Chapter 216
The city's residents and the infected in the Slums might know they came from Rhodes Island. But Amiya wouldn't lead a team to kill and silence them just to keep it a secret.
Only after destroying the border checkpoint's surveillance and video recordings could they hastily leave Yarbing in their This Ship.
Amiya stood in front of the glass, gazing in the direction where the Catastrophe Meteorite had fallen, looking thoughtful.
For some reason, the 'fake news' about Zhongli being able to summon meteorites suddenly flashed through her mind.
Could it be... that all of that is true?
How could anyone on this land possibly summon Catastrophe Meteorite? That's just too outrageous.
This information was somewhat beyond Amiya's comprehension, making her feel increasingly confused.
Unable to make up her mind, she made an excuse to postpone the war meeting and went to seek help from Doctor Kal'tsit.
The person in charge behind Rhodes Island should be engrossed in research in the lab right now.
When Amiya arrived at the laboratory, she found that Kal'tsit and mon3tr had already come out.
It seems that the Catastrophe had disturbed her.
March 11, 1:55 pm
Around 2 PM, the Special Operations Team members, having eaten and drunk their fill and taken a short rest, arrived at the control center of the This Ship. They began this post-war debriefing meeting with representatives from Rhodes Island.
To be honest, Shi Lei didn't really want to come.
Because Rhodes Island made a mess by treating infected people, and it was those few Messenger had to clean up the mess.
To put it nicely, it's called a post-battle debriefing. To put it bluntly, it's called a public trial.
Rhodes Island, under the guise of a debriefing, wanted to find out exactly what happened during the operation.
Due to the limited number of participants, the special task force can only send a maximum of two representatives.
Considering that Exusiai is prone to letting slip things, Texas is taciturn, Lappland is a powder keg.
Shi Lei only brought Croissant with him this time. They'll play good cop and bad cop later. No matter what tricks Rhodes Island plays, they'll remain unchanged.
At 2:00 PM, the Operator began to take their seats in turn.
Shi Lei sat third from the left, Croissant fourth. Before arriving at the control center, the two had discussed it repeatedly, knowing what could be said and what couldn't.
Amiya stood in the main seat, with Doctor Kal'tsit, dressed in green and white, behind her.
Beside Kal'tsit stood a black creature that resembled an alien. Its menacing appearance hardly suggested it was a docile little pet.
Amiya cleared her throat and began to speak:
"First of all, thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to participate in this post-battle debriefing meeting. Every post-battle debriefing is a way to summarize our experiences."
Please feel free to offer suggestions for improvement regarding any mistakes made. We hope that the same errors will not be repeated on dangerous battlefields in the future.
After her opening remarks, she began to explain the arrangements made for the Yarbing rescue operation.
For example, there are three medical teams, two security teams, and one Special Operations Team.
Shi Lei remained silent and expressionless throughout.
Hearing the reports from the representatives of each team gave him the strange feeling of being back at the company's morning meeting.
"Doctor Zhong, where did you go after you decided to carry out the Rearguard order?"
"The Rearguard is there to stop the enemy's advance and prevent the medical team from being injured. Otherwise, where else can they go?"
Scout's lips twitched; he sensed displeasure in the question and tried to smooth things over:
"The Special Operations Team joined us at that time and held off an enemy force of more than two hundred men on the main road. Their Rearguard mission was accomplished exceptionally well."
Shi Lei didn't respond, deliberately letting the conversation die down. "If you don't ask, I won't answer."
Amiya, seeing that he hadn't added anything for a while, gave him a polite smile and asked:
"Is there anything else you'd like to say?"
"No."
The Rearguard mission is Rearguard mission. What's there to say? Does it mean that if you miss a few sword strikes during a fight, you have to reflect on it afterwards? Isn't that just plain stupid?
"I'm sorry, Doctor Zhong, that's not what I meant. What I wanted to ask was, where did you go after completing your Rearguard mission? You went to the northwest on your own, and by the time you contacted me, you had already arrived."
"Oh, you mean this?"
In response, Shi Lei explained truthfully:
"During our Rearguard action, we rescued a tormented cyborg. He begged us to destroy the biological entity."
I didn't refuse the lab invitation; I went straight there.
"Doctor Zhong, since you wanted to leave the team, why didn't you contact me at the time?"
"You guys were fighting other units back then, right? I figured it wouldn't take much time. After discussing it with everyone, we went over. Penguin Logistics won't bother others with things we can handle ourselves."
An Operator stood up and took the initiative to speak:
"But we haven't encountered any enemy troops."
"I don't know about that. At the time, we ordered Mudrock to hold off the enemy as much as possible. Under such circumstances, we naturally couldn't use the Walkie-Talkie to disturb you."
Ace and Scout had witnessed the horrific scene of over four hundred people being wiped out, and they kept their heads down, not daring to say a word.
Amiya didn't want to dwell on that, and asked what she really wanted to know:
"Doctor Zhong, what happened to you after you left the team?"
Faced with the pointed question, Shi Lei did not answer. He glanced at Croissant, who immediately snorted coldly:
"Heh, aren't you Rhodes Island meddling a bit too much? Did we fail to complete the assigned task? Or did we hold you back? Do we have to report to you what we ate in the cafeteria for lunch?"
"No, you've misunderstood!"
Seeing Amiya apologize to the other person, Kal'tsit, who had been standing with her arms crossed, leaned forward slightly.
"A person's way of speaking and tone are usually related to their experiences. Perhaps in your short life En route you have learned the technique of using rhetorical questions to answer questions and are proud of it. But your frivolous behavior will not bring any substantial help to this post-battle debriefing meeting. Perhaps only by bringing out the original contract can you let go of your ridiculous selfish thoughts, reflect on the possible bad consequences of your unauthorized actions, and realize the obligations and responsibilities you should bear."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Shi Lei frowned.
He began to understand what Exusiai really meant when she said Kal'tsit was strange.
"We completed all the tasks assigned by Rhodes Island without any mishaps. The only problem was responding to the plea of a poor soul. Is this something that has to be done according to the rules? Could you really remain indifferent after learning about a biological laboratory that harms humans?"
Kal'tsit looked calmly at Shi Lei, seemingly unaware of the gravity of the situation. She continued to express her thoughts in her usual manner:
"Differences between individuals prevent us from knowing each other's true intentions. Language may be one of the most common means of communication on this land, but it is not a panacea. With changes in perspectives and organizational methods, the same words spoken by the same person can generate different interpretations. After all, there are things you remember, I don't remember, but I hope you remember..."
Shi Lei hates riddle tellers the most; he's extremely dissatisfied with their inability to speak properly.
Can you speak human language?
As his gaze sharpened, mon3tr suddenly let out a low, painful groan.
Kal'tsit's calm expression finally changed, and she quickly turned to check mon3tr's injuries. It seemed that mon3tr was more important than anything else.
The Operator present had complicated expressions. On Rhodes Island, no one dared to contradict Kal'tsit. Even Amiya didn't know how to smooth things over.
Kal'tsit pressed her forehead against mon3tr's, seemingly in a low voice, before coldly saying:
"Amiya, you will chair the meeting."
After saying that, Kal'tsit completely disregarded the many people present and hurriedly left with mon3tr.
Shi Lei didn't want to stay any longer and play this childish game with them, so he made it clear:
"We witnessed the meteorite fall before we arrived at the military camp. Later, we risked our lives to go deep into the scene. After confirming that the entrance to the biological laboratory was completely sealed, we rushed back immediately. If this is considered a violation of regulations, then we will be punished accordingly. We will do everything that is written in the contract. We still have that much professional ethics."
Rhodes Island's post-war debriefing meeting is hardly an attempt to punish those who acted without authorization.
They clearly wanted to know what the Special Operations Team had to do with the Catastrophe Meteorite.
Shi Lei knew perfectly well what was going on, so he naturally wouldn't reveal it. He could take advantage of Kal'tsit's riddle and feign anger to quickly end this debriefing meeting, which was meaningless to him.
"Doctor Zhong, it's a misunderstanding. We didn't mean it that way, please don't be angry."
"What do you mean? Ridiculous selfishness? Individual differences? Why don't you translate it for me?"
Regarding the May lottery and update issues.
[Monthly Pass Lottery]
As usual, from 00:00 on May 1st to 00:00 on May 3rd, one person will be randomly selected to receive a prize of 28 yuan for every 100 people who vote for them, with no upper limit. The list of winners will be posted at the end of the chapters for those three days; the group number can be found in the book review section. Winners who do not claim their prize by 00:00 on May 10th will be considered to have forfeited it.
Unlike other authors who use giveaways to boost their rankings, this author's current subscription amount won't help them climb the charts. It's a pure loss, entirely a way to give back to the readers.
[Regarding the update]
Because of COVID-19, the author's heart is still not very good. His heart beats very fast when he lies down at night, making it impossible to fall asleep. He wakes up in the afternoon feeling dizzy. He went to the hospital for a checkup, but everything was fine. He started talking about adjusting his sleep schedule in early April, but he hasn't been able to get it right yet.
Instead of updating between the mortal and underworld scenes like this, it would be better to let the author rest properly during the first half of the month.
I'll update 4,000 words a day for now, and save any extra drafts. I'll try to adjust my biological clock so that my update time is fixed, and then I'll add more updates every day in the second half of the month.
P. S.: I will update normally in the first half of the month, please don't let me die from overeating, some pictures are time-limited.
281 Night Raid on Kal'tsit (3K)
Kal'tsit, carrying Mon3tr, quickly left the control center. After crossing the corridor, she looked back and, seeing that they weren't chasing her, breathed a sigh of relief.
Outsiders cannot understand Mon3tr's low growl, but Kal'tsit can understand its meaning.
Judging from the situation at the scene, it's clear that Zhongli inflicted a mental attack on it. The strength that even Mon3tr fears is truly terrifying.
Kal'tsit's expression turned solemn as she recalled Amiya's report to her after investigating this person.
She said that this Doctor Zhong has the ability to give people a shield that makes them immune to all damage.
A top-tier Medical Operator with exceptional protective abilities, yet possesses even more powerful mental abilities.
That's an exaggeration.
A single glance can inflict psychological damage on Mon3tr. Even Rhodes Island's best caster Operator cannot achieve this.
Kal'tsit was born on the ruins of civilization with a mission in mind. In different identities and bodies, she has witnessed countless people who were unparalleled in their time rise to the top.
What powerful figure hasn't she seen?
Just now, Kal'tsit was less than ten meters away from her opponent, yet she didn't sense any energy fluctuations. This clearly demonstrates just how terrifying her opponent's strength truly is.
Sensing something was amiss, she immediately retreated with Mon3tr. After all, Amiya was the official leader of Rhodes Island, and she was merely there to observe. Her temporary departure wouldn't elicit any Operator.
But we must no longer have any contact with Zhongli.
Recalling those golden eyes, Kal'tsit still felt a lingering fear. Could this man, like the Emperor, be Beast Lord?
She shook her head, quickly dismissing this conclusion. Because the Beast Lord's strength couldn't possibly be that great.
In terms of experience, Kal'tsit is far more experienced than any operator on Rhodes Island.
Over tens of thousands of years, she witnessed the evolution of life, from animals to humans. She saw the world change dramatically, the earth transform into countless forms. She saw machines invented and rumble through Victoria. And she witnessed the brilliance of Originium energy illuminating the shadows.
But she had never witnessed Shi Lei's abilities, much less seen an individual with such terrifying Psychic Power. To cultivate to that level, one would need at least a thousand years of training.
Would an old man who is thousands or even tens of thousands of years old have the leisure to come looking for his compatriots?
Does this mean I've found him?
Or did he come to me?
No wonder the Emperor repeatedly emphasized that Zhongli would not participate in the medical examination when the contract was signed. Heaven knows what kind of old monster would be found if they put him on the test.
No, I need to look up some information.
Kal'tsit knew she wasn't omniscient or omnipotent. But this man held too many secrets, making her instinctively want to escape.
No, I need to do some research. I need to find out who this Zhongli is.
Just then, mon3tr seemed to sense something and suddenly let out a low growl. Kal'tsit instantly understood its meaning, knowing that the man had come after her.
Not good!