I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

At the warehouse entrance, the unconscious middle-aged man they had just rescued was struggling to support himself by holding onto the door frame. The loud shout that had alerted Xu Hongtu to the trap had come from this man.

A few minutes later, inside the warehouse, the group found a chair and helped the middle-aged man sit down slowly. The man had just woken up from his coma and was not in good spirits; he was still having some difficulty breathing.

Xu Hongtu looked at the other person and said, "Brother, thank you for saving me just now."

The middle-aged man waved his hand.

"No need for thanks, cough cough... We were tricked by the female voice coming from that monster, thinking someone was calling for help outside, so we opened the door. Turns out the factory manager... sigh..."

The other directors in the factory asked in shock, "Old Liang, is the factory manager really...?"

Old Liang nodded, his face deathly pale, whether from recalling the factory director's death or from lingering headaches.

"I saw the factory manager being killed by that monster... The factory manager's body is still outside, but it's probably not intact. I suggest you don't go out to look."

The directors remained silent, their faces turning pale.

Xu Hongtu gave Wu San and another soldier a wink, and the two immediately understood and went out to deal with the corpses at the warehouse entrance.

"Comrades."

Xu Hongtu clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention in the warehouse.

"We still need to continue hunting down any other monsters that may have infiltrated the city, so we'll check in a bit to see if there are any other monsters around the factory. Once we've confirmed that the area is safe, we'll leave immediately. After we leave, everyone must remember to keep the warehouse doors tightly closed and do not open them if there is any suspicious activity. Just wait patiently for rescue."

After speaking, Xu Hongtu nodded politely to everyone, walked to the side, and turned on his communication device to report the situation to the command post.

......

In Qindao City, Chennan District, the coastal defense line, including the B-8-8 area where a breach had occurred, has been largely recaptured under the cover of artillery fire from the rear.

Inside the defense command post, the information integration personnel were also urgently reviewing the images of the monsters that had previously breached the defense. They were using electronic devices and documents to conduct a dual comparison using both human and AI intelligence to determine the information of the monsters that had breached the defense.

"Report: Information on the monsters that breached the defenses has been confirmed."

Regiment Commander Jin Congrong strode over.

"Is everything confirmed? How many are there in total?"

"A total of nine monsters broke through the defense line: two Hilichurls, one Giant Hilichurl, four baby Rock Dragapults, and two Waffle Lizards. The squads of the 3rd Platoon of the 7th Company, which were on the pursuit mission, have reported that they have already killed eight monsters."

Jin Congrong nodded slightly.

"The teams responsible for the pursuit are all carrying elemental bullets, so dealing with these monsters shouldn't be a problem. What's the one we haven't found yet?"

"There's also a giant 'little flower'."

"Giant deception flower?"

Jin Congrong sounded somewhat surprised.

"Retrieve the video screenshots of those two people who were scamming people out of money."

The informant quickly retrieved the footage.

Looking at the poplar-sized scam flower on the screen, Jin Congrong's brows gradually furrowed.

This wasn't the first time the garrison had seen these Flower Guardians, which were much larger than normal Flower Guardians and seemed to have mutated.

These days, it has appeared on the defensive line many times. Its size and destructive power, which are much larger than ordinary sly flowers, have put a lot of pressure on the garrison's defense. However, none of the mutated sly flowers that have appeared on the defensive line so far have been as big as this one, which has grown to the size of a poplar tree.

Jin Congrong squinted and said, "Is this giant deceptive flower the one we haven't found yet?"

The informant was taken aback.

"Captain, it's not this one..."

As he spoke, the informant pressed the "X" button in the upper right corner of the screenshot, revealing a screenshot of a scam involving flowers.

Looking at this deceptive flower, Jin Congrong's pupils suddenly contracted.

This screenshot captures images of two Spellflowers at the same time. The first Spellflower, standing next to the second one, looks like a three-year-old child standing next to an adult!

"The one that hasn't been discovered yet... is this one."

Chapter 414 Take Me Home

Outside the warehouse, Wu San and another soldier from the Eighth Platoon, Xiao Bai, carried the factory director's mangled body to a rain shelter where electric bikes and bicycles were parked not far to the west. They then found a piece of white canvas nearby to cover it up.

After doing all this, the two sat down in front of the rain shelter.

Wu San sighed.

"Ugh, these damn monsters, poor big brother... Hmm? Little White, what are you doing?"

Wu San turned his head and saw that Xiao Bai had stuck two straws into the cracks in the bricks in front of the corpse covered by the canvas.

“In my hometown, when someone dies, we burn incense to guide their soul. The elders say that the incense can lead the deceased to the Pure Land.”

Wu San laughed and said, "I never thought you were so superstitious, you don't talk much usually."

"It's not exactly superstition, just a way for our hometown to offer a final blessing to the deceased. We hope this factory manager is doing well in another world..."

At this point, Wu San suddenly noticed that Xiao Bai's expression froze. A gaping hole the size of a bowl had appeared in his chest, and the next second, blood gushed from his mouth and nose...

......

"Reporting to the commander, we couldn't find it."

Inside the coastal defense command post in Chengnan District, Qindao City, Jin Congrong wore an expression of disbelief.

"Are you sure nothing has been missed?"

The staff member shook his head and said, "We've checked all the cameras in the possible areas along the route, but we haven't found any trace of that giant 'little flower'."

"how is this possible?"

Jin Congrong frowned: "This thing is almost three stories tall. How could such a huge creature move around the city streets without leaving any trace?"

At that moment, a communications officer on the other side raised his hand.

"Captain, I used to own a chameleon. Chameleons change their color when hunting to blend into their environment as much as possible. Could this giant liar be...?"

Jin Congrong's expression changed.

The clown flower is a monster that disguises itself as other animals or plants to lure prey. It uses the same hunting method as the chameleons on Earth. In addition, the one they are currently hunting is a mutated clown flower, which may have disguised itself to achieve invisibility.

"Immediately notify all pursuit teams!"

......

"Beep beep."

The communication request notification sounded, and Xu Hongtu took the communicator off his shoulder and connected the call.

"This is Class 8..."

As he listened, Xu Hongtu frowned.

"Yes, I understand."

After hanging up the call, Li Xiaoliang leaned over and asked curiously, "Squad leader, is there a new order?"

Xu Hongtu said, "There is still a mutated 'Flirtatious Flower' on the run. This escaped 'Flirtatious Flower' may have the ability to blend into its surroundings to achieve visual cloaking. Notify everyone to equip themselves with thermal detection devices."

"it is good."

Li Xiaoliang nodded, took out a thermal imaging device from his waist bag, and attached it to the side of the weapon's optical sight.

"Are Lao Wu and Xiao Bai still outside? They...?"

Halfway through their conversation, an explosion came from outside the warehouse door, startling everyone inside.

Xu Hongtu's expression changed.

"That's the sound of a ray-type grenade exploding!"

After saying that, Xu Hongtu immediately rushed out of the warehouse, and the other six soldiers of the Eighth Platoon followed him out as well.

At this moment, in front of the rain shelter on the west side of the warehouse, Wu San lay on the ground, his legs covered in blood, struggling to stand up.

"Old Wu!"

"Brother Wu!"

Everyone was startled and rushed forward.

"Old Wu, what happened?"

Wu San's eyes were bloodshot: "We've been attacked! There's an invisible monster!"

Li Xiaoliang and several soldiers immediately raised their weapons.

Xu Hongtu pressed on, "Old Wu, where's Xiaobai?"

"I don't know what part of the monster injured my leg, but Xiaobai used his last breath to detonate a grenade to save me. I was thrown out by the blast, and Xiaobai... he..."

Everyone's gaze turned to the distant rain shelter, which was now stained red with blood. The walls and ground were riddled with craters left by shrapnel from grenades. Xiaobai lay silently in the pool of blood, lifeless.

Xu Hongtu slammed his fist on the cement ground, his chest filled with rage.

"You damned, bloodthirsty demons, I curse your ancestors!"

A profound sense of grief and anger enveloped the students of Class 8.

The moment they decided to enlist, everyone was prepared to die on the battlefield for the people they were protecting.

During breaks from training, they would joke with each other that if they died on the battlefield, their comrades would send their ashes back to their hometowns.

But when that moment truly arrives, and you see your closest comrade-in-arms, with whom you've spent every day, fall before your eyes, you realize just how painful that feeling is.

Xu Hongtu's eyes were already red and moist. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Be on guard around, that monster might not be dead yet! Xiao Liang, you come with me immediately and carry Lao Wu to a safe place."

As he spoke, Xu Hongtu stood up.

However, at that moment, Li Xiaoliang inadvertently glanced at the thermal detection device mounted on the weapon and saw several needle-like objects emitting red heat rapidly approaching Xu Hongtu from behind.

"Squad leader, watch out behind you!"

Xu Hongtu turned around in a daze, and the next second he was hit by a huge force and flew sideways.

After rolling twice on the ground, Xu Hongtu raised his head, only to be stunned by what he saw.

Li Xiaoliang stood where he had just been standing, his body still in the position that had just knocked him aside, with three or four thick, sharp, almost transparent objects piercing his chest from behind, stained red with blood.