Chapter 44: The Camp
At that moment, in the frontline war zone of District Three’s northern hemisphere, the main city’s defensive line had fallen, and a large number of parasitized sentinels and guides were flooding in.
The second-stage parasitic aliens inside their bodies controlled them, searching the city where crowds were scattering and fleeing for bodies that were more compatible.
Under an attack from a rather unskilled mental tendril, a girl whom the Empire had identified as a D-rank guide fell onto the road, helplessly looking at the city residents fleeing blindly around her.
Just as that mental tendril was about to invade her consciousness cloud, a rhinoceros that had appeared from nowhere smashed through the controlled guide’s body, instantly causing the parasitic zerg that had been attacking to lose control.
Because its host body was damaged, the second-stage zerg hiding inside the controlled guide’s consciousness cloud had no choice but to stop its attack and heal the damage to this body.
But before the gaping hole in her body could even begin to heal, a powerful bite crushed the controlled guide’s skull, physically destroying the consciousness cloud inside completely.
“Soldier 0934, please do not waste time on a D-rank guide. Our primary objective is to rescue the high-ranking humans in the city.”
Hearing the voice from the Imperial command center, the rhinoceros beastman impatiently cut off the connection and complained through another communication channel, “Damn it, what the hell is the Empire’s command center doing?”
“Aistani, say less. Our objective this time is only to rescue one hundred high-bloodline humans. The requirements from their command center are basically reducing our workload.”
“Tsk.”
Listening to his teammate’s reminder through the optical brain, Aistani irritably dealt with the controlled sentinel attacking him. Then he shifted back into human form and pulled up the girl sitting on the road.
“Are you all right?”
“Thank you.”
The girl withdrew the mental tendrils that had been exposed because she had lost control and thanked the rhinoceros beastman.
“Follow the beastman soldiers over there. There is a military camp to the southeast up ahead. They will ensure your safety.”
Facing Aistani’s reminder, the girl smiled helplessly and thanked him again for his help. Then she refused the beastman military’s assistance.
“I’m only a D-rank guide. The Imperial military won’t provide safety protection for people like us. But still, thank you for helping me.”
After the girl finished speaking, she did not notice Aistani’s furrowed brow before turning first and running toward the crowd.
“Soldier 0934, the monitor shows a high-rank guide at your ten o’clock. Please proceed to support them immediately.”
The line from the Imperial command center connected again.
Receiving the order, Aistani withdrew his gaze from the girl and turned, running in the direction indicated by the command.
…
The Empire’s Independent District, Supreme Military Headquarters Building.
Felix, dressed in the uniform of an Iskan marshal, sat inside the Imperial military command center and quietly watched the humans before him dispatch his soldiers.
When he saw one commander actively give up on rescuing a low-rank guide after detecting a high-rank sentinel, Felix’s lips pulled into a mocking smile. Then he pulled Jin Chi’an beside him a little closer.
“Felix, we’re working right now.”
Jin Chi’an grabbed the arm around his waist and looked up at Felix beside him with slight dissatisfaction.
Felix did not care at all about the gazes of the others in the command room. He very naturally moved his hand toward the place where Jin Chi’an’s brand was, then leaned close to his ear and said, “Our job this time is only to monitor whether the Empire’s orders to Iskan soldiers fall within regulations.”
“Then you should still work seriously.”
Jin Chi’an pulled the tiger paw that had slipped into his clothes back out and instinctively glanced at the busy Imperial soldiers around them.
“What exactly is wrong with you?”
Facing Jin Chi’an’s somewhat angry expression, Felix put on a wronged look and deliberately turned his head away, exposing the brand behind his ear toward Jin Chi’an.
“This planet is currently in winter.”
“Don’t tell me you’re…”
A blush instantly rose across Jin Chi’an’s cheeks. His last experience in the wilderness made alarm bells ring in his head, and he deliberately shifted farther away.
However, before Felix beside him could react, an Imperial guide hurriedly appeared in front of them and said nervously, “Marshal Felix, may I ask if Iskan medical personnel can be mobilized to join the battle? a zerg invasion has appeared at the rear camp in District Three.”
“District Three rear camp?”
Jin Chi’an was the first to catch the key words. He hurriedly straightened up and quickly opened a call with Lin Chuan through his optical brain.
“Lin Chuan!”
“Jin Chi’an?”
Lin Chuan on the other end of the line seemed shocked by his call. Then, after seeing the situation before him clearly, he reacted and said, “I know what you want to ask. An uncleaned controlled guide has appeared in the rear camp. The medical area has been forcibly sealed off.”
Lin Chuan released mental power, restricting the alien-controlled guide’s mental tendrils within a certain range.
While he was holding the other party back, the medical guides in the medical area were doing everything they could to transport the high bloodlines identified by the Empire, completely ignoring the crisis currently unfolding in the medical area.
As the other party’s resisting mental power grew stronger and stronger, both Lin Chuan and Ameili, who were forming the defensive barrier, began to feel overwhelmed.
Only after the last high-bloodline patient was transported away did the mental net Lin Chuan had placed around the zerg guide slowly withdraw, gradually retreating from the medical area.
The moment he completely pulled out of the medical area, the alien’s mental attack landed fully on Ameili.
Facing a mental power far stronger than before, Ameili released even more tendrils at once to resist. Then she ordered the medical guides outside the door, “Continue transporting the wounded to the safe zone.”
The sudden order made Lin Chuan freeze. Then he looked at Ameili with an expression of disbelief.
“Have you lost your mind? That alien’s mental power is growing like crazy. The people left are nothing more than…”
“Low-rank humans?”
A layer of disappointment flashed through Ameili’s eyes. Then she continued releasing mental tendrils, filling in the gap left by Lin Chuan’s mental power.
“Lin Chuan, you and I should understand better than anyone how long it takes awakened humans without the support of high bloodlines to enter Loewitt Academy, or climb to a position in the military.”
“Tsk.”
Lin Chuan impatiently turned his head aside. After hesitating for a moment, he finally reentered the medical area.
“What do you need me to do?”
“I will issue a consciousness-control command to her main body. When that happens, she will need to withdraw part of her main body’s mental power to modify the command. Take that chance to drag her out of the consciousness cloud.”
As Ameili spoke to Lin Chuan, her mental body, a butterfly, flew in front of the controlled guide and released a powerful hallucinogenic mental force.
Seeing the zerg main body whose external mental power was gradually decreasing because the parasite had been interfered with, Lin Chuan gritted his teeth and released his mental tendrils again, attacking the consciousness cloud woven into a nest.
But just as his attacking tendrils were about to touch the alien’s main body, a powerful mental energy knocked both of their attacks away.
The alien, having regained control of the body, adjusted the expression on the guide’s face and put on an especially displeased look.
“This body’s compatibility is truly awful. It was actually controlled by hallucinogenic mental power so easily.”
“That tone…”
Jin Chi’an’s voice came again from the still-connected line.
“Oshita.”
“What did you say?”
Unable to understand Jin Chi’an’s mutter, Lin Chuan asked in confusion.
But before he could wait for an answer, Jin Chi’an’s order came first.
“Reduce contact with that zerg on your side. I will come reinforce you immediately.”
Sitting in the command room, Jin Chi’an pushed Felix’s hand away and asked the Imperial commander in front of him, who had come to request reinforcement transfer, “Is there an aircraft heading to that rear base?”
“Yes. The military is currently transferring personnel there to retrieve the trapped high-ranking humans.”
“I’ll go with them.”
Jin Chi’an clenched his fists, constantly paying attention to the movements on the other end of the optical brain connection.
But as he hurriedly got up, Felix grabbed his arm, clearly intending to stop him.
“No. Our mission this time is only to provide troops to the Empire.”
“Felix…”
Facing Felix’s refusal, Jin Chi’an looked troubled and said solemnly to him, “That zerg is Oshita.”
“In that case, leave it to the Empire’s people to deal with.”
Felix’s tone was firm.
“This is different, Felix. I’ve fought Oshita many times. Sending me to reinforce them is definitely the safest method.”
“I do not agree to you going as reinforcement. You do not belong to the Iskan military, nor are you a human soldier. You have no obligation to support the Empire.”
Facing Felix’s firmness, Jin Chi’an sighed and used the shared sensation of their mental brand to soothe Felix’s emotions.
“Felix, let me go.”
Jin Chi’an’s voice traveled through their shared connection into Felix’s consciousness cloud. The forcibly soothed mental brand still carried lingering warmth. Felix had no choice but to suppress the unspoken frustration in his heart.
“Do you have to go?”
“Mm.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Felix waved his hand, signaling the human soldier beside him to prepare an aircraft.
In the end, under Jin Chi’an’s insistence, the aircraft took just over ten minutes to arrive at the rear camp where Lin Chuan was located.
The rear camp was currently a complete mess. The communication line, which had cut off because of signal disruption, connected again, and Lin Chuan’s weak voice reached Jin Chi’an’s ears.
“Jin Chi’an, that thing ran away.”
“Where are you?”
Before Jin Chi’an’s question had even finished, faint panting came from a collapsed ruin. Lin Chuan was leaning against a pillar, holding his head.
“Are you all right?”
Jin Chi’an jogged toward Lin Chuan’s position and tried to put Lin Chuan’s arm over his shoulder to carry him up.
Unexpectedly, his body suddenly felt light. The arm that had been resting on his shoulder was pulled away. Edwen had taken Lin Chuan from him and gestured toward him.
“brother-in-law, let me do it.”
After being helped up, Lin Chuan coughed lightly. He gradually came back to himself from his daze and adjusted the chaos inside his consciousness cloud. Then he looked toward a pile of ruins.
“Teacher Ameili, she…”
Following Lin Chuan’s gaze, Jin Chi’an looked toward the collapsed area and saw Ameili lying beneath the rubble, her face deathly pale.
“Begin rescue immediately. Monitor all zerg energy present in the current area.”
Felix reacted one step ahead and gave orders to the soldiers beside him. Then he wrapped an arm around Jin Chi’an’s waist, pulling him into his protected range.
“Be careful. There may still be residual aliens around. Judging from this scale, the other side most likely brought first-stage aliens.”
