Blood Pool Bath

"Commander! Emergency!"

Peony shouted urgently.

Wang Jixuan, who was studying a map with the Black Shell, immediately used his Spiritual Sense to lock onto dozens of Special Operations Team members near the valley.

Wang Jixuan finished his scan in an instant, reconfirming that there was no disturbance within a circular area of nearly five kilometers.

"What emergency?"

"This!"

Peony shed her previous relaxed demeanor, donned her gray-black full-coverage armor, and jumped in front of Wang Jixuan, projecting a small screen.

[Mai Xiaomei: There's a problem. The Bristle Bear was exposed the moment you landed. He's being chased. Recommend you withdraw as quickly as possible.]

"Who is Mai Xiaomei?"

"Dragonfly Aunt."

"Hmm..." Wang Jixuan suppressed the urge to complain and frowned in thought.

The Black Shell immediately said, "Let's withdraw!"

Wang Jixuan quickly asked, "Are Wu Man and the others about to land?"

"Landing soon." The Black Shell marked Wu Man's location on the holographic map.

The Number Two Transport Plane was about fifty kilometers away, still in the air.

Wang Jixuan made a decisive call: "Tell them to turn back!"

The Black Shell issued the command.

The team members on site immediately reacted.

Several Third Generation Half-Human Mechs donned their gear and jumped off the transport plane, using the surrounding terrain for cover.

The Maid Group closely protected Wang Jixuan as they entered the surrounding forest.

The crew, under the protection of Autonomous Mechs, also urgently evacuated to nearby cover.

This transport plane had been kept under Holographic Camouflage the entire time.

The dozens of Special Operations Team members nearby quickly received orders to search outwards, activating the underground Shuttles to ensure the underground escape route was clear.

A tense and solemn two minutes passed.

"Commander, don't worry, Wu Man and the others have already started returning..."

"Missile warning!"

"Six missiles have locked onto the Number Two Transport Plane!"

"Tell them to abandon the plane!"

As soon as the Black Shell finished speaking, a violent noise erupted overhead.

Wang Jixuan looked up, his vision only catching the cruise missiles that had already reached the edge of his sight.

The missiles' trails quickly dissipated in the sky.

Their target was the Number Two Transport Plane where Wu Man and the others were.

The Number One Transport Plane had landed smoothly without alerting the enemy, which likely meant the enemy had a way to detect Psionicists.

This was also something Wang Jixuan had been worried about.

Wang Jixuan didn't say much; all they could do now was wait for news. Acting rashly would only cause more problems.

The Black Shell pulled Wang Jixuan down into the bushes, directly connecting Wang Jixuan's armor-equipped headset to the real-time communications of the command system.

"Begin ejection, tail hatch is open."

"Targeted squad successfully parachuted!"

"Detected large-scale enemy armored troop movement, they are heading towards the Buddha Hall Squad's location!"

"Requesting fire support!"

Boom!

A deafening explosion sounded from the eastern sky.

"Crew successfully parachuted... They're firing! Unmanned combat aircraft are beginning to sweep! We have casualties!"

"There's an ambush nearby!"

"Special Operations Second Unit counterattacking! Your mission is to cover that squad's withdrawal!"

"They're launching drone cluster missiles! A large swarm of drones is on its way!"

"Get underground! There's a passage here! Everyone get underground! Buddha Hall Squad requests to counterattack the surrounding ambushing enemy forces!"

"Counterattack is permitted, but do not engage in prolonged combat," the Black Shell ordered from underground. "Quickly enter the underground passage and use the Shuttles to retreat to the designated location Number Three!"

"Yes!"

This was a warrior beside Wu Man responding.

Explosions, screams, and the incessant "Sin, sin" from Ji Xiao and Ji Yale, the 'Fierce Gods' modified by Buddhist Dharma, echoed through the communication channel.

The battle on the other side was exceptionally fierce.

Fortunately, the Buddha Hall Squad's strength was sufficient, and the Special Operations Team members who had infiltrated the D2 Comprehensive War Zone in advance were well-prepared.

After paying the price of over twenty Special Operations Team members falling in battle, and achieving the result of annihilating two enemy assault teams, the Buddha Hall Squad led the Special Operations Team members into an underground passage, blew up the entrance, and began their breakout in a shuttle.

Peony reported that satellite monitoring detected military movements in several nearby fortresses.

Clearly, a high-ranking general in D2 was directly commanding and mobilizing military forces to conduct a full encirclement and suppression of Wu Man and the others.

While fierce fighting raged on their side;

It was calm and peaceful here.

Wang Jixuan and the others waited for half an hour, but still found no sign of the enemy.

"We can't confirm if we've been exposed yet,"

Black Shell said.

"But judging by D2's reaction, this Comprehensive War Zone is rotten to the core.

"Wang Zheng, we need to leave."

Wang Jixuan didn't answer directly. Instead, he turned to Peony, "Have you contacted Auntie?"

"Auntie hasn't responded."

Peony said quickly.

"I used satellites to hack into D2 Comprehensive War Zone's command system and only found that they were pursuing Bristle Bear and guiding it into advantageous terrain.

"It's confirmed that the deputy chief of staff of D2, named Ma Linan, is in charge of this encirclement and suppression operation.

"He claims we are Beast God Faction Psionicists attempting to infiltrate.

"I've found some encrypted channels and am working on breaking them... A lot of their secret information is protected by physically isolated confidential methods, which I'm helpless against."

Wang Jixuan frowned and asked, "Are there no troops being mobilized towards us?"

"Never," Peony continued. "I just intercepted a communication, a call between Ma Linan and someone he noted as 'Trash Lackey'. Would you like to hear it?"

"Let's hear it," Wang Jixuan replied simply.

Black Shell was puzzled. "Peony, how did you hack into a Comprehensive War Zone-level command system in such a short time? Are their D2 technicians just eating rice?"

"This is peak technology specially approved for me by the Commander-in-Chief. Moreover, their encryption level is several orders of magnitude lower than our D5, and D2's entire network world has numerous vulnerabilities and lacks maintenance."

Peony tapped her finger, and two male voices, one aged and one hoarse, seemed to speak in Wang Jixuan and Black Shell's ears.

The aged voice carried a hint of impatience:

"I've already said it, a rash attack will only waste our only chance. The Special Operations Team of the D5 Comprehensive War Zone has a higher overall quality than our elites! Now they've retreated underground, and trying to force them out from underground is more difficult than dealing with Blade Beasts!"

"Can't we use nuclear weapons?" the hoarse middle-aged voice said solemnly. "Chief of Staff Ma, you are the commander of this operation, and I've delivered all the messages that needed to be passed to you."

"Are you trying to shirk responsibility now?" the aged voice's tone immediately rose.

The middle-aged voice immediately became somewhat dejected, lowering his stance and saying with a chuckle, "I'm just a trash psionicist, how can I compare to you, Chief of Staff? Please calm down. Aren't we trying to find a way to complete the mission now? You know the consequences if we fail this task assigned by the Teacher."

Deputy Chief of Staff Ma Linan was silent for more than ten seconds before speaking again:

"First, I cannot use nuclear weapons, nor do I have the authority. If Teacher Xing could go directly to the Commander-in-Chief, he wouldn't need to make things difficult for me. And second, I cannot let precious Half-Human Mechs die in internal conflict with humans."

"Chief of Staff, you're being a bit..."

The middle-aged man clicked his tongue.

"Now when people mention generals, aren't they all talking about that Fu Jian? Who will remember the countless warriors fighting on the vast front lines?

"Now, Fu Jian has reached under your nose, and you can tolerate this?"

"Don't you fucking try to provoke me!"

The aged voice was clearly impatient.

"If you have a solution, use it. Without the Commander-in-Chief's order, nuclear weapons and the Half-Human Mech forces cannot be deployed!"

Beep.

The call ended.

Peony reminded, "Just now, some D2 Half-Human Mechs, equipped with specialized gear for psionicists, have received orders to pursue the Buddha Hall Squad."

Wang Jixuan rubbed his forehead.

This conversation actually proved many things.

This attack was actually ordered by Xing Tian, who provided Ma Linan, the deputy chief of staff of the D2 Comprehensive War Zone, with the approximate location of Wu Man and the others to execute.

Had Xing Tian not held his promotion ceremony? Or had it already concluded?

"It can be basically confirmed that they have some form of psionic sensing."

Wang Jixuan curled his lips and said to Peony, "Send a message to Professor Shen, tell her that the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner lied to us, and have her spread out the Blood Pool she kept for me, and place the Stone Slab directly into it."

"Message sent."

Black Shell asked, confused, "Did the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner really set a trap for us?"

"Even if it's not a trap, they must have intentionally hidden some information. The intel they gave about the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner is likely only half true."

Wang Jixuan explained:

"The Buddha Hall Squad no longer has their chips inside them.

If the Special Operations Team that infiltrated were exposed, their encirclement wouldn't be this loose. They must have received the news on the fly and are rushing to this area.

So, it's basically certain that the other side sensed the Spiritual Practitioners approaching and provided a general location.

Ji Xiao and Ji Yale are Spirit Slaves of the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner under the Snow Mountain. If their whereabouts were sensed, then this whole thing makes sense.

Peony, have Ji Xiao and Ji Yale temporarily separate from the others, and let's see their pursuit route."

"Yes!"

Peony complied.

Black Shell reminded, "If they are tracking Spirit Slaves by sensing their location, would the Spiritual Practitioners tell them their location in real-time?"

"The Instructor has a point too."

Wang Jixuan recalled in detail the scenes he saw when he used the Jiaolong Strange Soul to sneak attack the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner's Spire Tower.

He muttered, "There must be some Magic Tool... The Spire Tower, the Infusion Wall. It's possible Xing Tian is controlling a Magic Tool that can pinpoint Ji Xiao and Ji Yale's location..."

Peony said, "As soon as they separated underground, the enemy's Drone Swarm lost track of the second team... In their command system, they update Ji Xiao and Ji Yale's location about every thirty seconds!"

"Case closed."

Black Shell clicked his tongue, contemplating a solution.

Wang Jixuan stood up, wearing his Silver-White Armor, habitually putting his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth on the thick fallen leaves.

He didn't want to abandon Ji Yale and Ji Xiao.

It wasn't due to deep affection, but mainly from the perspective of the Buddha Hall Squad's overall combat power.

--Daoist Wang's bones were quite unforgiving towards villains.

Peony soon brought back several new messages.

The D5 Comprehensive War Zone formally extended a collaboration invitation to the D2 Comprehensive War Zone.

This was Black Shell's doing. D5 stepped forward, explaining that one of their transport planes, carrying dozens of people, was forced to land in a D2 no-man's-land due to equipment malfunction, and they hoped D2 would provide support.

D2 had not yet responded.

At Fortress No. 76, Shen Qionglin was already leading a group of Mechs to set up the Blood Pool and install that Stone Slab Wall.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner had yet to appear.

Ji Xiao and Ji Yale were fleeing desperately underground. To maintain mobility and increase their margin for error, they each piloted an Underground Shuttle capable of carrying three people.

Wu Man and the others had temporarily escaped the pursuers on the ground.

"Commander, Wu Man and the others are awaiting your orders."

Black Shell offered a rather conservative opinion: "Although you are in command of this operation, I still need to say a few words... Since we've been exposed, we should withdraw decisively. It doesn't matter if we fall out with D2; we can mobilize enough military forces for support, and they won't dare to openly move against us!"

Daoist Wang was momentarily speechless.

This was originally their plan to cause trouble on D2's territory, yet Black Shell's attitude was still so overbearing.

This was probably the confidence of a tech giant.

Daoist Wang said seriously, "I think, now is precisely the time to advance."

"Advancing is too risky."

"The Buddha Hall Squad has already drawn their attention, that's one reason."

Wang Jixuan explained simply:

"We are currently in the mountains and cannot see the full picture. Why not try to jump out?

The other side is already on alert, so we cannot act together on a large scale. Each fortress is an observation post, and they should be on full alert now.

Therefore, I will advance with Peony... Don't worry, I won't take risks. I will just get close to the Snow Mountain Base. Once within a certain range, I can monitor them, and then we will decide whether to advance or retreat based on the intelligence gathered."

Black Shell pondered continuously.

As a highly experienced veteran instructor, he could naturally understand what opportunity Wang Jixuan was referring to.

This was indeed a good opportunity.

Furthermore, D2's internal structure wasn't firmly aligned with Xing Tian; it was more like the higher-ups were being controlled by Xing Tian.

Wang Jixuan said, "I am the commander. Your unit will remain stationed here, and the Maid Group will obey your command..."

"No," Black Shell directly flipped the table, "I refuse to obey the order and will defy it. I must act with you. The others will go underground to find a shelter. This abandoned fortress can be used."

"Alright, then the three of us will go."

Wang Jixuan looked at Peony, about to ask for her opinion.

Peony had already turned her head toward the transport plane, starting to search for the field rations box containing the quick-heat food.

An army marches on its stomach.

She couldn't let the Commander fight on an empty stomach.

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse in the corner of the third floor of Fortress No. 76.

Shen Qionglin slowly manipulated the control lever in her hand, causing the landing platform to descend continuously, and also making the stone slab wall slowly approach the Blood Pool below, which was emitting a faint black energy.

Twenty centimeters, fifteen centimeters, seven centimeters, six centimeters...

"Enough!"

With an angry shout, a figure appeared on the stone slab in a flash of white light, glaring at Shen Qionglin.

Shen Qionglin said, "Sorry, I have to do what my boss assigned. The research topic and funding are in his hands... I was just testing your reaction. You actually felt fear, that's quite interesting."

She directly pushed down the operating lever, and the stone slab wall smashed into the Blood Pool, splashing a few drops of blood.