates from within, taking down the Command Center and opening the gates, they could possibly take the city with minimal cost." He paused, looking at He Ao, "But the Prisoners’ Gang has been wiped out by us last night, and all those advanced weapons have been confiscated." "But their Transcendent main forces have escaped, including two or three who can exert B-level strength," He Ao lifted his hand, pinpointing three spots on the map, looking towards the South City Command Center on the map, "They don’t have enough forces to seize the gates, but they could use spearhead tactics to decapitate, taking out South City’s command system." "You know these consortia better than I do," Corvey looked at He Ao, "What do you think they will do?" "After all, consortia do business to achieve the maximum returns with the minimum cost," He Ao lifted the map in his hand, sending over the summary report Eve had just analyzed, "The South City Command Center is right against the high walls, and should any problems arise, it would inevitably cause the majority of the troops on the walls to come to the rescue." "And since we have destroyed the entire gang, although the remaining Transcendent main forces of the Prisoners’ Gang are individually strong, they are not numerous. Therefore, if they are to launch a decapitation strike, they need to meet one condition," "Speed fast enough to destroy the South City’s command system before the South City Defense Army can react." "To meet this condition, they can only break through in two ways." "First is to increase their own efficiency, and secondly, they must keep the South City Defense Army busy, tied down to buy time." "If the Prisoners’ Gang was still intact, they might have been able to draw fire with the gang’s strength, but now that their main force is gone, to fulfill the second condition, they need coordination from the outside." "The forces outside will initiate the attack, drawing the Defense Army’s fire," Corvey said hoarsely, "When the battlefield turns chaotic, and the Defense Army can’t assist at the critical moment, that’s when the assassination squad inside will carry out their ’decapitation’ strike on the South City Command Center." He looked up at He Ao, "When do you think they’ll act?" He Ao looked into the live stream window Corvey had turned to, where twilight saw the crowded machinery of war, "It’s tonight."