The red-haired girl ascended step by step, following the folding staircase upwards. Soon, she arrived once again in front of the opened safety door. "Now, what exactly is happening?" The lush woman lying at the doorway shook as she looked at the red-haired girl before her. Although she had occasionally seen random gang fights on the streets with small-caliber firearms or cold weapons like knives and batons, as long as you ran fast, there was no problem. This terrifying scene of large-caliber rifles being fired at close range was something she had never witnessed in her life, and it was quite clear that these soldiers outside were not ’friendly’ towards them, the ’survivors’. As she spoke, she also shifted her gaze towards the man with the scruffy beard standing not far behind the red-haired girl. Right now, behind the man with the scruffy beard, soldiers in full exoskeleton armor were rapidly forming up, encircling the fallen airship. At this moment, the man with the scruffy beard seemed to notice her observation and, with evident interest, shifted his gaze towards her. The lush woman’s body trembled; before locking gazes with the scruffy bearded man, she immediately averted her eyes, looking back at the red-haired girl in front of her. Just that brief glance let her feel the terrifying oppressive aura of the scruffy bearded man, as if killing were as simple as eating and drinking. She wondered how this young girl managed to stand straight and speak in front of such a frightening person. "These people are likely from the Kopes Mining Mercenary Corps." The red-haired girl didn’t pay attention to the lush woman’s actions. Instead, her eyes scanned past the lush woman and also towards the other survivors slowly gathering around. The lush woman was not the only one wanting to know what exactly was going on. "The Kopes Mining Mercenary Corps?" The lush woman’s eyes widened in an instant, her voice slightly elevated, and then she quickly lowered her voice, looking at the red-haired girl and whispered, "Why are they doing this? This is murder! Aren’t they afraid of the Federal Bureau of Investigation?!" "There is no Federal Bureau of Investigation in the wilderness. This place is beyond Order," the red-haired girl shook her head, "The ’truth’ often depends on how the last survivors choose to tell it." The lush woman was momentarily at a loss for words, her voice caught in her throat. After a moment, she let out a sigh, "So this is the wilderness." She wasn’t foolish and understood what the red-haired girl meant. "This is the wilderness," the red-haired girl nodded slightly, raised her head to glance at the crowd around, and then fixed her gaze back on the lush woman, "The one out there should be the Captain or a high-ranking officer of the Kopes Mining Mercenary Corps. I’ve reached a deal with him. I’ll work for him, and he’s promised that, as long as none of you run around, he won’t kill you. But," her tone paused for a moment as she gazed at the lush woman’s somewhat anxious cheeks and continued, "He’s definitely going to kill us all. The only difference will be when I’m no longer of use to him or when his patience runs out." The lush woman’s body tensed instantly; she looked at the red-haired girl carefully and asked softly, "What should we do then?" "There should be a long-distance signal transmitter inside the airship. Find a way to fix the transmitter and send out a distress signal," the red-haired girl said quickly, "There must be sentinels from Yilan City Defense Army nearby. They would have seen the airship fall but don’t know our specific situation. Only if Yilan City knows we’re still alive and sends a rescue, will we have a real chance at survival." The lush woman nodded firmly. The red-haired girl nodded, then took one last glance at the lush woman and turned around, heading down the stairs. In that instant, the lush woman realized the deep meaning behind the girl’s glance; she immediately lifted her hand and called out loudly, "Let me walk with you." Then she glanced at the exoskeleton armored soldiers surrounding them outside, hesitated for a moment, and still stepped through the safety door, catching up to the red-haired girl. The two walked side by side downward in silence. Not until they were nearly at the bottom of the staircase did the red-haired girl lower her head and whisper in a subdued voice, "These mercenaries will definitely set up signal jamming devices around here, specifically targeting the frequency bands that the airships can emit. "When I crashed just now, I looked around, and we seem to be far from the main forces of Kopes Mining here. There must be many wild beasts or exotic beasts nearby that haven’t been scared off by the cannon fire. "The communication equipment installed on the airship usually has very high power output. When you activate the distress signal later, just crank up the power to the maximum. Along with the jammer’s signal, these electromagnetic signals should alarm and scatter the nearby sensitive beast herds. This might draw the attention of the Yilan sentinels monitoring the area." The plump woman nodded gently. She clearly understood why the girl hadn’t discussed these matters on the airship; not everyone wishes to share life-and-death situations with others. With more people, the thoughts become more chaotic. Walking down the stairs step by step, the plump woman hesitated for a moment and then asked softly, "Will you be okay cooperating with them alone?" the girl shook her head gently, "but they probably won’t harm me until I lose my value to them." The plump woman’s voice paused slightly, as she asked softly "What exactly do they want you to do?" "It looks like they want to use the medicines that I make to deal with a very powerful Transcendent, or perhaps several." The redhead spoke softly. The plump woman was slightly startled, confusion in her eyes. "You can think of them as humans with powerful abilities." The redhead explained offhandedly, "Sometimes the power of some of these individuals can even rival that of a military force." "Superhumans among ordinary people?" The plump woman opened her mouth slightly as if thinking of something, and whispered, "Is Mayor Lin En one of these Transcendents you’re talking about? Are they planning to go against Mayor Lin En?" The only one she could think of in Yilan City with strength and wisdom far surpassing ordinary people was Mayor Lin En. Hearing her question, the redhead paused slightly, ripples stirring in her calm gaze, and then she shook her head, speaking slowly, "Probably not, he is not that strong." At this moment, her footprint had once again touched the wilderness ground. She turned to look at the plump woman beside her and said softly, "This is as far as you go. You should head back, no need for further escort." And then, in the distance, a man with a goatee in a military uniform was approaching swiftly. The plump woman looked at the redhead in front of her, ultimately nodded gently, and said in a deep voice, "Take care." Then, under the redhead’s gaze, she turned and walked back up the stairs to the airship. "You spoke quite a bit there." The man with the goatee came up behind the redhead and said hoarsely. "If I didn’t clarify the situation, there would inevitably be some who make foolish mistakes." The redhead turned around and walked towards the soldiers who were gradually forming an encirclement in the distance. "You just met these people," the man with the goatee walked alongside the redhead, hoarse voice speaking, "why save them? With your skills, I have many good positions for you here, and the company would also be willing to hire you." "There is no specific reason," the redhead said coolly, "I did it because I felt like it." The bearded man glanced at the girl’s retreating back, shook his head, and continued, "I have prepared everything you need. The lab will be set up near my command center. Some things are in short supply, so I sent people to buy them in Dawn City. They should arrive by tomorrow at the latest. You can start working on some samples today. I hope the results will satisfy me." "As long as the materials you’ve prepared are not defective," the girl said coldly, "there won’t be any problems with the products I create." The two figures slipped through the gaps among the soldiers, into the depths of the dim sky. Beneath the layers of dreary clouds and chill winds, massive signal jammers were transported and installed around the airships. "Is the flight attendant here?" The plump woman returned to the airship and looked at the flight attendant standing by the door. the flight attendant replied to the plump woman, having just overheard the redhead’s conversation, and quickly added, "I’ll take you there." At the same time, she glanced at the crowd around her and called out loudly, "Please stay inside the airship for the time being. Do not wander off; it’s very dangerous outside." Then she turned back to give the plump woman a wave and led her towards the back of the cockpit. "Isn’t this flight attendant too indecisive? She actually listened to that brat?" Once they had left, a murmuring voice from a skinny man could be heard among the crowd. "So what? Do you want to go down and take a look? Didn’t you see how ruthless those mercenaries were? The woman’s remaining half is still lying down there unattended." Immediately, someone retorted sarcastically, "And you with your big opinions, why didn’t you speak up when she was here? Now you’re talking behind her back?" "I’m just expressing my opinion, and besides, Kopes Mining’s Mercenary Corps is supposed to have some brains, right? They’re not exotic beasts. Would they really massacre us without mercy?" "There has to be a reason for everything, right? We’re all human; there should be room for negotiation. Why can a little girl negotiate, but we can’t? Why do we have to listen to the nonsense of that brat? What does a child know? "And what does she have that she can negotiate with a big mercenary corps leader like that? In terms of status, position, and ability, are we inferior to a little girl?" The inside of the airship fell silent. Outside, the sky grew ever darker. Soldiers nearby had lit up the area with lights, and in this twilight where day and night were indistinguishable, three silhouettes slowly emerged from the safety door, descending the folding staircase. After a brief pause, they sprinted toward the brightest lights in the vicinity. The Exoskeleton Armored soldiers guarding the perimeter saw them approaching and immediately raised their rifles. "We have important intelligence!!!" The leading figure immediately raised both hands, shouting, "Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!" The soldiers just gazed at them calmly, fingers on the triggers. At this moment, an officer walked up to the soldiers and looked at the three men running over, calmly saying, "Let them come." The soldiers hesitated for a moment and then lowered their rifles. Seeing this, the three runners’ faces quickly spread with joy. They hurried over, and the leading skinny man, panting heavily, looked at the officer ahead, "Sir, you’re exactly where I thought you’d be. We have... important intelligence!" "Don’t rush, take your time." The officer looked at the man before him and spoke calmly. the skinny man caught his breath and quickly explained, "Those people in the airship are preparing to fix the signal transmitter and send out a distress call to bring the Yilan Army over to rescue them!" The officer glanced at the tower-shaped jammers being installed nearby, then looked down at the three men, "And what about you? What do you plan to do?" "We’re here to negotiate," the skinny man said sycophantically with a smile, offering a cigarette with a golden filter, "Officer, we just happened to be on this flight. We have no grudges, no need to make it a matter of life and death. "We’ve pooled some money and hope to buy a chance to live. We all have some assets, and once we get back to the city, we’ll be sure to repay you handsomely." The officer took the cigarette, smiling as he turned, "We can talk about that later." The three exchanged glances, feeling suddenly elated, and quickly followed the officer. Three crisp gunshots rang out from the depths of cloudy gloom. "Dump them into the woods," the officer dusted off his sleeves and returned to the frontline soldiers, flicking the cigarette away, "Wasting my time." Yilan City·North Gate The massive transport aircraft and several already ignited Blazing Angel Mechs towered under the gloomy clouds, the blazing firelight scattering the dark chill. "Mr. Lin En, do you need the Wilderness Combat Regiment to go as well?" Mid stood beside He Ao, speaking rapidly. He Ao glanced at the Dragon Cavalry Fighters floating in the sky and the mech squad ready for takeoff, shaking his head slightly, "These men are enough. More would affect our mobility." Mid looked at the Elderly stepping towards the transport, hesitated for a moment, then spoke slowly, "You can trust the North City Defense Army. They can complete the mission. You don’t have to go to the battlefield yourself." "I’ve always trusted them," He Ao turned and looked back at Mid with a smile. Then he turned around, stepped onto the open ramp, and entered the transport. He then turned back, his gaze lifting to look at the magnificent high wall beside him. The old, turbid eyes seemed to penetrate the thick wall, seeing the skyscrapers of the city and the gigantic figure in the city center that was almost solidified. The Elderly diverted his gaze back to Mid in front of him, tapping his cane on the metal floor, his aged voice hesitating slightly, "But this time, I must go." Mid stared blankly at the Elderly before him, realizing that the old man had made an extremely important decision but not knowing what it meant. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. At that moment, the Elderly was already looking at him, speaking again, "I leave the defense of North City in your hands." Mid gazed at the Elderly, stood up straight with his hand on his chest, giving a military salute, solemn as if making a vow to a Divine Being, "Please rest assured!" Underneath the overcast clouds, the chilly wind blew through the Elderly’s white hair. The opening hatch slowly closed, concealing the figure of the Elderly. The massive transport took off, soaring towards the direction of the endless gloom.