On the outskirts of Avent City, a streamlined research vessel was parked atop the roof of a logistics building.
The terrain here was elevated, offering an expansive vantage point looking directly toward the World Tower several kilometers away—an ideal spot to watch the drama unfold.
As the undisputed masters of spectating, the Academy's prospectors had set their sights on this prime real estate the instant they saw it, occupying the building as soon as the battle pushed into the city center.
Right now, beside the research vessel, a prospector clad in an exoskeleton stood behind a tripod-mounted sampler.
The multi-function optical sensor on the sampler was aimed far off at the World Tower, linked to the adjacent vessel by a data conduit as thick as a python.
Around that busy prospector, five more prospectors in exoskeletons stood guard with loaded weapons.
After all, this was an active war zone.
Even if the fighting had drawn near its close, there was no guarantee some unexpected horror wouldn't leap out.
They had to remain vigilant against every potential threat.
Fortunately, no mishaps had occurred while they gathered data.
After playing his final card, Tyr of the Southern Legion had been wiped out by the Alliance, along with the anomalous lifeform that had erupted over the World Tower.
As the victory broadcast blared out, their data collection entered its final phase.
Seeing that their work was nearly done, one prospector eased his grip on his assault rifle, pulled out a pair of binoculars, and peered toward the World Tower.
Observing the dark crimson carcass devoid of any vital signs, he couldn't help smacking his lips and murmuring under his breath,
"Truly twisted..."
He was evidently not the only one thinking along those lines.
The prospectors standing nearby wore similarly complicated expressions, whispering back and forth over the comm channel.
"Is that 'Gaia'?"
"Yeah... probably."
"Tsk, tsk..."
"How did the Southern Legion make that thing? Since when did they get their hands on such astonishing tech?"
"Ghost knows... but I'm inclined to think they didn't have the faintest clue what they actually held in their hands."
"Like the Death Agent?"
"You mean that virus? Haha, counting on amateurish toys like that... they'd have been better off widening their artillery calibers to an even thousand millimeters."
"It's not entirely child's play; there was some real sophistication behind it. The same goes for this 'Gaia'... We might have underestimated these lunatics."
Most organisms in nature were mere atoms operating within the laws of nature, but "Gaia" was different—its very existence was the law of nature.
Unlike the "Gestalt Lifeform" envisioned by the academia of the Era of Prosperity, the existence of "Gaia" was regarded by scholars as an "amorphous lifeform."
Or to put it more precisely, a "lifeform dictated entirely by consciousness."
For instance, that unspeakable, hyper-aggressive mass of tentacles had materialized Tyr's psychic realm in the form of a carbon-based organism based on similar technological principles.
This might sound unbelievable, but that was precisely what occurred on the planet Gaia.
That entire world was the materialization of "Its" psychic domain.
The Alliance's research institutes had proposed a series of conjectures regarding the origins of the Gaia civilization from a sociological perspective, but those largely remained mere speculation.
The Academy's research, on the other hand, leaned much more into the technical side, uniformly classifying such phenomena as "Para-Gaia lifeforms."
The broodmother-like entity that had emerged on the World Tower was, in truth, a variety of Para-Gaia lifeform... It was just that its power was far too puny; it hadn't even managed to swallow a single settlement before the Alliance snuffed it out.
Even so, despite being crushed, it had still caught the eye of the Academy's upper echelon.
After all, even within the Academy, that belonged to a cutting-edge field of research; there was no reason for it to crop up in the wasteland...
Listening to his squadmates chatter, Song Changfeng, standing behind the tripod, didn't say a word. He merely kept his eyes glued to his tablet, meticulously reporting the front-line situation to the superiors waiting in the rear.
Operating here was the Academy's Beacon Squad, and he was its captain.
Unlike the "Alpha" Mobile Task Force, the Beacon Squad consisted entirely of registered Academy prospectors or androids, primarily engaged in investigative work rather than assault or defense.
Incidentally, their former captain had been Zheng Hao, while Song Changfeng had only been the vice captain.
However, that fellow had been promoted and transferred to the Investigation Department's Containment Project Team as an orderly officer.
In the prospectors' slang, he had "made it ashore."
All things considered, compared to other life-risking assignments, the Beacon Squad was a job with decent prospects.
Not only did they have opportunities to make an impression before senior researchers, but they could also accumulate scientific credentials during missions and gain access to high-level intel they wouldn't otherwise touch in a lifetime.
The Academy differed from other places: the more you knew, the safer you were.
Of course, that was provided you acquired the knowledge through sanctioned channels.
Whenever he remembered he was approaching thirty, an involuntary sense of urgency crept into Song Changfeng's chest.
He had no interest in Gaia or whatever nonsense; he only knew that he had to transition from a prospector to a researcher before turning thirty.
There had always been an unwritten rule—or rather, a pattern—within the Academy.
Namely, if someone remained a prospector past the age of thirty, their prospects in life were essentially finished.
Over the past century and a half, there had been no exceptions to this; most researchers demonstrated superhuman genius at an exceptionally young age.
For example, Jiang Xuezhou, once on his squad, had become a Grade-E researcher in his teens.
He didn't envy those gifted geniuses, nor did he dream of climbing to some exalted rank. He simply wanted to haul himself "ashore" like their old captain, Zheng Hao.
If he could make researcher before thirty, he could still fight his way up.
Even a mere Grade-E researcher enjoyed a status far higher than that of a prospector...
"The suspected Gaia lifeform has been eliminated by Alliance forces..."
"Yes, vital activity across the exterior of the tower has essentially ceased... We cannot yet confirm the methods employed, but the subject's vital signs and several telemetry readings have been overwritten with new parameters..."
"Understood... We'll pack up here and return immediately."
Terminating the connection, Song Changfeng took a deep breath and waved to the squadmates around him.
"Data collection complete. Pack it up, we're done."
Though he couldn't guess his superior's true thoughts, judging from the tone on the other end of the line, the higher-up seemed fairly satisfied with their work.
Perhaps...
promotion was within reach?
"Copy that!"
Hearing the boss call it a day, the squad finally let their guard down. Acknowledging the order, they headed toward the open hatch of the research ship.
Compared to their previous assignments, this mission was practically a vacation perk.
Riding in the boss's research vessel to watch a blockbuster war spectacle, snapping a few photos and capturing charts before packing up to go home—a sweet deal like this didn't come around even once a year.
Yet just as that thought crossed everyone's minds, a ripple suddenly disturbed the tranquil, still air.
*Bzzzt—*
Moving at a speed too blinding to react to, a prospector in an exoskeleton was blasted off his feet as if struck by a freight train.
Ballistic plating shattered into a hail of fragments, tumbling over the edge and hurtling down the building alongside his ragdoll body.
Spotting the electromagnetic ripple that suddenly spiked on the radar, alarm bells screamed in Song Changfeng's mind by the hatch, and he bellowed at the top of his lungs:
"Sniper! Railgun rifle! Three o'clock!"
They needed no reminder. Reacting by pure reflex, the team scrambled behind the far side of the research vessel before a second slug could arrive.
Without a second's hesitation, Song Changfeng remotely activated the ship's deflector shield.
Almost at the exact same instant, the second kinetic slug slammed into the rooftop barely ten meters away, blasting the concrete apart and exposing the rebar beneath!
Fortunately, the deflector shield had nudged the round off course.
If that had struck a person, the outcome would have been unthinkable!
Staring at the horrific crater, Song Changfeng felt his heart pounding frantically against his ribs.
Who the hell was out there?!
No—
Now wasn't the time to wonder.
Looking at his men pinned down outside the hull, he yelled at the top of his lungs:
"Get inside, now!"
Seeing the deflector shield flare to life, the four prospectors outside dashed straight through the hatch.
Three more booming cracks echoed from afar, but aside from kicking up showers of concrete chips, they caused no harm.
Seeing that all of his men were aboard, Song Changfeng immediately sealed the hatch.
The hatch slammed shut with a heavy thud!
Looking at the locked hatch and the shield capacitor operating at full capacity, his racing pulse finally began to settle.
Safe...
As the anti-gravity system engaged and the plasma thrusters flared, the deflector-shielded research ship lifted into the sky.
The men slumped to the deck, flipping up their faceplates, looks of lingering panic etched across their faces.
"Fuck..."
"What the hell was that?!"
"Xiao Wang, he..."
"Dammit!"
Thinking of the unfortunate kid who had just perished, Song Changfeng felt an ache in his chest.
Though they hadn't worked together long, that Wang kid had left a good impression on him; who would have thought his end would come so abruptly and brutally...
However, now was not the time for grief. As captain, he had more pressing duties to attend to...
Tapping his index finger against his neck, Song Changfeng patched into the vessel's communications module and reported in a grave tone:
"...This is Beacon Squad... We've been ambushed."
"We can't confirm how they located us. But it's almost like... like they knew exactly where we were."
Static hissed through the comm channel, dead silent as though the line were broken.
Song Changfeng hesitated, glancing over to verify the connection indicator; it displayed full green without the slightest irregularity.
What was going on?
Just as confusion seized him, an icy chill suddenly punched through his back and erupted from his chest.
He watched in disbelief as the tip of a dagger burst from his breastplate, even as the four familiar faces before him warped from shock to sheer terror.
*Cough—*
Song Changfeng tried to speak, but only coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then darkness fragmented across his vision, and by the time awareness flickered back, he was already crumpled on the blood-soaked alloy floor.
A stranger clad in an exoskeleton stood in the center of the airlock chamber. A dull silver helmet and pitch-black visor concealed their face, blood dripping bead by bead from the dagger onto the deck.
As for his four squadmates, every one of them lay motionless on the bloody floor, just like him.
Song Changfeng had no idea how the intruder had pulled it off; he only knew that within a single instant, the killer had wiped out all five of them.
Optical camouflage...
No, not just optical camouflage!
The realization hit him like a bolt: that electromagnetic ripple on the radar earlier!
The sniper firing at them hadn't been aiming to pick them off; it had been covering fire for an infiltrator to board...
"You... bastard... what kind of monster are you..."
Song Changfeng strained to reach out, trying to grab the intruder's leg.
As though hearing him, the figure turned to face him.
Without the faintest warning, the blood-dripping blade and the boots pointed toward him vanished from his field of view in a split second.
By the time Song Changfeng registered it, a faint swish had already sliced past the back of his neck.
*Squelch—*
There was no pain.
Song Changfeng merely felt his vision tumble forward, and then his consciousness plunged headlong into an abyss without bottom...
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of kilometers away in the Wandering Marsh, within the Investigation Department's Containment Project Team.
In an operations command center spanning two hundred square meters, dozens of eyes stared fixated at the six severed signals on the holographic display, drowning the room in dead silence.
Standing beneath the holographic screen, a man with a face as grim as still water showed an unpredictable countenance that left his thoughts completely inscrutable.
Just then, a Grade-B researcher approached him tremblingly and reported in a hushed whisper:
"No signal..."
The man's face darkened even further.
Losing a research vessel was a colossal matter under any circumstances, particularly when it vanished under such suspicious conditions.
The Chief Technology Officer would certainly look into it.
Even as the Chief of the Investigation Department, he wouldn't be able to brush this off easily.
After an agonizing silence, the man finally let out a resigned sigh and closed his eyes.
"...It seems we have no choice but to call upon our allies."
The Alliance loved tearing things apart.
A research vessel wasn't some all-terrain exploration vehicle; it was a craft capable of rocketing straight to the moon if someone slammed on the gas.
Unless driven to absolute desperation, he truly didn't want to ask those blue mole rats for help...
...
Human sorrows and joys do not align.
At this very moment, the entire Alliance military remained bathed in the euphoric glow of triumph, utterly oblivious to the vexing crisis that had just befallen their ally.
At the entrance of the refugee intake shelter.
A beaming In Debt God carried a burlap sack over his shoulder, handing out candies to every cute little girl he could catch.
In truth, he had originally brought two sacks.
But on his way over, a few scoundrels had mugged him, leaving him with only one.
Watching those little Klee-lookalikes happily nibbling on chocolate, his heart swelled with an unspeakable satisfaction, feeling as though he were melting along with the sweets.
Wasn't this way more fun than feeding pigeons at Port French Fries?!
"Ew—is that guy a total creep or what?" [Hungry Forces] made a thoroughly conflicted face.
Standing beside her, [Bow to Hungry Forces] tugged at her sleeve.
"Don't worry about him, that's Dayan."
"Ohh, that's Dayan..." [Hungry Forces] nodded in sudden understanding, adopting a look of 'never mind then,' but quickly turned a suspicious gaze onto her boyfriend. "Wait, why do you sound so familiar with him? You guys hang out a lot?"
Cold sweat instantly broke out over [Bow to Hungry Forces]. Waving his hands hurriedly, he rushed to clear his name:
"I—I... Who needs to know him personally? Anyone with an account on the forums knows who he is!"
Noticing the lingering suspicion in his girlfriend's eyes, he placed both hands on her shoulders and gently ushered her away.
"Let's go, let's go, we need to turn in our mission. Ignore the guy. He might not have any shame, but he still has lines he won't cross."
And that was indeed the truth.
Though suspicious glares were directed at him, no one made a fuss since he took no further actions and did nothing else out of line.
As for what others thought, Dayan had long stopped caring.
Let those bastards say whatever they liked. His reputation was already a case of 'too many fleas to itch, too much debt to worry.'
Compared to players with their ten thousand scheming angles, he genuinely preferred hanging around NPCs.
"...Eat up, don't be shy! Your Uncle Dayan has plenty, plenty more right here."
Looking at those little faces glistening with hope, Dayan wished he could convert every silver coin in his pockets into chocolate and shower it upon them.
A skinny little girl looked up at him, her sparkling eyes twinkling like little stars.
"Uncle Dayan... are... are you Santa Claus?"
She didn't even know what the words meant; she had merely overheard other vault dwellers describing him that way.
In Debt God smiled warmly and was just about to tell her not to listen to the other blue mole rats' nonsense—that he always walked through the front door fair and square and never crawled down chimneys.
Just then, however, a mocking voice chimed in from behind him.
"Santa Claus? No, no, no—where we're from, that's usually called a simp."
The little girl paused, tilting her head as she softly repeated the words:
"Tian gou?"
Seeing that she pronounced it quite accurately, Construction Site Boy and Bricks' eyes lit up, and he beamed as he rewarded her with a lollipop.
"That's right, exactly how you say it!"
Without giving Dayan any time to react, the little girl turned joyfully back to him, parroting the newly acquired 'vault slang':
"Uncle Dayan is a simp!"
That radiant, innocent expression was so brilliant, and paired with those ear-piercing words, it landed like an absolute critical strike, piercing straight into the unspeakable agony deep in Dayan's soul.
Pain!
Too much pain!
"Hahahaha, holy shit!"
Construction Site Boy and Bricks let out a laugh like a dying pig. In humiliated fury, Dayan flew forward with a kick, planting his boot squarely into the former's backside.
"Get the fuck out of here!"
Seeing that murder was in the air, the construction boy had a sudden burst of wit and darted away in a panic.
"Holy fuck! Brother Eye, I was wrong! I apologize! I'll—I'll kowtow to you right now!"
"Die for me, you bastard!!!"
Tossing aside his chocolates, Dayan charged after the construction boy in hot pursuit, wishing he could stab this son of a bitch straight back to the respawn pool.
The two of them dashed around the camp twice without slowing down, though an Intelligence-type's stamina was ultimately a bit lacking.
Watching the two make an unending scene, Drum Washing Machine yelled between breathless fits of laughter:
"Stop fighting already!"
Watching the commotion at the camp entrance, Laplace couldn't help letting a faint smile touch his lips.
To be honest, it felt like an eternity since they had enjoyed such carefree, relaxing days.
For a fleeting second, he felt as though he were back in the Dawn City of long, long ago.
Just then, Brother Edge, commander of the Death Corps, walked in from outside the camp and finally managed to pin down the two clowns.
"We've got a mission. Command says a researcher died to the north—er, prospector, I think... Anyway, someone from the Academy. Same difference."
Construction Site Boy and Bricks looked up, dumbfounded.
"Academy folks? Were they even here?"
Drum Washing Machine scratched the back of his head in equal bewilderment.
"Didn't see hide nor hair of them while we were fighting. How come they pop up right after it's over?"
Brother Edge gave a light laugh.
"When have those guys ever sat on their hands? Regardless, someone making sneaky moves on our turf is a hazard. Who wants to come take a look with me?"
The construction boy and Dayan raised their hands at the exact same time.
Brother Edge snapped his fingers.
"All right. Grab your gear and follow me."
Chapter 968