"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to finish quarantine in two days. After that, we'll need to head back to the First Military District first."
Jiang Ya announced the good news at the morning video briefing.
All the soldiers breathed a sigh of relief—what a relief that no one had been parasitized! And they could finally return to the unit; they were thoroughly sick of this place by now.
Hearing this, an involuntary twitch crossed the nerve in Li Qin's face. Finally, he'd gotten the chance to leave this place under legitimate circumstances. Good thing he hadn't acted rashly before.
"...Ahem, ahem!"
Suddenly his throat felt a little dry, as if there was something he wanted to say. Li Qin coughed a couple of times to suppress the feeling.
Still not giving up even at this level of weakened consciousness? Even if I returned your body to you right now, you couldn't do anything. Just sit back and watch the insect race rise.
"Li Qin?"
Multiple gazes from the video feed converged on him. Li Qin straightened up and gave a crisp military salute.
"My apologies, Commander. My throat was just a bit uncomfortable."
Jiang Ya nodded. Seeing no other abnormality on his end, she said,
"Take care of yourself."
Then she continued with the rest of the briefing.
"Regarding M5 Star..."
Li Qin's attention had already drifted far away. Since he could leave with the main group, he no longer needed to keep plotting an escape for this body.
In two days, he'd first lead his men to the First Military District to hijack the mechs and energy supplies, then head to Bliza Star... The military academy tournament lasted seven days in total—he had plenty of time.
Now, all that remained was the "prison break" plan for his true body.
Inside the meeting room at the quarantine control center,
Several directors and academicians were discussing methods for removing the parasite eggs implanted in the soldiers' brains.
"Alpha Gold Crown's removal method seems to use negative mental pressure, but relying on instruments alone, we can't make the parasite eggs withdraw obediently. Perhaps we could first use mental power to complete consciousness isolation..."
"Deputy Chief, why didn't the Chief Commander come today?"
Xue Jie remained neither humble nor pushy even in front of Guo Hongfan. They were all roughly from the same batch out of school; by the time they'd made their names, she was already a deputy director.
Besides, having dealt with them for so many years, she knew well how unreliable these people could be... So whether it was Meng Chongyun or Guo Hongfan, in her eyes, they both lost a bit of authority.
"Don't tell me he's overdrawn his mental power again?"
The moment she thought of that possibility, Xue Jie's anger flared.
Guo Hongfan remained as calm as ever. Though he admired that she'd hit the nail on the head, he still didn't let slip the Commander-in-Chief's condition.
Xue Jie had no choice but to concede.
"I can't do anything with you people. But you know the Commander-in-Chief's physical condition. If he keeps overdrawing like that..."
As she was speaking, a shadow flashed by. Guo Hongfan suddenly looked over and happened to catch sight of a sparrow landing on the windowsill.
His instincts told him something was off. He tentatively locked onto it with his mental power—but unexpectedly, the tiny sparrow broke free of his control and flew away?
Guo Hongfan froze for a second.
"Dean Xue, are there many sparrows around this area lately?"
What a blatantly careless topic change!
"Sparrows? Deputy Chief Guo, I wasn't joking with you..."
Guo Hongfan pointed at the bird in flight.
"I'm not joking either. Let's put the discussion on hold for a moment. Please answer my question—are there many birds like this around here?"
Xue Jie furrowed her brows and glanced out the window.
"You mean those birds?"
Guo Hongfan nodded.
"Yes."
Xue Jie kept her patience.
"The greening around the isolation management center has always been well maintained. It's normal to have lots of birds. There are even several nests just nearby..."
After all, she visited often and knew every plant and tree of both compounds like the back of her hand.
"They didn't just appear out of nowhere?"
Guo Hongfan unconsciously walked to the window to observe, and saw birds perched outside the windows of several floors—sparrows and some other species.
Xue Jie followed him to the window.
"Is there something wrong with these birds?"
Guo Hongfan stayed silent for a long while. That moment just now was off. Definitely off!
An ordinary sparrow could never defy his mental power... He tried again to restrain the birds below.
This attempt revealed something alarming. Among the sparrows, some were completely pinned down by his control, while others instinctively resisted him. And one or two, the moment he probed, simply spread their wings and flew off!?
The flock of birds downstairs immediately grew restless. Xue Jie watched it all unfold, puzzled as to why Guo Hongfan had suddenly started targeting these little creatures.
"Deputy Chief Guo?"
Wen Nanfeng, who had been discussing recovery treatment with the dean of the medical school, was quickly drawn over by the commotion.
"...Is there a problem?"
Guo Hongfan's face turned extremely grim in a matter of seconds.
"Thud!"
Outside the window, a sparrow, driven frantic by trying to break free from Guo Hongfan's mental restraint, slammed into the glass with tremendous force, startling Xue Jie and everyone else in the room!
"Thud, thud, thud!"
As the bird's struggles outside grew more violent, Chi Yongxin from the medical school could no longer look on. He glanced at Xue Jie in confusion.
"What's going on here?"
Moments later, the bird battered itself until it was bleeding from the head, and finally plummeted straight down! The smear of blood on the glass was mixed with feathers. By now, everyone realized something was wrong.
"What happened to it?"
Wen Nanfeng asked, his brow furrowed.
Xue Jie suddenly thought of something, her face turning ashen. She turned to Guo Hongfan.
"It can resist your mental power?"
Guo Hongfan took a deep breath and nodded.
Then he closed his eyes and spread out his entire mental power, expanding his sensing range to the maximum.
This bird is wrong. This one too. And this one... By the time he finished counting, all that remained was dread.
When had the "problem" birds appeared? And where had those few he hadn't managed to catch flown off to?
Xue Jie strode quickly to Wen Nanfeng.
"Lock down the isolation management center immediately! From this moment on, do not let a single bird out—I mean literally! Have everyone close all doors and windows..."
The moment she finished speaking, Xue Jie recalled that there seemed to be quite a few sparrows over at the Academy of Sciences as well!
Not long ago, the soldiers in training had mentioned that as the weather warmed up, they often saw birds perching on the window sills during drills... She drew in a sharp breath and dialed a video call.
"Xiao Li! Now, immediately, this very second—lock down the Academy of Sciences! Close every window, don't let any animal inside, and don't let them escape either..."
Wen Nanfeng vaguely sensed something was amiss. He looked at Xue Jie, then at Guo Hongfan.
"Those birds? No... way? Deputy Chief..."
Guo Hongfan had already started drafting a message on his optical computer.
"Let's follow Xue Jie's suggestion and lock things down first. This time it might not just be the quarantine control center and the academy of sciences that are affected..."
