Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

Nine against three, and it's about the team's command rights, there's no reason to be scared, right?

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three…"

"Nineteen…"

"Twenty…"

"Twenty-eight…"

"Twenty-nine…"

"Captain, what are you counting for?" Zero asked with some curiosity.

Bai E, who was sitting in the vehicle organizing the documents in his hands, said nothing.

He heard approaching footsteps—

Three of them.

"Click!" Rose yanked the car door open and casually clapped her hands, her voice warm and slightly exhilarated, "Got warmed up, not bad."

Getting warmed up was about herself; not bad was about the opponent.

"Are you impressed?" Zero curiously moved around Rose's body to try to look outside, only to find that the others seemed to deliberately avoid his gaze.

Didn't get a good look...

"Impressed." Stony said flatly, then a bit discontent, "Rose, you moved too fast... didn't let me have a real go at it."

"Hahaha~" Rose laughed heartily, "Next time, definitely next time."

"If you're impressed, get in the car." Bai E shook his head, "We're leaving."

When I used to be a team member and got pushed around, I just took it, since I didn't have the strength or status to stick my neck out without meaning.

But now that I'm the captain, how can I allow others to disrespect me?

Besides, this is the military.

A place where fists do the talking.

Don't talk about seniority— it's not about being an old soldier to be bossy, it's about strength granting that right.

Not convinced?

A beat down will convince you.

Leaving behind three people was simply a courtesy to the reputation of the other two squads; in fact, in this kind of skirmish without equipment, Bai E believed that Rose alone could take down both opposing squads.

After all, Rose had been injected with the Gene Optimization Solution, and Bai E had also taught her the Advanced Physical Training Program 3.0, her strength advancing rapidly in recent times.

In these past few days of close combat, without using any trump cards, Bai E, relying purely on his base attributes and his level six combat specialization, found it hard to beat her.

In a real fight to the death, Rose's level probably wasn't below that of the Blood God from before, and handling two squads where not all members could be combat experts should be more than manageable.

Plus, Stony and You's close combat skills were certainly not lacking either; Stony might still have been a bit unpolished in combat, You had become even more dedicated to her practice after the last big change, and Bai E had taught her the advanced physical training plan as well.

Adding these two was yet another layer of insurance.

Bai E certainly didn't want to actually lose command rights because of showing off.

"Vroom!"

The engine started, and off it roared.

In the two obedient off-road vehicles following behind the lead car, the group that had been beaten to a pulp watched with surprised and wary expressions as only a trail of dust was left in the wake of the vehicles ahead. Find exclusive stories on My Virtual Library Empire

"Sss~ Captain... who the hell are they?"

"Sss~ Yeah, Captain... they're so fierce. Are they really the newly produced artificial humans?"

"Sss~ Damn, did we miss out on some new high-tech stuff developed by the brass?"

The captain, who had been given special attention, had both cheeks swollen high, and his speech was buzzing, "How the hell would I know! Sss~ That woman... she really hits hard..."

Only Norwitz sat at the back, a silly grin on his face, as if he was still savoring the taste of that punch that had hit his face...

"Hehe~ Hehe~"

"Anyway, just listen to them obediently, and it's done. MD, with minions like this, worthy of the offspring of those big shots."

The stronger the minions, the more it seemed to affirm Bai E's position in his heart.

Having such a group of fierce subordinates, even a pig could rack up a heap of military achievements!

```

...

The desolation of the wilderness remained as constant as ever, only a few vigilant wild beasts ran far away because of the noise of the vehicles.

Of course, owing to the influence of alien genes, even the planet's native beasts had long since become bizarre and deformed.

For those without experience, it was very easy to be overly suspicious and see threats that weren't there.

Learning to distinguish between the natural environment and enemy surveillance was also something that a mature special forces soldier needed to learn and master.

Bai E drove the vehicle, his eyes indifferently sweeping past the view outside the window.

The location marked on the map... which was the site of the signal station, was actually not too far from where they had encountered trouble that day.

Roughly the same distance, they encountered no dangers just the same.

As he was about to pass the boundary where he had felt a palpitation that day, Bai E intentionally concentrated his mind.

This was also his first time returning to the scene of the incident since the last mishap.

And quite obviously... personal experience spoke volumes—

The same position, the same feeling.

Bai E took out a communicator that he had prepared and noticed that the indicator light had turned into a dim, gray blur.

Indeed, the moment they passed this boundary, the link between the communicator and the city's information station would be blocked and replaced by some mysterious force.

As to whether or not this was the doing of bugs... that was truly unknown.

So, this was the reason why the Information Department had decided, after this attempt proved effective, to just restart the global signal stations directly?

With signal stations spread all around the world making multiple transfers of signals, this so-called "Bug Nest Domain" would no longer influence the communication.

Gathering his thoughts, Bai E pressed the accelerator.

Not encountering enemies was naturally a good thing.

He did indeed long for battle now, but if he could complete the mission smoothly without trouble, it would also be a responsibility to others' lives.

Even after having witnessed death countless times, he would still feel sadness upon the arrival of death the next time...

With a clear goal in mind, he did not stop along the way.

The ruins were hidden beneath a layer of wind-blown sand, the tough steel corners of the structure stubbornly jutting out from the earth.

It was a trace that the group had found after half a day of crawling around the ground, following the map.

The power of the Golden Age was extraordinary; the outer walls of the base station, made from a series of primary metallic alloys, were indestructible. Even after nearly 500 years of neglect, nature's erosion wasn't able to shake the foundation of this base station in the slightest.

Of course, the main reason was that for both bugs and beastmen, there wasn't much interest in stubbornly fighting against a massive iron block that couldn't be broken from the outside.

Without these two biggest threats, nature's erosive force on human technological constructs was limited, so when Bai E and his team arrived, even the corners of the outer walls of the station looked as if they had never suffered any damage.

The only problem was...

"Where's the door?" The soldier who had jumped off the truck from behind kicked at the metal corner that was poking out of the ground.

Bai E opened the car door and took a shovel out of the storage compartment at the back of the vehicle, casually tossing one to the team member who was muttering to himself, "The door is in my hands... Start digging."

[Hint: Discovered a small "ruin" that can be explored. Current Exploration Progress: 0.1%...]

"Heave-ho!"

"Heave-ho!"

Over four hundred years of changes and the successive appearances of various creatures had resulted in the Golden Age ruins being completely buried under the earth.

The ground was particularly hard...

And digging it up was also especially strenuous.

"Damn, who knew how big this base station could be?"

They were elite special forces soldiers; when had they fallen so low as to become engineers digging the earth?

The soldier looked at the blisters on his hands and felt an aching pain.

Of course, such minor injuries were nothing; what truly hurt was not seeing any hope.

The more they dug, the bigger it got... the more they dug, the bigger it got...

A broken base station, how big could you possibly be?

"It would be nice if someone could give us a hand..." A soldier leaning on his shovel took a brief rest.

While indulging in wishful thinking.

```