Chapter 214: Expediency in a Crisis

The wind and snow swirled, blotting out the sky and sun; the first few rows of houses near the coast collapsed and shattered directly amidst the sea waves and air blasts.

Although Liu Mu was fast, she could not run forever and needed to find a place to take shelter; the miserable part was that the direction she was running in was the opposite of the Base.

However, amidst the lightning-fast speed, a building flashed across her field of vision—it was the church of the Holy Sisterhood.

The church's main gate was tightly shut, but a small door had been opened on it, and a nun in a grey robe stood before the door, anxiously waving at her.

"Friend, here, come here to hide, friend!!"

Liu Mu made a sharp turn, crashing through several walls in succession, and braked in front of the nun, "A shelter?"

"Yes, yes, please come into the church to take refuge," the nun said with a nervous expression, glancing at the apocalyptic scene in the distance, and urged, "Can you come out? The Mecha is so tall, wait for me to open the main gate to let you in..."

She had thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a high nose bridge; one look was enough to feel she was very striking. But the nun, whose entire body was wrapped in a robe except for her face, had a tone that was gentle despite her anxiety. Before she could finish speaking, she saw the Mecha before her suddenly fold up like origami, and a woman jumped out from inside.

Things developed too quickly, and in the end, she didn't even see where that Mecha went.

"Many thanks, let's go in first!"

Liu Mu took the initiative, pushing the nun through that thick small door. Once inside, she hurriedly closed the heavy small door, only to discover that behind this wooden door, there was actually a thick steel rolling shutter.

The church had no electric lights; instead, hundreds of candles were placed in candelabras hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the interior as if it were broad daylight.

Borrowing the bright light, Liu Mu noticed that outside all the stained-glass windows were rolling shutters like the one on the main gate, which had already been pulled down, protecting this not-so-large church like an iron barrel.

Only the glass at the very top allowed a glimpse of the sky; mainly because there were simply too many candles, standing in the light, one could only catch a hint of dimness.

"So many people?"

Liu Mu's movement of surveying the interior situation was quick and did not attract the attention of others at all.

Of course, these people were in no mood to care who the newcomer was; they were either whispering prayers, quietly listening to the outside, standing and talking, or sitting, but all shared the same hope that the church could protect them during the disaster.

"There are quite a few, they are all nearby neighbors and believers of this faith. Are you injured? What happened outside..."

The nun did not continue asking; she was also afraid of making the people here more nervous, but she really wanted to know, so she just looked at Liu Mu, asking with her eyes.

"Oh, the Base is striking the invaders; this wave is a bit fierce," Liu Mu replied perfunctorily, yet someone immediately approached.

"What is the situation outside now? You aren't carrying the Zombie Virus, are you? Sister Rui Ya, how could you just let her in? Isn't it true that there have only been Zombies outside for a long time?"

The person who had approached quickly retreated, covering their nose and mouth at the same time, "Quarantine her, don't come near us, see if she turns into a Zombie!"

A young woman, holding a nursing baby, said timidly, "Don't be like that, she must have had a hard time running here too. Sister, she doesn't have any wounds, does she? Are there still Zombies on the street?"

"You shouldn't have let her in, Sister, you'll get me killed!" Another man looked haggard, so thin he was like a skeleton; if he were thrown out now, he could be blown into outer space.

Feng Ruiya waved her hands repeatedly; she did not have the steadiness of an older nun, nor could she hide her emotions, "Everyone, don't be agitated. This is a soldier from the Base who came to take shelter for a moment while executing a mission."

This statement was immediately refuted, "From the Base? Hmph, so what? The Base closed its doors long ago precisely because they didn't want to let us in, watching everyone turn into Zombies!"

Once someone stood out to lead, they started arguing; it seemed that they had found the source of their fear, wanting to get an apology or even more from Liu Mu.

"Do you have some kind of misunderstanding?" Liu Mu scanned the crowd, saw their varied expressions, and sneered, "Do you think this is a time of peace, and you still expect the military to serve you? If you really have that thought, I advise you to die sooner; otherwise, it will be difficult to live in this world."

She originally didn't want to pay attention to these people, but then she heard a terrifying creaking sound from the sturdy church, and she had been careless after all.

The faces of those people also turned ugly at the sound, nervously watching the swaying candles above, even more terrified, fearing they would fall and hit their heads.

But there were some who wouldn't give up, or perhaps their psyche was truly fragile; that man who had thinned into a skeleton rushed over and shouted at Liu Mu, "You must protect me, you all should..."

Slap~!

The crowd only felt a blur before their eyes, and something flew out.

By the time that thing was slapped against the wall and slid down, spitting blood from its mouth, they saw clearly that the 'male skeleton' was almost deformed and couldn't move for a long time.

For a moment, the creaking sound the church made in the air blast became even more hair-raising; the crowd scattered away from Liu Mu, as if she were more like the Grim Reaper than the disaster outside.

The interior space of the church was too large, and while there were fireplaces burning on two sides, the temperature was still low, and white mist appeared when speaking.

Liu Mu originally wanted to find a place to sit for a while; turning around, she noticed Feng Ruiya had been staring at her, "Does the Sister have something to say? It wouldn't be asking me to pay damages, would it?"

She was referring to the man who had gone crazy just now. Feng Ruiya shook her head, the light above her head swaying, and the expression on her face was somewhat intriguing, "Sister, could you come with me for a moment? There are some things I need to tell you."

Liu Mu still found it strange; the nun looked like someone who would save the world, yet she didn't blame her for being too heavy-handed?

"What does the Sister have to say?" Liu Mu followed her a few steps, and seeing her back turned to the others, she also turned slightly to the side, "Are you afraid this place won't hold up? I just looked, it should be fine. This wave of air pressure is because of the strike against the invaders; it won't last long."

But just as she finished speaking, an ominous sound came from the top of the church.

Creak, creak—it sounded as if the glass were about to shatter; the candles inserted in the candelabras above actually fell down, mixed with some white plaster from the walls.

For a moment, the crowd screamed and dodged, scrambling to hide by the walls or under chairs.

It was during this chaos that Feng Ruiya took the opportunity to slip a piece of paper into Liu Mu's arms while no one was looking, "It is news about the Sky Viper. Sister, you all be careful; their desperate actions are not limited to what is happening now."

Liu Mu was surprised; the word 'Sister' almost made her slip up, but looking at Feng Ruiya's expression, there was no trust or familiarity, but rather a sense of caution; it should be impossible for her to know she had been undercover.

"They have a major move?" A Warship wasn't enough? What kind of level is this, daring to have such a large-scale operation?

Feng Ruiya shook her head, still speaking very quickly in a low voice: "I don't know either. This is news sent by our Holy See yesterday; it only said the scale of the operation is very large, but it is unclear exactly how they will do it, and I didn't expect... they are so insane. We were prepared, but we couldn't save many people. Regarding what follows, I hope the Base leaders will consider it carefully; I'm afraid it's not over yet."

Liu Mu took another look at the church interior—over a hundred people, of all kinds; it wasn't easy to save them, let alone how they managed to avoid infection given the aggressive transmission route of the Zombie Virus.

"Alright, let me take a look," Liu Mu unfolded the paper directly, not caring about the terrified people hiding near them, and quickly saw the content on it.

On the background of the letter paper was an image of a saint of the church, but the text was handwritten, and it was... English? It didn't look quite like it either; with the 'how are you' and other standard sentence patterns Liu Mu knew from her junior high education, she couldn't recognize even a single word on the letter...

This isn't right, hey, but she had a cheat, 【Xiao A, translate, quick!】

As if in a trance, she seemed to hear a sigh, and then Heitao A translated the information above word for word in her field of vision.

'Large-scale military operation', 'a decision that gambles with fate', 'slaughtering the city', 'sparing no effort to seize the Base'...

Although the writing style was full of church flair, the meaning couldn't be clearer—Liu Mu had guessed correctly before. The Sky Viper really hadn't given up on their plot for the Southeast Three Provinces. Combined with the information provided by the church, it seemed that after they couldn't take the Haicheng Barrier, they shifted their plan to the Haiyang Base.

Take the Haiyang Base, and use it as a springboard to attack the three provinces.

The problem is... Liu Mu pressed her fingers hard, and that page of the letter burned in her hand, turning into ashes... What about the Military Base in the mountains?

With the Sky Viper's intelligence network, it was impossible for them not to know that the Haiyang Base relied on the Military Base in the military district; what would they do, or, had they already done it?

Thinking of this, Liu Mu frowned; if it were the latter, the Sea Soul Squad was afraid they would be dragged into it again this time.

She cursed inwardly, and just as she was anxious and wanted to leave, another exclamation erupted in the church; someone pointed at the glass at the top of the church and shouted that it was about to collapse.

The creaking sound that had made people panic before turned into a cracking sound; more than half of the candles fell, and without the candlelight blocking the view, as soon as she looked up, she saw something pressing on the glass above, and there were already cracks.

"Let them stand over there," Liu Mu pointed to a corner far from the ceiling; the space was large enough, and even if the glass above shattered, it wouldn't fall on their heads.

But while others couldn't hear it, she could hear the air waves outside growing stronger and stronger, and they hadn't even reached their most ferocious point yet.

"Okay, but," Feng Ruiya was also worried; originally, this church was fully staffed, but ever since the disaster, except for two who had perished in the calamity, the rest had all used various excuses to either leave Haiyang or take up posts in the Base, and now only she remained as a nun.

Usually, apart from when distributing supplies during services, those staff members would never come, precisely because they feared situations like today's, as it wasn't as safe as hiding in the Base.

Feng Ruiya could have left early too, but when the Zombie Virus broke out, nearby residents and congregants had all hidden here, so she couldn't leave.

"Go on, I have a way," Liu Mu gave her a push.

This nun was pretty, and although she was tall, she only reached Liu Mu's chin; this push didn't use much force, but it still sent her stumbling forward a distance.

When Feng Ruiya looked back, she saw silver light shimmering around Liu Mu's body, and pieces of silver-white Mecha unfolded just like they had been folded before, covering her entire body in less than a second.

Liu Mu couldn't unfold her wings indoors, but she didn't want to give up this chance to show off, so pale blue air currents erupted from her feet, lifting her directly into the air.

The Mecha arms crossed, forming a hemispherical Energy Shield, pushing up against the glass ceiling.

【Does the Host wish to repair the damage?】

【Repair,】 Liu Mu commanded faintly, and the Energy Shield gradually merged into the glass; very quickly, those cracks were filled with new glass material, and everything was restored as before.

This scene left the people below staring in a daze, and some even shouted directly, "So cool, my god, what kind of Mecha is this?"

Others were skeptical, "Science fiction? Have they already developed Mecha?"

Some show-offs spoke up immediately, "Of course they have, you don't think about how powerful our country was before the disaster, with robotic dogs and robots everywhere; what's so strange about having Mecha? Truly ignorant."

"Everyone go to the northeast corner, just in case there is more falling debris," the nun Feng Ruiya had already seen the appearance of Liu Mu's Mecha, and although she was surprised, she was more worried about everyone's safety.

"Hasn't it already been propped up by the Mecha? Nun, don't be so nervous, it's safe now!"

"Has this Mecha already been mass-produced? The Base has such good things and didn't know to bring them out earlier to protect us, humph, who knows what their intentions are?"

"What kind of intentions could they have? You don't really think this high-end stuff is for ordinary people like us, do you?"

"Maybe some big shot came to the Base, or else it's to protect that Division Commander surnamed Bai."

Liu Mu really hadn't expected that she just wanted to show off, and it actually flushed out so many conspiracy theorists; she really wanted to beat them all up.

There were also timid ones, "Stop talking, didn't you see that person just now... still spitting blood."

【Repair is complete, but this material cannot withstand the upcoming pressure. Host, this round of impact will end in five minutes.】

Then she would just hold on for another five minutes; since she was already up there, Liu Mu didn't want to give up halfway, as that would be no different from not caring whether they lived or died.

At this moment, the system provided another piece of information, from Xu Xiaofeng.

The general meaning was that the Split Body Lv Ping left in the center of the group had received information from the Mother Nest that a large fleet was heading toward Haiyang Base, telling them to prepare.

And this news was from three days ago, which meant Lv Ping had known about the fleet for at least three days.

"This guy, the communication is so delayed; how can I rely on him to gather information in the future?" Liu Mu complained, had the system reply to Xu Xiaofeng, and immediately contacted Bai Chonghuan in the Base.

The air wave impact was not a single line, but a belt-like area; the front had already reached beneath the high wall, and countless pieces of debris were blown into the air; if they didn't hide, even if they weren't blown up and killed by the fall, they would easily be killed by this debris.

To complete his orders, Niu Boyi followed Bai Chonghuan closely, and the latter also honored his promise to get him food. He had thought that as long as he quietly dealt with the air wave impact, he could go out and redeploy, but the tuxedo-wearing man's projection, which had disappeared for a while, appeared again.

Through Heitao A's 'vision', Liu Mu could see that they were in a rather large office with metal office chairs, a row of filing cabinets against the wall, as well as a water dispenser and green plants, but overall it was a minimalist industrial style in dark gray.

Of course, it was also possible that it hadn't been fully renovated at all, just cement walls and floors.

"Hello," Bai Chonghuan, who was also holding a lunch box, was completely unprepared and hurriedly put down his chopsticks to stand up, "Is there something from Commander Liu?"

Just now, the Base's system engineer had already told him that all of the Base's electronic-related systems had been taken over by the Super Intelligent System before them, and they could directly retire.

Of course, that was a joke, but the system was indeed running automatically, not even requiring manual debugging or operation.

"Please, Division Commander Bai Chonghuan, take a look at the information," Heitao A raised a hand and pointed to the computer on Bai Chonghuan's desk, which immediately displayed the intelligence previously provided by the nun Feng Ruiya, while the other side of the screen showed a map of the sea area near Haiyang City.

"We have discovered more than one Warship at sea; rather, it should be a fleet. Old Bai, hurry up and start an operational meeting; I will participate throughout." This was Liu Mu's voice, coming out of Heitao A's image, which was unsettling.

Bai Chonghuan, however, had no heart to be unsettled; the intelligence and the map made it so he couldn't sit still, "Okay, I will notify all departments now. These people actually want to take Haiyang Base; I think they are looking for death!"

Division Commander Bai was indeed the ace Division Commander in Yang Shuo's hands; with just one look, he immediately understood the ultimate goal of the Sky Viper.

He strode out of the office, Niu Boyi followed with his extra-large rice bowl in his mouth, and Heitao A floated beside him.

Heitao A's voice, "The notification has been sent to all operational departments; the meeting location is set for Number One Conference Room, 33 meters away."

"You," Bai Chonghuan used to have a Confidential Clerk who would help him pass orders and arrange trivial matters, but he had never used such an intelligent system, and he was somewhat uncomfortable with the system's high efficiency, "You are actually quite useful."

"Thank you for the compliment. This system is dedicated to serving Commander Liu Mu and will also assist you."

Heitao A's lie was naturally instructed by Liu Mu; soon, the voice switched to Liu Mu, "I am currently in the Saintess Church's church. Once this damn impact passes, I will send all the Survivors in the city to the Base for refuge. I will clear out the remaining Zombies on the way. Also, one more thing... do you have a way to contact the Military Base in the mountains?"

These words made Bai Chonghuan's footsteps pause; he turned his head to look at Heitao A somewhat stiffly, but he couldn't see any facial changes on a virtual image, whereas he himself was being seen clearly by Liu Mu on the other end.

"Can't contact them? That's impossible, Old Bai. This is no time to be hiding things; my Sea Soul Team One has already gone to the mountains, and you must ensure their safety."

Bai Chonghuan did not agree immediately, "Commander Liu, didn't you say you were going to pick them up to get the Vaccine?"

"I don't trust you people, my Division Commander Bai. If I just left, and was delayed for a few hours on the road, you would probably all be gone by the time I returned." Liu Mu did not shy away and stated her worries directly, "Compared to Zombies, artillery fire is even more terrifying."

"It can be contacted, but..." Bai Chonghuan stood in the corridor of the office level, which was an area inside the Base where entry was prohibited, so there was no one else around, "Without Yang Siling's signed order, I cannot mobilize them."

"Yang Siling's signature..." Liu Mu seemed to ponder on the other end, but soon replied, "I have it, wait, let me look for it. I'll have Heitao A print it out for you in a moment. You don't need the original, right? In an emergency, act according to the situation; don't get hung up on formalism."