Rescue

Han Shu looked as though he had a headache. Rather helplessly, he picked up the radio. "Sir, you're right. The Star Pillar certainly won't grow legs and run away. But you may not know that some Children of Darkness, such as danger level 3 Transmitters, aren't afraid of the light it gives off. On the contrary, once they discover a Star Pillar, they'll do everything they can to destroy it."

"Besides, there are plenty of exploration squads in Metropolis. The base can make the most suitable arrangements based on their circumstances and locations. I believe they wouldn't be much slower than us going there ourselves."

Chen Liu spoke in a voice filled with disappointment. "Captain Han, have the cold and darkness of the Inverse Realm seeped into your very bones? I never imagined you would say something like that. If your comrades heard you, what do you think they would think?"

"Forget it. If you won't go, I will! As an officer of the Fortress, I won't abandon anyone!"

Han Shu covered the radio and muttered, "Do these desk jockeys all think with their asses?"

A few chuckles sounded inside the vehicle.

Han Shu raised the radio again. "Sir, we can't confirm their identity. This could be a trap."

Chen Liu sneered. "Captain Han, not only do you lack courage and a sense of duty, you've even lost your basic judgment. A trap? Whose trap? Are you trying to tell me those Children of Darkness can use our language? Absurd!"

Han Shu grabbed at his hair out of habit. "Sir, we never know how many secrets the Inverse Realm holds. Even with everything we've learned, who can guarantee those dark bastards can't speak and learn our language?"

Chen Liu snapped, "Enough! I really wonder what the higher-ups in the Nightwalkers are thinking, letting someone like you command an operation. Captain Han, feel free to carry on with your mission. Once I've rescued them, I'll catch up with you. Over."

"Sir? Sir?"

Han Shu called several times, but Chen Liu did not respond. He shook his head and cursed under his breath. "Idiot."

Then he spoke into the radio. "Convoy, change course. We're going to rescue them!"

"Roger."

"Understood."

Putting down the radio, Han Shu dropped back into his seat, his face full of resignation.

The young man with the ponytail behind him couldn't help crying out, "Captain, why bother with that idiot? If he wants to play the hero, let him!"

Han Shu shook his head. "The Strategic Department has always had a bone to pick with us. If one of their officers gets into trouble under my command, Commander Chu will get dragged into it. You think I want to indulge his madness? I don't have a choice."

He spread his hands.

And so, the convoy turned at the next intersection and headed toward the coordinates of the distress signal.

An enormous complex of buildings appeared ahead of the convoy.

The convoy stopped on the road. To their left was a circular plaza. Crisscrossing curved lines covered its surface, apparently some sort of decoration.

There were pillars on either side, with what seemed to be landscaped areas behind them. But those places now held only brown sand and gravel, without a trace of vegetation.

In the distance stood two spherical buildings, one large and one small. Their purpose was unknown.

Han Shu got out of the vehicle and gazed at the plaza a short distance from the road. "The residents of the Inverse Realm really had it good. Look at all that space they left open. It isn't even a park!"

Just then, the sounds of the Fifth-Generation Armament moving rang out.

The ranged armament that had wiped out a group of Wanderers earlier moved at low power. Wheels beneath its feet propelled the roughly three-meter-tall machine slowly toward a passage leading to the spherical buildings at the rear.

Chen Liu and several soldiers followed the Fifth-Generation Armament. Bringing up the rear was a Nightwalker squad codenamed Highland Eagle.

Han Shu leaned against the vehicle and opened a holographic projection. It showed the team advancing.

The footage was being transmitted live by the helmet recorder of one of the Highland Eagle soldiers, allowing those staying behind to watch the entire rescue.

After rounding the plaza ahead, the team came upon a parking lot. The Inverse Realm's thinly armored vehicles were parked haphazardly. Most were little more than empty shells, and signs of damage were still visible on many of the wrecks.

The uneven ground was covered in the strange fungal growths unique to the Inverse Realm. They formed irregular patches across the road, some even engulfing the wrecked cars.

Twelve minutes later, the rescue team reached a spherical building at the source of the signal. They passed through a large door and crossed a ruined lobby. Following a passage, they emerged through another door and found themselves in a stand of spectator seating.

Incidentally, the passage behind the lobby clearly hadn't been designed to accommodate Three-Dimensional Armament. Its 2.5-meter ceiling forced the ranged armament to retrace its route and look for another opening into the building.

Looking at the tiered seating in the holographic projection, Tianyang couldn't help saying, "This could hold a thousand people. No, maybe more. Look across from it-there's another stand just like it. God, is this a gladiatorial arena? I heard War God Fortress has a grand arena that can hold three hundred spectators at once."

"Look down below." Old Xu pointed beneath the stands.

Below the stands lay an open area as large as one of Lighthouse Base's training grounds.

Surrounding that open space was a distinctly different area, surfaced with some kind of material and shaped like a ring. A raised rim ran along its inner edge.

This area was divided into several sections, with Inverse Realm symbols serving as some sort of markings within them.

Old Xu's gaze grew thoughtful. "I'd bet the residents of the Inverse Realm led pretty leisurely lives. Otherwise, they wouldn't have built a place like this just to watch a spectacle. Clearly, this was where they came to pass the time."

Tianyang agreed and nodded, a trace of envy in the young man's eyes.

Before the Inverse Realm had turned into this hellish place, the city's residents might well have lived better than the Upper Citizens in the Fortress.

A voice came from the holographic projection. "Captain Han, we've received another distress signal and pinpointed its location. We're moving in to carry out the rescue."

It was Liang Sen, the captain of Highland Eagle.

"Be careful, Captain Liang. If anything feels wrong, pull out immediately," Han Shu said.

"Understood," Liang Sen replied. In the projection, the rescue team began moving.

They turned into a passage within the stands, advancing in fits and starts until they finally reached a large door. Beside it was a sign bearing a pictogram of a little figure sitting in a chair, apparently resting.

Captain Liang Sen, dressed in a long black uniform coat and sporting a slightly receding hairline, raised a hand to signal the team to stay alert.

He gently pushed the door, and a series of strange creaks came through the projection.

At last, the door opened, revealing a room with several rows of seats. As the rescue team's lights swept across it, Tianyang saw a row of metal cabinets along the left side. The cabinets had numerous small compartments and looked like simple lockers.

On the other side, a screen hung on the wall. Its surface had long since shattered, exposing the circuit board inside. Beneath it stood a cabinet.

A person crouched beside that cabinet with his back to the rescue team, speaking mechanically in a hoarse voice. "...Can anyone hear me... trapped... requesting assistance, coordinates as follows..."