Chapter 203

"I believe that what we need to do now is to rebuild the Maesakagawa Garrison District as soon as possible, which is crucial for Xijing City. As for the upcoming operation against Liujin City, we need to obtain more intelligence support before making further plans."

After Efnir expressed her concerns, Anilas echoed them:

"I share that thought, Commander. Our combat strength has been severely depleted. I believe the Apostle forces we've encountered this time are far stronger than those appearing in the surrounding areas of the Central Province. We should proceed with greater caution."

In fact, both Efnir and Anilas sensed the change in the Apostle Organization's style of operation this time.

In addition, they also reassessed the combat capabilities and threat level of the Apostle Organization, as well as the feasibility of their missions and operational plans.

According to the Human Federation's records, the Apostle do not possess the ability to see in the "fog," but this time the members of the Apostle Squad demonstrated this ability.

Similarly, there was one more Angel than recorded in the data.

And the group of girls codenamed "Apostle," although each of them was much weaker than the "Apostle" recorded in the Human Federation's data, their numbers were very large, approaching forty, which was undoubtedly a powerful fighting force that could not be ignored.

In short, the Human Federation's intelligence was outdated. The Apostle demonstrated new abilities on the main battlefield in Xijing City and even brought out a second Angel as their trump card, forcing them to revise their action plan based on the assumption that "the Apostle have more combat power."

With Efnir and Anilas, and now with Lapith as a powerful ally, Xijing City is naturally unafraid of the Angel's threat.

According to Codename H, Liujin City is the Apostle's stronghold. Who knows if there are other Angel there?

Furthermore, how many Apostle are there? And how many armies does the Apostle Organization have?

No one knows.

The operation has now achieved its initial objectives—to recapture the Maesakagawa Garrison District and defeat and expel the Apostle. In the eyes of most soldiers, this is enough; to continue would mean facing rapidly increasing risks and costs. After yesterday's battle, some of these sentiments are now growing.

94. Main Sequence Star, Muses

"I will delegate these tasks to others."

After Anilas finished speaking, Kusei Maki simply nodded, neither saying anything nor showing any clear avoidance.

Because of the "fog" and the lack of intelligence, the Human Federation was unable to accurately grasp the enemy's movements, causing the nature of this battle to increasingly slide into the abyss of gambling—there was no such thing as "fully prepared," only luck and improvisation.

The Apostle Organization aren't just Erosion Entity wandering around; they're living, breathing people. Do you think these enemies will just sit there waiting for the Human Federation Forces to come to them? Or will they simply hand over their intelligence?

Maesakagawa's defeat in battle, won't the Apostle Organization take any action?

The two Angel and four Apostle have all escaped, and their whereabouts are unknown. Their next move is even more unpredictable.

But this will not have a greater impact on the current situation.

Once the battle begins, it won't stop easily; personal choices become irrelevant.

Kusei Maki waved her hand and continued what she had been saying.

"We will be staying in the Garrison District for another week, and I need you to continue serving as the captains of your respective squads."

Although the Maesakagawa Garrison District has been recaptured, there is still much to be done.

The entire Garrison District was littered with thousands of pieces of Dregs, which the troops cleaned up every day. Wounded soldiers were also sent back to the base from time to time. To a certain extent, the presence of agents could greatly reduce the occurrence of accidents.

And the investigation into the Apostle Organization that appeared out of nowhere and disappeared without a trace—since those Apostle appeared in the Maesakagawa Garrison District and engaged in two direct battles with the Xijing City troops Beyond the Boundary and within the Garrison District, they must have left behind valuable intelligence. Kusei Maki has already sent people to investigate them. If there is any progress or even if they directly encounter the Apostle Organization, then the subsequent work will naturally require the assistance of the agents.

"... After this battle, the squad-based operation model has been basically established. The Suzuda City Agent Squad 'Funeral Bird' will now be temporarily incorporated into our combat sequence, serving as external support for the Suzuda City support force '4th Destroyer Fleet' for five days. During this period, 'Funeral Bird' will operate jointly with your Agent Squad."

Kusei Maki gave a general overview of the current situation of each department, and then handed some documents to Efnir and Anilas.

Both Efnir and Anilas had contact with the "Funeral Bird" squad. It must be said that compared to Efnir's squad, which had experienced a "generation gap," Anilas's squad, which had less combat experience, the combat power displayed by the "Funeral Bird" squad was absolutely worthy of its name as "Suzuta's First Agent Squad."

The support from Suzuda City has been a great help to the current combat troops in Nishikyo Xijing City.

"... Prior to this, in order to facilitate unified command of the proxy forces, the proxy personnel under your command will be merged and reorganized, with you two as captains, and two proxy action teams will be established respectively—'Main Sequence Star's and 'Muses'... The members and detailed information have been drafted and confirmed, and are in your hands."

Anilas and opened the document in her hand.

Her team is called "Muses," and she serves as its captain.

The Second-Generation Agent originally numbered ten. Among them, the one who used the First-Generation Order Weapon, Kite, was assigned to Efnir's command, while the rest of the Second-Generation Agent were all placed under Anilas.

In mythology, there were nine goddesses known as the "Muses," hence the team's name.

The "Main Sequence Star" squad naturally refers to the squad led by Efnir, whose members include Efnir, who is naturally the captain, as well as Fifina, Ayse, Canary, Furan, and Yuan, a total of six people.

In a sense, the Main Sequence Star Squad was formed around Efnir, and as the main agent squad of the former Xijing City, it was also given a special significance.

The largest Main Sequence Star in the solar system is the Sun. For Xijing City, Efnir is the "center" of all agents, the most powerful and experienced agent in Xijing City. Therefore, it is named "Main Sequence Star". Perhaps in a sense, this also expresses what Kusei Maki did not explicitly say.

Anilas at Efnir, Efnir was silently looking at the documents in her hands.

"Shadow wasn't among them..."

Efnir pondered silently for a moment without speaking.

Strictly speaking, Shadow is not a member of the Agent System. Kusei Maki neither actively included Shadow in the agent combat sequence nor said anything about it, which made Efnir a little suspicious.

"You two will each serve as captains of your respective squads and have the authority to request squad transfers, but this requires my approval. You will be working alongside the 'Funeral Bird' squad, responsible for investigating clues about Apostle Organization within the Garrison District, in..."

Before Kusei Maki could finish speaking, the communicator beeped.

On the other end of the communication was Kusei Maki's assistant, who was currently directing the cleanup of the Dregs and searching for clues left by the Apostle Organization. The fact that the communication had been established now clearly indicated that important intelligence had been discovered.

A glint flashed in Kusei Maki's eyes. Without avoiding Efnir and Anilas, she answered the call, and soon the officer's voice came through the communicator.

However, contrary to what Kusei Maki had expected, the sergeant's tone was somewhat unnatural. "Commander! I think we might be in some trouble."

"What happened?"

"Mutated Entity! It's Mutated Entity!" the sergeant said urgently. "One of our squads has discovered a large number of Mutated Entity, including many 'Seed Parasite.' They need reinforcements..."

"Mutated Entity..."

Efnir and Anilas a glance, both seeing a hint of doubt and seriousness in each other's eyes.

"Mutated Entity" might be a rather vague term for that bizarre plant/ Dregs symbiosis.

Whether it was Efnir, Anilas, or Kusei Maki, it was the first time they had encountered such a bizarre organism. It possessed certain characteristics of Dregs, and strictly speaking, it could be considered a "dead object," but it was also endowed with special biological properties.

In the two decades since human civilization was White Hole Erosion, the ecology of this planet has undergone tremendous changes.

The existence of this Mutated Entity might be some kind of new discovery.

This is extremely important and valuable information for humanity, and it is also essential intelligence for preventing unknown dangers from occurring.

"I went over to confirm the situation."

"Then I'll lead the 'Muses' team to follow."

They looked at Kusei Maki, Kusei Maki and said, "Depending on the situation, I will send 'Funeral Bird' to participate in the investigation."

"Act quickly and report back immediately after confirming the situation."

95. Grassland

All the soldier squads on duty received emergency orders to report the situation on their respective streets and remain on alert.

Soon, an engine roared at the end of the street, and a silver-black heavy motorcycle stood out conspicuously in the sunlight. It sped like a raptor pushing through the clouds, appearing in sight one second and then disappearing into the distance in the next two breaths.

An ordinary person simply couldn't maintain such a high speed under these road conditions, but the agent could—the soldier squad that sent out the distress call had lost contact, time was of the essence, and there was no helicopter to dispatch. Efnir decisively chose the motorcycle she had used in previous operations and sped to the area where the soldier squad had lost contact.

"Major General Efnir, please proceed along road N1-E17-N4-W5-N2."

"Receive."

The operatives at command post provided Efnir with an unobstructed street.

Efnir drove her motorcycle, making several turns without any obstruction, until she soon reached the end of the street. The towering buildings of the residential area came to an abrupt halt, replaced by a wide-open view—a field of planting and cultivation greenhouses appeared before Efnir's eyes. After the ravages of Erosion Disaster, these crops, which should have been thriving under the careful protection of humans in the white greenhouses, had disappeared. In their place were messy, collapsed greenhouses and green grass as tall as a person.

After reporting the emergency and requesting help, the soldiers disappeared without a trace, and no matter how the command called them, they received no response.

The only intelligence Efnir possessed was a clue mentioned in the soldier's last communication—the area where the "Mutated Entity" appeared was located in the planting and cultivation area two kilometers east of the temporary base.

"The 'Funeral Bird' squad, along with 'Main Sequence Star' and 'Muses,' are en route to the designated location..."

"Connect me to the communications between 'Main Sequence Star' and Anilas and Lapith."

With a drift, sparks and white smoke erupted from the motorcycle. Efnir dismounted lightly, her silver hair instantly turning snow-white as she flashed. Efnir transformed into an agent in Exile Form, leaping towards a nearby monitoring station and standing atop a tall signal tower, gazing at a vast expanse of green ahead.

There were no gunshots, not even a trace of life. A gentle breeze rippled across the vast green sea, and the air was eerily quiet.

Efnir strained her eyes, and soon noticed something amiss—cut grass, scattered weapons, equipment, and clothing Shard; Trace of battle; and earth ripped apart by bombs...

The air is still humid.

These Trace were scattered and disorganized, appearing in a fragmented manner throughout the area covered by grass.

Clearly, more than one battle had taken place here in the time since the rain stopped, but these men did not respond to the calls from command.

They probably met with some misfortune...

"Efnir calling command, I have arrived at the outer edge of the target area."

"Have you spotted any trace of soldiers or targets?"

"There are some... but I'm afraid it won't be good news."

Efnir gave a brief report on the situation, at which point a tiny movement hidden deep in the grass caught Efnir attention.

It was like a rabbit darting through a haystack—a very subtle, almost imperceptible sound. An ordinary person might easily overlook this faint whisper in the breeze, but a careful agent could easily detect it.

"Efnir, we'll be there soon."

Anilas's voice came through the headset, followed by Lapith joining the call.

"Can you wait until we arrive? I'm also quite interested in these 'Mutated Entity' and would like to see them for myself."

"I'm afraid it's too late."

Efnir raised her hand, and a silver light, like moonlight, appeared in her hand, taking the shape of a spear.

Anilas and Lapith each assembled their own squads. They didn't have fast enough transportation, nor could they walk the distance to get here immediately. Efnir estimated that it might take them another three to five minutes to arrive, and Efnir wasn't sure if the "something" in the bushes would have enough patience.

Without further hesitation, she aimed at her target, leaped from the communications tower, her toes slicing through the green waves, flashing silver light. She charged straight at her target, gun at her waist, each step shredding the green waves of grass and revealing large patches of muddy ground.

Before she could take more than a few steps, Efnir buried her foot in the grass. In a flash of silver light, large swathes of grass were shredded by the wind and waves, instantly revealing the objects beneath the grass—twigs and vines. Such words were simply inadequate to describe that thing; it was something that could not be described with such gentle terms.

Blood and black intertwined, coiled and knotted, resembling both plants and strips of meat. The blood-red python lay quietly on the ground, its nauseating, fishy stench rising from the air currents emanating from beneath Efnir's feet and assaulting her face.

"There are... so many?"

The object, similar to the "Mutated Entity" that Efnir had seen in the underground tunnels of the Relay Station and near the tunnel entrance, appeared to be some kind of organ of the "Mutated Entity," and Efnir's arrival did not disturb it.

Having found her target, Efnir did not continue forward. With a flash of silver light beneath her feet, Efnir nimbly flipped over and drew her gun from behind her waist.

With the spear tip in the ground and the shaft pointing upwards, Efnir landed on the spear shaft with one foot, like a dragonfly alighting on a branch.

Efnir turned her gaze to the slowly wriggling vine on the ground—this "vine" was clearly alive; it seemed to be resting, its surface covered with a grotesque, blood vessel-like structure, like tree roots, but without any clear distinction in thickness or hierarchy, instead resembling the tentacles of an octopus.

Judging from their shape, thickness, and skin color, these tentacles may originate from the same "Mutated Entity".

Scattered nearby were shredded pieces of clothing and broken, bent weapons, clearly indicating that the soldiers had died in the line of duty...

Efnir had no time for a moment of silence. She carefully observed the vines; it was the first time she had ever looked at them so closely, and each time she did, she felt a strange and eerie sensation.

After watching for a while, Efnir's gaze swept over the overgrown plantation, and she frowned slightly.

From the very beginning, Efnir had a strange feeling—even with the fertile soil here, such a vast expanse of grassland as tall as a person shouldn't have grown in such a short time.

A faint smell of blood lingered in the air.

"That's so strange..."

At this moment, as Efnir murmured in her heart, the grass finally stirred, as if it had discovered Efnir, this uninvited guest.

The next moment, several thick vines burst forth from the grass, attacking Efnir like giant pythons ready to devour their prey.

96. The mentality of winning or losing

"These vines don't have eyes, how did they sense me...?"