Chapter 28: A Comedy of Errors, Professional Coordination!

The first light of dawn broke. According to the operation plan drafted by the Leichi Squad, the Bristle-Maned Rats were nocturnal creatures, making the daytime the ideal window for the mission. The operation was scheduled to commence at nine o’clock in the morning.

Han Yuesu, serving as the deputy captain, was known for her rigorous approach to the team’s daily training. Regardless of whether a mission was on the horizon, she would wake everyone up on time. The other members were long accustomed to this, so they were already up before she even reached their rooms.

Only Yu Le and Su Rui remained, their doors firmly shut. Han Yuesu frowned and kicked open Yu Le’s door, but the sight that met her eyes made her freeze in shock.

"What are you doing!"

Han Yuesu struggled to maintain her composure, which in turn startled Yu Le. At that moment, Yu Le was holding an incredibly bizarre pose. He was standing on one leg, one hand gripping his Fulong Fishing Rod, the other held in a palm-strike stance.

The pose was strange enough, but the real issue was that he had been naked while applying the Body-Tempering Spirit Fluid and had been too lazy to put on clothes while practicing his three battle skills. To Han Yuesu, it looked like a pervert performing avant-garde art while stark naked at the crack of dawn!

"Holy..." Yu Le quickly squeezed his legs together, his movements appearing clumsy yet strangely fluid as he glided toward the bed to wrap his modesty in a quilt. "Why don't you ever knock!"

"You!" Han Yuesu’s face was so cold it felt like icicles were about to fall off. The nerve of him to play the victim!

At breakfast, everyone was stifling their laughter while Yu Le kept his head down, eating with a bruised face. He muttered to himself: Never try to reason with a woman, especially an icy tigress!

"If you don't want to eat, you don't have to."

With that single sentence from Han Yuesu, a wave of chilling frost swept through the air. Yu Le was horrified to find that the noodles he was eating had frozen solid. The others ducked their heads, and no matter how hard the food was, they swallowed the frozen meal with difficulty.

Geng Xiao walked in with a cigarette dangling from his lips. His teammates knew his habits well; after completing his pre-battle preparations last night, he had gone home to see his wife and children. This was the reality of life for a demon-hunting squad—no one knew whether tomorrow or an accident would arrive first, and home was always the sanctuary of the soul.

"Eh?" Just as he was about to speak, Geng Xiao strode over to Yu Le and curiously pinched his arm. "You trained last night?"

Yu Le was startled, wondering how Geng Xiao had noticed.

By this time, the icy-faced Han Yuesu was also casting a glance in his direction. Yu Le nodded cautiously and asked with curiosity, "Captain Geng, how did you figure that out?"

"Breathing. When cultivating at the Foundation Realm, the stronger the physical body, the smoother the breath. It seems you put in quite a bit of hard work last night."

Upon hearing this, Yu Le’s face fell, while the others barely held back their laughter. They wondered if Yu Le’s newfound caution in his breathing was due to the morning's misunderstanding.

Regardless of whether Geng Xiao’s deduction was accurate, Yu Le knew his midnight training had been highly productive. Not only had his physical body strengthened, but he had also easily mastered the three battle skills, successfully clearing the entry threshold. He wasn't sure if his progress was fast, but he planned to spar with the rookie Su Rui later to gauge his level.

Once breakfast was finished, the group set off.

"Xiao Yuan, you're in charge of the rookies. Yuesu and Meng Huai, you're a team."

"Understood!"

Han Yuesu drove the Xuan-Eagle supercar with Meng Huai, while Geng Xiao and Ling Xiao took the pilot and co-pilot seats of the Fen-Tian. Gu Xiaoyuan took Yu Le and Su Rui into the cabin of the Fen-Tian, beginning to instruct them on how to operate the various instruments on board.

As a life-support type Fate Warrior, Gu Xiaoyuan generally stayed inside the Fen-Tian to conduct real-time intelligence analysis and coordinate the vehicle's equipment for fire support. Whether by her Fate Warrior type or her team role, Gu Xiaoyuan was the logistics specialist of the Fen-Tian Squad. The other four were the combat team; previously, when Mu Chao was still around, Han Yuesu’s squad was a trio, but now only she and Meng Huai remained.

Su Rui asked, "Do we not participate in the combat?"

Xiaoyuan looked him over. "Have you ever killed a demon beast before?"

Su Rui shook his head decisively.

"Then stay put. If there are any surviving beasts after the battle, you can try your hand then. Demon hunting is not a game; you cannot be reckless, or you will end up harming others and yourself."

Despite her young age, she spoke with the gravity of a veteran. Su Rui felt a bit defiant, but Yu Le nodded in agreement and began asking Xiaoyuan about the various instruments and weapons inside the Fen-Tian.

Upon arriving one kilometer from the target point, the six members of the Leichi Squad had already been waiting for some time. Geng Xiao led his team out of the vehicle. Yu Le finally saw the captain of the Leichi Squad, who hadn't appeared the night before: Fang Wensheng! He was a lean, hooked-nosed man, his thin frame exuding a dangerous aura.

"Old Geng, how is it? No pressure for this hunt, right?" Fang Wensheng asked with a cryptic smile.

"Heh, Old Fang, you’re still as direct as ever. My Fen-Tian Squad is here to assist your team this time; whether the mission succeeds depends on the performance of the Leichi Squad."

"Heh, as long as your Fen-Tian Squad doesn't hold us back."

The conversation was not particularly pleasant. Since the operation plan had been settled well in advance, the two squads briefly met before proceeding according to the original plan.

The Fen-Tian headed to the east side of the gas plant. Xiaoyuan began her pre-battle deployment, and various miniature drones flew out from a device called the "Honeycomb" toward the plant, both to further investigate the interior and to provide a live feed of the scene.

While controlling the drones on her screen, Xiaoyuan explained to the two rookies, "Technological means are highly effective against Foundation Realm beasts. However, even a drone the size of a bee will be quickly detected if it gets too close to powerful beasts like the Bristle-Maned Rats."

"Therefore, to avoid alerting the enemy, the drones must be deployed gradually, following the path of the combat squads."

As she spoke, the miniature drones were in position, each monitoring a different sector. The images were pieced together to create a 360-degree, blind-spot-free screen.

"Captain Geng, monitoring of the southeast sector is complete. No signs of Bristle-Maned Rats for now. You may enter the gas plant according to the plan!"

"Received!"

"Captain Han, there is a stray Bristle-Maned Rat in the northeast corner, seemingly foraging. It's near the corner of the stairs about fifty meters to your front right!"

As soon as the words fell, an ice spike flashed across the screen. The rat, with only its tail visible, shuddered and tumbled down the stairs. Meng Huai was fast; before it even hit the ground, he thrust his Wind-Raising Spear, shredding the body of the rat, which had already been finished off by the ice spike.

"Danger neutralized. It was a Tier 5 Foundation Realm Bristle-Maned Rat," Meng Huai’s voice rang out.

Both combat squads moved steadily under Gu Xiaoyuan’s remote command, while the two rookies watched, barely daring to breathe.

By the time both combat squads reached the designated entrance of the plant, Xiaoyuan spoke again. "Be careful. We haven't seen many Bristle-Maned Rats on the perimeter; in all likelihood, they are all holed up in the plant. I will infiltrate with the drone swarm first, then wait for feedback from the Leichi Squad."

"Received!"

Soon, the drone swarm entered the plant, and word arrived that the Leichi Squad had also reached their entry point.

"Live feed connected. Captain Geng, there are seven Bristle-Maned Rats in your path, located at..."

"Captain Han, there are six Bristle-Maned Rats in your path, located at..."

"Tactical deployment complete. Prepare for a full-scale assault. Battle duration: five minutes. The next standby points are..."

On the screen, the two combat squads moved out, neutralizing the scattered rats with lightning speed, without triggering any massive fluctuations in combat energy.

In less than five minutes:

"Combat Group One mission complete. Proceeding to the designated location!"

"Combat Group Two mission complete. Proceeding to the designated location!"

Yu Le and Su Rui looked at each other. Watching the coordination among the five of them, only one phrase came to their minds...

"Too professional!"