Pov: Vik
Seeing all this, Vik questions his life as a single man. These teenagers don't let any moment pass without being romantic; it's like an action scene. Before he could voice his complaint to his disciple, he witnessed another scene: Lu Xiaoran and Jessica were kissing.
Vik: "What the heck are they doing?"
System: "Host, people often realize their love for each other in desperate situations. But you wouldn't know that, having been single for 25 years in your past life and 100 years in this life. You could be called the Snake of Singularity."
Vik: (*_*)
Vik: "System, can you please be quiet for a minute?"
With a serious tone, I spoke into the radio. "Tiger and Thunder, focus on the mission. Secure the hostages and move ahead. Leave the rest to the Robot, over."
Roman responded, "Copy that."
But Lu Xiaoran didn't reply; he was still deep in a kiss with Jessica. Watching them made my blood boil. From a simple kiss, they moved to tongue play, and now it had been a full minute. I was really losing my patience. They needed to show some decency since they were in public.
System: "Host, this is the new generation. They feel more excitement doing things openly. Someone from your time might not understand such outdoor plays."
Now this system was really getting on my nerves. But my anger didn't last long. I saw Jessica's grandfather, old man Zhou, pull out a stick and hit Lu Xiaoran on the back while shouting angrily, "You bastard! Leave my granddaughter alone! I'm going to kill you!"
As a responsible grandparent, he did the right thing by hitting Lu Xiaoran with a stick. After that, Lu Xiaoran and Jessica separated. Lu Xiaoran looked embarrassed while Jessica's face was flushed red. She quickly hid behind her grandfather.
Before old Zhou could hit Lu Xiaoran again, I spoke into the radio. "Tiger, focus on the mission. Leave the hostage evacuation to the Robot, move forward, over."
He replied, "Copy that."
It's not like I wanted to save him from the beating. Honestly, I would love to team up with Jessica's grandfather, but it wasn't the time for that. Roman talked with old man Zhou to gather information about where the other villagers were being held. After discussing everything, he sent a signal.
Roman: "This is Tiger, requesting to evacuate civilians, over."
Lina replied, "Copy that. This is Robot. I'm deploying Chariot 1 to your location."
Soon, a drone larger than the earlier one flew out from a hidden spot and reached Roman's position. This drone resembled a full-fledged helicopter capable of carrying over twenty people. It looked like a V-22 Osprey but was completely silent, with little noise from its body and rotors.
Roman and Lu Xiaoran helped Jessica and her grandfather board the transport drone, and it flew away to a safe location, an abandoned area on the outskirts of the city. I had planned this evacuation because I didn't want any innocent people to get hurt; it was a key part of my strategy.
Now, back to the mission, Lu Xiaoran and Roman moved ahead slowly while Lina provided directions. Soon, Lina located the main base of Lin Chen and said, "This is Robot. I've got a view of the main target's base. There are around hundreds of civilians and many more Ravens there. I'm sharing video footage."
After that, we saw a live feed from Scout 1 drone. In the footage, I could see a makeshift base in the clearing of the forest, filled with hundreds of armed men hired by Lin Chen. There were also individuals in identical black robes, like that old man with the sword; they could pose a problem. Large lights illuminated the base at night, powered by generators.
However, what caught my attention was a spot a little distance from that base. About a hundred meters away, villagers were digging in the ground as hostages and forced labor for Lin Chen. They were unearthing something that resembled catacombs. I asked Lina to move the drone closer, but she refused when one of the individuals in black robes turned his head towards the drone, as if sensing it. At the last moment, she managed to lower the drone and hide it behind the trees, and the person returned to work.
I already knew these guys must be at least Nascent Soul level to have such sharp senses despite being in a zone suppressing their powers. Now, I needed to create a new strategy. "This is Snake. Everyone, start plan Fog of War, over."
Lina responded, "This is Robot initiating plan Fog of War. Deploying Flies 1-20. Advising Thunder and Tiger to use thermal vision."
Soon, several small drones flew out from the base, moving in different directions to encircle Lin Chen's base without approaching it directly. They slowly lowered their height until they touched the ground and began releasing condensed fog that I had prepared and stored in containers. Quickly, dense fog began to fill the forest. Since it was a wooded area, the fog was naturally protected from strong winds that could disperse it, and no one would suspect it.
Now, using thermal vision, my disciples and I were ready for the next part of the mission, which was likely going to be brutal, but not for us—it was for our enemies.