According to the internal plan of the Otherworld’s General Staff Headquarters, they intend to terminate the cultivation of the subspecies humans at the beginning of this year, formally abolish the Origin Project by the end of the year, and launch the Mingming Plan on the first day of the next year.
Based on this deployment, a majority of the students from Haiya Academy, located in the Qiongzhong mountainous area, which is one of two subordinate academies under the Origin Project for subspecies humans, will be relocated to the Shenghua Academy in Chuan Zhong to complete their studies. The vacated Haiya Academy will then start receiving Otherworlders for instruction, in accordance with the requirements of the Mingming Plan.
After some discussion, a colonel representing the Army expressed his view, believing that the Mingming Plan could be launched as a follow-up to the Origin Project. The Army didn’t have any objections, but the Air and Naval Forces might. After all, they had complaints when the Origin Project was launched. Initiation of a new plan could indeed provoke their opposition.
Although the Origin Project has been repeatedly concealed since its launch, it has actually become an open secret. Now that every country is conducting related research, the sooner they disengage from the Origin Project, the sooner they could seize the moral high ground to criticize and forestall troubles.
At the end of the meeting, everyone else left the chamber, leaving only Luo Qishan still seated, as if he had something to say to Lin Wei.
"Elder Luo, what is it?" Seeing Luo Qishan, Lin Wei excused the staff in the chamber and came to him, asking hesitantly.
"Chief Lin!" Luo Qishan spoke in a humble manner.
"No need for formalities, just call me Lin Wei. You’ve already retired, no need for this anymore." Lin Wei waved his hand.
"Lin Wei, how is Luo’er now?" Luo Qishan couldn’t help asking.
"He’s doing well!" Lin Wei pondered for a moment, remembering that he had sent the Advance Team on a mission from the research center.
"Lin Wei, keep Luo’er from threatening missions, can you?" Luo Qishan pleaded.
"Elder Luo, I haven’t sent Luo’er on any high-risk missions." Lin Wei said.
It was clear that Luo Qishan knew about Luo’er’s current situation. After all, Wang Xu of the frontline headquarters was formerly his subordinate and would surely have informed him. But he was not willing to intervene, as Luo Qishan was now only the principal of Haiya Academy and would retire in a few years, having no authority over the headquarters’ affairs.
After speaking, he looked somewhat pitifully at Luo Qishan, then turned and left.
"Lin Wei!" From behind, Luo Qishan suddenly raised his voice, stunning Lin Wei.
Standing behind Lin Wei, in his loudest voice, he sternly said, "I don’t ask that you treat Luo’er better, but don’t forget your roots. Don’t forget how you returned from the Otherworld battlefield!"
At his words, Lin Wei closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and the image of Luo Chuan came to mind. He turned and looked at Luo Qishan, licked his lips but said nothing, then left the chamber.
When he reached the corridor, he felt irritated. After a moment of silence, he summoned his assistant and ordered, "Send a message to the frontline command. Tell them that whether or not they get the item is not important, but no one must be harmed. We don’t have surplus manpower."
At this time, in the command office on the frontline of the Otherworld, Wang Xu was sorting out information from the Commercial Intelligence Network. In his wisdom, in addition to issuing a reward for information on the whereabouts of Arya’s Blade, he had also issued a reward for locating the CIA agents. This way, even if Arya’s Blade couldn’t be found immediately, finding the whereabouts of the CIA agents would be beneficial. Instruct Luo’er to follow them, ensuring that if they fail to obtain the Blade, the CIA surely wouldn’t either. If the CIA obtained it, they could just snatch it back.
Although the Advance Team might not be able to handle these people, they had the powerful Mr. Sword Saint with them. Many missions had depended on him before the deployment of the Advance Team.
"Boss, found the location of those agents!" Li Si, excitedly storming in with a document.
"Let me see!" Wang Xu eagerly beckoned.
Li Si handed him the document, and then hesitantly said while pulling out another document, "Also, it seems that the headquarters has sent a message."
"Let me see!" Wang Xu put down the intelligence file about the agents and picked up the message from the headquarters.
"What does it say?" Li Si asked, craning his neck.
"Headquarters is worried about Luo’er and the others and had backed off. They told us that they don’t care if we complete the mission or not, just don’t let anything happen to anyone. We don’t have extra manpower!" Wang Xu said, passing the file to him.
"Should we call them back?" Taking the file, Li Si asked hesitantly.
"We’re already in Saint Basaya, we can’t go back so shamefacedly. Moreover, they have Yalunte with them. Inform them not to push it too hard!" Wang Xu said while browsing the document.
Looking at the file, Wang Xu found his brows furrowing deeper and his expression becoming solemn. Seeing him , Li Si couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong, boss?"
"It seems like those CIA agents are assembling. They might’ve found where Arya’s Blade is" Wang Xu said with a serious face.
"Then, what about Luo’er and the others?" Li Si asked hesitely.
"Instruct them to move towards the assembly point of these agents. If Arya’s Blade has been found, somehow retrieve it. If they can’t, cause some damage. It’s best if we block their plans." Wang Xu replied.
"Understood, I’ll go inform them right now!" Li Si nodded.
"Yes, hurry up, so we don’t miss our chance!" Wang Xu said, and handed him the file.
When the view returned to the Advance Team, without a command from headquarters, Luo’er and his group could only stay in an inn without daring to move. But after the civil war in Saint Bava City, the Saint Bava troops began a large-scale search in and around the city, forcing them to relocate to an inn much further from Saint Bava.
The main targets of Saint Bava’s army were the Aud people. Luo’er’s group was safe for now, but Cheng Ziang and Yalunte were in a tricky situation. If they stayed at the inn outside the city, they’d definitely be captured.
Without orders from headquarters, they unexpectedly got a short break. As Chen Ziang became used to the others, he couldn’t help himself and let go of his pride to learn swordsmanship from Yalunte.
The two of them went to a clearing in the jungle outside the inn, starting their one-on-one instruction. The rest of the group had nothing to do, so Hu Daoke was left to guard the equipment while Luo’er and the two girls went to watch.
"I thought you were not going to ask me to teach you swordsmanship?" Yalunte joked with a smile, pulling the sword from his waist.
"Enough talk, what should I do?" When it came to trading words, Cheng Ziang was unwilling to be outdone.
"Hmm, the last time we sparred, you did well. This time you attack me, let see where your limit is!" Yalunte stated, stretching his joints and gesturing to Cheng Ziang to attack.
"Swords have no eyes, be careful!" Cheng Ziang pulled out his long sword with a serious expression, readying his attack.
"No problem," Yalunte reassured with a smile. Then he added, "Don’t underestimate your opponent like you did last time!"
Cheng Ziang snorted and attacked Yalunte swiftly. Instead of using thrust attacks like before, he capitalized on the advantage of his long sword and chose slashing as his primary attack.
"Clang clang clang!!"
Sparks erupted when the swords collided, ringing clear metallic sounds. Unlike Cheng Ziang, Yalunte was calm facing the attacks. He easily parried Cheng Ziang’s attacks and even had time to prepare for the following attacks.
Lucky that it was him defending and allowing Cheng Ziang to attack. Otherwise, Yalunte could have taken advantage of the gap to launch a counterattack, reversing the situation.
Relying on the sturdiness and sharpness of his sword, Cheng Ziang launched several fierce slashes, intending to cut Yalunte’s longsword. Yet, Yalunte did not panic. He easily blocked Cheng Ziang’s slashes and led his sword momentum to the side, preventing his powerful strikes from hitting his sword, thus avoiding breakage.
Luo’er watched the confrontation with the two girls, seeing the sparks caused by the sword fights. He shook his head, saying, "Cheng Ziang is too desperate to win, so his attacks are hasty and he doesn’t consider defense at all."
"But they did say to attack him," Tangmo said from the side.
"That’s not the point," Luo’er clarified. "In a real battle, you must consider both attack and defense. Mr. Sword Saint is just testing his skill, otherwise, Cheng Ziang wouldn’t be able to fend off an attack."
Seeing that his attacks didn’t work, Cheng Ziang started to get anxious. When he saw Yalunte’s confident smile, he felt a surge of anger. So, he took a step back, his left hand reached for his waist, then with a flash of cold light, a flying dagger raced towards Yalunte.
Yalunte was not surprised at all. With a casual wave of his hand, he revealed a dagger. Instead of being angry, he nodded approvingly at Cheng Ziang’s attack method and said, "Continue!"
Hearing this, Cheng Ziang felt more embarrassed. He charged at Yalunte once more, waving his long sword. After a few rounds, like lightning, he threw out his second flying dagger. But again, it was easily deflected by Yalunte.
The fight continued for about ten minutes. Cheng Ziang was now panting, and the area around them was littered with deflected flying daggers. Yalunte was still looking calm. Clearly, in this fight, he hadn’t expended much energy.