Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 123 – Intelligence After the Rift

Chu Chen’s figure seemed somewhat out of place at the cafeteria entrance.

He still had that just-woken-up look, his hair a mess, his white clothes wrinkled. A lollipop dangled from his mouth as he walked over with unsteady steps.

When the soldiers in the cafeteria saw him, they all subconsciously straightened their backs, their eyes filled with awe and respect.

“Commander.”

Shi Ming stood up, his tone reverent.

“Sit, everyone sit.” Chu Chen waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away flies.

He didn’t stand on ceremony, directly pulling over a chair and sitting down next to Lin Fan. He crossed his legs on the chair, curling his whole body into a ball.

Sun Jing blinked and asked curiously.

“Commander Chu, what are you doing in the cafeteria? Don’t you have someone deliver your meals?”

“The food those guys bring has no soul.” Chu Chen took the lollipop out of his mouth and waved it in the air.

His gaze swept over the dishes on the table before finally landing on Lin Fan’s face.

Within his eyes, bloodshot from long-term sleep deprivation, flickered a clarity that saw through everything.

“Miss Lei Li, it seems you’re adapting quite well here.”

Lin Fan didn’t speak, merely watching him in silence.

“I’m guessing you’re very interested in that Rift outside the window, and our missing Captain Lu Yuan, right?”

Chu Chen’s tone was casual, as if he were discussing the weather.

The hand Lin Fan was using to lift her soup bowl paused in mid-air for a second.

This man…

He could always see through her thoughts so easily.

Sun Jing and Shi Ming were both stunned, not understanding why Chu Chen would suddenly bring this up.

Lin Fan set down her soup bowl, her rainbow-colored eyes meeting Chu Chen’s gaze.

“What if I am?”

“It’s nothing.” Chu Chen stuck the lollipop back into his mouth and said indistinctly.

“I just thought there might be some intelligence Miss Lei Li would like to know.”

Sun Jing’s eyes lit up.

“Intelligence about Captain Lu Yuan? Commander, have you received news from the First Division?”

Chu Chen shook his head and looked at Lin Fan.

Rеаⅾ οn КаtReαⅾіոɡCαfе

“Captain Lu Yuan and the main force of the First Division entered the Rift a month ago. Little Jing should have told you this.”

Lin Fan nodded.

“But what she didn’t tell you is that for a period of time after entering the Rift, we actually maintained intermittent contact with Captain Lu Yuan.”

At these words, even Shi Ming’s breathing grew rapid.

“Commander! Is… is this true?”

“Of course, it’s true.” Chu Chen glanced at him. “The Federation’s latest quantum communicator, while unstable, can barely manage short-term communication across the Rift.”

“Then… then how are they now? Why didn’t you tell us?” Sun Jing asked urgently.

Chu Chen sighed, his expression turning grave for the first time.

“The last message we received was seven days after they entered the Rift.”

“After that, we lost contact completely.”

Seven days…

Lin Fan’s fingertips tapped lightly on the tabletop.

“What did he say?”

Chu Chen looked at Lin Fan, seemingly waiting for her to ask this very question.

“He said… the teleportation from here to the other side of the Rift isn’t stable, but random. He lost contact with everyone from the First Division as soon as he crossed over.”

“The other side of the Rift is also a complete world.”

“It has mountains, water, a sun, and a moon.”

“However, the beings living there are not purely human.”

Chu Chen paused, as if organizing his words.

“But rather, several humanoid, intelligent races. For example, cat people with cat ears, wolf people with wolf tails, and lion people with massive bodies and terrifying strength…”

“Their technological level is very backward, probably equivalent to ours from several hundred years ago.”

“But…”

Chu Chen’s tone grew heavy.

“Their individual strength, and their evolutionary system, are terrifying.”

“Captain Lu Yuan said that over there, even children are Evolved beings.”

Sun Jing covered her mouth in disbelief.

Reαԁ οո ΚαtRеadіոgСаfе

“How is that possible…”

“The leader of a random hunting party out in the wild could be a Level 5.”

This sentence from Chu Chen made Shi Ming’s face turn instantly grim.

As a Level 5 strength-type Evolved being, he was already a top-tier combatant in Magic City Base, yet in the world across the Rift, that was merely the level of an ordinary hunting party leader.

This huge disparity made him feel a wave of powerlessness.

“Captain Lu Yuan, with his strength as a Level 6 light-type Evolved being, could only struggle to survive over there.”

“Not to mention the other team members, they might already be…”

The air in the cafeteria seemed to freeze.

Sun Jing’s eyes reddened with worry for the missing Captain Lu Yuan.

Shi Ming clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Only Lin Fan’s expression remained calm.

She was more concerned about another question.

“What was the last message he sent?”

Chu Chen gave her an appreciative look.

“That is the most important part.”

“Captain Lu Yuan sent us one last crucial piece of intelligence.”

“He said that the Rift is like a constantly expanding sieve. It has a level cap on the Demonic Creatures that can pass through.”

“Currently, that cap is Level 6.”

“This is also why the strongest Demonic Creature we’ve encountered before was that Level 6 demon slain by Captain Lu Yuan.”

“But… this cap is constantly being stretched.”

“According to his calculations and observations, in a few months at most, this passage might allow Level 7, or even higher-level monsters, to pass through.”

Chu Chen’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word entered the ears of everyone present with clarity.

“Level 7…”

Shi Ming muttered to himself, a trace of despair in his eyes.

A single Level 6 Demonic Beast required Captain Lu Yuan to give his all to kill.

If a Level 7 monster appeared…

Rеαԁ οո ΚatRеαԁіոɡСаfе

That would mean complete and utter destruction for Magic City.

Lin Fan finally understood.

She raised her eyes and looked at Chu Chen.

“This is an open conspiracy.”

Chu Chen grinned, revealing teeth yellowed by candy.

“That’s right.”

He admitted it frankly.

“If Magic City can’t hold, and the Rift spirals completely out of control, countless high-level Demonic Creatures will pour into Blue Star.”

“Do you think your Hang City, your Jiang City, can escape unscathed?”

“Miss Lei Li, we’re all in the same boat.”

Lin Fan did not refute him.

Because what Chu Chen said was the truth.

She might not care about the lives of the hundreds of thousands in Magic City, but she couldn’t not care about her own bases.

“The next Tidal wave of beasts is in three days.”

“The tidal wave on the day you arrived was because a massive radiation shockwave from behind the Rift caused the Rift’s membrane to temporarily shatter.”

“The number of beasts was only one-tenth of a previous tidal wave.”

Chu Chen finally revealed his true purpose.

His seemingly cloudy eyes were now astonishingly sharp.

“According to our energy model projections, the scale of this tidal wave will far exceed any before.”

“And… there is a high probability that a second Level 6 Demonic Beast will appear.”

“That is a true Tidal wave of beasts. Not the little skirmish you encountered when you first arrived, which didn’t even have a single Level 5 Evolved being.”

Lin Fan got it.

She finally understood why Chu Chen had given her Level 4 Crystals and proactively revealed such top-secret intelligence.

The First Division was missing.

In the entire Magic City Base, only Shi Ming remained as a Level 5 Evolved being.

Faced with a possible Level 6 Demonic Beast and a large-scale Tidal wave of beasts, they had no power to resist at all.

Rеаԁ oո КatRеαdіոɡCаfе

They needed a top-tier combatant who could contend with a Level 6 Demonic Beast.

And she was the only candidate.

“So, you need my power,” Lin Fan stated calmly.

“That’s right.” Chu Chen nodded, his tone sincere. “We need you, Miss Lei Li.”

“Shi Ming is strong, but his limit is Level 5. Against a Level 6 monster, he has no chance of winning.”

Shi Ming lowered his head, not refuting.

It was a fact he couldn’t deny.

Sun Jing also looked at Lin Fan nervously, her hands clasped before her chest as if in prayer.

“Lei Jie…”

The gazes of the entire cafeteria focused on Lin Fan.

They might not have been able to hear the conversation, but they could feel the heavy atmosphere.

Everyone’s hopes seemed to be pinned on this mysterious and powerful silver-haired woman.

Lin Fan didn’t answer immediately.

She picked up a napkin from the table and leisurely wiped the corner of her mouth, as if pondering an insignificant problem.

Chu Chen didn’t rush her, just watched her quietly, awaiting her answer.

After a long while.

Lin Fan put down the napkin and raised her iridescent eyes to look at Chu Chen.

“Commander Chu.”

Her voice was cool and calm.

“You seem to have gotten one thing wrong.”

The smile on Chu Chen’s face froze slightly.

“I am not your soldier, much less some kind of savior.”

“You want me to act… fine.”

A faint, almost imperceptible arc formed at the corner of Lin Fan’s lips.

“But…”