Rescue Mission
The meeting room emptied in an instant, leaving Diao Hongzhi and his two lackeys behind. He kicked at the table legs in a fury, while his two subordinates barely dared to breathe.
Once outside the meeting room, Tu Ran finally got a proper look at the mission alert.
【
Rescue Mission:
At least three different kinds of gene monsters have appeared on a luxury cruise ship located 150 nautical miles off the eastern coast of the Federal Administrative Center.
The ship departed with 205 people on board: 40 tourists, 65 crew members, and 100 private security guards.
The number of survivors is currently unknown. The ship's surveillance has been destroyed, communications are cut off, and the estimated mortality rate is 90%.
The ship's bridge is empty, and the vessel is drifting with the wind.
Immediate rescue is required.
All Pioneers within 350 kilometers of the ship are to depart at once.
Target location: Waters near the Mildred Islands.
Execute: Approved (Chief Commander Xie Zhao)
】
Tu Ran and her team quickly boarded the helicopter waiting on the rooftop helipad of the Executive Department building. Tu Ran kept her eyes glued to her communicator, needing to familiarize herself with the area around the Mildred Islands and the ship's interior layout as soon as possible.
Zero had already sent the necessary information to all Pioneers assigned to this mission, but also forwarded an additional dossier to Tu Ran that no one else received.
The public information covered the Mildred Islands and the surrounding waters.
The Mildred Islands were situated far from the industrial zone, so ocean pollution there was much lighter than elsewhere. In recent years, the Federation had prioritized ecological restoration, starting with the less-polluted Mildred Islands. Over a decade of conservation efforts had turned them into a scenic tourist destination, dubbed by the media as “the last pearl of the Federation’s seas.”
Next came the dossier Zero had sent privately to Tu Ran.
Tu Ran skimmed through it.
The so-called tourist paradise was only for the wealthy. A trip to the Mildred Islands cost a fortune in federal credits. Ordinary people barely scraped by on nutrient drinks; where would they find the money for a vacation? As for white-collar workers squeezed between rich and poor, they might scrimp and save enough, but they never had the time.
Today’s cruise ship, the one with the gene monsters, had been chartered by Papara Wells—a member of the Wells family’s collateral branch—along with six of his friends and more than thirty artists affiliated with his family’s entertainment company, all for a cruise party.
The ship had left the Administrative Center’s coast at eight o’clock the previous evening, heading toward the Mildred Islands.
The ship was moving slowly. Based on the route, Tu Ran guessed that Papara’s destination wasn’t actually the Mildred Islands; he simply enjoyed the pleasure of drifting on the open sea, so the captain had stopped the ship about thirty nautical miles from the islands.
The party had gone smoothly.
Until six o’clock this morning, when most people had turned in. Suddenly, three artists under the Wells banner burst out of Papara’s room and started attacking anyone in sight, alarming the private security and crew. Though armed with advanced weapons, they were no match for the gene monsters. They hadn’t injured the creatures, but many of their own had been killed.
During all this, Papara’s room remained silent—a sign that things had likely gone very wrong.
Papara’s friends had sent out a distress call to the outside world, but before the Executive Department could learn more, the ship’s signal was cut off, and all surveillance feeds went dark.
It was impossible to see what was happening inside now.
The Federation had issued an emergency order for Pioneers to carry out the rescue. This wasn't just a call-up from the Pandalim District; Pioneers from several other districts had been mobilized as well—a joint operation.
Zero then sent everyone the last footage captured by the ship’s monitors, zooming in on the shapes of the three gene monsters so the Pioneers could recognize them.
Tu Ran studied the high-definition images.
They were ugly in wildly varied ways.
Perfectly fitting the “four unlike” traits typical of Aberrants and gene monsters.
All three were gnawing on human bodies.
One, with long rabbit-like teeth, had a particular fondness for human carotid arteries. In several frames, it was clamped onto a victim’s neck, its three-parted lips sucking in and out as if drinking blood.
The others in the cabin instinctively touched their own necks at the sight.
Half an hour later, their helicopter hovered above a massive cruise ship.
Through the window, Tu Ran counted five other helicopters in the sky, and a small rescue vessel on the sea a short distance from the ship.
One helicopter, hovering just above the deck, dropped a rope, and Pioneers began sliding down onto the deck.
Everyone wore the same gear; at a glance, Tu Ran couldn't tell who was who.
But with the magnification function of her visor, she caught the nameplate on the chest of the first Pioneer down: Yao Bei.
Oh, she was here too.
Once everyone from Yao Bei’s helicopter had landed, it was Tu Ran’s turn.
Tu Ran had never trained for rappelling, but the original body’s memories were intact, along with its muscle memory. She slid down cautiously, making it to the deck without incident.
The deck held no one but their newly arrived Pioneers—not even a corpse. Spotless.
While the remaining helicopters were still descending, Tu Ran walked over to Yao Bei.
Yao Bei was setting up a signal device with her partner to reconnect the ship with the outside world.
They worked fast; by the time Tu Ran reached her, Yao Bei had just straightened up.
Tu Ran blinked. “Connected?”
“Mm.” Yao Bei nodded lightly, then shifted her gaze past Tu Ran to someone behind her.
Tu Ran followed her line of sight and saw Ding Naiqing.
He looked drained, listless, completely unlike his usual sunny, energetic self.
When he saw Tu Ran, his eyes flickered, then he lowered his head without a word.
Only two helicopters remained in the air, keeping a careful distance from the ship, no intention of sending anyone down. They would serve as backup if something went wrong.
So it was just the three teams on this operation.
Everyone huddled together, with two people from each team standing guard while the rest worked out the plan of action.
A schematic of the ship’s interior had already been uploaded to everyone’s combat helmet, which would plot their routes in real time.
Yao Bei naturally took command. “This ship has six levels—five above deck and one below. Tu Ran, your team will take the lower level and the first deck.”
“Got it.” Tu Ran nodded.
“Ding Naiqing, you’re on the second and third decks. Papara is on the third.”
Ding Naiqing nodded. “Mm.”
Yao Bei glanced at him, then continued, “I’ll handle the remaining two levels.”
She swept her gaze around the assembled group. “Our primary objective is to capture the Aberrants. The Executive Department’s guards will handle rescuing survivors—we just need to mark their locations. We don’t know what we’re walking into, so everyone stay sharp. The Aberrants may not be distributed as evenly as I’ve assumed. If any team runs into two at once, call for backup immediately.”