From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Chapter 443: More Intelligence Released
A live-fire exercise is underway at the Longwei Base today.

It is also a competition, a competition between supernatural guided sensory users.

The competition includes a prize: the first, second, and third place winners will each receive an opportunity to upgrade their skills.

In the human world, only Dragon's Might can provide this kind of reward.

When the special forces members heard that there was an intra-team competition today, those who didn't have training duties all came over to watch the excitement.

There are only three members in the special forces team with supernatural guided abilities, and the top three will receive rewards, meaning that there will be rewards regardless of whether the performance is good or bad.

These three supernatural sensory users came to study, and in their first exercise competition, they were given different rewards, which immediately widened the gap between them.

So the first exercise competition was considered a bonus.

Jiang Shaoran and Shen Yunyue graduated from the same national defense academy, so Jiang Shaoran was considered the senior.

In the preparation room, Jiang Shaoran teased her junior, "The top three prizes are skill upgrades, so it doesn't seem like there's any competition. Even if you come in last, you can still upgrade your skills."

Shen Yunyue tightly wrapped her hands with a cloth strip and said with a serious expression, "I don't want to lose. I must get first place."

Jiang Shaoran sensed that this junior had a strong personality and asked with a smile, "Why are you working so hard?"

Shen Yunyue looked up at her and asked in return, "Then why did you risk your life to stay in the Deep Sea Squad?"

Jiang Shaoran spread her hands and said, "I'm different. My skill set can only be used in the water. Once I'm on land, I'm just a salted fish. I have to stay in the Deep Sea Team."

Shen Yunyue replied firmly, "Me too. I want to delete all skills except for the special ability guidance. I want to be the eyes of the Rocket Force, and I will never be a second choice."

Jiang Shaoran reached out and patted her shoulder, saying, "The war zone only sent the three of you here for further training. Even if you don't get first place in the end, you can still be assigned to other units that need special ability guidance."

Shen Yunyue stood up straight, clenched her fist and said, "I don't want to be the second choice. I want to be the eye that stands the highest and sees the farthest."

Jiang Shaoran joked, "If you delete all your other skills, you won't be able to beat anyone."

Shen Yunyue waved her hand dismissively and said, "That's not important. If I'm in danger, you'll have to obey orders and protect me."

Jiang Shaoran shrugged and said, "Alright, you've thought it through quite well. Good luck then. And here's a little secret: aiming for first place is the right thing to do."

"Even if the rewards for this exercise and competition are the same, they will be different next time."

"I dare not say about other things at Longwei, but our skill upgrade system is absolutely unique in the world. As long as you have enough talent and put in enough effort, the rewards will be greater than you can imagine."

"Thank you, senior. I'm going now." Shen Yunyue's confidence soared as she headed out to participate in the exercise competition.

This exercise was a live-fire exercise, using rockets with a range of 10 kilometers. Participants were required to provide guidance to the rockets from 5 kilometers away so that they could hit a moving target.

……

Lu Heng sat by the field, watching the exercise, and then upgraded the skills of the three people after the exercise ended.

The theater headquarters attached great importance to the three people's training results, and would send people to record them during such phased exercises.

This time, Qi Jinghui came in person, sat down in the chair next to Lu Heng, and then placed a file folder in Lu Heng's hand, saying:
"The latest intelligence we've received concerns the Tree of Life Vine. Given that our last operation was ambushed, the intelligence department is being extremely cautious about this information."

Lu Heng opened the file bag and looked at the information on it, finding the intelligence a bit strange: "The intelligence analysis concludes that the Tree of Life Vine is no longer in the hands of the Berg family?"

Qi Jinghui nodded and replied, "Yes, we received the intelligence a week ago. The intelligence team has verified it multiple times and confirmed that a laboratory on Prudence Island in the White Eagle Federation is conducting research related to the Tree of Life Vine."

Lu Heng had already seen the words "Prudence Island" in the documents, which even included a satellite map showing the location of Prudence Island.

This island is located on the west coast of the White Eagle Federation, 160 kilometers from the coastline.

Qi Jinghui continued, "The reason why the intelligence team believes that the Tree of Life is no longer in the hands of the Berg family is because this island is a private island."

"The person who bought the island was not of high status, but the real owners behind it were the Phoenix family."

"Yes, another level 33 family in the ASE All-Seeing Eye Alliance, and this family is even richer than the Berg family."

The Phoenix family, a White Eagle financial dynasty, made its fortune in the oil industry. Many of the wars in the Middle East caused by oil have the influence of this family.

Besides oil, the Phoenix family also controls a large amount of manufacturing in the White Eagle Federation and the Bank for International Settlements.

According to known intelligence, the Phoenix family directly or indirectly controls 10% of the world's currency circulation.

It's easy to imagine how much wealth this family possesses.

The arrival of the abyss did indeed change the times, but some things will never change.

In this era, crystal core resources have a price; anything with a price can be bought.

As long as the human world continues to use currency, these families that control enormous wealth will not fall.

Qi Jinghui continued, "The current head of the Phoenix family is Lawrence Phoenix, who is 86 years old. Several years ago, news circulated that his health was deteriorating significantly."

"Therefore, according to intelligence analysis, the Phoenix family took the Tree of Life vine and is researching biotechnology to delay aging and extend lifespan."

"The laboratory on Prudence Island, upon investigation, was found to be controlled by the Phoenix family."

The Tree of Life vine does indeed contain very magical life energy, so it's quite normal for these wealthy families to want to study it.

Not only the Phoenix family, but the Berg family had also been researching the Tree of Life.

Will Berg originally intended to use the Tree of Life vine to develop a technology to solve his genetic defect.

The genetics laboratory in Leiden belongs to the Berg family.

However, half a month ago, Lu Heng raided the genetics laboratory in Leiden City. Although he did not retrieve the Tree of Life, he forced the Berg family to relocate the Tree of Life.

Now, information about the Tree of Life has resurfaced, but it's no longer in the hands of the Berg family; it's now in the hands of the Phoenix family.

Lu Heng pondered for a moment and asked, "Can you confirm that the Tree of Life vine in the Prudence Island laboratory is the same one as the one in the Leiden City laboratory?"

The Tree of Life Vine has been divided more than once. Su Muyu now has a portion of the Tree of Life Vine, and the Elven Forest Elder Serion also has a portion.

If it's just for research purposes, there's a possibility of continuing to divide the Tree of Life vines.

Qi Jinghui shook his head and replied, "That cannot be confirmed. The intelligence department only received experimental information about the Prudence Island laboratory and does not know where the Tree of Life vine in the laboratory came from."

Lu Heng looked at the intelligence report and fell into deep thought: "Last time there was an ambush, but this time the intelligence seems to have been obtained a bit too easily."

Qi Jinghui nodded and said, "Yes, this intelligence was indeed obtained rather easily. It was a researcher from the Prudence Island Laboratory who took some experimental data out of the lab during his vacation, and it was obtained by our people." He paused and then added, "Actually, it's not surprising that similar intelligence leaks happen. Many things from the White Eagle Federation's laboratories are leaked inexplicably."

"That is to say, the last operation failed, which is why we are being so cautious this time."

Lu Heng asked, "Are you worried that this intelligence is a trap?"

"Of course, the situation last time was very dangerous. If you hadn't personally led the team to Leiden City, the possibility of them being wiped out would have been very high."

Since the Leiden incident, the theater's intelligence department has held numerous meetings to review the situation.

Fortunately, three minutes before the operation began, Lu Heng sent a message ordering all teams to cease operations; otherwise, the team would have been ambushed, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Holding the file folder, Lu Heng pondered for a moment before asking, "Can I take this intelligence with me?"

"Sure, but try not to let anyone outside your team know. If you want to do anything, communicate with the war zone in advance," Qi Jinghui replied.

boom! boom! boom……

Several explosions were heard in the distance, indicating that a live-fire exercise guided by supernatural abilities had begun.

The three super-powered guided sensory users conducted multiple guided strikes against the moving target.

Qi Jinghui looked at the distant explosion and asked, "What do you think of these three people?"

Lu Heng casually replied, "They're all alright. Yu Zhenhai's skill set is the best, and he should be the fastest to develop. Shen Yunyue is also alright, but she has more room for improvement."

Qi Jinghui brought up another matter: "Did you know that the organization was investigating a leak a few days ago?"

Lu Heng casually replied, "I overheard it, but didn't ask any questions."

Qi Jinghui continued, "Shen Yunyue is also under investigation. She had contact with a suspected spy. You are their instructor, so I need to let you know about this."

Lu Heng shrugged and said nonchalantly, "If there were any problems with the people, you would have taken them away long ago. I'm only responsible for improving their abilities; the rest is not my concern."

Qi Jinghui laughed and said, "Indeed, professionals should do professional things. Don't worry, the organization has already investigated Shen Yunyue's situation and found nothing wrong. As for her contact with suspected spies, she has already written a report detailing the process."

Lu Heng put his hands behind his head, leaned back in his chair, and said leisurely, "Could you please ask Staff Officer Qi to check if the exercise is over? If it is, have the three of them return to base for skill upgrades."

"Okay, I'll go take a look." Qi Jinghui said, getting up and walking towards the exercise area.

……

After upgrading the skills of Yu Zhenhai, Shen Yunyue, and the other two, Lu Heng took the intelligence file bag home.

After dinner, I gathered the team members and informed them about the information regarding the Tree of Life Vine.

Lin Zeyu was the most straightforward: "Who cares? If we have intelligence, let's fight first and see if we can find the Tree of Life Vine later."

Su Muyu naturally wanted to retrieve the Tree of Life Vine, but the ambush she had suffered last time left her with lingering fears, and she didn't want her teammates to encounter danger again.

After carefully reviewing the intelligence report, Xie Shi'en adjusted his glasses and said, "The report is very complete. I can't see any problems with it, and it doesn't seem like a trap."

"However, this information was leaked rather casually, so casually that it didn't seem fake."

This intelligence was indeed leaked too casually.

A researcher on vacation left the Prudence Island laboratory with experimental data containing information about the Tree of Life vine.

The leak was so casual it was unbelievable, it didn't seem fake at all.

Su Muyu carefully read through the intelligence report, then turned to Lu Heng and asked, "Are we going?"

"We definitely have to go, even if it's a trap, we'll step on it first."

Lu Heng paused, then added, "Moreover, there's something strange about this intelligence: this laboratory doesn't belong to the Berg family, but to the Phoenix family. I'm not sure if it's related to the Berg family's investigation of the Crimson Scythe."

Xie Shi'en replied, "I'm fine. If this is also a trap set by the Berg family, at most they'll try to control me with the [Death Agent] class. I don't have that class, so I won't fall for it."

"At most, our trap, which we set against each other, will fail to work, and we won't suffer any losses."

After listening to the three people's ideas, Lu Heng finally decided, "Alright, let's set a time to go to Prudence Island to confirm whether the Tree of Life Vine is in that laboratory."

"This might also be a trap, so we need to be fully prepared, especially Mu Yu. The reconnaissance work must be carried out more carefully."

Su Muyu nodded vigorously: "I understand, I will definitely investigate carefully."

She felt somewhat guilty because of what happened last time.

However, the enemy had deliberately laid an ambush, even positioning the rocket launchers fifty kilometers away, making the ambush difficult to detect.

Lu Heng knew what she was thinking and reached out to pat her shoulder.

……

Having decided to go to Prudence Island, Lu Heng said goodbye to Qi Jinghui.

Because this intelligence might be a trap, more observers are needed to detect it.

Especially those with long-range detection capabilities.

There are currently three in the special forces team, all of whom are pursuing the path of long-range perception.

The ability-guided perception type is inherently geared towards long-range perception, making it most suitable for detecting situations at long distances.

Therefore, Lu Heng plans to bring Yu Zhenhai, Shen Yunyue, and the other two along on this mission.

As a guided sensory user with special abilities, I will definitely be involved in many special missions in the future, and it is impossible for me to stay in the training base and practice shooting all the time.

Besides, Lu Heng brought three people with him for another reason.

The Creator Organization deployed supernatural-type sensory users last time, and they might do it again this time.

If another ability-guided sensory agent emerges, and it uses missiles with longer range and greater yield, reconnaissance alone will not be enough to prevent it.

After all, missiles have a range of several hundred kilometers, which is impossible for a sensor to detect.

At times like these, the contest between those with supernatural abilities and the ability to perceive arises.

(End of this chapter)