Star Abyss Walker

Chapter 288 Sakurako, you're still here!!
In the underground crevices, deep within the insect nest.

A series of orange figures, emitting shrill cries, surged wildly out of the darkness.

"Watch out, it's a fourth-tier blade worm!"

With a single command, "Spears Draw Like Dragons," the Crimson Sky Alliance immediately unleashed their full firepower.

On the team's side, Ruolin and I took the lead, each wielding a power sword, and "crackling" slashed through the scythes that the Blade Worm was so proud of, greatly limiting the opponent's output.

In the back row, Cai Cai and Fatty, the two gunners, unleashed a barrage of fire. Under the barrage of large-caliber bullets from their bomb guns, the knife-like insects' carapaces shattered continuously, and green blood gushed out, creating a truly gruesome sight.

"Ding Han, look over there!"

Suddenly, Zhang Ruolin looked warily into the depths of the insect hive, where a blue figure was curled up in a ball, rolling rapidly towards the player camp like a gear.

A Spirit Bug, the second one!
"Damn it! There are also Spirit Bombs!"

Xu Tian's face turned pale: "What do we do?"

"Unlimited control!"

Gunshot Like a Dragon shouted, "Dark Priest, attack! Fear it! The rest of you, focus fire and pick it off!"

Immediately, several dark priests, including Huo Bingzhi Ri, stepped forward, raised their longswords, and unleashed a series of fear spells. Finally, the spell was successfully cast the third fear spell, stopping the Spirit Burst Bug from rolling at high speed. Its body stretched out, resembling a small blue turtle, revealing a round, bald head.

"Smash its head, quick!" shouted the Uncontested.

Everyone went all out, and I took out my pink bomb gun. In just a few seconds, I unleashed 60 large-caliber bullets on the head of the Spirit Bug. The headshots and critical hits were a sight to behold. Perhaps it was because of the high firepower and damage amplification, but one person's output was enough to keep up with 2-3 firepower users!

Just as fear was about to wear off, he raised his hand and immediately followed up with a Dragon Binding Rope!

"Shuashuashua~~"

Golden vines formed from condensed Yuan energy suddenly rose from the ground, instantly binding the Spirit Burst Insect's body tightly, rendering it unable to move!
Quickly switch magazines and continue aiming and firing with the bomb gun!

The Spirit Blast Bug hissed loudly, bound in place and unable to move. Moreover, unlike other Zerg units, the Spirit Blast Bug's self-destruct damage was terrifying. So, probably for balance reasons, the Spirit Blast Bug's health was only about 30% of that of a boss of the same tier, a mere 400 million, making it extremely easy to defeat.

In short, as long as players don't underestimate the enemy and detect the presence of the Spirit Bombs in advance, they generally won't be wiped out by the Spirit Bombs.

At this point, I could also try the combo of Burst Charge + Power Sword Decapitation, but I don't know how the Spirit Bug's self-destruct mechanism works. Will it self-destruct immediately if a player appears around it? If so, this tactic can be disregarded. No rush, I'll try it again when the invincibility cooldown is over.

In less than 20 seconds, the Spirit Blast Bug was seamlessly controlled by various techniques, sizzling and yelling incessantly in place. Finally, its energy was exhausted, and its body was blown into a pile of dark blue blood!
"continue!"

Carrying my power sword, I stepped over the corpses of the Spirit Blast Bugs and continued leading the group deeper into the hive.

Along the way, insects emerged one after another. Although they posed no great threat, everyone proceeded cautiously for safety reasons, and the pace of progress was not too fast.

It was almost nine o'clock in the blink of an eye.

Xu Tian, ​​clutching a blue explosive pistol, said wearily, "How far have we traveled underground..."

"It's at least three kilometers."

I looked behind me and frowned, saying, "Don't you think the structure of this insect nest is quite unique? It's shaped like a tunnel, extending all the way from outside the city into the city..."

Xu Tian suddenly realized: "You mean, like the insect nest in East Lake, they're going to launch an attack from inside the city?"

The spear shot out like a dragon, and even Shen Jin showed a look of astonishment. For a moment, everyone's expression became much more serious.

"That's most likely the case. Let's move forward quickly."

"understand!"

The group quickly advanced, reaching a depth of nearly 300 meters into the insect nest within just ten minutes. Then they saw a huge swarm of burrowing insects digging frantically underground!
At the same time, a pink light flashed within the swarm of burrowing worms.

"Watch out, it's the pink boss!"

The gun shot out like a dragon, and a warning was immediately issued!

"Shh!"

The pink figure suddenly leaped up and darted along the wall. With a sudden roll, a flash of light streaked past, and before a Crimson Sky Alliance assassin could react, he was instantly cut in half at the waist!

"49992!"

That's close to 5 damage in one go, that's brutal!

As the Crimson Cloud Alliance assassin triggered the Resurrection Scripture and departed, everyone scattered and prepared for battle. Meanwhile, Spear Like a Dragon casually shared the BOSS's attributes in the team chat.

【Claw Bug】(Pink BOSS)

Rating: 65
Attack: 10000-12500
Defense: 5000
Qi and blood: 20000000
Skills: [Strength Enhancement Lv.10], [Agility Enhancement Lv.10], [Claw Storm Lv.10]

Details: Claw Bug, a powerful Tier 6 Zerg unit, evolved from the Overlord Bug. Its body is greatly enhanced, giving it terrifying strength and speed. As a "warrior" in the Zerg swarm, it has an extremely strong hunting instinct. If you encounter a Claw Bug, running away is the best option!
……

With an attack cap of 1.25W, plus the hidden bonuses and level suppression from the pink BOSS, it's no wonder that it could kill a well-equipped level 52 assassin in one hit!
Around them, a group of players unleashed their control skills, but to no avail. The Claw Bug was bombarded with a bunch of MISSes, completely ignoring skills like Psionic Entanglement, Fear, and Stardust Tentacles. The pink BOSS already had high control resistance, and with at least a 10-level level advantage, the hit rate of control skills was probably less than 5%!

"Hiss~~~"

The clawed worm hissed and its deep red eyes instantly fixed on me.

No way, high-level Zerg can detect a player's combat strength and specifically target the strongest player to kill them first?

The next second, the Claw Bug charged forward like lightning, charging into a hail of bullets. Its body flipped in the air, and its claws, evolved from its forelimbs, gleamed with a cold light, crushing down like a spiral storm!

"Depend on!"

I gritted my teeth and unleashed a flurry of attacks: Battle Cry, Creation of the Gods, Unstoppable Force, Annihilation Rock Armor, and Stardust Wall. Then, my body sank, and I slashed my sword fiercely at the long tail of the Claw Worm.

In an instant, his neck, chest, and arms were struck by sharp claws one after another, the Stardust Wall shattered, and his health bar dropped rapidly!
"15787!"

"17565!"

"14772!"

"9873!"

After this swift and fierce attack, a "minor injury" symbol jumped out from above. It was a bit embarrassing that he was injured in just one contact!
My lightning-fast sword strike cleaved the clawed worm's tail, leaving it covered in blood and dealing over 3 damage, but unfortunately, it didn't inflict a critical wound.

"on!"

Behind them, three figures swept past: Spear Dragon, Uncontested, and God Ash, who charged out to try and deal with the Claw Worm!

I quickly got up, used the medkit to restore 50% of my health, and looked up to see the dragon-like body of the gun making a beautiful change of course in the air. In the instant of the body flipping to the side, it thrust the head of the power gun into the abdomen of the claw beetle!

"Pfft!"

"24882!"

The damage wasn't low, but it didn't inflict any "cutting" type damage to cause serious injury; it just poked a hole in the opponent, so it didn't deal much damage!

"Hiss~~~"

Instead, in pain, the Claw Worm roared, and its abdominal barbs extended, piercing into the thigh of Spear Dragon with a "plop." Spear Dragon cried out in pain. At the same time, the Claw Worm nimbly turned its body, carrying Spear Dragon's body, and suddenly lunged to the side. Two claws pierced out from its chest, one piercing the wrist of God Ash who was holding the sword, and the other piercing his chest.

"Fuck..."

Everyone was shocked; the pink BOSS's fighting skills were far beyond their imagination!
The next second, the Claw Bug opened its blood-red maw and with a "plop" it bit off God Ember's rather handsome head!

Emperor Jin, died suddenly!
Although the golden light of the Resurrection Scripture revived God Ash, the death of the Ash Domain Guild leader was somewhat embarrassing.

The instant the Clawed Beetle killed the Ember Domain, the Uncontested One swiftly used Whirlwind Slash + Rising Dragon Slash, directly rushing to the BOSS's rear and launching a Rising Dragon Slash, catching the opponent off guard!
"Pong!"

The dragon has successfully ascended, and the clawed worm's body pauses briefly in the air!

"Pretty!"

How could I miss such a golden opportunity? I swiftly moved forward, and the blade of my sword gleamed with a shimmering ash light. With lightning speed, I slashed three times at the clawed worm's tail, which was at least half a meter in diameter!

Instantly, the flames blazed brightly, and the destructive force field roared. Although the claw beetle's keratinous exoskeleton was quite tough and had some resistance to powered weapons, the three slashes completed in an instant still perfectly severed its tail!
"4108782!"

Its tail landed heavily on the ground, yet it was still throbbing.

The moment the clawed worm felt the pain, it opened its blood-red maw and hissed loudly, spurting out crimson blood that shot directly into Ru Long's face. Fearing that the worm's blood contained toxins, he hurriedly retreated, spitting wildly.

"hiss--"

The next second, the clawed beetle turned around and swept its severed tail, knocking back the indifferent creature with a "thud." At the same time, several sharp claws on its forelimbs opened and pounced directly at Zhang Ruolin, who had come to its rescue!

Immediately, accompanied by clanging sounds, the claws of the razor worms rubbed against Ruolin's shield, creating sparks and deep grooves. At the same time, Ruolin's health bar dropped rapidly. The player and the shield were one, and the player had to bear the impact of the opponent's fierce attacks hitting the shield!
However, Ruolin is also holding a power sword!

The next moment, she actually abandoned the cyan shield, lowered her body, gripped her sword with both hands and performed a close-range rising dragon slash with the BOSS. The moment the sword light rose, the two front claws of the claw beetle were directly severed, and deep red blood gushed out!

"Sigh~~~"

The spiky beetle swayed, turned around, and swung its claws to attack Zhang Ruolin, but Zhang Ruolin easily blocked it by raising another shield.

"Ding Han!"

In the distance, Yu Shi Wu Zheng clutched his chest and said excitedly, "The tail of the claw beetle is its balance organ. By cutting off its tail, you have directly affected its agility and accuracy. You can fight with peace of mind now!"

"understand!"

I took a step closer and instantly unleashed a chilling slash. Just as the clawed worm was frozen, I leaped up and slashed out with three sword strikes in mid-air, severing all the remaining claws on its forelimbs. Instantly, the clawed worm turned into a stick, devoid of its claws!
"kill!"

After the gun shot out like a dragon spitting out its breath, it returned and plunged the power gun into the head of the claw beetle, causing extremely high damage. Meanwhile, I attacked the claw beetle's neck with sword strike after sword strike. Its neck was protected by a thick layer of keratin, just like the protective layer that some animals form on their bodies by rubbing resin. It was very thick and tough, and even the destructive force field of the power sword could not cut through it completely in an instant!

So, after I unleashed over 40 sword strikes, with a "crack" sound, the flames burst forth, ripping the ugly head of the Claw Worm off its neck!

Finally done, the phone keeps ringing in my ear—

[Congratulations! You have defeated the Claw Bug (pink BOSS) and obtained the item: BOSS Ability Crystal x1!]

[Battle Notification: You have defeated the Clawed Bug (pink BOSS), gaining 8200000 character experience points. The Elemental Furnace extracted 4100000 experience points!]

……

"Holy crap, it's finally over..."

Holding his longsword, he couldn't help but sigh.

Although the overall strategy to defeat this clawed beetle was relatively short, the process was quite dangerous. Even Shen Jin, the "Jin Emperor" of Huaining City, was instantly killed once!
Furthermore, the reason why we were able to kill the clawed worms in such a short time is simply because Huaining City has three powered weapons!

Looking at the entire Chinese server, there are only these three power weapons so far, and they are all located in Huaining City, leaving players from other cities with nowhere to complain.

It's said that some players went to their GM to complain about this unfairness, and the GM replied that there was nothing he could do about it.

No question, let's open the treasure chest first.

As I took the treasure chest out of the extradimensional storage space and opened it, a pleasant bell rang in my ears.

Congratulations! You have successfully opened your [BOSS Ability Crystal] and obtained the item: [Wind Whisperer-42 Improved Version] (Quality: Pink)!

……

"what?"

I was slightly taken aback; a pink sniper rifle had actually appeared!
Winter AMR, time to go home!
The next second, the Wind Whisperer's attributes came into view—

【Windtalker-42 Improved Version】(Quality: Pink)
Rank: Fifth Tier

Basic parameters: Firepower 3500-4000, Rate of fire 80 rounds/minute, Magazine capacity 8 rounds, Attack range 3000 meters

Strength: +60
Agility: +58
Physical strength: +56
Weight: 12.5KG
Specialty: Night vision, equipped with a night vision aiming system
Specialty: Muffler, equipped with a muffler
Blessing: Headshot enhancement; when a headshot effect is triggered, there is a 85% chance to trigger double damage.

Strength required: 550
Required Agility: 400
……

I shook my head at the Wind Whisperer's attributes until I saw "Headshot Enhancement," at which point I finally smiled!

To be honest, in terms of firepower, this pink Wind Whisperer is not quite up to par as a pink sniper rifle. A firepower cap of 4000? Are you kidding me? Isn't that too low?
After all, the pink bomb gun has a firepower cap of 2000 points!

According to my estimate, the Pink Whisperer's firepower needs to be 5000 points to be considered passable. After all, sniper rifles have a slow rate of fire, and it takes time to re-aim. In fact, sniping an opponent from a distance only takes 1-2 shots. If you can kill them, you can kill them; if not, there's no chance. Experienced opponents are fleeting and won't show their faces again to give you another chance.

But with this headshot enhancement, it's a different story. As long as you aim accurately, the 85% chance is no different from 100%. Basically, every shot can deal 6 times the damage. It's definitely not a problem to blow up a psionicist's head with two shots from a distance. With a couple more shots, you might even blow up a super warrior's head!

This thing is pretty good.

It was directly equipped in the sniper rifle position, replacing the Winter AMR.

This Winter AMR is an orange sniper rifle, which is outdated and even CaiCai and PangZi don't think much of it anymore. But it has already completed its historical mission and will be disposed of to LaoMa when we return to town.

……

"Ding Han, look over there."

Ruolin gently nudged my shoulder and pointed to a spot not far away.

At the end of the insect nest, there was a crack in the gray wall, and inside the crack was a dark hole that connected to another insect nest.

"Illumination flare."

At the command of "Spear Like a Dragon," the Chaos Demon King stepped forward and fired a flare into the crack.

Under the light, all the players gathered in front of the crack gasped. Inside the adjacent small insect nest, there were countless insect embryos, all attached to the rock walls of the nest, looking like a swarm of eggs laid by silkworms on mulberry leaves.

"Depend on……"

Carrying my power sword, I stepped into the adjacent small insect nest and immediately saw that the insect eggs were blood red and seemed to be hatching, with a tiny black head appearing inside.

"Damn it, it's a Lord Bug!"

Gun Chu Rulong followed, frowning as he said, "Damn, so many Lord Insects, there must be at least tens of thousands of Lord Insect eggs, right? If all of these hatch, there will be at least an orange-level BOSS, and there will be no shortage of cyan and pink-level BOSSes too! That's terrible!"

"wrong."

Cai Cai said, "The Zerg encyclopedia clearly states that only the Star Cave Queen can give birth to Lord Zerg. Where is the Queen?"

"They may have already left after laying their eggs."

Yu Shi Wu Zheng said, "The Star Cave Insect Mother is highly sought after in the insect swarm, as she is responsible for laying eggs everywhere. Logically speaking, she should be very difficult to see."

"If you say so..."

Cai Cai narrowed her eyes: "The truth should be that a Star Cave Insect Queen secretly infiltrated the underground of Xi City to lay eggs and then left. These embryos are close to hatching. The reason why the insectoids outside exposed their nest and attacked Xi City was actually to join forces with this brood of Lord Insects, or to provide nutrients?"

"Cai Cai, this is the first time I've known you were so intelligent," Xu Tian exclaimed.

Cai Cai reluctantly accepted these words.

"How to say?"

"Ding Han," said the man with the spear drawn like a dragon, "how should we deal with these Lord Insects?"

Immediately, a player from the Crimson Sky Alliance suggested, "Why don't we wait a bit, establish a base here, or find a way to accelerate the growth, and kill the Lord Insects as they hatch? We can then grind experience like crazy here and enjoy the joy of advancing to the sixth tier of a class at level 60 ahead of time. What do you all think?"

"You think you're raising poisonous insects?"

"Gun like a dragon" was the first to object: "The swarm is intelligent and will certainly not be willing to be manipulated by humans. Besides, what if they realize the crisis and hatch all at once? If tens of thousands of BOSS-level swarms come out at once, can the players in Huaining City handle it? If they can't, won't they wreak havoc on the entire Xicheng City?"

"Alliance Leader Long is right."

I nodded: "Why not just burn it down and get it over with?"

"Agree."

The detached man said, "If you see an insect, just kill it. We're here to kill insects, nipping the crisis in the bud. That's the best solution."

"OK, then there's no need to discuss it further."

Gunshot Dragon said, "Ah Tian, ​​send the flamethrower squad up and wipe out all these Lord Insects. We'll stay here and watch."

"Alright, brothers, let's go!"

A group of players from the Crimson Sky Alliance began burning the Lord Insect Embryo.

I tried to shatter a Lord Insect Embryo with a single sword strike, but there was no experience reward, so there's nothing more to say.

"Boss."

At this moment, Kou Mei, the most curious member of the team, pointed upwards and said, "What's up there? Why does it feel like there's light up there?"

"I don't know either, we'll find out when we go up."

So, while the Crimson Cloud Alliance burned the insects, I led my team uphill. Just then, a bell rang in our ears—the task assigned by the guide was complete!
[Congratulations! You have completed the mission "Reinforce Xicheng" (S-rank)! Rewards: 1940 million character experience, 1 charm point, and an additional reward: "Resurrection Scroll" (S-rank recovery item)!]

……

Another Resurrection Codex! That's great! The total number of Resurrection Codexes is back to 5. I feel so safe!
A few seconds later, he led everyone through a gap into the sewer. The light that Kou Mei had mentioned actually came from a sewer manhole cover above.

"Clap!"

Gently lift the manhole cover and carefully look outside to make sure it's not on the road, lest you get hit in the head by a car as soon as you climb on it.

Fortunately, the manhole cover was on the side of the road, and it was already dark outside.

He pushed open the manhole cover and climbed out.

Behind them, Ruolin, Caicai, and the others also climbed up and politely put the manhole cover back in place.

"Eh?"

I looked into the distance and was taken aback.

Dozens of meters away, the lightbox of an internet cafe was lit up, indicating that it was open for business. Looking through the glass door, we could see some young men and women with a flamboyant, "emo" style playing Audition Online. Even from that distance, we could faintly hear the groans of the spacebar.

Feiyang Internet Cafe!

That's right, that's the Feiyang Internet Cafe that Lu Xiaobei and I used to run together, and this place is the long-lost Qianjin Street!

What a coincidence!

In fact, if this small underground insect nest had not been discovered in advance, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Once the high-level insect swarm bred by those ten thousand lord insects came to the surface, Feiyang Internet Cafe would probably be the first to suffer!
"It's Qianjin Street..."

Ruolin looked around nostalgically, then walked straight to a roasted sweet potato stall to enjoy the local delicacy with Koumei.

Faye, Bingzi, and Gushi squatted by the roadside, each lighting a cigarette, and surprisingly blended into the city's atmosphere, looking no better than those flamboyant young people playing Audition Online in internet cafes.

I took out my phone, took a picture of Feiyang Internet Cafe, and sent it to Lu Xiaobei.

Immediately, she replied with an emoji of someone covering their face and crying.

"Ding Han, is this the Feiyang Internet Cafe we ​​used to frequent?"

"Ah."

I replied, "It's quite a coincidence. The Zerg have hidden an underground hive right under the Feiyang Internet Cafe. If we players hadn't come this time, the Feiyang Internet Cafe might have been the Zerg's outbreak point."

"what?"

Lu Xiaobei sent an amazed emoji and then said, "Let's make a video call. Take your phone into the internet cafe, I want to see what our internet cafe looks like now."

"it is good."

As I was making the video call, I quickly crossed the road, and when Lu Xiaobei answered the call, she saw her sitting on the plane.

"Xiao Bei, what are you doing on the plane again?"

"Otherwise what? I just got back and you left. My colleagues in BH City are still waiting for me to record. I can't delay, so let's go back to Beihai first and finish the recording work. Hurry up and go to the internet cafe, I want to take a look."

So, holding my phone, I walked into the internet cafe with "Lu Xiaobei." Everything was the same as before. After Zhou Beichuan took over the internet cafe, he operated it almost exactly the same way. Business seemed pretty good. The occupancy rate at 9 pm was at least 80%, which was quite good for an internet cafe in Xicheng.

"Sigh, nothing has changed..."

Lu Xiaobei held up her phone in one hand and covered her mouth with the other, almost crying.

"Hello... May I ask you..."

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind.

"This……"

I turned around and saw a familiar figure standing behind me.

Sakurako!

She's still working here!
"Ding Han?!"

Sakura was also surprised, covering her mouth as she looked at me: "You...it really is you...how did you come back?"

“Not just me.”

I turned the camera around so she could see Lu Xiaobei, who was video chatting with me.

"Xiao Bei!"

Sakura snatched the phone, her face beaming with joy: "It really is you?"

Lu Xiaobei was so excited that his eyes sparkled: "It's me! It's me!"

As far as I know, after leaving Xicheng, Lu Xiaobei and Yingzi rarely contacted each other. Moreover, now that Lu Xiaobei is a big star, Yingzi probably feels the difference in their status even more, so she never takes the initiative to talk to her on WeChat.

So the two of them started chatting, while I sat down next to an empty computer, waiting for my phone. When I got bored, I even fixed a few computers in the internet cafe that had "malfunction" signs on them, gaining a lot of skill experience.

Speaking of which, after upgrading Applied Mathematics to the fifth tier (the maximum level) last time, I consumed a lot of skill experience, and now I have very little left. I absolutely cannot slack off on earning skill experience while writing code. Perhaps... I could take a temporary position at Yuening's after-sales service department? I could go there regularly to help them clear out their inventory of appliances awaiting repair?

That's a good idea. It would be best to bring the fat guy along for the assignment, otherwise just relying on assembling machines to earn skill experience is too inefficient!

Soon after, the two of them finally finished their work, and Sakura returned the phone to me.

"I'm about to take off, I'm turning off my phone right now, bye-bye!"

Lu Xiaobei waved to me.

"Safe journey!"

I nodded, hung up the video call, and then my gaze fell on Sakura's slightly protruding belly.

"Sakura, have you gained weight recently, or is it what I imagined?" I asked.

"It's just as you imagined."

Sakura's face flushed inexplicably: "My boyfriend and I are already engaged, and we plan to hold a wedding ceremony after the baby is born."

"oh oh……"

I nodded, knowing that doing happy things often yields positive results.

Originally, I was planning to take this opportunity to discuss with Lu Xiaobei about transferring Yingzi back to Huaining City. She has good work ability and could manage the branch in Donghu District or the new district. However, after seeing that she was pregnant, I immediately gave up the idea.

People are different. All Yingzi wants is a stable life, so even if you give her a high salary to work at Feiyang Internet Cafe, the final result may not be what she wants.

Let things take their natural course; that's the best approach.

After chatting with Sakura for a bit, I left the internet cafe and led everyone on motorcycles, like a group of chuunibyou (delusional) teenagers, away from Xicheng and back to Huaining City via the south teleportation array.

……

In the player black market, everyone processed their winnings one by one.

My transaction volume was the largest. After selling off a bunch of equipment, including the orange Winter AMR, I replenished my supply with a batch of Wind Whisperer ammo. In the end, I made a whopping 80 from this trip to Xicheng!

Top players are really doing well; their income level is just... incredibly fortunate!
While Ruolin and Caicai were making their transaction, I pulled Fatty aside.

"Are your skills and experience sufficient lately?" I asked.

"Not quite enough... How did you know?"

"I don't have enough either."

I raised an eyebrow slightly: "I'll have Xiaoying arrange for us both to have temporary positions in the Yuening repair department, so we can clean up faulty appliances when we have free time? What do you think?"

"can!"

The fat man immediately agreed, saying, "I've had this idea for a while, but I couldn't say it, for fear that President Lin would think I'm not doing my job properly and that I'm not capable of great things."

"Let me explain this."

"Row!"

So I sent Lin Qingying a message to tell her I would be back soon.

Lin Qingying replied briefly: "I'm in a conference call. I'll be quiet when I get back."

……

I arrived at the residential area a little before 10 o'clock.

He secretly put away his motorcycle, went upstairs, and when he opened the living room door, sure enough, Lin Qingying was sitting quietly on the sofa in her work clothes, listening to her subordinate's work report.

I walked up to her and typed on my phone: "Want some noodles? I'll cook."

She nodded, then typed a few words on her phone: "It will be over in ten minutes."

That's about right, but you still need to add the time it takes to boil the water.

Ten minutes later, Lin Qingying put away her notebook and got up to help, only to find that the noodles were already cooked. The two then sat together and ate the delicious Master Kong braised beef and egg noodles.

"Xiaoying, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Well, you said."

"I'd like to take a temporary position in the maintenance department of Yuening Group. I can pay a salary or not. Both Fatty and I need to take a temporary position there."

"May I know why?"

She looked at me with a puzzled expression: "I invited you to join Yuening's R&D team before, but you refused."

“It’s different. I’m just on secondment, working as an ordinary employee. I don’t take up any of Yuening’s human resources. I can even repair appliances for Yuening and handle some minor, basic problems.”

"What exactly is the reason?" She was completely confused by what I said.

I immediately told her everything about how practice makes perfect and how I have experience and skills.

"No wonder..."

Lin Qingying smiled with relief: "I repeatedly invited you to join Yuening, but you just stayed at Luo Mei's repair department and refused to leave. So that's what it was about..."

"if not."

"Ok."

She smiled slightly: "I'll talk to Shen Man. You can contact her directly about this matter, and she'll take care of it for you."

"Ok!"

I nodded emphatically, another worry finally lifted from my mind.

……

The next morning.

As usual, I ate breakfast with Lin Qingying at the breakfast stall downstairs. The stall owner knew what kind of breakfast we would order without us even saying a word.

Halfway through the meal, a figure walked in from the entrance of the residential area and sat down next to us.

She was a stunning beauty, wearing a leather jacket, sunglasses, and long, slightly wavy hair.

"No, who are you?" I asked in surprise.

Lin Qingying also looked over in surprise.

"You can't recognize me just because I'm wearing sunglasses? Your counter-surveillance skills aren't very good, Ding Han..."

The other person took off their sunglasses, and it turned out to be Su Wei!

"Su Wei, what brings you here?"

I came here specifically to see you.

Su Wei tilted her head and looked at Lin Qingying, then smiled and asked, "This beautiful lady... is she your girlfriend?"

"That's right, isn't it beautiful!?" I said, hands on my hips, looking smug.

"Pretty!"

Su Wei couldn't help but chuckle, and extended her hand, saying, "Hello, I am Su Wei, a friend of Ding Han, and the commander of the 99th Division of the Crimson Dragon Legion."

A look of surprise flashed across Lin Qingying's eyes. She reached out and shook hands, saying, "Yuening Group, Lin Qingying."

"Oh, no..."

Su Wei hesitated for a moment, then suddenly her eyes lit up with surprise: "You're the young lady from the Yuening Group who returned to Yuening a while ago? No wonder you look so familiar, I've seen you on a magazine cover..."

As she spoke, Su Wei looked at me meaningfully: "No... you even managed to snag such a beautiful woman, Ding Han... I really underestimated you before!"

I laughed and said, "That's true. Sometimes when I dream that she's my girlfriend, I often wake up laughing..."

Lin Qingying blushed and gave me a playful sidelong glance.

"I'm sorry to disturb you two while you were having breakfast."

Su Wei smiled and said, "President Lin, I heard that your Yuening Group is one of the important technology providers for the power system of my country's military power armor. Since you are Ding Han's girlfriend, let's add each other on WeChat?"

"OK, all right!"

Lin Qingying quickly took out her phone and added Su Wei on WeChat.

She has a keen business sense and knows that maintaining good relations with the military is very important. As the commander of a 10,000-strong army, Su Wei is actually considered to be in the middle to high ranks of the Red Dragon Kingdom's military and has a certain amount of influence.

This connection could be quite important to the Yuening Group.

"Su Wei, what's wrong?" I asked.

"There's something interesting going on, and I'd like to invite you to come and see it."

Because she didn't know that Lin Qingying already knew my identity, she spoke rather cryptically.

"Alright, after I finish eating, would you like some too?"

"Sure, there's enough time. Boss, one of the same breakfasts, please."

"okay!"

So, Su Wei had breakfast with us, and then Lin Qingying drove to work, while I got into Su Wei's car and went directly to the military helipad in the distance. We boarded a heavy helicopter, took off, and headed straight for the southwest of Huaining City.

……

Southwest, the Wall of Life.

A high wall, constructed of steel and heavily guarded, stands tall, and our helicopter is parked on the helipad of the Wall of Life.

Stepping off the helicopter, I followed Su Wei along the Wall of Life. In the distance, four heavy helicopters were hoisting a huge instrument, slowly lowering it into a facility resembling a missile silo. As the slings rotated, the instrument descended deep into the ground.

"What is that?" I asked calmly.

"The Zerg signal source detectors can detect depths of up to 10,000 meters underground. Once a swarm of Zerg approaches, we can detect it in advance. We have prepared tens of thousands of such signal source detectors, which can be networked along the entire Wall of Life in the Crimson Dragon Kingdom, making it impossible for the Zerg swarm to hide."

"Awesome..."

I sincerely exclaimed in admiration.

It seems that the high-ranking officials of the Crimson Dragon Kingdom probably foresaw the rise of the Zerg long ago; otherwise, they would not have been able to complete such a massive project in such a short time.

"Just so-so..."

Su Wei looked at me meaningfully and smiled, "Ding Han, I'll ask you one more time, are you willing to join our Crimson Dragon Legion?"

"I don't want to!"

"I knew it."

She rolled her eyes, but wasn't angry. She just complained, "With such a great girlfriend, I wouldn't want to suffer in the army either..."

(End of this chapter)