Might King nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Even if we find it, so what? Even sending more Secret Keepers to fight it would just be throwing lives away. Hell... whether an S-Class Secret Keeper could even handle Bai Zhi is a big question mark."
Zi Chen looked toward Gui Yu and asked: "Speaking of which, Gui Yu, you're an A-Class Secret Keeper. In your opinion, what are the odds that S-Class strength could defeat Bai Zhi?"
Gui Yu shook his head slightly. "In truth, I don't know exactly how strong S-Class really is. What I do know is that there was once an S-Class Secret Keeper who resolved a Quasi-Calamity-class anomalous incident alone. Beyond that, I'm unclear on the upper limits of their power."
"After all, within the Secret-Keeping Bureau, even the standards for S-Class assessment and promotion are kept opaque."
"As for defeating Bai Zhi... in the form Bai Zhi took that day, its mystery and danger have likely long surpassed Nether-Calamity-class..."
The Federal Secret-Keeping Bureau classified anomalous creatures and humans contaminated by anomalies, based on the threat level of the incidents they caused, into four ranks: Roaming Grudge, Baleful Evil, Quasi-Calamity, and Nether Calamity.
But Jian Xin and other Secret Keepers below A-Class had never heard of there being higher anomaly ranks...
"Nether-Calamity-class anomaly, huh. That refers to crises that could cause the functional collapse or destruction of multiple cities..."
Jian Xin said solemnly: "Bai Zhi's danger is even above that?"
"Above Nether-Calamity-class... does such an existence truly exist?" Zi Chen questioned.
Gui Yu nodded slightly, his tone lowering a few degrees as well:
"Above Nether-Calamity-class—it's kept internal and not disclosed precisely so that you Secret Keepers below A-Class don't feel fear and defeat. But since you've already witnessed Bai Zhi's power in that form, there's no harm in introducing it to you."
"Anomalies of that level... are called 'Calamity-Class.' They could cause the destruction and upheaval of an entire region or province."
"We should be thankful that since the resurgence of anomalies, before Bai Zhi, no Calamity-Class anomaly had appeared within the Federation. However, they had already appeared in the Liberty Goddess Empire and the Sacred Sakura Dynasty. And this matter—initially a secret among the upper echelons—has only recently begun to trickle down..."
Zi Chen and Might King exchanged a glance, both seeing ominous worry in the other's eyes.
Jian Xin said in a bitter voice: "You're saying... anomalies as terrifying as Bai Zhi have already appeared in other countries long ago? Then how did they deal with them?"
Gui Yu deliberated for two seconds before slowly replying: "Take the Liberty Goddess Empire for example. They sacrificed one major city and two medium-sized cities before finally exorcising the Calamity-Class anomaly..."
"However, I've now heard that the Calamity-Class anomaly which had clearly been eliminated... is showing signs of resurgence again..."
Might King, who had originally been grieving the tragic casualties and losses of the Liberty Goddess Empire, had his eyes bulge as wide as bronze bells when he heard that last sentence:
"...Good god... something like that can't even be killed?!"
Although the Liberty Goddess Empire was a centralized monarchy, its technological level and military strength were still above the Federation. Yet even such a superpower couldn't do anything about a Calamity-Class anomaly!
A hint of helplessness also seeped through Gui Yu's voice: "Anomalies are inherently existences that elude conventional reasoning. Having seen Bai Zhi that day, you should also understand that mere firepower alone cannot eliminate the unknown and mysterious."
Jian Xin smiled bitterly. "Hearing you say that, I suddenly sort of understand why that spider-silk masked man dared to call himself a deity's mortal envoy, and why he worships Bai Zhi as a supreme goddess..."
"An anomaly of that level... is already no different from a deity, right?"
"Below the gods, all are but dust and ants."
Zi Chen pressed a hand to her chest and exhaled a breath of cold air:
"So, what about the one in the Sacred Sakura Dynasty... was it resolved?"
The Sacred Sakura Dynasty was one of the few nations in the present world where a minority of transcendent ability users ruled over the vast majority of ordinary people—a slave-system dynasty. Ordinary humans living in the dynasty lacked basic human rights protections, while transcendent individuals of higher status could deprive ordinary people of their lives without facing severe punishment.
Moreover, because resources in the Sacred Sakura Dynasty were concentrated in the hands of a very small number of transcendent individuals, its top-tier transcendent forces were not even weaker than the Federal Secret-Keeping Bureau's S-Class Secret Keepers.
She watched Gui Yu nervously, afraid of hearing an even more despairing answer from his mouth.
Gui Yu slowly shook his head, saying with regret:
"Also not resolved."
"But the Sacred Sakura Dynasty's handling of this matter was... very unique."
"Because the Sacred Sakura Dynasty's Calamity-Class anomaly did not cause large-scale destruction. More fundamentally, it did not threaten the Sacred Sakura Dynasty's rule. So the dynasty's rulers turned a blind eye, adopting a cold-treatment approach—like an elephant in a refrigerator..."
Gui Yu glanced at the three of them, then turned with his hands behind his back and walked to the training room's floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out at the flourishing blocks of the Federal capital and the azure sky.
"...Do you all remember the three attitudes the Federal Secret-Keeping Bureau holds toward anomalies and humans contaminated by anomalies?"
Jian Xin walked to Gui Yu's side, his gaze extending into the distance, but what surfaced in his mind was that form—peerlessly beautiful, mysterious, terrifying, and majestic. He sighed:
"Of course I remember."
"Elimination... Subjugation... and..."
"Ignoring."
Gui Yu likewise sighed inwardly, because he did not tell them that humanity had in fact already discovered signs of anomalous existences suspected to be above Calamity-Class...
If he revealed this, it would likely have an unpredictable psychological impact on these Secret Keepers.
Not knowing is an important prerequisite for humanity to maintain its fragile sanity and live on normally—like a safety rope fastened to humans, ensuring they can walk across the glass skywalk over a fathomless abyss.
Once they know what lurks beneath that fathomless abyss, they will immediately suffer a mental breakdown, collapsing onto the skywalk like spineless soft-bodied creatures, then being bewitched by the existences beneath the abyss, and ultimately falling down into it...
Gui Yu's expression was subtle as he spoke slowly: "We should be grateful that Bai Zhi had no intention of erasing us. I imagine that, to her, it would have been as simple as moving a finger."
"In any case, Bai Zhi's matter is no longer something we can intervene in."
In the next second, he turned to face the three, and his right hand brushed over the fine mechanical watch on his left wrist. An illusory information screen projected before the eyes of the three.
"Since you three have been idle and growing mold, I've brought a new mission order. To make up for past failures and rally anew, we must head to Yongan City once more."
"Because, new anomalies have appeared there."
Hearing this, Zi Chen's eyes lit up, and Jian Xin's aura tightened.
Only Might King clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and assumed a prayerful posture: "Why Yongan City again? Please, please, don't let me come into contact with any more anomalous incidents beyond my pay grade again."
Gui Yu patted Might King's bulging muscles and consoled him: "Don't worry, the Bureau's assessment this time is only Roaming Grudge-class. And I'll be leading you."
But Might King glared, indignant: "Have you forgotten that vile woman Wang Miaoyin?"
Zi Chen silently nodded: "Indeed. When she lost control, it was terrifying. Not to mention that Bai Zhi ended up getting dragged into it..."
Jian Xin also frigidly added a knifing remark: "And I feel like you're always putting on an act in front of us."
Gui Yu: "..."
He spread his hands. Where's the trust between people?