This game is so weird!

The private rooms on the second floor of the restaurant were converted into offices and also serve as war rooms.

After cleaning, the empty room was left with only a round table. Two small glass jars containing a golden, transparent liquid were placed in the center of the table. The liquid lay calmly in the jars, emitting a yellow glow. Li Ang looked at it several times before noticing that it was slowly flowing.

Li Ang, Yue Qing, the three members of Team A, and the base's bio-engineered guard captain sat around a round table, preparing to communicate with the COG command center and exchange current intelligence.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Please come in."

Another cyborg captain who had been guarding the door walked in, followed by a homeless man who huddled timidly behind the cyborg.

"President, a young lady says she knows information about that energy plant we just visited and can report some valuable information to you."

"Oh? Thank you for your trust, miss. Please have a seat; we can talk now."

The girl clenched her fist behind her back, took a deep breath, walked into the room, sat down on the chair by the door, and slowly took off her hood.

A delicate face appeared under the hood, and slightly messy red hair was draped over his shoulders. It was clear that he had no time to take care of his hair during his escape, and his shoulder-length hair had become a bit tangled.

Compared to the muscular men he had seen since arriving on Sera, the girl in front of him was quite pretty.

Before this, Li Ang thought this was a legendary galaxy of strong men and tough women, but he didn't expect there to be normal people here.

"Hello, thank you for your rescue."

The girl pursed her lips and spoke softly, "I am Miley, the daughter of a former employee of the Lycia Energy Plant. The reason I asked the guard to bring me in is twofold: firstly, to thank you all for your rescue, and secondly, because I discovered that you have already begun construction work on your base, so I must tell you about the problems with Im Energy and persuade you to relocate your base."

"Im Energy is a harmful substance."

"The rust disease caused by Im Energy can spread not only to miners who have been in contact with Im Energy for a long time, but also to their families. Children who have never been to the mining area may also be infected."

"What?"

Li Ang asked in surprise, and even Yue Qing and the soldiers of Team A's eyes narrowed.

Looking at the two bottles of golden liquid on the table, Li Ang, based on his years of experience in gaming and movies, suspected that this kind of thing that could move on its own was not a good thing. But he didn't expect that there was really a problem.

Li Ang looked at Bard, the captain of Team A, wanting to verify the accuracy of the information with him.

Upon seeing Li Ang's gaze, Bard nodded slowly with a complex expression.

"Rust disease is real; the security government has issued a notice about it, but this is the first time I've heard of it spreading among miners' families..."

At this point, Bard frowned, finding it difficult to continue. He wasn't sure if the information was accurate, but given COG's actions in recent years, it was hard for him to voice a rebuttal.

"It's true! To protect Im Energy's interests, the government turned the mining area into a huge quarantine zone. Many miners and children infected with rust disease were taken away by researchers and soldiers and never returned..."

As Miley spoke, her eyes gradually reddened. "The infected children coughed up phlegm with a golden light in it. At first, no one paid much attention. Then researchers in white coats came with soldiers, took the children away for treatment, and then they never came back..."

"We were all sent by our families to boarding schools on the outskirts of the mining area, and we were spared because we didn't have any contact with people in the mining area."

Li Ang frowned. The things he had encountered since arriving on Sera sounded strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on them.

"We will reassess Im Energy, but please rest assured," Leon rubbed his temples and said to Ella, who had fallen silent after speaking, "Do you see that tall tower outside the window? The base's energy shield has a filtering function, so there's no need to worry about infection issues in the base for the time being."

"Really? If COG has this technology, why didn't they bring it out sooner!? Dad and Uncle George didn't..."

Miley stood up excitedly, wiped her eyes with her hand, and couldn't help but start to sob softly.

"Forehead......"

Bard looked a little embarrassed, and Leon paused before saying, "We are not COG."

"ah!?"

-----------------

At the restaurant entrance, a raggedly dressed child squatted motionless outside, his eyes fixed on the stairs leading upstairs. He would occasionally glance warily at the two guards at the door, and only when they showed no sign of driving him away did he remain still, continuing to watch the stairs.

Just then, Er Miao, Ye Yu, and Mu Yu arrived with their new friend, Old Bin from the battlefield. Feeling a bit hungry after the battle, they decided to go to the restaurant to see if there was any food.

As she passed the children, Er Miao glanced at them curiously before tilting her head and walking into the restaurant.

A short while later, he emerged from the restaurant, carrying two packets of heated portable food. Since the farm hadn't started operating yet, Li Ang had sent people to retrieve the military rations from the spaceship and put them in the restaurant for temporary use.

Under the child's wary gaze, Er Miao sat down on the steps, smiling as she reached out and handed the child a bag of food.

The child remained motionless, staring strangely at the girl in front of him.

"Are you hungry? Want some bento? It's delicious!"

Seeing that the child did not react, Er Miao spoke up, then tore open the food package and handed it forward.

"Gurgle—"

The child's stomach growled as he smelled the aroma of the heated food. He covered his stomach with both hands, stared at Er Miao for a while, and seeing that she didn't seem to have any ill intentions, he tentatively reached out and slowly took the food.

"Hehe, this food pack from the guild tastes so much better than what they sell at the base! The ones at the base taste like chewing sticky instant noodles, but this one even has some meat chunks and rice."

Seeing the child take the food, Er Miao smiled happily, sat down cross-legged, placed another food package on her lap, tore it open, picked up her chopsticks and started eating, while gesturing to the child next to her to eat together.

"Thank you... thank you, sister."

The child looked up and thanked her in a low voice. Only then did Er Miao see her face clearly. Her long hair under the hood of her hoodie went past her shoulders. Perhaps she was a girl?

Thinking of the lively, chattering children at her relatives' house, and comparing them to the well-behaved child in front of her, Er Miao's eyes stung with tears, and she turned her head away.

"You're welcome, please eat up!"

"If you ever need anything, you can come to us. We'll protect you!" Er Miao said, wiping his hands on his clothes and gently patting the little girl's head.

The little girl, who was initially scared when she saw Er Miao reach out, and was about to put the lunchbox on the ground, suddenly trembled and burst into tears.

Just as Er Miao was at a loss for how to comfort the crying child, the little girl in front of her quickly stopped crying, looked up through her teary eyes, and smiled, "Thank you, sister, you're a good person!"

"Lia, let's go eat. Hey, what's wrong?"

At this moment, Miley, having finished her conversation, came out of the restaurant and looked at the little girl standing in front of a girl in a white uniform, crying and laughing. She was somewhat surprised.

"Oh, well, let me explain first!"

Er Miao quickly stood up and waved her hands, "First of all, let me clarify that I absolutely did not intend to kidnap any children!"

"ah??"

-----------------

After learning about Im Energy and preparing to study it more carefully later, Li Ang asked the bio-engineered captain to take the helpful homeless woman Miley to dinner, and then returned to the previous topic.

Bard stood up and adjusted the team's communication equipment on the table. He quickly restored the connection with the COG command center. Before they could speak, a series of urgent distress calls suddenly came from the public channel.

"This is Delta Squad, and I'm Marcus."

"We've been ambushed by General Lamb of the Orcs. Captain Jin Mingyang has been killed. We urgently need fire support to evacuate. Our location is..."

"Command center received! Helicopters have been dispatched to assist in the evacuation. Nearby teams are requested to provide support as soon as possible."

Marcus?

Orcs, Im Energy, Dawn Hammer...

Upon hearing Marcus's name, Leon immediately connected the dots. Wasn't this a war machine?!

What the hell is this parallel universe? Did I somehow end up in a game world? I'm in War Machine now, who knows what other crises are brewing in some corner of the universe?

Li Ang was filled with insecurity. The slight relaxation he had felt after escaping his personal life crisis with the help of his Stand vanished instantly. This was a cosmic crisis... What if an evil god or a subspace invasion suddenly appeared? He would be dead!

Forget about going home, you'd practically scare my soul away.