# 386
Chapter 386 – Hardcore Landing
The moment those words left the officer’s mouth, the five people in the cabin froze, exchanging silent glances.
A way to fly?
Well… they weren’t entirely without options.
Baili Pangpang’s 【Yao Guang】 could turn into a flying sword, but that worked only at low altitudes. At this height, given his current mental-strength level, keeping it stable would be tough—and carrying five people at once was outright overload. Mid-air sword-shatter was guaranteed.
“Qiye, how about you recite a poem like you did back in the Purification Chamber?” Baili Pangpang whispered, leaning toward Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye shook his head. “Riding the wind is just gliding. Jumping off a thirty-metre wall is fine, but from this altitude gliding alone won’t cut it.”
Baili Pangpang’s face turned sheepish.
Lin Qiye drew a deep breath, walked up to the officer and—thick-skinned—asked, “Got any parachutes on board?”
“…We do,” the officer hesitated, “but only four, reserved for the pilots and myself in an emergency.”
Only four?
Lin Qiye swept his gaze over the others and frowned.
There were five of them—four chutes weren’t enough.
…Wait!
He suddenly thought of something, looked at Jialan sitting nearby, and his eyes lit up.
Jialan met that gaze and, for no reason, felt a bad premonition…
…
One minute later.
Above Gusu City a black transport roared past, its rear hatch slowly opening. Five figures stood side by side in the doorway; night wind snapped their clothes.
In the centre of the neon-lit metropolis below, a purple fog like an inverted bowl swallowed streets block by block, a monster lurking in the dark.
Lin Qiye looked down and frowned.
From the plane the fog already spanned more than fifteen kilometres—and was still expanding. Time was short.
“Bell Cranel extermination—commence.”
Parachute on his back, black box in hand, Lin Qiye stepped off first, vanishing into the night.
An Qingyu and Cao Yuan followed.
Baili Pangpang, pale, crept to the edge, peeked down, and his lips trembled.
“Hell, it’s so high—if I jump I’ll—AHHHHH!!!”
Before he finished, a foot slammed into his back. He shot out like a ball, shrieking all the way down.
Jialan stood by the hatch, glaring at the four parachuted figures, her pout practically spelling “I’M MAD”.
“Hmph!”
She huffed, gritted her teeth—and leapt.
Difference: no parachute.
The wind flipped her blue hanfu; black hair streamed like a waterfall. With a pale-yellow hardwood bow on her back she plummeted like a meteor.
The five dropped fast. Four parachutes bloomed, jerking their owners into a gentle drift.
The blue figure had no brake—she actually accelerated, streaking past the others.
Jialan flashed by Lin Qiye; for an instant he thought she waved a fist at him…
He shook his head. Must’ve imagined it.
Whoosh—!!
BOOM—!!!
The blue blur pierced the fog and smashed onto a five-storey office roof, punched through every floor, and cratered the earth.
Debris flew; smoke rose up the “大”-shaped hole.
Lin Qiye and the others steered their chutes toward the impact site.
When they landed in the street, a figure was already climbing from the crater, dusting off her blue hanfu. She stopped at a glass revolving door, tidied hair and collar in the reflection, then pushed inside.
Lin Qiye unclipped his chute and met Jialan’s resentful stare; he coughed awkwardly.
“You… okay?”
Jialan’s delicate fists clenched.
“Every second in this fog increases mental contamination. Let’s plan,” he said, straight-faced.
She shot him one more glare, then reluctantly uncurled her fingers.
“Qingyu, your thoughts?” Lin Qiye exhaled, turning to An Qingyu.
An Qingyu mused, “While falling I analysed the mission. Objective’s clear—execution isn’t. Bell Cranel is tiny, barely bigger than a pebble and cunning. Finding it in this fog is a needle-in-sea search.”
Lin Qiye nodded. “Exactly. The fog covers the entire downtown area; even I’d need ten-plus hours to sweep it mentally.”
“So?” Baili Pangpang cut in. “After ten hours we’ll be contaminated too.”
“Therefore, we alone… aren’t enough,” An Qingyu said softly.
Cao Yuan frowned. “Who else is there?”
A shy smile crossed An Qingyu’s face.
Just then, every nearby manhole rattled—something wanted out.
BANG—!!
Covers flew; grey rats gushed from the sewers in a torrent that flooded the street. They ringed An Qingyu and respectfully crouched.
Cao Yuan and the others froze mid-combat stance, stunned.
At the centre of the swarm, An Qingyu adjusted his glasses, their lenses catching the street-light.
“This past year my fish-spore division never stopped… The cities around Cangnan are already fully infiltrated.”