Chapter Eighteen: Expanding the Safe Zone

"Now, I order you twenty-eight God-Contractors who possess divine contracts to spread out and explore in eight directions!"

"This is a dangerous and arduous task! It is also a protracted battle!"

"You have four hours of travel time each day. Once those four hours are up, no matter what happens, you must return!"

"In eight hours, I must see every one of you return safe and sound!"

"Do you have the confidence!!!"

"Always ready!!!" the twenty-eight God-Contractors shouted in unison.

"Very good." General Lin nodded with satisfaction and said, "The fifty-man heavy firepower squads assigned to your eight groups are already prepared! They will follow behind you and provide you with protection throughout the mission!"

"Now! Move out!"

"In eight hours, all of you will return here to report the situation!"

"Dismissed!"

The twenty-eight individuals quickly formed their own groups. Ji Ling, however, chose to operate alone. After all, the deity he held was the most powerful Ancestral God. Although Ji Ling’s contract level was still too low and calling upon the power of Yinglong was still somewhat straining, its actual destructive capability was quite considerable.

The direction Ji Ling chose was due east.

This was the Eastern Theater of Operations, and also the eastern coastline.

The reason Ji Ling chose this direction was due to a hypothesis of his own.

For over three months, the boss of this strange invasion had remained elusive. Could it be that the boss of this invasion was hiding in the sea?

There was a topographical map inside Base 3176, and the nearest coastline was just over seventeen kilometers away, directly to the east.

Four hours of exploration time would be enough for Ji Ling and the fifty-man squad behind him to reach that coast.

The exploration began.

Although Ji Ling no longer needed firearms as weapons, as a soldier, he still chose to keep his gun firmly in his hand.

Once encountering a strange creature, it would take time to mobilize the divine power of Yinglong, but a gun could provide an immediate outpouring of firepower, buying him the time needed to invoke his divine power.

Ji Ling held his gun, walking at the very front of the team. Suddenly, from the black fog on the right, a strange creature resembling a hyena lunged out. It opened its wide mouth, and saliva mixed with blood dripped from its sharp, white, ghastly teeth as it blocked Ji Ling’s path.

For this fifty-man heavy firepower squad, a single low-level strange creature was easy to eliminate.

The barrels of the Gatling gun spun rapidly, and the focused tongues of fire from the flamethrowers instantly engulfed the hyena-like creature.

In just a few seconds, the creature was reduced to a pile of charcoal.

"Pah! Beast!" a soldier cursed. "If bullets can't kill you, won't fire finish you off?"

"Come back for more if you have the guts!"

The group of soldiers laughed, and Ji Ling turned around, a smile on his face.

However, in that glance, he spotted a familiar little face hiding among the soldiers behind him.

The moment the eyes on that small face met Ji Ling’s, they darted away, and she hurriedly tried to hide further into the ranks of the soldiers.

"Stop hiding! I saw you!" Ji Ling glared in that direction and said helplessly.

The soldiers didn't understand what Ji Ling meant; they looked at each other, clearly confused.

Ji Ling shook his head resignedly, walked straight toward Nangong Lingyue, grabbed her collar, and lifted her out like a chick.

"Let go of me! Put me down! You’re insulting me!" Nangong Lingyue was hauled to the front of the formation, waving her arms and legs in mid-air, looking quite comical.

"A female soldier?" a soldier asked in astonishment. "Do we have female soldiers in this expeditionary force?"

"She’s not a soldier." Ji Ling smiled as he set Nangong Lingyue on the ground and snatched her steel helmet off, saying, "At one meter fifty, she doesn't meet the height requirements for conscription, does she?"

"You're the one who's one meter fifty!!!" Nangong Lingyue glared at Ji Ling indignantly. "If I wear shoes with higher heels, I can reach one meter sixty!"

At this moment, Nangong Lingyue’s face was covered in thick camouflage greasepaint, but it could not hide the sharp, sculpted angles of her face. Even from just the outline, one could tell she was a natural beauty.

As the saying goes, true beauty lies in the bone structure, not the skin. Even with the thick paint on her face, Nangong Lingyue could not mask her exquisite features.

The soldiers in the camp, who saw nothing but male mosquitoes all day, were suddenly presented with a great beauty standing before them—and one who seemed to have a special relationship with Ji Ling—so the group immediately began to jeer and tease.

But Ji Ling was clearly in no mood for jokes. He looked at Nangong Lingyue seriously and said, "You’re a war correspondent; just stay safely in the camp and shoot some footage to finish your assignment! Why are you joining in on such a dangerous mission?"

"What do you mean 'finish my assignment'? This is my job! I am a reporter, a war correspondent!" Nangong Lingyue retorted directly. "Presenting the most truthful side of the battlefield to the general public—that is my vocation, the function of our media!"

"As long as I am a reporter for a day, I must hold onto my principles! Do you understand?"

Ji Ling was taken aback by Nangong Lingyue’s sudden anger, not quite understanding why she would be upset when he was clearly concerned for her safety.

Clearly, he was unaware of Nangong Lingyue’s background and the strength of character she possessed.

After all, Ji Ling did not know that her true identity was that of the granddaughter of the current Director of the God Bureau of the Dragon Kingdom.

She could have been sitting in the living room of her villa, eating cream cake, using expensive luxury goods, and enjoying the peace brought by soldiers without having to do anything at all.

No one would have blamed her. Her grandfather had exhausted himself for the Dragon Kingdom, and her father and two uncles had all died in the black fog. She could have rightfully enjoyed all those privileges.

But she did not.

She deceived her grandfather, risked her life to come to the most dangerous place in the black fog, lived and ate with the soldiers, showed no airs of a wealthy young lady, and even hid the fact that she was a descendant of martyrs.

A stubborn girl capable of all that would hardly retreat because of potential danger.

Nangong Lingyue looked at Ji Ling’s uncomprehending gaze, seemingly too tired to explain anything further, and immediately pulled out her officer’s identification card, thrusting it in front of him.

"Look closely! This is my officer’s ID. I am a soldier too! I didn't come to the battlefield to gild my resume or cause trouble for you!"

"I am a soldier! Defending our home and nation is my responsibility as well!"