With Chi Yao not around, Jing Xi did not rest peacefully. It was still early when he woke up. After a simple wash, he went to the command cabin.

As soon as the command cabin door opened, noisy voices spilled out.

“Signal is intermittent; activate backup plan!”

“Sound wave map received, analyze immediately!”

“Locate the beast herd, report back every minute!”

“Captain, there’s an anomaly in the sound wave curves of the three coordinates sent back from there!”

Jing Xi walked quickly to the monitoring console, looking at the continuously fluctuating data on the screen, and asked in a low voice, “Have they landed on C85?”

Zhuo Lin came over from the Information Department and stood beside him.

“The main force is outside C85 airspace. Only Chi Yao went in.”

Jing Xi’s heart skipped a beat, and he frowned.

“He’s alone?”

Seeing his expression, Zhuo Lin teased with a serious face, “With his strength, it’s usually him bullying others. No need to worry so much, right?”

If the target were “people,” he certainly wouldn’t worry.

Jing Xi swiped his terminal to connect to Chi Yao.

But after dialing out, there was no signal prompt for a long time.

A Level 5 danger zone that hadn’t been developed naturally wouldn’t have signal coverage. The network Chi Yao could use now was transmitted from the warship. Across the atmosphere, the signal might be unstable.

Jing Xi didn’t hesitate; he hung up and contacted Fang Liang instead.

Before departure, Chi Yao had Li Yuan and Fang Liang each lead a team. The three of them were split into three warships.

This time, the call connected quickly, and Fang Liang’s face appeared on the virtual screen.

“Major General Jing.”

Jing Xi didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly, “How is Chi Yao’s situation now?”

Fang Liang: “Signal is currently normal. Boss is collecting data from various marker points. He should return after collection is finished.”

Objective data might rely on instruments, but many things required human eyes to make precise judgments.

Rationally, Jing Xi didn’t oppose Chi Yao’s approach; currently, no one was more suitable than him.

But emotionally, he really didn’t want to see Chi Yao take risks.

Watching the red dot representing Chi Yao blinking on the monitoring screen, Jing Xi asked, “Did he send back anything particularly noteworthy?”

Fang Liang thought for a moment, then pulled out a photo from the pile of data Chi Yao sent back and enlarged it: “Boss just sent this photo back.”

The photo showed a severed vine, about the thickness of a baby’s arm, with a blood-red cross-section.

No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like a normal plant.

Jing Xi frowned even tighter: “Besides the photo, did he say anything else?”

Fang Liang shook his head: “Only said to check this plant, but I just asked several officers from the Dark Division, and they haven’t seen it either.”

Since Chi Yao sent it back specifically, it must be an important clue, but Jing Xi hadn’t seen this variety either.

He opened his contacts and summoned Qiu Tianlin to the command cabin.

Since boarding the warship, Qiu Tianlin had been eating and living in the medical area, never coming out once, thinking about how to trick the research report out of Qiu Shuang’s hands all day.

When Jing Xi called, Qiu Shuang happened to be next to him. Seeing him get up and leave, she immediately followed.

Qiu Tianlin, sporting dark circles under his eyes, walked very fast: “Why are you following me?”

His tone was full of disdain.

Qiu Shuang’s high heels clicked on the metal corridor.

“You can fish for my data, but I can’t watch your research?”

Qiu Tianlin kept a straight face and pushed up his glasses: “You won’t understand.”

Qiu Shuang: “Who the fuck are you looking down on? I’ve tolerated you for a long time, let’s fight!”

Behind them, Chun Qin came out of the ward. Seeing the siblings cursing and running all the way to the command cabin, her expression wasn’t very good.

“Such a good relationship.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but the military doctor who came out of the ward with her heard it.

“They were famous in the Capital Star when they were young, the legendary ‘children of other people’,” the military doctor smiled and said casually. “Except Mr. Qiu has been outstanding since childhood, while Miss Qiu became a problem girl after entering her rebellious phase.”

Chun Qin turned her head to look at him.

“You know about her childhood?”

It was the first time seeing her ask about something not related to business, making the military doctor extremely happy.

“Of course! I grew up in the Capital Star—”

In the command cabin, shortly after Jing Xi hung up, Qiu Tianlin arrived.

He enlarged the photo Fang Liang sent.

“Have you seen this plant?”

Qiu Tianlin and Qiu Shuang took a look and said almost simultaneously: “Parasitic vine.”

Jing Xi looked at them: “Common variety? Any characteristics?”

Just as Qiu Tianlin was about to speak, Qiu Shuang covered his mouth, pushed him aside, and cut in: “Unconventional variety. This kind of parasitic vine appears in areas with high mutated beast activity and feeds on blood, but it can’t completely absorb blood, so the cross-section appears blood-red. I’ve only seen it by chance once.”

Jing Xi was puzzled.

If it appeared in places with many mutated beasts, he couldn’t have missed it.

Qiu Tianlin straightened his crooked glasses and looked up at the photo: “This vine is a mutated type within the larger category of parasitic vines, very rare in nature. Besides the situation Xiao Shuang mentioned, I’ve also seen it on modified humans.”

Jing Xi was stunned: “On modified humans?”

Qiu Shuang also looked incredulous.

“They even did fusion of plant and human genes? How is that possible?”

Qiu Tianlin shook his head: “Not gene fusion.”

He looked at Jing Xi: “In the specimen room you destroyed, there was a leg taken from a dead Ghost. Parasitic vines grew out of it a few months after being sent to the research institute.”

Jing Xi frowned: “Grew out?”

Even if modified, they were still in the animal category. How could plants grow out of them?

Qiu Tianlin: “They might have accidentally been pricked by the thorns of this vine during activity. The residual thorns buried in the skin took root and sprouted, using the host’s flesh and blood as nutrients.”

If the person were alive, they would inevitably feel pain and wouldn’t allow the thorns a chance to sprout. For Flying Dragon members, even if they died in battle, they would be cremated quickly.

No wonder he had never heard of it.

Jing Xi thought silently.

Jing Xi’s gaze swept over the red dot representing Chi Yao on the map; the other party was moving.

“After being parasitized by this parasitic vine, what impact does it have on humans?”

Qiu Tianlin: “If the host isn’t strong enough, they will become fertilizer for the parasitic vine and be quickly devoured. The most obvious manifestation is skin barkification.”

Jing Xi: “Not strong enough? You mean symbiosis is possible?”

Qiu Tianlin: “Theoretically, if the metabolism rate and bodily functions are good enough, it can be done. But in reality, probably no one would ignore vines parasitizing their body.”

Parasitic vines fed on blood. The cross-section of the vine in the photo looked like a sponge soaked in blood, appearing as if it had just had a full meal.

Jing Xi’s face darkened.

The only things in this forest they could feed on were the beast herd and the Ghosts.

“The forest is shaking!”

The programmer in front of the console suddenly shouted, “Changes ahead! The forest is shaking!”

Jing Xi’s heart jumped, and he switched to the live feed.

The entire primeval forest looked like it was experiencing a magnitude 5 earthquake; mountains and trees were shaking.

Jing Xi said grimly: “Confirm the situation immediately!”

In less than three seconds, error warnings appeared on all marked points on every monitoring screen, and all moving targets stopped.

Another programmer on the other side: “Signal interrupted! Attempting to connect!”

Jing Xi strode to the console, watching them try various ways to connect to the network, red error warnings popping up on the screen over and over.

“No go! Can’t connect!”

“Signal on the satellite is also interrupted!”

All monitoring windows went black.

Jing Xi said coldly: “Connect to backup satellite.”

Operator: “Attempted connection, no response!”

Jing Xi raised his hand and quickly dialed Fang Liang’s communication number on the virtual keyboard.

But while it could connect just now, there was no prompt tone anymore.

What exactly happened on the front line?

Chi Yao was still there!

Jing Xi dialed Chi Yao’s number again, but still couldn’t get through.

“Little Red, can you connect to Xiao Hei?”

Little Red’s voice rang in his mind.

【No, connection disconnected.】

Jing Xi said grimly: “Attempt connection until connected.”

Little Red: 【Received.】

The sudden situation made the entire command cabin even busier.

But one minute… three minutes… five minutes passed, and the monitoring feed still hadn’t been restored.

Jing Xi’s hands hanging by his sides clenched, knuckles turning white.

“What’s happening?!”

Lin Chengde’s voice sounded from behind.

Jing Xi turned his head and greeted him.

“Frontline signal interrupted, lost contact.”

Lin Chengde looked serious, trying to contact Liu Wu and others on the frontline using the Dark Division’s dedicated channel.

After ringing for a long time, the call finally connected.

“What’s the situation?!” Lin Chengde asked loudly.

Jing Xi’s eyes flashed, and he couldn’t help but take a step closer.

On the other end of the screen, Liu Wu’s voice was hurried, revealing some anxiety.

“Warship encountered sound wave attack, signal transmission system malfunctioned. Currently urgently troubleshooting. Several satellites might already be scrapped.”

What intensity of sound wave attack could scrap satellites instantly?

Jing Xi’s heart rose to his throat, his voice tightening involuntarily: “Where is Chi Yao? Can we make contact?”

“Is that Major General Jing’s voice?”

Liu Wu’s voice came through intermittently, “We are attempting to contact him.”

Meaning contact was indeed lost.

Jing Xi spoke before Lin Chengde could: “Use the coordinates where Chi Yao last appeared as the rescue marker point, send reinforcements immediately!”

“Can’t do it, we can’t get out.”

Xu Ming’s voice came from the screen, “The warship is still under attack. There are many malfunctions, the system is still being repaired, and the hangar doors cannot be opened. Moreover, with this sound wave intensity, we might lose our lives before even landing.”

Jing Xi’s face changed.

Being too nervous just now, he actually forgot about this.

If even warships couldn’t withstand the sound wave attack, how could humans endure it?

What if it were Extreme Shadow people?

Words came to his lips, but he swallowed them back.

Since Chi Yao decided to go to C85 alone first, it meant he wasn’t sure if other Extreme Shadow members could handle the situation there either.

He had no standing to command Extreme Shadow casually.

“Sir.”

Jing Xi looked at Lin Chengde, “I request to support the front line.”

Lin Chengde frowned: “You go personally?”

Jing Xi: “You and Lieutenant General Zhuo are here; the front line needs me more.”

Lin Chengde fell silent.

Seeing his hesitation, Jing Xi said: “Please trust me.”

Lin Chengde exhaled.

“Granted.”

Jing Xi accepted the order, turned around, and strode away without pausing for a moment.

He didn’t bring too many people. Firstly, time was urgent; secondly, the situation there was unclear, and he didn’t know what the outcome would be.

After the warship flew out of the mothership’s hangar door, Jing Xi ordered the operator responsible for piloting to advance at full speed while waking up Little Red.

“Simulate test anti-interference mode.”

Little Red Bean rolled in the air, a virtual screen popping up above its head.

【Test initiated—】

After discovering the cave with humanoid beasts on No. 333, Jing Xi took time to install an anti-interference mode for Little Red.

The original protective armor mode already had strong sound wave shielding performance, but under anti-interference mode, the shielding performance was even stronger.

Approaching C85 airspace, the warship system began to report errors frequently.

“Sir, we can’t go any further!”

Lu Meng, who followed along, pointed at the countless error prompts on the screen and shouted anxiously, “We might crash if this goes wrong!”

Jing Xi didn’t speak, looking up to check the coordinate position on the monitor.

At this distance, it would take fifteen minutes to land on C85 with a fighter jet, but with a mecha, it could be done in seven minutes at the fastest.

Before regaining control of Chi Yao’s movements, every extra second meant an extra bit of danger.

“Stand by.”

Jing Xi dropped a brief command and walked quickly out of the hatch.

Lu Meng was startled and hurried to follow.

“Boss, where are you going?!”

Jing Xi didn’t look back, his voice frighteningly calm.

“I leave this place to you. Dock with the Dark Division warship first and wait for my next instruction.”

Having been by Jing Xi’s side for so long, Lu Meng knew his temper very well.

Once a decision was made, it was hard to change easily.

Lu Meng could only agree, smoothed his crew cut, and returned anxiously to the monitoring console.

Jing Xi jumped onto the Flying Dragon mecha in a few steps and sat in the cockpit.

Power on, white light flashed in the mecha’s eyes.

Flying Dragon AI’s voice sounded in the cockpit.

“Master, strong sound wave interference detected. Initiate defense mode?”

“Initiate Level 5 defense.”

Jing Xi buckled the safety harness. “Little Red, initiate anti-interference.”

Little Red Bean flew out from his terminal and slotted into a groove in the middle of the console.

“Initiated.”

Almost simultaneously, Flying Dragon AI’s prompt sounded.

“Sound wave significantly reduced, safe to take off.”

Lu Meng paced anxiously with hands behind his back. Soon seeing a flash of white light on the monitoring screen, he sighed deeply like an old man.

“Heroes stumble over beauty, sigh… looks like I haven’t raised enough chickens.”

Yan Kai beside him heard his muttering and asked cautiously: “Director Lu, you still want to contract a mountain to raise chickens?”

Lu Meng looked righteous: “The beauty is too charming, I’m afraid Boss can’t handle it.”

Yan Kai: “…”

Your brain circuit is absolutely something.

After rushing into the atmosphere, the frequency of sound wave interference displayed on the virtual screen began to climb again.

The fuselage shook violently, as if it would fall apart at any moment.

Flying Dragon’s constant error alarms rang in his ears.

A green dot appeared in his vision, gradually enlarging into a forest.

Flying Dragon AI: “Strong sound wave interference, unable to land safely.”

Jing Xi circled the mecha 3000 meters above the forest. Except for trees, there was nothing in the monitoring screen.

The fleeing beast herds and half-bestialized Ghosts seemed to have evaporated from the world.

Jing Xi felt an inexplicable sense of crisis.

“Little Red, connect to Jiang Feng.”

Connecting via the mecha and warship, it finally succeeded on the third try.

Jiang Feng: “Boss, what are your instructions?”

Jing Xi spoke very fast: “Mobilize all troops from the garrison headquarters, immediately seal all jump points in Cetus. You must supervise the completion personally.”

Jiang Feng’s expression changed: “Yes.”

Jing Xi connected to Lin Chengde again.

“Stop all Ghosts from entering C85—”

Before he finished speaking, the signal was completely lost.

He wasn’t sure if the other party heard what he said.

After confirming, Jing Xi switched to manual mode and landed at one of the coordinates sent by Zhang Sheng.

Just landed, Flying Dragon AI’s prompt sounded.

“Sound wave interference reduced.”

Jing Xi looked up at the virtual screen; the sound wave curve plummeted.

He frowned, recalling that in the data Chi Yao sent back, it was mentioned that the interference level at these three coordinates was the lowest.

Didn’t expect the difference to be so big.

Mechas couldn’t travel through the forest, and with high sound wave interference, malfunctions might occur if stayed too long.

Jing Xi unbuckled the safety harness and got off the mecha with Little Red.

Flying Dragon AI: “Master, harsh external environment detected. Travel not recommended.”

Jing Xi said indifferently: “You stay here and recharge. If sound wave interference exceeds the threshold, you can leave first and wait for my instructions. Be flexible.”

Flying Dragon AI: “…Oh.”

Just outside, the cold temperature froze Jing Xi’s fingertips numb.

Little Red automatically adjusted the temperature inside the protective armor. By the time Jing Xi jumped onto the ground, he couldn’t feel the cold anymore.

The whole world was silent.

Jing Xi headed towards the place where Chi Yao last appeared. Walking for ten minutes, he saw neither people nor beasts.

As far as the eye could see were hundred-meter-tall trees. The only difference was probably the increasingly thick parasitic vines on the ground.

The number of these parasitic vines was ridiculously high, covering the entire forest like a spider web.

If these parasitic vines lived on blood, how much blood did they have to suck to grow to this scale?

Another ten minutes of walking, finally arriving at the target point.

Jing Xi scanned around; as expected, there was nothing.

“Can you scan for biological activity?”

Little Red: “None.”

“Release signal.”

Jing Xi issued the command while shouting Chi Yao’s name loudly.

But almost reaching the next marker point, there was still no response.

Not knowing how many times he sensed something wrong, Jing Xi abruptly drew the army knife from his lower back and threw it behind him.

But the army knife stuck into the tree trunk, yet nothing appeared.

Where exactly was Chi Yao?

Just taking a step, he suddenly felt a slight vibration under his feet.

Jing Xi’s eyes flashed, sensing carefully.

Not an illusion.

The tremors were gradually getting stronger.

Thigh-thick vines on the ground were wriggling.

Jing Xi ran forward at full speed, barely dodging the parasitic vines stabbing at him.

The rustling sound behind him grew louder and closer. Jing Xi drew another army knife and threw it behind him.

A few steps behind him, countless parasitic vines, like giant snakes flicking their tongues, surrounded him overwhelmingly.

Where the army knife pierced, bright red sap splattered onto other parasitic vines and was absorbed cleanly in the blink of an eye.

Jing Xi spread his arms, activating the micro-engines, maneuvering the protective armor to fly among various large trees.

Reaching the second coordinate point, near the foot of the snowy mountain.

Just landed, Jing Xi raised his gun aimed at the parasitic vines closest to him, fighting while retreating.

The ground tremors were strong. Jing Xi had to deal with parasitic vines, observe the terrain, maintain his balance, his nerves highly tense.

A slight movement suddenly came from behind. His expression changed, and he immediately turned the muzzle around.

But before he saw anything, his wrist was seized, and a pleasant, low voice sounded by his ear.

“It’s me.”

Jing Xi was stunned.

Chi Yao glanced at the pursuing parasitic vines, wrapped his arm around Jing Xi’s waist, and led him towards the foot of the mountain.

After bypassing a few trees, they dove into a small cave.

“Don’t speak yet.” Chi Yao whispered a reminder.

The two pressed against the wall, watching the parasitic vines pass the cave entrance, retreating after a moment.

When confirmed they were gone, Chi Yao looked at Jing Xi.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait for my notification? Why did you run over yourself? Do you know how dangerous it is?”

Jing Xi looked at him close at hand, feeling both angry and wronged.

“You think I’d be indifferent when you lost contact?”

Chi Yao couldn’t stand this expression; it made him have the urge to bully him fiercely.

“I’m not blaming you.”

Chi Yao tightened his arms, pulling him into his embrace and patting his head. “This place is more dangerous than anywhere before.”

Jing Xi buried his face in his neck, took a few deep breaths, and recovered from his anxiety. For a long while, he didn’t know what to say, his voice muffled: “I like you.”

Chi Yao was amused by him: “This time it sounds much more sincere.”

Jing Xi: “…”

You still in the mood to laugh?