Chapter 397
First Meeting of the Squad Members
Chapter 397 First Meeting of the Squad Members
In the morning, during the meeting of the People's Union, the members of the North Star team who participated in the Fire Stealer Cult operation met for the first time.
The meeting place was in a pavilion in a park in Pinglu.
There were already several people in the pavilion, including Chen Na, who was chatting with Bai Xuewu.
Suddenly, she turned her head towards the park entrance and exclaimed happily, "Brother Xiao Guan is here! I'll go meet him!" Then she ran out.
"Brother Guan? Who is that?" Yang Ran asked Bai Xuewu curiously.
Why do you care so much?
"Since they're on the same team, we definitely need to get to know them better! Otherwise, how can we trust them with our backs on the battlefield!"
"..."
Bai Xuewu ignored the guy. At this moment, Li Meng, who was sitting in the pavilion, said, "Not only the team members, Guan Tong will be the captain of your team for this operation."
"Huh?" Yang Ran was somewhat unconvinced. "Section Chief Li, shouldn't the strongest person be the captain? Wait, Guan Tong? That name is... Guan Tong, the substitute teacher from the academy before?!"
“That’s right, it’s him. And who said the captain has to be the strongest? The captain should be someone with a calm and composed personality, someone who can remain calm under pressure.” Li Meng paused. “Besides, he is the strongest among you.”
"Really?" Yang Ran looked incredulous. "I heard he's a good teacher, but fighting is another matter!"
Bai Xuewu raised an eyebrow unconsciously upon hearing Li Meng's words.
Li Meng said seriously to Yang Ran, "I'm not joking. Yang Ran, you'd better not provoke him, or you'll face the consequences."
"..."
"By the way," Li Meng asked Bai Xuewu, "Chen Na just said Guan Tong has arrived. Did she sense it?"
Bai Xuewu nodded: "Yes, in Xiaona's perception, everyone's mental power is unique. As long as she has made contact with someone once, she can determine the other person's identity in the next interaction."
"I know that from the information I've read. What I mean is, does she keep her ability active even when she's not in combat?"
If Chen Na hadn't kept her [Perception Domain] active, how would she have known immediately that Guan Tong had entered the park?
However, maintaining this state continuously must have taken a toll on mental energy, which is where Li Meng's doubts lie.
“Xiao Na didn’t use it all the time before,” Bai Xuewu said. “But she seems to have developed her ability herself and mastered a special marking method. Some mental energy that is marked will leave a record in the [Perception Domain], and it can be detected immediately when it appears within the perception range.”
"I see……"
"Wow, this girl's abilities are really amazing!" Yang Ran exclaimed. "I don't want to be 'marked' by her, just thinking about it is terrifying!"
Bai Xuewu glared at him: "Xiao Na isn't even familiar with you, why would she mark you?"
Li Meng said, "We need to mark them. Since you'll be traveling to France together later this month, I'll have Chen Na mark everyone in the team to make things easier."
As the three were talking, Chen Na and Guan Tong appeared together and came to the pavilion.
Li Meng smiled and said, "Guan Tong, we meet again."
"Section Chief Li, it's been a long time."
"Hehe, it's been almost two years, you've changed a lot."
When Li Meng saw Guan Tong, he recalled the first time he met her; Guan Tong was a senior in high school at that time.
Two years later, that student has grown so much that he has become one of the world's leading transcendent beings, which is truly unimaginable.
"Wow, you must be Guan Tong! I've heard so much about you."
Yang Ran took the initiative to step forward and greet him.
"I am Yang Ran, but people call me 'Vulcan'."
"Nobody calls you that except your variety show fans, thank you."
Bai Xuewu finished speaking without holding back, then tilted her head slightly to look at Guan Tong.
"I am Bai Xuewu. Have we met before? I feel a little familiar with you."
"You've met him before, haven't you?"
Bai Xuewu was about to ask more questions when Yang Ran moved closer to Guan Tong and looked at the glove on the latter's left hand.
"Wow, your gloves look so cool! What material are they made of? They're so smooth, like marble, without any texture!"
Guan Tong's glove was made of nanobots, so naturally it wouldn't have any patterns.
Yang Ran reached out to touch it, but Guan Tong stopped him.
"Don't touch it unless you don't want your hands anymore."
"???"
Yang Ran was taken aback, seemingly not expecting that he would be threatened like this just for wanting to touch the gloves.
Li Meng understood the implication in Guan Tong's words: "Guan Tong, are you saying that your glove is dangerous?"
Guan Tong nodded.
"Yang Ran, did you hear me? Mind your own business."
"Uh... well."
Yang Ran looked indignant, clearly feeling that Li Meng was giving him a way out. It was just a glove; what danger could it possibly pose?
Guan Tong then asked, "Are we the team members?"
He, Chen Na, Bai Xuewu, Yang Ran, and Li Meng, who was in overall command, totaled only five people, which didn't seem like the standard squad for a decapitation operation that was to be carried out in another country.
“There are two more team members,” Li Meng said. “One of them is Silver Fox, you should all know her. She went on an urgent mission out of town and hasn’t returned yet. The other one… is unable to leave his room due to some special reasons, but will provide remote assistance for this operation.”
"You few can meet first. Once Silver Fox returns, I'll arrange another meeting for everyone. Then we'll start practicing combat coordination, which is essential."
After Li Meng finished speaking, Yang Ran said loudly, "Section Chief Li, I also think combat training is very necessary! My flames don't discriminate, it wouldn't be good if they accidentally hurt my teammates!"
Chen Na, now old enough to understand the implication, realized that Yang Ran's words seemed to be a subtle provocation to Guan Tong, and couldn't help but retort, "I think you'd better not get hurt yourself, or you'll get burned!"
"Hey, you little brat!" Yang Ran was immediately furious.
Bai Xuewu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Playing with fire will only lead to getting burned. Yes, that's certainly true."
"you--"
Yang Ran was mocked by the two female team members, one older and one younger, but he turned to Guan Tong and said, "It seems they all think I can't beat you. I challenge you, and the winner will be the captain!"
"Nonsense!" Li Meng rebuked in a deep voice.
Guan Tong wasn't angry at Yang Ran's challenge. Instead, she asked, "Do you think the title of captain is something to brag about? Being a captain means you have to take on the responsibility of protecting the lives of your teammates. If you have that awareness, then being a captain is fine. I don't care."
Yang Ran was taken aback, and Li Meng nodded deeply: "You're right. Yang Ran, your childish challenge to Guan Tong shows that you are absolutely not up to the job of captain. Stop fooling around."
Bai Xuewu also said, "He's right. Yang Ran, I think Xiao Na is better than you at choosing a captain."
Yang Ran was repeatedly rejected and looked frustrated, so he stopped mentioning the challenge.
……
"The target is... Shi Jingyi, a lecturer at the Beixing Mind Power Development Academy."
Lu Cheng opened his eyes and sat up.
He was currently in the mountains outside Pinglu City.
Yesterday we were in the Black Flag Kingdom, and today we've arrived in the Northern Star Plain, thanks to teleportation items.
After he accepted the mission, the prophet said he would arrange various forms of support for him.
Clearly, even in Pinglu, an important city in the Northern Star, there are lurking parasites.
As for what he himself had to do, he was to use his identity to find a way to lure Shi Jingyi out of the academy, and then cooperate with the other parasites arranged by the prophet to eliminate her.
"...Why would lecturers become the target of a prophet?"
Lu Cheng couldn't understand it.
He has been thinking about this question since yesterday.
The prophet said that the voices told him that there were two real threats, one of which was Shi Jingyi.
The prophet did not tell him who the other was.
This is too strange... If the threat came from the coalition commander, or even a decision-maker of a certain country, Lu Cheng would not be surprised.
One of them happens to be Shi Jingyi, a lecturer who has been teaching at the academy. How could she possibly threaten the parasite or the prophet?
"Could it be that those voices believe... Shi Jingyi's lectures will continuously make more Ascended Ones stronger, thus becoming the main force to fight against and eliminate the parasitic group, which is why she has become a threat?"
Lu Cheng didn't understand, but he knew he had no other choice.
He has no more time; if he doesn't receive the prophet's help soon, he will become a parasite whose body will be taken over by spores.
The thought of his consciousness completely dissipating, with spores taking over and manipulating his memories and body... Lu Cheng simply couldn't accept it.
Even if he didn't want to kill Shi Jingyi, the lecturer who had taught him and wanted to help him, he had no choice but to do so in order to survive.
He knew that he had to use his former student status to try to make Shi Jingyi believe him.
Perhaps this is why the prophet sent him to carry out this mission... The prophet must know that he was once an academy student and that he knew Shi Jingyi.
But how can I make her believe in me?
Lu Cheng thought to himself.
His departure from the academy with several others wasn't just a simple violation of school rules. The academy students' status was already sensitive, and the timing of their departure—after the [Extraterrestrial Parasite] rules had ended—led the academy and relevant departments to conclude that they were all spore addicts, and that the possibility of them having transformed into parasites could not be ruled out.
If I suddenly return and rashly show up at the academy, I will most likely be arrested and questioned by armed personnel contacted by the academy leaders.
Going to find Shi Jingyi alone is not feasible. First, the faculty and staff dormitories are guarded by armed guards. Second, Shi Jingyi usually goes between two points and rarely goes to other places.
"Since I can't make a public appearance... I can only hope that Lecturer Jingyi will be kind enough to help me..."
Lu Cheng thought for a moment and took out his old phone.
It also contained the phone numbers of all the lecturers in the college, and he retrieved Shi Jingyi's number.
After much deliberation, he drafted a text message and sent it over.
"Lecturer Jingyi, I am Lu Cheng. I don't know if you still remember me."
I left the academy after Rule Fourteen, "Extraterrestrial Parasite," because I discovered I still had spore addiction symptoms after the rule ended. I was afraid of being discovered by my classmates and the academy, so I ran away in a panic... I've been hiding ever since. I know I should seek help and find a way to quit... Instructor Jingyi, can you help me? I'd like to see you to seek your help.
(End of this chapter)