Hub District Base.
The Central Control Tower's emergency barrier was running. A temporary line—formed by Defense Division security personnel—was fighting with everything they had to hold back the Angels' assault.
They used stacked metal crates and various debris as cover, and with the weapons in their hands and their Originium Arts, they were barely managing to keep the line intact.
But the situation was still grim.
"The damage is too severe…"
Qin Jiangchi looked out over the Hub District Base—normally managed by her to the point of near perfection. Now it was a wreck: rubble everywhere, smoke and scorched ruin across the ground.
The anchor point that had fallen from the sky was still in the old factory zone, endlessly producing Angels. But she couldn't spare a squad to destroy it.
There weren't enough hands. Too many wounded.
The sudden crisis—and the steadily deteriorating situation—put Qin Jiangchi under a pressure she'd never felt before.
But even with panic boiling in her chest, as the person in charge of the Hub District Base, she had to force herself to look composed.
"Holy—shit! Holy shit!!"
A voice—oddly familiar—came from the distance.
A suspicious hooded man was sprinting toward the Central Control Tower, fleeing from Angels that were hunting him down from all sides.
His movements weren't especially agile, yet it looked like he could predict enemy numbers and routes in advance, slipping away from danger at the last second again and again.
So even though he looked terrified, he somehow made it through a sea of Angels without a single scratch, reaching the temporary defensive line.
"Brothers, I'm on your side—let me through!"
Hao Fan raised both hands in a surrender gesture to show he wasn't a threat, then, panting hard, vaulted the cover and rushed past the barricade. Before the Angels could launch their next wave, he successfully made it into the Central Control Tower zone.
The Defense Division security staff recognized him too—the hooded guy who'd shown up three days ago and spent all his time wandering around the base—so they didn't treat him as an enemy infiltrator.
"Doctor?"
Qin Jiangchi stepped forward, studying this coin-flinging weirdo with uncertainty.
"How did you… do that just now?"
She'd noticed the abnormal part—he'd looked practically clairvoyant.
"What do you mean?"
"Spotting the enemy in advance."
"Oh, that? Well… I used to be a commander, you know. So noticing enemies ahead of time is only natural!"
Hao Fan declared righteously.
Of course, the truth was that it had nothing to do with being a "commander." He was relying on the Game Map ability.
But Qin Jiangchi believed him.
Because somehow the explanation sounded… plausible. And it matched his embarrassing, low-tier combat ability perfectly.
Besides—something about that outfit really did look like the sort of thing a "chess-piece commander" would wear.
"Then I'm handing command over to you!"
Qin Jiangchi made her decision.
As the base's administrator, her strength was logistics and management—not directing a battlefield. In a moment like this, it should go to a professional.
Hao Fan froze.
Wait—sis, I was just talking. You actually bought that?!
Yeah, I'm wearing a Doctor-style outfit, but I'm not Babel's devil. I've never set foot on a real battlefield in my life!
"I'm giving you tactical comms. From here on, you can improvise as you see fit. One condition only: not a single Angel is allowed to breach the temporary defensive line."
Qin Jiangchi transferred command without hesitation, her face hard with resolve.
If he could break out of an Angel encirclement alone, then she was willing to trust his "professionalism."
But the first order Hao Fan issued made Qin Jiangchi—who'd been deadly serious—go blank on the spot.
"All snipers and casters—get up on top of the crates!"
He looked at the Game Map as a massive wave of red dots rapidly closed in. He understood this wasn't the time to explain—he had to start commanding now.
"Defenders—front line! Hold the front!"
...
At the same time.
The Administrator and Perlica had arrived at the Hub District Base.
Their landing point was some distance away, but with a motorcycle moving like lightning, they hadn't lost much time.
Even so, they kept running into Angel attacks along the way—proof that the anchor point's influence was spreading and intensifying.
BOOM!!
Rockfalls. A wrecked vehicle. An Angel ambush.
After pushing through the danger, the Administrator stared at the weapon in her hands, lost in thought.
It was a strange feeling. She seemed far more adept at fighting than expected—almost as if her body remembered how, even if her mind didn't.
Maybe she really had been someone formidable before.
"Administrator—are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Perlica looked genuinely anxious.
In her eyes, the Administrator had only just awakened. Her vitals still weren't stable. She shouldn't be fighting this soon.
But the Hub District Base was under attack. There was no time to spare.
"It doesn't affect my ability to move. What about you?"
The Administrator shook her head, unconcerned.
Other than being drenched by rain, she hadn't suffered any injury at all. If anything, it felt like a warm-up.
These Angels hadn't posed a real threat to her.
"I'm fine too—but from here on, we'll have to proceed on foot."
Perlica glanced at the wrecked bike, then turned her gaze toward the base perimeter.
"Angels have already penetrated this far. The situation is more severe than our assessment."
"So this is Talos-II's welcome ceremony for me?"
The Administrator made the joke in a cool, even voice, loosening the tension on Perlica's face—just a little.
"I truly wish the welcome were less enthusiastic."
...
Arrive at the base. Clear Angels.
Then, using a rope, they scaled the high wall—avoiding being blocked by the sealed metal gates.
The Administrator felt like she was clearing a game stage: advance a short distance, trigger an Angel encounter, repeat.
And in the distance, that pillar-like structure—towering toward the sky—was visually overwhelming.
"That's the anchor point."
Noticing the Administrator's gaze, Perlica explained.
"An anchor point produces Angels. It's one of the major threat sources on Talos-II. We need to locate survivors as quickly as possible."
Because they'd been unable to reconnect communications with the Hub District Base, Perlica still couldn't confirm the situation on-site.
And after going a bit deeper, her own observations made the reality unmistakable.
"The damage is too severe…"
She spoke with open worry.
"Engineer Qin has always run the Hub District Base with absolute order. If even this has spiraled out of control… then the situation is extremely bad. I only hope casualties are minimal."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the ground shook violently—distant combat, intense and ongoing.
The Administrator quickened her pace instinctively, and soon she saw the temporary defensive line at the Central Control Tower—and…
A suspicious hooded man standing on top of a crate?
"Who is that?"
The Administrator murmured, puzzled.
"He feels… kind of familiar."
-------
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