Chapter 118

Chapter 118

As the small aircraft approached, the A-grade protective shield that covered the entire Wen City Base was temporarily deactivated, then reactivated after the small aircraft passed through.

The cabin door opened, and Xu Qiao, Meng Li, and Sun Xuan followed Sun Fushan out.

Sun Xuan's main responsibility this time was Xu Qiao's safety, to prevent any psychic users or spiritual entities from suddenly losing control and attacking Xu Qiao while she was treating patients.

Xu Qiao and Meng Li walked side by side, and as soon as they stepped out of the cabin, they both saw a towering figure standing below the aircraft, wearing S-grade battle armor, standing two meters tall, with the true build of a tiger's back and bear's waist.

Even though Dong Mingliang had rarely stayed on campus during his three years at the Military Academy, he was still their principal, and no matter how they looked at him, they felt a sense of familiarity.

Before Xu Qiao's lips could curl into a smile, Dong Mingliang below started laughing, pointing at the two young girls and saying to the accompanying personnel behind him, "Look, these are the outstanding graduates of our Third School. Whether it's the First or the Second School, our Third School is the best when it comes to training students!"

Xu Qiao: "..."

The former outstanding graduate of the Second School, Sun Xuan, walking ahead, added, "Yes, we look forward to the Third School continuing to cultivate more excellent talents whose spiritual entities can be upgraded."

By now, the four major bases generally recognized that the awakening of psychic users with upgradable spiritual entities and the awakening of the first-generation S-grade spiritual entities were purely natural, low-probability events and could not be cultivated postnatally.

Ignoring Sun Xuan's teasing, Dong Mingliang patted each of the three youngsters on the shoulder, pleased, and said, "I heard that all three of you have already been promoted to A-grade. You're all very impressive, and I'm glad you've chosen Wen City Base as your new training ground. Don't worry, the base has taken care of your accommodation and meals. Just focus on your training and don't worry about other things."

"Come on, let's add each other as friends. Feel free to contact me if you need anything in the future."

After saying that, Dong Mingliang took the initiative to open the add friend page.

Xu Qiao was the first to scan the code, and the page displayed Dong Mingliang's nickname: "Big Bear, Super Tough."

Xu Qiao was stunned for a few seconds.

The second to scan the code, Sun Xuan, couldn't hold back and chuckled out loud.

Dong Mingliang didn't mind, glanced at Sun Xuan, and said, "If you call him 'bro,' you can call me 'bro' too. I'm only thirty-eight years old, of the same generation as Sun Xuan. Don't treat me like an old fossil."

Twenty-eight-year-old Sun Xuan: "You're four years younger than our uncle, so you're of the same generation."

Dong Mingliang: "Alright, alright, then you can call me Uncle Dong."

After adding notes for the three youngsters, Dong Mingliang led the way toward the helicopter and said as he walked, "General Lin is at the monitoring center. An upper general must be stationed there, so the base sent me to welcome you."

Xu Qiao: "You and General Lin are being too formal. Only the captain is officially enlisted. Meng Li and I are here more for training. It's already a hassle for the base to arrange lodging..."

Dong Mingliang: "Xiao Qiao, why are you being so distant? You can say that to General Lin, but not to me. We're all from the Third School. Whether you're here for enlistment or training, there's not much difference. When the next beast tide comes, do you think you can hide in the base and watch the excitement?"

If they couldn't withstand the beast tide, the entire base and all its inhabitants would perish. Even the most self-centered psychic users would contribute their strength during the beast tide, though they might join the battle later and fight in safer areas. Based on official observations over the past month, these three weren't the type to hide and watch.

Sun Xuan: "Yes, and each coastal base has specialized construction units. It takes two to three hours to build a fully furnished three-story villa, including the dormitories for the guard troops. Even newly joined recruits can get a two-bedroom unit. Family-sized units are available for those with dependents, so you don't need to worry about that."

Stationed at the coastal base is a long-term mission. Guard troops get two fifteen-day vacations each year and a day off each week.

Guard troops with advanced flying spiritual entities might return to the base during their day off, commuting early and returning late, but those who can't fly have to stay at the base; otherwise, the day off isn't worth the trouble.

To support the mental well-being of the guard troops, families can join them at the coastal base. The base provides free accommodation and meals, and even a school has been specially built, offering long-term education from kindergarten to high school. The children of the guard troops can attend the military academies in the Southeast Base tuition-free.

The group boarded the helicopter one by one.

Dong Mingliang smiled and said, "Let's give you a tour of Wen City Base."

The helicopter slowly ascended, and after reaching a certain height, through the window, Xu Qiao could see the ocean several kilometers away.

The azure blue sea stretched endlessly.

Along the long coastline, a hundred-meter-high vertical protective net soared up, extending endlessly to the north and south.

Dong Mingliang temporarily took on the role of guide, explaining, "This is a D-grade protective net, stretching all the way from the South City Base in the north to here. Higher-grade nets are too costly to maintain and difficult to sustain in the long term. Even if there is a beast tide, the absurd number of sea beasts makes A-grade protective nets not very meaningful. Therefore, the protective net is mainly used for monitoring sea beasts that come ashore during normal times. Wherever a small group of sea beasts appears, the guard troops are dispatched to clean them up."

Xu Qiao nodded. They had already learned about this before coming. During non-beast tide periods, the coastal bases had two mission periods each day, corresponding to the two high tides, when smaller, lower-grade sea beasts were washed ashore, with some higher-grade sea beasts lurking, intending to come ashore to hunt.

Under the influence of the major mutation, aquatic mutated beasts that come ashore quickly evolve limbs and corresponding respiratory organs, gaining terrestrial capabilities. However, this evolution is solely for hunting humans. During non-beast tide periods, most aquatic mutated beasts still prefer to stay in the water.

Sun Fushan checked his wristband and said to the sea, "Quick, the tide is rising."

Today is the ninth day of the lunar calendar, and the tide will rise at 7:15 AM in this area.

On the land side of the protective net, rows of guard troops were already in position. The moment the sea beasts breached the protective net, it would be time for them to engage in battle.

The three newcomers to the coastal base were a little nervous. Dong Mingliang was used to this and smiled, "Come on, let’s start with a tour of the base. After the tour, we’ll head to the monitoring center, where you can get a more comprehensive view."

Wen City Base accommodates 100,000 guard troops and their families. From near to far from the coastline, there are military camps, isolation zones, farming and breeding areas, and residential areas, all interconnected by ground rails and highways for convenient and rapid travel.

After a brief tour, the helicopter landed at the military camp’s monitoring center, which also served as the command center for operations.

Passing through several doors, they reached the actual monitoring center, where a circular monitoring screen filled the room. It covered the entire coastline under the responsibility of Wen City Base and extended an additional 100 kilometers to the south to monitor sea beasts landing from the more southern seas. Sea beasts' crawling speed is far slower than their swimming speed in water, so they prefer to attack coastal bases directly rather than take detours. Monitoring an additional 100 kilometers of land is sufficient.

A straight figure stood directly in front of the circular screen.

Hearing the footsteps, the person turned around. He looked only in his early thirties but was actually over fifty. It was Lin Jingan, the eldest son of Marshal Lin Lie.

Sun Xuan stopped and stood at attention, giving a standard military salute: "Greetings, General."

Influenced by the atmosphere, Xu Qiao and the other two also saluted solemnly.

Lin Jingan exuded military presence and looked quite serious, but facing the three newcomers who had just arrived, he tried to give a friendly smile: "Welcome. The battle is about to begin. Let’s watch together."

His gaze lingered on Meng Li's face for a second before turning back to the circular screen.

To prevent the newcomers from feeling constrained, Dong Mingliang led them a little further away and pointed to a row of black humanoid figures in front of the protective net: "These represent the guard troops. If any part of their body turns red, it means that area has been severely injured. If they turn entirely gray, it means they are dead."

"Each guard troop squad is equipped with two A-grade psychics responsible for rescuing injured guards from the sea beasts and handing them over to the squad’s healers. The healers primarily focus on stopping the bleeding and preserving life. If they have the resources, they can perform complete rehabilitation treatments. If not, they have to wait until the end of the battle to bring the wounded back for concentrated treatment."

He looked at Xu Qiao: "At any coastal base, you won’t lack for wounded to practice on."

Xu Qiao replied seriously, "I’d rather not have these practice opportunities."

Dong Mingliang laughed, "I look forward to that day as well."

As the sea beasts started coming ashore, battles erupted in various locations. Dong Mingliang chose an area with a high concentration of sea beasts and clicked on the screen.

A separate projection appeared on the circular screen, clearly showing the battle scene in that area.

Mutated conch, mutated shrimp and crabs, mutated sea anemones, mutated razor clams, mutated horseshoe crabs...

In the area Dong Mingliang chose, there was an A-grade mutated lobster measuring over five meters in length and an A-grade mutated octopus with tentacles seven to eight meters in length.

The A-grade octopus was engaged in a fierce battle with a senior soldier but suddenly extended a tentacle and snatched a C-grade soldier who had just killed a lower-grade beast. When the A-grade soldier responsible for rescue severed the tentacle and rescued the C-grade soldier, the C-grade soldier’s waist was barely held together by a layer of skin.

Xu Qiao cast his eyes downward.

Meng Li and Sun Fushan turned to Dong Mingliang. "Please arrange for us to join the battle right away."

Dong Mingliang smiled. "So eager?"

Sun Fushan: "No, thank you."

Pleased with the young men's enthusiasm, Dong Mingliang arranged for a deputy soldier to escort the two to the battlefield.

Watching his two teammates leave, Xu Qiao said, "I want to head to the medical center now."

Dong Mingliang nodded. "Alright, you're all doing great."

Sun Xuan accompanied Xu Qiao as they headed out.

Only then did Dong Mingliang approach Lin Jingan, sighing, "Five S-rank candidates have emerged simultaneously. Our base’s future is assured."

Lin Jingan: "Four of the young ones have potential. It remains uncertain whether Chen Min still has a chance to reach S-rank."

Dong Mingliang: "Seventy is not old at all! With some effort, even if she reaches S-rank at eighty, she could still contribute for another forty or fifty years to the base. I’d say even Lin Lao retired prematurely at over ninety. He could have personally restrained Wen Gui for ten years. At that combat level, handling one or two S-rank beasts would be a breeze."

Lin Jingan: ""