71: Section 71

Two days later, the Wasteland Hunters' mission officially began.

Chapter 72: Attempting to Change the Storyline

At the lift platform.

Jing Yuan, Mark, and the others were seeing off Snow Peak's team.

Their destination was a military Survival Base; the earliest the Lighthouse could pick them up was tomorrow.

Mark said his goodbyes to Snow Peak and the others, gave a few instructions, and the team slowly descended with the lift platform.

Seeing Mark's worried expression, Jing Yuan stepped forward to comfort him, "Don't worry, they'll all come back."

"Yeah, they'll definitely be back." Mark patted Jing Yuan, "Let's go! We need to get ready too!"

Jing Yuan followed Mark to the Armament Preparation Depot, where staff at various posts were busy with their tasks.

Inspecting gravity bodies, firearms and ammunition, vehicle equipment, and so on.

Jing Yuan and Mark were both frontline warriors. For the specific arrangements, Jing Nan commanded from the Lighthouse overall, while Ran Bing, Mo Cheng, and others assisted once they reached The Surface.

Jing Yuan looked to the side; Mo Dong, Chu Feng, Neil, Lin Ge, and De Hai were checking their equipment.

Jing Yuan walked over and patted Mo Dong's shoulder. "How's the adjustment to the mechanical prosthetic going?"

Mo Dong swung his mechanical arm and said, "Not bad. It's stronger than before."

Regarding the last incident, the culprits had all died on The Surface, and Mo Dong had received compensation. For those on the Lighthouse, surviving was the greatest fortune.

Jing Yuan saw Penny nearby, walked over, and said, "Join my team when we head down later."

"Okay." Penny first responded to Jing Yuan with a smile, then stared blankly ahead.

Feeling a bit strange, Jing Yuan followed Penny's gaze and saw a man with a mustache.

"Donnie?" Jing Yuan was also puzzled. "Feels like I haven't seen him in a long time."

Penny glanced at Jing Yuan and said, "After the last incident, Captain Mark suspended him. This mission is short-staffed, so he was called back."

"How do you know so much?"

Penny patted Jing Yuan's shoulder and said, "I am a veteran Team Member, after all, Vice-Captain Jing Yuan."

Jing Yuan walked toward his gravity body, passing Donnie on the way. He could still sense the guy's resentment from his gaze.

However, that wasn't what Jing Yuan was concerned about.

He suddenly turned back and looked at Donnie.

In the original story, Penny died during this mission, and she was killed by Donnie.

Donnie had been suspended, yet he was called back specifically for this mission. Could things be returning to their original track by some unseen hand?

Jing Yuan instantly had a bad premonition.

After the Wasteland Hunters finished preparing, everyone gathered at the lift platform.

It was a massive team, the largest mobilization since Jing Yuan joined the Wasteland Hunters.

This time, there were even quite a few Dust Citizens.

While waiting by the platform, Jing Yuan spotted a young man with a buzz cut among the Dust Citizens.

4068—he was also participating in this gathering mission.

Seeing 4068, Jing Yuan recalled another part of the plot.

Inside the spaceship, it was because 4068 disobeyed orders and disturbed the Spinal Gu swarm, which indirectly led to Donnie being infected by the crimson toxin.

Speaking of which, Penny's death was also somewhat related to him.

With the lift platform ready, the Wasteland Hunters boarded in an orderly fashion.

After the lift platform landed, a yellowish-brown desert appeared before everyone's eyes. From time to time, a gust of wind would blow, filling the air with yellow sand.

The Wasteland Hunters' convoy formed a line and moved forward, soon arriving at the Spaceship Ruins.

Based on previously acquired reconnaissance data, they simply divided the area around the Spaceship Ruins into three zones: A, B, and C.

Their current location was Zone C.

Mark conducted a brief survey of the surroundings and found many traces of Phage Beasts.

Jing Yuan swept his Mental Power across the area; within his range of perception, he didn't detect any aura of Phage Beasts for the time being.

He walked over and said to Mark, "There are definitely many Phage Beasts here. We need to move fast!"

Mark nodded; he shared the same view.

Mark turned and addressed the crowd, "We'll split into two teams now. One team will follow me inside the spaceship, while the other will stay outside with Jing Yuan to provide backup."

"Yes!"

Mark immediately began picking people. "Ran Bing, Mo Cheng, you take your people and follow me into the spaceship!"

"Yes!"

Mark spotted Donnie in the crowd and said to him, "Donnie, you come with me too!"

Hearing Mark call Donnie, Jing Yuan quickly stepped forward and said, "Let Donnie stay outside! Let Mo Dong and the others go with you instead."

To Mark, the personnel arrangement didn't make much difference.

Since Jing Yuan had spoken up, Mark didn't think twice and nodded.

Jing Yuan turned to Mo Dong and the others. "Follow Captain Mark inside. Remember, stay away from the flesh soil and watch out for Spinal Gu. If you encounter Phage Beasts, don't stay to fight—run! Once the Phage Beasts reach the open ground outside, we'll deal with them!"

"Okay!" Mo Dong and the others nodded one after another.

Afterward, several Wasteland Hunters began calling out Dust Citizens to enter the spaceship with them.

"4068, 4079, 41..."

Hearing 4068's name, Jing Yuan walked over.

"Wait a minute!"

"Vice-Captain?" The hunter taking roll saw Jing Yuan, stopped, and waited for his orders.

"Leave this Dust Citizen with me!" Jing Yuan said, pointing at 4068.

4068 saw Jing Yuan and naturally recognized him; at this moment, he was trying his best to hide the resentment in his heart.

"I want to be with my coworkers!" 4068 simply didn't want to follow orders, especially Jing Yuan's.

"Presumptuous! On The Surface, Dust Citizens must follow orders!" a nearby Wasteland Hunter immediately rebuked him.

4079 hurried forward to cover for him. "Yes, yes, yes, we'll follow orders."

The hunter resumed the roll call; out of the group of Dust Citizens, only 4068 was not chosen to enter the spaceship.

Jing Yuan didn't say much else and simply walked away.

He thought to himself that without unstable factors like Donnie, Penny, and 4068, the inside of the spaceship should be quite safe!

4079 watched Jing Yuan's retreating back and whispered, "Is he the Wasteland Hunter Vice-Captain that 4277 likes?"

4068 cursed, "What's he so smug about? He just got lucky and became an Upper Citizen. If I put on a gravity body, I could fight Phage Beasts too!"

"Give it a rest! You wouldn't even know how to start a gravity body!" 4079 couldn't help but splash cold water on his friend's boasting to snap him back to reality.

Mark organized the team and subsequently entered the spaceship.

Jing Yuan walked over to Penny and said, "Come on! Accompany me to patrol the perimeter."

"Okay!"

Penny always agreed readily to work assignments.

Jing Yuan and Penny went to Jeff's side. Jing Yuan said to him, "Jeff, set up the perimeter! I'm going to take a look nearby. Stay in touch at all times."

"Yes!"

Donnie was standing next to Jeff, and his gaze toward Jing Yuan was also very unfriendly.

Jing Yuan took a couple of steps, looked back, and happened to see Donnie staring at him.

He said to Penny beside him, "Stay away from that Donnie guy."

Penny looked at Jing Yuan, stunned for a second, then said with a smile, "Are you jealous?"

Jealous? Jing Yuan hadn't considered that. He was just worried that Donnie would get infected by the crimson toxin again and accidentally kill Penny.

"It's not jealousy. It's hard for me to explain the reason to you, but just stay away from him."

Penny naturally didn't understand; instead, she explained to Jing Yuan, "Maybe I did like Donnie a little before. He's very funny and he saved me, so I had some feelings for him. But that's all in the past."

"Donnie is funny?" Jing Yuan said in surprise. "I didn't notice."

"That's because you don't know him well! Once you get to know him, he's actually quite fun."

"Then why didn't you end up with him?"

Chapter 73: A Large Number of Phage Beasts