After finishing the call with the female executive manager inside the Aircrew Base 911, Chen Fei's face turned grave as he put down the phone and logged out of his personal account, handing the phone back to Teacher Shen Fei.
Shen Fei noticed the change in Chen Fei's emotions.
"The mutant colony broke through Aircrew Base 912 and ate everyone," Chen Fei glanced at the Patan Elementary School children playing in the yard and said, "they ate everyone."
Shen Fei felt her hair stand on end.
The destruction of an aircrew base and the complete consumption of everyone there was an unimaginable, horrifying scene.
Compared to the cross-species invasion of Cangqiong Star's magical beasts, the threat of mutants was even greater, currently the No. 1 biological disaster on Blue Star.
Although the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area now is full of desolate mountains and scattered natural villages, thinly populated and underdeveloped, lagging far behind the times compared to the civilized society outside, it seems to still be stuck three or four decades in the past.
But thirty years ago, it was broad and even flourishing for a time.
The most famous of these was Gem Valley. At its peak, it was a large town with nearly one hundred thousand people, incorporating agriculture, livestock farming, mining, light industry, heavy industry, and even very advanced electronic technology. Despite being small, it had everything necessary, it lacked nothing. However, it was suddenly struck by a mutant disaster, triggering a massive retreat.
After everyone was forced to leave, the completely desolate Gem Valley now only showcased a post-apocalyptic scene of ruins, with only occasional film crews coming to shoot scenes. It has never recovered its former glory.
Mutants born from nuclear radiation erupted several times, and it was not easy to completely eliminate them, especially the long-term cost of cleanup that would give any sovereign nation a headache, a big effort for a small return.
Therefore, those few and far between mutants that occasionally popped up were left to the newly emerged Private Military Contractors, establishing a network of bases around the world, patrolling routinely, and regularly exterminating them, keeping the mutant populations in check so that, over time, they would naturally dissipate.
The mutants had always been the target of clean-up, never before had there been a counterattack on an aircrew base; not only was it unheard of, but it was also shocking to hear.
"It must have been a lack of manpower that allowed them to penetrate our defenses,"
Chen Fei picked up his White Steel Crowbar and weighed it in his hand, comparing it mentally.
One strike from him was comparable to a close-range light weapon's shot, which would require two hits to penetrate armor, meaning that light weapons were hard pressed to be effectively suppressive.
In a sudden attack, an aircrew base that had lost its airborne strength would indeed find it difficult to withstand the overwhelming assault of the mutant worm swarm, like a tidal wave.
Fortunately, that swarm of insects was headed in the direction of Aircrew Base 912.
Both Aircrew Base 911 and Teacher Shen Fei's school were still safe, but they could not afford to be negligent; it was best to deal with this sudden emergence of a mutant worm swarm sooner rather than later.
Not long after speaking with Manager Hanna, a large tricycle flyer arrived near the school, coincidentally landing where Chen Fei had first touched down.
This time, he boarded the rudimentary flying vehicle to return to Aircrew Base 911.
As soon as he returned to the base, he arrived just in time for the farewell ceremony of the fallen comrades.
The sound of gunfire rose again, and flames soared.
Aircrew Base 911 had lost three pilots and two security personnel, one of whom had just recently arrived at the base.
The five bodies were quickly consumed by the flames, and their ashes and remains would be sent to their families at an opportune moment, along with a substantial sum of personal accident and war compensation money.
"My grandson Jun, woo hoo, oh oh oh! You must wait for me…"
Next to a burning body, Yamada Yuhu cried bitterly, banging his head on the ground.
People are not emotionless like plants; after partnering for six or seven years and being fellow villagers, more than just colleagues, they were friends and close allies.
They had originally planned to meet in the afterlife, but now although their laughter and looks remained, they were separated by life and death, causing deep anguish for Mr. Yamada as he knelt by the gradually ashing remnants of the body, emotionally shattered, unable to contain himself.
"Damn it, this reminds me of 'Lemongrass' that sissy!"
Yamada Yuhu's cries affected the emotions of Squadron Leader Chekhov, who wiped at the corner of his eye, flicking away a tear.
"It's a pity for the team of 'Scallion Oil' and 'Cinnamon Powder,' the 216's pilot is gone for good."
Squadron Deputy Leader "Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios suddenly spotted Chen Fei standing behind the crowd, rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, and quickly walked over, looking him up and down and said in a grumpy tone, "Rookie, are you now a person or a ghost?"
Irinei Rusios was a short-haired girl, small in stature, yet very fierce, making Chen Fei feel quite anxious.
"Of course, I'm a person, Deputy Leader!"
Though Irinei Rusios seemed angry, she actually expressed concern as she said, "Where have you been these last few days? Why didn't you just stay put and wait for rescue? Do you know that everyone was worried about you?"
Inside Aircrew Base 911, those concerned about Chen Fei's disappearance were not limited to Manager Hanna and the maintenance chief Xiao Ming, but also the comrades from Squadron "Genuine Fragrance."
"Haha, just had a little accident!"
Chen Fei chuckled, "Only a fool would stay in one place waiting for rescue. Are those 500 energy points that easy to earn?"
He was afraid that the mutant worm swarm that had tangled with him all morning and through the night might suddenly turn around and charge back. He figured he would die of exhaustion, so of course, running away was his top priority.
"I'm waiting for your report, no less than three thousand words!"
Devil Pepper raised his hand and pointed at Chen Fei.
For a moment, the rookie felt as if he had seen a devil himself.
He had swung his crowbar thousands of times, and now he had to write three thousand words. Did they think he was writing a novel?
At most three hundred, no more!
Manager Hanna timely intervened on behalf of Chen Fei and snapped her fingers at him, beckoning him over.
Chen Fei promptly followed her and they made their way to the executive office.
"What's that strange smell on you?"
Sitting in the executive chair, the female executive manager sniffed the air, a puzzled look on her face as she turned towards Chen Fei.
The moment this kid entered the office, the air was filled with a strange scent. It smelled like jasmine flowers, yet it was mixed with an indescribable odd flavor.
Chen Fei helplessly said, "Mutant insect fluid and the scent of floral water."
The insect fluid naturally came from when he smashed the bugs with his crowbar. The floral water was contributed by Teacher Shen Fei. Mixed together, although the smell was a bit odd, it was much better than before.
"You should wash up later, use more scented soap!"
Manager Hanna took out a small perfume bottle from her drawer, sprayed it a few times into the air, and felt slightly better afterward.
Then she took out a bottle of wine and two wine glasses from under her desk, poured them full, and pushed one glass towards Chen Fei, signaling him.
"It'll probably take a week to get rid of the smell, thanks!"
Chen Fei watched as the female executive manager filled the glasses and then nodded, unceremoniously picking up his wine glass.
Drinking buddies are strangers at first but soon familiar.
He sipped lightly, savored the taste, and said, "The wine is rich, very rich."
"It's Bordeaux dry red, last year's new wine, irradiated with nuclear radiation for half a year. It tastes like it's four or five years aged. Hmm, take a look at this!"
Hanna Gagar wasn't very satisfied. This was just a consumer-grade wine. She took out a tablet, swiped it a few times, and handed it to Chen Fei.
Irradiating with nuclear radiation, of course, would not mutate the wine or contaminate it with radiation; it only accelerated the aging process. However, the subtle changes in taste brought about by this type of aging were limited; it wasn't like one could catalyze a century-old wine quality just by irradiation. A connoisseur could still detect a slight imbalance in taste.
The best method is still to let time do its job. Slow, natural aging is the best way.
Shortcuts like nuclear radiation are ultimately too eager for quick results.
Chen Fei saw the video that Manager Hanna swiped up on the tablet.
There appeared on the screen mutant insects he was familiar with, not just one type. He had hammered at least four types of insects with his crowbar, some with big latches, some with super thick shells, some covered in spikes that moved as fast as flying, and another kind that actually could fly.
These insects swarmed into a base like a tide, and the crisscrossing web of fire and explosions, while fierce, were like pebbles thrown into a pond, causing only ripples that were quickly swallowed by the tide of insects.
At least ten thousand insects surged in one push and occupied the entire base. Many people didn't even have time to run, lacking even the capacity to resist, and disappeared into the mouths of these insects,
Even hiding in the underground air-raid shelters was useless. The insects somehow dug into the shelters, driving or dragging people out to feast on them. In the end, not a single living person was left in the entire base, inside or out.
The video footage, derived from various cameras and edited, displayed from multiple angles the entire downfall of the 912 Aircrew Base.
After the video ended, Chen Fei watched it again before putting down the tablet, sighing deeply, "912 is really unlucky."
All the base's fighters had taken off, but they were completely defeated in the battle against the 911 Aircrew Base. Bereft of air power, the 912 Aircrew Base, relying only on its meager ground fire, was utterly incapable of resisting such a frenzied surge of insects.
If they had had two fighter jets, or even just one equipped with a large-caliber incendiary bomb or cluster bomblet, they wouldn't have fallen so quickly and could have inflicted heavy damage on the swarm.
"Now, with only nine pilots and five fighter jets left at 911, is there any way to stop these insects?"
Seeing so many insects, Hanna Gagar was quite nervous. She decided to probe Chen Fei's opinion, as he was a team member of "Genuine Fragrance" and had also dealt with those insects.