"I'm not a penguin!"
The Administrator's hearing was sharp—she'd caught a certain suspicious hooded man talking smack about her.
But there was no time to deal with that right now. The priority was handling the big threat in front of them.
"We'll take it from here."
Perlica had the security personnel fall back and clear space, so no one got caught in collateral damage.
"Combat begins. Administrator—prioritize your own safety."
Perlica gripped her staff tightly, her expression serious.
Even for her, a Hard-Horn Angel was a troublesome opponent. One mistake could mean getting injured.
But the Administrator had already moved first.
"Destruction Sequence!"
She clenched her one-handed sword and drove it into the Hard-Horn Angel with a full five-hit chain.
Every strike was heavy—especially the final blow, which summoned Originium crystals erupting from the ground, forcing the beast to stagger back.
Still, the Administrator didn't look satisfied.
"Tough bastard… it's way more durable than the Angels we fought earlier."
Her sword hand tingled from the recoil.
For the first time, she could feel it: a real fight.
Perlica followed the teamwork plan and pressed the advantage with a combo skill.
"Casting unit ready—I'm providing support!"
She discharged stored electromagnetic energy through her casting unit, smashing the target with massive electromagnetic damage and forcing a conductive state—lightning chaining across the enemy.
The blast sounded like spring thunder breaking overhead.
"Instant Protocol · Flash Chain!"
Under that barrage, even the Hard-Horn Angel's mineral rock body began to show signs of disintegration. It clearly couldn't hold much longer.
Even so, it didn't stop it from committing to one last all-out charge.
"Administrator—watch out!"
Perlica saw it fixate on the Administrator, like it wanted to take someone down with it before dying, and she shouted a warning.
But the Administrator didn't dodge.
She looked like she was about to finish it with a decisive strike—
"Huh… what's going on… is this thing hiccuping?"
The charging Hard-Horn Angel's body suddenly started convulsing in a bizarre rhythm, like it was hiccuping. Its movement slowed noticeably.
The Administrator didn't understand it either—but she didn't waste the opening. She immediately triggered her Originium Arts—
"Bombardment Sequence!!!"
Several Originium crystals manifested out of thin air and slammed into the ground with the Arts, dealing heavy physical damage in a fan-shaped area ahead.
It was a finisher designed for AoE—but used on a single target, it still hit like a truck.
The enemy was eliminated.
"Phew—done."
Watching the Hard-Horn Angel fully disintegrate and lose all movement, the Administrator finally exhaled in relief.
But… what was that hiccup thing?
Do Angels even have physiological reactions like that?
She couldn't make sense of it.
Off to the side, the Doctor quietly tugged his hood lower and withdrew his stare.
"Stare and They Hiccup… So this dumb meme-style special ability works on Angels too. Feels kind of like a conceptual power."
Hao Fan filed that away as a crucial data point.
Seeing such a nasty enemy get dealt with so cleanly, the nearby security personnel also relaxed a little.
But the crisis wasn't over.
The anchor point in the Old Factory District was still producing Angels nonstop. If it wasn't destroyed, the Hub District Base would be "alive" in name only.
"Supervisor Perlica!"
At that moment, Qin Jiangchi walked up, openly relieved.
"You arrived just in time. Our temporary line had just opened a breach—if you hadn't—"
"As long as you're safe. What's the situation right now?"
Perlica first put her mind at ease seeing the base leader unharmed, then immediately pushed for an updated operational picture.
"An anchor point suddenly fell into the base. It's continuously producing Angels."
Qin Jiangchi turned toward the Old Factory District, staring at the hundred-meter-tall anchor, her eyes heavy.
"The wounded are all placed inside the Central Control Tower, but there are too many Angels. Security is almost at its limit… Luckily, the Doctor was here. He's an outstanding commander—he minimized casualties."
She glanced at the silent hooded man standing nearby, giving him due credit.
That surprised Perlica.
Because she didn't recall anyone like him assigned to the Hub District Base—was he a recent arrival?
"Hi. Name's Hao Fan—codename Doctor. My specialty is… throwing money. Nice to meet you."
As he greeted her, he reflexively pulled out a one-dollar coin and flicked it onto the ground.
The operators at the Hub District Base were already used to this. Perlica, however, froze for a beat.
"Uh—hello. I'm Perlica. At this stage, I serve as Endfield's Industrial Supervisor… Nice to meet you too."
Her tone hesitated slightly, but the signal was friendly—she was clearly intrigued by this hooded man of unknown origin.
Because that Doctor-style outfit… she felt like she'd seen it in archived records before.
But now wasn't the time for small talk.
"We need a way to stop the anchor point…"
Perlica looked toward the Old Factory District again, visibly thinking through options.
Then Qin Jiangchi noticed the black-haired girl beside her.
"Supervisor Perlica—who is this?"
"Ah, I forgot introductions. This is the Administrator."
"Administrator? The Administrator from the rumors?!"
Hearing Perlica confirm it personally, Qin Jiangchi was visibly shocked—she even raised a hand to cover her mouth, like she'd just seen a mythical creature step out of a storybook.
"Rumors?"
The Administrator blinked, pointing at herself, plainly taken aback.
"How do you normally think of me?"
"Ah… sorry. Many operators in the Fourth Valley have never actually seen you. After hearing you'd awakened, people… naturally made guesses."
Qin Jiangchi hurried to explain.
"When we got the notice from the Dijiang, everyone even wanted to prepare a welcome ceremony. Then the attack happened only days later… I didn't expect you'd still come."
As she spoke, she looked around at the wrecked base, her expression complicated.
Perlica brought the discussion back to operations—she needed more concrete situational awareness.
"Engineer Qin—what about the missing personnel? How many are still outside?"
"It's hard to confirm. Angels keep coming, and Security can only guarantee safety around here."
"Then this is urgent. We'll push the original arrangements back. Administrator… Administrator?"
Perlica turned—and saw the Administrator speaking with the suspicious hooded man instead.
Then, as if she'd discovered an entirely new continent, the Administrator made an adorably vacant sound:
"Goo-goo gah-gah OVO?"
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