CR CH25

Chapter 25: C-Rank Mission

“Ability Division, Squad Number A091, accepting C-rank mission, mission location B-rank planet…”

“Regular Division, Squad Number E137, accepting D-rank mission…”

At the Z01 base mission station, a massive energy tower extended out into a semi-open-air hall. The virtual grand screen constantly refreshed with C-rank and lower missions from various planets. Since the base mission station had been activated, the energy grid overhead continuously flashed with a hazardous red light.

“Regular Division, Squad Number B0512, accepting C-rank mission, mission location A-rank planet – Zhou 07.”

The badges on the left breast of each member’s combat uniform and the device information on their wrists finished synchronization. Ji Yandong led his squad, swiftly heading toward a small flight transport parked not far away.

The group sat down in an unusual silence, clutching their weapons. The transport’s internal broadcast was still emphasizing: “In case of an emergency, please immediately activate the safety system to send a distress signal.” The broadcast fell quiet after repeating the phrase three times.

The lounge was locked in a dead silence.

It wasn’t that the group was so nervous about their first real mission that they had lost their speech, but rather, an uninvited guest had joined their ranks.

At the start of the mission phase, the base had taken the top and bottom 1% of the comprehensive combat rankings to perform small-scale reorganizations based on the data. Ji Yandong’s squad hadn’t changed much—Liu Zhaoxi had been assigned out, but as for the one who had been assigned in…

Jiang Tianji exhaled softly, lifting his head to look at the youth opposite him who radiated a gloomy, sullen aura.

—It was Jia Yun, a man firmly ranked third on the combat leaderboards.

“I say, why does he keep staring at us? It’s kind of terrifying.”

Without moving his lips, Huang Qi whispered from the side, leaning in close to murmur to Jiang Tianji.

In the dead silence, his whisper perfectly carried into everyone’s ears. Qi Xiuyi closed his eyes in sheer speechlessness.

Ji Yandong cleared his throat. “Alright, let’s briefly go over the operational plan for later first.”

“Our destination is A-Zhou 07-Lizhou, the Half-Beast Academy.”

Ji Yandong tapped twice on his wrist device, displaying a virtual interface before everyone’s eyes. He divided the combat zone into three distinct sectors.

“We will move out in pairs. Jiang Tianji’s fundamentals are a bit weaker, so he’ll be in a group with me for now. We will be responsible for the variants in Sector A.”

“Huang Qi and Feng Huo will be in a group, responsible for Sector B. Qi Xiuyi and Jia Yun will be a group, responsible for Sector C. Once a sector task is completed, report it immediately and scan for variant energy cores. Keep in touch at any time if anything happens.”

“Does anyone have any questions?”

As Ji Yandong spoke, his gaze locked onto Jia Yun, choosing his words carefully.

“Jia Yun, your individual ability is very strong, but team combat is not a solo act; it requires coordination with your teammates. Do you have any objections to the arrangement?”

Jia Yun wiped down his short blade, not even lifting his head. “Doesn’t matter. I’m better off alone anyway.”

The atmosphere froze for a fraction of a second. Feng Huo, who had been keeping his head down and behaving himself since earlier, looked vaguely like he was about to flare up.

Fortunately, Qi Xiuyi finally opened his eyes, speaking with a bright smile.

“We’ve got a powerhouse to carry us, then! I’ll just follow behind and land the finishing blows.”

Jia Yun lifted his eyelids to cast a glance at him, letting out a soft, mocking sneer.

Everyone well understood his conduct and personality, so with a mission at hand, no one said anything further. Although Jia Yun had a terrible personality, he was extremely serious when it came to actual combat; mission performance and individual combat capabilities would be factored into the comprehensive evaluation, so he wouldn’t drop the ball on this matter.

Soon, the transport warship touched down on a patch of open ground.

A massive cloud of dust gathered like a thick gray fog, through which the blinking energy lights of the transport’s silhouette could be faintly seen.

The long boarding ramp extended down to the ground, and several shadows emerged from the dust. Little insect-like AI sprites swirled around them before splitting into multiple tiny black dots that were almost invisible to the naked eye.

A few roars of variants echoed from the nearby Half-Beast Academy.

Ji Yandong reached up to press the green-flashing earpiece near his ear, his voice carrying clearly to everyone.

“The mission has begun. Move out separately.”

“Received.”

The Half-Beast Academy was locked in absolute silence.

The crowds had already evacuated safely. There were many Half-Beasts living within the Federation. Compared to the Empire, which viewed them as playthings or slaves, and the Beast Clan, which heavily emphasized bloodlines and innate talent, the Half-Beasts preferred the Federation, which advocated equality.

The academic building had half-collapsed under the impact of the variant energy, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. Jiang Tianji held his gun, focusing entirely on sensing the movements around him.

Leading the way in front, Ji Yandong halted his steps, making a hand gesture for Jiang Tianji to pause.

The two looked ahead together, only to spot bloodstains on the ground not far away. Judging by the shape… they resembled the footprints of some large creature. Jiang Tianji drew in a soft breath, his body tensing up slightly.

Claiming he wasn’t nervous would be a lie. Even if a low-level mission carried a low risk coefficient, still… Jiang Tianji thought of the drooling wolf and the giant bear he had encountered in the simulated combat pod, and he couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

“Roar—”

The roar of a ferocious beast echoed across the vacant area, sending a wave of goosebumps through Jiang Tianji’s chest.

Ji Yandong took a step back to get closer to Jiang Tianji, instructing him in a low, hushed voice.

“Variants in low-level missions aren’t highly threatening; they carry no energy cores or adverse effects. Once the Energy Hunter 91 in your hands hits, it can shatter a low-level variant’s core. It’s no different from your usual target practice during training, understand?”

His speaking speed was very fast. Jiang Tianji gripped his gun tightly, nodding. “I under…” stand.

Before his words could fully leave his mouth, a intense sense of crisis flooded his mind.

The two stood back-to-back as rustling sounds began to drift from all directions, and the devices on their wrists flashed a red alert.

[ Within a ten-meter radius, estimated number of variants: 23. ]

“Remember what I said.” In the rush, Ji Yandong turned his head to offer one final instruction, looking at the dense red dots on the monitoring system as he directed.

“I’ll head south. You take charge of the cafeteria ruins. Keep in touch if anything happens!”

“Understood!”

The variants moved incredibly fast; if they didn’t act now, they would likely be surrounded in this open ground without any cover.

Jiang Tianji grit his teeth, slinging his gun onto his back as he rushed toward the cafeteria. Suddenly, the detector blared a red alert—a new red dot that hadn’t been there a second ago appeared on the scanner. Its distance from him was only… two meters?!

Jiang Tianji ground to a sudden halt. Before he could retreat, the ground in front of him began to vibrate violently, cracks splitting open inch by inch right beneath his feet. Jiang Tianji could only leap onto a nearby flowerbed, sprinting frantically toward the interior of the cafeteria.

“Crash—”

The sound of shattering glass mingled with the sound of the earth splitting open outside.

The exact moment Jiang Tianji forcibly crashed into the cafeteria, a colossal serpent breached out from the earth. Dust soared through the air under the sheer force of the impact, its hard, glossy scales reflecting a dark crimson luster under the light. This was a variant, two-headed serpent over ten meters long.

When those two serpent heads smashed through the remaining fragments of the glass door, Jiang Tianji could practically hear the string called sanity snapping inside his brain.

He scrambled up with the fastest speed of his life and ran deeper inside, desperately trying to find a suitable cover. However, the moment he lifted his head, he locked eyes with a pair of crimson beast eyes, followed by a second pair, a third pair…

—It was a pack of variant giant wolves, identical to the ones he had faced in his simulated combat.

Jiang Tianji listened to his own rapid breathing, the hand holding the gun trembling slightly.

“It’s no different from your usual target practice, understand?” Ji Yandong’s voice echoed in his mind.

He thought to himself: If I make it back alive, I must ask the captain.

What exactly does “no different” mean?