Chapter 151: Entering the Fray

“Hmm?”

Ji Cheng followed Luo Rao’s finger and suddenly noticed a pair of slightly damp stockings neatly folded there.

“Damn it!”

They must have been soaked earlier when I accidentally sprayed tea on them, and Chen Qian must have taken them off and put them there at some point!

She misunderstood again!

How could I possibly mean that!

“I’ve realized that being overly considerate as a secretary isn’t always a good thing; sometimes it just makes people think you’re a pervert,” Ji Cheng said helplessly as he looked at the three of them, unable to argue further.

……

The next day, an unexpectedly large number of empowered individuals arrived. Among them were many first-tier abilities users, as well as several powerful second-tier ones. Even the city-states of the Eastern Continent, upon hearing about the strike against the Black Island Organization, were righteously incensed and sent reinforcements.

This caught Ji Cheng, who was presiding over the pre-battle meeting, somewhat off guard.

Fortunately, Chen Qian had prepared thoroughly, which prevented some guests from being neglected.

During the meeting, several key points were clarified.

The main issue was the allocation of manpower for the offensive deployment, as well as the unified utilization of the high-damage weaponry brought by each city-state.

Secondly, the Black Island Organization’s headquarters was surrounded by several hidden military bases. If these weren’t completely eradicated, fighting on two fronts would be disastrous. This was another arduous task.

Lastly, Ji Cheng emphasized that this war was initiated by the Nan Harbor City-State, with its army providing the main force. Other city-states were only contributing their abilities users. Therefore, command authority and the distribution of spoils had to be fully led by Nan Harbor.

The first two issues were resolved easily, but the third point met with some opposition.

However, despite the objections, Ji Cheng did not yield and decisively established the regulations.

He issued a widespread call to arms, inviting numerous city-states to join the siege against the Black Island Organization. Besides minimizing losses, this also aimed to solidify his authority, enhance his prestige, and prepare for recruiting young abilities users after the veil was lifted.

There was no way he would easily back down just because a few opposed him.

It was only then that other city-states realized to their surprise that Nan Harbor, though missing the formidable Zhang Sheng, now had an even stronger Ji Cheng.

But they were powerless. The strongest city-state, Anxi City, had at most eight council-level powerhouses, and the weaker cities barely had four or five.

Although Nan Harbor had suffered heavy losses, all the remaining abilities users were now second-tier—eleven council-level powerhouses in total.

Moreover, they enjoyed strong support from rising stars like Lei Junming from Anxi City, Red Eagle Tian Gang, and Yu Yin from Blackwater Hanging City.

Despite lacking third-tier abilities users, none of the other city-states had third-tier users present either.

———

The matter was thus forcibly settled.

Speed was of the essence, and with unknown numbers of Black Island informants within the city-state’s administration, Ji Cheng immediately declared the commencement of hostilities after the pre-battle meeting, ordering the missile units prepared in advance to launch a full-scale bombardment on the Black Island headquarters.

After sixteen rounds of missile strikes, the army began to advance.

At the same time, throughout Nan Harbor City, massive propaganda posters about the war were plastered everywhere.

The Black Island Organization would undoubtedly receive the message—better to be upfront.

The war progressed smoothly. Thanks to the high-damage weapons from the ruins, many hidden military bases in the wilderness surrounding the Black Island headquarters were systematically eliminated.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside the ‘Hunter’ single-soldier aircraft, Ji Cheng removed his casual clothes and, with Chen Qian’s assistance, began changing into his combat uniform.

The combat suit he used was of higher quality than the all-terrain one he had originally purchased. Woven from fiber-metal composites, it featured specially reinforced components such as the earpiece and tactical goggles.

In the rear cabin, Zhang Lingfei, Zhang Jing’e, and Luo Rao were also changing into combat suits.

Since discovering how terrifying the Zhang sisters’ talents were, Ji Cheng had become like a landlord guarding his treasure, fearful of any accident befalling them. He even insisted they share the same aircraft during battles.

Fortunately, their relationship with Ji Cheng was good, so this closeness did not cause them any discomfort.

Even now, while changing, they simply turned their backs, revealing large swaths of snow-white skin.

Of course, part of the reason was that they believed Ji Cheng wouldn’t dare to look back.

“Boss, the explosives are in the first pocket layer, the emergency adrenaline injectors in the second, and five fuel grenades are attached to the leg gear straps. The parachute pack is already in place.”

Chen Qian lifted a metal lens with rotors attached. “This is a fully automated tracking drone customized to your specifications. Just press this button to operate it. It’s already connected to your wrist computer.”

“Alright.”

Ji Cheng took the device but couldn’t help glancing at Luo Rao, who shamelessly faced him while changing and teased him upon catching his gaze.

“Ahem, prepare to descend.”

The dark aircraft body began to lower.

Following it, over ten helicopters and several single-soldier aircraft descended in formation like a flock of geese following the leader.

“We’ve been fighting the Black Island for two days. All the outposts have been cleared; only the main base remains.”

Ji Cheng checked his wrist computer and adjusted the earpiece frequency.

The resistance they encountered was far lighter than expected, collapsing almost instantly, which made Ji Cheng feel his strength was wasted.

But finally, today, when the army reached the main base of the Black Island headquarters, they met a tenacious counterattack.

———

“All units, prepare. Thirty seconds to battlefield arrival.”

He pressed the earpiece and issued commands over the established public channel for abilites users.

“In a moment, I will have the Nan Harbor army carve out a corridor. All first-tier abilities users will be air-dropped to join the frontline fighting. The second-tier users will follow me to raid the enemy’s remaining mechanical fortresses.”

As the aircraft descended, the ground came into view.

This area lay between desert and ocean, with patches of vegetation, rocks, water pools, winding ravines, and beautiful white clouds.

These elements formed a satellite-like ring encircling a fortress area spanning hundreds of miles, disguised as weathered rock formations.

The mechanical fortresses varied in size, their bases jagged and protruding, with relatively flat tops resembling inverted hills scattered across the vast terrain.

However, this region was now riddled with missile craters and destroyed fortresses.

Closer at hand was the frontline of the Nan Harbor army.

Due to strong radiation in the wilderness, the troops deployed were elite soldiers injected with genetic material, scarce in number, and many were even drawn from mining personnel.

Heavy weapons were difficult to transport through the wilderness, so each city-state’s expeditionary forces had unique local characteristics.

Nan Harbor’s choice was to arm every elite soldier to the teeth with stronger, more practical, and more combat-effective advanced equipment.

They wielded magnetic firearms, carried numerous throw-and-reignite grenades, and wore powered armor.

Notably, this armor was a replica developed by the Nan Harbor Research Institute, based on Zhou Ze’s broken powered suit.

They also added swarm shoulder cannons—half-spherical protrusions resembling honeycomb structures with a particularly large central cell.

While this replica armor struggled against mutated beasts, it excelled in human warfare.

The booming sound of the reigniting grenades echoed across the battlefield. These cylindrical metal devices, once thrown, used rear thrusters to glide briefly while detonating continuously.

The mechanical fortresses retaliated fiercely, first scattering large quantities of incendiary and fragmentation grenades like fish feed. Amidst the raging flames and carnage, rotating machine guns emerged from rock disguises, firing wildly.

They specifically targeted soldiers who had been blasted or burned but not yet killed. The rapid fire of these machine guns was powerful and ferocious, making it difficult for the replica powered armor to withstand close-range attacks.

“Open the hatch,” Ji Cheng ordered decisively as the ground drew nearer.

A hum sounded.

The ‘Hunter’s’ hatch opened, and four second-tier abilities users leapt out.

Their specialized parachutes deployed for only two or three seconds in midair, briefly slowing their descent before automatically detaching. Ji Cheng and the others plummeted like cannonballs toward the battlefield.

The aircraft then ascended to a predetermined cruising altitude, hovering to serve as a relay and signal amplifier.

———