Sky-cracking Rider-Chapter 361: Section 357 - A Plan Realized Too Late

"Really?"

Liaison Officer Rossi was half skeptical, fearing that the leader of Team 04 might report only the good news and hide any heavy casualties, pretending to be tough and refusing to admit the truth.

"Really, everyone is here, I’ll show you the video!"

Adrian had no choice but to turn on the video, aiming the phone camera inside the vehicle.

The beds were filled with people, and Earth Mage Ruan Tiankai was the last to return.

All members were present, and it seemed that none of them looked like they were bandaged or on an IV drip; some were even looking at their cell phones.

Then another voice came through.

"...What are you looking at, you old coot..."

Mouri Misono, realizing that Adrian’s weary gaze meant she had unwittingly turned up the volume of her phone, playfully stuck out her tongue and quickly turned the volume down.

Liaison Officer Rossi in Habulav was downright gloomy.

It really was like a soap opera, but with those lines, could you really scold someone? If not, then there really was nothing worth mentioning.

"And your battle plan!"

Liaison Officer Rossi abruptly changed the topic and started grilling Adrian.

"Got it, sending it to you now."

The fire mage scrambled on his laptop after a night of busily typing notes.

Ding! The email was sent.

Then he breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he hadn’t slacked off and had prepared in advance, just waiting for the request.

"I’ll take a look!"

Rossi ended the call.

The sunlight from outside was just right, shining into the mobile base vehicle at the foot of the volcano, lighting up the interior with a golden glow.

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Chen Fei opened his eyes.

The sound of Mouri Misono’s soap opera and Captain Adrian’s conversation woke him from his light sleep.

He didn’t take part in close-quarters combat last night and didn’t need to type up a battle plan, so naturally, he was the one with the most restful sleep.

Having gotten used to sleeping alone, the presence of so many people in the carriage made it easy for him to wake up.

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Just like getting rid of a bad omen, Adrian Benjamin, after ending the call with Liaison Officer Rossi, said to the just-awakened Chen Fei, "Chen Fei, are you awake? Perfect, I need your help this morning!"

"Huh?"

Chen Fei looked confused.

The others gradually woke up, and two girls started preparing breakfast together. The women took care of cooking, and the men enjoyed it fully justified.

Breakfast was simple: milk, mung bean porridge, toast, salted duck eggs, vegetable buns, natto, fried eggs, and fried bacon—everyone was satisfied.

Despite Chinese breakfast items predominating the spread, to many people, Chinese cuisine was traditional food and seemingly without issue.

After breakfast, the mobile base vehicle slowly moved toward the lava cave entrance near the volcano’s crater.

The vehicle originally couldn’t reach that position, but Earth Mage Ruan Tiankai magicked the mountain surface, paving a one-way route for the mobile base vehicle to get closer.

After several hairpin turns, the bulky mobile base vehicle finally arrived at the platform near the entrance of the cave.

"I’m entrusting these supplies to you!"

Adrian handed a list over to Chen Fei.

Then he walked several paces from the entrance, caressed the bracelet-shaped Space System Alchemy Storage Device on his hand, and began unloading boxes of supplies of various sizes.

"Wow, that’s a lot!"

Chen Fei, holding the list, hadn’t been called on for close combat but wasn’t always idle as an old driver; he naturally had some tasks to attend to.

Like using the lava cave processed by the Earth Mage to establish a small base.

This place wasn’t just for Team 04’s use; others would use it in the future too.

So, during the initial stationing, they needed to build and complete it as much as possible.

Like the anti-aircraft radar near the cave entrance, automatic air defense weapons, and wind turbines, even without the ever-present threat of the bee mutant BF-1334, these constructions were still inevitable.

"Liaison Officer Rossi is requesting a call!"

The phone on Adrian Benjamin, a First Rank fire mage, began to ring.

To cope with this Liaison Officer’s troublemaking, Adrian had no choice but to activate the call assistant, which automatically reminded him of the caller’s personal information.

"Hello! This is Adrian!"

"I’m Rossi!"

The voice on the other end seemed to be inhaling, and Adrian wasn’t surprised when, a second later, a roar came through.

"What kind of operation plan is this? It’s all nonsense, idiotic, without a hint of viability. Do you think this is a game of house? Do you know how long the first team to take down the assessment point spent? A day and a half! And you say you’re going to take over a mutant lair with its own fortress in six hours, aren’t you joking..."

The easy-tempered Liaison Officer had entered his daily tirade mode, and it was as if one could smell the fishy saliva even through the phone, as though Captain Adrian wasn’t speaking to a human but to a roaring mutant.

After a ten-minute relentless berating, Rossi finally ran out of steam and slowed down his speech.

"Redo it, redo it, by noon, I must see a truly viable operation plan, don’t try to fool me, I’m a professional, back in the day..."

Recalling the glorious days, the old hand started to brag about his past achievements again, boasting of his illustrious military record, BaLaBaLaBaLa... Honestly, the war for ordinary people is just that—air force bombs, then artillery, artillery then infantry charges, and after the infantry, it’s done. Nothing like now, when ability users and Crystal Jets enter the battlefield, it’s like a world-destroying spectacle.

"Uh, sorry, let me interrupt for a moment!"

The fire mage, tired of listening, sheepishly interrupted the self-indulgent rambling.

"Hmm? What do you mean? Don’t you have any respect for your elders? Young man, you need to be steady, don’t be so flighty all the time!"

Liaison Officer Rossi’s voice took on an ominous note again.

"Well, according to our operation plan, we have already successfully taken the Dead Volcano..."

Adrian Benjamin really didn’t know how to show respect to this so-called senior anymore. He had clearly turned the situation around, and yet the other party insisted on charging head-first towards the gunfire.

It was truly difficult to deal with.

"What? You’re not joking!"

On the other end of the call, Rossi’s voice suddenly got much louder.

"I assure you!"

Video call is a great thing, Adrian immediately switched to video mode and pointed the camera at the Lava Cave Entrance, which was large enough for four Mobile Base Vehicles to enter and exit at the same time, at the platform flattened by spells and at the busy figure of Chen Fei, who was enjoying the pleasure of unpacking.

"Ah! This, this is..."

Rossi’s expression turned wonderfully animated; he couldn’t believe it and immediately checked the coordinates of location 04, which was indeed right above the Dead Volcano. The satellite imagery couldn’t be faked.

"Liaison Officer Rossi, formal combat for half an hour, including fifteen minutes of bombardment and fifteen minutes of close-quarters combat. The following hour was spent searching the interior of the Dead Volcano, and by dawn, Ruan Tiankai, a Ninth Rank Earth Mage, had transformed the entire Lava Cave, sealed the hazard-prone crevices, and laid out a road for the Mobile Base Vehicle to ascend the mountain. I will send you the combat report later."

The fire mage, who hadn’t slept all night, sighed inwardly.

Fortunately, Chen Fei, who had experience as a mechanic, was assigned to install the equipment. Everyone else had been fighting and on guard all night, especially the Earth Mage, who had tidied up the entire Lava Cave and even laid out a road to the foot of the mountain, exhausting himself to the last drop, and not ready for immediate re-use.

"Later, how soon is later? Don’t try any sneaky tricks. Listen, I’ll be watching you. By noon, immediately, right now!"

Rossi pointed at his own eyes and then at the phone camera.

"Er, okay then!"

Adrian looked utterly defeated; he had wanted to get some more sleep, but it looked like that was not going to happen, so he had to keep on working.

"Tweet!"

Little Bird fluttered around the Lava Cave without disturbing Daddy Chen Fei’s work. After flying out from the Mobile Base Vehicle, it began on its own to explore this unfamiliar cave space.

Many robust Crystal Clusters had formed on the cave walls, and these crystal-clear crystals seemed able to absorb the light from the "Illumination Technique," also glowing faintly by themselves.

The Pure Light Sparrow, with its ping pong ball-sized Light Orb of the "Illumination Technique," lit up all the caves with Crystal Clusters as it flew past, making the overall brightness like a starry sky under a full moon, bright enough to illuminate most corners.

The radiation counter didn’t increase in value, indicating that the glow was not harmful radiation but simply a mineral fluorescence reaction. The Crystal Clusters contained different metal components, causing the emitted light to vary in color. The most common was a pale blue like moonlight, followed by light green, purple, bright yellow, and a small amount of pale pink, resembling festoon lights.

"Wow! So beautiful!"

The Twin Blades Sister, Mouri Misono, had stars in her eyes. To her, the Crystal Clusters on the cave walls looked like a treasure trove of gemstones. Read latest chapters at novelbuddy

"They must be crystals!"

Susanna, an Ice Ability User of rank B, picked up a crystal that had fallen to the ground, only as large as her thumb.

Upon closer inspection, the hexagonal prism crystal was pure, and even shining a flashlight on it didn’t reveal any visible impurities. As if resonating, the light from the crystal brightened, and it continued to glow for a long time even after she switched off the flashlight.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this Lava Cave was actually a huge Hydrothermal Lava Crystal Cave that formed countless years ago. After the changes of sea into fields over the ages, it had reemerged in the center of the great desert, taken over by mutants who made it their nest.

Crystals had an inherent property to absorb and store energy, so showing a fluorescence reaction was not surprising.

"Hey, can someone help out with laying the cable and fiber optic? Old Joe, Joshua..."

Chen Fei’s voice echoed from the direction of the cave entrance, and even with Metal Elemental Psychic Power to assist him, he was still overwhelmed by the amount of work, struggling to cope.

If there had been no mutants lurking nearby, they could have worked methodically without rush, but no one knew when the mutants might suddenly come to cause trouble. If the arrangements at the Dead Volcano Entrance weren’t in place, that would be inviting a whole host of problems.

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