Chapter 152: with translation of chapter title

She stretched out her hand and waved it before San Yue Qi's eyes: "San Yue? Come to your senses! Still in pain so you can't speak? Want me to go ask Dan Heng for some medicine?"

Jizi was brought back to herself by A Xing's movement, and looking at the gray‑haired girl's golden eyes full of concern, the heavy thoughts about conspiracies, attacks, and Aftereffects in her mind were temporarily eased by a helpless warmth.

She let out a soft sigh and shook her head.

"No need, A Xing."

She paused, then added, trying to match San Yue Qi's usual breeziness while keeping her steady tone, "I... just need a short rest. Maybe... I really did accidentally bump into it last night."

A Xing nodded skeptically, but still said, "Then you must tell me if something's wrong! Don't force it! I'm still reliable!"

Jizi looked at her earnest expression, and at last her mouth couldn't help but curve upward in a grateful arc.

"Mm, I understand."

She said softly, "Thank you, A Xing."

Inside a Safe House of the World Snake.

Du Ya crossed her arms and leaned against the cold wall, her gray hair framing ruby snake pupils that read "life has no love" in four bold characters.

On the small table before her lay a Task briefing, and the most conspicuous line of text mercilessly mocked her:

【Target Location: Tian Ming Headquarters·Core Secret Area】

"Floating Island... above the Mediterranean Sea... a massive defensive formation made of the Nine Main Islands..."

Du Ya whispered these basic‑to‑the‑bone pieces of information pulled from the database, feeling her proud mercenary career being challenged like never before.

(How did I even nod in agreement back then?)

She questioned herself for the thousand‑first time in her mind.

(Just because I saw a Galaxy Bat Knight face in the conference room, my brain completely crashed, and I even dared to take a mission that clearly sends ants to gnaw on a Titan armored vehicle?)

Infiltrate Tian Ming Headquarters? That's literally Tian Ming!

One of the world's most tightly organized forces, its headquarters is built directly in the Floating Island Cluster above the Mediterranean Sea, a pinnacle of this era's cutting‑edge technology and defensive fortress.

Conventional methods? Nonexistent.

Direct assault? That would be announcing to the whole world, "All members of World Snake are here, come and crush us."

Smuggling? Not even an unauthorized drone could get in.

Just as Du Ya's thoughts fell into the dead‑end loop of "how to achieve Heaven Ascension," and she was about to consider the feasibility of hijacking a Huperian, a rhythmical "slurp—slurp—" sound stubbornly pierced her ears.

A vein on her forehead pulsed, and she slowly turned her head.

The culprit sat in the chair opposite her.

A Xing was cradling a steaming bucket of Bubble Noodles, eating with intense focus.

She lowered her head slightly, her golden eyes dimly focusing on the noodles, her motions precise, but that sound... rang especially clear in the silent Safe House.

"... I say,"

Du Ya finally couldn't hold back, her tone laced with irritation, "You should think of a solution, okay? The job we took is a Heaven Ascension task."

She deliberately emphasized the two words "Heaven Ascension."

A Xing heard the voice and paused the "slurp."

She lifted her head, looked at Du Ya, her face still expressionless.

Then, anticipating Du Ya's thought "You aren't going to say 'let's eat first'," A Xing made an even more speechless move.

She picked up another unopened bucket of Bubble Noodles on the table, flicked her wrist, and the bucket slid steadily to Du Ya's front.

The motion was precise, the force just right, even thoughtfully orienting the flavor label toward Du Ya.

"Here. Still hot."

A Xing said, her tone flat, indistinguishable between concern and mere statement.

Du Ya: "..."

(Provocation! This is definitely provoking me!)

She stared at the bucket emitting a cheap aroma, feeling her Reason String buzzing again.

A seemingly other‑worldly "star", when faced with an S-level Problem concerning the organization's survival, offered the first concrete suggestion — eat Bubble Noodles?

Just as Du Ya inhaled deeply, ready to push the eyesore aside and properly "educate" this new colleague about task urgency, A Xing made another move.

She pulled a folded sheet of paper from her coat pocket, pinched it with two fingers, and smoothly placed it before Du Ya, right against the edge of the noodle bucket.

Du Ya raised an eyebrow, a mixture of strong unwillingness and a hint of curiosity, and picked up the paper.

After a quick glance, Du Ya's previously impatient expression was instantly replaced by surprise.

Too detailed.

Detailed beyond her very notion of "intelligence."

First, Li Su Shang's exact coordinates, not the vague "Tian Ming Headquarters," but narrowed down to the Helheim Experimental Area within the Floating Island Cluster, even marking the specific floor, room number, and a Three-Dimensional schematic of the interior.

Second, the model of the Sleep Pod she uses: RT-7C "Long Sleeper" custom‑made life‑support unit.

Beside it were all the Technical Parameters, Energy Circuit Diagram, Emergency Unlock Protocols (three different Security Levels), and in tiny red print a note that "this equipment exhibited periodic noise anomalies in production batches ███‑██."

(... Even this? This is no longer intel; it's basically the Quality Inspection Report and Maintenance Log from the Tian Ming lab, right?)

What made Du Ya's pupils constrict the most was the "Operation Plan" listed below in concise bullet points.

The Core Strategy was neither a direct assault nor elaborate disguise, but to exploit a Routine Logistics Transfer.

The plan shows that next Wednesday, a Transport Squad belonging to the Material Management and Circulation Department will board a dedicated Transport Ship from a concealed ground transfer station to the headquarters' Floating Island Cluster for routine resupply.

The squad's personnel roster, handover codes, ship identification signals, route map, and even recent duty rosters and health inspection reports of its members... are all listed.

The draft plan suggests that during the window when the Transport Ship arrives at the ground transfer station for final preparation, Du Ya should use her World Snake Cadre intelligence network and Disguise Technique to eliminate and replace key members of the squad.

Meanwhile, A Xing will disguise herself as a Special Experimental Specimen Containment Unit traveling with the ship, blending into the cargo hold.

By exploiting the internal personnel identity and the "rationality" of cargo transport, she will bypass the strictest external defense scans.

"The difficulty lies in the Secondary Identity Verification inside the Helheim Experimental Area, and the Path Selection and Time Control during target relocation."

At the end, the plan calmly evaluated, "Recommend preparing Plan B: create a Small-scale Fault to attract the guards' attention. The specific fault types are recommended as follows…"

Du Ya pinched the edge of the paper, their knuckles whitening slightly from the pressure.

She lifted her head and looked again at A Xing across the table, who had resumed slurping Bubble Noodles.

(Thorough…so thorough it's terrifying.)

This is definitely not something the guy in front of me, who seems to have only "eating Bubble Noodles" in his head, could have pulled off alone.

Behind it must be a higher‑level entity, familiar with the inner workings of Tianming to a maddening degree, that is orchestrating it.

Is it Hui She?

Or the power deep within the World Snake that even she, as an officer, has never encountered?

It can't be Feather Rabbit, can it?

Countless questions swirl in Du Ya's mind, but as a top‑class mercenary, she knows more clearly what must be done now.

The veracity of the intelligence remains to be verified, and the plan's feasibility requires further deduction and preparation, but at least the scene before us is no longer a Despair‑inducing pitch‑black expanse, but a clear narrow path has emerged.

She glanced at the bucket of Bubble Noodles in front of her, which was no longer scalding, then looked at A Xing across from her, whose face showed a state of selflessness as he ate.

…tsk.

Finally, she let out an ambiguous sound and tore open the Bubble Noodles package.

Scalding water poured over the noodle cake, steaming up a white mist scented with artificial flavorings.

(Anyway, let's eat first.)

She mimicked A Xing's style, sucking in a big mouthful with force.

(Then, turn this ghostly plan…into reality.)