Chapter 52 - Special Operations, Two Teams
In the face of Wang Chao's words, Ling Jiu did not know how to continue, but there was no denying that what the former said was the truth.
While the Arcana Combines were Arcana organizations, but they were still commercial companies after all, and all commercial companies were profit-driven.
For the purpose of earning money, many Arcanists were extremely utilitarian, which was a point that the military could not contend with.
The military was strictly managed, with orders and prohibitions going from top to bottom, and even an Arcanist must absolutely obey orders.
Every time a Beast Tide strikes, the army and the military Arcanists were always on the frontlines, bleeding and sacrificing their lives as needed.
It could be said that the nature of both sides had completely determined the standard by which they operated. It was impossible to determine who was right or wrong because everyone's pursuit was different.
Ling Jiu was willing to hunt down Direbeasts and contribute his strength to humanity, but he also enjoyed a free life.
Therefore, he could only refuse Wang Chao's good intentions.
...
In the next few days, Ling Jiu stayed at home and trained, during the day, he practiced the manipulation of his Arcana, while at night, he practiced using the 'Sea of Hundred Rivers'.
Every day was passed fruitfully.
And his strength steadily improved.
In a blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed. On the morning of the 28th of December, Ling Jiu received a call from Luo Jia and rushed to the office.
"Ling Jiu, I've already sent the report for the super training camp up. You've passed the first round of selection, so I'll congratulate you first!"
"Thank you, Miss Luo!"
Ling Jiu was very grateful.
"Still with the pleasantries!"
Luo Jia smiled. "There's another reason that I contacted you today!"
"Miss Luo, go ahead!"
"It's like this. The safe passage between Lantian Base City and Hanzhong Base City was attacked by the Direbeasts, causing the safe passage to be interrupted!"
"So the government decided to destroy to Direbeasts, and restore the safe passage!"
Luo Jia explained. "According to the reliable information we have, the number of Direbeasts attacking the safe passage is massive. It is initially estimated to be about 30 thousand, with many of the Class 4 and Class 5 Direbeasts!"
"So, reopening the safe passage will be difficult, and the two base cities had decided on a joint operation!"
Ling Jiu frowned. Although the Direbeasts rampaged across the wilderness, many base cities kept in touch through safe passages for the circulation of goods.
The safe passages were man-made rail lines. Through the safe passages, the base cities could communicate with one another, and send and receive goods.
Thus, the safe passage was very important!
"This operation is jointly led by both base cities, and so each base city needs to deploy 200 Arcanists, and Pangu will need to dispatch 10 Arcanists!"
Luo Jia continued. "I personally decided to appoint you as the interim captain of the Pangu teams, and lead ten of our employees for this mission. Any opinions?"
"No!"
Ling Jiu agreed without even thinking about it. He was bored out of his wits staying at home for more than 20 days, and he had long wanted to go to the wilderness.
After all, he had promised Dad, so he felt bad leaving, but now he had a reason to leave.
"Very good!"
Luo Jia was very pleased with Ling Jiu's reply, and then pulled out a list of personnel. "This is the list of personnel that will participate in this operation. Have a look first, I'll take you to get to know them later. You'll leave with the team tomorrow morning!"
Ling Jiu took the list and saw two wilderness teams on it. The Windchaser Squad and the T-Rex Squad.
Windchaser Squad:
Team member 1: Zhang Yuan, 33 years old. Metal Manipulation, Level 3 Arcanist.
Team member 2: Meng Lijun, 39 years old, Tungsten Form, Level 3 Arcanist.
Team member 3: Fan Cheng, 31 years old, Fire Manipulation, Level 3 Arcanist.
Team member 4: Bai Yue, 29 years old, Earth Manipulation, Level 3 Arcanist.
"Tungsten Form?"
Ling Jiu's eyes fell on Team member number 2, Meng Lijun, and asked. "Miss Luo, what's this Tungsten Form Arcana?"
"The Tungsten Form is a very powerful Arcana, it is not a metal manipulation-type Arcana, but instead a Body Morphing-type Arcana!"
"When morphed, Meng Lijun can transform his body tissue into an alloy material that is extremely hard, the tungsten alloy!"
Luo Jia explained. "After morphing into Tungsten Form, Meng Lijun not only will get an increase of over dozen times in strength but also have a very potent defensive power!"
"What a terrifying Arcana!"
Ling Jiu licked his lips.
"This Arcana is really freakish!"
Luo Jia sighed. "He is now a level 3 Arcanist. Once he morphed into his Tungsten Form, he can exert 30 times the power under normal conditions.
"His defense is even more invincible. At the same level, no one can hurt him, not even Direbeasts!"
"What a great Arcana!"
Ling Jiu's eyes lit up.
"In terms of melee, Meng Lijun is an invincible existence against beings of the same level. Unfortunately, his progress is just too slow, and he is already 39 years old this year, and only a level 3 Arcanist. So he will probably top out at Level 4 in this lifetime, his potential extremely average."
Luo Jia sighed again. "If he had the rapid progress like yours, his future potential would simply be unimaginable!"
"What do you mean?"
"Theoretically, as long as Meng Lijun becomes a Level 9 Arcanist, he will be able to unleash 10,000 times the power, and is no inferior to the founder of Pangu!"
"What a pity!"
Ling Jiu said slowly.
"It is!"
Ling Jiu continued to browse.
T-Rex Squad:
Captain: Huang Hailong, 34 years old, Tyranno-Form, Level 3 Arcanist
Team member 1: Shi Hao, 31 years old, Rock Manipulation, Level 3 Arcanist.
Team member 2: Zhou Dun, 37 years old, Plant Manipulation, Level 3 Arcanist.
Team member 3: Yang Jiong, Thunder and Lightning Manipulation, Level 3 Arcanist.
"Yang Jiong and Yang Tong, are the two twins?" Ling Jiu was surprised.
"You're right, they are twin brothers!" Luo Jia nodded.
"All right!"
"Have you finished reading? If you are, we can head over right now!"
"Let's go!"
The two got up, and led by Luo Jia, they headed to the place the Windchaser and T-Rex Squad was gathered.
Along the way, Luo Jia reminded. "The Windchaser and the T-Rex squad are the company's most elite wilderness teams, each member is an experienced Wild Hunter!"
"They are old coots, so they are naturally a little unruly. If you want to convince them, you need to show your strength to awe them, or else leading them will be a pain!"
"Understood!"
When he arrived at the training room on the third floor, Ling Jiu saw the two squads.
"Hello, Miss Luo!"
The members of both squads bowed and greeted Luo Jia. She was the head honcho of the branch and was also a level 5 Arcanist, they dared not show her any disrespect.
"Hello, everyone!"
Luo Jia nodded slightly. "I think you are all clear about tomorrow's operation, so I won't repeat it here. What I want to say now is that I've found a team leader for this operation, and I hope you lot can obey orders!"
"Captain Ling, give them a few words!" Luo Jia looked at Ling Jiu.
Rustle... Rustle...
The two squads looked at Ling Jiu at the same time, and all of them could not help but to show a surprised, doubtful, provoked, disdainful, and unhappy... look in their eyes.
"He's our captain? Miss Luo, you are not pulling our legs, right?"