71: Chapter 71 Arranged Properly

A moment later, he put down his binoculars, his tone softening slightly:

"Colonel Mike has confirmed your identity. You may enter, but civilians must undergo inspection and quarantine until safety is confirmed."

"No problem!" Qin Ce agreed immediately.

The city defenses opened a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.

During wartime, flying units are not permitted to cross the city defenses at will in any defensive area.

Qin Ce signaled the Azure Bird to land, then helped his mother and Xiao Jian down from the bird's back before putting the Azure Bird away.

Two soldiers stepped forward, using portable scanners to conduct a full-body check on the three of them, and then inspected Qin Ce's squad badge, but the identification document was not checked at all.

As expected, they did not recognize that document!

...

"No anomalies. Follow me." A non-commissioned officer led them through the barbed wire and trenches into the base.

The base was more rudimentary than imagined.

There were a few rows of low barracks, several warehouses, and a three-story concrete command building in the center.

A few old-fashioned transport planes were parked on the distant tarmac, with sandbags and Czech hedgehogs piled along the edge of the runway.

There were even more training facilities and various defensive weapons being constantly deployed.

The non-commissioned officer brought them to an empty barrack: "This is a temporary shelter. Rest here for now and do not wander around. Colonel Mike is currently in a meeting at the command post and will come to see you when he has time later."

After saying this, he turned and left.

Inside the barrack, there were only a few folding cots, a set of table and chairs, and a dusty military map hanging on the wall. The window was small and welded with iron bars.

Su Wan looked around and sighed softly: "This place... is not much different from our home."

Qin Ce did not respond.

He walked to the window and looked outside—soldiers were running back and forth, moving ammunition crates and checking weapons.

The air was filled with the smell of diesel and metal.

This place was indeed as rudimentary as their home in Yuntai Town, but at least... it had walls, weapons, and an army.

But it was not enough.

He turned around and took the dark gold document from his chest pocket.

"Mom, Xiao Jian, you wait here for me. I'm going to find the person in charge here."

He walked out of the barrack and stopped a passing logistics officer: "Excuse me, where is Colonel Mike?"

The logistics officer waved his hand impatiently: "The Colonel is at the command post and doesn't have time to see anyone right now—"

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Because he saw the document in Qin Ce's hand.

That small, dark gold booklet, stamped with the City Lord's Mansion emblem, with energy patterns flowing along its edges.

Ordinary soldiers would not recognize this little booklet.

But he could not possibly not know it.

In an instant, the logistics officer's expression changed.

He took the document, opened it and inspected it several times, then looked at Qin Ce with a completely new, awe-filled gaze, before respectfully returning the document with both hands: "Please, follow me."

He asked no more questions and led Qin Ce directly through the camp area toward the three-story command building.

When the guards at the entrance saw them, they were about to question them, but were immediately interrupted by the officer, who ordered them to let them pass.

...

The interior of the command building was far more complex than it looked from the outside.

They took an elevator down, and Qin Ce could feel that they had descended at least twenty meters.

When the elevator doors opened, before them was a brightly lit hall filled with surveillance screens and data terminals—the base's underground command post.

In the center of the hall, a middle-aged man in uniform with the rank of Colonel on his shoulders was staring at a holographic map, his brow furrowed.

He was about forty years old, his face showing traces of wind and sun exposure, and his left sleeve was empty—that was what Wei Ming had mentioned, that Mike had lost his left arm in a beast tide ten years ago.

"Report!" The logistics officer stood at attention, "This... Mr. Qin Ce, holds the highest-level safe house authorization and requests to see you."

Mike looked up, his gaze falling on Qin Ce, first with confusion, then with realization.

"Qin Ce? The student Wei Ming mentioned?" He walked over quickly and extended his only remaining right hand, "Sorry, I was in a combat meeting just now and didn't have time to attend to you."

Qin Ce shook his hand: "Colonel Mike, sorry to disturb you. My mother and sister are in the outside barracks, and this is the [Highest Level Personnel Protection Certificate] from the City Lord's Mansion! Could you..."

"A safe house, right? No problem." Mike was very decisive and turned to order an adjutant, "Take little Qin's family to underground Safe House No. 3, and make sure food and water are arranged."

The adjutant accepted the order and left.

Qin Ce breathed a sigh of relief and was about to thank him, but Mike patted him on the shoulder:

"Come, since you're here, I'll show you the situation. You are Wei Ming's student and in the Elite Class, so you should understand these things. You might as well come under my command as an assistant to gain some experience in large-scale battles. By the way... I'll count it towards your military merit."

He led Qin Ce to the holographic map in the center.

The map displayed the area of Yuntai Town and its surrounding fifty kilometers, densely marked with defensive fortifications, troop deployments, and... red arrows slowly advancing from the West.

"Continue!" Mike nodded to the staff member nearby.

"Yes, sir." The staff member pointed at those red arrows, "The main force of the beast tide is in the West and North; our side is just on the periphery. According to reconnaissance, the scale of the beast herd attacking our direction is not large, the strongest should be Gold Rank, and the quantity won't be too many either."

He pulled up a set of data: "The base has a permanently stationed reinforced battalion, plus the Yuntai Town garrison and the militia from several surrounding village forts; the total combat power is sufficient to cope. As long as there are no accidents, the probability of holding is over eighty percent."

Mike nodded, calculating that he should have three battalions to spare.

Whether to send these to the surrounding towns for cooperative defense.

Qin Ce looked carefully at the map and data, and his heart immediately eased slightly.

If it was really as Mike said, and the pressure in the direction of Yuntai Town was not great, then his mother and Xiao Jian should be very safe in the safe house.

"In that case, send two battalions out to support both sides of the front line." Mike smiled, "That should stabilize the entire defensive area; after all, compared to Fengling City, our side is not the main battlefield. In fact, if we stabilize this side, we can even support the main city. The main city has to face the main force of the beast tide, and their pressure is much greater than ours."

The analyst nodded and was about to draw the offensive lines of the two battalions into the strategic map according to Mike's instructions...

At this moment.

"Report!"

An intelligence officer suddenly stood up from his seat, his voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling:

"Radar has detected a large-scale flying beast herd! The number... exceeds ten thousand! The species is preliminarily identified as 'Raven'! The direction... is moving from the outer side of Yuntai Town, towards the main city of Fengling City!"

The hall instantly fell silent.

Mike's smile froze on his face.

He walked quickly to the intelligence officer's terminal, staring fixedly at the radar image on the screen.

A dense cluster of red dots, representing flying beasts, was pouring out from the mountains in the southwest, like a flock of migrating birds, but their speed and formation revealed an ominous order.

"Damn it, how could it be this kind of thing!"

...