321: Chapter 314 Operation Begins

"How have things been lately?"

For the Director, who was plagued by numerous troubles every day, life naturally hadn't been going smoothly. However, all of that vanished without a trace after Senior Brother Zhou arrived.

The Director was overjoyed. Imitating Senior Brother Zhou's movements, he returned the salute. "Since you arrived, everything has improved!"

"Hahaha..." Senior Brother Zhou laughed heartily. "Those of us from the Mountain Gate must eliminate any calamity we encounter. How could we just leave it be?"

"Then, the reason you concealed your tracks to come here is..."

The Director was no fool.

Luo Xiling and the other four had just set off, and Senior Brother Zhou had descended from the sky immediately after. Was that a coincidence?

Clearly, he had intentionally avoided the five of them.

"Senior Sister Luo has only been practicing for a short time. Junior Uncle Xu was worried there might be complications, so he sent me to look after them from the sidelines.

But he was also concerned that if they saw me here, they might become lax in their battle against the calamity. That's why I hid my presence and only appeared once they were far away."

Ye Ming had actually guessed correctly.

The Director was quite surprised inwardly, but he said, "It's cold outside, please come in."

The two walked into the operations room one after the other. Senior Brother Zhou was dressed in traditional attire with a long sword on his back, immediately drawing side-glances from the busy staff at their computers.

If it were a year ago, they would have wondered if the Director was hosting a cosplay event. Now that the supernatural was active everywhere, they naturally understood who the man before them was.

"Immortal Xu?" someone whispered to a colleague in the next seat.

"No, Immortal Xu has white hair."

"Then this is..."

"Let me introduce him to everyone." The Director clapped his hands to interrupt the chatter. "This is the Hall Master of Qingfeng Hall from the Mountain Gate. He is usually responsible for the Mountain Gate's logistics coordination and mission distribution."

They didn't really understand what the Hall Master of Qingfeng Hall did, but they understood once they heard the latter part.

A young girl stared at the sword hilt protruding diagonally from Senior Brother Zhou's shoulder and muttered in a voice only she could hear, "Logistics Director?"

However, Senior Brother Zhou had keen hearing. He replied with a gentle gaze and a smile, "Indeed."

The girl probably hadn't expected that he could hear her even though her voice was so faint. She was suddenly a bit embarrassed and quickly lowered her head.

"Senior Brother Zhou, the young girl is inexperienced. Please don't take it to heart."

"No matter, it was just a small joke." Senior Brother Zhou waved his hand to signal there was no need to be nervous, then brought the topic back on track. "What is your specific plan?"

Not understanding why he was interested in their operation plan, the Director felt slightly confused but didn't hesitate to explain.

Against the calamity, Luo Xiling and the other four were the only means of counterattack he had.

Moreover, the Special Investigation Bureau had received plenty of resources over the past year. Whatever they needed, Kyoto provided unconditional support. Other departments had been envious for a long time, waiting for him to show results to see if they should step in and take over.

Without a doubt, everyone was watching this encirclement and suppression campaign.

If the Special Investigation Bureau took down the calamity beautifully, then all would be quiet. Otherwise, he couldn't blame others for coming to snatch their work.

The Director's goal was for the five of them to take down the calamity without any losses, so that no one could find fault.

Therefore, he first sent the army to surround the mountainous area where the calamity appeared, gradually narrowing the encirclement to collect information after encountering it.

Once they understood the opponent's background, he would then order Luo Xiling and the other four to attack.

After finishing, he looked at Senior Brother Zhou, hoping for some advice.

Senior Brother Zhou only nodded, then looked at the huge LCD screen hanging on the wall.

On it was the army that had already taken their positions.

...

Deep in the mountains.

As spring arrived, the plants and trees were bursting with vitality, filled with lush greenery.

A fully armed squad stepped over the newly sprouted weeds, weaving through the trees.

"Captain, what are we doing here? Just wandering around the mountains?"

"Looking for the calamity. Don't you watch the news?"

"The calamity?" The squad member who spoke stood on tiptoe and looked around. "With such a big size, do we even need to search for it?"

The Captain felt a bit tired. "Stop talking nonsense and focus on the mission."

"Yes sir!" After a resounding response, the member immediately asked, "Captain, can you tell me about it?"

A comrade behind him whispered, "They say it's a new calamity. We're responsible for searching for the target and restricting its range of movement, and then someone will come to handle it."

"Who?"

"An Immortal, probably. Who else could it be?"

"Then when is the Immortal coming?" Several squad members got excited. While staying alert to their surroundings, they said, "We haven't seen an Immortal yet, only on TV."

"Shh!" The Captain paused and raised his gun, aiming at the dark woods to the right.

"Crack—" With the crisp sound of a dry branch being stepped on, a rabbit hopped out from behind a tree.

Seeing more than ten "tall monsters" staring at it, it hurriedly turned around and hopped into the weeds.

Seeing it was just a rabbit, the squad members relaxed. "Scared me.

By the way, Captain, what does the target look like? Why isn't there even a photo?"

"The Company Commander said we'll know it when we see it."

"Huh?"

The squad members were all confused, thinking, is this a mission or a joke? Even a drill wouldn't be this sloppy, right?

Stared at by the squad members, the Captain cursed, "How should I know what's going on? Anyway, the order was just..."

"Is it that one?" The member who started the conversation pointed toward a patch of withered bushes.

The others instinctively looked over and thought at the same time, indeed, you know it when you see it!

In the bushes, a strange creature that they had never seen before—and could confirm at a glance was definitely not from Blue Star—poked out its eerie head.

Its head was covered in layers of scales, its outline similar to a pig's, but upon closer inspection, it also had some hints of a bird. Its body was estimated to be about one meter long, and its fur was grass-green in the front and the color of withered grass in the back.

The Captain raised his gun to aim, judging that the strange creature moved on four thick and powerful short legs.

"So damn weird." A squad member who also raised his gun cursed under his breath. "Why do I feel like it's sizing me up?"

The strange creature didn't suddenly attack the squad. Instead, it tilted its head, looking at their guns with a confused gaze, seemingly thinking about what those pitch-black things were used for.

"Should we fire?" a member couldn't help but ask.

"No rush," the Captain replied calmly. "Other squads have already been notified. They'll be here in just a few minutes."

The only thing to worry about was the strange creature attacking or fleeing.

After encountering each other for a moment, the Captain inferred from the distinctly different fur colors on the front and back of its body that its fur and scales should have a color-changing function.

If the opponent turned and fled, they would likely lose track of it in these deep mountains or even be counter-killed.

The current standoff was the most favorable situation.

The two sides stared at each other from a distance for a while. Without taking his eyes off it, a member whispered, "This calamity doesn't look very powerful. It just has a lot of fur. But no matter how much fur it has, it can't withstand bullets, right?"

"This is the first time we've seen this thing. Who the hell knows what it's capable of? Maybe its fur is hard enough to block bullets?"

While the members were discussing the strange creature, the sound of slight, chaotic footsteps suddenly came from afar. The reinforcements had arrived.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing their comrades flanking to both sides and the rear to form an encirclement, they held their guns and slowly advanced.

At this moment, a command from the superior came through the Captain's headset—try firing.

"Fire!" At the Captain's command, they immediately pulled their triggers.

Muzzle flashes appeared, and bullets flew out, accurately hitting the strange creature like a torrential rain.

"Holy crap?! What kind of monster is this? Your jinx actually came true!"

The squad members looked at the bullets falling at the strange creature's feet and its unharmed, only slightly ruffled fur, their jaws nearly dropping.

"The calamity's fur is hard; 5.8mm bullets are ineffective!" The Captain quickly reported into his headset. At the same time, he took a grenade from his waist, pulled the pin, and threw it at the calamity standing still.

"Boom—"

After the violent explosion, the squad and the surrounding friendly forces all nervously stared at the thick smoke and dust.

A breeze blew, and the monster's silhouette emerged from the dissipating dust cloud.

The effect of the grenade was indeed a bit stronger than the bullets. Its fur was not only messier but also slightly charred.

The Captain squinted and looked closely, discovering that it wasn't the fur that was injured, but rather the flying scorched earth that had stuck to it.

Having been attacked repeatedly, the monster finally reacted.

It turned its head to scan the "two-legged bastards" surrounding it, then its hind legs exerted force as it stood up on its hind legs—"Roar—"

Even though its body wasn't large, the roar almost stunned the Soldiers.

"Take cover!" The Captain was the first to regain his senses, performing a tactical roll behind a nearby tree. "Throw grenades to stall it, the helicopters are almost here!"

In the uninhabited mountainous area, there was no need to worry about accidental injuries to civilians. So, upon receiving news of the monster's appearance, the superiors immediately ordered the armed helicopters patrolling above to provide urgent support.

The helicopters were very fast. Just as the Captain finished shouting, the roar of the rotors reached their ears.

Those here were all veterans. Without needing a reminder from the helicopter pilots, they immediately retreated.

"Whoosh—Boom—" Once the Soldiers had retreated far enough, the pilot immediately fired rockets, pouring them toward the monster.

However, the monster's flexibility far exceeded everyone's expectations.

It didn't even turn its head, relying solely on its hearing to jump to the side and dodge the rockets.

More thick smoke and dust spread through the forest, but the monster's vision seemed completely undisturbed. With a few leaps between tree trunks, it reached the top of the tree where the Captain was hiding, its deep eyes looking down at him with a ferocious gaze.

"Shit!" The Captain kicked off the tree, dodging the monster's pounce with extreme danger.

After rolling a few times on the grass, he hurriedly tried to get up. Halfway up, he felt a heavy blow to his chest, and then his vision went black.

"Captain!" Nearby squad members fired at the monster that was about to bite the Captain.

The attack had little effect, but fortunately, it successfully drew its attention.

"Drag the Captain away!" Seeing it charging toward him on all fours, the member turned and ran.

Knowing full well that the opponent's speed far exceeded his own, he didn't run in a straight line. Instead, he grabbed a tree to make a sharp turn, pulling some distance between them.

Clearly, this was not a long-term solution. The monster had great endurance, and after running for several minutes, it didn't seem out of breath at all.

The Soldiers who caught up and the helicopters above were worried about accidental injury and didn't dare to fire easily.

The member also knew that even if they fired, it would be useless. After all, the defensive power of the monster's fur had already been verified not long ago.

After a while, he felt that his legs had lost all sensation, moving entirely by instinct.

"This is it for me." His strength was gradually failing, and his vision was slowly blurring. The monster's footsteps were so clear it felt as if they were right by his ear. He knew he probably wouldn't be able to escape.

With his life nearing its end, he didn't have many regrets. The only thing he couldn't let go of was that he hadn't had the chance to fall in love yet.

Just as he was regretting that he shouldn't have rejected that girl back then, a sudden explosion of air-breaking sound rang out in the sky.

After years in the military, even with his consciousness muddled, he instantly judged that it wasn't something like a rocket.

He instinctively wanted to look up and check, but his foot was suddenly tripped by weeds. His strength was already overdrawn, and he fell uncontrollably, rolling several times with momentum until he hit a tree and stopped.

His luck was good. When he hit the tree and stopped, his body was lying on his back, so he successfully saw the source of the air-breaking sound.

A long sword emitting a green light.

Oh, I've seen it on the news. It's called... moon bright sword, was it?

The Flying Sword fell vertically. The monster, which had already leapt to pounce on the member, actually twisted its body in mid-air and jumped to the left.

After sliding a few meters upon landing, it looked warily at the Flying Sword, which had missed its mark and was now turning to charge again. It turned, leapt onto a tree, and vanished into the darkness with a few jumps between branches.

"Are you okay?" Luo Xiling hurriedly ran from a distance and squatted down to help the member lying on the ground.

"Don't, don't. I'm fine. Just let me lie here for a while."

"Oh, all right then."

She stood up and discussed with the four new disciples who were a few steps behind, "Should we chase it?"

"Let's see what the Director says."

During the half month since returning to Su City from the Mountain Gate, the four of them had been truly terrified by Luo Xiling's erratic behavior. Moreover, this was a mission, not a pleasure trip. They couldn't let her mess around.

Fortunately, she also understood the gravity of the situation and didn't rashly pursue. She performed a sword gesture to recall the moon bright sword and waited on the spot for the Director's order.

"A-Liang?! Are you okay... Hey, which one are you?" The comrades who rushed over hadn't seen the moon bright sword being unsheathed, and Luo Xiling's back was turned toward them, so no one recognized her for a moment.

"It's Team Leader Luo from the Special Investigation Bureau. She arrived just in time to save me." A-Liang had caught his breath and explained as he climbed up.

"Team Leader Luo?" Several comrades looked at each other and whispered to the member who had walked over. "The Team Leader Luo whose master is Immortal Xu?"

"Yeah."

"Whoa—she's the Captain's goddess. He hopes to see her in person every day. Finally, he got the chance, but he ended up fainting and couldn't see her."

Hearing his comrades still joking about the Captain, A-Liang knew his life was likely not in danger. He breathed a sigh of relief and also shared one of the Captain's secrets. "The last time I saw his Mobile Phone wallpaper, it was Team Leader Luo."

"Whoa, for real?"

"How could it be fake? The Captain praises Team Leader Luo every day in front of the wallpaper, saying she's beautiful, dignified, steady, and elegant!"

They weren't very close to Luo Xiling, and they were whispering, thinking she couldn't hear them.

However, not only could she hear clearly, but the four who had taken the diluted potion could also hear everything perfectly.

Three of the young men among the four were quite restrained, barely keeping their faces calm. The only girl, however, was a bit less so, her facial muscles twitching.

Dignified, steady, and elegant?

Are they talking about Senior Sister Luo?

Under the pressure of Luo Xiling's tyranny, the girl shouldn't have spoken up to complain, but she felt like she couldn't hold it in any longer. She could only turn to face the woods, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

Luo Xiling showed no sign of bashfulness. She walked up to the squad in a carefree manner. "How are you all doing? Is anyone injured?"

Seeing her approach, several people quickly stopped talking and replied, "Except for the Captain who needs to rest for a few days, everyone else is safe."

"That's good. You guys..."

"Senior Sister Luo, a message from the Director came in."

"I'm leaving now, bye!" Waving to the group, she ran toward the four.

The squad didn't have time for small talk either. A new combat order had been issued—the aerial forces would circle the calamity's general area of activity, and each squad would immediately go to surround it and gradually narrow the encirclement to create an opening for the kill for the five members of the Special Investigation Bureau.