Chapter 11

Every time a task was assigned from the base, the few days of waiting in between seemed to pass particularly quickly, and before long, it was Sunday.
—-
The aircraft was scheduled to depart from the Mercenary Association at six in the morning. To avoid being late, Xu Qiao got ready by five o’clock.

The sky outside was dim, and Xu Qiao changed into her C-class battle armor before stepping out of her bedroom. In the adjacent room, Lu Yang also opened his door.

With her left hand holding her helmet and her right hand carrying her mercenary backpack, Xu Qiao smiled at her younger brother and said, “You’re up early; did you come to see me off?”

Lu Yang couldn’t smile back. He took out a red string necklace, opened the golden round pendant, revealing a black crystal core.

It was the space crystal core that Qin Chi had given to Lu Yang.

Lu Yang retrieved a single energy gun, the only one he had, from the core, along with a beast crystal core. He looked at Xu Qiao and said, “You’ve learned how to use a gun at the military academy, right? I won’t need to teach you. This is a B-class gun; just replace it with a new B-class crystal core when the energy runs out. There’s only one gun, but there are six cores, so use it when you’re in danger—don’t save it.”

Just as Xu Qiao was about to speak, Lu Yang interjected, “You’re my only family. If you don’t come back, I…”

He didn’t know if he could be as strong as Xu Qiao, living alone and thriving.

For the first time, Xu Qiao was silenced by her younger brother. After a moment of silence, she set down her backpack, handed her helmet to Lu Yang, and then put on the necklace, tucking it into her battle armor collar. She also stored the energy gun and crystal cores into her space, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back.”

Lu Yang smiled and continued to hold her helmet and lift her backpack, seeing her off to the door.
—-
After Xu Qiao secured her backpack and was about to contact Qin Chi, the door to room 102 suddenly swung open.

The siblings both turned to look.

Qin Chi, who had been wearing a suit all week while coming in and out of the neighborhood, finally changed his attire. He wore black combat gear, paired with black leather boots. The tightened belt accentuated his slim waist, and his broad shoulders and long legs made this outfit even more flattering than a suit.

As the two young landlords assessed their tenant, Qin Chi’s gaze fell on Xu Qiao.

The battle armor produced by the official monopoly was form-fitting, regardless of the level.

Usually seen in white, the young healer appeared fresh and bright, but now, dressed in slightly worn dark gray battle armor with her long hair tied back, revealing her delicate and beautiful face, she exuded a bit of heroism yet appeared even more youthful, especially with her large, shimmering black eyes that were clean and transparent, resembling an ungraduated military student.

Out of politeness, Qin Chi withdrew his gaze as it reached Xu Qiao’s shoulders, nodded slightly, and turned to lock the door.

Lu Yang asked in confusion, “Aren’t you wearing battle armor?”

With all the extra money spent on renovations, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to afford a set of battle armor. Lu Yang was even prepared to see Qin Chi in A-class armor.

Previously, he thought his neighbor was too ostentatious, but this time, Lu Yang hoped to borrow Qin Chi’s wealth to keep Xu Qiao safe.

Qin Chi put away his keys and explained with a smile, “If everyone in a junior team wears battle armor, it clearly shows that they are a group of fat sheep. Xu Qiao is a healer and must be well-protected; my armor is in my space. If there’s danger, I can put it on in time.”

Lu Yang: “…Did you bring weapons?”

Xu Qiao frowned; mercenaries providing their own weapons was a personal matter, and Lu Yang shouldn’t have asked.

Qin Chi didn’t mind. After acknowledging it with a smile, he looked at Lu Yang and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t let your sister get into any trouble.”

Afraid Lu Yang might say something inappropriate; Xu Qiao directly pushed him back into room 101 and closed the door from the outside.

Once on the street, Qin Chi summoned a black sedan, and Xu Qiao sat in the passenger seat with her backpack and helmet.

Qin Chi focused on driving, while Xu Qiao opened her communication wristband.

Sun Fushan: “I’ve set off; I’ll arrive in about thirty minutes.”

Meng Li: “Fifteen minutes.”

Sun Fushan: “Huh? Why are you so early?”

Meng Li: “I don’t want to be late.”

Xu Qiao: “Qin Chi and I have also set off; we should arrive around the same time as the captain.”

Sun Fushan: “Okay, Meng Li, go grab a seat; see you on the aircraft!”

The mercenary association was right behind the airport. When Xu Qiao and Qin Chi arrived, the massive aircraft loomed like a giant beast lurking in the morning light, while several orderly lines of mercenaries entering the cabin proved that this colossal vehicle was merely a transportation tool developed by humans.

Xu Qiao and Qin Chi lined up behind a C-class team.

As soon as they got out of the car, Xu Qiao put on her helmet. The transparent visor revealed only the area around her eyes. Even so, as she stood in line, several burly male mercenaries frequently glanced her way.

Superhuman abilities had granted humans greater capabilities, but they had also amplified the negative traits in some. During the Old Era, some men viewed women as playthings; in the New Era, this phenomenon was even more widespread. Many ordinary women or low-level female superhumans, in order to survive, had to rely on the powerful superhumans they encountered or were forced to depend on them.

Xu Qiao despised such looks, but she wouldn’t put on an outer garment over her armor just because of a few stares, making her armor look awkward.

The form-fitted design of the armor was meant for combat and protection; both male and female versions were the same. Men could confidently display their natural body curves, and women could too.

The line moved quickly, and after a few minutes, Xu Qiao and Qin Chi stepped into the cabin.

The entire aircraft could accommodate up to ten thousand people, divided into five zones based on the level of the superhumans. This wasn’t the official differentiating between mercenaries but rather a way for them to exit in corresponding danger zones, making it easier for the flow of people.

In the west zone, the number of C-class part-time mercenaries going out on tasks each day was about a thousand, and now, three to four hundred people were already seated inside.

Meng Li had claimed her spot early, and Xu Qiao followed the seat number she provided. From over ten meters away, she first spotted a fire scorpion with its black stinger raised high.

Meng Li sat beside her; the deep red fire scorpion sprawled across three seats.

In her mind, she sensed the lotus spirit’s resistance, so Xu Qiao could only soothe it silently: It’s helping us save our spots; otherwise, better places would be taken by other mercenaries.

At the same time, Meng Li, noticing her and Qin Chi, also retracted her spirit.

Xu Qiao naturally sat next to Meng Li, with Qin Chi beside her.

Meng Li was wearing a dark green combat suit.

Before Xu Qiao could react, Meng Li suddenly turned to Qin Chi and asked, “Why aren’t you wearing armor?”

Qin Chi, who had been observing nearby mercenary teams, took a few seconds to realize Meng Li was talking to him. He smiled and responded, “Do I have to wear it?”

Meng Li said, “You’re the one who decides about your armor; I just don’t want you to worry about my pride.”

This teammate of Qin’s clearly looked wealthy, while she had also hinted in the group chat that she couldn’t afford armor.

Stuck in the middle, Xu Qiao thought, “…”

In fact, she had considered this issue too, but she was sure she needed to prioritize her own safety, and she knew Meng Li wouldn’t mind such trivial matters.

Glancing at Qin Chi, Xu Qiao felt that Qin Chi’s decision to forgo the armor was indeed related to Meng Li; after all, he had always been very gentlemanly.

With Sun Fushan’s family background, he would definitely wear armor. So, if three out of the four team members were in armor, it might be awkward for the one who wasn’t, which was Meng Li.

Qin Chi, not knowing Meng Li well, would naturally come up with such thoughts and try to consider the new teammate’s feelings.

Facing the attention of the two girls, Qin Chi calmly explained, “I did think about it, but it’s more of a personal choice; I really dislike the feeling of restriction that comes with wearing armor.”

After wearing it for over ten years, he was really tired of it.

The fire dragon spirit, equally averse to restrictions, desperately wanted to emerge or seize control of the body. Unfortunately, it was firmly suppressed by Qin Chi and could only silently rage deep within his mind.

Meng Li understood and straightened up, focusing her gaze ahead.

Xu Qiao looked at the restrictive armor on her and hoped Sun Fushan would arrive soon.

She heard running footsteps behind her and turned to see Sun Fushan, clad in C-class armor, dressed similarly to her, with a backpack on his back but holding his helmet in his hand for the time being.

Xu Qiao smiled and waved at him.

Sun Fushan had a slightly chubby build, and his face had a baby-like roundness. Xu Qiao’s enthusiasm made him blush again as he scanned the three people and stammered, “Y-you all good.”

Xu Qiao replied, “Sit down; there’s no need to be formal.”

Nervously, Sun Fushan sat next to Qin Chi, took a moment to collect himself, and pulled four dark gold brass badges from his pocket—one for each of them.

The simple round badge had a ring of the pinyin for “Silence is Golden” around the edge, with a lotus pattern engraved in the center.

After looking at it, Meng Li directly pinned the badge to her chest.

Qin Chi had no objections either.

Xu Qiao was puzzled and asked Sun Fushan, “Why is the lotus engraved on it?

Sun Fushan pointed to his communication bracelet and typed: 【I originally wanted to engrave all our spirit forms on it, but there were too many designs, and it looked messy. Then I thought, the healer is the soul of each mercenary team, and your lotus is quite suitable as a team emblem, so I just printed the lotus.】

There was also the fact that he had no idea what Qin Chi’s spirit was, and since Qin Chi didn’t say anything, he felt it would be inappropriate to ask.

When the spirit form remains inside an ability user, the five senses are connected to the body and can even be sharper than the body itself, capable of sensing dangers hidden in the dark.

Thus, when Xu Qiao saw Sun Fushan’s explanation, it was equivalent to the lotus spirit also seeing this explanation.

A transparent lotus petal gently floated away from Xu Qiao’s body, fluttering past Qin Chi and stopping in front of Sun Fushan.

The petal, pure white with just a hint of pink at the tips, emitted a refreshing and subtle fragrance.

Sun Fushan’s eyes widened, and his mouth felt open, looking particularly dumbfounded.

The lotus spirit particularly liked this perceptive team leader and deliberately touched the badge on Sun Fushan’s chest before disappearing back into Xu Qiao’s body.

Xu Qiao: “……”

She had only recently discovered that her spirit was so vain, liking to compare itself to other flowers and enjoying compliments from others!

The most critical thing was, would her teammates think she had that kind of personality? While she was outwardly questioning why, inwardly, she was secretly pleased?

Heat rushed to her face, and Xu Qiao softly explained to her teammates, “I—I’m afraid my spirit form is a bit vain.”

Meng Li, who had seen Xu Qiao’s original eleven-petal spirit, said, “It’s already beautiful; I can understand.”

Sun Fushan excitedly typed: 【It’s so beautiful! The lotus sculpture I chose can’t compare to yours at all!】

Even though he had only seen one petal, he could still imagine how the whole flower looked!

Qin Chi was the last to say, “It’s a very cute spirit form.”

Xu Qiao struggled to suppress the urge of her spirit to fly around again and changed the topic: “What time is it? Shouldn’t we be leaving?”

While suppressing the raging fire-breathing dragon in his mind, Qin Chi lifted his wrist: “We have ten minutes left.”

Over a thousand C-class mercenaries had already gathered, and outside, E-class and D-class mercenaries were still lining up.

At 5:55, the aircraft began its countdown.

At 5:59, the hatches of the aircraft closed.

At exactly 6:00, with a roar, the massive aircraft began to shake and then took off, heading outside the base.

With no windows, Xu Qiao quietly glanced at her three new teammates beside her.

This was her first time leaving the base after losing the protection of her elders.