Chapter 211

Efnir then took over, recounting what she, Anilas, and the others had discovered during their investigation in the underground space.

After outlining some intriguing points, Efnir added, "Furthermore, that underground space is also a massive, secret research facility; we have footage from our investigations and evidence gathering there."

111. Planning

The impromptu operational meeting lasted only 15 minutes.

Although it was called a combat meeting, it was actually just a face-to-face intelligence exchange and gathering to prevent unnecessary leaks.

"... Then, Major General Efnir will lead the Main Sequence Star Squad on the second investigation. Siyejian, you and your men will go to provide support. I will assign ten engineering team members to help you set up temporary communication lines. Major General Efnir will serve as the on-site commander."

"Yes."

Kusei Maki assigned the tasks: apart from the soldiers continuing the city cleanup, the Agent Squad were tasked with continuing the investigation and cleanup. "The rest of the team, led by Anilas, will enter the ICS Research Institute to carry out a search mission, with Lieutenant Colonel Anilas serving as the on-site commander."

"If you have any suggestions, please let me know now."

"Major General, I have a request," Lapith said, raising her hand as soon as Kusei Maki finished speaking. "I would like to allocate some of my men to participate in Major General Efnir and Anilas's investigation. Of course, we, the Funeral Bird, will also contribute to this effort."

"Yes, that's fine." Kusei Maki seemed to have known that Lapith would make such a request, and nodded almost without hesitation.

"I hope our team members can retain a certain degree of autonomy to act independently," Lapith added.

"Can."

Kusei Maki nodded again, "But you need to share the intelligence and information you obtain with us."

"Of course, the Apostle are our common enemy. This operation is being carried out under the unified banner of the Human Alliance, and we will not handle any intelligence or captured items on our own."

"Okay, then you and they can discuss and decide on the specific personnel allocation."

Lapith's thinking is not hard to understand. They came to assist in the operation because of the Human Federation's orders. As for them, Kusei Maki also had temporary command authority, which means that they could be considered Kusei Maki's subordinates for the time being.

It is only right that we do our part.

Besides, they had spent a lot of manpower and resources coming to Xijing City to help the Xijing City fight the Apostle, so it was impossible for them to leave empty-handed.

They participate in more missions, and in the end, the Human Federation and Xijing City will give them more "rewards". In this era, cities communicate and provide combat support in this form of "trade". Even the Human Federation's rule over cities depends on this method to some extent. On the other hand, it is also due to the Human Federation's absolute control over the Beacon System and the Boundary Stele System. Otherwise, the human society, which had completely fallen apart at the end of the Old Era, would not have been reunited.

Simply put, this seemingly fragile connection is also a legitimate exchange of value.

On the other hand, Lapith's participation in the mission would also provide valuable intelligence, including information about the ICS Research Institute and the Mutated Entity, which greatly interested Lapith. Therefore, she made this request. Kusei Maki had obviously anticipated this, so Kusei Maki and Lapith tacitly agreed on the mission arrangements.

"Does anyone else have any ideas?" Kusei Maki asked again.

"Commander, I request to accompany Major General Efnir on an investigation mission," said Nishizaki Yuki this time.

Efnir glanced at her, indicating her inquiry.

Kusei Maki shook her head as well, "You're a researcher, and we still need your help a lot here. Leave the investigation work to us soldiers."

The implication is that Nishizaki Yuki, lacking the ability to protect herself and being a valuable researcher, should not take risks.

However, Nishizaki Yuki insisted on her point of view. "Some things cannot be confirmed without seeing them with our own eyes. As researchers, it is our duty to figure out every unknown and doubtful thing."

She paused, then added, "As for the work I have on hand, I will hand it over to my assistant, Kanade Kotone. She will take care of the preliminary preparations and won't slow down the progress."

"Qin Yin? She's here too?"

Efnir looked puzzled.

Kusei Maki did not know Kanade Kotone. Kanade Kotone was just Nishizaki Yuki's assistant, and they had no direct contact with each other, so Kusei Maki had no impression of her.

But Efnir knew very well that just a month and a half ago, Kanade Kotone was only a student at the Youcheng Girls' Academy.

"She knew you and Shiomi were here, so she came with me."

"Is she alright? Is she able to handle the work?"

"Of course, you know I'm not one to joke around," Nishizaki Yuki said, pulling a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, but then realizing it was inappropriate to smoke there, she put it back without batting an eye. "She's smart. She was a bit off at first, but now she's doing pretty well."

Seeing that Nishizaki Yuki had vouched for her, Efnir said nothing more.

Efnir unconsciously recalled the time when she had just joined the agency... A month and a half was indeed enough time to change a person.

"In that case, you will operate with the Main Sequence Star Squad – this mission is entrusted to you." The last part of the sentence was spoken by Kusei Maki to Efnir.

After a brief planning process, everyone received their tasks and left the command post to take action on their own.

Lapith and Efnir left the temporary command post side by side.

At this moment, Lapith looked like her usual self, with beautiful long, wavy hair. She was half a head taller Efnir, giving off a friendly, girl-next-door vibe, and always had a faint smile on her face.

In fact, she was a few years older Efnir.

As they walked, Lapith and Efnir discussed their exploration plan, with Efnir reiterating the unique nature of the underground space and adding further details.

"Speaking of which, your team's 'Kite' is actually Second-Generation Agent, right? I haven't heard of this codename before."

Lapith raised the kite.

Compared to other Second-Generation Agent, Lapith was more interested in this Second Generation agent who was more like First Generation agent.

"That's true," Efnir explained without hiding anything. "She was originally a member of Anilas's team, but because her fighting style is more compatible with ours, she was temporarily assigned to my command. Besides that... Iris is excellent, but she needs more combat experience. She can only grow more by staying with us, which is also a factor we took into consideration."

Simply put, it's a matter of compatibility.

Even though they are both Second-Generation Agent, Iris, as an extension of the First-Generation Order Weapon, has a completely different fighting style from other Second-Generation Agent and cannot cooperate well with Anilas's operations. Therefore, the Main Sequence Star Squad, where Efnir and others are located, became the best choice.

Lapith smiled, indicating her agreement.

"Indeed, given time, she will definitely become an outstanding warrior. Apart from her, everyone in Muses is an exceptional junior, far more outstanding than we were back then."

It's true that the Funeral Bird of the same period was inferior to Muses in terms of overall strength.

Lapith smiled, showering the praise with compliments, before abruptly changing the subject.

"However, that's precisely the case... To be honest, the Central Province seems to value this mission very much, which makes me wonder—Major General Efnir of Xijing City, there are some things I'd like to discuss with you privately. I wonder if it's convenient for you?"

"Of course," Efnir paused, "I have to go to the medical department before starting the mission. How about we talk on the way?"

Regarding a bug

I hereby submit a modification request.

Previously in Chapter 91, it was mentioned that "Anilas and the others discovered that the four escaped Apostle were dead," but later in Chapter 94, it was changed to "their whereabouts are still unknown"... I apologize... This is a bug, and a very, very serious one at that. The plot has completely gone astray, and this serious accident is all because I forgot to write it...

Waaah, so sad.

In short, now that it has happened and been discovered, we must address it.

I compared some chapters starting from chapter 91 with chapters after chapter 94 and found that this contradictory setting appears more frequently in the later chapters and has a greater impact on the plot development. Therefore, I decided to make a unified (retcon) decision: delete the setting related to "the escaped Apostle" in chapter 91 and change it to "the four Apostle escaped but have not yet been discovered".

As for Chapter 91, I will try to submit a revision request to the editor. I don't know if it will be approved, but I'll give it a try. If it really doesn't work, I hope the readers won't be angry with me...

Dogeza with toes sticking out (I don't know what kind of weird pose it is, but it sounds more special than a simple "dogeza", so I'll give it a try).

112. Suzuta's Idol

The preparation of the action team and the deployment of the area of responsibility will take some time. Although Efnir is the main combat force of the on-site command and agent, there is actually not much for her to prepare.

Lapith is similar in this respect.

Agents are representatives of an individual's ultimate power and also a very important strategic resource. Therefore, many trivial matters are deliberately removed from their shoulders.

This is not simply about improving their time management efficiency.

In short, the agent is usually quite free when he doesn't have a mission, so even when he has a mission, Efnir still has time to visit Yukina.

As for Lapith, she simply followed along, chatting with Efnir about all sorts of random things the whole way.

"By the way, you also serve as a 'spokesperson idol' in Xijing City, right?"

Suddenly, Lapith turned the conversation to Efnir herself.

Having not been involved in idol activities for some time, Efnir felt somewhat uncomfortable when this topic was suddenly brought up.

"So you knew about it too... Well, it's just part of my job."

Ironically, Anilas knew about him, but that was because Anilas's friend happened to be his fan. How did Lapith know?

Do you enjoy this job that allows you to work in your spare time?

"It's alright. I gradually got used to it after I started doing it. Although I wasn't quite used to it at first, when I was performing on stage and seeing people laughing and cheering, I realized it wasn't so bad."

"I see, that's quite an unimaginable scene. I've never experienced anything like it... Your life must be much more exciting than mine." Lapith pondered for a moment, then nodded, pursing her lips. "Have you always liked to sing?"

"No, actually, when I was little, I initially wanted to be a doctor."

"A doctor... that's exactly the kind of thing someone like you would say."

Why do you say that?

"That's just how I feel... that's the impression you give off."

Lapith smiled and said, "It might sound strange, but I actually heard about you before I came here."

I've heard of you too.

Although there is a considerable distance between Xijing City and Suzuda City, as the leaders of their respective cities, Efnir and Lapith are not entirely ignorant of each other, even though they have never met.

But that's clearly not what Lapith meant.

"You misunderstood. Actually, I didn't mention this before—we also have an idol agent in Suzuda City, and I learned about you from her."

"Idol Agent..."

This surprised Efnir quite a bit.

Efnir had contact with the agent from Suzuda City during a mission Beyond the Boundary, but she was unaware that Suzuda City also had idol activities similar to those in Xijing City.

Simply put, the reason why Xijing City created "proxy idols" was by accident. It was an alternative way to appease and encourage citizens during a period of instability in the city, and it just happened to be successful. However, there is no reason for Suzuda City to do something like this to stabilize the city's security.

"So Suzuda City has its own 'colleagues' too... That's surprising. I thought this kind of thing only happened in cities like ours..."

That's not what I meant.

Lapith probably guessed what Efnir was thinking and smiled gently.

"Actually, our city only started trying out the 'idol agent' thing this year, and so far it hasn't achieved any significant results, so it was canceled a month ago."

When Efnir became the "spokesperson," the situation in Xijing City was quite "harsh." The so-called "spokesperson" was just a desperate attempt. At the same time, many other projects were also launched, and it was through the combined efforts of various parties that Efnir's popularity was finally achieved.

As a stable large city, Suzuda City does not need "idols," so it is naturally difficult to create a highly well-known proxy idol.

Simply put, the idol project in Xijing City is probably very difficult to replicate.

"Is that so? What a pity..."

That's quite normal; Efnir didn't show much surprise.

In this era, the profession of "idol" is not popular at all. Most people's demand for entertainment has become distorted, and even agents cannot change this situation. Naturally, the "idols" in Suzuda City cannot be managed.

Efnir felt a pang of regret, as someone in such a rare profession as an idol agent had finally discovered the existence of a fellow professional only to find that the other had "retired."

However, it has little to do with Efnir.

But Lapith's next words took Efnir by surprise.

"That guy over there has been making a fuss about wanting to meet you..."

"Huh? You want to meet me?"

Efnir stopped in her tracks.

"Although she's been an agent for two years, she's still like a child, a bit willful but also very persistent, and that's what makes her shine... Well, getting off topic, actually, the so-called 'idol project' in our area was also advocated and managed by her alone, but as you can probably guess, this kind of thing is hard to get attention in our city, but she persisted, even after the project was canceled, she still persevered on her own, and is still performing under her own name, all with money she raised herself, including some support from fans, but she still can't achieve a larger scale, and there are even quite a few criticisms and scoldings."

"Insult her?"

Lapith lowered her brows in thought, as if recalling something.