Where Did the Airships Go

And so, Stream Vanguard's main force of seven thousand departed nearly three hours ahead of schedule. About half an hour later, reporters captured on camera the source energy airships lifting off. Three airships of varying sizes carried around a hundred people in all, including Han Qingyu, Wu Xu, Theodore, Rusty Sister, the Little Prince... virtually the entirety of Stream Vanguard's core combat power. Once airborne, the airships headed south and soon disappeared above the clouds. "Since they set out together, Major Qing and the others should arrive much earlier than the fleet, right?" "Naturally. It's the same across all of our Azure front armies. Elite vanguard units travel by airship and reach Antarctica days in advance. On one hand, they conduct close-range reconnaissance; on the other, they push to carve out relatively secure zone battlefields." "Relatively secure? What for?" "To give those six hundred thousand recruits their first taste of facing a Great Spike attack in their lives, killing a Great Spike for the first time, or being killed." The Azure officials who had come to deliver supplies concluded their quiet discussion and strode toward the cafeteria... They would stay for lunch, alongside the visiting reporters. ... Stream Vanguard Base, Chinese cafeteria. "So war correspondents don't actually depart with the troops? Is that how it works?" Yao Yue chewed her plain white rice listlessly, murmuring the question. "Depends on who you are!" A Huaxia senior colleague at the same table looked up with a smile and said, "If you're an ace war correspondent who's battle-hardened and deeply trusted like Ashleia and Ian, no one's going to stop you from heading to whatever battlefield you want, whenever you want." "I see." Yao Yue nodded gratefully in understanding. Naturally, she knew about Ashleia and Ian. In today's press circles, there was nobody who hadn't heard of this super duo. Over the years, while recording legends on the battlefield, they had also left behind stories worthy of becoming legends themselves. "Then..." Yao Yue was just about to ask further. "So are the two of them a couple or not?!" Lin Ya suddenly looked up beside her, her lips glossy with grease and her eyes gleaming with excitement as she chimed in. "That, I wouldn't know," the senior colleague said with a wry smile. "Not even a single clue? Didn't you notice anything when covering stories with them, Senior?" Lin Ya forced down the mouthful of meat and continued, "I heard some people say they've actually been together all along, while others say Mr. Ian clearly likes Miss Ashleia, but Miss Ashleia doesn't seem interested. And some say it's because she's personally filmed too much footage of a certain legendary figure and unknowingly fallen so deep that it's hard for her to ever love another man..." "Is that so?" Driven perhaps by a journalist's instinct, the senior colleague's gossip radar was finally piqued. He discussed it earnestly with Lin Ya. "First off, I can tell you one thing: Miss Ashleia definitely had zero romantic interest in that legend of yours later on." "Why?" "Because they had far too much contact with each other. Believe me, from what I've seen over these past few years, very few girls can interact directly with that man more than three times and still love him." This was why the senior colleague and Lin Ya referred to Han Qingyu as "that man"—whenever reporters talked about him, they could hardly refrain from speaking ill of him, and this place, after all, was his turf. "Then what about Mr. Ian...?" Lin Ya continued. "From my observation, Ian genuinely likes Miss Ashleia. It's just that he chooses companionship and never expresses it," the senior colleague said. "Why? If you like someone, go for—ouch!" Lin Ya gasped in pain. Yao Yue had secretly pinched her, because without realizing it, Lin Ya's voice had grown loud enough for the entire room to hear, even drawing the attention of the Stream Vanguard soldiers left on guard duty. Having reined in Lin Ya, Yao Yue glanced apologetically at their senior and returned to the earlier topic: "So when will people like us be able to go to Antarctica?" Yao Yue meant newcomers like Lin Ya and herself. "Not just you—it's the same for all of us, actually." The senior gestured around with his head to indicate that every reporter present was in the same boat, then said, "We have to wait at least until the Antarctic Peninsula is cleared." "A peninsula? Antarctica has a peninsula?" the college student Lin Ya asked in confusion. "It does." As he spoke, the senior took a specially made Azure map of the Antarctic battlefield from his bag and spread it out on the table. Because of the color scheme, this top-down view made the entirety of Antarctica resemble the right profile of a human head with an afro and a mask. It was just that the neck sat slightly farther back. The neck was the Antarctic Peninsula. And roughly where the ear would be, the map had a glaring crimson asterisk. "Right here," the senior said, "is the location of the Great Spikes' super traction field!" ... Several days later, the Antarctic Peninsula. The Azure advance elite forces had already constructed a defensive line across the uppermost part of the peninsula three days prior to cut off the battlefield, and the main forces arriving by ship had begun reaching the Antarctic Peninsula in succession over the past two days. "Look... a fleet!" The soldiers resting along the coast spotted another fleet approaching from afar, led by an icebreaker. The fleet was not particularly large, yet someone still shouted aloud. "It's just a fleet, what the hell are you shouting about?!" The officer in charge of landing guidance calmly cupped his cigarette against the wind, annoyed by the recruits' jumpiness. "But that looks like Stream Vanguard's fleet," the recruit explained. "Really?!" The officer quickly tossed his cigarette aside and stood up in excitement. Over the past few days, the front lines had almost thought they had backed out. The reason was not that Stream Vanguard's sea fleet had been delayed on the way, but that the three airships, which by all rights should have arrived long ago, had never shown up in Antarctica. Stream Vanguard's core combat power and leadership team had gone missing. Azure not only couldn't find them, but couldn't get in touch with them at all. Now, although the airships still hadn't appeared, at least their fleet had arrived. Good news. The officer eagerly opened his comms on the spot, preparing to report up the chain of command... Just then, a commotion broke out around him. "Did you hear?" "Did you hear?" "What?! Hear what?" "In the early hours of yesterday morning, Stream Vanguard's core combat power raided the headquarters of Innocent Purgatory! It took about half an hour to completely annihilate Innocent Purgatory's leadership and backbone, virtually flattening the place." "..." The entire crowd froze for a moment. Because no one could have anticipated that while the entire world was on an expedition south, after Stream Vanguard held its send-off ceremony and launched its airships... their first objective was not Antarctica at all, but the headquarters of Innocent Purgatory from the Cleansing Faction. Innocent Purgatory certainly hadn't expected it either—which was why they had been wiped out. "A while ago I heard that Innocent Purgatory seemed to have risen again over the past two years, and Azure had never been able to locate their headquarters... and yet out of nowhere, Stream Vanguard just wiped them out." "Yeah. Thinking about it, it's probably related to that Zhe Shouzhao who died under Rusty Sister's Dimple Slash recently..." "He was with Innocent Purgatory?" "Mm. At least, that's what's being whispered around." "...No wonder, then!" No wonder Stream Vanguard went after their stronghold! That bunch had always been the type to avenge every grievance—repaying it several times over and thoroughly stamping it out! "They were practically asking for death." "Exactly. What kind of style Stream Vanguard has and how petty that guy's temper is—who in the entire source energy world doesn't know?! When he threw caution to the winds just to hack down a first-generation Starlight back then, everyone should have known." "Maybe because they thought they were well hidden... By the way, how did Stream Vanguard manage to find Innocent Purgatory's lair? Didn't they say even Azure couldn't track it down?" "...No idea."