Sky-cracking Rider

The retreat wasn't just for the 13th Reconnaissance Squad and ground reinforcements; other reconnaissance squads relatively close to the cavern were also retrieved early to avoid being affected by the aftermath.

In just an instant, everyone had returned to Camp 2.

"We're back!"

"Thank God, we're saved!"

"Almost lost our lives there."

...

Whether it was the 13th Reconnaissance Squad or the ground support personnel following the Thunder Mage God Kanje, everyone was jubilant, high-fiving each other in celebration of their narrow escape from death and the successful completion of their mission.

If one "Dragon Slayer Missile" can't solve the problem, then use two.

Eliminating the mutant's lair not only avenged the Aircrew Base 912 but also eradicated a major threat in the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area.

However, neither Thunder Mage God Kanje nor the captain of the 13th Reconnaissance Squad, Blake, had any trace of joy on their faces.

Right before the space transfer was finally initiated, the vision presented by the Pure Light Sparrow's Light-based Spells, though lasting only a brief moment like a fleeting glimpse, was clear enough for the two to see everything.

The brightly lit laboratory, the rows of biological incubators, the corpulent and massive breeding bodies... It definitely wasn't a place they had seen before on their journey.

The appearance of such a scene in the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area didn't bode well.

This matter must be reported as soon as possible.

The two exchanged glances and hurried towards the center of the camp in unison.

Countdown: 3 minutes 17 seconds

"Finally back!"

Chen Fei let out a long sigh of relief, completely relaxing.

The oppressive darkness underground was no place for comfort and had put everyone in a gloomy mood.

"Chirp chirp!"

Little Bird also seemed much more cheerful.

As a Light-element Magical Beast, the Pure Light Sparrow detested darkness and yearned for the sky and freedom.

Being in the cave for several days had certainly been tough on it.

Hanna Gagar, who had at some point covered her left eye with an eyepatch again, grabbed Chen Fei.

"Come on, drink with me!"

Even though the people had left, the storm rampaging inside the cavern was still not subsiding anytime soon.

After unleashing such a massive spell, a completely exhausted Manager Hanna just wanted to crack open a few bottles of good liquor to ease and relax. Read exclusive adventures at empire

Drinking alone was too boring, and right in front of her was a perfect drinking companion.

"Hey, wait, wait!"

Chen Fei planned to put the bird's nest and the Little Bird back in the dormitory.

The Pure Light Sparrow was a Magical Beast after all, even if it didn't look like much; now that they had returned from the mission, the title 'Little Band-Aid' would surely spread, and one couldn't guarantee that someone in the dangerous Jianghu wouldn't covet it in secret.

"Let's go!"

But Hanna Gagar didn't ask for permission, dragging him into her room.

Apocalypse Defense Group, no, to be precise, the corporate war between Aircrew Base 911 and the industry's eighth-ranked giant, Merman Brothers Consortium, had finally ended. The pressure she had carried vanished in an instant, which made it all the more worthwhile to have a drink.

Not willing to let Chen Fei, the Rookie, waste time while she was still in a good mood.

Another bottle of space star worth tens of thousands was opened.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

Countdown: 1 minute 5 seconds

...

Timer: 4 seconds

The ground at Camp 2 trembled slightly,

and many people emerged from their houses, looking around and speculating about the exact location of the cavern that had been blasted by the two "Dragon Slayer Missiles."

A desolate ridge in the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area collapsed with a roar after a severe shaking, creating a two-kilometer-long mouth that turned a mountain range into two sections amidst rising dust and debris.

The other reconnaissance squads underground also felt the intense tremors from Earth, but the impact was minimal due to the distance. They received orders to hold their positions shortly afterward.

-

Day broke.

Chen Fei opened his eyes, his head pounding.

Memory loading... Ding! Fully loaded.

Got it, drank too much last night, groped my way back by myself, didn't even wash up, just went straight to bed.

Manager Hanna's selection of drinks had more than just dry white and gin; there seemed to be a big bottle of rice wine as well.

Rice wine is remarkably deceiving, especially since it was glutinous rice wine: glutinous rice and distiller's yeast fermented, with added white sugar, making the liquor milky white and sweet, as gentle and demure as the women of Jiangnan—a glass down feels Very-Good, three glasses down brings on an Oh-My-God, and after a whole bottle, it's F*K-U-Mother; the aftereffects hit and all you want to do is murder someone.

What happened to the gentle Jiangnan women?

Right! One turn and there you have it, Sun Erniang waving her butcher's knife charging at me...\\(>皿<)/ Damn it!

Can't drink like this again!

No, I can't drink that much anymore!

Chen Fei was clutching his head, it took quite a while for him to recover.

Right, where's the little Band-Aid?

I wonder if a light healing technique would make me feel better.

"Xiao Jiu!~"

He called out loudly.

"..."

The only voice echoing in the room was Chen Fei's, but there was no response from the little bird.

He looked around, and not only was the little guy missing, but even the bird's nest was gone.

Emmm... Thinking it over, was it stolen? Suddenly slapping his forehead, he remembered, it was left at Manager Hanna's place.

"Jiu!"

He faintly heard the chirping of the little bird from the next room.

Manager Hanna's dormitory was right next to Chen Fei's, one was number 73, and the other was 74, corresponding to their respective numbers.

Scratching his head, Chen Fei decided to first get rid of the smell of alcohol on himself.

After a hot shower and changing into a set of fresh clothes, he stuffed the dirty clothes into a laundry bag. The camp provided free laundry service, and after sending them to the laundry room, they would be washed and dried in no more than six hours.

Those who are particular could wash them themselves, or simply not wash them at all, throwing away a set each time they changed.

Knock, knock, knock!

Chen Fei knocked on the door of dormitory number 73.

"Manager Hanna! Is Xiao Jiu with you?"

"Here..."

Following Manager Hanna's response, the door was pulled open from the inside.

"I hope Xiao Jiu hasn't been too much trouble?"

Chen Fei's gaze swept past Hanna Gagel and saw the bird's nest inside the room.

"It's fine, just a little too much to drink!"

Manager Hanna spread her hands out and let Chen Fei into the room.

The little bird indulging in stolen drinks wasn't a new occurrence, but this time it had drunk a bit too much and was still tipsy.

Hanna Gagel's alcohol was mostly fermented from fruit flesh or seeds, naturally attractive to birds and just to Xiao Jiu's taste, secretly indulging while the two humans were drunk.

"Jiu!~"

The endearing little bird was squatting in the nest, eyes bleary with drunkenness, still not sober.

"I bought Xiao Jiu a tracking leg ring so no one would get any ideas about it," said Hanna Gagel, producing a small box and passing it over.

The box was already empty except for the packaging and the instruction manual.

During the time underground, the leader of the reinforcements, Thunder Mage God Kanje, had taken an interest in Xiao Jiu, which meant this Pure Light Sparrow was no longer ordinary, now valuable enough to be coveted.

Mr. Kanje was open and straightforward; he could both pick up and let go, but that didn't mean others would do the same.

By putting a leg ring on Xiao Jiu, Chen Fei would always know its location, which would ease his mind.

"Manager Hanna, you shouldn't have gone to such expense," Chen Fei remarked when he saw the packaging, recognizing that the leg ring wasn't cheap.

Inside there was even a tiny crystalline block, enough to provide a whole year's worth of tracking energy.

Crystalline blocks have extremely high energy levels and densities; even the size of a grain of sand, they are still expensive.

In fact, anything associated with crystal energy is not cheap.

Chen Fei was all too familiar with the crystal jet, the unrivaled steed of a Sky Knight. To ignite the Target Low Temperature Nuclear Fusion Energy Tower, not only a "Fire Seed" was needed but also a massive start-up energy source. The ignition device brought by the factory's technicians contained crystalline blocks, and each ignition service would consume over a million Star Yuan.

After all, it was high-energy nuclear fusion and couldn't be lit by a simple matchstick.

Hanna Gagel said with easy generosity, "No problem, I'm quite fond of this little one."

Xiao Jiu had done its part in the recent reconnaissance mission, becoming known to everyone as a cute little Band-Aid, a little light bulb, and flashlight. It seemed to have mastered a new spell recently, indicating that the Third Rank Light Beast Crystal Core donated by the Metallic Giant Dragon Yilan wasn't wasted on this Pure Light Sparrow.

While the magical beast's advancement in rank was indeed due to the crystal core providing a continuous flow of active Light Element, leading to a qualitative change from quantitative accumulation, mastering spells had little to do with the crystal core. It relied on the little bird's own efforts and intelligence.

Not to mention the contribution of the collection of Light-element Magical Beast spellcasting videos that Hanna Gagel had gathered especially.

After returning to his dormitory next door with the bird's nest and Xiao Jiu, Hanna Gagel started to check her liquor cabinet and after a moment, she was puzzled, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers.

She remembered finishing sixteen bottles of liquor with Chen Fei and that there should have been sixteen more left in the box, but in the 4x8 liquor compartment, there were only fourteen bottles remaining, two were missing.

Could there have been a thief?

But where could there be a thief with such a conscience, only stealing two bottles? Normally, one would take the whole box.

This was something Hanna Gagel couldn't quite understand.

Back in the dormitory, Xiao Jiu finally sobered up at noon and began chirping cheerfully as usual.

"You little rascal, always stealing drinks. Are you hungry?"

Chen Fei brought out a bowl of Xiao Jiu's favorite bird food and placed it beside the nest.

The little bird, starving, flapped its wings and flew over, perched on the edge of the bowl, and started pecking at the grains fervently.

Only then did Chen Fei notice the leg rings on the little critter's claws, one bronze and one silver, an unexpectedly matching color design, fitting together nicely just like Hanna Gagel's eye colors, one green, one blue, not bad looking at all. He just didn't understand why she insisted on covering them up with an eyepatch, making others think she was One-Eye.

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