CR CH7

Chapter 7: Simulated Combat

Federal Command Center.

“Captain Ling.”

“Captain Ling…”

Ling Kongmiao strode purposefully toward the command headquarters. People stopped to greet him along the way, and he nodded in acknowledgment, though his grim expression made it clear that his mood was far from light.

As he turned a corner, a capable and composed woman stepped out. She wore the high-ranking uniform of a command officer, with short hair, a tall figure, and an air of calm authority. She was currently furrowing her brows while giving instructions to an aide.

Seeing Ling Kongmiao, she stopped.

“Captain Ling, you’re here.”

The aide nodded to them and hurried toward the conference room. Ling Kongmiao extended a hand. “Commander Jiang, you’ve worked hard.”

His eyes swept over the bustling people nearby, and he lowered his voice. “How is the situation?”

“The situation is stabilized. The mutated energy core has been destroyed. Fortunately, Commander Jiang arrived just in time; if it weren’t for his extensive experience, the outcome would have been hard to predict.”

“Was there any anomaly at the scene?”

Jiang Yan knew what he was asking. She remained silent for a moment, then gave a slight shake of her head.

“No.”

After the Zerg were eradicated, the galaxy had enjoyed a brief period of peace, but it didn’t last long. Various planets began reporting the emergence of mutated entities and psychic domains. People had long suspected it was a retaliatory measure left behind by the Zerg, but it had never been verified.

The appearance of these new entities once caused widespread panic, but fortunately, the Federation quickly stabilized the situation and established Special Assistance Departments (SAD) to combat them.

Originally, the situation was under control, but a few years ago, an accident occurred during an experiment named “E07.” What was originally founded to study “Psychic Disorder Syndrome” evolved into a catastrophe.

The “E07” mutated experimental subject escaped. Its power far exceeded ordinary mutated entities, and it possessed a psychic domain. Even the Federation’s Special Assistance teams at the time could not completely eliminate it. “E07” broke through various interstellar strongholds and finally, energy-depleted, fled to an energy-rich planet, becoming the largest “core” of them all.

Ever since then, the power of mutated entities and psychic domains had been continuously evolving.

A silence fell between the two. Jiang Yan spoke first.

“However, the process of this A-level escalating to S-level was extremely similar to the ‘Blood Capsule Project.’ All metrics were in a normal state, but at one moment, the energy changed drastically. The process took only a few seconds. With our current operational plans, we have no way to counter it.”

Ling Kongmiao lowered his eyes, saying nothing, only nodding. “I understand.”

“Good.” Jiang Yan tapped her fingers against the arm she was holding, asking as if casually, “Tianji… hasn’t been causing trouble for you, Captain Ling?”

“The child is used to being undisciplined; don’t be too polite to him.”

Ling Kongmiao’s gaze flickered slightly at these words, and he remained composed. “No, he’s been quite obedient.”

Jiang Yan suddenly laughed, her brows arching with ambiguity. “Is that so?”

Ling Kongmiao smiled back, not picking up the thread.

“Jiang Ziming was injured quite badly this time; I’m going to go see him.” He waved at Jiang Yan. “Commander Jiang, carry on with your work.”

“Take care.”

He hadn’t gone two steps when a voice came from behind.

“Captain Ling.”

Ling Kongmiao turned back to meet Jiang Yan’s somewhat complex gaze.

“Tianji is a good seed. If possible, please guide him. Perhaps following you, he might find the right direction.” She said in a deep voice, “And this is not just as a mother’s request.”

Ling Kongmiao paused for a moment on her rank insignia and nodded.

“Understood.”

The fogginess in his brain gradually faded, as if a gentle stream were nourishing him. The soreness and fatigue vanished, and his body felt light.

Jiang Tianji stretched, yawning in satisfaction.

“Drip.”

“Roar…”

Suddenly, a strange sound erupted. It was like liquid hitting the ground, accompanied by a hoarse, grating low roar.

Jiang Tianji opened his eyes in confusion. The first thing that entered his vision was a blood-red maw, dripping with drool and dark red liquid, constantly expanding before his eyes.

Jiang Tianji’s pupils constricted minutely. While his expression froze, his instincts kicked in, and he dodged to the side.

Only then did he see the monster’s true form: it was a deformed mutant, shaped like a giant wolf. Its eyeballs were swollen and protruding, covered in pathological bloodshot veins, and it was twice the size of an ordinary wolf.

The monster missed its strike, slowly shifting its massive body, its eyes fixed intently on Jiang Tianji.

Back against a large tree, Jiang Tianji had no time to ponder why he was here. He stared at the gaping mouth opposite him, catching the faint, rotten stench of decay. Cold sweat began to crawl down his spine, his heart thumping wildly. Jiang Tianji retreated backward behind the tree with extreme caution.

The mutated giant wolf leaped up, lunging toward his position.

Jiang Tianji saw the creature’s jump, quickly lowered his body to roll aside, and then climbed up the tree with the fastest speed of his life.

While watching the giant wolf’s movements, he frantically patted his body—and the more he felt, the heavier his heart sank.

He didn’t have a single weapon.

What on earth was going on? He had clearly been in the training room a moment ago.

But before he could think, the giant wolf discovered his location and began to attack the tree frantically.

The body of the tree shook violently. Jiang Tianji felt a touch of despair. He frowned and searched his surroundings for a place to hide, but the forest was too dense; he couldn’t see anything…

Seeing the tree about to collapse, Jiang Tianji gritted his teeth, leaped down, and began to run for his life.

The giant wolf was much faster than him, but it seemed to have very low intelligence. As long as Jiang Tianji climbed a tree, it would prioritize attacking the tree, ignoring whether Jiang Tianji was still on it or not.

This discovery made him quietly heave a sigh of relief, but consuming time like this wasn’t a solution.

From the corner of his eye, Jiang Tianji spotted a narrow cave ahead. Without hesitation, he ran toward the entrance. The giant wolf behind him was in hot pursuit, and the increasingly close roar made his scalp tingle.

As he reached the cave entrance, he slid in on his side, leaning against the wall, panting heavily.

The giant wolf could only futilely reach out with its claws, letting out an angry roar.

“ROAR—”

The roar shook dust down from the cave walls. Jiang Tianji arched his body in alert, but fortunately, after a moment, the sounds of the giant wolf leaving echoed away.

Silence returned to the cave. Jiang Tianji couldn’t help but touch his heart, breathing rapidly.

But then, the cold sweat on his back was hit by a gust of wind, causing him to shiver instantly.

The light at the cave entrance suddenly dimmed, becoming pitch black. Jiang Tianji seemed to realize something; his face paled visibly, and he raised his head with extreme slowness.

“BANG—”

A massive sound accompanied the fall of rocks, and the cave entrance was smashed to pieces by some monstrous force.

A giant bear head suddenly stuck in, its eyes exuding a terrifying, murderous glint in the darkness. It lunged suddenly toward Jiang Tianji’s face, its fangs less than five centimeters from his head, the roar almost shredding his eardrums.

“ROAR—!!”

“…”

Jiang Tianji felt the blood in his body rush backward. A tingling numbness spread through his limbs, and his ears rang with a constant buzzing sound.

In the giant bear’s eyes, this person was terrifyingly calm.

However, the very next second—

He suddenly slid down limply, his head hitting the ground, and he fell completely unconscious.

“…Eh?”

The giant bear’s ferocious expression froze, as if it had been startled. A puzzled syllable popped out of its mouth, which sounded distinctly like human language.

“No, I haven’t even done anything yet. Why did he faint?”

“Simulated combat ended.”

Before he finished speaking, the mechanical electronic voice sounded, and the scene before his eyes dissipated.

Zhao Hengyi flipped out of the cockpit, his face full of disbelief.

“That drooling wolf was so ugly it didn’t scare him unconscious, yet I’m so handsome and dashing, and he just fainted like that?”

“What is his deal?”

Zhao Hengyi, member of Special Assistance Team 1.

Ability: Super Strength.

Awakened Beast Form: Mutant Entity, Giant Bear.

A colleague nearby couldn’t help but speak a word of justice.

“Officer Zhao, I just said, as a newcomer, his reaction time is already qualified. I checked the data; this kid was only dragged out of school the day before yesterday. The only way they see mutated entities is by going online.”

Zhao Hengyi felt a bit guilty. “…I saw him being quite calm, so I wanted to go in and test his comprehensive ability. Who knew he was so sensitive to stimulation?”

The colleague rolled his eyes. “You went to test him?”

Zhao Hengyi: “Otherwise what?!”

“I thought you had a vendetta against him. Watch the replay. Anyone who sees that bear face will be scared to death. There’s no human element to it!”

“No, Technician Jiang, are you looking for trouble with me?”

“You’re blaming me for looking for trouble? Just wait for Captain Ling to return. What you just did was against regulations! If you scare the kid into a nervous breakdown, you’re dead meat!”

“I…”

Seeing the two of them about to quarrel, a voice suddenly came from the doorway.

“What are you arguing about?”

Ling Kongmiao walked into the training base. He had just hung up his comms, his brow still tightly furrowed.

He had gone to the SAD headquarters to see Jiang Ziming’s condition. The man had started complaining the moment he saw him, asking when he would come back to take over the mess, saying he had lost weight and been injured, and that this kind of hardship should be borne by Ling Kongmiao, not him.

Even the Z01 basic combat force, filled with superior alphas, was nowhere near enough to be worth Ling Kongmiao’s takeover. Everyone knew why he was transferred there.

After leaving, the messages had been one after another. Old foxes were testing his attitude sideways. After the “Blood Capsule” incident, the atmosphere above was tense. He was feeling annoyed and had come to see if Jiang Tianji’s training quota was up to standard—only to walk in and find his own subordinates arguing with someone again.