Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1165 - 1158: Two-Pronged Attack

Chapter 1165: Chapter 1158: Two-Pronged Attack

"Our suggestion is to implement a scorched earth policy and evacuate everyone to live in the suburbs temporarily," Wang Xu proposed.

"However, by doing so, the enemy loses their target, and if they give up on continuing their harassment, then wouldn’t our prior arrangements be in vain? After some time when we let the civilians return, if they come to harass again, won’t we still face the situation where we can’t discriminate friend from foe and are unable to fire?" someone voiced their concern worriedly.

"That’s right, we need to annihilate the enemy’s living forces, on the one hand to deter others who dare invade, and on the other to give Lipei’s citizens an explanation. Simply driving them away is definitely useless; these people definitely need to see some blood before they’ll behave," Lin Wei agreed with a nod.

"So, we need to come up with a plan to lure the enemy into massing their forces for an attack, and then cover them with firepower to ensure they don’t return," a staff officer suggested.

"But there’s another problem: some merchant militias and small groups might come to Lipei for trade and commerce. If we mistakenly harm these people, then it will be on us," someone else commented.

"We need to make one thing clear: any unauthorized action of carrying weapons across our borders will be considered an armed invasion, and will be met with resolute action. We need to spread this news and set up border posts along the frontier," another staff officer suggested.

"You’re overthinking it," someone countered his view. "Nowadays we don’t have the energy to distinguish friend from enemy, and setting up outposts on the edge of the firepower coverage would just make them a target for the enemy. Our announcement should be simple and to the point: any private armed entry will be met with firepower. If you don’t want to be targeted, then disarm before entering. This way, the reconnaissance soldiers only need to identify whether the person is carrying weapons to determine if they’re the enemy."

"Hmm," Lin Wei nodded in agreement. "Special times require special measures. Indeed, we can’t afford those fancy measures right now. Announcements should be as simple and straightforward as possible. After all, we don’t have the means to verify whether those carrying weapons are merchants or non-hostile groups, or the enemy. The only solution is a complete ban, anyone armed entering the country will be considered a target for artillery."

"Gentlemen," a staff officer who had been silent for a while suddenly spoke up, "we’ve discussed so much about how to deal with the invading enemy, but we’ve completely overlooked the powers behind these enemies, so we’ve only managed to treat the symptoms, not the root cause. If we want to completely eliminate the invaders, the best way is to take out the power behind them."

"The Office will take charge of this matter; we are quite proficient in this area and should be able to find out who is pulling the strings behind the enemy," Wang Xu said.

"Hmm, we’ll proceed on two fronts: on one hand, we’ll prepare for the enemy’s potential attack, and on the other, your Office should quickly find the mastermind to resolve the crisis in Lipei," Lin Wei nodded.

"Understood, leave it to us," Wang Xu responded assertively.

"Elder Zhang, could you trouble yourself to communicate with the Army and have them deploy two Artillery Battalions to fortify Lipei and support our counteroffensive?" Lin Wei turned to General Zhang.

"Don’t worry, leave it to me. The Army, our big brother, will not stand by and let us be bullied," General Zhang assured, thumping his chest.

As mentioned before, the headquarters was originally a department under the Army; even the later launched Origin Project was an Army initiative. It was only transferred along with the headquarters to the Ministry of Defense when they could no longer support it financially, so saying the Army was the big brother wasn’t exactly problematic.

The scene shifted back to Cheng Ziang. After leaving the city hospital, he was alone in the autonomous vehicle and called the city service AI: "Rong Rong, search for Hu Daoke’s whereabouts. Identity: Advance Team member from the Otherworld headquarters."

"Negative, you are not authorized!" the AI’s soft synthetic female voice replied.

"Rong Rong, input code P2345-7224," Cheng Ziang thought for a moment and then said.

"Received, verifying... Code verified, Otherworld Affairs headquarters channel loaded. Authorization granted, Mr. Cheng Ziang." The AI promptly delivered the good news.

"Resume the previous search!" Cheng Ziang commanded.

"Received, searching, search result: Hu Daoke, currently located in the Shenghua Academy campus area, moving in a northwestern direction. The subject does not possess a real-time communicator and cannot be contacted. Would you like navigation assistance?" the AI asked.

"Confirm navigation!" Cheng Ziang nodded.

"Received, navigating for the autonomous vehicle, military channel now open for you. Please brace yourself," the AI continued.

Subsequently, the autonomous vehicle he was in started to accelerate, heading towards the Shenghua Academy. He had never imagined that the car could move so fast; it truly lived up to a military channel’s reputation.

At the entrance of Shenghua Academy, electronic guards were in place, scanning and checking any vehicles that came in and out. However, Cheng Ziang naturally had no trouble, especially since he had activated military codes and was now considered military personnel. Therefore, the self-driving car didn’t even slow down, speeding past electronic guards.

Upon arriving at the Academy, as soon as the car stopped, Cheng Ziang stepped out with a pained expression, feeling dizzy and nearly stumbling as soon as he got out of the vehicle. He felt his head spinning and coughed forcefully a few times, almost vomiting.

"I’m sorry for not considering your tolerance levels. Do you need me to call a doctor?" the caring voice of the artificial intelligence came through the earpiece.

"Forget it, just lead me to Hu Daoke quickly," Cheng Ziang waved his hand and said.

"Received, the omnidirectional elevator is on its way and will arrive in front of you in approximately twenty seconds," the artificial intelligence reported.

The omnidirectional elevator was actually a common mode of transportation within Shenghua Academy. Although it’s called an elevator, it could be ridden from any location within the academy.

It was somewhat similar to a self-driving car, but used magnetic levitation, floating about a dozen centimeters above the ground. Each omnidirectional elevator could carry the weight of about five to six adults.

The omnidirectional elevator could not ascend directly in place but could climb using certain methods. Inside the buildings of Shenghua Academy were omnidirectional elevator shafts; the elevators would climb along the walls within these shafts, reaching the designated floors.

Initially, the omnidirectional elevator was used as a means of internal transport, allowing passengers to travel to any area on the higher floors from any part of the ground floor. Later, people found that it could also be used outdoors, and it was thus popularized as the main mode of transport within the academy, virtually the only mode of transport.

Before long, an omnidirectional elevator came to a steady stop in front of Cheng Ziang, and the hatch automatically opened. Cheng Ziang got in and sat down; as the doors closed, the vehicle began to navigate to its destination.

It must be said that magnetic levitation was indeed much smoother than wheeled vehicles—there was no sense of the bumpy movement—and Cheng Ziang finally let out a sigh of relief.

Soon, the omnidirectional elevator caught up with Hu Daoke, who was out for a walk with his girlfriend and his niece, and stopped in front of them.

Hu Daoke, seeing Cheng Ziang’s stern expression, smiled awkwardly and then asked, "What’s with that look?"

"Luo’er has had an accident, and he’s lying in the hospital right now," said Cheng Ziang with a heavy sigh.

"Ah, what happened to the boss?" As soon as Hu Daoke heard that Luo’er was in trouble, he immediately became agitated, stepped forward, and grabbed Cheng Ziang’s shoulders to ask.

"His condition doesn’t look good," Cheng Ziang let out another long sigh, then, changing his tone, he looked at Hu Daoke and asked, "Do you want to avenge him?"

"What kind of stupid question is that, of course," Hu Daoke said without any hesitation.

"Good, come back with me to Lipei, and let’s investigate the assault on Luo’er," said Cheng Ziang.

"Let’s go, right now!" Hu Daoke, no longer concerned about his date with Olavia, rolled up his sleeves and said.

"You two should come back to Lipei as well; we’re going to have martial law soon, so don’t wander around," Cheng Ziang said, looking back at the two.

"Okay, got it," Olavia and her sister exchanged glances and then nodded in agreement.

And so, the group took the omnidirectional elevator to the school gates, then changed to a self-driving car headed for the Otherworld Gate.

If they had just left the Olavia sisters at Shenghua Academy, they would have been utterly helpless, for they were from the Otherworld and artificial intelligence could not recognize their identities and hence were unable to offer them services.

Of course, there were exceptions, such as Luoya who, though she lived in the Otherworld for a long time and could be considered a person from the Otherworld, was able to register and get marked as military personnel due to her status as General Luo Qishan’s granddaughter, enjoying many privileges.