The rain, brewing all night, seemed intent on submerging the entire world.
Dark clouds shrouded the sky, casting Western City into a gloom as deep as night.
Raindrops fell in slanted sheets, pausing only for fleeting moments.
Umbrellas bloomed like a colorful tapestry across the streets and alleys.
Despite the relentless downpour, life, and work, pressed on.
Workers hurried through the labyrinthine streets, while delivery riders, cloaked in raincoats, battled their way through the tempest.
Everything seemed as it always had.
Yet, change was silently unfolding.
Hao Tuan, Bao Le Ma, Qiandu Maps, Que De Navigation…
Network phantoms, emerging from the deep recesses of the earth, had sealed off this urban village within the digital realm.
Anyone observing Western City from an aerial perspective would have been astonished by their discovery.
Ride-sharing vehicles, private cars, and even electric bikes.
Every driver using a navigation app was being rerouted, meticulously avoiding the sealed-off area.
Even seasoned drivers, intimately familiar with the popular routes, found themselves persuaded by stubbornly red traffic lights and vigilant traffic police to take alternative paths.
Streaks of red and white caution tape rapidly extended, forming a cordon that sealed off all entrances.
Pedestrians were allowed to exit, but not to enter.
Within half an hour, the entire urban village had been transformed into a forbidden zone.
“What is that thing?” a delivery rider wondered aloud, having just completed a delivery and now waiting for his order at a fast-food restaurant.
He squinted, his gaze fixed on the sky.
Within the clouds, a massive, dark silhouette subtly swept past, broad and long, with a pair of wings.
It resembled a bird, yet it was undeniably unlike any bird.
He had certainly never seen a bird of such colossal size.
“Let me see.” Another delivery rider beside him followed the direction of his pointing finger.
Amidst the dark clouds, red and white lights seemed to flash intermittently.
“No way!”
As an enthusiast, he instantly recognized that this was no ordinary drone or balloon.
Could it be an airplane?
Impossible. In such torrential rain and harsh weather, no aircraft would dare to take off.
In a flash of realization, he pulled out his phone, zooming its camera to the maximum fifty-times magnification.
He vaguely discerned a black metallic object soaring through the cloud cover.
“It really is!”
Startled, he nearly dropped his phone.
“Holy cow, that’s insane!”
The first delivery rider leaned closer. “Quick, upload this online! Ride the wave and become an internet celebrity!”
****
“Do you think anyone will notice the massive commotion we’re causing?”
Inside the transport plane’s cabin.
Huang Xiu gazed out the window at the other manned transport planes flying almost abreast, a question in her tone.
“With the AI system in place, you needn’t worry. Any videos related to us will be instantly deleted,” Yun Ning explained softly. “No electronic device can record us, save for the naked eye.”
“I see.” Huang Xiu nodded in understanding.
A soft hum…
Her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket.
At the same moment, the insistent ding-dong of phone notifications echoed ceaselessly throughout the cabin.
Everyone pulled out their phones to check them.
Their screens displayed a deluge of data, charts, maps, and fragments of surveillance footage.
“This is Touchpoint intelligence, compiled by the AI system from network statistics,” Yun Ning stated, without lifting his head. “Analyzing and summarizing intelligence will be one of your mandatory courses in the future.”
He diligently remembered his duty as a Senior Male Student, ensuring he instructed Huang Xiu even amidst the Touchpoint mission.
“Understood,” Huang Xiu replied simply. However, faced with such a massive amount of data, and lacking systematic training, she genuinely didn’t know where to begin or what to prioritize.
Ultimately, she could only dutifully start reading from the beginning. Yet, with just a single glance, her heart plummeted.
[Fatalities: approximately fifteen. Trapped individuals…]
…
Her pupils dilated uncontrollably.
That campus Touchpoint hadn’t resulted in any casualties.
But now there were fifteen already…
Huang Xiu knew that the Void Realm’s descent brought death, but she had never imagined encountering such a high number of fatalities on her second mission.
“We’re nearing the mission site. The SF4 presidents have already finalized arrangements,”
The announcement came through the voice channel.
A male student in the cabin stood up and shouted loudly.
Yun Ning retrieved his earphones from his pocket, plugged them into his phone, put them on, and then, after a few taps, entered a rather rudimentary software application.
The captains of the other teams nearby did the same.
“What is this?” Huang Xiu asked curiously.
“Large-scale operations can’t be chaotic, or else it would look like a crowd of people jostling in one spot,” Wen Erya explained softly.
“So for every major mission, the presidents of the various school organizations convene to divide areas based on team strength.”
“Organizations? You mean the Student Union and the Extreme Fist Society?” Huang Xiu recalled the muscular Senior Male Student from the registration night.
“Yes,” Wen Erya replied with a gentle tone. “Excluding recreational groups, the school has eight such organizations: the Extreme Fist Society, the Student Union, the Endeavor Society, and so on.”
As they spoke, Yun Ning had already removed his earphones.
He first glanced at Huang Xiu, then turned to Wen Erya on his right, ensuring he addressed both of them equitably.
“We are responsible for Area D2. Our task is to clear out the Dragon Scourge there and safely evacuate all residents.”
He paused, then continued, “Dragon Scourge are large Void Realm creatures. The monsters you encountered that night during registration, the ones from the Dragon Abyss that attacked you, those were the Lexi.”
“Those scaled monsters?” Huang Xiu asked. “Why are there Touchpoints at Tiandu University?”
She had already asked Jia Qianrou; the second batch of freshmen had also been attacked by monsters that night.
“Tiandu University’s location wasn’t chosen at random,” Wen Erya interjected, explaining.
“It was once the point of descent for the Dragon Abyss. One of Tiandu University’s crucial responsibilities is to guard the Dragon Abyss.”
Huang Xiu didn’t ask why the Dragon Abyss wasn’t simply eliminated.
For the Dragon Abyss not to be eliminated, there were only two possibilities.
Either it couldn’t be solved, or the existence of this Void Realm offered significant benefits.
These were not concerns for a freshman like her.
Tiandu University’s transport planes, purchased from the nation and modified by the Research Department, were exceptionally fast.
From takeoff at the school to their arrival above Western City, adjacent to Tiandu City, less than fifteen minutes had elapsed.
Furthermore, just as the Senior Male Student had mentioned, with freshmen on board, the pilot Zhong Hong indeed wouldn’t dare to fly recklessly.
The entire flight had been remarkably smooth.
While this made Huang Xiu feel fortunate, it also left her with a faint sense of disappointment.
‘It’s a shame I couldn’t witness the Senior Male Student’s fancy maneuvers. I wonder if I’ll ever get another chance,’ Huang Xiu thought, recalling her childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot.
As she pondered this, a sudden shiver ran through her, bringing a crucial question to mind.
The area around the Touchpoint was densely packed with residential buildings, leaving no suitable space for the transport planes to land.
Moreover, Western City, being so close to Tiandu, had no airport of its own. So… how were they supposed to land later?
Huang Xiu quickly voiced her concern…
Both Yun Ning and Wen Erya, with calm expressions, replied in unison, as if it were the most obvious thing: “Parachuting!”
“But I don’t know how!”
Upon hearing this, Huang Xiu was so flustered that tears welled up in her eyes.
As an ordinary high school student, she hadn’t taken any supplementary classes in Hawaii; how was she supposed to know how to parachute?
Furthermore, urban parachuting was extremely dangerous.
“Have you ever seen how a parachuting instructor guides a student?” Yun Ning asked, gesturing towards Wen Erya. “The Senior Female Student will take you.”
Huang Xiu turned to look, and Wen Erya nodded with a smile.
“Don’t be afraid. Everyone is nervous their first time, but you get used to it,”
“Parachuting is also a mandatory course; you’ll have to learn it later.”
“Wait, I have to learn this, and that too! How much am I supposed to learn?”
“Is Tiandu University trying to train special forces?”
“Anything can happen in the Void Realm. As long as a skill can increase your chances of survival, we learn it diligently. No one knows which technique might save your life,” Yun Ning said earnestly.
“Don’t worry!” Wen Erya unbuckled her seatbelt and slowly stood up. “Things come quickly to us Awakened individuals.”
As she rose, Huang Xiu finally noticed something.
Apart from herself and a few other freshmen, everyone else had unbuckled their seatbelts and was standing.
****
“We have reached the airspace near the Touchpoint. Prepare for parachuting.” Zhong Hong’s voice resonated from the broadcast system.
Tiandu University opted for transport planes and helicopters instead of cheaper and more convenient cars for a few reasons.
Partially, it was because flying was undeniably faster than driving.
Another contributing factor was this:
While Touchpoints resembled sea urchins, with irregular boundaries, they typically did not extend above the cloud layer.
Parachuting allowed direct aerial entry into a Touchpoint, enabling quicker arrival at the scene for rescue operations.
Naturally, parachuting was only arranged if it was confirmed that the Touchpoint contained no flying monsters or creatures with anti-air capabilities.
Otherwise, parachuting would typically not be an option.
This was precisely the current situation.
The Dragon Abyss was an old adversary of Tiandu University, and the types of monsters within it were well-understood.
Only ‘King’-tier monsters within the Dragon Abyss possessed the ability to fly.
Under Tiandu University’s suppression, no ‘King’-tier Dragon Scourge could possibly manifest outside the campus.
Thus, parachuting was deemed safe.
The senior students bent down, retrieved parachutes from beneath their seats, and effortlessly donned them.
“Junior Female Student Huang Xiu, come here,” Wen Erya beckoned. “Put on this harness.”
Huang Xiu gripped the cabin’s mesh netting along the edge and walked over, then, with Wen Erya’s help, put on the harness.
With a crisp click, Wen Erya connected herself and Huang Xiu together using four hooks.
“Don’t be scared, Junior Female Student,” she said with a smile. “Parachuting is actually quite interesting.”
“Right, I’ll try my best,” Huang Xiu mumbled, her shoulders hunched and a timid expression on her face.
“Are you afraid of heights?” the Senior Female Student asked again.
Huang Xiu first shook her head, then nodded.
Even if she hadn’t been afraid of heights before, at this altitude, she certainly was now.
As they chatted, a creaking sound emanated from the rear of the cabin.
The tail hatch slowly opened just a crack, and the frigid, high-altitude gale eagerly forced its way inside.
The army-green tarpaulin covering the cargo flapped loudly, and the temperature inside the cabin plummeted instantly.
Fortunately, everyone present was an Awakened individual, so none of them sneezed or caught a cold from the sudden drop in temperature.
The tail hatch fully opened, and the roaring wind from outside poured into the cabin as if with a vengeance.
Huang Xiu’s ears were filled with the deafening roar of the gale.
“Prepare to parachute!” Yun Ning shouted loudly, patting her shoulder.