Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

Feng Mingyi said with a resolute expression, and with a light leap, he crossed the barbed wire fence.

"That's true, we can't stop moving forward, but we must be careful."

Shinji Ogawa nodded and disappeared beyond the barbed wire fence in a flash.

P.S. Good morning.

Chapter 137 The Underworld

"What's wrong, Zero?"

Chris noticed that Zero's attention seemed to be drawn to something.

"...Well, it's nothing major. We just discovered that Section Two has started investigating this base."

This is how Lingyi explained it, looking at the image projected in front of her.

"Second Division? Oh, the institution where the fusion case is located. Wait, Zero, you said 'begin,' but they're only starting to rescue that guy now. Why is it so late?"

Upon hearing Lingyi's words, Chris was somewhat surprised and puzzled after a brief moment of thought.

She had originally thought the other party had started trying long ago, but she didn't expect it to have dragged on for so long, and they've only just begun to take action now.

"That's not the case. Their operation was delayed because of some work I did."

Lingyi shook her head and gestured to Chris in this way.

"Zero, did you fight them? When?"

After Zero said that, Chris subconsciously assumed that Zero and the Second Division had fought without her knowledge.

“Chris, there is never only one way to achieve your goal: fighting. What’s causing them to delay the rescue is their own internal conflicts.”

Faced with Chris's question, Zero briefly explained what she had done.

"Internal conflicts?"

Chris couldn't quite understand it at first, since for her, there was only one option when it came to enemies: elimination.

"Don't always see the enemy as a whole that must be eliminated. If you always do that, you'll be too inefficient at solving problems."

"Depending on the circumstances, using everything, including the enemy, to facilitate the achievement of one's goals can make it easier to accomplish them."

Lingyi then briefly explained her specific plan for the operation.

"Ugh... Hmm... Ahh, this feels so troublesome. Shouldn't a battle just be about eliminating all the enemies?"

Chris tried to understand Zero's explanation, but ultimately failed to comprehend it.

“It’s okay, Chris, you don’t need to understand right now. I’m just providing a way of thinking about how to solve the problem. You can solve it in your own way.”

Lingyi stated this.

"Ah, never mind. Anyway, that guy's comrades are attacking, right? Should I go and fight them?"

Rubbing her head, Chris put aside what she couldn't understand and asked about the current situation.

"There's no need for that right now. Let's see if they can get through the outer defense perimeter first, Chris."

Rejecting Chris's suggestion, Zero spoke, and something in her hand shattered. A few flashes of light appeared, and a screen displaying images floated in the air.

In remote places, wild grass grows in abundance, adding lush greenery to the environment but also concealing hidden dangers.

After crossing the barbed wire fence and walking for a while, this was Feng Mingyi's impression of the area, and the reason for this impression was...

The impact, a shockwave mixed with flames and iron pellets, suddenly erupted in the forest, followed without pause by the sound of machine guns firing like firecrackers.

"Wing, watch out!"

"Ah, I understand, Ogawa."

Faced with this sudden attack, both of them reacted very quickly.

The two quickly sliced ​​through the barbed wire that had suddenly appeared overhead, flipped over through the hole to the tree to take cover, and nimbly used special knives or kunai to deflect the wind blades created by the green magic array on the tree branches.

"Cough...cough cough."

Hanging on a tree that had finally been cleared and was temporarily safe, Feng Mingyi coughed up a mouthful of blood and tried to relieve his physical exhaustion in a somewhat disheveled state.

At this moment, the icy water on Feng Mingyi's body had soaked through his charred and tattered clothes, and the mud and wounds were reflected on his once clean skin.

God knows what kind of suffering she went through after crossing that barbed wire fence.

From time to time, there are pitfalls filled with spikes or strong acid, mechanisms that explode with high-temperature flames when pressed, landmines that launch countless iron balls when stepped on, and automatic machine guns that suddenly fire from the bushes when approached.

Heretical techniques and modern technology are intertwined in this area, complementing and contrasting each other, offering visitors the grandest welcome.

To be honest, Feng Mingyi felt that she had experienced every kind of trap in human history during this period of time.

If it weren't for her and Shinji Ogawa's truly impressive physical abilities, they would probably have already disappeared into this desolate mountain forest.

"Ogawa, how far have we gone?"

After feeling the discomfort in his body temporarily disappear, the disheveled Kazami asked his companion beside him.

"It should be... about two hundred meters, but I'm not sure exactly. The electronic equipment has become unusable since we got here."

After pulling out an iron bead that had been embedded in his body, Ogawa Shinji, who was already feeling somewhat neurasthenic from the torture, responded uncertainly to Kazanari Tsubasa.

"Two hundred meters, are we really getting close to Tachibana?"

Faced with Ogawa Shinji's response, Kazanari Tsubasa felt a sense of powerlessness.

"I don't know, but let's proceed carefully and hopefully avoid triggering any more traps."

Ogawa Shinji said helplessly that he had never encountered such a complex and three-dimensional series of defensive facilities when he was undergoing ninja training.

"Ah, now that we've come this far, we really have no choice but to move forward."

Ignoring the bleeding wounds on his body, Feng Mingyi cautiously began to tentatively explore his way forward, trying his best to detect the hidden traps before triggering them.

Then, after taking a step and pushing aside the path hidden by branches, she saw a scene that filled her with despair.

"Ogawa, that barbed wire fence... why does it look so familiar? Could it be...?"

With a slight twitch in his facial muscles, Feng Mingyi involuntarily asked his companion, hoping to get a negative answer.

“Yi, it’s not familiar, that’s the barbed wire we just climbed over. I can still see the marks we left when we moved forward dozens of meters away.”

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, Ogawa Shinji explained his judgment to Kazanari Tsubasa as calmly as possible.

"...So, is it what I thought? Have we been unknowingly led astray?"

Feng Mingyi, somewhat resigned, revealed the only possible fact that the only thing that could happen now was the existence of the dragon.

"Hoo... Yi, let's retreat. There's no way we can achieve our goal this time."

With a sigh, Shinji Ogawa made this suggestion to Tsubasa Kazanari.

"Ugh, I understand, damn it!!"

With her composure on the verge of exploding, Kazanari Tsubasa clenched her fists and agreed to Ogawa Shinji's proposal.

P.S. Good morning.

Chapter 138 Reflections and Discharge

The screen displayed the two people who had confidently entered, leaving in a disheveled state.

Chris didn't look down on the two for leaving. Having witnessed their actions, she clearly understood that their departure was truly out of necessity.

Because the defensive structures set up by Zero Armor are simply not something that a single soldier can break through.

Damage-causing, obstruction-causing, and blocking-causing traps of various types form a complex and difficult-to-break trap network.

Leaves on trees, bushes at your feet, and the ground beneath your feet—all kinds of terrain and landforms can serve as the basis for setting traps.

In such an environment, even taking a single step requires enduring immense psychological pressure.

What's even more disturbing is that the entire area is designed with subtle sensory distortions. According to Zero's description, these distortions seem to distort a person's sense of direction by giving them incorrect visual and auditory information.

Chris witnessed how the two people started walking in a straight line, gradually went astray, and finally walked back to where they were, with the complex trap array on their heads.

"Such a defensive structure is impossible for anyone to break through. Even the defenders and ninjas who were advancing suffered greatly. It's impossible to infiltrate from the ground at this level."

"However, if we're going to pass through from the air... well, fighting Zero in the air is not as good as breaking through on the ground. Besides, Zero can't possibly not have any anti-air defenses."

Having witnessed the entire breakthrough process of the two, Chris gained a rudimentary understanding of the defensive perimeter that Zero had been busily setting up.

"Speaking of which, Lingyi, setting all this up must have cost a lot, right?"

After learning about the defensive fortifications, Chris couldn't help but wonder.

In Chris's simple view of money, these defensive facilities should cost a considerable amount of money if calculated by area.

"As for the cost, it's actually not too bad. The vast majority of the materials are free, unclaimed materials that I obtained at work, and I still have a lot of these things piled up."

"At the same time, the relevant layout plan was prepared in advance, and my job was simply to place the materials in the correct places according to the plan."

In response to Chris's question, Zero made the following statement.

"I see. But what kind of job could provide free, unclaimed materials for making traps?"

Having resolved her initial doubts, Chris had a new question in mind.

Although Zero often mentions that she does some work, Chris still doesn't know what she's doing right now.

“Chris, you don’t need to know so much, and it’s about time you should get some rest, Chris.”

Lingyi pondered for a moment, but did not answer Chris's question. Instead, she gestured to the time and said this.

"Time... Ah, it's already so late?"

With Zero's prompting, Chris realized that after the combat training and observing the intruders' actions, it was already sunset.

"Okay, so go back and wash up now. Dinner will be ready soon after you're done. Get some rest today. Your training today was a little too much."

Lingyi then said.

"alright, I got it."

Feeling the hunger in her stomach and the exhaustion in her body, Chris said nothing more, removed the magic bow from her body, and left the training room as usual.

Night fell, and then the blinding sunlight tore through the curtain, and a new day began.

In the hallway inside the room, Rei and Hibiki Tachibana walked side by side toward a certain room.

After a period of rest, Hibiki Tachibana had fully recovered and was quickly discharged from the hospital room.

Immediately afterwards, Lingyi led her to a clean place with various instruments she couldn't understand, and she cooperated with Lingyi in a series of tasks.

"Hmm, it doesn't feel any different from the physical examination at the hospital before. My body doesn't seem to have changed?"

After completing a series of tasks, Tachibana Hibiki looked around at her body, which hadn't changed much, and asked this question.

The only things done to Zero in the experiment were a full-body examination and a blood draw. The only difference between this and similar examinations she had undergone before was that the equipment Zero used looked different.

"Of course there can be no change, because it was just a routine physical examination."

"We need to understand your current physical data to ensure the experimental data is accurate. The real experiment is only just beginning."

Rei, who was standing next to Tachibana Hibiki, answered her question.

Although she had research materials from the Second Division as a reference, Lingyi couldn't just start the experiment directly based on those materials; she wouldn't dare use the data obtained that way.

"Ahaha, is that so? So, what exactly are you planning to do, Zero-chan?"

Hibiki Tachibana asked with a smile, feeling somewhat nervous about what Rei's words implied.

Although the other party assured her that they would not harm her life, there are many interpretations of what constitutes "not harming life," and she still felt somewhat uneasy about the unknown.

"Don't be so nervous about this. There's not much you need to pay attention to during the experiment. Most of the time, you just need to lie on the bed and do nothing."

"What you need to pay attention to mainly involves activities that require you to participate in, and through certain prescribed activities, we will check the changes in your body before and after the activities."

"In this way, we can study the conditions, processes, and manifestations of the fusion between your body and the relic, thereby making certain operations possible."

As Lingyi spoke, she used the words of "Ninja Suzuki" II to ease Tachibana Hibiki's tension.

"Conducting activities... what exactly are they like? Wait a minute, this place... it looks a bit like a combat training room?"

As Rei said this, Hibiki Tachibana realized that she had unknowingly arrived at an empty room. She had seen a similar room in the Second Division before, the one where she and Tsubasa conducted combat training.

"Um, Zero-chan, the so-called event isn't going to be..."

Hibiki Tachibana turned her head, wanting to ask Rei a question.

Then she discovered that Lingyi had, at some point, pressed a needle-free syringe against the back of her neck and injected something into her body.