Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 637 - 630: The Role of Cheng Ziang

Chapter 637: Chapter 630: The Role of Cheng Ziang

After the wound was bandaged, the busy crowd finally got a chance to rest. They leaned against the cabin walls, each of them panting with lingering fear, their hands and feet trembling intermittently.

As long as he was not infected, Luoer’s injury was not too severe and could be controlled with proper treatment to prevent major bleeding. Luoer leaned against the cabin wall, took a deep breath, and his complexion finally looked much healthier.

Tangmo was crouched by his right side, weeping non-stop. Luoer lightly patted her back, silently comforting her. Just then, he remembered the prophecy’s predictions and looked at Baiyue to his left with a complicated expression.

Baiyue was kneeling on the ground, her head lowered as she cleaned up the medical supplies and bloodstains. Even though he couldn’t see her face, Luoer could tell from her slightly trembling hands that she was worried.

He sighed lightly, then suddenly reached out and grabbed her little hand. Startled by Luoer’s sudden grip, Baiyue instinctively shivered and then stopped working.

"Sorry to have worried you," Luoer said quietly after taking a deep breath.

Upon hearing his words, Baiyue didn’t react much. She wasn’t the expressive type, but Luoer could feel her quietly sobbing, too. She turned her hand over, and their palms met, fingers interlacing.

For a long time, Luoer felt like he had been neglecting Baiyue. Like him, she was also a passive person, and it was hard for them to actively ask things from each other.

Baiyue was not like Tangmo. Tangmo was very proactive and enterprising. Although Luoer often felt overwhelmed by her, he could never refuse her determination. In contrast, Baiyue seemed to fall short.

In terms of abilities alone, Baiyue was far superior to Tangmo. However, regretfully, she lacked Tangmo’s initiative. This resulted in much of her work going unnoticed due to lack of exposure.

Perhaps this could be considered a sort of balance. Tangmo was less competent, but the proactiveness in her personality complemented Luoer’s passive nature. Baiyue had exceptional ability and could be Luoer’s reliable helper, yet she lost out being over passive.

The transport plane ascended to higher altitudes, heading towards the airship. The smoke from the Church Court’s clearance efforts covered the sky, and only when the transport plane climbed high could they see the long-missed sun.

Ever since she was brought onto the transport plane, Feng had been unusually quiet, crouching silently in a corner. She probably trusted the members of the Advance Team because her sword lay casually by her side, not in the ready-to-use position like before.

Seeing her calm demeanor, Cheng Ziang suddenly thought of something and couldn’t help calling out, "Hey!"

"Are you calling me?" Feng tilted her head, her eyes wide open as she asked.

"You, if you got splashed with the blood of these monsters, would you get infected too?" Cheng Ziang asked curiously.

"Infected.." Feng lowered her head to think for a while, then said, "No, it just makes cleaning up a hassle."

"So, she’s immune to all types of viruses?" Cheng Ziang asked, turning his head to glance at Luoer with a frown.

"Indeed, if we can figure out her immunity mechanism, we might find a solution," Luoer replied, nodding.

"With this incident, I guess their research progress will definitely speed up," Cheng Ziang said, stealing a glance at Luoer’s foot.

He was well aware of Wang Xu and Li Si’s attitudes towards Luoer. The two were overly concerned about protecting him, especially Wang Xu who treated Luoer like his own child. Besides them, the top brass at Headquarters also held Luoer in high regard. The main reason was Luoer’s unique status.

Ever since Luoer discovered his mother, he went from being a half-elf to becoming a royal member of Ilanadale, subsequently heightening his status. Previously, only Lin Wei cared about Luoer, but now almost all the top officials at the headquarters deemed Luoer’s status very important, therefore recommending the cancellation of the first vanguard team’s overseas qualifications.

Cheng Ziang was worried that if the headquarters were to learn about Luoer’s current situation, they might cancel the vanguard team’s overseas qualification to prevent anything from happening to Luoer. Consequently, the vanguard team would be rushed back to Earth, an outcome everyone wished to avoid.

Even though Luoer vehemently assured everyone that he would not get infected, no one dared to guarantee it. Now, Cheng Ziang only hoped that the research department could quickly develop an antiviral serum and give Luoer a shot. Only then would he genuinely feel relieved.

"Luoer, report your current situation to the Airboat Headquarters so they can prepare accordingly," Cheng Ziang said to Luoer after a moment of contemplation.

"Isn’t that a bit too serious? Like I’ve said before, I won’t get infected." Luoer meticulously said, noticing Cheng Ziang’s somewhat unfriendly expression.

"Understand this, I am ordering you as a command, not requesting you. Your command qualifications transferred to me the moment you got injured," Cheng Ziang said emotionlessly.

"I only injured my foot, not my brain. I command with my brain," Luoer said, torn between laughter and tears.

"I don’t care, as of now, I am in command. You’re always so stubborn, never concerned about your own safety. Do you want everyone to worry about you?" Cheng Ziang declared, looking at him.

"All right..." Seeing Cheng Ziang’s increasingly serious expression, Luoer immediately backed down and began drafting a letter.

Strictly speaking, Luoer should not be using magic since he is injured. However, as his leg was the main area of injury and the magic required for messenger magic was minimal, even less than first-level magic, casting messenger magic under his injured state would not result in severe Magical Power Erosion.

Cheng Ziang would not encourage Luoer’s bad habits. His rise to deputy captain, and assumption of command duties when Luoer lost his command capabilities, was primarily because he dared to correct Luoer’s faults and make up for his shortcomings.

As a matter of fact, Luoer was a dominant captain with a typical patriarchal mindset. He allowed Cheng Ziang to criticize him and take over his positon only because it remedied his shortcomings. If not, given Luoer’s dominant character, Cheng Ziang, being an aspirational individual, would have been expelled from the vanguard team long ago.

The rest of the vanguard team also required someone like Cheng Ziang. In case Luoer’s command strayed, they would find it almost impossible to bring him back on track. They could only rely on Cheng Ziang’s strength.

Luoer knew exactly what influence he would have once his message was delivered. No one else could say for sure, but Li Si would undoubtedly be the first to panic. As Wang Xu’s successor, Li Si also inherited Wang Xu’s concern for Luoer. If Wang Xu’s affection for Luoer was like father to son, then Li Si’s feelings for Luoer would probably be more brotherly.

After several hours of flight, the transport plane finally flew past the Church Court’s frontline and arrived at the temporary research department located behind. The Church Court had intentionally set fires, which coupled with the strong southwest wind, led to an instant engulfment of thousands of square kilometers of forests and grasslands.

After slightly adjusting its course, the transport plane commenced its deceleration by opening the thrust reversers, eventually hovering above the helipad. Undergoing a few minutes of adjustments, the transport plane began to descend straight down.

Meanwhile, the helipad was filled with researchers fully wrapped in protective gear, stretchers were also ready, waiting for the arrival of the vanguard team members.

As soon as the transport plane hit the ground, the cabin door was thrown open from the outside. Murong and Wu Tairan swiftly jumped in, grabbed Luoer, and began to move him out.

"Be careful! He’s not a sample!" Exclaimed Tangmo, feeling mistreated by their behaviour.

Ignoring Tangmo’s protest, as soon as Luoer was moved out of the transport plane and placed on the stretcher, he saw Li Si fully armed, staring right at him.

In theory, as the overall commander of the operation, Li Si was not required to dress like that and come down. Clearly, the news of Luoer’s injury was too much for him to bear, so he personally came down to supervise and check on Luoer’s condition.