Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 642 - 635: Feng’s Stay or Leave

Chapter 642: Chapter 635: Feng’s Stay or Leave

"This..." Cheng Ziang scratched his cheek, saying somewhat awkwardly, "Your reaction is quite unexpected."

"If you knew what would happen if Feng was taken back to Earth, I think you too would reject it without hesitation," Luo’er said, his face darkening.

"What would happen?" Cheng Ziang asked curiously.

"If she is taken back to Earth, those people at the Otherworld research center won’t let her off lightly. Don’t think they are just ordinary men and women, for them, humans and beasts have no difference, in their eyes they are all just lab rats!" Luo’er said coldly.

"It looks like you bear a strong grudge against the people at the research center," Cheng Ziang looked at him and said.

"In the first few years of the Origin Project, they conducted hundreds of experiments. Even though my grandfather is a general, I couldn’t escape the fate of being experimented on by them. I won’t comment on the legality of this project, but I detest every single person at the research center."

"Alright then, I will go and talk to Brother Li and convey your thoughts," Cheng Ziang said, then turned around and left the room.

He arrived at the research area. At this time, Li Si was still talking with An Liang. Seeing Cheng Ziang’s arrival, An Liang appeared excited, with an expectant face he asked: "Did Luo’er agree?"

"Um... " Cheng Ziang glanced at him, then at Li Si, cleared his throat, and said, "Luo’er does not agree with bringing Feng back to Earth."

"How can this be?" Hearing his words, An Liang couldn’t help frowning, showing a puzzled expression.

However, Cheng Ziang noticed that there was no change in Li Si’s expression after hearing this news. It seemed that he had long been aware of Luo’er’s attitude.

"Since Luo’er doesn’t agree, then we have no way around it. This girl only listens to Luo’er. If Luo’er doesn’t agree, let her stay here." Li Si shrugged and said, his face showing no regret.

"Why would Luo’er refuse?" An Liang asked Cheng Ziang, puzzled.

"Well, it’s probably because... Feng is strong in combat, so Luo’er particularly wants her to stay in the Advance Team... I guess..." Cheng Ziang scratched his head, saying hesitantly.

"Isn’t this foolish? No matter how strong her combat abilities are, can she kill all the monsters and viruses? She should play her role in more important places." An Liang frowned, saying with justified indignation.

"Really a cold-hearted researcher..." Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

"No, I have to go talk to Luo’er!" An Liang said, standing up to leave.

"Forget it," Li Si stopped him in time, then persuaded him, "Even I can’t change Luo’er’s decision. Don’t waste your energy. You can send the samples collected from Feng to Earth and carry on with the work there. It’s not necessary to bring her back to Earth."

"How can this be?" An Liang frowned, looking at him in disbelief.

"Why can’t it be? Must you take her back to Earth for human trials before you will give up?" Li Si said, keeping a straight face.

Seeing his resolute expression, An Liang didn’t know what to say and could only helplessly sigh.

"You knew Luo’er would object?" On the way back to the airboat, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but catch up with Li Si and ask.

"Just a guess," Li Si shrugged and said, "The boss said before, Luo’er doesn’t like the folks from the research center. We all know very well what those people would do to Feng when she reaches Earth."

With that, he sighed lightly and continued, "It’s true that the research conducted by the Otherworld Research Center greatly propelled the development of the Origin Project, but their inhumanity is also an undeniable fact. Last month, the headquarters was even mentioned in a local human rights report. If the research center continues to behave recklessly, I fear that even the Ministry of Defense won’t be able to protect them. Now as we push for the Mingming Plan, it is completely led by the frontline command, with the Otherworld Research Center serving as a support. Those inhabitants from the Otherworld that we brought back to Earth are all watched over by personnel specially dispatched by the frontline command, for fear that the people from the research center might cause trouble."

"Then how should we evaluate the Otherworld Research Center?" Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but turn his head and ask.

"Don’t judge heroes by their success or failure, and don’t discuss wins or losses based on right or wrong. All we can say is, we should be glad that we stand on the same side as them," Li Si shrugged and said.

Insisting on Luo’er’s point, An Liang ultimately couldn’t take Feng away and could only rush to collect as many samples as possible to take back to Earth for research.

Five days later, it was confirmed that all the viruses in Feng’s body had been expelled, so she was able to leave the isolation room. At the same time, under Cheng Ziang’s persuasion, Luo’er was finally released early, although he was still in a wheelchair, but the injury on his leg had improved significantly.

The situation was moving in a good direction. The Church Court’s clearing measures achieved great success, so they unhesitatingly continued setting fires to reduce the plague area. For the Pope, he would rather have a land scorched to ashes than a plague area infested with monsters.

With the aid of the southwest wind, the Church Court intended to burn their way to the Door of Annihilation. All the monsters and corpse demons along the way were either burned to death or killed by them. Having learned their lesson from last time, the combat effectiveness of the Purification Legion gradually took shape, with these temporarily trained soldiers maturing into veterans through repeated battles.

The Purification Legion is not only specially trained to deal with corpse demons, but also an attempt by the Church Court to modernize its military. Runes and magic are indeed effective, but they should also acknowledge that Earth’s weapons are not far behind, and are easier to train with.

The ordeal suffered by the Judgement Legion a few months ago served as a harsh lesson to the higher-ups of the Church Court. The Judgement Legion, with their elite combat capabilities, were utterly outsmarted and outmaneuvered by Ancient States Theron, who was armed with Earth’s weapons.

For the Church Court, the most frustrating part was not how powerful their Earth-armed enemies were, but how large the disparity in losses was when compared. All the gear that a Judgement Knight is equipped with is worth enough to arm two squads of Earth infantry, not to mention the amount of money it takes to train a knight.

As for their enemies, just as long as one infantry squad can kill a knight, even if they suffer a complete wipeout, they would still be considered to be profiting, while the Church Court would still be considered to be at a loss.

To fight in this manner is akin to using a tank to kill a chicken, completely wasting the value of the knights. Therefore, the Church Court hopes to establish an affordable and mobile legion, armed with Earth’s weapons and trained using Earth’s methods, to handle conflicts of a general nature. The two main forces of Knights would then be used to handle high-risk conflicts.

In simple terms, it is about employing a high-low mix strategy and establishing a third-rate legion in addition to the Temple Knight Corps and Judgement Legion to handle minor conflicts, thus avoiding using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken, which is the true intent behind the establishment of the Purification Legion by the Church Court.

For this reason, while clearing the plague area, the Church Court once again recruited soldiers for training at the camp to replenish the reserves of the Purification Legion. The headquarters continued to supply them with weapons and equipment, but no longer participated in their training as they too, were short-handed.

Ever since Luo’er was injured, Murong’s squad had been incredibly busy. Initially, they were only assigned as a receiving squad, but after Luo’er’s squad took a break, they ended up having to do almost everything themselves, from collecting samples from the plague area to guiding the Purification Legion’s training and combat.

For Li Si, this was akin to stunting growth by pulling young plants upward. However, he had no choice because there were only two Advance Teams under his command that he could mobilize. He could mobilize the mercenaries, but they were more for maintaining the base’s security and couldn’t be dispatched lightly. Even if they could be dispatched, these people were not unswerving loyalists, so he couldn’t trust them with the tasks.

Even though the Frontline Command relied heavily on mercenaries, they had never trusted them completely. Otherwise, the higher-ups at the headquarters would not have gone to the trouble of establishing Advance Teams to handle Otherworld affairs.