Chapter 1 The Teda Mira River Estuary

At the estuary of the Teda Mira River tributary, the Star-Long and Hai Xia fleets formed a tight blockade, with many naval mines also laid on the riverbed.

The movements of the Germination evacuation force were known to both countries. Star-Long and Hai Xia were taking this battle very seriously, viewing it as an excellent opportunity to inflict heavy losses on the Germination organization.

A net had already been cast. In the eyes of the two countries, Germination was a cornered beast, forced to charge headfirst into the hunter's trap even knowing it was there.

The battlefield was divided into two sectors, with each country responsible for a different area. Hai Xia was primarily responsible for the naval blockade, while Star-Long was responsible for the ground interception. This cooperative approach divided responsibilities and avoided command conflicts.

Considering the individual combat strength of Germination's executives, the Thirteenth Bureau also dispatched covert operatives as emergency teams and assault troops, shouldering special tactical missions. They were standing by at a small pier near the estuary, awaiting orders from the military commanders.

Zhang Wei's team was among them.

A row of speedboats was neatly docked at the pier, and green military tents were hidden in the small grove behind the pier.

In the past two months, the members of the team had not changed much. Zhang Wei still had a serious face, Li Ya Lin was still as sexy and hot as ever, Lin Yao still looked like he was constantly being bullied, and Lambert remained as silent as a stone.

The only change was the addition of a young, new face.

"Hou Yue, you've been in the team for a month and have been honed quite a bit. This mission is of great importance, so don't make any mistakes."

Inside the team's tent, Zhang Wei instructed the newcomer, Hou Yue.

Hou Yue was a thin young man with a pair of guns stuck in his waist, and a head of free and easy, stylish long hair. He was somewhat handsome. Hearing this, he nodded and smiled arrogantly, "Captain, you're thinking too much. In the past month, have I ever failed to complete a mission perfectly?"

Zhang Wei nodded. Hou Yue was an agent trained by the Thirteenth Bureau to fill Han Xiao's vacancy in the team. He had been performing well, which put Zhang Wei at ease.

Li Ya Lin sat to one side with her arms crossed over her chest and her legs crossed. Her pretty brow was furrowed, and she seemed to be in a bad mood.

In reality, ever since Han Xiao ran off, and the agents who lost their deposits came knocking to collect, her mood had never been good.

Hou Yue sidled over and sat next to Li Ya Lin, grinning, "Big beauty Li, what are you thinking about?"

Li Ya Lin glared at him. "Are you some kind of busybody? What's it to you?"

Hou Yue persistently tried to strike up a conversation. The first time he saw Li Ya Lin, on the day he joined the team, he was stunned by her beauty. Having such a beautiful woman as a teammate was pleasing to the eye. He would strike up a conversation with Li Ya Lin whenever he had the chance. However, Li Ya Lin, having been burned by Han Xiao, suffered from "newcomer aversion". Whenever she saw Hou Yue, she thought of Han Xiao, so naturally, she didn't give him a friendly look.

Li Ya Lin was annoyed by his chatter and suddenly revealed a dangerous smile. "You really like to talk, don't you?"

As she spoke, she cracked her knuckles, her fist emitting a yellow aura, all her inner anger contained in the force of her clench.

Hou Yue reflexively retreated. He knew that once Li Ya Lin showed this expression, it meant she was about to start hitting people. He had learned this lesson when he first joined the team and had spent three days in the infirmary.

Lin Yao, who was watching the show, shook his head and said pretentiously, "Little Hou, you're still too chicken. When it comes to guts, I only admire Brother Xiao."

"Who exactly is Brother Xiao?"

Hou Yue was puzzled. Ever since he joined the team, he had learned that the team's full complement was six members, but one member was always missing. Logically speaking, a member not in the team would have their name crossed out, but the empty sixth position on this team was always reserved.

Moreover, he would often hear Zhang Wei and the others mention "Brother Xiao". Hou Yue was very curious about this sixth member.

Li Ya Lin immediately exploded, angrily saying, "Don't mention his name in front of me!"

"We're on a mission, you can't beat me up!" Lin Yao said calmly, but his legs were trembling.

Hou Yue felt that Li Ya Lin's reaction was a bit excessive. In his experience, this was definitely the reaction of a resentful woman when she heard about the man who abandoned her... well, it seemed that a huge debt relationship would also elicit this kind of reaction.

Zhang Wei shook his head, sighed, and explained, "Han Xiao was originally our teammate, but he left the team for some special reason."

"Special reason?" Hou Yue used his imagination and tentatively asked, "Was he sent on a secret mission?"

Zhang Wei shook his head.

"Was he transferred to another unit by the higher-ups?"

Zhang Wei shook his head.

"Then where did he go?" Hou Yue was puzzled.

"Who knows? He's probably dead." Li Ya Lin said unhappily.

Hou Yue was dubious.

"Who are you kidding? If he was really dead, why would you keep his position open? You guys say you hate him, but I think you miss him a lot..."

A silence fell.

After a long while, Li Ya Lin stood up and smiled slightly.

"Choose your method of death."

Hou Yue took off running.

Lambert shook his head and sheathed the knife he had quietly drawn.

...

The Star-Long ground forces were lying in ambush in a valley near the estuary, their target being to intercept the Germination ground forces coming to rendezvous. Ming Yue Chang Zhong, Shan Guang Chao Fan, and Jiang Yu Luo were acting as logistics soldiers.

The three of them joined the Star-Long army during the closed beta, and had now exchanged for their main classes. Shan Guang Chao Fan and Jiang Yu Luo were both of the Martial Arts class, while Ming Yue Chang Zhong had an explosion of luck and awakened an Esper ability using the gene fluid from the mall.

As new recruits, the three of them had also been conscripted for this war to do some logistics. To their surprise, they had triggered a series of camp missions - [Teda Mira River Campaign].

After the surprise, the three of them were soon troubled. The series of missions had more than a dozen objectives, and they could only complete the simplest, lowest-rewarding logistics objectives. The other missions, such as killing ten Germination soldiers, killing a Germination executive, or destroying a vehicle, were completely beyond their capabilities.

"It doesn't seem like this is a mission our level should trigger," Ming Yue Chang Zhong said.

Shan Guang Chao Fan and Jiang Yu Luo deeply agreed, feeling that they had been caught up in a high-difficulty mission beyond their level. With their newbie levels, they could only be cannon fodder.

The three of them didn't know that the frontal conflict between Germination and the Six Nations would take place three months after the public beta in the game's internal time. At that time, the players would already have a basic understanding of the world's power structure and would also have some combat power. The conflict between the Six Nations and Germination would start on a small scale and gradually involve the players, allowing them to participate and play a role.

However, Han Xiao had completely disrupted the process, advancing the frontal conflict between the Six Nations and Germination. Therefore, the current players had no ability to participate at all. Well... to be precise, the players had been screwed out of their main storyline missions.

This was more beneficial than harmful for Han Xiao, reducing the variables brought by the players in the early stages, leaving them only able to be cannon fodder.

...

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Two heavy transport helicopters, marked with the Far-reaching Star emblem, slowly landed in a valley. The swirling wind stirred up by the rotors swept over the landing area, causing the grass to fall and ripple in all directions, like waves.

"Old Hei, we've arrived." The pilot, Antonov, said weakly.

"I have eyes, and stop calling me Old Hei!"

Han Xiao said unhappily, "If you have to call me something, call me Black Phantom. Your stupid nickname is bad luck."

Antonov took off his noise-canceling headphones and blew smoke at Han Xiao. "Get over yourself. You don't have that kind of thing."

"Get lost." Han Xiao said unhappily.

For the past two months, Han Xiao had maintained a good cooperative relationship with Far-reaching Star, and Antonov's feelings were growing stronger day by day. If this was some indescribable game, it could already be conquered...

Taking a glance at the mountain of meat huddled in the driver's seat adjusting the instrument panel, Han Xiao hurriedly shook this terrifying thought out of his mind.

Crazy Blade Angry Sword cowered in the corner of the helicopter, trembling as he watched the two big shots, both with a "extremely fatal" danger level, chat and laugh. He had originally thought that Han Xiao would drive to the location, but who knew that Han Xiao would just make a phone call and two helicopters would come to pick them up. Han Xiao's image in his heart instantly became even taller and grander.

The Far-reaching Star personnel unloaded the supplies from the helicopter. Most of them were the weapons and equipment that Han Xiao had stored in Far-reaching Star, which could be used in this operation. There was also a disassembled and folded truck, which the Far-reaching Star mechanics reassembled on the ground. Han Xiao and Antonov chatted on the side.

Antonov had always thought that Han Xiao was only interested in bounties and asked in confusion, "I heard that Star-Long and Hai Xia are preparing to intercept Germination's retreat at Teda Mira. Do you have a feud with Germination?"

"How do you know which side I'm helping?" Han Xiao chuckled.

Antonov held a cigar in one hand and put the other in his pocket, frowning and pondering, "You don't want to help Germination, do you?"

Although Germination was a behemoth in the underground world, other forces kept their distance. In the final analysis, the underground world actually wanted order to exist. A stable situation was more profitable, and the Germination organization, in their eyes, was a group of thugs motivated by hatred and ideology.

Han Xiao remained noncommittal, walked to the side, and took out his phone to dial another number. A voice from an executive of the Blood Pact Society came over the phone.

"Mr. Black Phantom, how can I help you?"

Ever since he had climbed into the top ten of the killer rankings, the Blood Pact Society had attached great importance to him, giving him special treatment, with a dedicated person answering his calls 24 hours a day and providing special services... well, legitimate special services.

His status came partly from his strength and partly from Han Xiao's good relationship with Bennett, which garnered him the attention of the Dark Net organization.

"I need the latest movements of Germination's retreating forces and Star-Long and Hai Xia."

"Okay, I'm applying to access the information. It will be sent to your computer soon."

"Yeah, I also need a helicopter to be on standby near the estuary of the Teda Mira River at any time."

"As you wish."

Crazy Blade Angry Sword, who was on the side, heard everything clearly. From the tone of his voice, he felt that Han Xiao was extremely awesome. This leg felt very thick.

After hanging up the phone, Han Xiao saw Crazy Blade Angry Sword standing idly by. After thinking about it, he made up a mission and threw it at him.

"You have triggered the mission [Get Hyped]! Mission requirements: Dance a hot dance to liven up the atmosphere."

Crazy Blade Angry Sword burst into tears.

Ah, his bad taste hasn't changed. It's still the familiar flavor!