71: Chapter 71 The Storm Is Brewing

"Brother Hong, did you not rest well last night? I look at your complexion, why does it look so terrible?"

Wang Suming, who was biting on a sandwich, handed a breakfast lunchbox prepared by Mother Wang to Chu Hong. Seeing the latter's displeased expression, he couldn't help asking with confusion.

As he spoke, his gaze also suspiciously turned toward Song Jiaojiao, who had just arrived.

Seeing that the latter also had a listless expression,

his eyes slowly widened.

Holy shit!

No way! Brother Hong, did you so quickly...

"Slap!"

Having grown up playing together after all, Chu Hong saw through what that damned fatty Wang Suming was thinking with a single glance, and irritably kicked him straight in the ass.

He snatched the lunchbox from the other's hand.

"Day in and day out, can you change the kind of stuff in your head."

However, as Chu Hong said this, his gaze toward Song Jiaojiao was also somewhat strange.

His lack of energy was because he spent all night running the knife in the Special Service Department's [Confidential · Cliffside Epidemic Hospital] last night, investigating the changes within the map through repeated extraction failures.

Although after returning to the Special Service Department, his state would instantly recover,

but... dying time and time again either by C4 extraction or being surrounded by zombie hordes and turned into snacks was definitely not comfortable.

In the span of a single night,

Chu Hong had completely exhausted all the broken guns and armor he currently had on hand that could be used to gear up.

And he had died close to forty or fifty times in a single night!

He was in bad spirits because of this, so what did this woman Song Jiaojiao do last night?

Giving a slight nod, he considered it a greeting to her.

The three of them walked directly into the Pioneers Guild.

As soon as they entered the hall,

the brows of Chu Hong and the other two furrowed in unison.

Wang Suming chewed his sandwich with a puzzled look: "Strange, why is the atmosphere in the guild so weird today... Has something big happened?"

Chu Hong's heart stirred.

He immediately thought of the reality secret realm Cliffside Epidemic Hospital.

He had died dozens of times in the confidential-grade Cliffside Epidemic Hospital last night, so he was all too clear about how perverted the monsters inside this map were—they truly didn't leave a single sliver of a way out!

Someone like him who didn't need to worry about truly dying could enter the confidential grade without any psychological burden, yet it was still like this.

What about the top-secret Cliffside Epidemic Hospital in reality?

"Hehe, today's young people are truly energetic."

Behind them, a smiling voice came over.

Chu Hong turned his head to look and saw Donald, wearing his signature cowboy hat and carrying a large sniper rifle on his back. Right behind him were the rest of the Falcon Squad.

Each of them carried a distinct veteran aura on their bodies.

Donald took off his cowboy hat, looked at Chu Hong with a smile, and gave a slight bow.

"Little brother, we meet again."

Chu Hong also smiled and nodded. To some extent, the number of times he and Donald had met was one more than the other party imagined; in fact, he even had the business card the other party gave him in his hand.

"Good morning, senior. We are here today to handle the establishment of a Pioneer Squad, you guys are..."

Donald smiled bitterly.

The few team members behind him also lacked the composure they had when they saw them previously; everyone's face carried anxiety and gloom.

"Haven't you guys heard? Something big happened last night... Rose Squad suffered heavy losses! Out of the three core teams, Black Shadow Team was wiped out, Yuwen Hui, the captain of the Bauhinia Squad, died in battle, and Rose Squad also suffered casualties."

Chu Hong's pupils shrank sharply.

Song Jiaojiao and Wang Suming also wore expressions of shock.

"Rose Squad?! Aren't they all in the Energy Gathering Realm?! Even a team like this is in such a miserable state? Is it that newly released secret realm, Cliffside Epidemic Hospital?"

Seeing Donald nod heavily, Wang Suming couldn't help but draw a sharp intake of breath.

"In the middle of last night, we received an order from the guild here, requiring us to gather here this morning."

Chu Hong heard two crucial words.

Order!

While the few of them were talking, fully armed figures of Pioneers also walked in from outside at this moment, causing Wang Suming's eyes to widen.

"Crossing River Dragon Team, Iron Fang Team, Shazhou Team..."

All the members of these "star" squads, whom ordinary residents of Huangshan Base City could recognize, walked into the hall.

Song Jiaojiao, standing beside Chu Hong, felt her pretty face turn slightly pale when she saw the few figures walking in afterward.

"Dad?!"

At the head was a handsome middle-aged man wearing magical-side armor, draped in a cloak, and holding a long spear radiating a chilling aura.

He was none other than Song Jiaojiao's father.

President Song Ming of the Rubiks Chamber of Commerce and captain of the Magic Cube Squad!

Chu Hong and Wang Suming had not expected that matters had actually become serious enough that even President Song Ming, a veteran Pioneer who hadn't entered secret realms for a long time, had actually been conscripted?

Hearing the commotion and seeing Chu Hong and Wang Suming standing beside his daughter,

President Song Ming walked over with large strides.

With his scholarly temperament, matched with the armor on his body at this moment, he looked like a scholar-general.

He smiled and proactively extended his hand toward Chu Hong.

"Student Chu Hong, I didn't expect to see you here. I've long heard Jiaojiao and Ah Fu mention you... I must also thank you for taking care of my daughter."

Chu Hong was slightly stunned and glanced at Song Jiaojiao beside him.

He shook hands with the other party.

"Uh, well, Uncle Song is too polite. Student Song Jiaojiao has actually helped me quite a bit too..."

These words were not just being polite.

If she hadn't given him the gold bullets and lord m14 last night, that boss might not really be something the current him could handle.

And naturally, there wouldn't have been the matter of clearing the map afterwards.

"Dad, why did even you come? Has that secret realm really become serious to this extent? For a top-secret grade, shouldn't Shangcheng Base City dispatch Pioneer Squads to handle it?"

Song Jiaojiao anxiously grabbed her father President Song Ming's arm.

A flash of gloom crossed the depths of President Song Ming's eyes. However, looking at his worried daughter, he still smiled and patted her head.

"Don't scare yourself, nothing major. It's just that the City Lord wants to form an elite force to enter the secret realm and gather intelligence. Your father is a person of status and face in the base city after all, so of course I have to participate."

These words were spoken lightly,

but falling into Chu Hong's ears, they made him immediately sniff out a different flavor.

His pupils shrank slightly.

"Could it be that Shangcheng Base City didn't send anyone?!"

"Lord City Lord is here!"

An exclamation came over.

Everyone turned their heads to look in the direction of the voice, and immediately saw Jiang Xingdong, dressed in brocade robes and wearing a long sword at his waist, looking like a Taoist immortal with ethereal bones from pre-cataclysm television dramas,

appearing on the second floor.

Behind him were Geng Lei, the fully armed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Department,

and Lan Yujing in golden armor, resembling the Goddess of Dawn.

However, Chu Hong keenly noticed that today, the light in Lan Yujing's eyes was noticeably much dimmer than when they first met.

Standing behind Jiang Xingdong, she was obviously somewhat absent-minded.

"Brother Hong, the situation is a bit wrong..." Wang Suming lowered his voice, also discovering the unfavorable situation.

Jiang Xingdong spoke up.

"All Pioneer Squads with a guild rating of Silver grade or above, gather on the second floor!"

"..."

Full of worry, Song Jiaojiao watched as President Song Ming led people upstairs.

After these elites left the hall, the remaining rookie Pioneers like Chu Hong and some underpowered Pioneer Squads in the hall began to discuss among themselves one after another.

"The weather is about to change, you guys have heard, right? Both captains of the Rose Squad core teams died in battle."

"Shh... My cousin patrols the city gate. When Rose Squad came back yesterday, their headcount was directly cut in half!"

"That's not right, is it? Isn't it said to be top-secret grade? With Rose Squad's strength, it's not like they haven't gone to support other base cities earlier. They also have experience with top-secret secret realms, how could they suffer such heavy losses..."

...

"Hello, establish a Pioneer Squad!"

Chu Hong walked up to the counter and took out his ID card.

The young lady behind the counter had a preoccupied look, and only reacted after Chu Hong said it a second time.

"Ah, sorry, I... Please fill out this form..."

Watching the young lady who handed out the form and then looked worriedly toward the second floor from time to time, Chu Hong roughly guessed in his heart.

Probably someone in her family went upstairs as well.

Pioneer Squad name... Chu Hong looked back at Song Jiaojiao and Wang Suming, who were equally absent-minded.

He couldn't be bothered to ask for their opinions either.

His hands began filling it out with swishing strokes.

"Squad Name: Big Dog Chew Chew Chew"

"Current Headcount: 3 people"

"Personnel Information..."

Until Chu Hong finally got the squad's establishment document, Song Jiaojiao and the other person behind him, and the young lady at the counter, didn't notice any abnormalities.

"Tsk... You guys doing this puts a lot of pressure on me too!"