A little earlier, at Nest City One.
Lan Lan looked at the technician beside her, her tone flat.
“When can you finish debugging? It’s been two hours.”
The technician wiped the sweat from his brow. Although the Chief was known for being emotionally stable, he felt like she was urging him with her eyes.
And it definitely wasn’t his imagination!
“Right away. I’ll guarantee it within ten minutes. For your safety, Chief, I have to make sure everything’s foolproof.”
The technician wanted to finish quickly too, but this equipment had been gathering dust in the armory, and there was too much to inspect.
Lan Lan frowned almost imperceptibly. She wanted to say there was no need for all this trouble, but since he was doing it for her sake, she had no grounds to say such a thing.
Besides, according to the planned schedule, she shouldn’t be going there right now. But the unease in her heart had reached its peak just moments ago.
If she hadn’t spent years mastering her expression management, she would have lost her composure long ago.
“Alright. Hurry up.”
With that, she left the room and walked outside to ask her secretary about the situation.
In the early chaotic years, most of the satellites deployed in space had deviated from their orbits and been destroyed because they couldn’t receive commands from the ground. Only a handful were still functioning, causing slight delays in communication between the Nest Cities.
The intelligence Yuan Miaoyi had received at that moment was that Lin Mowei had arrived at the front lines, preventing further losses from the self-destructing Rift Beast.
“Chief, Section Chief Lin has earned some merit here, so… later…”
She didn’t finish her sentence. Unauthorized use of Biological Armor was a serious offense, and Mu Qingqing’s acting on her own was no small fault either.
Lan Lan was silent for a moment. “We’ll talk about it later.”
The young woman who had recently joined the department breathed a slight sigh of relief. There were still things she was trying to get used to, including her superior’s temper.
Generally speaking, when the Chief said “we’ll talk about it later” about something, it meant there was room for leniency.
“Any other intelligence?”
“Not for now.”
“Mm.”
Lan Lan walked to the window. The weather at Nest City One was perfectly clear—bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky.
But even as the warm sunlight fell on her, she felt no comfort at all. Only the anxious emotions inside her fermented even more intensely.
In less than ten minutes, the technician finally finished adjusting the landing pod.
Lan Lan put on her Biological Armor and approached the pod.
Unlike Lin Mowei’s, this set looked much colder and harder. From head to toe, it was a deep blue streamlined body.
On the chest was a prismatic energy core, flickering with a dark blue light. The helmet and faceplate were seamless, and the face area was a sharp, angular polygonal cone.
“Chief, the landing coordinates are set for the Black Tower at Nest City No. 3. But once you’re nearby, you can switch to manual and decide where to land based on the situation.”
Lan Lan nodded and stepped inside. The hatch closed, and the landing pod was slowly fed into the launcher.
Yuan Miaoyi and the technician arrived in the launch room, watching nervously.
“Countdown: ten, nine, eight… one. Launch!”
As the button was pressed, a rumbling sound erupted. The launcher, carrying the landing pod, accelerated under tremendous thrust, shooting into the sky faster and faster.
It wasn’t until the pod entered its intended orbit and began flying toward the target that the observers finally breathed a huge sigh of relief, bursting into cheers of success.
The greatest risk for this equipment was before reaching orbit. Now that it was more than halfway successful, the next challenge was landing.
But with Lan Lan’s abilities, that problem wasn’t too great.
—
Boom!
After another loud crash, Qin Wuyue dodged a tentacle swinging toward her, slid under the Rift Beast, then pushed off the ground with her hands and kicked hard at one of its legs.
She had never played games, but she knew the most effective way to deal with a creature far larger than herself was to *chip away at its feet. Besides, staying close to the ground made it easier to dodge. Using air displacement was too taxing on her body.
The long dress she wore had been repeatedly soaked and dried, now looking wrinkled and shabby.
“Damn it. I never should have agreed to that brat. When this is over, he’s going to pay me back!”
In her eyes, the loss of her dress was far more important than the safety of Huanxing Town.
Maybe she had really exhausted too much of her stamina. One tentacle, without her noticing, crept to within five meters of her.
At that distance, for the King Beast, the woman was as good as dead.
Sure enough, the next second, Qin Wuyue, caught off guard, was struck hard in the waist.
She felt like she’d been slammed by a几十-ton weight. Her vision went black as she was sent flying.
She only regained consciousness just before hitting the ground, rolling several times to stabilize herself.
Then she grimaced tightly, clutching her struck waist, hissing in pain.
“This beast… it really hurts when it hits…”
The King Beast was stunned for a moment. It raised that tentacle with an almost human-like gesture, disbelief flickering in its multiple pairs of eyes.
This human… was she really human? Since when were humans this tough?
If that blow had hit any other Rift Beast, it would have been reduced to fragments—pieces too small to even reassemble.
But this… was even better!
Its eyes gleamed with undisguised joy and cruelty. Taking back such a special human would surely please the master!
The King Beast’s eyes gradually glowed with a faint green light, as if it were using some ability.
By the time Qin Wuyue noticed, it was too late. She suddenly felt the air around her become thick and viscous—a strange sensation, like falling into water, but with lower density.
This was the King Beast’s ability, “Space Solidification.” It was a natural counter to space-type abilities like Lin Mowei’s.
For a “normal person” like Qin Wuyue, it would restrict her movements. Not by much, maybe, but enough to be fatal.
Previously, Rift Beasts didn’t have this ability. They owed it all to that mysterious creature.
It didn’t know that creature’s race, but it carried the scent of its own kind and could grant them amazing powers. Following that creature’s orders wasn’t such a bad idea.
The King Beast spread its six lower limbs. It didn’t charge immediately but advanced step by step, intending to put enough pressure on the tiny human before it.
She had hurt it—she deserved a harsh punishment!
Noticing the creature’s mockery, Qin Wuyue’s face darkened. She had never suffered such humiliation before. A mere oversized beast dared to play games with her?
She slowly lowered her head, fists clenched, as if preparing to do something.
The direct evidence was that the rain no longer even fell on her—it was instantly evaporated the moment it approached her body.
Her dress began to smell faintly of burning fabric. She pulled up the corners of her mouth, and the moment she raised her eyes, the King Beast she was staring at actually stopped in its tracks involuntarily, sensing an instinctive death aura from this human.
It was going to die!
The companion who had fled in earlier with severe injuries had been defeated by human technology—that was acceptable. But if it were beaten by raw, primal power, that was something it could never accept.
Its instinctive fear turned to anger—anger at itself, anger at this human.
“ROAR!!!”
It stopped its slow advance and charged forward with earth-shaking tremors.
The next second, just as its front foot was about to crush the human, a fireball shot in from afar, striking it like a teleporting projectile!
“BOOM!!!”
The massive body was sent staggering. These humans were so annoying—weak and fragile themselves, yet always coming up with bizarre weapons. Despicable!
“You’re injured?”
Looking at the person who had suddenly appeared in front of her, Qin Wuyue’s eyes flickered with surprise. The rain began to fall on her again.
“How did you get here?”
Just as Qin Wuyue didn’t answer, Lan Lan didn’t answer either. Instead, she spread her fingers, pulled the discarded umbrella from a distance with a suction, opened it, and placed it in Qin Wuyue’s hand.
“You go back first. I’ll handle this.”
Qin Wuyue froze for a moment. She hadn’t expected her to show up, nor had she expected this reaction.
She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Lan Lan said, “Thank you. This time… I won’t abandon you.”
In her armor, Lan Lan was quite a bit taller than Qin Wuyue. The latter looked up slightly, her gaze complex, then curled her lips into a seemingly mocking smile.
“Why bring that up now? It’s all in the past.”
Lan Lan said nothing. She turned and walked step by step toward the King Beast, while fine electric currents flickered around her armor.
Qin Wuyue’s eyes flickered. She knew that Lan Lan could only lose control of her power when she was angry.
Clearly, right now… she was very angry.