After a suspected Battle Chief-level enemy appeared, the speed of the Battle Vehicle was pushed to its limit.
Initially, under Elena's control, the Battle Vehicle moved smoothly. However, after speeding for a few minutes, black smoke began to billow from the front of the vehicle!
"Elena! It's smoking!" Cain grabbed the handle above his head, looking forward with a hint of panic.
"Don't panic!" Elena responded calmly, "It's not a big deal, don't worry!"
The black smoke grew thicker, filling every inch of space, and a choking smell hit them.
"Wind Shield!" Mike raised his hand, and an invisible shield sprang up, blocking the black smoke for the group.
Elena glanced at Mike, impressed, "No chanting, no staffs, your affinity with the wind element must be very high." After speaking, Elena turned her attention back to repairs, deploying teams of nanobots to check the engine.
"Good news, the engine is only half damaged."
Cain: ?! What kind of good news is that!
"As I told you before, this is a prototype, a little accident is normal..." Elena hadn't finished speaking when a series of explosions came from ahead.
"What now?"
"Uh, the engine is scrapped, no big deal." As she spoke, Elena produced a toolbox and began assembling a strange device.
Soon, she handed out three assembled spheres to Mike and the others, instructing, "The engine is scrapped, according to the emergency protocol, the random teleportation array under your seats will activate. This sphere can block a million damage, take it for protection. We're pressed for time, that's all I can do."
Before Elena could finish, the teleportation arrays under their seats activated. A flash of white light, and their figures vanished.
Left behind, Elena's expression remained calm. She stepped out of the range of the Wind Shield, walked through the black smoke, and approached the front half of the vehicle.
"How did those three perform?" The middle-aged man holding a list stood at the front of the armored vehicle and asked.
The engine of the armored vehicle was intact, and the entire Battle Vehicle was still speeding forward. The black smoke that Mike and the others saw was produced by specially made smoke grenades. Even the bumps and explosion sounds were simulated. The final teleportation was also part of the plan.
Unbeknownst to Mike and the others, they had entered a drill to observe their most genuine reactions in dangerous situations and to gain a better understanding of them.
Elena pondered, "Cain is somewhat impulsive and impatient, possibly due to his lesser talent, which makes him less eager to improve. However, he is ambitious and has his own ideas."
"Jessica was very quiet throughout, even in dangerous situations, she could quickly adjust her state." Here, Elena paused, "When the Battle Chief attack alarm went off, she specifically looked at Mike. It seemed that if something happened, she might actually step in front of Mike to protect him.
By the way, that canary on her shoulder seemed a bit dangerous, could it be a juvenile Battle Chief-level pet given by Blaze Battle Chief?"
The middle-aged man shook his head, "The summoned beast is Jessica's own. She's had her second talent awakening, S-tier."
"What?! That's not recorded in the files!" Elena was slightly surprised, not expecting Jessica to have hidden it so deeply.
"Her real file is S-tier encrypted, you don't have the clearance to view it."
"Then... why tell me?" Elena was puzzled, shouldn't such a secret be kept hidden?
"Thanks to her grandfather, now every Battle Chief in the world knows about Jessica's second talent awakening." The middle-aged man scoffed disdainfully, "What's so great about that? My grandson, Ethan Starwind, was S-tier at his first awakening. Did I go around boasting like Blaze Morrow?"
Elena: ...You guys, there's a limit to bragging.
This middle-aged man, seemingly very ordinary, was actually a Battle Chief!
"Alright, you haven't commented on the most important person yet." The middle-aged man looked at Elena, interested in her answer to this question.
"How do you evaluate Mike?"
"I'll remind you, Blaze Morrow thinks highly of Mike. From what I understand about this old guy, he probably believes Mike's future achievements might surpass Jessica's!"
A D-tier talent surpassing an S-tier talent? Could Mike have also had a second awakening? Not everyone's talent can awaken a second time; those who do are truly geniuses among geniuses!
Elena thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't understand Mike. He seems uninterested in anything, and he wasn't the slightest bit panicked when danger approached. I haven't had enough time to see anything; he's an enigma."
"If it were just that, Blaze Morrow wouldn't value him so highly." The middle-aged man pulled up three projections, showing the [DDF] talent trio.
"No worries, this drill has just begun, we have plenty of time to observe."
"Isn't this a bit 'cruel' for them?" Elena looked at the projections with a hint of sympathy.
The three had been teleported to remote wilderness areas, miles apart from each other, in a very complex environment that might even pose unknown risks. Even in past summer camps, even with drills, it wouldn't go to this extent.
"If they can't overcome this little difficulty, there's no point in wasting resources on training." The middle-aged man's face was frosty as he coldly watched the three, "This transport operation, the first half was bait, to draw out more demon cult followers and clean up the insides a bit."
"The latter half is to test these students. From the moment they stepped onto the armored vehicle, the training had already begun!" At this, the middle-aged man's voice softened slightly.
"Elena, you also entered summer camp training and participated in such drills in your time. Your future achievement is at least a Battle Chief. No matter how far you grow, I hope you never forget the first lesson that drill taught you."
Elena stood straight, her expression extremely serious, nodding firmly.
The first lesson everyone must go through, also... a deeply engraved first lesson!
...
Swipe—
On a hillside, a flash of white light appeared.
Mike's figure materialized, standing on the slope.
[You have been teleported to a battlefield relic site]
[This is the safest place on the planet, with no threats present]
A battlefield relic site, safe?
Mike casually activated the device given by Elena, expanding the protective shield.
"If I wasn't mistaken earlier, they were conducting a drill?"
The black smoke was supposed to block their vision, but it couldn't block the Eye of Truth.
Mike was just playing along with Elena and the others.
Moreover, after Shadow Nine had eliminated two Battle Chiefs, he quickly returned to Mike's side.
Mike: Sense of security Max↑
"If this was a drill, then was the previous transport process just a lure?"
Mike realized that it was merely a multi-faceted ambush operation.
With the human frontline being tight, and these demon cult followers causing trouble in the rear, luring some of them out for cleanup would help alleviate the pressure on humanity.
"But now, what should I do?"
Mike looked around, detecting no danger.
The hillside was surrounded by forests, covered in greenery, the environment exceptionally pristine, showing no signs of pollution.
Since it was a drill, there should be a mission.
[The higher you stand, the farther you see]
"Lightness Technique!"
With his Agility attribute, he could easily leap up. However, he still chose to buff himself and then climb the tree using the most primitive method.
Standing at the top of the tree, without the obstruction of the branches, Mike's view immediately broadened.
In the distance, a building towering into the clouds caught Mike's attention.
Mike seemed to realize something, his expression shocked.
"Tower of Truth!!"
The location for the summer camp training was near the Tower of Truth?!
Just as Mike discovered the truth, the sphere in his arms automatically levitated, emitting a mechanical voice.
"Attention all participants in the training summer camp!"
"Attention all participants in the training summer camp!"
Someone was broadcasting.
"Please arrive at the designated location by 21:00 tonight, those who fail to arrive on time will be considered to have forfeited."
"Those who forfeit will not be allowed to re-enter the training summer camp list for three weeks!"
"Be aware! You may encounter test machines attacking during the drill. If defeated, you must remain in place for fifteen minutes."
"....."
The broadcast repeated several times before falling silent.
On Mike's sphere, a new display appeared.
"Direction: 6 o'clock
Distance: 180.65 miles
Time: 17:24
Countdown: 3 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds"
"Let's go."
Mike pocketed the sphere and looked around once more, confirming the directions of Cain and Jessica, before jumping down from the tree.
Heading in the direction of 6 o'clock, Mike occasionally looked around, scouting the surroundings.
He seemed to understand the true nature of this drill.
[Here lie Battle Soldier as young as you, who beloved did not wait for his return]
[This Battle Chief wasn't anything special, just died pulling three demon creatures with him in a suicide attack]
[He was a hunter, not highly educated, couldn't even spell his own name, but he came here to protect his family. He succeeded! His descendants live a happy life, but he rests here forever.]
[...]
The further he went, the more solemn Mike's expression became, his steps slowing.
Here, near the Tower of Truth.
Also, the beginning of the Abyssal Plane invasion, the frontline of Earth's battlefield!
A battlefield like purgatory, where countless predecessors fought fiercely!
By incomplete statistics, just the land under Mike's feet had seen over a billion human casualties!
After immense losses and nearly a hundred years, humanity, under the leadership of supreme beings, defeated the demon army and drove them back to the Abyssal Plane.
A hundred years, even hard rocks would erode, but this battlefield was preserved, undeveloped, untouched.
It was kept as it was, sealed off to the outside.
This location was once a battlefield and now serves as the resting place for countless heroes.
In the face of catastrophe, humanity adheres to an unwritten but ironclad rule:
Wherever one falls, that place becomes their grave.
Each patch of ground here tells a story; it's not just soil—it's home.
A home for heroes.
The road was lined with graves. Standing by the roadside, Mike bowed his head and whispered,
"Each of you is a hero of humanity. History will remember your glory forever."