Chapter 355: with translation of chapter title

Moreover, if he acts rashly, it will only put all the survivors aboard the Ulysses in danger.

As an employee of Umbrella, and moreover a supervisor, Leon cannot let personal feelings cause all his previous efforts to go to waste.

So Leon can only gamble, betting that Ada will not be swallowed by the tumor before he can free up his energy and return to the cargo hold.

If he cannot…

Then Leon would certainly not survive alone; after all, having lived one and a half centuries, he has experienced all the joys and sorrows of life, and even death would have long since broken even.

Thus Leon temporarily set aside his personal feelings, quickened his pace through the ventilation ducts; however, when they were only two zones away from the engine room, they passed a standard equipment room next to the hangar.

To everyone, this was extremely tempting.

For one thing, the standard equipment room contains ample and comprehensive powered armor and various weapons and ammunition; going down there would definitely free them from the predicament of 'beggar's gear'.

Although it would waste considerable time and prematurely reveal their position, the payoff would be worth it.

Then, after observing the intersection for several seconds and confirming the positions of all the mutants inside the equipment room…

'Bang! Bang!' a few times.

Everyone kicked open the ventilation fan and dropped down from above.

'TingTing!'

'Tap-tap!'

The Gauss and laser guns roared, and the mutants wandering inside the equipment room were instantly riddled by concentrated fire.

'Whoa!!'

Vaso, meanwhile, was simple and brutal, directly dismembering four of them with his double-edged energy sword.

In the blink of an eye, Leon and his party neutralized the threat inside the equipment room and quickly switched to the TPS-VII model powered armor, the special type used by the Supervisory Bureau.

As for firearms, almost everyone had a Gauss machine gun and a fully automatic shotgun with an ammunition drum, while the grenades were deliberately chosen as the 'old-fashioned' flash, concussion, and fragmentation types.

As for Vaso…

This elite sergeant selected only a single energy spear developed by the company specifically for their people.

Having completed the 'bird gun to cannon' swap, Leon and his group stormed out directly through the equipment room's main door, and this time Vaso again broke formation, charging ahead to clear the way for everyone.

With proper equipment, Leon and his team may not be able to achieve the Astate's 'gods block and kill gods, Buddhas block and kill Buddhas,' but they can still destroy everything in their path; even if the corridor is packed with seemingly endless mutants, they cannot slow down their charge.

In fact, without the special Spiritual Shock released by that stone tablet, which caught the Ulysses off guard and plunged the entire ship into chaos, a mere scythe-wielding mutant like that would hardly stir up any significant disturbance.

Moreover, with the boost from proper equipment, their efficiency greatly increased, allowing them to reach the engine room ahead of schedule, a full twelve minutes faster than planned.

After storming into the engine room and completing the sweep, Leon then, using his authorization, manually triggered the Ulysses' jump sequence; at that instant, a 'Boom!' rang out as the entire hull emitted a metallic clang.

Immediately afterward, everyone felt a strong jolt, and the holographic screen before Leon showed that the Ulysses was, according to program settings, reducing its normal cruising speed, currently preparing to open the jump entrance.

According to procedure, within five minutes the Ulysses will return to real space, at which point the company will immediately lock onto them and dispatch nearby legions or fleets to investigate.

So now it's time to 'get down to business'.

"Everyone." Leon, having flipped open his helmet, said to Vaso and the squad of hunter soldiers: "The mission is complete, but there remains one challenge: rescuing our comrades who have fallen unconscious in the cargo hold. However, you may also choose to return to the bridge and await rescue; I will not compel you to join me, for this is a voluntary rescue operation."

After Leon's words fell, he promptly closed his helmet again, replaced the magazine of his Gauss machine gun with a full 'ammo box', pulled the bolt, causing a 'Click!' that echoed throughout the vast engine room. "Sir, do we even need to ask? Of course we're willing—I've been itching to go!" Vaso raised his energy spear in response without hesitation.

"We too, sir!"

"Exactly, it's time to hunt down those bastards!"

The hunter soldiers likewise agreed.

"All right, let's go!" Leon waved his hand.

"Yes!" everyone replied in unison again.

Thereafter, the high-morale assault squad used Vaso and four undead as the 'tip of the spear,' while six hunter soldiers provided rear cover and support.

Such a 'swaggering' move naturally provoked a frenzied counterattack from the mutants, so Vaso and his group had to occupy a passageway's entrance to defend.

"Whoa! Whoa! Hahaha~! Come on! The more, the better!"

Even as Vaso found himself amidst the enemy horde with mounting pressure, he still fought to his heart's content, obeying Leon's orders to make as much noise as possible.

At that very moment, the Ulysses had unknowingly opened its jump entrance and, via the Rift Space, returned to real space.

At this moment, inside the cargo hold.

"Howl! Howl!"

The mutants seemed to sense something, all raising their heads and howling restlessly; even the light emanating from the stone tablet intensified rapidly.

Furthermore, with Vaso and others serving as bait, the number of mutants inside the cargo hold plummeted, yet the tumorous tissue surrounding the stone tablet remained unaffected, continuing to devour 'as it pleased'.

This time, however, the tumor finally extended its tendrils toward Ada, whose luck was about to run out.

Seeing this…

"Boom! Boom!"

More than ten concussion grenades rolled from the ventilation duct's seams into the cargo hold, then detonated in succession, producing a sound loud enough to make an ordinary person faint.

"Roar!"

This upheaval made all the mutants even more agitated, and it startled the tumor, causing its soft, sticky tendrils to retract into its mass; it also roused Ada and all the other unconscious people with the loud noise.

"Clang!"

As the concussion grenades exploded in succession, Leon and the other four undead kicked open the ventilation fan and leapt straight out of the duct, landing between the mutants and the tumor.

Afterward…

"TingTing!!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

In an instant, four Gauss machine guns sprayed hundreds of 8mm flechette rounds at the mutants, while a fully automatic shotgun tore apart the nearby mutants.

Leon, wielding a Gauss machine gun, sprinted toward Ada's position, firing blue-flaming serpents from his gun while using the powered armor's strength boost to charge forward, rushing to her side like a blazing inferno.

After he blasted the tumor filled with viscous fluid, he then half-knelt, opened his helmet, and anxiously asked the slowly awakening, weakened Ada: "Ada… are you all right?"

"Uh…"

Ada groaned as she sat up, gave a slight shake of her head, finally regained her composure, then looked at Leon, whose face showed unhidden worry and whose expression was extremely tense, and teased, "What are you panicking about? I was just resting with my eyes closed."

But as Ada spoke, she also reached out with her left hand to lightly stroke Leon's cheek.

After confirming everything was fine, Leon finally relaxed, unable to keep from laughing, "How can you sleep on the job?"

Moreover, while speaking, Leon helped Ada to her feet and handed her the laser micro-submachine gun he had been using.

Having gripped the micro-submachine gun and pulled the bolt, Ada tapped Leon's shoulder armor, the corner of her mouth slightly raised, and countered, "Don't get distracted, rookie—how many times do I have to tell you?"

"Hahaha! All right, Ms. Wang!" Leon laughed heartily.

Meanwhile, as the chief and deputy chief were talking, four undead, while trying to kill the mutants as much as possible, also threw the wealthy firearms strapped to their waists and backs to the people who had fully regained consciousness. In just a few breaths, Leon and the others quickly formed a resistance force, cooperating with the four undead who felt no pain or fear, and managed, in a short time, to hold their own against the mutant horde that surged like a sea of blood.

At this moment.

Inside the bridge of the Beowulf.

"Battalion Chief!" a crew member raised his head and loudly reported to the heavily armored Genluo Xigetede in expensive Thunder Hammer Mark VII power armor standing by the viewport: "We've detected a rift-space reaction at the edge of the star system, and I've also picked up a Phoenix III-class carrier, confirmed to be the Yudora, missing for 272 hours."

"The Yudora?"

Upon hearing this, the "Old Wolf" who commands the 13th Battalion of the Space Wild Wolves stared in surprise; he clearly hadn't expected the Yudora, missing for a full eleven Earth days, to appear at the edge of humanity's primary territory.

After a moment's thought, Genluo Xigetede turned away from the crew and ordered: "Upload this situation, then notify the Haifuyuet and Grendel ships to stay on guard against possible attacks by the Veline pirates; our ship will immediately initiate a fold jump to the Yudora for investigation."

Also, tell the recruits of the 1st Company to get ready; once our ship finishes the fold jump, we'll directly jump aboard the Yudora.

"Yes, Battalion Chief."

"Coordinates locked, flight path clear!"

"This is the bridge; everyone prepare, the Beowulf will execute a fold jump in ten seconds…"

Ten,

Nine,

…

Two,

Fold jump!

After ten seconds passed, everything outside the viewport stretched into horizontal lines.

But soon everything returned to normal; however, in the cold, dark void, there now drifted a Yudora moving at a steady speed, its energy shields having dissipated on their own.

"Battalion Chief," the crew member continued reporting, "We cannot establish contact with the Yudora."

"No problem." Genluo glanced sideways and said, "Order the 1st Company recruits to force a jump aboard and find out what exactly happened inside the Yudora; I refuse to believe that a vessel with tens of thousands of elite supervisory department ships could turn into a ghost ship."

"Yes."

———————

…

In the Beowulf's hangar.

"Thud, thud!"

A hundred wild wolves equipped with equally expensive Thunder Hammer Mark VI power armor, wearing beast pelts, fangs, and skulls, marched heavily in single file onto the Thunder Transport Plane capable of forced jumps.

Accompanying the wild wolves on the large transport craft were over a thousand auxiliary troops equipped with TPS and CMC powered armor, and among them one auxiliary soldier stood out as rather unusual.

This "auxiliary soldier" was none other than the 13th Battalion's "daughter," "little sister," Sarah Kerrigan, wearing her exclusive HES combat suit.

Once the 1st Company had all boarded, two Thunder Transports and four transport craft, escorted by six Viking fighters, left the hangar and gradually approached the Yudora.

The formation first arrived at the Yudora's hull section; seeing the hangar doors closed, the two Thunder Transports used their melt cannons to continuously burn the two doors.

Not long after, the doors were melted through by the Thunder.

Whoosh—! The sudden pressure change sucked unfastened equipment and vehicles from the hangar out into space, where they tumbled.

After the hangar stabilized, the two Thunder Transports entered the Yodora's hangar, while the four large transport craft turned their tails to face the breach and lower hatch, allowing Sarah and the auxiliary troops to jump aboard via a "leap".

Inside the hangar.

A hundred wild wolves and a thousand auxiliary troops, organized into twenty search teams each consisting of a tactical squad and a combat platoon, fanned out into the Yodora to investigate.

Not long after…

"Little sis." The wild wolf captain, holding a chain sword and a burst-arrow assault rifle, glanced over the "bloody" hall and asked in a metallic voice, "How is it? Do you sense anything?"

"Yes." Sarah unfolded her HES helmet, letting her fiery red hair fall loose, her expression grave as she told the brothers, "I sense… a bloodlust, and it craves our souls and corpses."

"A demon?" another wild wolf echoed.

"Not sure." Sarah shook her head slightly and added, "They might be even harder to deal with than demons."

"Enemy contact!"

Suddenly a shout rang out, causing Sarah and the others to point their guns at the forward passage.

"Howl~~!!"

Countless mutants came rushing forward, waving their "sickles".

That momentum,

that number,

enough to tear apart fifty-year-old Astartes veterans (the wild wolves), extremely gifted psykers (Sarah), and the peak of human elite (the auxiliary troops).

But…

"Rat-tat-tat!"

"Tap-tap-tap!"

"Pluck! Pluck!"

But when they saw the threat approaching, they instinctively sprayed a volley and blasted the mutants to smithereens, the whole process taking less than ten seconds.

"Uh…" the wild wolf captain swapped in a fresh magazine, lowered his head slightly, and said to Sarah, "Little sis, why do I feel these ugly things are much easier to deal with than real demons?"

"If I'd known, I'd have torn that trash apart with my hands—tsk! What a waste of my burst-arrow ammo!"

Exactly, exactly.

Six wild wolves lowered their heads, looking down at the "small" Sarah; even with helmets blocking, it's not hard to guess they all surely showed a "contemptuous" expression.

"Don't waste talk, hurry up and investigate! Watch out, I'll shock you!" Sarah replied angrily; after saying that, she also snapped her fingers with an electric current.

Sarah is right.

Yeah, that's right.

Let's go!

While the group continued deeper, investigating what had happened to the Yudora, they also handily eliminated any mutants within sight.

———————

…

Four hours later.

In the Terra Shield's inner world, inside the top-floor office of the new headquarters building, Sui Bian stared expressionlessly at the "stele" projected on the desk, and muttered to himself in his heart: "Beacon?"

(End of chapter)