Chapter 229: New Mission
Chapter 229: Chapter 229: New Mission
The large White Cat shrank its body, instantly returning to the size of a normal cat. It took a few steps along the wall, gave Luna Dawson a solemn nod as if agreeing to something, and then let out a MEOW. It darted back to Villa 102 next door and vanished from sight.
Luna watched the direction it disappeared, clicking her tongue. "Such a tsundere," she muttered. "Who did it learn that from?"
Ever since they returned from their escort mission, they had noticed that the villa next door was still occupied. But not by a person—by an Aberrant Beast.
Strangely, even though Luna was now Fourth Order, she still couldn’t accurately sense this White Cat, which was already a Fourth Order Spirit and Fire dual-element beast. The radar in her mind acted as if it were malfunctioning, making her perception of the White Cat flicker in and out.
Luna couldn’t help but admire the fact that even among small animals, there were absolute superpower powerhouses.
The White Cat didn’t bother hiding, either. Ever since it caught Francis Grant dropping Luna off, it had darted out of its villa right away and slammed a leg of lamb down in front of her. It clearly looked very proud of itself.
This stunt left the whole family completely dumbfounded. They never expected the cat to actually follow them all the way to the villa district.
Luna didn’t mind. Whether the White Cat offered up severed limbs of Aberrant Beasts or a rack of ribs, she gladly accepted it all. Rollo often gnawed on the bones with loud CRUNCHES, getting absolutely lost in the delicious taste.
Following Pinky, Luna bestowed a name on this semi-stray cat: Old White.
Looking in the direction the White Cat had vanished, Luna clicked her tongue. She had caught it several times before. This Old White would often sneak over, perch on the roof of the top-floor sunroom, and peek over the edge to watch Rollo, Pinky, and the other little ones playing wildly in the yard. It clearly wanted to join them but couldn’t bring itself to drop its pride. It was incredibly awkward.
She picked up Little Tiger, who looked thoroughly disgusted, and carried him inside. As soon as she entered, Miles Dawson rushed up to her and slapped a hand on her shoulder, his face flushed with excitement.
"Sis! That was awesome! I’ve been wanting to beat him up for a year!"
Rhonda Dawson leaned back on the sofa, her tense shoulders finally relaxing, and a relieved smile appeared on her face.
Aaron Palmer’s eyes were also full of laughter. "We just opened the door and those two idiots barged right in. Next time someone tries to pull a scam like that, I guarantee I’ll beat them so badly even their own parents won’t recognize them!"
The atmosphere in the house instantly warmed up. The unpleasantness from earlier was completely thrown to the back of their minds, and things returned to their usual cozy state.
Luna lounged around for the entire day. She was nestled in the home theater room, munching on butter-stuffed dried persimmons while enjoying an old movie, when the bracelet on her wrist suddenly let out a BEEP.
She raised her hand to glance at it. The message was from Francis. She casually swiped to listen to his voice note, then replied in a lazy tone, "What’s up?"
Francis’s voice continued from the bracelet, getting straight to the point: "There’s a batch of important research results and data that needs to be recovered from OmniCorp’s main laboratory. I wanted to ask if the Sunset Squad would be willing to take on this mission."
Luna narrowed her eyes and turned to look at Kevin Keane, who was sprawled out next to her. "A mission related to those siblings from Omni. Are you interested?"
Kevin slowly stretched his back. Reaching out, he grabbed Luna’s wrist and leaned closer to read the mission details on her bracelet. His fingers absentmindedly scrolled up and down the screen. A faint smile played on his lips, and his tone was careless.
"Not a single word about the mission rewards. Isn’t this a bit too half-hearted?"
On the other side, Francis stared at the "Read" receipt that lit up on the chat interface. He hastily sent a follow-up message, terrified that the Sunset Squad might reject it outright.
Francis: "It involves research data on a zombie virus vaccine. The danger level is extremely high. The terms for completing the mission are entirely up to Luna to name."
Kevin caught sight of the newly popped-up message. He raised an eyebrow, let go of Luna’s wrist, and leaned back against the sofa, sounding incredibly casual.
"The boss calls the shots. If you want to take it, take it. I’ll follow you."
He hadn’t been very interested in the mission itself anyway; it all depended on Luna. As long as she wanted to do it, he had no reason to refuse.
The faint image of a particular vehicle surfaced in Luna’s mind... Her fingertips tapped rapidly on the bracelet screen to reply.
After a long while, Francis finally replied that as long as they brought back the equipment and the crucial data, the reward Luna requested wouldn’t be a problem.
With the mission finalized, Luna and Kevin—as the captain and vice-captain of the Sunset Squad—drove straight to the Special Operations Department early the next morning to officially coordinate the details of the OmniCorp research data recovery.
Recently, temperatures had been climbing at an unusually rapid pace. The base had already completely shut off the heating, and today’s daytime temperature was approaching thirty degrees Celsius. Summer had officially arrived.
Fortunately, the base’s laundry facility had washed and disinfected the squad’s winter clothes in time and delivered them back to the villa. The Sunset Squad hadn’t gone out on any missions over the past few days. Taking advantage of the changing seasons, Luna’s family worked together to pack away all their heavy winter combat suits and clothing, neatly storing them in her spatial dimension.
After lunch, their vehicle drove out of the villa district toward the Special Operations Department. The scenery outside the window was brimming with vigorous vitality.
Kensington Base was like a tireless machine. The jib arms of tower cranes operated constantly in the sky, transport vehicles shuttled back and forth, and workers operated in day and night shifts, racing against time to excavate plant root systems, repair roads, and construct heightened houses and various facilities. Every inch of space was utilized to the absolute maximum, highlighting the bustling urgency of the place.
By now, the resident population of the base was approaching two million, and survivors from surrounding cities continued to flock there in an endless stream. Kensington Base was like a lighthouse in the dark apocalypse. With its formidable strength and comprehensive welfare, it attracted countless people on the brink of despair who rushed over in search of a glimmer of hope for survival.
The latest base announcements were constantly updating in the Aberrant Circle app. One piece of news made Luna’s eyes widen involuntarily: the authorities were set to open internal subway lines within the base as soon as possible. Not only would this break down the transportation barriers between different districts and make it easier for residents to travel, but the subway speed would also be doubled compared to pre-apocalyptic times.
"I didn’t expect a crisis to end up accelerating technological advancement," Luna muttered to herself, her tone filled with amazement.
She only understood the reasoning behind it after specifically forwarding the announcement to Francis to ask about it.
"The base screened and protected a group of brain-enhancement-type researchers early on, covering various fields such as energy, transportation, medicine, and military technology," Francis replied, his message calm and resolute, carrying a sense of hope for the future. "We are going to turn Kensington Base into an advanced apocalyptic city that surpasses the past. We will defend the foundation of our nation and will absolutely never be defeated by this disaster."
This kind of forward-thinking strategy was far, far better than the passive defense and arduous struggles the base had faced in her previous life.
The vehicle weaved steadily through the flow of traffic. About an hour later, it finally arrived at the Special Operations Department area.
Looking up, the entire building stood out prominently among the various skyscrapers. It had a total of twenty-nine floors; while not exceptionally towering, it commanded an imposing presence through its structured layout. The exterior walls were also covered in a special silver-gray coating of unknown purpose.
There were nineteen-story annex buildings connected to both the left and right sides, linked to the main building by enclosed corridors. The outer walls were made of specially thickened alloy plates. It looked as though it had been heavily reinforced upon the foundation of an older building, giving it a practical, high-tech feel.
Luna’s eyes grew wide. She subconsciously patted Kevin’s arm beside her, her voice full of awe. "Now this is an impressive setup!"
Kevin tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the defensive patterns on the building’s exterior. He deliberately teased her. "It’s just meant to look intimidating. What did that guy named Francis talk to you about again?" He spoke with a hidden glint in his eyes. "Could it be that our lovely Captain Dawson is tempted to switch over to the Special Operations Department after seeing such a grand display?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "How is that possible? Am I that easily brainwashed?"
Kevin let out a low chuckle. "You said it yourself. As long as you don’t get brainwashed, that’s fine."
As they spoke, the vehicle approached the front gate. Semi-automatic smart security posts rose from both sides of the wall, sequentially scanning the vehicle and the couple’s superpower fluctuations. The entire process took barely five seconds before the alloy gates slid open smoothly, revealing the internal passageway.