Arrival

As the warship flew, Huoding began to introduce the mission. A 3D map of the planet was displayed on the large screen, showing the base distribution.

"Half a year ago, the Bio-chemical Base discovered that one of the laboratory mice, which was presumed dead after an experiment failure, was missing. The sealed cabin had a hole, and extensive searches yielded no clues. Twenty days ago, an anomaly occurred at the Waste Disposal Plant on the other side of the planet. Three staff members went missing, and fragments of bloody work clothes were found at the scene, along with claw marks on several instruments. In the following days, similar incidents frequently occurred in the vicinity of the disposal plant. Ten days ago, the base dispatched a patrol team to investigate, and half a day later, the life signals of the entire team disappeared one after another, with no communication."

Huoding switched the image. The image showed a black rat, about half a meter long excluding its tail. He continued, "Subsequently, large numbers of patrol teams were dispatched. Three days ago, the cause was found: these black rats are responsible for the current severe situation."

Through Huoding's introduction, everyone learned that these black rats had strong vitality. At the base, the confirmation of death in general experiments was very strict, requiring a continuous twenty-four-hour absence of life signs before it could be confirmed as dead. Moreover, they were transported in ultra-low temperature sealed containers. Generally, at minus eighty degrees Celsius, even live mice would freeze to death. This was followed by another life sign detection to ensure accuracy. However, that experimental mouse had gnawed through the sealed cabin and escaped successfully, demonstrating the toughness of this mutated rat.

The black rat that escaped at that time had undergone enhancement potion experiments. It mutated during subsequent UV sterilization and ultra-low temperature transportation. After escaping the base, it mutated again under the influence of external magnetic forces and radiation, becoming what it is now.

"Thanks to the significant sacrifices of the base's patrol teams, we finally brought back a live, immature black rat. The antibody serum you were injected with was provided by the base personnel. However, these black rats mutate rapidly, and we don't know how effective the antibody serum will be by then. Therefore, I'm giving you a heads-up here: don't think you're invincible just because you've been injected with the antibody serum!" Huoding said sternly.

After introducing the information, Huoding divided the five thousand action personnel into ten brigades. The five trainees were assigned to five different brigades. Pride and Knight's squad leaders were Gerard and Huoding respectively. These two leaders of the Security Team and Training Department personally led them, as they couldn't entrust them to others.

Xilin was assigned to the Seventh Brigade.

Everyone organized their equipment and assembled by brigade an hour later.

The five trainees' equipment was placed together. While organizing their gear, the five of them chatted about their thoughts.

Hard, one of the two who passed the preliminary selection, was straightforward and quickly struck up a conversation with Knight.

"You guys, only one experimental rat escaped, how did it develop into a large-scale rat infestation?" Hard asked.

Huoding had also mentioned this question, and it remained unclear. So, everyone could only speculate.

"It found a female rat outside." Sachi, the last of the five, said. Although Sachi wasn't as bold and straightforward as Hard, he was still quite cheerful. He and Hard had grown up together, and his father served in the army of one of the star zones in the Trade Ten Star Zone.

"Nonsense, there are no living creatures outside the base. The magnetic field is strong, and there's radiation. Even if there were, they were cleared out when the base was built," Knight said while putting on his combat suit.

"If that's the case, our target is quite troublesome," Sachi sighed.

"Hmph, if you're afraid of dying, then don't go!" Pride scoffed contemptuously.

Sachi didn't mind. Having been in the Training Department for so long, everyone knew the temper of this young master.

"Xilin, any thoughts?" Knight asked.

Xilin adjusted the tools on his backpack strap. The magnetic field on many asteroids was unstable, making subspace containers unusable, so he had to carry everything himself.

"My thoughts? No particular thoughts, but I do have a suggestion."

"Oh? Tell us." Knight was curious.

"Don't think about how many mutated black rats you can kill, but rather how to get out safely."

Before Xilin finished speaking, Pride scoffed contemptuously, "Coward."

"Fine, I'm a coward. I don't want to become the excrement of those dark, mutated creatures. Just like those staff members at the Waste Disposal Plant, all that was left were a few bloody rags, and their bones were dragged away to feed their offspring..."

"Don't be alarmist!" Pride roared.

Admittedly, Xilin's words did send a shiver down their spines.

"Heh, actually, we just need to take them out. We have the tools," Sachi said, raising the firearm in his hand.

"No, I just feel that things might be much more serious than we imagine. The black rats' swarm attack might be even denser than during our preliminary selection test, and they have intelligence, not just programmed actions. They have teeth capable of biting through the laboratory's sealed cabin, sharp claws, and their saliva carries toxins, while their bodies are covered in animal viruses," Xilin said seriously.

This wasn't Xilin exaggerating; it was based on analysis. Xilin had even incorporated parameters like radiation from the asteroid into a comprehensive analysis of the black rats' mutation frequency. However, looking at the personnel for this mission, as long as the medicine in the warheads remained effective and the mutated black rats were thoroughly eliminated, they should be able to handle it.

The reason the firearms were different, the bullets larger and heavier, and their speed slightly slower than training guns was because each bullet was specially made and contained medicine. Once the bullet entered a mutated black rat, it would explode, dispersing the medicine to quickly and thoroughly kill it. Simultaneously, the medicine would spread to surrounding mutated black rats, affecting them and reducing their mobility.

Although Pride still wore a look of disdain, he had actually taken Xilin's suggestion to heart. Who would risk their own life? He certainly didn't want to become the excrement of those dark, scuttling creatures.

After the warship arrived outside the asteroid and docked with the space station, Huoding and Gerard, along with a few others, went ahead to gather more information, while the rest of the personnel remained on standby on the ship.

Before long, Huoding and Gerard returned with grim expressions, explaining the new information they had just received to everyone.

An hour ago, the black rats had attacked the base from underground. Only the deepest part of the base's core was sufficiently reinforced, and it would take some time to breach this layer of defense. However, time was running out for them. Much of the base's flight equipment and communication equipment had been damaged. Hundreds of researchers were now trapped in the base's central area, with over a dozen severely injured. Toxins had entered their bodies, and several injected antibody serums had proven ineffective. The central laboratory was working on preparing corresponding serums, but they dared not think about how many more unknown toxins they might face. As for the base's periphery, it had already fallen.

"Teams one through eight are responsible for 'sweep' operations, starting from the area around the base's central zone. Team nine is responsible for protecting the engineers as they repair the base's defense system. Team ten will assist the trapped researchers in escaping. Medical reserve..." Huoding issued orders rapidly, assigning tasks to each team. He trusted his soldiers to handle the internal arrangements within their respective teams.

In truth, Huoding wished he could assign Knight and Pride to the last two teams, but he knew that if he did, those two would likely not listen.

Xilin's Seventh Team was divided by the captain into five squads, each with a hundred people. Each squad was further divided into ten fireteams, advancing in fireteam units.

The ten teams, with the first eight taking the lead, deployed eight armed transport aircraft to land in eight different locations around the base's central zone.

Thanks to ree for the reward!

ps: Happy Children's Day to everyone! ^^

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