Enforcer Manual
Chapter 554: No War in Zone 17_1

Chapter 554: Chapter 554: No War in Zone 17_1

Song Lan finally managed to secure a week of paid leave, but he didn’t know whether this would ultimately alter his destiny.

Because the process of obtaining paid leave was anything but smooth.

Lu Xiang, however, always seemed to master this delicate balance, leaving him feeling like he had scored a victory yet not quite a full win.

Song Lan couldn’t help but reflect on the importance of maintaining good relations with one’s superior. Had he been in a different position and with a different boss, even he wouldn’t dare to brazenly request leave time and again. Although Director Lu always had a sharp tongue, he approved Song Lan’s leave requests with a probability as high as 87.5%.

In this respect, he felt that Director Lu might actually possess a certain degree of "tsundere" characteristics.

However, on the third day of Song Lan’s paid leave, when he planned to sleep in until eleven as usual, a deep and clear voice shattered the peaceful morning.

"Countless excellent sons and daughters of the United Government are guarding the gates of our homeland around the clock, but they cannot hold out alone. Those who have been conscripted recently will have all criminal penalties and responsibilities halved..."

The loudness of the statement was as if someone had stood beside his bed and shouted into his ear, accompanied by the roar of engines. The winter’s sunlight was briefly obscured, as some massive object seemed to move slowly over the top of their apartment building.

This impassioned speech instantly robbed Song Lan of all sleepiness. He put on his robe, opened the window, and without concern for the biting cold wind, stuck his head out to look. There in his field of vision was a gigantic airship emblazoned with the United Government’s Gun Shield Emblem, upon which the Chairperson of the Council’s holographic projection was being played.

Several massive airships hovered over District 17, repeating the United Government’s conscription speech.

What happened?

Three question marks instantly popped above Song Lan’s head, and it was obvious that many citizens with the same question were gathering on the streets, looking up at the sky and discussing fervently.

This was completely different from what they had anticipated.

After the Ragus Foundation established itself in District 17, they expected the situation would remain stable, yet not even a few days passed and everything looked as if a war was about to break out.

Song Lan had to admit that the speeches from the airships were extremely effective at brainwashing. He had only stood by the window for a brief moment, and his head was buzzing with the thought "Citizens of the United Government, defend your homeland!"

From the looks of it on the streets, many former gang members seemed to have been persuaded.

Over the last few months, the crime industry in District 17 had experienced a once-in-decades winter. Under the relentless hunt of the brutal Director Lu, they had almost no space to survive. But just then, the Chairperson of the Council had clearly mentioned in the speech that all criminal legal responsibilities would be halved for those who enlist now.

Moreover, soldiers who perform meritoriously on the battlefield would not only be absolved of all charges but might even be promoted to higher ranks.

The battlefield was always the quickest path to advancement.

Old soldiers who had been through the Third War mentioned in their reminiscences that those who made it back from the battlefield alive never had it bad.

For gang members, it was better to take a gamble than to live in constant trepidation under the pressure of the Law Enforcers. They were already outlaws, and now a great opportunity was unfolding before them.

Luckily, Song Lan was not an ordinary citizen out of the loop; he had connections in high places within District 17, always receiving firsthand intelligence.

To understand what was happening, he had no choice but to hop on his bicycle and, on the third day of his leave, head reluctantly to the Law Enforcers’ compound.

Most of his colleagues were gathered in the yard, having heard the grand conscription speech. While checking their equipment, they were already imagining their stellar performances on the battlefield. From their conversations, Song Lan learned the source of their and the gang members’ confidence.

Because their enemy this time was not the formidable Rebel Army but bugs.

According to them, it was a group of mutant creatures that looked uncannily like bugs.

They clearly didn’t take these bugs seriously, believing that all one needed was an exoskeleton armor and a military-grade flamethrower to become akin to a war god.

Song Lan’s heart tightened.

Could it be that their research facility in the junkyard had been exposed?

However, he soon heard some crucial information from his colleagues’ conversation: this "pest" outbreak took place in a neighboring country of the Third Neutral Country, which had nothing to do with District Seventeen.

When he arrived at Lu Xiang’s office, she had just hung up the phone with the core city.

Seeing Song Lan enter, she spoke directly, "This major conscription is not targeted at District Seventeen. Including us, ten border cities have started conscription today. Soldiers from these ten border cities will be divided into three main forces to march towards the Third Neutral Country."

But anyone who knew the inside story was aware that all three main forces shared a resounding name—cannon fodder.

Director Lu had learned the latest information from the Conscription Bureau: the United Government would cover all equipment, military pay, and expenses for the frontline troops. Each conscripted soldier would be equipped with military exoskeleton armor and the standard electromagnetic rifle used by the frontline troops.

To describe these soon-to-be-deployed soldiers as armed to the teeth was not an overstatement, which also meant that the United Government was taking this war very seriously. They needed a well-equipped Vanguard to help them gather intelligence on the Third Neutral Country.

"Here, take a look at this; this is footage obtained from a city in the Third Neutral Country."

The footage was intercepted by Dr. Bai Zhu while transmitting intelligence from the field department to the core region.

In order "to stabilize public sentiment," the United Government apparently had no intention of disclosing this footage to the Vanguard, lest they develop fear and hesitation before deployment.

The protagonist of the footage seemed to be a well-equipped squad from the field department.

What they filmed was a city that appeared devastated and silent, with large amounts of flesh growths and lumps scattered throughout, shrouded in a dark red haze, the growths slowly writhing in front of the camera.

Just as the team was preparing to complete their sampling work, the biological detector equipped on their exoskeleton armor suddenly emitted a sharp alarm.

A group of fast-moving creatures was closing in on them.

The squad immediately arranged themselves in a combat formation, but the subsequent footage was the same as that left by all squads that perished in battle—even as they were crushed by the attacking creatures, they couldn’t make out the assailants’ true forms.

The only certainty was that the creatures’ claws could easily tear through the metallic coating of the exoskeleton armor.

All signs from the intelligence indicated that the enemy in this war were indeed "bugs."

But these were bugs with the ability to become invisible and the lightning-fast speed to move.

"The day before yesterday, the Third Neutral Country launched an unprovoked attack on a neighboring country, and two cities have already become like what’s shown in the footage."

Even the United Government did not know what exactly the Third Neutral Country had developed.

Nor did anyone anticipate that the first to break the balance would be neither the United Government nor the Rebel Army, but the Third Neutral Country, a power with little interaction with either.

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