Volume 4, Chapter 2 – Assembly

Even by car, the trip from Twinmoon City to Morningstar’s Far East Branch stronghold still took around two to three hours.

After setting out from the main road, they headed west the whole way.

Once they had used up the more than thirty kilometers of concrete road, the scenery that came into view was a scarred wasteland.

Dust swirled everywhere over yellow and gray-brown earth.

The roadside was covered with drought-resistant shrubs, scattered with massive chunks of rock. If one looked carefully, one might still be able to spot traces of a shattered old city.

Along this route, many places had once been urban districts destroyed thirty-two years ago.

But after being bombarded by the Ninth expeditionary army, they had all turned into wasteland.

“Vroooom—”

The off-road vehicle sped across the wilderness.

As always, Feilian sat in the driver’s seat.

To his right was the logistics man, Chu Yuan. In the back seat were Anran, Anna, and Daogu.

Everyone was conserving their energy, and no one had much spirit left for idle chatter.

This operation was an infiltration mission.

Naturally, the risks were far greater than before.

If not for the intelligence that might exist there, they would not have needed to make a move at all.

But this was also a necessary part of things.

Only by dragging Morningstar out of the shadows could the government forces ensure victory in the war.

Anran silently began taking stock of the weapons and defensive gear she could use.

First, the mechanical footgear on her feet.

Then, the assault rifle in her hands, plus two short blades and two pistols holstered at her waist.

She was wearing body armor on her upper body.

In the backpack behind her were the disassembled mechanical armguard, several High-Energy Explosives, and some incendiary rounds.

Anything more would have been inconvenient to carry. Weapons like sniper rifles were all being carried by Daogu.

The off-road vehicle steadily drew closer to the destination.

“Our mission is to steal the enemy’s information. If it really proves impossible, staying alive comes first,” Feilian said.

“Mm.” For once, Anna did not argue with him.

Barring surprises, there were at most only about a thousand people left in that stronghold.

Possibly even fewer, because some had gone to support Wutong City.

But that did not reduce the danger in the slightest.

They were heading straight into enemy territory.

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Target coordinates: E8-520, N20-1024.

But the assembly point was E8-370, N20-878.

After crossing the wilderness, another road appeared ahead.

Soon after, they saw a roadside motel.

It had a huge sign out front with a chunk missing from it, and a circle of wooden fencing around it. Several vehicles were parked inside the fence.

“Looks like quite a few people got here before us,” Feilian said as he jumped out of the vehicle first.

Anran and the others got down right after him, carrying their gear.

The motel door was not closed. It swayed in the wind.

Before she even got close, Anran heard loud laughter coming from inside.

Pretty harmonious atmosphere, huh.

That was what Anran thought.

But once the door was pushed open and she saw what was happening inside, she did not think that anymore.

My eyes!

Anran immediately turned her head away.

This was the situation.

In the fairly spacious lobby, nearly twenty people were standing around in scattered groups.

They were very obviously split into four camps.

One side was made up of brawny men roaring with laughter.

One side was made up of men and women enjoying the show.

One side was a crowd frowning slightly and saying nothing.

And the last side was a group with anger on their faces.

Especially the one standing in the middle. His shirt had several holes in it, his pants had been torn to shreds, and his red underwear was exposed.

At that moment, his face was red as he desperately tugged at his ruined pants.

“You people are going too far!” someone from the torn-pants side shouted.

The first big bruiser laughed loudly. “How could that be? His clothes were obviously just poor quality. They fell apart with one little tug.”

The hell did you even do to him?

Anran complained inwardly.

“Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re from Nine Songs!” a young man in gray shouted angrily.

“Sorry, but I can do whatever I want. What are you going to do about it?”

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The first bruiser’s face turned cold.

He snorted heavily. “So the little Security Department brats are getting cocky now? Since when did you lot dare bark in front of me?”

“Even that Zheng Han guy isn’t worth anything in our boss’s eyes. What the hell are you people?”

The lackeys behind the first bruiser immediately started shouting along with him.

A conflict between Nine Songs and the Security Department?

Anran raised her head and heard Feilian say quietly, “That guy is Berg, captain of the team ranked third.”

Looking at everyone else’s expressions, Anran saw that they all looked like they understood perfectly and found the scene nothing unusual.

Maybe Feilian had spoken a little too loudly.

Berg turned his gaze over.

He looked at Feilian first. “So it’s Feilian, the newly promoted number six.”

That half-smiling expression on his face was just begging to be punched.

This kind of person had a filthy mouth.

Anran stayed silent.

But very quickly, Berg shifted his gaze onto her.

“I heard your team recruited two pretty impressive newcomers. They came in and cleared several missions in a row. They even killed a Morningstar mutt that had been enhanced with drugs. Was it her?”

Berg pointed a finger at Anran.

At once, everyone’s eyes in the room turned toward her.

Including Red-Underwear Guy.

Some were curious, some surprised, some disbelieving, and some disdainful.

“This shrimp killed a B+-rated Morningstar mutt?” Berg widened his eyes and said it in an exaggerated tone.

“???”

Anran’s gaze turned cold.

I play with stat points, asshole. I’m completely different from muscleheads like you.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Feilian spoke first.

“It means nothing. I’m just saying, you really can’t judge a book by its cover.” Berg’s facial expression deserved an eighty-two out of a hundred.

Anran used Scout.

Name: Berg

Race: Human

Sex: Male

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Level: 16

HP: ???

Stamina: ???

Six Stats: Strength 43, Agility 21, Endurance 39, Intelligence 19, Spirit 17, Charm 5

So he’s a tank.

With stats like that—

“With your level of strength, you’re still not as good as Sandi. Want to go outside and have a little spar?” Anran said with a smile on her lips.

Back down?

How could she back down at a time like this?

Whoever backed down was a dog.

With assholes like this who loved stirring up trouble, this was exactly the wrong time to indulge them. She should not think down at a time like this?

Whoever backed down was a dog.

With assholes like this who loved stirring up trouble, this was exactly the wrong time to indulge them. She should not think that swallowing it now would stop him from causing trouble later.

Anran could tell that Berg and Feilian had history. She had only been dragged into it.

“Holy shit, did I hear that right? She wants to fight the boss?”

“Put both her legs together, and are they even thicker than the boss’s arm?”

“Little girl, want to come have some fun with big brother here? Ah-heh-heh, ah-heh-heh-heh.”

The bruisers behind Berg burst into laughter.

“Want to give it a try?”

Anran directly drew her gun and pointed it at the one who was still going ah-heh-heh.

“…”

The air in the motel instantly froze.

“Heh. Heh.”

His laugh cut off on the spot.

Berg narrowed his eyes, his anger undisguised. “Feilian, this is the kind of newcomer you trained?”

“So what if she is?” Feilian fired back immediately. “Though I do remember someone who used to take a detour whenever he saw our former captain.”

“Very good.” Berg cracked his knuckles. “Since you want to have a little spar…”

He looked at Anran. “Then let’s—”

Bang!

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At that moment, the motel’s front door was kicked open.

The huge noise instantly cut off Berg’s words.

“Which dumb bastard has been insulting our Security Department?!”

When Anran turned her head, she saw a sickly-looking silver-haired young man.

“Captain Zheng!” Red-Underwear Guy shouted in delight at once.

So this was Zheng Han?

The moment Zheng Han appeared, he immediately pulled all of Berg’s hostility onto himself.

Red-Underwear Guy said aggrievedly, “Captain Zheng, it was him!”

He pointed at Berg.

“So it was you!” Zheng Han strode straight over.

“Feeling pretty arrogant?” He was a full head shorter than Berg. “Got the guts to step outside and fight?”

Berg was so angry he laughed. Every single one of them was this full of themselves now?

“Fine. If I don’t beat you half to death today, I’ll write my name backwards.”

After a burst of commotion, Berg and Zheng Han went outside.

The guy who had been snickering earlier passed by Anran with a sinister look in his eyes.

“What are you looking at? Got the guts to fight?”

Anran barked back. She suddenly realized that Aila’s favorite line, “Are you trying to fight me?” sounded pretty imposing too.

The snickering guy gritted his teeth and slunk away with his tail between his legs.

“Trash!” Daogu cursed.

“Plus one,” Anna said.

“I think Brother Daogu is absolutely right,” Chu Yuan added, twisting the knife.

“(▼皿▼＃)”

The snickering guy slammed the door behind him and left.

Feilian walked over to Anran’s side and said, “Sorry for dragging you into this. Berg’s team used to be ranked fourth, and our old captain kept them suppressed the whole time, so they’ve always liked picking fights with us. Berg probably isn’t as strong as you, but the strongest one on their team isn’t Berg. It’s someone nicknamed Crescent.”

What a mess.

This mission was not going to be easy.

Anran frowned.

If she kept staying in Nine Songs, there were simply too many troublesome things to deal with.