Chapter 477.1: Get Ample Time To Come Up With A Plan!

Medics and mechanical engineers on the tracked vehicle were busy tending to the wounded.

Seeing the captain hang up, the deputy seated at the wheel immediately asked, "What did the higher-ups say?"

The person who asked was Song Changfeng, though the team just called him Old Song. He had been working in the Signal Squad for quite a long time.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Zheng Hao was silent for a while before he said, "Our original mission is cancelled. The Containment Unit of the Investigation Department ordered us to remain on standby here. If the other side leaves, we’re to follow them discreetly. We are to avoid engaging with the enemy as much as possible.”

Everyone’s expression shifted slightly. Old Song asked cautiously, "How close should we get?”

“We need to decide that for ourselves.” Zheng Hao muttered.

Hearing that, several people let out a breath of relief, except Old Song.

Seeing the captain remain silent, he pressed on urgently, "What about reinforcements?"

Zheng Hao looked out toward the reeds and sighed, "They didn’t say."

Silence fell again inside their vehicle.

Though it had not been said out loud, it was clear they had been abandoned, both them and the captured prisoners. The lack of explanation meant they didn't have the clearance to know why.

A medic quietly changed out the prosthetic for an injured teammate on the stretcher while wrapping some bandage. He had seen this kind of thing far too many times.

Song Changfeng slammed a fist against the steering wheel and roared, "Damn it!"

Sitting in the back, Jiang Xuezhou slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head. "I told you... We should never have engaged in the first place."

Zheng Hao silently lit a cigarette and responded with indifference, "You think I had a choice?"

Sure, he had given the attack order, but it wasn’t his call alone. He simply couldn’t tell his teammates what exact orders the higher-ups had given him.

At the Academy, it was a major violation for senior staff to share information with lower-level personnel that exceeded their clearance, regardless of consequences. All units knew only what they needed to know to operate efficiently. Senior staff were even encouraged to minimize interaction with juniors to reduce mistakes.

He didn’t care whether those rules were reasonable.

At the Academy, even the lowest-ranked G-class personnel, or newly accepted apprentices, could live a privileged life under the banner of academicism. For survivors born in the Wandering Swamp, becoming a Prospector was often the only path out of ignorance, poverty, and barbarism.

Though the Scientific Committee provided advanced technology to their settlements, it wasn't without cost.

The upgraded production methods didn’t enrich their lives, materially or spiritually. Zheng Hao no longer dreamed of the Academy's ivory tower like he did as a child. He was well past the age for higher education. Failing professional assessment meant he would never be more than a D-class Prospector.

However... If it was either staying at his current level or to go back to the primitive life in his old survivor settlement...

He would never accept it. He had come too far to mess up. At the very least, he was a D-class Prospector!

He wasn’t fond of the path he was walking, but he had chosen it. That meant that he had to live with his choices.

...

Since the Beta 0.4 version update, after seeing players respond positively to the new mission-submission and acceptance interface on the official website, Chu Guang had Little Seven further upgrade the feature.

Players could not only accept and submit missions via the official website, but also update mission progress in real-time!

The feature wasn’t mandatory and it merely gave players more flexibility in cases where the original mission became difficult or impossible to complete. After all, in the wilderness beyond New Alliance signal coverage, anything could happen.

Chu Guang was well aware that he was just a normal person, not some omniscient god capable of predicting every possible outcome.

He didn’t have the energy to try to do something like that either.

Sometimes, the players weren’t the only ones who would be dumbfounded! Even Chu Guang himself would be stunned when he saw something shocking, like what was playing out at that exact moment.

He was absolutely gobsmacked.

All he had done was to send some guys to pick up their Mother Body and Falling Feather at the border of the Sunset Province...

How the fuck did they piss off the Academy?

Sure, it wasn’t his plane that crashed, but the war in the Sunset Province was at a critical juncture. With the Army not yet fully dealt with, provoking the Academy was the worst thing they could do.

Other than a dry response praising the player for the job well done, he truly didn’t know how to respond to the little guy who’d gone reporting the mission progress via the official website.

But his confusion only lasted half a minute. Chu Guang quickly realized that maybe things weren’t as bad as it seemed. A certain D-class fella of the Academy had been under his wing for nearly a year, and there hadn’t been a second wave of bounty hunters sent to collect his head.

A few dead E-class personnel lost in the wasteland... An organization as massive as the Academy probably wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.

What Chu Guang was truly concerned about was something else.

“Were they targeting Little Feather?” He pressed his fingers to his brow, considering his options.

Little Feather was the key to resolving the Mother Body on level B6. No matter what, they couldn’t hand it over. No matter what, they had to relocate Little Feather out of the Academy’s territory before they made a proper strategy to deal with the situation.

Yet... There was a massive problem. The Enterprise didn’t want anything to happen to their pilots, yet they also didn’t want to take the risk of a failed rescue. They hoped the New Alliance would send a powerful squad over to retrieve them.

That only filled Chu Guang’s mind with one question...

At least send over a few more damn planes!

Our paratroopers can head out at any time, but they can’t exactly fly themselves over and run back on foot! That’s at least 1,000 kilometers!

This is absolutely absurd!

Just then, Little Seven, who had been sitting on his desk, looked up and spoke in a sweet voice, “Hmm... Master, the representative of the Enterprise just landed under the Heart of Steel. He would like to meet you.”

Chu Guang paused for a moment and thought about his options before speaking again, “Send him over.”

“You got it!”

The Heart of Steel lowered its boarding lift and Yi Chuan, fresh off the transport plane, soon arrived on board.

Hearing footsteps at the door, Chu Guang casually grabbed Little Seven, who was sitting on his desk, and stuffed it into the drawer despite its indignant squeaking.

Almost at the same moment, there was a knock at the door. Chu Guang cleared his throat.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Yi Chuan entered briskly, skipping any pleasantries and getting straight to the point. “Any news on our pilots?”

Chu Guang replied, “I can assure you both are still safe.”

Yi Chuan’s eyes lit up. “You’re in contact with them?”

Chu Guang averted his gaze slightly. “Well... 'In contact' might not be the right phrase, but we do have a kind of indirect long-range communication method. It’s similar to carrier pigeons. We can relay vague updates, but not live two-way conversations.”

Explaining it made his head hurt. He knew nobody would believe it, but he couldn’t think of a more believable excuse.

What was he going to say? The Burning Corps actually carried a ridiculously powerful radio unit, one strong enough to penetrate the Sunset Province’s environmental interference?

Come on... All their technology came from the Enterprise! They were the ones who built the damn plane!

Yi Chuan frowned at the vague explanation but didn’t press further. Everyone had their secrets.

Forcing someone to reveal everything wasn’t just unrealistic, it was impolite.

Taking a deep breath, he returned to the main topic. “The speaker for the Highest Council once promised the public that no non-combat personnel would be deployed to the frontline. But in reality, we’ve already bent that promise several times, at Camp 530, at Highway 7, and now...”

Chu Guang cleared his throat. “I prefer to call this adapting to the circumstances. And every time, didn’t it yield great results?”

“This time is different.” Yi Chuan’s expression tightened. “Our pilots are stranded right on the edge of the Wandering Swamp! You promised me that non-combat personnel wouldn’t be put in danger!”

Chu Guang countered, “Anything can happen on a battlefield. And technically, they weren’t even on the battlefield. Who the hell knew the Academy would suddenly shoot your plane down? At least our people kept your pilots alive.”

Yi Chuan flinched. “The Academy?”

Chu Guang smiled slyly. “Who else could have stealthily taken down your aircraft? You can confirm it with your pilots when they come back.”

He actually had stronger evidence it was the Academy, namely the prisoners the players captured. But he wasn’t sure how the Enterprise would react to that so he held off on telling them.

The lives of their pilots were critical, but that didn’t mean the Enterprise was ready to risk diplomatic fallout. Personal emotions might sway momentary decisions, but institutional strategy weighed risks and returns.

In the end, he decided to test his ally’s attitude.

Yi Chuan remained silent for a moment, clearly unwilling to pursue the topic. “... Let’s set aside the Academy for now. Regardless, ensuring our pilots' safety is the top priority.”

Seeing Yi Chuan’s reaction, Chu Guang raised an eyebrow.

What surprised him was how little shock or outrage Yi Chuan displayed, almost as if he expected it.

It seemed friction between the Enterprise and the Academy wasn’t exactly new.

Well, that made sense. The world was vast. There was more to it than the Sunset Province. Perhaps the Enterprise and the Academy had conflicts elsewhere that Chu Guang simply didn’t know about.

Realizing that the Enterprise didn’t want to escalate things with the Academy, Chu Guang dropped the topic and returned to the pilot rescue plan.

Looking solemnly at Yi Chuan, he said righteously, “Mr. Yi Chuan, are you saying the lives of our New Alliance’s citizens don’t matter? I must remind you, we are allies, not your employees.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Yi Chuan quickly waved his hands and quickly changed his attitude to one of exasperation.

“Every life is important. Of course your citizens matter too... Alright, I’ll be blunt. The Highest Council promised the people of Ideal City that we wouldn’t endanger non-combatants. But somehow, a reporter from the Ideal City Daily caught wind of it and insists we violated contractual obligations.”

Chu Guang snorted, “So what if they found out?”