Chapter 2342: S-Rank Guide Forced Love 27

It was exactly 2:00 p. m.

On the massive airport platform, twelve elite squads along with seven accompanying guides had completed their formation.

The deep-gray heavy transport's engine let out a low, powerful rumble.

Jin Chen changed into a sharper, more mobile commander's combat uniform and appeared at the exclusive passage leading to the upper levels.

Everyone's gaze instantly locked onto him, full of awe and obedience.

However, even more eye-catching was the figure trailing half a step behind him.

You Zan slightly raised his head; the former ferocity and gloom had vanished from his face, giving way to a sated laziness mixed with sharpness.

Like a beast thoroughly fed, basking in the sun and stretching its limbs.

He followed behind Jin Chen, steps steady, eyes scanning the ranks.

The sentinels all threw envious glances.

They envied You Zan for being able to follow close beside an S-Rank Guide, and envied the calm and sense of power that came from being deeply guided by such a powerful guide.

The unit moved out, the heavy hatch opening. Jin Chen led the way toward the lead command ship. You Zan followed close behind, never leaving his side, like the most loyal and sharpest shadow.

The massive contingent boarded in turn, the engine's roar suddenly swelling as they headed for the unknown battlefield deep in the ruins.

The transport's heavy landing gear touched down, kicking up a gray-yellow dust mixed with rust and ash.

All the sentinels landed; a temporary camp was swiftly set up on the ruins' outskirts, the energy shield device humming to life and casting a pale-blue dome that temporarily shut out the oppressive outside air.

Yet what could not be shut out was the land's inherent desolation and distortion.

As far as the eye could see, only remnants of civilization remained.

Once towering skyscrapers looked as if gnawed by a monstrous beast, their steel frames grotesque, shattered glass curtain walls reflecting a deathly light.

The streets were swallowed by huge cracks, deep-purple vines crawling over broken walls, leaves covered in glowing spots.

The air reeked of a sharp, heavy stench and carried a scalp-tingling spiritual interference, as if countless malicious whispers lingered at the edge of the mind, trying to pierce the mental landscape to provoke madness and hallucinations.

Even battle-hardened sentinels had to keep their nerves taut, resisting this all-pervasive erosion.

Scarcely had the camp been set up when the lookout post sounded a sharp alarm: northeast, a cluster of medium-sized aberrations.

The ground transmitted a dull, dense vibration.

In the smoke-choked depths of the ruins, several hundred distorted figures surged toward the camp.

Their forms varied: some resembled skinned giant apes with everted tusks, others were enlarged multi-legged arthropods whose carapaces gleamed with an oily sheen.

Others were simply pulsing masses of flesh that continually dripped corrosive slime, their middles split open to reveal mouths bristling with sharp teeth.

The concentration of spiritual pollution in the air suddenly spiked.

"Assault teams forward! Fire teams cover! Accompanying guides activate spiritual barriers!"

Vice Commander Lei Mengde's voice bellowed through the loudspeaker, habitually deploying according to traditional tactics.

Yet one figure moved faster than the command.

You Zan charged out toward the aberration cluster, pure beast-like instinct.

After a long time, You Zan urgently wanted to fight the aberrations, to take revenge.

He sidestepped the giant ape aberration, twisted his body at an impossible angle, and slammed his combat boot into the inner side of the ape's fragile knee; a clear crack rang out as the ape howled and fell, and You Zan had already pushed off to leap, then thrust at the tumbling mass of flesh.

Fast, accurate, ruthless.

It seemed You Zan was the most dangerous predator in these ruins; after Jin Chen's rehabilitation, he had already reached the peak of an A-Rank Sentinel.

Lu Wen stood not far to You Zan's rear, watching him harvest aberrations as easily as chopping vegetables.

He gripped his weapon, several times trying to approach You Zan's blind spot in the chaos, seeking a chance to create an accident.

Just then, a calm voice sounded, reaching every sentinel's mind.

"All units, attention."

"Teams 2, 3, 4, left wing 15 degrees, concentrate on driving off the tumor aberrations."

"Teams 5, 6, 7, suppress the right-wing giant ape group, cover the elite assault team as it flanks from the side."

"You Zan."

You Zan's attack speed remained unchanged; he involuntarily held his breath, listening to the familiar voice in his mind.

"Target due west: worm aberrations are about to break ground."

The instant You Zan heard the order, his body had already reacted.

It was Jin Chen.

Jin Chen stood on the observation platform atop the command vehicle, hand raised to his earpiece, the dark coat's tails snapping in the polluted wind as he overlooked the entire chaotic battlefield, the white wolf behind him imposing and formidable.

The instant his words fell, the battlefield layout shifted dramatically.

Countless strands of faintly glowing spiritual silk, centered on Jin Chen, were woven into a precise net covering the entire battlefield.

This net transmitted crystal-clear commands and could also feed back every battle detail.

Under Jin Chen's god's-eye-view command and his spiritual intervention, the battlefield swiftly shifted from an initial chaotic encounter to an efficient, ruthless harvest.

Each squad became a coordinate in the vast spiritual net, cooperating seamlessly.

Lei Mengde stood at the command console behind Jin Chen, his eyes extraordinarily complex, his hand on the communicator trembling slightly.

For the first time he directly sensed what true absolute control of an S-Rank Guide felt like, and the terrifying computational power that could encompass every variable in his grasp.

Who would have thought Jin Chen would turn and say to him, "Today I'm responsible for familiarizing the squad with coordination."

Lei Mengde: "... So?"

Jin Chen declared righteously: "After today, aside from large-scale aberration swarm attacks, everything will be your responsibility, Vice Commander."

Lei Mengde: "..."

"I've come to work for you!"

The first wave of attacks, under Jin Chen's command, was quickly quelled with astonishing efficiency.

Around the camp, mutated Distorted corpses lay fallen, the air thick with a heavy stench of blood and burnt odor.

Yuzan rubbed the back of his blood‑stained hand against the collar around his neck, as if confirming its presence, feeling the mental power's gaze upon his movements, unique and one‑of‑a‑kind.