Volume 1, Chapter 43: Infiltration

"A large chemical plant in the eastern suburb of City E has now become a nest of mutant beasts, harboring thousands of them, including many high-tier entities, posing a severe threat to the flank security of the sanctuary. The military has launched several clearance operations, only to suffer heavy casualties."

Lin Feng looked at Li Hexuan.

"The high command's mission is to have you cooperate with the military to completely eradicate this beast nest."

"Not cooperate," Li Hexuan corrected.

"We will be the main assault force; you will provide auxiliary support."

Lin Feng was momentarily stunned, then smiled bitterly.

"Very well. The operational plan needs to be formulated jointly by you and the general staff."

Li Hexuan was about to agree when his gaze inadvertently swept across a corner of the laboratory.

There, a researcher who had just been helping operate the instruments was lowering his head, his fingers moving rapidly across his personal terminal with a nervous expression.

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Li Hexuan's mouth.

He turned to Lin Feng and said, "The operation plan can wait. Lieutenant Lin, we need to catch a few eavesdropping rats first."

Following his line of sight, Lin Feng's expression instantly turned gloomy.

"Arrange it," Li Hexuan said in a low voice. "Leak that research on the core fragment has made a major breakthrough and needs to be transferred to a safer location. Then, let the news slip out 'accidentally'."

Lin Feng immediately grasped Li Hexuan's intent and nodded without hesitation.

"I'll handle it right away."

Late that night, false news stating that "the core fragment will be secretly transferred" quietly circulated within the sanctuary through several deliberately arranged channels.

Outside the quarters of the Thunder Squad in District C, several dark figures slipped out like phantoms from the shadows, rapidly approaching the seemingly most heavily guarded small building.

Little did they know that hundreds of meters above their heads, Li Hexuan and Lin Feng were watching their every move coldly through high-definition cameras.

"Apocalypse Corporation's infiltration is even deeper than I imagined," Lin Feng said, his fists clenching until his knuckles turned white.

"Dogs never change their habit of eating filth," Li Hexuan's voice devoid of a trace of warmth.

He spoke two words gently into his communicator.

"Close the net."

The next instant, dozens of high-intensity searchlights flared to life, illuminating the area as bright as day! Pre-embushed military special forces closed in from all directions, their pitch-black gun barrels training on the panicked traitors.

At the head of them was precisely the nervous-looking researcher from the laboratory earlier that day.

A silent purge came to a clean and decisive end.

The next day, when Li Hexuan walked into the operational briefing room, Captain Wang, who had been full of hostility toward him just yesterday, instinctively averted his gaze upon seeing him, not daring to provoke him in the slightest.

Li Hexuan spent a single night establishing his authority within the military.

He walked up to the massive holographic sand table, gazing at the chemical plant beast nest marked upon it, where countless red dots representing danger flickered densely.

The military's operational staff had already formulated several plans, but all of them appeared overly conservative, reeking of timidity at every turn.

Li Hexuan reached out and directly drew a straight red line across the sand table, piercing from the perimeter straight into the core area of the beast nest—simple and brutal.

"Our plan is very simple."

His voice echoed in the quiet briefing room, carrying unquestionable dominance.

"Blossoming from the center, a decapitation strike."

Inside the conference room, you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone's gaze was nailed to the holographic sand table, fixed upon that brutal, straight, and somewhat unreasonable red line.

This line was like a red-hot steel blade, violently thrusting into the most terrifying forbidden zone in their eyes—the eastern suburb's subway spider nest.

Madman.

Captain Wang's Adam's apple bobbed as these words screamed in his heart, yet not a single syllable dared to escape his lips.

"Your plan is to twist our most elite forces into a tapered drill, directly gouging out the enemy's heart," Lin Feng was the first to react, looking at Li Hexuan. "Kill the spider queen at the fastest possible speed, paralyzing the entire spider swarm on the spot. High risk, high reward."

"My people will be this drill," Li Hexuan withdrew his hand, scanning the room. "Your military will do two things. First, secure the perimeter. Once we go in, seal off every exit so not a single fly can escape. Second, the moment we strike, dump all available firepower inside—hit them as hard as you can to create an opening for us."

His voice was not loud, yet it weighed heavily upon the atmosphere of the entire conference room.

"It's settled."

Li Hexuan left no room for negotiation. With those words, he turned and walked away.

Half an hour later, three pitch-black heavy armored vehicles carrying the Thunder Squad and thirty military elites personally handpicked by Lin Feng drove out of the sanctuary like ghosts, hurtling straight toward the eastern suburbs.

The abandoned subway entrance was the literal spitting image of a giant beast maw waiting to devour people, pitch-black and chilling, continually exhaling damp stench and ominous dread.

"Everyone, put on your protective masks and watch out for toxic spores in the air!" Lin Feng issued his final orders, and the soldiers methodically checked their gear.

"No need for all that trouble."

Su Mengyi stepped forward, her delicate white palm pressing gently against the icy wall of the entrance.

She closed her eyes, and the newly awakened power within her bloodline flowed out like poured mercury.

A ring of soft, verdant green halo silently expanded outward from her center, washing into the bottomless darkness.

The naked-to-the-eye toxic spores in the air dissolved and were purified the instant they touched this life energy. Even the sickening stench that induced dizziness rapidly faded away.

Immediately following, strange patches of moss were forcibly grown from the crevices of the walls on both sides of the passageway, emitting a soft fluorescent glow that illuminated the darkness ahead.

"This..."

A young soldier instinctively took off his mask, took a deep breath, and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

"Holy crap, the air is clean!"

All the soldiers were dumbfounded, staring blankly at Su Mengyi. For the first time, they intuitively realized what kind of miraculous abilities this seemingly delicate girl possessed.

The shock in the depths of Lin Feng's eyes flashed and vanished; he turned and nodded heavily at Li Hexuan.

"Move out!"

At Li Hexuan's command, the squad stepped into the spider nest.

Zhang Nan took the lead, heavy shield in front, acting as a mobile iron fortress.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

In the darkness, countless sharp piercing sounds erupted as lurking mutant spiders spat venom and webs.

Yet these attacks slammed into Zhang Nan's heavy shield, producing nothing more than splashes of disgusting green mucus—completely useless.

"All of you, get the hell out here!"

Zhang Nan let out a roar, the sound waves echoing and crashing within the narrow tunnel.

His response was the dense clusters of crimson compound eyes lighting up on all sides as hundreds of mutant spiders of varying sizes swarmed forward like a black tide.

"Firepower suppression!" Lin Feng calmly commanded.

Rat-tat-tat!

The military soldiers instantly formed a crossfire net, a scorching storm of bullets tearing the spiders charging at the front to shreds.

"Thunder Magnetic Storm!"

Arcs of lightning burst within Li Hexuan's eyes.

Requiring no preparation whatsoever, violent deep-blue electric arcs exploded outward in all directions centered around him! The chaotic magnetic force and high-voltage current were amplified several times over within the confined space!

Crackling!

As the lightning swept past, patches of mutant spiders were instantly electrocuted into charred corpses, and a sickening smell of burning protein immediately filled the air.