Nest City One, Chief’s Office.
Lan Lan sat in her chair, reading the report submitted by Mu Qingqing, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the desktop.
The report had been sent back yesterday, and several meetings had been held, but… no conclusion had been reached.
“Another King Beast, attempting to capture Ability Users…”
Of course, the report was very detailed, including things like Lin Mowei’s appearance, and the inexplicable strengthening of Mu Liuli and Xin Yao’s abilities. But none of those were as important as these two points.
Oh, it also mentioned Lin Yu.
“Tsk…” Lan Lan frowned slightly, not understanding why that kid was involved in this, though his performance seemed decent enough.
The plan to attack the Black Tower near Ringstar Town had been decided long ago and definitely could not be changed.
Replacing Lin Mowei’s position with the Hunter Squad was also a last resort. Who could have expected she would cause such a huge mess at this time.
Based on continuous reconnaissance in recent years, it was basically confirmed that within the Black Tower, there was only one King Beast and several Rift Beasts of varying levels.
The drastic compression of their living range meant the resources they could obtain were quite limited. It was impossible to have the overwhelming steel tide of the past.
Therefore, current combat operations essentially had to rely on elite tactics, with awakened Ability Users leading soldiers who had only awakened “Starlit Resonance” in coordinated combat.
The total number of troops and scale of equipment allocated for this operation were more than sufficient if there was only one King Beast, and a considerable amount had been added to account for unexpected situations.
But now… there was an additional King Beast. Even if it was severely injured, it was still far too unexpected.
An inexplicable sense of foreboding lingered in Lan Lan’s heart.
The report also specifically noted one thing: Doctor Qin was also there.
When the report reached this point during the meeting, most people in the conference room expressed sighs of relief.
However, a few people glanced at Lan Lan, intentionally or not.
She knew what that meant and didn’t even lift her eyelids. “Hmm, next.” She calmly moved on.
Even if an accident occurred, she knew very well that Qin Wuyue would not intervene.
Even if all those people died, she would only bring a few people connected to her back safely to the Nest City.
Beyond that, nothing else could be expected from her.
After closing her eyes and thinking for a long time, Lan Lan pressed the call button.
“Xiao Yuan, come in for a moment.”
A few seconds later, a knock came from outside the door.
Yuan Miaoyi pushed the door open and entered, looking at her somewhat nervously, waiting for instructions.
Lan Lan tidied her desk and spoke very casually, “Go prepare the orbital lander.”
“Yes, ma’am. Huh?”
Yuan Miaoyi immediately widened her eyes, unsure if she had heard correctly.
The orbital lander, full name “Outer Space Orbital Single-Soldier Combat Lander,” sacrificed the vast majority of its protective capabilities in pursuit of extreme mobility.
Since it was built, no one had ever used it, or rather, no one dared to use it.
Because in simulation experiments, the user mortality rate was as high as 70%!
Lan Lan glanced at her. “What are you standing there for? Go arrange it.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Yuan Miaoyi snapped back to attention and asked cautiously, “Then… Chief, who is the user?”
Lan Lan stood up, her gaze steady, her tone calm. “Me.”
—
On the wilderness, the troops that had set out from Ringstar Town marched in a grand formation towards the direction of the Black Tower.
The only weapon that could effectively damage the King Beast, the Positron Cannon, was too cumbersome, causing the troops’ advance speed to not be very fast.
However, this didn’t affect anything. Every person in the ranks wore expressions of excitement and exhilaration.
After all, this moment had been waited for far too long.
Even measured in centuries, this was a full three generations. In terms of human lifespan, this timescale was quite long.
Roughly starting over a hundred years ago, the Rift Beasts’ attacks on humans began to slow down.
It seemed they also realized that forcibly attacking that turtle shell didn’t seem to yield much benefit. Gradually, they shifted their focus to transforming the living environment.
During this period, aside from the “Star-Speech Society” occasionally causing trouble by bringing Rift Beasts into the Nest Cities, there were basically no more large-scale battles.
However, this indirectly led to a relaxation in defense, resulting in that invasion twelve years ago.
To this day, people still haven’t figured out why the Rift Beasts invaded Nest City No. 3 at all costs back then.
Of course, there were guesses it was related to the “Star-Speech Society,” but no related evidence had ever been found.
Strictly speaking, the Black Tower near Ringstar Town had not fully recovered to this day.
This was also one of the reasons why this place was chosen as the target for the counterattack.
In an off-road vehicle within the formation, the five members of the Hunter Squad sat in the back, discussing some details of this mission.
From the name of this squad, one could tell their status was somewhat similar to mercenaries.
Or rather, this was also a kind of alternative assessment.
Most members of the squad were Ability Users like Wei Fan, studying at higher academies. As for Mu Liuli, she was more special.
Every member was recruited after being discovered and personally reviewed by Lan Lan.
Including Lin Mowei. When she was at the Domed Academy, she had also once joined this squad, and that was when she met Xin Yao.
Generally, after graduation, they had two choices. One was to enter a government agency and hold an important position, which offered very good treatment.
The other was like Xin Yao, only mobilizing when there was a mission, while having another job for a livelihood.
The latter option was relatively free, but it also had requirements: they needed to serve in the squad until the age of thirty-five. This was their necessary responsibility and obligation.
In the chaotic early years, too many similar tragedies had occurred.
This method was the best choice found through trial and error, under the condition of ensuring relative humanity.
Because some people were simply not suited for the battlefield by nature, but still awakened abilities. It was impossible to bind a person here for a lifetime…
“Liuli, your task is to ensure no Rift Beasts get close to the Positron Cannon. Your ability is very suitable for defense.”
Mu Liuli sat to her left, glanced at her, and nodded silently.
Her teammates were used to her being quiet.
Then, Xin Yao spoke to the girl on her right. “Lili, you, Wei Fan, and Jiyuan will cooperate with the main force to block the first wave of the Rift Beasts’ assault head-on.”
Liu Lili and Gao Jiyuan studied at the Blaze Prison Academy. The two were alumni and were among the top students of this batch.
Liu Lili’s ability was “Hardening.” Any object in her hands would become incredibly hard.
Her whip-blade was specially customized to maximize her individual combat capability.
Gao Jiyuan’s ability was “Shared Sensation,” but it could actually also be called a curse.
Because its manifestation in combat was that for the Rift Beasts he selected, if one of them suffered damage, the others would suffer the same damage.
Wei Fan showed a bright smile. “Got it.”
Gao Jiyuan looked indifferent. “No problem.”
Liu Lili, however, pouted and looked at Xin Yao beside her. “Then what about you, Captain?”
“Me?” Xin Yao smiled as usual. “Did you forget I can fly? Of course, I’ll go wherever I’m needed.”
“Tch… Being able to fly is so nice…”
Mu Liuli, who hadn’t said a word, looked into Xin Yao’s eyes. Even though she was assigning tasks as usual, like nothing was wrong…
Someone sensitive to emotional changes like her couldn’t read anything from the other’s gaze.
Generally, there were two possibilities in this situation.
One, she really wasn’t thinking about anything, just saying and doing.
The other, she had already decided what she wanted to do, and no matter what, she wouldn’t change it.
Mu Liuli leaned towards the second possibility. After all, what happened last night… yet she couldn’t see any trace of it on her, not even a hint of wavering.
This was very abnormal.
Captain, what do you want to do?
It was rare. Mu Liuli began to actively think about someone else’s thoughts, wanting to do something.