A Vulpo Girl's Life as a Rhodes Island Operator

Fengling took the sheet of paper, handed the one belonging to the A4 Reserve Squad to Melantha, then began reading the contents of her own.

It seemed the preset plan for this Beta Exercise divided the participants into attackers and defenders.

One side attacked, while the other defended.

The attackers needed to follow a designated route, use their abilities to break through the defenses, reach the preset destination, and destroy the mission objective by any means necessary to complete their task.

The defenders, meanwhile, had to hide the mission objectives at several locations beforehand, then intercept the attackers.

As long as the attackers failed to breach the defensive line within the time limit, or lost their ability to fight, the defenders would be declared victorious.

There was no doubt that the defending side held the advantage, since they could take up favorable positions in advance.

"Hmm..." Fengling leaned against a protruding section of the deck, tapping her cheek as she considered her possible options. "So I win as long as I destroy the designated target?"

There were many ways to do that, though not all of them would achieve the purpose of an exercise.

"Hehe... If they get careless, giving them a warning should be fine, right?"

Fengling covered her mouth and chuckled.

The wind on the deck was somewhat boisterous today.

Even the Windbell Pendant hanging at her waist was lifted by the gusts, chiming pleasantly.

"Mhm! That's a good omen."

The wind swept up the hair by her ears, and a smile filled with fighting spirit gradually appeared on Fengling's serene, lovely face.

Then she waited quietly for the start.

Rhodes Island Medical Department.

"I have to say... it's rare to see you care this much about a newcomer."

Warfarin swirled a crimson test tube in her hand and casually struck up a conversation with Kal'tsit, who was examining documents nearby.

"There is simply some unfinished information that needs confirmation... Operator Fengling may be more important than we initially expected." Kal'tsit unusually did not remain silent as she answered Warfarin's question. "And... there are certain things that have happened to Operator Fengling. We need to make sure she avoids... certain mental stimuli."

"That highly rated?!" Warfarin put down her experiment in surprise and walked over to Kal'tsit's desk.

Two stacks of files.

Both were about Fengling.

The level of detail in them probably surpassed even Fengling's own understanding of herself.

"Let's see... the Catastrophe incident in Gouwu City twelve years ago, Operator Fengling's experiences in Lungmen, and... the 'Sui' beast..."

Warfarin immediately tossed the files back down. "All right, I'm not reading any more. It'll give me a headache, and it's not something I can handle anyway."

"Some matters are not yet urgent. As far as Operator Fengling is concerned, she still has ample time to grow."

Kal'tsit looked through the porthole, quietly lost in thought.

Rhodes Island truly had not expected to encounter Operator Fengling by chance.

And judging by the information they had now, Kal'tsit would likely have to make a trip herself before Rhodes Island could safely leave Lungmen.

"Warfarin, I need to leave the ship for a while."

"Where are you going?"

"The Lungmen Governor-General's Office."

Striking Like a Storm

It had to be said that Rhodes Island was truly impressive when it came to many details.

In only a short while, the deck level had been transformed into a remarkably realistic training ground.

Elevated platforms blocked the line of sight, while the passageways were only wide enough for roughly two people to pass at once.

"So it's simulating an urban combat environment."

Fengling interlaced her fingers and pushed them outward, stretching hard as she gave a comfortable hum.

Then she looked toward the A4 Reserve Squad, who were already preparing their defenses.

The mission objective that needed to be destroyed had been placed deep in the rear from Fengling's point of attack.

Yet it was still rather conspicuous, without much deliberate concealment.

Clearly, the A4 Reserve Squad members all shared the same understanding—if Fengling broke through their defensive line, there would be no point in hiding it anywhere.

So they had simply placed it somewhere obvious, but supposedly absolutely safe.

"But... that's only according to common sense. In that case... it seems Instructor Dobermann didn't reveal anything about me to them."

Still, that was part of an exercise as well. You could not know the enemy's abilities in advance during every operation.

Fengling blinked, her bright, watery eyes lively and nimble.

Foxes were very cunning. That was the nature of Vulpos.

She had already come up with six different plans that could easily exploit the information gap to achieve the exercise objective.

Her fighting skills might still need work, but as a fox girl, she absolutely could not lack a bellyful of mischief!

"But... that probably isn't what Instructor Dobermann wants to see... Mm! Then I'll do it this way!"

As the time drew near, Fengling headed toward her designated starting position.

As the referee, Dobermann checked the time in her hand. Seeing that it was nearly time, she announced, "The exercise is about to begin. Both sides, take your positions!"

Naturally, since this was a rare reserve squad exercise for Rhodes Island, quite a few people had applied to come watch.

Besides Gavial, who was already near the field waving flags and cheering to liven things up, there were many more young-looking boys and girls.

They were probably members of other reserve squads.

"Tap." "Tap."

Fengling's thick-soled sneakers struck the Rhodes Island deck with crisp sounds.

"Whew~"

The deck level, already high up and constantly buffeted by wind, suddenly experienced even stronger gusts.

Her uniform jacket embroidered with the Rhodes Island name was blown up again and again, accompanied by crisp "jingle, jingle" chimes.

Fengling reached the attacking position.

"This distance... is enough!"

Cardigan stood on the route ahead with her shield raised.

Two boys were lying in ambush atop the elevated platforms.

Melantha was nowhere to be seen for the moment.

And Ansel was stationed in the rear, prepared to provide medical support at any time.

"Then, the exercise begins."

"Bang!"

The instant it began, Fengling extended an arm and raised her wrist remotely toward the front.

The gesture signaled the activation of her Arts!

Storm, sweep forth!

With an Arts Unit, Fengling found using Originium Arts much easier than before.

Correspondingly, on the premise of not harming her own body, the output of her Originium Arts had to be reduced somewhat.

But... it was enough!

None of the A4 Reserve Team members had expected Fengling to possess such a long-range attack method!

And she had not flown over to attack from range. Instead, she had directly formed a targeted Storm impact at the target location!

Without any advance knowledge, there was naturally no way to intercept it!

The mission objective was swept into the Storm, its wind blades shredding the not particularly sturdy item box, which had been made specifically to be violently destroyed.

"Crack!" The box fell to the ground, fragments scattering everywhere.

"Huh... Huh?!!!" Cardigan, who had been guarding the front, did not realize what had happened behind her until Fengling had completely destroyed the mission objective.

She immediately let out a startled cry.

That was right. If the purpose was to determine the winner of the exercise...

Then at this point, the outcome could already be said to have been decided.

"Next time, remember to 'hide' valuable things properly." Fengling walked with her hands behind her back, her toes landing lightly on the ground, a sly smile on her face. "Still, if it ends like this, it would be a little unfair to the training ground Gavial spent so much time setting up."

Fengling looked at Dobermann.

"Ugh..." Dobermann sighed helplessly. "These brats... I really need to give them a proper lesson later."

Facing an enemy with unknown attack methods, being so careless and overconfident was inexcusable.

But Fengling was right as well. Dobermann had originally wanted to see an intense fight, both to test the A4 Reserve Team's recent training results and to personally assess Fengling's combat capabilities so she could provide targeted training afterward.

Ending it like this would be a waste of all the effort spent setting up the field.

Hadn't they heard Gavial already cursing over there?!

"The exercise will continue. But the outcome has already been decided." Dobermann shot the A4 Reserve Squad a fierce glare, making every member shudder. "If you don't want to be put through brutal extra training afterward, then show me what you can do!"

"Then~" Fengling clenched her fists. Her lips curled slightly upward, revealing pearly teeth, while her feet had already begun subtly gathering strength.

That smile looked somewhat familiar to Cardigan, who saw it head-on.

Who had she seen a similar smile on before?

But this Fengling was different from the playful, adorable beauty she had seemed to be before.

She was dangerous!

Cardigan gripped her shield tightly, bracing it with both hands.

The next instant, Fengling's figure rode the rising Storm and smashed into Cardigan's shield at high speed!

"Thud!"

A shield issued as operator equipment was no cheap product. It was a heavy shield capable of resisting most impacts, piercing attacks, and explosions!

Even though Cardigan lacked the strength to use Rhodes Island's highest-grade heavy shields, the one in her hands was by no means light.

The ground beneath her feet was a deck, not soil, making it difficult to brace herself properly.

The moment Cardigan received the blow head-on, she felt as though both arms had nearly gone numb. The force transmitted through the shield made her lose control of her footing, and she was forcibly driven back several meters!

And a deep dent had been punched into that heavy shield!

"Wha...!"

Cardigan was horrified, but her long training allowed her to calm down quickly.

There was no time to think about anything else. The moment she took that hit, an opportunity to deal with Fengling had already appeared!

Without a word, a crossbow bolt carrying extraordinary force and a condensed ice spike came flying down from above!

At the same time, a flash of cold light slashed toward Fengling from the shadows.

Yet unlike her cannon-like strength, Fengling's figure appeared light and graceful.

With only a slight push from her feet and a backward tilt of her body, she borrowed the wind to retreat from the danger zone.

"Cardigan!"

Bandages coated in emergency medicine were thrown to Cardigan's side.

Taking advantage of the brief opening, Cardigan wrapped the bandages around her already bruised palms. The cool medicine made her feel somewhat better.

"You really can't judge a book by its cover..."

Fengling looked like the kind of girl who belonged in the "tiny fists pounding your chest" category, but how had she thrown such a devastating punch?!