CR CH11

Chapter 11: Special Support Team One

With a violent thrall, the mutated marine beast slammed its massive, muscular tail against the water. The colossal wave it kicked up instantly crystallized into a barrage of razor-sharp icicles, raining down upon the squad.

A gray, shell-like defensive barrier materialized in a flash, enveloping the team and deflecting the lethal strike.

A red-haired youth surged past the shattering icicles. Water patterns rippled and coalesced across his hands, sending violent tremors through the surrounding sea as the water weaponized into countless micro-blades.

The rest of the team ceased their attacks in perfect synchronization, swiftly retreating out of range.

A swirling tempest of water blades completely swarmed and hemmed in the giant beast. Crimson blood dyed the sea, accompanied by an enraged, piercing shriek as a sudden surge of mutated energy erupted from within its body. This was no ordinary, telegraphed gathering of energy—it detonated with a velocity that defied reaction.

“Fuck!”

You Li, the red-haired youth, instinctively raised his arms. Caught completely off guard with no time to dodge, he could only brace himself to take the brunt of the impact.

In the next instant, the gray defensive barrier completely wrapped around him. Aboard the back of the black falcon, Wei Jiangming kept his eyes intensely locked onto the marine beast’s movements.

Vibrant blue chains of energy suddenly tightened, pinning the colossal beast ruthlessly down into the depths of the ocean.

“Everyone else, fall back!”

Ling Kongmiao’s voice echoed across the void. As the energy chains were blasted apart by the residual shockwaves, his silhouette materialized for a fraction of a second before vanishing once more. He seemed to be searching for something. Sensing the anomaly, the marine beast concentrated its mutated energy, unleashing a relentless barrage toward the coordinates where Ling Kongmiao had just disappeared.

A flash of silver-white hair glimmered beneath the waves. The deep sapphire eyes of the captain reflected not the surging ocean waves, but a desolate, parched wasteland. Gentle blue bioluminescence floated up from the sea’s surface. The marine beast roared in absolute fury, as if struck by a profound mental interference; its surrounding domain began to destabilize, fracturing into a bizarre, distorted reality.

Zhao Hengyi scaled the precipitous cliffside, hoisting a massive battle-axe before hacking it downward toward the sea with shattering force.

Under his monstrous strength, the ocean was cleanly split into two distinct torrents. Being the closest to the blast radius, the moment he caught sight of the volatile energy fluctuating beneath the surface, he immediately threw himself backward. “Holy shit, pull back right now!”

Sensing the imminent energy eruption, the squad retreated at breakneck speed. Wei Jiangming furrowed his brows slightly, continuously channeling a steady stream of gray defensive energy toward his comrades.

Tang Min remained completely stationary. Her eyes were glued to the water’s surface, her petite figure standing absolutely resolute against the howling gales. With a flick of her wrist, the surrounding scenery violently warped.

“Split.”

The marine beast broke through the water once more, casting a grim, murderous shadow over the faces of the squad.

Yet, within the distorted space, the sea seemed to transform into a mirror and the sky into an ocean. An identical clone of the colossal beast materialized out of the bizarre firmament, hurtling down to collide violently with the real marine beast. Amidst the erupting mist of blood, a pitch-black feather forged from pure energy shot forth like an arrow breaking the sound barrier, piercing cleanly through the beast’s heart.

“Roar—!”

Severely crippled, the marine beast’s briefly manifested clone shattered into nothingness. In the ensuing chaos, a colossal black falcon took its place in the sky. Looking like a world-devouring shadow against the clouds, its razor-sharp talons dug into the marine beast as it attempted to dive back into the depths, hoisting it violently into the air.

“You Li!” a vibrant, cheerful female voice bellowed from above.

“On it—!”

The red-haired youth plunged into the sea. The ocean churned violently as the water turned a heavy, oppressive black, whipping up boundless currents of water blades that converged upon the mutated beast. You Li conjured a crescent blade of compressed water in his grip, driving it straight toward the beast’s fluctuating “core,” which was on the verge of collapse.

The dying beast shrieked continuously, its mangled tail exposing stark white bone amidst the crashing spray. Tang Min’s expression shifted drastically as she sensed a sudden anomaly.

“Sister Irene, it’s undergoing a secondary mutation!”

“What?!”

The black falcon, circling in wait, immediately dove down from the sky. The young girl grabbed hold of its talons, lightly vaulting onto the giant beast’s spine. She sprinted toward the vicinity of the core, utilizing her warping energy to continuously disrupt the mutation process.

The colossal beast thrashed its body violently. Under the severe interference, its energy readings turned highly volatile, forcing it to consume a massive amount of power to plunge back into the depths to seek temporary refuge.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—!”

Tang Min was flung high into the air by a strike from the beast’s tail. She was caught mid-air by the giant falcon, only to be promptly dropped back toward the ground.

“Ahhh! Brother Wei, save meeee!”

A flash of gray energy streaked past as Wei Jiangming caught the girl, sighing helplessly.

“Irene, I’ve told you countless times not to throw the kid.”

The black falcon let out a series of crisp chirps that sounded suspiciously like a rogue whistle, evidently paying his words no mind whatsoever.

“Something’s wrong, it’s trying to flee!”

In the sea, You Li noticed the sudden shift. After his red hair bobbed above the water for a brief moment, a brilliant silver light flashed, and a massive silver silhouette materialized beneath the waves. It rapidly closed in on the mutated beast, forming a pincer movement alongside Zhao Hengyi, who was piloting a naval battleship on the surface.

However, just as they were about to collide with the massive creature, it abruptly dove deeper into the ocean floor.

Reacting instantly, You Li dove straight down after it.

Abandoning the battleship’s controls, Zhao Hengyi stood at the bow, holding his axe and cursing at the top of his lungs: “Motherfucker, why are these monsters getting smarter and smarter lately—holy shit!”

Before his words could fully leave his mouth, the battleship was completely flipped over. A sharp, bone-like tail wrapped in dense energy easily impaled the vessel.

At that critical juncture, a violent gale of wind energy slammed him safely onto the cliffside. A figure appeared with ghost-like velocity; seeing You Li kick up a colossal wave, the newcomer raised his hand to conjure wind energy, coordinating seamlessly with him to repel the explosive shockwave the marine beast had unleashed to destroy the cliff.

Having successfully completed its secondary mutation, the S-class mutant had transformed into a mass of indestructible, colossal bone armor. Ye furrowed his brows.

“This is troublesome.”

Zhao Hengyi swung his massive axe, his face dark: “A new variant capable of secondary mutation… Its core is reaching its absolute limit. If we don’t destroy it now, we’re completely screwed. Where the hell is the Captain?!”

The residual energy signatures of Ling Kongmiao in the area had completely vanished. Ye remained entirely unperturbed, delivering a rare, lengthy assessment.

“The Captain has his own plans. Hold the line for now.”

“Get over here, I can’t hold it on my own!” You Li roared.

The massive silver silhouette swam rapidly toward the shoreline. The giant falcon intercepted the attacks of the bone-armored marine beast, allowing the team to leap onto the silver fish’s back in unison.

Fighting at sea severely restricted the effectiveness of the other squad members’ abilities.

Beyond the bone armor, the mutant’s body was a swirling mass of tides. Its speed was terrifying, and its bony tail was anything but rigid—it was flexible, sharp, and lethal. Caught off guard, You Li let out a muffled groan as blood bloomed in the surrounding waters.

“You Li!” Tang Min’s brows knit together. Abandoning her efforts to suppress the spreading mutation energy, she manifested another giant silver silhouette through her “Split” ability. “It’s no use, its energy can’t be contained anymore.”

“I’m fine.” Coordinating with Ye, You Li continuously attempted to pierce the beast’s defenses. With the assistance of the mirrored clone, they managed to temporarily pin the creature down. Taking advantage of the black falcon’s momentum, Zhao Hengyi struck relentlessly near its core.

They barely spoke, yet the team’s synergy was terrifyingly absolute.

With his right arm injured, Wei Jiangming utilized the brief windows of evasion to raise barriers for his comrades. The black falcon’s wings were pierced by icicles, leaving a trail of blood falling into the sea. A fracture splintered across the marine beast’s “core,” and its volatile mutation energy whipped up a violent tempest.

The squad had no choice but to fall back, leaving Wei Jiangming alone at the front line.

Right at that moment, the ocean water suddenly froze in place. A wisp of ethereal blue light floated up from the deep abyss. It acted like a blade slicing through a curtain, tearing away a corner of reality—this was a marine beast that possessed an S-class Domain.

Ling Kongmiao’s silhouette materialized upon the water’s surface. Unlike the others, his phantom-like form stood as firmly as if he were on solid ground. In an instant, chains erupted from all four corners of the deep sea, converging upon the marine beast.

The very moment the squad sensed their captain’s energy signature, they surged forward without a single shred of hesitation.

With the marine beast’s domain shattered, its overtaxed “core” lost its final line of defense. Tang Min used her energy to lock down the core that was on the verge of detonating. You Li’s water blades, entwined with the ethereal blue chains, pinned the beast immovably against the cliff face. Flanking it from the left and right, Zhao Hengyi and Ye swung their weapons down upon the colossal creature.

The marine beast unleashed an earth-shattering shriek, completely restrained and unable to move a muscle.

Boom—!

Standing atop the colossal bone armor, Ling Kongmiao slightly opened his elegant fingers, gathering a raging vortex of energy in his palm. His fingers clamped around the mutation “core” as it tore away from the marine beast’s body, crushing it with a single, forceful squeeze. The massive skeletal remains instantly lost all power, crumbling into fine ash below.

“Watch out,” he instructed his teammates calmly.

In the next instant, ethereal blue flames rapidly spread outward from beneath his feet like fire consuming a piece of parchment. Wherever the flames touched, the sea, the sky, the cliffs—everything ceased to exist.

The bones beneath Ling Kongmiao’s feet dissolved along with the rest of the illusion. Faint blue bioluminescent particles swirled around him, triggering an unannounced explosion of energy. The team felt themselves being consumed by the flames until nothing but a blanket of blue remained before their eyes.

When they finally opened their eyes, there was no sea, no giant beast—only a parched, desolate ruin, and… an absolute void beneath their feet.

“Ahhhhhhh—!”

Ling Kongmiao stood quietly on the cliffside all by himself, watching with his own two eyes as his teammates plummeted straight into the deep crater.

The black falcon descended from the sky, scooping up the screaming squad members onto its back before soaring back up to the cliff.

“Captain, you did that on purpose.”

Upon landing, the black falcon transformed back into a mature, vivacious woman. Irene looked at the furious squad members stomping up behind her and smirked.

“I told you to watch out.”

Ignoring his teammates’ indignant shouting, Ling Kongmiao raised his wrist. A virtual screen materialized before everyone’s eyes, and a flat, mechanical system voice chimed.

“Mission complete. Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”

The recording concluded there.

Long after the simulated scenario dissolved, the meeting room remained terrifyingly silent.

Jiang Tianji felt as though he had just finished watching a high-octane interstellar action movie; his gaze was completely vacant, the footage having thoroughly shattered his understanding of the world.

After sitting in a daze for a while, he suddenly realized something felt off. It felt rather warm, and a bit cramped.

Particularly, the hand currently resting on his thigh… Startled, he immediately turned his head to look.

The person beside him offered a sheepish grin, saying apologetically, “Ah, my bad. I got so sucked into the video that I didn’t realize where I put my hand.”

Jiang Tianji: “…It’s fine.”

The aisles and spaces between seats had somehow become completely packed with people. The once spacious meeting room was now incredibly congested; to save space, the crowd had sensibly huddled close together.

Jiang Tianji had never witnessed such a sight before. After a brief moment of bewilderment, he instinctively looked toward his own captain, only to discover that two people were actually sitting right on his captain’s lap.

Noticing his gaze, the two individuals gave him an enthusiastic wave.

Ji Yandong exchanged a slightly awkward glance with him: “Yeah… you get used to it.”

“…”

Recalling how these three had spoken in perfect unison earlier, Jiang Tianji let out a dry laugh. He finally understood exactly where their absolute confidence came from.

The instructor seated at the front seemed entirely accustomed to this display. Seeing that the time was about ripe, he cleared his throat.

The crowd snapped out of their daze. The personnel from the other departments expertly hunched their backs, executing an orderly and quiet exit from the room.

Highly disciplined, and remarkably polite.

Jiang Tianji: “…”

Author’s Note:

A little bit of world-building and combat display~

Here is part one of the Special Support Team One member profiles!

Name: Ye

• Role: Combat Division
• Classification: Male Beta
• Ability: Wind
• Beast Form: Unawakened

Name: Irene Gordon

• Classification: Female Alpha
• Role: Combat Division
• Abilities: “Healing” and “Corrosion”
• Beast Form: Mutant Variant – Black Falcon

Name: Tang Min

• Classification: Female Omega
• Role: Mental Control Division
• Ability: Split
• Beast Form: Phantom Beast Class – Winged Mouse