The flimsy plastic walls vibrated violently. Outside the door, which was scarcely soundproof, came the cacophony of roars, the chaos of voices speaking, and the rumbling sounds of machinery. The red-haired girl held a test tube that was gradually changing color, inching closer to the door that trembled along with the walls. Through the gap in the door that was constantly opening and closing, she could see the outside sky which had completely darkened; the mechas and warplanes streaking across the horizon, and the armored vehicles rumbling past her. To the right side of this temporary laboratory seemed to be an armory. Since the first boom, the sounds of military movements outside the door seemed to never completely stop. But now, fewer shadows could be seen outside the door and it was visibly continuing to lessen. The soldiers stationed nearby seemed almost completely reassigned. It was foreseeable that this Mercenary Corps had encountered some major trouble; trouble so severe it required mobilizing the entire Mercenary Corps to handle it. At first, the girl thought the City Defense Army from Yilan City had arrived, but after observing, she realized something was amiss. She was currently located on the southern side of the entire camp, and Yilan City was also to the south of the camp, while the mobilizing troops were heading north. Moreover, it seemed that these troops weren’t the first ones to rush over. The mechanical roar began from far away before reaching the surroundings of her temporary laboratory. This meant, the redeployment of troops within the camp started from the north. And it was clearly an emergency situation; even if there was a plan, it wasn’t thorough, and the orderliness among the troops passing by outside the door was not very strong. To the north of the Mercenary Corps, at least to the north of this laboratory, an attack by some formidable enemy had occurred, and to counter this attack, the Commander of the Mercenary Corps was mobilizing all troops to besiege the attacker. This seemed to fit the current situation, but the girl thought for a long time and couldn’t conceive of what formidable enemy could appear on the northern side of Kopes Mining. Even if Dawn City or the Federation sent troops, there wouldn’t be enough time. Therefore, the girl did not act initially but rather suppressed her emotions, observing the situation while continuing her experiment. She even used the laboratory’s equipment to attempt a communication with the bearded Captain, hoping to pry out some information, but there was no connection. As the noises outside rose and fell, she was gradually certain that there was indeed a problem at the Mercenary Corps camp. She cautiously leaned against the crack in the door, moving her head from side to side, gazing at the soldiers outside. "What exactly is happening in the north?" At this moment, in front of the shaking door, the soldier on the left was lighting up a cigarette, looking out into the desolate night sky. "They say they are trying to kill a powerful Transcendent?" The soldier on the right also had a cigarette in his mouth, casually joining in the conversation. "Damn these sons of bitches, how did they let a powerful Transcendent into the camp." After taking a drag, the left soldier asked, "What do we do if it comes our way?" "If it makes it here, what else can we do? Run," replied the soldier on the right with a hoarse laugh. "There’s almost no one left in the surrounding camps; it looks pretty grim this time." Hearing this, the soldier on the left paused slightly, "The Captain personally ordered us to guard her." "Tch, everything’s such a mess now, who cares about one girl," said the right soldier as he took a breath and with suggestive eyes spoke to his companion, "Don’t you think that little lady is quite something?" The left soldier smacked his lips, licked his somewhat dry lips, "Haven’t seen such a tender girl out in the wilderness," Then his tone paused briefly, "But... how do we explain this afterwards?" "The Transcendent is so powerful, and he had an accomplice infiltrate," the soldier on the right said with a smile, "It makes sense to kill a young girl in the chaos. Worst case, we just take advantage of the confusion to grab something and run. Lately, there’s been more and more going on with the Mercenary Corps; staying here means a greater chance of getting sent to our deaths if anything happens." "When do we make our move?" The soldier on the left seemed persuaded and asked. "Wait a bit, don’t rush," the soldier on the right waved his hand, "We’ll move after most of the surrounding people have gone." The rumbling noise outside gradually diminished; the nearby troop had already departed. The number of troops around was dwindling, and it would be at least a few minutes before the next wave arrived. The girl gazed at the two soldiers outside the door, took a deep breath, pulled out a brown candy, and placed it between her teeth. Then she slowly placed her palm on the vibrating door, holding the test tube, and gently tugged at the door. At that moment, the soldier guarding the door on the right seemed to sense something and turned his head toward the left. The girl’s breathing halted, her movements immediately stopped, and she slowly closed the door a bit more. And at that moment, accompanied by a thunderous crash, an off-road vehicle loaded with fierce soldiers drove out from the left front and passed by the door. These soldiers appeared to be part of the convoy that had just left. The soldier guarding the door stopped turning his head and fixed his gaze on the off-road vehicle, watching it pass by him, then watched as it drove off into the distance. Seeing this, the girl let out a slight sigh of relief. She waited a moment to ensure it was just one vehicle, not a squad, before slowly opening the door a crack again. Then, as she watched the gap that was made by the door, her arm holding the test tube exerted a bit more force. With a crisp sound, the test tube, now completely opaque, flew through the gap in the door and shattered on the ground in front of it, and the liquid inside suddenly expanded and burst, turning into a dense white fog. The soldiers guarding the door, alerted by the noise and clutching their firearms, looked toward the source of the sound; then, the dense white fog enveloped their bodies. Their bodies went limp and they collapsed to the ground without even having the chance for further action. Only after confirming that both men had completely fallen did the girl let out a slight breath, bit down on the candy, pulled open the door, and stepped out. The dense white mist entered her nostrils but seemingly had no effect on her; her movements even quickened a bit. She looked at the soldiers lying on the ground, stripped their guns and grenades hanging on their bodies, and loaded herself with their gear. Then she glanced down at the two soldiers lying on the ground and viciously stomped on the area between their legs twice. Accompanied by two cries of pain, she picked up a gun, pulled back the bolt, and walked outside along the laboratory’s wall, along with the fog that was gradually dispersing in the cold wind. The sky was completely shrouded in dark clouds, with only a few scattered lights from the camp visible, and visibility was very low due to the fog. A heavy noise pervaded the air, from distant artillery fire to the sound of cars speeding by close by. Fortunately, her earlier judgment was correct; there were no loud noises from a large volume of traffic nearby, and the next wave of troops was still some time away. She walked slowly forward along the laboratory’s wall, gradually emerging from the dense fog. When she reached the end of the wall, the slightly chilly wind blew across her cheeks, the fog around her gradually thinned, and when she could faintly make out the open camp square ahead, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. The first step had already been completed. Next, perhaps it would be possible to seek out that powerful Transcendent. Hopefully, the other party had enough rationality to be persuadable. The girl didn’t know who that powerful Transcendent was, whether friend or foe, or if there was any connection to Yilan City. But at this juncture, if there were tensions with the Kopes Mining Mercenary Corps, even without direct relations, collaboration was still possible. Perhaps she could convince the other party to protect the White Jasmine Palace. With such formidable power, it could certainly alleviate a lot of pressure. After all... she was far too weak. Feeling a constant sense of panic and palpitations in her heart, the girl let out a long sigh. As the girl was deep in thought, a faint sound of mechanical adjustment came from behind her. The red-haired girl was slightly startled. She slowly turned her head to look behind her. What came into her view was a giant cannon barrel, larger than half her body. And behind this barrel was a heavily modified, imposing armored vehicle. Not far from the armored vehicle, an empty off-road vehicle was parked by the doorway of the desolate armory. In that instant, the girl realized that the soldiers from the off-road vehicle had come back to fetch this armored vehicle and had simply run into her. A strong radiance was gathering inside the barrel, brushing the girl’s cheek with heat that seemed capable of destroying everything. Her scattered red hair lifted slightly, fluttering in the cold wind. It seemed that the operator of this weapon of war had no intention of giving her any time to react or explain. Time itself appeared to freeze at that moment, as the girl gripped the gun in her hand, feeling the nearly suffocating heat bearing down on her. It appeared she had indeed been a bit willful; had she remained in Dawn City, this situation probably wouldn’t have arisen. But if she didn’t come back, if she didn’t return, would she not see... I can’t die here, I still haven’t... Her messy red hair danced in the wind, and the girl, clutching her firearm, bit her lip hard. She tensed her body, attempting to leap sideways. Reaching for the grenade on her waist, she wanted to throw it into the radiant barrel, but her utmost effort seemed incredibly slow under the rapidly gathering energy in the barrel. Almost in a blink, the barrel amassed a surging glow. At that moment, the girl managed to grab the grenade. But it seemed too late; the gathering of the light had finished, and the power that could swallow life was about to burst forth. The girl stared blankly at the scene, slightly clenching her teeth. Her gaze shifted from the barrel, as if piercing through the continuous wasteland, seeing the city behind the high walls. In the end, she had failed to meet... A wide, warm palm touched the girl’s palm, slowly taking the grenade from her hand, then swiftly gathered all the grenades from her waist, pulled out the pins, and stretched them toward the glowing barrel, dumping all the grenades into it. Then that palm dragged the visibly scorching barrel and slowly exerted force upward. The massive armored vehicle was flipped over with ease, like a feather caught in the wind, guided by the barrel. The giant barrel tilted its head up, aiming at the sky. Brilliant light burst from that barrel, shooting through the breeze-stirred heavens, heading into the endless clouds. At the same time, the fierce light burst forth from within the armored vehicle, instantly tearing apart the thick armor, igniting a dazzling fireworks display. The red-haired girl had no time to react to all this before she felt her shoulder being embraced and found herself falling into a somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar embrace. Then, she was carried with a forceful leap, crossing through the void. Flames spewing from the exploding armored vehicle and the bright red shrapnel blossomed behind her, the surging flames brushing past her drifting strands of hair. She looked up to see that familiar yet unfamiliar aged profile, and lost herself for a moment. Soon, the elderly man landed with her in front of an open doorway. Then the elderly man took the loaded rifle from her hands, aiming at the figure lying on the ground in the mist ahead, struggling to pull out a handgun, pointed at the girl. He covered the girl’s eyes with one hand, while the other held the gun, firing two shots. Accompanied by the crisp sounds, the scattered mist once again returned to tranquility. The elderly man withdrew his hand, returning the gun to the girl. The girl looked at the elderly man before her, inspecting his aged cheeks, observing the wrinkles, and opened her mouth as if wanting to say countless things, but in the end, she just lowered her head and muttered, "I’m not a child anymore, I won’t be scared." He Ao looked at the murmuring girl with her head lowered, instinctively raising his hand, but hesitated when it reached above her head. But in the end, he still lowered his hand, gently ruffled the girl’s hair. This time, the girl did not shake off his hand as she had done in recent years, but instead looked up at him quietly. Like a small child standing in the river of time, looking up at her father in his prime. He Ao slowly withdrew his hand, looking at the red-haired girl who was almost as tall as him, and smiled slightly, "It seems we haven’t stood this close and checked our heights in quite a while." The girl looked at the old man’s graying hair and wrinkled cheeks, paused slightly, and finally nodded gently, "Yeah." Then she spoke softly, "So, that strong Transcendent they talked about, is it you? What are you doing here alone in such a dangerous camp? Strong Mercenary Corps like these can’t be shaken by one or two Transcendents, let alone, you are just a C-class with hardly any combat power..." She didn’t finish her sentence because He Ao once again reached out and ruffled her hair, "I got promoted." "A B-class without much combat power still," The girl muttered with her head down, "It’s too dangerous." "Then why are you here?" He Ao withdrew his hand, smiling at her. "The airship had an accident, I had no choice," A slight fluctuation appeared on her usually cool cheeks as she averted her gaze, saying quickly, "Otherwise, I would be taking a bath in my room by now." "Doesn’t the school have a bathroom?" He Ao looked at her, amused. "The water temperature in my own room is just right, and I like the environment there." The girl said quickly, still with her head lowered. "Speaking of which, what is this all around···" At that moment, it seemed like the elderly man had just noticed the surrounding mist and sniffed. "Don’t breathe that in!" The red-haired girl immediately looked up, quickly dug into her pocket, and handed over a piece of candy, pushing it to the elderly man’s mouth, "Eat it quickly!" He Ao looked down at the little bear-shaped gummy in the small, fair palm, smiled, and accepted it, putting it into his mouth. And the moment the candy entered his mouth, his gaze flickered slightly.