Enforcer Manual
Chapter 567: The Versatile Dumb Bird_1

Chapter 567: Chapter 567: The Versatile Dumb Bird_1

For Song Lan, cutting people down was much easier than saving them.

The storm that blocked the Barrosa Group’s airship fleet and shrouded the entire Campbell in its grasp was merely a simple application of Destruction-type abilities, equivalent to him pondering for a moment before being able to utilize them.

He had always been a believer that "abilities themselves were neither good nor evil," but lately, he had become increasingly aware that both his abilities and Spiritual Energy seemed inherently designed for destruction.

He was certain that the Spiritual Energy storm would last for a very long time, until the end of their journey to the third Neutral Country.

The sudden natural phenomenon had halted the Barrosa Group’s advance and also attracted the attention of the Eye of the Federation. However, no one dared to easily enter the center of the storm. It would be foolish to lose a great number of living forces over a mere town, especially when they had reason to believe that Campbell, at the center of the storm, had been destroyed the moment the pitch-black storm descended.

If this was the catastrophe brought down by the "Father God" worshipped by the believers of the Lunar Eclipse Sect, then the fate of the townspeople was already sealed.

Throughout the long trade war, the Barrosa Group had gained a profound understanding of their eternal rival. The so-called Moon God was not the "merciful father" described in their doctrines. Every incident that involved direct contact with Him was closely related to words like "sacrifice" and "offering." They could very well assume that this sudden storm was the result of an evil Ceremony conducted by those struggling believers in the town, who used their humble lives and the lives of all the townspeople as a sacrifice.

The Barrosa Group’s battlefield commanders soon convinced themselves.

Their goal was a greater righteous path; there was absolutely no need to squabble with a town that had already been destroyed.

Song Lan sensed that the airship fleet lurking outside the Spiritual Energy storm had retreated, and his heart, which had been hanging, finally settled down.

Fortunately, the believers’ and townspeople’s faith led them to firmly believe that this was a blessing from their "Father God." His feigned ignorance had once again proved to be extremely effective. In the eyes of everyone, including Yeying and others, he was just an utterly confused bystander. Even after hearing his exclamations of surprise, that couple took the initiative to tell him about the glorious deeds of the "Father God."

He couldn’t help but marvel at the deep influence of the Lunar Eclipse Sect on its followers; even some ordinary townspeople could excellently perform the task of preaching when taken aside.

He was more than happy to have others go to great lengths to help cover up his actions. Song Lan occasionally responded with phrases like "So that’s how it is," or "Is that really what happened?" to completely absolve himself of any connection with the Spiritual Energy storm.

The only one who saw through the truth was Lu Xiang, who had finished her dissection work and immediately came out to see what was happening as soon as she heard the commotion outside.

As she stepped out, she happened to hear Song Lan exclaiming "What’s happening?" in the crowd.

She knew Song Lan all too well.

If it hadn’t been for that exclamation, she might have wondered if this was some kind of Ceremony arranged by members of the Lunar Eclipse Sect. But as soon as she saw Song Lan pretending to widen his eyes in disbelief, she was sure that the storm was his doing.

This Dumb Bird!

He had used the opportunity when she wasn’t paying attention to unleash a new ability!

In the field of Spiritual Energy development, Song Lan was like a Black Hole. Whenever he encountered a special environment, he would tinker with and release a new ability he had never shown before.

Lu Xiang observed the torn sky and the still interspersed pitch-black Lightning. It all seemed to have cleaved the real world, plunging the entire area into the chaotic Void. If this storm were to descend upon the frontline, it could directly influence the outcome of the battle.

"It’s getting late; we should set off now."

Lu Xiang nonchalantly approached behind Song Lan, her exoskeleton-armored hand gently resting on his shoulder, "This exoskeleton armor should be able to help us withstand the storm."

"The Moon God will guide our path."

Song Lan spoke with a devout tone, as if the small-town couple had indeed reaped the rewards of their preaching.

The simple Yeying believed this without a doubt.

In the eyes of the most fervent believers of the Lunar Eclipse Sect, the Moon God could easily perform any unimaginable miracle.

Heading north from Campbell would lead them to the first city within the territory of the Third Neutral Country, which was also the landing point of the Seventeenth Expeditionary Army. According to the believers who desperately fled the city, the entire city had been overrun by monsters that poured out of the "mines." The number of monsters seemed endless, as if there were no end in sight. What was more terrifying were the believers who were wounded in battle; their wounds would quickly fester and rot, transforming them in less than an hour into frightful creatures that, like the mutant beasts, lacked independent thought and whose brains were entirely consumed by the desire for slaughter and devouring.

There was no cure for this virus. The city succumbed to the mutant beasts on the night they surged forth.

The defense legions organized by the Church were swiftly overwhelmed by the monsters, and only a very few believers who fought desperately were barely able to escape the city.

They tried several times to persuade Song Lan and the others not to go to that hell on earth, but when they saw Yeying, they backed down.

The appearance of the "Angel of Death" often indicated the will of Archbishop Helifis herself. They could only speculate that the disaster brought about by the mutant beasts might be for the sake of some greater cause.

Under Yeying’s leadership, the three of them avoided most of the mutant beasts along the way.

During the journey, Song Lan tried actively using Spiritual Energy to make contact with these "local residents," hoping to leverage his outstanding communication skills to establish good relations with the mutant beasts. However, all attempts ultimately ended in failure. Invisibly, he seemed to sense some deeper consciousness driving their actions.

This immediately made him think of the Bug Swarm consciousness and he became even more convinced that the attacks launched by the mutant beasts were not accidental but controlled by some "Wild Devourer."

All signs pointed to the likelihood that this Wild Devourer was hiding in the deepest part of the "mines."

It seemed that a strategy of peaceful diplomacy was not going to work. Perhaps they would need to engage in some more in-depth, and even heart-to-heart communication in order to allow both tribes to better understand each other, and thus reach a mutually beneficial win-win outcome.

"We’re here."

After nearly half an hour’s journey, the border city of the Third Neutral Country finally came into their sight.

The Baroque buildings characteristic of the Church were now shrouded in the shadow of war. Although he was mentally prepared on the road, the bloody decay that met Song Lan’s eyes still affected him.

At his feet lay an arm, its owner unknown.

Ahead of them, there was no sound of the valiant fighting from the Seventeenth District Expeditionary Army, and he could not hear any orders from the frontline commanders.

In the distance, not a single figure was visible, only the wreckage of exoskeleton armors, a vast quantity of shell casings, and uneven ground pitted from artillery and air-dropped supplies told the story of what had transpired in the city not long before.

"Our troops have arrived," said Lu Xiang, exchanging glances with Song Lan.

Just minutes before, Medea had sent a battlefield communique, claiming that they had cleared out the mutant beast nests under the city and that the tunnel bugs were ready.

This was not only an expedition initiated by the United Government but also the first true expedition of the Bug Swarm.