A "coo" sound seemed to be giving orders to the Blade Beasts.
Wang Jixuan quickly noticed this change, and a portion of the Blade Beasts attacking the fortress and camp began to retreat. The group of Blade Beasts appeared to be in disarray, like two opposing tides.
At that moment…
Coo—
It was the young king bug!
Wang Jixuan turned sharply, looking in the direction of the strange sound, which came from the northwest, where he could see a stretch of sand dunes.
The Blade Beasts were all retreating at the same time. The human army fired at full force, immediately pursuing them, and Wang Jixuan heard shouts in his earpiece.
Uncle Tai and Wan Xiaoqi were cheering; the commander was calling for firepower to chase; and Ling Tong was asking how things were going… Ah, I need to reply to this.
"Nothing much, Commander, don’t worry about me," Wang Daochang quickly said, "Are you in pursuit?"
"Our principle is to fight where our firepower can effectively cover."
Ling Tong's voice remained very relaxed:
"Remember the two hours of massage you promised earlier. I’ll clean up the battlefield first and then hunt them down appropriately."
"No problem," Wang Jixuan replied immediately, "Don’t chase too deep… I heard the pigeon coo twice. The first command came from the fortress side, and then some Blade Beasts started to retreat, causing confusion. The second time was from the young king bug, in the northwest direction, and all the Blade Beasts began to retreat."
"Understood, I will report this information."
Ling Tong continued:
"Several unfamiliar spiritual energy users have appeared at the fortress. They are not registered and may be helpers invited by Qin Qin. Please do not approach the fortress for now."
"Okay."
Wang Jixuan agreed, and Ling Tong had already hung up the communication.
Zheng Shiduo shouted from the side, "Coordination complete! We can go now, big guy!"
"I'm tired," Wang Daochang said, sitting on top of the armored vehicle, waving his hand at Zheng Shiduo, "See you later, I’m disappearing into the camp."
Zheng Shiduo blinked and quickly said, "Got it! I’ll handle the cleanup!"
This guy is quite reliable.
Wang Jixuan took out the remote control from his pocket, casually tossed it over, then jumped off the armored vehicle and ran toward the camp in the morning light.
Time to get some crystal cores!
After all…
The crystal cores dug up by the Black Storm have nothing to do with him, Wang Zheng!
Zheng Shiduo trembled as he caught the remote control, let out a long breath, and looked up at Wang Jixuan's rapidly disappearing figure.
Voices from his teammates came through the earpiece:
"Zheng Team, is that your old flame?"
"He’s so fierce! He throws explosives with such confidence and accuracy. Thanks to him, we might have been in trouble otherwise."
"I advise you to watch your words, or I’ll record it."
Zheng Shiduo clicked his tongue:
"This guy is favored by Ling Tong; you all know her personality."
"Damn, Captain, I was wrong! Don’t record it!"
"Major Ling Tong is the fiercest! Ugh, I mean the cutest!"
"How many of us are left in the team?"
"Eight? Nine?"
"Eleven, Captain. Eighteen came, seven are down."
Zheng Shiduo smiled: "Let’s throw a farewell party for them later, cremating their bodies together… We must show full respect to our fallen teammates, no taking their personal belongings, and definitely no damaging their remains."
Half of the team cheered, then started complaining:
"Captain, that’s a waste of resources!"
"I wanted to make a specimen of my boyfriend’s little sapling; we fit so well together."
"That’s a bit gross; I just wanted to sleep with my roommate one more time."
"How do you sleep?"
"Normal sleep! You filthy bastards!"
Zheng Shiduo: …
He often felt out of place with his team for not being twisted enough.
…
Forty-two crystal cores!
And in terms of quality, most of them could match what he got last time at the Spiritual Energy House!
Wang Daochang looked at the pile of spoils on his bed and smiled with narrowed eyes.
He quickly wrapped the crystal cores with sealing talismans, leaving three for later cultivation, and divided the rest into three areas, casting a spell to minimize spiritual energy fluctuations.
Then he jumped back onto the bed.
Out of energy?
Just fill up with crystal core spiritual energy!
These crystal cores should be enough for him to step into the next stage of the Gathering Spirit realm, and then he would focus on absorbing spiritual energy, refining his body, and strengthening his soul, taking steady steps!
Wang Jixuan activated the formation plate, embracing the essence, and a stream of spiritual energy quickly released, which he rapidly absorbed.
Now was a great time for cultivation; both inside and outside the camp were busy cleaning up the battlefield, replenishing ammunition, and coordinating supplies.
The Blade Beasts were retreating voluntarily, not all were wiped out.
The battles on the outskirts of the Central Basin war zone were getting fiercer, with new groups of Blade Beasts joining the fight, creating some pressure on the entire D5 integrated war zone.
Fortunately, the D5 integrated war zone had a relatively long history and abundant material reserves, so supporting the Central Basin war zone for several months of high-intensity warfare was not a problem.
After all, the resources in these fortresses were all prepared for the war against the Blade Beasts.
Rumors about the Black Storm had already spread throughout the military camp.
Plus, with the previous tales of the Black Storm punishing gangs in the lower city, the soldiers were excitedly discussing this suddenly appearing mysterious spiritual energy user.
Most believed that the Black Storm was a spiritual energy user created by the military, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers in the camp.
The battles around dawn consumed a lot of ammunition, but since the defense line wasn’t breached by the Blade Beasts, there were no significant casualties among the soldiers.
It was also fortunate that the Blade Beasts didn’t fight to the end; otherwise, if there was a gap in the camp's firepower network, it could easily lead to a catastrophic collapse.
Wang Jixuan had just been cultivating for less than half an hour when there was a knock at the door.
His spiritual awareness had already sensed it, so he put away the formation plate, stood up, and opened the door.
Ling Tong, dressed in white battle gear, came into view.
She was sizing up Wang Jixuan from head to toe.
Uncle Tai shouted from behind, "See! I told you he wasn’t injured!"
Wan Jie raised her hand to hit him, and Uncle Tai quickly shut up, lowering his head to eat breakfast.
"Mechanic Wang Zheng," Ling Tong said coldly, "Because you disobeyed orders and fought on your own, joining the assault team without permission, the D5 integrated war zone command expresses its dissatisfaction."
Wang Jixuan smiled and nodded, "I thought it would be a reprimand."
"I received two messages."
Ling Tong’s icy demeanor softened a bit as she shrugged:
"The first message was a reprimand, but after a few seconds, a second message came, changing the tone to dissatisfaction."
"Rest assured, I won’t delay the follow-up research on the Demon-Dispelling Dagger."
Wang Daochang noticed a bandage on Ling Tong's swan-like neck.
"You’re injured?"
"I got scratched by flying rocks during the battle, just a surface wound. What about you?"
"I'm fine."
"What kind of magic did you use on Zheng Shiduo?" Ling Tong looked slightly disgusted, "He’s been raving about the Black Storm, even saying he wants to start a Black Storm cult to recruit followers."
Wang Daochang frowned and pouted.
In their cultivation world, only those who couldn’t break through their own cultivation and wanted to take a crooked path would set up temples and teach.
"Come in and talk," Wang Jixuan said, "Or we can go to the dining table."
"I can’t take a break yet; I just came back temporarily to check on you."
Ling Tong quickly said:
"This battle caused significant losses to the Blade Beast group; they retreated underground, following the tunnels they previously constructed.
"We don’t have enough drilling bombs and are trying to track the movements of these Blade Beasts to determine the location of that young king bug.
"The space fortress has prepared three tactical nuclear bombs and one tri-phase bomb, ready to support us at any time.
"However, due to the excessive consumption of nuclear bombs in previous battles and the fact that there are war zones worldwide, the average number of nuclear bombs per region is insufficient. We need a certain number of Blade Beasts before the space fortress will deploy these bombs.
"Do you have any information regarding the young king bug?"
Wang Jixuan thought carefully and said softly, "Meng Caiyuan, that failed spiritual energy user who can give orders to lower-level Blade Beasts, I suspect he can communicate with the young king bug."
"Mm…"
Ling Tong pondered carefully and said softly:
"I'm going to the fortress Spiritual Energy House next to capture Qin Qin.
"Do you want to come along? Under the identity of the Black Storm.
"Because of your actions last night, the Black Storm’s identity can no longer be hidden from the Thirteen Institutes. Now the Joint Defense Army will firmly protect you; we just need to separate the identities of Black Storm and Wang Zheng, and there shouldn’t be any major issues."
"Okay," Wang Jixuan nodded immediately, "I also want to meet those unfamiliar spiritual energy users… Zheng Shiduo has changed my view of this group."
Ling Tong reminded him: "Perceptions can only be about individuals, not groups. Everyone's past is complex; there are extremely evil people in the military as well, and most spiritual energy users are puppets of the Thirteen Institutes."
"I understand that well. Just wait a moment while I change clothes."
Wang Jixuan was about to close the door when he paused, extending his finger towards Ling Tong’s neck.
Ling Tong tensed up a bit, but she remained calm and restrained, not retaliating.
Tap.
Wang Jixuan’s finger touched the bandage over her wound, and strands of spiritual energy soaked in.
A slight black mist spread out, vanishing into the air, while a faint tingling sensation appeared at her wound.
Wang Daochang had actually noticed a trace of stagnant energy lingering in the area, which hadn’t yet invaded Ling Tong’s mind.
However, when he was in a good mood, he would also pay attention to emotional intelligence.
"Such nice skin; it wouldn’t be good to have a scar."
He closed the door and changed clothes.
Ling Tong stood at the door for a few seconds, then lowered her head and returned to her room.
She didn’t change clothes but took a short break, judging that this battle suit would still be useful.
…
Two helicopters landed in the center of the fortress military camp.
Wang Daochang, who had seen the traces of battle along the way, looked at the remains of the Blade Beasts with a sense of helplessness.
Crystal cores were a core resource needed by the Thirteen Institutes, and they were closely monitored, making it a top priority for them.
At this stage, the military had to follow the laws of the fortress era. They couldn’t send crystal cores to Wang Jixuan until they cleaned up the spies planted by the Thirteen Institutes within the military or completely severed ties with them.
—A small number of crystal cores were actually not hard to obtain; the military could organize trusted hunting teams to hunt Blade Beasts for crystal cores.
However, these would only be benefits that Wang Jixuan could receive after mutual trust with the military was upgraded.
Dozens of figures jumped down from the helicopter.
Ling Tong walked at the forefront, followed closely by Zheng Shiduo and several military personnel and spiritual energy users. Wang Jixuan, wearing a black helmet and black combat suit, carrying a baseball bag, followed behind them.
The elevator went straight to the third floor of the fortress.
The Spiritual Energy House was still occupied by hundreds of elite soldiers.
Most of the spiritual energy users stationed in the fortress had participated in the previous battlefield.
—As backup teams.
At this moment, these spiritual energy users were all under house arrest in the ground military camp, with fewer than ten legally stationed spiritual energy users in the Spiritual Energy House.
These guys were currently blocking the entrance to the laboratory.
Seeing this, Zheng Shiduo immediately wanted to bring out the aura of a "C-Class veteran" and scold these D-Class and E-Class spiritual energy users.
Ling Tong raised her right mechanical arm.
Buzz, whoosh!
A small pit emitting black smoke appeared on the concrete floor.
This group of spiritual energy users instantly became obedient, standing against the wall as if they were about to salute.
The sound of heavy footsteps approached the laboratory door, and Qin Qin, wearing a lab coat, appeared behind the glass door of the laboratory, smiling charmingly.
"Major Ling Tong, are you going to use an arrest warrant on me? Ah, the Black Storm has come too… Uncle Feng, this is the spiritual energy user created by the military that I mentioned to you."
Qin Qin smiled and took a step back.
An old man, somewhat thin, wearing a Tang suit and with his hands behind his back, walked to the laboratory door, looking at Ling Tong and Wang Jixuan with an unfriendly expression.
Wang Daochang had already noticed this guy; otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken the initiative to walk at the back of the line.
The old man had a powerful aura;
It was mottled and chaotic but carried a sense of 'order' born from chaos.
If comparing the amount of energy within the old man to Zheng Shiduo, it would be roughly equivalent to sixteen and a half of Zheng Shiduo.
Clearly… a B-Class spiritual energy user.
(End of Chapter)