Chapter 82 - 79: Why Not Post a Commission With Us?

Chapter 82: Chapter 79: Why Not Post a Commission With Us?

Deep in the Nightmare.

Lu Qing, captain of Squad Four and Lu Fan’s sister—a top-tier expert from the Countermeasures Bureau just below the Extraordinary rank—had descended here.

She surveyed her surroundings. Skyscrapers were hidden in the mist, colossal shadows shambled about, and terrifying, monstrous sounds echoed through the dead city.

Seeing this scene, she knew. ’As expected. For someone like me, at the Peak of Tier Three Refining, it’s just too difficult to descend into a Shallow Nightmare.’

She wasn’t just at the Peak of Tier Three Refining; she was a seasoned veteran at that level.

She had been consolidating her power at this stage for a long time.

Her foundation was profound and her life force immense; she already had what it took to break through to the Extraordinary rank.

But she lacked the right environment to make the breakthrough.

She glanced at the colossal shadow in the mist out of the corner of her eye and shook her head slightly. ’The mission will have to be left to the younger generation. For now, I just need to survive.’

...

In another Nightmare.

Li Yunfeng, captain of Squad Three, shattered an aberration’s entire body with a single sword strike. The ground cracked, sending shattered rock and clumps of earth flying in all directions.

He felt no satisfaction, instead quickly distancing himself from the battlefield.

He didn’t even allow himself to breathe until he was two thousand meters away and had completely concealed his aura.

’Tch! I knew it. Not only did I fail to get into a Shallow Nightmare, but I got tossed into an even more dangerous place. I’m definitely applying for mental distress compensation from the Bureau when I get back.’

He looked up at the sky. ’As for the mission... it’s all up to you kids now.’

...

’I’m in, I’m in!’

In a small Nightmare somewhere, Long Niu, the deputy captain of Squad Six and a Second Refining Realm expert, knew he was in the clear the moment he saw his surroundings.

The environments of Shallow and Deep Nightmares were vastly different.

If he had descended into a large-scale Shallow Nightmare, it might have been hard to tell at first whether he was in a Shallow or Deep Area. But this place was a Nightmare of limited size—a villa—so it was definitely in the shallows.

’Among all the captains and deputy captains, I, Long Niu, might be the only one who landed in a Shallow Area.’

At this thought, Long Niu felt the weight of responsibility settle heavily on his shoulders.

He, an ordinary deputy captain, had unexpectedly become their last line of defense.

The pressure was immense.

’However, the priority now is to determine my location and head for the Blood-colored Bus camp, or go directly to the entrance of the Ancient Village.’

...

Blood-colored Bus Nightmare, logistics camp.

Song Jianshen, a Peak of Control Stage expert from Squad Two, was the current supreme commander of the camp, responsible for overseeing logistics.

Several newly promoted Control Stage members, including Old Cai and Old Yao, were assisting him.

"Group Leader Song, the sixteen members of the assault team are ready, including the acting leader, Returning Stream. Also, of the three external reinforcements, the Alchemist is in position. Rakshasa Sword and Wan Xie are too far from camp, so they’ll head directly to the Black Street Nightmare."

The assault team alone accounted for nearly half of their total personnel.

The remaining members were divided into the Guidance Squad and the logistics team.

At first glance, the Guidance Squad seemed severely undermanned, far from enough to tackle the dozens of surrounding Nightmares.

But that wasn’t the right way to look at it.

The assault team’s mission was the most difficult. In contrast, clearing ordinary small Nightmares wasn’t hard, provided they had an expert leading the team and were well-prepared.

Not enough people?

The Countermeasures Bureau could always dispatch a batch of Ordinary Dream Descenders on short notice.

Once the assault team completed its mission, those same experts could then turn around and clear the ordinary Nightmares in the area.

Furthermore, the Countermeasures Bureau could mobilize civilian Dream Descenders.

There were a fair number of Dream Descenders in the surrounding Nightmares. It wouldn’t be difficult to get the civilian ones to lend a hand by appealing to the greater good and offering some incentives.

However, it was hard to say how many civilian Dream Descenders they could recruit on such short notice.

The main force would still have to be the Countermeasures Bureau’s own Elites.

...

The Countermeasures Bureau moved swiftly.

They had precise intelligence and knew that the sole entrance to the Ancient Village Nightmare was located inside the Black Street Nightmare.

They also possessed a complete, recently updated map of the wider region, along with key information and characteristics of its many Nightmares.

And so, the Dream Descenders of the assault team began to move out swiftly.

The Dream Descenders from the Guidance Squad also formed pairs and quickly headed to their designated Nightmares to be on standby.

Figures in black trench coats streaked through the Nightmare Area one after another.

"It’s... the Countermeasures Bureau Elites!"

"So many of them!"

One Dream Descender, who was being chased by a threat, was saved when a passing assault team Elite casually swatted it away.

In the Black Street Nightmare, a few Dream Descenders who were fleeing for their lives watched, dumbfounded, as figures in black trench coats vaulted past them along the street.

’Something big is definitely about to happen!’

The passing assault team Elites had swept the entire Black Street Nightmare clean of threats.

If they weren’t worried about environmental changes when the Nightmare revived after being cleared, they would have steamrolled this entire small Nightmare as a matter of course.

Even so, the assault team still used various methods to suppress the aberrations in the Black Street Nightmare.

...

「Safe Zone.」

After the meeting ended, the Dream Descenders scattered into various Nightmares in the blink of an eye.

But they would return from time to time to rest.

Shi An heard the news from some of the Dream Descenders.

’The Countermeasures Bureau is making a big move?’

’A large number of experts in black trench coats have gathered at the Black Street Nightmare?’

Hearing this, Profound Sword added from the side, "My Senior Brother, Rakshasa Sword, was seconded to the Countermeasures Bureau a few days ago to participate in this major operation. I just don’t know what the operation is exactly."

He was extremely busy, either clearing Nightmares or holed up in the training room, so he had no time to pay attention to such things.

But Shi An’s gaze sharpened.

He had a pretty good idea of what the Countermeasures Bureau was up to.

’The Nightmare Black Street has an entrance to a special Nightmare.’

Shi An prepared to send out his new temp worker, a kid named Lin Xiao, to scout out the situation.

He’d always suspected there was something wrong with that Nightmare; the ’malicious gaze’ from before might have originated there.

Shi An had originally planned to issue a rallying quest to explore and clear that Nightmare.

He just hadn’t expected the Countermeasures Bureau to be one step ahead.

’This... isn’t a bad thing, either.’

’If I can get carried to victory, all the better. I’ll be happy just to get credit for an assist.’

With that in mind, Shi An asked the Dream Descenders to keep an eye on the situation for him.

Everyone was quite nosy and genuinely wanted to see what the Countermeasures Bureau was up to anyway.

But unexpectedly, before any battle reports could arrive from the front lines, a battered figure came stumbling into the Safe Zone.

He was gasping for breath.

It was an old acquaintance.

Old Yao of the Countermeasures Bureau!

"Old Yao, what happened to you?"

Old Yao, his voice trembling with lingering fear, said, "It was... it was aberrations! We had just left the camp to head to the surrounding areas when we ran right into them. And there was more than one!"

He had stumbled upon the Safe Zone by chance while fleeing, which was the only reason he’d escaped with his life.

But his comrades had scattered, and the camp was still back there!

The aberrations seemed to be heading for the camp!

But right now, only a few logistics personnel, who weren’t skilled fighters, were left guarding it. How could they possibly withstand a siege from several aberrations?

Worse still, the experts were all on the front lines, far from the Bus Nightmare. They couldn’t make it back in time, and they might not even get word of the attack.

And while it was safe here in the Safe Zone, he had no way to save his comrades back at the logistics camp.

Shi An spoke up. "Why don’t you try posting a request here in our Safe Zone?"