Chapter 47

Chapter 47

The 21st District is located at the southernmost part of the Dream Domain, closest to the Vanguard Legion in the entire Dream Domain galaxy. However, the climate here is harsh, the land is vast and barren, and it is perpetually surrounded by sandstorms, making it unsuitable for human, animal, or plant habitation. Consequently, it was later claimed by some Zerg.

It wasn’t until ten years ago, when Ling Pei took over the Vanguard Legion and led multiple fleet cleanups here, that the traces of Zerg gradually disappeared.

As a vast and terrifying species, no one truly knows where the Zerg’s main base is. The universe is vast and boundless, making it as difficult as reaching the heavens to find the Zerg’s nest. The empire can only continuously capture Zerg, interrogate, coerce, study, dissect… using various methods to explore their origins.

But even now, the chances remain slim.

“The first beacon point is here.”

Ling Pei suddenly stopped and pointed not far away. In the vast sand mist, a yellow light could be seen flashing regularly.

Two team members went to replace the beacon, while the others stayed around to guard.

Because of the rope, Yi Ye was forced to stay within one and a half meters of Ling Pei. Kaiser was extremely dissatisfied with this, his golden eyes tightly fixed on the buckle on Yi Ye’s waist.

Yi Ye pressed the buckle, feeling as if he was being watched by a hunter, and asked warily, “Young Master, what are you going to do?”

“What am I going to do?” Kaiser sneered, “Is it comfortable for you to hang a rope on your body?”

He found it extremely annoying, especially since the rope was so short that a slight tug could easily send Yi Ye, with his small frame, directly into Ling Pei’s arms. Yet, Yi Ye was so trusting, treating everyone like a good brother, holding hands and leaning on shoulders. But did he not understand that when Alphas lose control, they don’t care whether it’s an Omega or a Beta?

“Uncomfortable, but safe.”

Kaiser scoffed.

“Safe, my ass.”

“You’re acting a bit strange today.”

He thought Kaiser must hold a grudge against Ling Pei because of the beating he took at their first meeting. Glancing behind him, he lowered his voice, “Young Master, even if you don’t like him, put up with it. Your final exam grades still depend on his scoring. Don’t you want good grades?”

Kaiser: “…Do you think I said that just to be number one?”

“Isn’t it?”

“How stupid.”

Kaiser cursed himself in his heart.

In the end, it’s just a rope, so why get so angry? Kaiser was annoyed by his own inexplicable frustration, his face tense as he stared intently at Yi Ye’s face. After a while, he turned back to the old squad leader’s side in resignation, deliberately turning his back to Yi Ye, lost in thought.

Yi Ye: …This guy is up to his old tricks again.

He turned back helplessly, meeting Ling Pei’s dark eyes.

“Oh, General, did you catch all that?”

Ling Pei was silent for a few seconds, then said, “You two seem to get along well.”

“Same dorm, same team, so I guess it’s okay.”

Yi Ye pondered, thinking that aside from the “protagonist” role, Kaiser could be a good companion, but he wasn’t sure if Kaiser felt the same.

“That’s rare. The Audelia family seldom acknowledges others.”

Was Ling Pei referring to Moxi Audelia? Yi Ye grew curious, “General, may I ask, who is stronger between you and Commander Moxi?”

Ling Pei sat upright and said seriously, "I'm not sure. I have never dueled with Commander Moses, nor is there such a necessity. He is twenty years older than me, a senior, and there's no point in challenging him."

His tone was calm, but Yi Ye sensed a confident arrogance, as if the subtext was saying that if such a necessity existed, he wouldn't lose.

Yi Ye sat on a rock beside Ling Pei, one leg crossed over the other, propping his chin with his hand, his gaze sweeping toward Kaiser in the distance: "But do you know that his son is determined to defeat you?"

Ling Pei: "He's competent enough; I can take on the challenge."

The underlying message was that Kaiser wasn't up to par.

Yi Ye continued to ask: "In terms of strength or experience?"

"Both."

Ling Pei turned his head, "Apart from his 3S-Level Talent, what else is outstanding about him now?"

Yi Ye thought Ling Pei's words were too harsh. Fortunately, Kaiser didn't hear them, or he would definitely have fought with him. As Kaiser's friend, he tried to smooth things over: "He's just a rookie at the military academy, after all. I'm worse than Kaiser; I don't even have 3S-Level Talent."

Ling Pei looked at him but didn't respond.

He had seen Yi Ye's combat footage. Such skill and proficiency didn't seem like that of a new cadet, or even an ordinary soldier. But whether it was due to extraordinary talent or something else, Ling Pei didn't know. He was certain of one thing: if this was truly the ability of a Beta, and it hadn't yet reached its limit, then he would inevitably become a miracle in the future.

But every coin has two sides.

Such prowess isn't always a blessing.

While they were talking, the two technicians responsible for installing and repairing the beacons had already returned to the ground via the ladder. There were still seven locations left, but since the next few beacons were more scattered and the distance between them was time-consuming, someone proposed dividing into teams to tackle the tasks.

Everyone turned their gaze to Ling Pei, who was making the final decision. He tapped away at his terminal screen, and no one could see what was displayed on it.

The nine-member team was divided into three groups. Yi Ye, Ling Pei, and another soldier formed one group. The other two groups were responsible for two beacons each, and the last three were to be handled by their group.

Kaiser's expression wasn't great before he left. He glanced at Yi Ye several times, but Yi Ye was busy organizing the food in his backpack at the time and didn't have the chance to wave at him.

He lugged a backpack stuffed with biscuits and water, but the capacity was limited, only enough for two people to stay here for three days. Now that the group had three people, he looked around and didn't think Ling Pei and the other soldier were the type to hoard food, so he felt a surge of responsibility.

It seemed that this arduous task would have to fall on him!

Yi Ye carefully portioned out the food into three equal shares.

He told Ling Pei that they needed to keep accounts before eating because the food was all prepared by himself (though it didn't cost anything, as it was all taken from the cafeteria). But preparing supplies also consumed energy, so the money couldn't be short. Ling Pei nodded without a hint of emotion and transferred three thousand star credits to his account.

With his hair tousled, Yi Ye grinned as he packed a third of the food into Ling Pei's bag, then went to extort the other soldier in the same manner.

The soldier winced in discomfort. Who would have thought that going out on a mission would cost money! But since the General had agreed, he couldn't refuse and had to nod reluctantly.

"Just hand over 400 star credits, shh, and keep it from the General, and I'll give you two candies as a bonus." Yi Ye dug out two lemon candies from the bottom and handed them to him, tilting his head: "The General doesn't have any, so don't tell him."

The soldier solemnly accepted the candies with both hands.

He felt as though he'd been touched by a ray of sunshine and wiped the sweat from his face, moved: "I'll send the star credits your way the moment I'm back!"

Yi Ye: Hehe.

The locations of the three beacons under their charge were all in the southeastern part of District 21, with a straight-line distance of 50 kilometers. Even marching non-stop, it'd take them 10 hours to get there, not to mention the harsh environmental climate of District 21.

It was already half a day later when Yi Ye and his team neared the beacon site.

From hundreds of meters away, Yi Ye saw the yellow light symbolizing the beacon. They climbed the iron ladder on the tower's body to the top. This tower was in worse shape than the last beacon tower they'd seen. The body had already begun to tilt, and rocks kept falling during the climb. Most of the top railings were shattered, dangling dangerously over the edge.

Ling Pei crouched down, opened the floor panel, and pulled out the black box stored inside. Inside the black box lay the beacon, damaged by the storm, its surface covered with a layer of yellow sand, with wear and dents from severe impacts along the edges.

No matter how you looked at it, the storm had done a number on the beacon.

Yi Ye crouched beside them, arms wrapped around his knees: "Does District 21 often have such severe storms?"

"This is my first time seeing something like this too," another soldier said. "Everyone knows Dreamland's environment is harsh, but such a big storm is quite rare, even capable of bending the beacon tower."

Yi Ye nodded, understanding, and glanced at Ling Pei, who was deep in concentration.

Soon, they got the beacon back up and running, and they carefully made their way back to the ground, heading towards another target point.

Before heading out, they'd all hit the armory to gear up. Yi Ye carried two PPKs in his hip holster, a tactical leg knife sheath strapped to his right thigh, and an ammo replenishment box filled with plenty of bombs and potions. Even though Joseph called it a safe mission, they still needed weapons in case the Zerg showed up.

Yi Ye slogged through the sandstorm, hauling the heavy ammo box. But then he froze, his eyes snapping to a spot in the distance.

From the depths of the sandstorm, it felt like eyes were watching him.

"Yi Ye! Hurry up and follow!"

A soldier shouted from up ahead. Yi Ye tore his eyes away, hefted the box, and hurried to catch up.

They swapped out the second beacon without a hitch. Just one more spot to hit, and they could wrap things up and get out of Dreamland. This was faster than the shortest time Yi Ye had anticipated, taking less than two days.

But as they approached the last beacon tower, Yi Ye felt those eyes on him again. He mentioned it to Ling Pei, who stayed quiet for a beat before motioning them to keep moving.

Yi Ye's gut told him something was off. Out of nowhere, a hand clapped his shoulder, and the other soldier, playing the big brother, said: "Relax, if the Zerg show up, I'll handle 'em. You can't even hold a gun steady, right? Don't waste bullets then, just hide behind me if anything happens."

"..." Yi Ye grabbed his hand, "I'm counting on you, old-timer!"

"Don't mention it, don't mention it!" The latter laughed heartily.

The trio reached their last stop. The damage here wasn't bad—the tower itself was fine, but the yellow light was out, so it took them a while to find it.

The top of the tower was dead silent.

Night dropped like a curtain, plunging Dreamland into darkness. The soldier held a flashlight to illuminate for Ling Pei, while Yi Ye stood guard nearby. But in reality, from the high vantage point of the tower, all that could be seen was endless darkness, with nothing discernible.

He circled the railing, scanning the surroundings, and found the blind yellow warning light. The warning light was made of special material and would only light up when the beacon was damaged, but it couldn't be ruled out that the warning light had also malfunctioned during the storm, so they still came up.

Yi Ye looked up at the extinguished light.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and he shone the flashlight on the surface of the light.

On the dusty lens surface, the glass reflected a few blurry red dots, which gradually increased, densely covering the area.

At the same time, a shocked shout came from behind: "This, it's not broken!!"

Yi Ye quickly turned around; the beacon inside the black box was intact, without any signs of collision or scratches. Then the terminal suddenly lit up, the screen showing Kaiser's communication.

A burst of harsh static came from the other side.

"Yi... be careful... Zerg..."

"Kaiser? Kaiser?!"

The communication quickly cut off, the dim screen like a gloomy cloud covering everyone.

Suddenly, a few vague hissing sounds came from the distance. Yi Ye swiftly turned off the lights in his and the soldier's hands, took out a flare gun, and fired it into the distance. The light exploded like a rip in the night, flooding the land and exposing everything around the beacon towers.

Hundreds of Zerg were charging madly towards the beacon tower, scrambling and shoving each other in a chaotic frenzy!

"Holy shit!!" the soldier exclaimed, "What the hell, Zerg are actually real?!"

He hesitated for a split second, embarrassed, then remembered his earlier words and shouted to Yi Ye, trying to sound tough, "Don't be scared! I'm here, just stay behind me!"

Yi Ye muttered a quiet "Oh," and the short knife spun smoothly between his fingers twice, the handle firmly gripped in his palm.

Well, can't slack off now.