"Th-then... are we still going in?" Jiang Yu asked hesitantly.
"I don't know. The Command Center hasn't given any clear instructions... which probably means we're supposed to play it by ear." Yin Xiang said, "I think the team leader is discussing this with that unit's commanding officer right now."
Just as Yin Xiang had said, two minutes later, the 67th Field Operations Team leader's voice came over the team communications channel. "Attention, all agents of this team. The mission has changed. We will be responsible for investigating Factory 105 and searching for the missing hunters. Friendly forces will handle perimeter security and fire support for us. We are currently two kilometers from the target... Everyone, perform one final equipment check and make sure nothing goes wrong."
The 67th Field Operations Team leader sounded young, and his pre-mission speech was rather formulaic. In fact, just a few months ago, this team leader had still been a rookie in the Anomaly Research Institute's Field Operations Department, someone who had to bow and scrape to everyone he met. Yet now, he had transformed into a minor leader with more than a dozen people under his command.
The reason was simple: the senior veterans who had joined before him, possessed more experience, and held greater seniority had mostly died... Agents like him, who had joined the Field Operations Department before its massive recruitment drive, could more or less hold an official position as long as they had survived until now.
And the deputy leader of this 67th Field Operations Team was Yin Xiang, a former investigator who had only recently transferred from the Investigation Bureau to the Anomaly Research Institute and become a field agent.
"Sigh... the team leader..." Yin Xiang said with a pained expression. "Why did he take the most exhausting, difficult,