“Beep—”
"Attention, all teams. Attention, all teams."
"This is the Great Wall. Each team will report the mission status in turn."
"Blood Wolf Team One, I'm reporting on behalf of Teams Two and Three: We secured the designated battlefield ten minutes ago."
"Blood Wolf Team Two received."
"Blood Wolf Team Three received."
"Mole Team Three, I've completed support preparations."
"Mole Team Four received this. I have assisted Team Three in completing support preparations and are now heading to the commanding heights."
"Flea Squad, I'm continuing to monitor the target. No unusual activity has been detected so far."
"Attention Flea Squad, follow the plan!"
"Mole Team Four, take note! Speed up!"
"Flea Squad understands."
"Mole Team Four understands."
For Ning Weihe, commander-in-chief of the Special Operations Force, stationed in a temporarily requisitioned parking lot on the outskirts of a certain city, the day felt incredibly long. Two weeks prior, biological and chemical terrorist attacks had occurred across the country, each with its own unknown purpose, unknown number of people, and unknown terrorist operatives. The country was unprepared for the initial attacks; as the monsters rampaged through the city, police operators mistook them for a telecom scam. Although the military intervened immediately to put a stop to the incidents, the damage was devastating. Thousands of homes were destroyed in the first week alone, and casualties exceeded 1,000. In response to the unique characteristics of these attacks, three days prior, the Army's Supreme Staff, spearheaded the initial "Countermeasures Action Team," a multi-agency coalition led by the Army's General Staff. Following the successful investigation of a terrorist attack, this team was upgraded by the nation to its current "Mutational Rapid Reaction Force."
This special unit is almost entirely equipped with upgraded third-generation exoskeleton armor. Each operator is a top-tier member of their respective units, often boasting comprehensive skills that rank among the best in the human corps. Through adaptive training in technical weaponry, the unit's basic combat unit is established as a "squad," each comprised of an "assaulter," a "suppressor," a "commander," and a "scientific advisor." Each squad is capable of integrated offense and defense, capable of handling any tactical mission. Larger missions can also be coordinated from the central command center.
The intelligence department of the General Command has unified the classification of all the "monsters" so far. They called the original "monsters" "Level I mutants" - these mutants are usually transformed from animals; and the monsters transformed from "Level I mutants" are called "Level II mutants."
To the troops, "Class I Mutants" lack reason and special abilities, being merely stronger beasts. Their numbers are numerous, though fortunately, most are found deep in the mountains and forests. "Class II Mutants" possess not only reason but also abilities beyond human cognition. Some are even more intelligent than humans. These "highly intelligent criminals" are capable of inflicting heavy losses on mission teams.
"This time, the bastard is a Class II mutant, codenamed 'Blue Arrow,' and capable of high-speed movement." Ning Weihe's scalp tingled as he recalled this mission. Just half an hour ago, this thing had plowed through a truck carrying seven comrades right under the Flea Squad's noses—no one survived. He simply couldn't comprehend: How could a carbon-based creature move at subsonic speeds on the ground without the aid of tools or self-destruction?
"Report to the Great Wall! Target stop, target stop!" An urgent voice suddenly came from the Flea Squad.
"Something's wrong, damn, it's looking at us!"
Ning Weihe rushed to the command platform: "Don't disperse! Don't disperse! Maintain formation, increase power to maximum, and evacuate towards C6 or B4!"
"Ahhh!" Only two seconds had passed and another life was gone.
Li Wenjia watched helplessly as his captain was smashed into a bloody mist by a blue afterimage. At that moment, he even saw an eyeball hit the plug on his chest, and the "Ahhh" sound was uttered by him.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot, run!" The burly man next to him pushed him with his mechanical prosthesis, which made him move.
This third-generation and a half exoskeleton armor is enough to allow an ordinary person to run at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour for eight hours without stopping.
"Report to the Great Wall, the target has stopped again and is now about a hundred meters in front of me on the right!" The technical consultant in the team did not forget his job while running.
"Hurry, record the time!" The roaring voice from the command post came through the headsets of all the teams.
One, two, three, four... Time passed by second by second, and everyone began to get nervous.
"Bang!!!" When I counted silently to about fifteen seconds, the thing moved again.
"Ahhhhh!" Li Wenjia saw that Brother Xiong's prosthetic limb, who had just encouraged him, was blown away by the blast and disintegrated into countless pieces in the air. He himself was also affected and fell headfirst into the mud, losing consciousness.
"Fifteen seconds! That's fifteen seconds!" the technical advisor continued to shout, "The rest of the team has lost contact. I need backup!" Then he took a breath and said, "It's stopped. It's four seconds now, five, six..."
"Mole Four, are you even there yet?" a demand came hurriedly from the headset. Mole Team Four, breathlessly climbing the stairs—thanks to their commander's sudden inspiration—had discovered that the highest point nearby was an unfinished construction site. "This building is great! We'll take it," he had said, ignoring the portly owner's protests. But it was clear that things hadn't gone as planned. The building had no electricity, and naturally, no elevator. So, at this point, the captain could only apologize profusely.
"Fourteen, fifteen, now!" The technical advisor immediately launched at full power, swooping toward him. In midair, he could smell only the ionized ozone. "Huh, huh, success?" He scrambled to his feet from the mud and tried to find the "thing."
"Puff! Crash!"
"Flea Squad! Flea Squad! If you hear me, please answer! Flea Squad..." Ning Weihe sat down with a solemn expression, his ears filled with the urgent calls of his adjutants. In just thirty-four seconds, he had lost an elite squad. "It seems fifteen seconds is just their normal reaction time!" the staff officer nearby analyzed. "Do we need to change the plan?" someone asked.
"The most urgent thing is to find it! Ask the local police for help." Ning Weihe said in a deep voice.
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