The journey from Tanggu New Port in Tianjin to Daxing District, Beijing, was just over a hundred kilometers. Taking the highway, it wouldn't take more than two hours.
But before Loshu could return to the hotel, Site-CN-02 had already irradiated Anomaly-CN-1451 with ultraviolet light.
Nothing happened.
The Site-CN-02 Security Director gave his assessment: "Based on past experience, there are only two possibilities. First, Loshu never entered Anomaly-CN-1451's game world. Second… he's already dead in there."
Barbie immediately rejected that. "Impossible! That bastard has handled Keter-class anomalies before. How could some stupid game world kill him?"
The Master offered another theory: "What if he already left the game world?"
Now it was the Security Director's turn to object.
"That's even more impossible! In the four years since we contained Anomaly-CN-1451, no one has ever left that game world alive—except for Dr. Eule. And even he took 18 real-world days to escape."
But Barbie had an inexplicable faith in Loshu's abilities. "How is it impossible? Could your Dr. Eule single-handedly deal with a Keter-class anomaly? Could he escape from a specialized MTF?"
The Security Director had no rebuttal, but he still refused to believe Loshu could leave the game world in just two real-world days.
As the two Level-4 personnel reached a stalemate, The Master made a suggestion.
"Isn't it true that anyone who escapes Anomaly-CN-1451 reappears at LoI-CN-1451-2, where the Hai Zu from MTF Jia Yin-18 ('Deep Sea Hunters') rescue them? Then it's simple—Director, just contact 'Deep Sea Hunters' and ask if anyone came out."
The suggestion was reasonable and easy to execute. The Security Director had no choice but to comply, pulling up his personal tactical terminal to make the call.
After nearly two hours of bureaucratic back-and-forth, he finally got through to JY-18-109, the shark-man.
Barbie grew increasingly impatient during the process, almost yelling, "Your Chinese branch is way too bureaucratic!"
And she wasn't wrong.
In other Sites, this kind of coordination would take three calls at most, wrapped up in minutes.
But in the Chinese branch, everything had to go through layers of red tape—requests had to climb up the chain of command, then back down to the operational team.
Two hours was already fast, thanks to the Security Director's high clearance.
If this had been a request from a low-level staffer, it would've taken three to five business days just to get a response.
When they finally got through, the shark-man's answer was frustratingly vague:
"Uh… maybe there was someone? Or maybe not…"
Barbie snapped, grabbing the Security Director's arm and shouting into the terminal:
"WAS THERE SOMEONE OR NOT?!"
The shark-man stammered, "I think I saw someone? I took him to Tanggu New Port, but then… he just vanished…"
Finally, The Master took over, sending Loshu's photo directly to the shark-man. "Was it this man?"
"Oh… maybe?"
Thanks to antimemetic effects, the shark-man's memory of Loshu was hazy.
But Barbie didn't care. "Then it was him! Loshu specializes in making people confused!"
Hearing this, "White Eyes" shrank back guiltily.
Back in Area-14, he'd experienced the same thing—watching Loshu but somehow losing track of what he was doing.
Then, suddenly, White Eyes jolted upright, shouting:
"HE'S HERE! LOSHU!"
To locate Loshu within Site-CN-02, White Eyes had kept his reality-distorting vision active.
And at that moment, his sight suddenly shifted, locking onto Loshu's position.
Barbie was momentarily stunned, but The Master reacted instantly:
"Where? Give me coordinates!"
White Eyes rolled his eyes (literally), turning south. "He's outside the hotel, across the street—sneaking around and watching us!"
Barbie's face lit up with vicious glee. "That arrogant bastard! He actually came back! Let's move—we're grabbing him now!"
"Wait!" The Master grabbed her arm. "If we charge out recklessly, we'll just scare him off. Now that we've finally located him, we need to be strategic."
Barbie reluctantly agreed. She'd brought The Master precisely for this—to outmaneuver Loshu.
After all, she'd already lost to him multiple times.
With Barbie's cooperation secured, The Master began issuing orders:
"First, everyone move to the hotel lobby—but stay out of sight. We don't know if Loshu has counter-surveillance measures."
High-IQ individuals truly were meticulous.
Though The Master didn't know about Loshu's mechanical animation ability, he anticipated it anyway.
"Aeolus, enter Inverse-Distortion Mode and approach Loshu alone. Even if he leaves White Eyes' line of sight, we won't lose track of him."
Aeolus nodded, his presence fading into near-invisibility.
Next, The Master assigned specific roles to each member of Achilles' Heel, including Barbie herself.
From this moment on, he was in command.
"Finally, we must prepare for failure. If all else fails… Cupid, you take the shot. Eliminate Loshu."
The man called "Cupid"—whom Loshu had seen back in Area-14—had remained quiet until now.
But he was Achilles' Heel's long-range executioner, specializing in neutralizing uncontainable reality benders.
Cupid smirked, mimicking drawing a bow.
"Leave it to me. If the boss hadn't insisted on taking him alive… I'd have killed him already."