Sky-cracking Rider-Chapter 772: Section 767 - Give Some Face

The battle between the Rebel Army and the Dynasty Army was a major confrontation, and Sun Domain City, as the main battlefield, inevitably became involved, with nearly half of the city being razed to the ground.

Because the larger and smaller guilds were all located on the same street, even if no one was hurt and business could still barely be maintained, the fixed assets were almost all destroyed.

The main building of the "Holy Blood Guild," which was at odds with Chen Fei, was completely gone, and the "Sunset Guild," with whom he was cooperating, didn't fare much better, with only half of the building left, basically no different from ruins. It was actually worse off than the "Holy Blood Guild," which only had its foundations left.

Gulp!

Seeing the street, which used to be bustling with various mercenary guilds, now completely unrecognizable, the members of the "Yellow Sparrow" squad couldn't focus on the cryptic puzzle in their hands any longer. They gulped hard, and their mouth muscles twitched uncontrollably.

This battle was fought too fiercely. Without four or five years, let alone the mercenary guilds, it was feared that even the entire Sun Domain City wouldn't be able to recover its vitality.

"Baron, is the guild gone?"

Lulisa and the other two female squad members also turned pale.

Yesterday, Chen Fei did the right thing by expelling those foolish individuals. If they had truly rushed over, it was likely that each and every one would have ended up with no place to be buried, a situation not meant for mercenaries to get involved in.

"Gone!"

The captain of the "Yellow Sparrow" squad, Baron, was about to nod, but then he suddenly remembered that although Sun Domain City had fallen into warfare, it hadn't affected the transfer of mercenary payments from the "Sunset Guild."

"The mercenary guilds evacuated in advance, they have special passages."

Chen Fei had already gotten the answer from the "Sunset Guild."

As long as people were still around, they could resume business operations and recover data through cloud services. As for the precious materials, they could easily pack and take them away with a small Space System Alchemy Storage Device. Owning an alchemy storage artifact was not surprising at all, considering the capital and heritage of running a mercenary guild.

"So, that's how it is!"

Baron had once tried to contact several mercenary guilds, perhaps due to communication disruptions, and had never been successful.

On the other hand, Chen Fei, after failing to get through directly by phone, had managed to reach the right people with non-instantaneous text messages, getting information about the "Sunset Guild" and other situations in the city.

The phone rang again, this time it was still Chen Fei's phone, with the caller ID showing it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Slan Dynasty.

Chen Fei stepped out of the Mobile Base Vehicle and, while walking into the distance, answered the call.

Pure Light Sparrow Xiao Jiu took the opportunity to slip out, flying down into the midst of the rubble, calling its friends over. A group of Pure Light Sparrows pecked around... In the cities of the Human Race, with a little patience, they could always find some food to fill their tiny crops.

Chen Fei didn't worry about Xiao Jiu's independent activities. The Mobile Base Vehicle was not a birdcage, and as long as safety was ensured, he let the Little Bird roam freely around.

Moreover, a Sixth Rank Magical Beast of the Human Order not pestering others was already a matter of gratitude. If anyone wanted to mess with Xiao Jiu, it might not be clear who would be messing with whom!

Once the call with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was established, Chen Fei asked bluntly, "Have you guessed the answer?"

Lin Zio spoke decisively, "No, not at all. There is no pattern. But I've handed it over to the Dynasty's decryption experts. Now we just have to wait."

A bizarre array of colorful dots, lines, and geometric shapes that left people completely puzzled and unable to find any suspicious clues in such a short time.

Like Chen Fei, Lin Zio wasn't good at solving pictorial puzzles, so he could only leave the professional work to the professionals.

"What a headache!"

Chen Fei heaved a long sigh, slightly easing the frustration in his heart.

If only he had known that "Taga," on the verge of death, would play such a trick, he would have simply strapped an Element Annihilation Bomb to it and demanded an answer, plain and straightforward, but undoubtedly effective.

"Taga" was an outlier among the Parasitic Species, but it had nothing to do with Chen Fei. He was tasked with killing Parasitic Species, not caring about any outliers, with no psychological burden at all.

"Don't worry! The 'Seed Nest' doesn't have legs; it can't run away. Even if there are some complications, once we solve the puzzle, we'll be able to secure enough time for the two planets, digging three feet into the ground if we must to dig out all those Parasitic Species."

Lin Zio consoled Chen Fei in return. Although he was equally anxious, simply worrying wouldn't solve the current problems.

The biggest trump card of the Parasitic Species was the "Seed Nest," lying in wait for who knows how many years, possibly having reached maturity. If it could be eradicated, the schemes of the Parasitic Species would be largely shattered, their efforts coming to naught.

Unless they could once again rend space, the Parasitic Species without further support would eventually die off naturally on both civilized planets, no longer a threat.

"Check on squad number 47 in Nandu City when you have time," said the Crown Prince, shifting the topic. He had been monitoring Chen Fei's actions in Zhai Liuzhou, and his call was not just about the cryptic puzzle.

Despite the Rebel Army and the Dynasty Army nearly coming to blows on this continent, a silent agreement had been reached regarding Chen Fei's actions: they would not hinder or interfere, and would even offer a certain level of support. If someone other than Chen Fei were to undertake his operation, they would likely face immediate restrictions due to issues of trust and stance, making it difficult for them to proceed at all.

"Did they screw something up?"

Chen Fei wondered if Squad 47, which represented Blue Star sovereignty and had come to Nandu City to exterminate the Parasitic Species, had caused some kind of trouble that displeased His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

When the handover took place, it was the first meeting between both parties. There was no sense of friendliness or animosity—just strictly business. Furthermore, since it wasn't Chen Fei's own sovereignty at stake, there was even less of a personal connection. After the funds, intelligence, and local snake contacts were transferred, he immediately chose to leave, heading south.

"No blunders as such, just came up empty-handed."

The tone of Lin Zio's voice was a bit odd as he continued, "Maybe it's related to the local 'Seed Nest' being destroyed, so the Parasitic Species might have given up on expanding in Nandu City."

The existence of a "Seed Nest" meant more than just a hiding place for the Parasitic Species, it held significant meaning.

The Crown Prince's guess could certainly be a possibility. With the "Seed Nest" eradicated and their expansion severely hampered, they might have decided to quit playing the game if they couldn't keep up.

Squad 47, representing Blue Star sovereignty, was completely in the dark about the areas outside Nandu City, and the local snakes, the Hundred-Legs Gang, were also out of their depth, unable to provide much assistance.

Chen Fei said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do about this."

Apart from the Parasitic Hosts he had stumbled upon in Nandu City, the Parasitic Species he found were few and far between.

Even now, in the southern part of the continent, if it weren't for the atypical "Taga" from within the Parasitic Species volunteering relevant clues, it would indeed be like finding a needle in a haystack. He wasn't a clairvoyant deity, so how could he possibly locate those elusive Parasitic Species without them falling into his net by chance? Impossible!

The sheer number of hiding spots and locations on the hunting list was already a headache, and it was only with the backing of mercenaries that he could strike with full force and without concern, eventually succeeding.

Now there is another deviant Parasitic Species that can split and mutate Parasitic offspring still unaccounted for, and it remains to be seen if it can be found and turned into an information source like "Taga." Having an informant within the Parasitic Species was better than Chen Fei blundering around aimlessly.

Lin Zio said hesitantly, "Do you think you can offer them some advice?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Chen Fei sensed there was more to the words and found them unclear.

"After all, they represent Blue Star sovereignty, and this was agreed upon in our negotiations."

Lin Zio was still beating around the bush.

"Are you saying they're stuck because they haven't earned any merit and can't face the music?"

Chen Fei wasn't a fool; he quickly grasped the implied message of the Crown Prince.

Damn pretentious, just spit it out if there's an issue.

"Yes, that's more or less it."

After Chen Fei spoke plainly, Lin Zio no longer tiptoed around the subject.

The Blue Star sovereignty sent what they believed to be an elite squad to Cangqiong Star's home ground. The Silan Royal Family, as hosts of Cangqiong Star, had everything set for their distinguished guests to begin their performance...

Yet after all this time, they accomplished nothing but exhaustion of supplies, far from the promised elite performance. Now what?

The faces of those in Blue Star sovereignty were becoming harder and harder to save, and the Silan Royal Family was also at a loss. If this continued, wouldn't it turn into a slap in their own face?

With some parts of Blue Star sovereignty now declaring war on Cangqiong Star, the situation had escalated to the point of reach.

To avoid all sovereignties of Blue Star declaring war on Cangqiong Star, the Silan Royal Family decided to proactively offer a favor.

"Alright, I'll handle this."

Chen Fei sighed; this situation was quite a mess.

He was a person from Blue Star and needed to give face not only to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince but also to his fellow countrymen back on Blue Star.

Having made up his mind, Chen Fei summoned Xiao Jiu back, settled the mercenary fees with the "Yellow Sparrow" squad on the spot, though the reward for solving the puzzle was still not withdrawn—as more hands increased the chance of successful resolution.

He then reclaimed the Mobile Base Vehicle and released the flagship of the Airship Battle Group, setting the destination to Nandu City, and took off from the ground.

After a day and night of flight, Chen Fei, who had just ended his journey in the southern continent, smoothly arrived at the southern city outskirts of the eastern part of the continent.

Alongside an 80-meter-long airship, a "Sky Falcon" landed almost flush with the Ground Portal Gate Management Substation.

Seeing Chen Fei emerge from the airship, driving the "Sky Falcon" himself to greet him and escort him over a hundred kilometers, Minante jumped down from the Assembled Combat Aircraft and hurried over in big strides, calling out loudly, "'Rookie,' are you here to take over for Squad 47? If so, that'd be great. You have no idea, the moment you left, these guys started pulling rank—truly freaking..."