After guarding the rear?

Mu Wanqiu's plans probably extend beyond simply guarding the rear…

Lu Zhe calmly instructed, "You guys go first. I'll go with Xiaoqiu."

He then gave Mu Wanqiu a meaningful look.

Of the entire Survey Corps, Lu Zhe understood this Rank S operative the most.

Ever since the last Doru River mission, Mu Wanqiu had been preoccupied, clearly harboring a secret… As the leader of the First Team, Lu Zhe typically avoided delving into his team members' personal lives. However, this time, with the Restart Mission, the Corps Commander had entrusted him with a crucial responsibility.

Besides completing the exploration mission, the most important task was ensuring Xiaoqiu's safety!

This Rank S operative was the most promising talent in the entire Survey Corps and absolutely could not be allowed to come to harm.

Of course, even without the Corps Commander's orders, he would do his utmost to protect her… Over the years, he had watched this Rank S operative grow within the First Team, changing bit by bit. If all went well, Xiaoqiu would become an even more formidable captain than himself in the future.

The other team members acknowledged his orders and departed.

Once they were gone.

"Captain, this is a minor matter… I can handle it independently." Mu Wanqiu said softly, somewhat helplessly, "Actually, you could have gone with them."

"Don't call me Captain. Remember, you're the Captain now."

Lu Zhe smiled slightly and said, "You're too naive. Don't think everyone else is stupid. I think they've figured it out too. You want to set up a spiritual marker and then come back alone later, right?"

Mu Wanqiu sighed softly.

"You're wrong."

She said calmly, "I never intended to set up a marker here in the first place."

Lu Zhe was taken aback.

"After leaving the Doru River, I had a very strange nightmare." Mu Wanqiu said slowly, "My biggest goal in participating in this Restart Mission is to trace the root of that nightmare… And now, I'm not far from the truth."

She looked around at the desolate snow-covered mountains.

Finally, Mu Wanqiu's gaze settled on the depths of the snow-white mist.

That was the unknown Disconnected Zone.

The [Judge] had a unique feeling about the mist deep within the Snow Ridge!

That… might be the place that led to the truth of the nightmare.

According to Osmond's operational plan, returning to the airship to replenish energy and then setting out several times would allow them to stably establish a [Deep Sea] connection to the Disconnected Zone… If there were no transcendent material interference, the members of the Restart Squad would be able to thoroughly explore several branches of the Doru River.

This was a "slow" and "steady" operational plan!

One with almost no chance of accidents.

"You want to go deep into the Disconnected Zone alone?" Lu Zhe frowned and said, "According to Osmond's plan, we'll be able to advance to the place you want to go in a few days… Why take such a risk?"

"I… I don't know…"

Mu Wanqiu hesitated for a moment. She withdrew her gaze and murmured, "Osmond's operational plan is good, but it's not suitable for me. Deep down, I feel a kind of 'summoning,' it's not far away. Something is attracting the [Judge]… I have to leave immediately. If I go any later, maybe nothing will happen."

After hearing this, Lu Zhe fell silent.

"Captain…"

Seeing Lu Zhe hesitate, Mu Wanqiu spoke again.

She reached out and covered her chest, her spiritual power slowly pouring out.

The snow wind howled.

A huge and eerie white-robed ghost figure vaguely appeared behind her.

She said earnestly, "Maybe this doesn't fit the operational plan… but I want to be selfish for once."

Several seconds later.

Lu Zhe sighed.

He understood Mu Wanqiu too well.

This silly girl had a straightforward personality, just like the blade in her hand, never turning corners.

Since joining the Corps, Mu Wanqiu had never told a lie, because she didn't need to… In this situation, if Mu Wanqiu insisted on "going deeper," then the premonition in her heart must be very strong, difficult to resist.

Lu Zhe didn't know what kind of feeling that was.

But as a top-level psychic transcendent, he knew very well about the existence of "precognition."

"This isn't the first time you've been selfish."

Lu Zhe's gaze towards Xiaoqiu contained helplessness, indulgence, and worry, "You must have sensed it, right? This place is strange. Going deeper will definitely lead to danger…"

The deeper one went into this Snow Ridge, the more it was shrouded in calamity. His spiritual power had long been on high alert.

Mu Wanqiu must have sensed it too.

The girl nodded slowly.

"If I forcibly take you back in this situation… you'd probably be angry for a long time, right?" Lu Zhe chuckled softly and asked, "This is a headache. Looking at the current situation, it seems like I can only choose between the Corps Commander's orders and your freedom."

Mu Wanqiu smiled cooperatively. In reality, she had already secretly made "combat preparations"!

Of course, she knew that even if she was the so-called "Rank S," she was still far from a match for Captain Lu Zhe. Once they fought, she would be crushed… But if the Captain insisted on taking her back, then she would have to attack.

She already had a complete operational plan in mind.

The ultimate goal was not to defeat Lu Zhe, but to escape from Lu Zhe's grasp!

"Whoosh!"

Lu Zhe suddenly reached out his palm.

Mu Wanqiu's pupils contracted… She had already prepared in advance. At the moment Lu Zhe attacked, she would retreat swiftly. Then, the white-robed Judge would suddenly swell, holding a large banner, and slam it heavily towards the Captain!

She didn't hold back at all!

Because she knew… that with her strength, she was still far from being able to hurt the Captain. Once they fought, any show of mercy would result in her being suppressed and taken away by the Captain.

The two instantly distanced themselves… Lu Zhe's expression remained unchanged. He looked at the large banner slamming down on his head, with no intention of blocking it. The next moment, the pale banner heavily crashed onto his shoulder!

There was no bloody scene of blood splattering!

It wasn't that the [Judge]'s killing power was weak, but that this strike didn't hit Lu Zhe's body at all!

The large banner trembled with difficulty, as if restrained by an invisible force.

Above Lu Zhe's shoulder, there seemed to be an invisible air barrier, firmly resisting this attack…

"It seems you were prepared to fight me." He said with a smile, looking up at the grimacing white-robed Judge, and praised with a smile, "Not bad, it's only been a few days, and you've made progress… This blow could kill someone."

Immediately afterwards.

Lu Zhe reached out his palm.

He suddenly clenched his fist, seemingly grasping a piece of "sleeve" across the tens of meters of empty space!

"Clatter," a crisp sound.

Mu Wanqiu, who was retreating rapidly, instantly felt something bad. The robe on her shoulder seemed to be grabbed by something!

The Captain had activated his ability!

The First Team of the Survey Corps was the strongest team. And Captain Lu Zhe's ability, although not Rank S, was also quite abnormal. The North Continent Corps closely guarded his files, and even those teammates who spent day and night with him only guessed at some of the general aspects of his abilities.

In the Outpost Mission, the power that Lu Zhe displayed was his ability to manipulate objects across space.

It sounded simple.

But in actual combat, it was extremely terrifying!

His domain expansion wouldn't have any pre-motion. As long as his thoughts arrived, it would be equivalent to "domain expansion." This also meant that as long as someone was within Lu Zhe's domain, if he wanted to capture someone, he only needed to reach out his hand.

That hand would naturally arrive at the "end point"!

Mu Wanqiu reacted extremely quickly. She knew that she had been grabbed by the Captain!

But it wasn't over yet.

At the moment of retreating, Mu Wanqiu's hand was already on the hilt of her blade, waiting for Lu Zhe to reach out. At this moment, the resistance on her shoulder transmitted and burst out. She directly drew her blade and slashed at the Survey Corps robe draped over her shoulder—

Unfortunately.

Lu Zhe's speed of retracting his hand was faster than her blade.

"Screech!"

With this blade strike, only a corner of the wildly dancing robe shattered.

Lu Zhe sighed with admiration, "That's scary, Xiaoqiu. You really seem to want to kill me… I have the feeling of fighting the Corps Commander."

Mu Wanqiu didn't have the extra strength to respond.

Her spiritual power was highly concentrated. To escape the Captain's control, she had to do her best.

She used her mind to control the [Judge] to deliver another slash with the banner!

"Rumble—"

In the wind of the Snow Ridge, the large banner suddenly retracted. The figure of the Judge dissipated with the wind, and then condensed again, transforming into a burly ghost figure squatting halfway, drawing its blade, and building momentum.

The Judge's spiritual domain suddenly expanded, attacking Lu Zhe madly.

The large banner instantly turned into countless ghost shadows.

Lu Zhe's robes and broken hair were all blown backwards. He narrowed his eyes, calmly watched this scene, and in the midst of countless stabs of wind, he "slowly" reached out his palm.

The contrast between fast and slow formed a strong impact.

But the palm that Lu Zhe stretched out at this moment did not use his ability.

Countless gusts of wind instantly extinguished.

The tall trees within hundreds of meters were hit by the Judge's slashing wind and swayed violently. Those nearby even bent over and nearly broke, but after Lu Zhe made his move, all the wind was forcibly stopped in an instant.

That palm held the top of the banner with incredible precision among nearly a hundred illusory figures.

He clasped his hands together.

The wind stopped.

The blizzard gently settled.

Lu Zhe reached out with his other hand again.

At this moment, the sound of wind howled and exploded in the distance.

Mu Wanqiu instantly felt her scalp tingle, because the scene at this moment was very similar to the scene of her Judge slashing, the violent sound of wind that sounded in the air, hundreds or thousands, perhaps more, those were all palm shadows struck out by Lu Zhe's single hand—

How could she fight this? How could she withstand it?

At this moment, she felt somewhat desperate.

No matter how thorough and complete the operational plan… it was ineffective in the face of absolute power.

Just as Mu Wanqiu felt despair.

These thousands of gusts of wind suddenly went out for no reason.

Finally, a light palm was pressed on her lower abdomen, bursting out with extremely strong force through the source armor, pushing her heavily towards the far end of the mist. This palm had no lethality at all… it was full of thick pushing force!

"???"

Mu Wanqiu looked at the Captain's suspended figure in surprise and astonishment.

Of course, she wouldn't hesitate!

Seizing the opportunity, she directly borrowed the force and dashed towards the depths of the Snow Ridge!

The figure of the white-robed Judge also directly dissipated.

In the snow forest, only Lu Zhe's empty figure remained.

He silently watched Mu Wanqiu's fleeing figure, revealing a fake and regretful expression, and sighed to the sky without any acting skills, "As expected of a Rank S, I can't stop Mu Wanqiu from escaping at all…"

After saying that, Lu Zhe rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, "Well, fortunately, this place is a 'Disconnected Zone,' no one saw it. Even Lord Osmond shouldn't be able to find fault with this statement, right?"

……

……

(Adjusting my biological clock, I'm going to sleep after finishing this chapter. There will be another chapter tomorrow at 12 noon.)

(End of this chapter)