359: Reward Warframe

The moment the starship's cannon fired, engulfing the Armored Bear, Carter reacted swiftly, decisively activating the starship's shield.

He knew that, based on past experience, using such powerful Imperial technology would very likely trigger a backlash from the power of rules.

Therefore, he stood ready, prepared to deal with the impending attack at any moment.

However, as time ticked by, something unexpected happened to everyone.

Until the attack completely ended, the Armored Bear was dead beyond dead, reduced to a charred lump lying quietly on the ground, yet the power of rules still did not launch any attack against them.

The area around the starship was calm. Seeing this, Carter dared not delay for a moment. He immediately compiled a detailed report and swiftly uploaded it to Li Yang and the others through a special communication channel.

"Since this method works..."

Lin Bi narrowed his eyes slightly, stroking his chin as he spoke thoughtfully.

"Then I think we can speed up the progress. Advancing the plan earlier might yield more significant results."

His eyes revealed an expression of eagerness.

"Alright, then let's speed it up."

Li Yang nodded vigorously, fully agreeing with Lin Bi's suggestion.

He deeply understood the significant meaning of this discovery and the importance of accelerating progress for the entire plan.

Then, he turned his gaze to Hua Dong, asking earnestly,

"Comrade Hua Dong, there shouldn't be any problems on your side, right?"

After all, once the invasion officially began, the situation would become complex and might lead to unpredictable circumstances for the power of rules.

Li Yang's expression was serious, his tone carrying a hint of caution.

"No problem, Comrade Li Yang."

Comrade Hua Dong replied confidently.

"Our instruments have been operating in a comprehensive, all-encompassing state, constantly and closely observing any subtle changes in the power of rules. Should any abnormal situation arise, we can detect it and implement countermeasures at the first opportunity."

His gaze was firm, his words filled with confidence and responsibility for his work.

"Good!"

Li Yang's face showed satisfaction upon hearing Hua Dong's reply.

"Then let's start preparing to assemble the troops. Our primary mission is to find a way to pass through the obstruction of the rules. Only by overcoming this difficulty can the subsequent plan proceed smoothly."

His voice was firm and powerful.

"Understood!"

Everyone responded in unison, their voices echoing in the Command Room, filled with fighting spirit and determination.

Everyone quickly sprang into action, heading to their respective posts to make final preparations for the critical operation about to begin... On the target planet, Xiao Ran and his group, led by the City Lord and others, returned to Jiangcheng.

Along the way, night gradually enveloped the land, and stars twinkled in the night sky.

By the time they finally returned home, it was late at night, and the entire Jiangcheng was immersed in a profound tranquility.

Xiao Ran, dragging his weary body, entered his home, deliberately putting on an extremely dejected expression.

He muttered to himself, sighing repeatedly.

"Oh dear, oh dear, this time I'm really out of luck. The mission isn't even completed, and I've been sent back. Now it's going to be difficult to get out again."

He frowned, his eyes filled with helplessness and vexation.

However, just as Xiao Ran was feeling utterly dejected, the familiar, cold, mechanical voice of the system suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Host, congratulations on completing your mission. Detecting that you killed a first-tier high-grade ferocious beast, distributing corresponding rewards..."

This sudden notification, like a clap of thunder, exploded in Xiao Ran's ears.

Upon hearing this prompt, Xiao Ran was first stunned, then his eyes widened, his face filled with surprise.

He never expected things to take such a dramatic turn.

After a brief moment of shock, Xiao Ran quickly asked the system in his mind,

"System, can that Armored Bear also be counted as killed by me? It was clearly with the help of the power you gave me."

Xiao Ran's heart was full of doubt, eager to get a reasonable explanation from the system.

"That's correct. Please check your rewards."

The system still responded concisely, without any superfluous explanation, as if all of this was a matter of course.

Sure enough, the mysterious teleportation device slowly activated, emitting a faint hum and glowing with a soft light.

Immediately after, a dazzling white light flashed like lightning, causing people to instinctively squint their eyes.

As the light gradually dissipated, a brand new set of Imperial D-class full-coverage battle armor appeared steadily before Xiao Ran.

"Holy cow!"

Xiao Ran couldn't help but widen his eyes, which were filled with surprise and disbelief.

"It's a whole set of battle armor directly? This is too powerful!"

He stared at the battle armor before him; its pristine metal shell emitted a cold luster, and its flowing lines seemed to speak of its extraordinary nature, every detail showcasing the exquisite craftsmanship of Imperial technology.

Xiao Ran could no longer contain his excitement. He eagerly reached out to touch the battle armor, then began to clumsily put it on.

In no time at all, with Xiao Ran's eager movements, the battle armor was donned.

Xiao Ran slowly lowered his head, scrutinizing the battle armor on his body, instinctively clenching his fists, and an unprecedented sense of power surged within him.

"Wow, it's incredible. I don't feel any weight at all, it's just like wearing ordinary clothes, so light and flexible!"

Xiao Ran exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

To test the power of the battle armor, Xiao Ran quickly stood firm, his gaze fixed on the wall not far away. Then, he exerted force and punched the wall hard.

"Bang!"

A loud bang echoed in the room, like a clap of thunder.

Xiao Ran's fist went straight through the wall, which was dozens of centimeters thick. A huge hole instantly appeared in the wall, and brick and stone fragments flew everywhere.

Xiao Ran looked at the scene before him, his heart filled with shock and surprise, gaining a deeper understanding of the battle armor's powerful performance.

"This power is simply astonishing!"

Xiao Ran's face was full of excitement, his eyes fixed on the pierced wall, his heart filled with shock.

"It's completely comparable to a high-tier Inner Breath Realm expert, and..."

He frowned slightly, a thoughtful expression on his face, then his eyes lit up.

"I feel like this battle armor hasn't fully unleashed all its power yet!"

He felt as if he had discovered a huge treasure, and the joy in his heart was like a surging tide, almost overwhelming him.

Just as Xiao Ran was immersed in awe of the battle armor's power, the system's familiar mechanical voice once again sounded in his mind.

"Host, the next mission is to retrieve a specific device, go to the mountain top at coordinates xxx, and release a signal."

As soon as the words fell, the teleportation device, which had stopped operating, once again emitted a buzzing sound, and light flickered.

In the blink of an eye, a peculiar cylindrical object appeared out of thin air in Xiao Ran's hand.

"Release a signal... What exactly does this mean?"

Xiao Ran stared at the signal device in his hand, his face full of confusion. The thing looked intricately constructed, its surface shimmering with a mysterious glow, inlaid with some incomprehensible runes and indicator lights.

He really couldn't understand why the system wanted him to go to the mountain top to release a signal.

But he knew that the missions issued by the system must have a deeper meaning, and although he was full of questions, he still decided to execute it without hesitation.

"But, first, let me thoroughly research what other magical functions this battle armor has..."

Xiao Ran's lips curved slightly upward, his eyes sparkling with curiosity and anticipation.

He gently stroked the battle armor on his body, as if conversing with an intimate companion, eager to explore more of its secrets.

Xiao Ran eagerly began to explore the various functions of the battle armor, his fingers lightly gliding across its surface, his eyes full of curiosity and anticipation.

The system also cooperatively opened the control panel inside the helmet.

When he discovered the stealth mode and collision-ignoring mode, Xiao Ran's mouth instantly formed an "O" shape, his face filled with shock.

"Holy cow!"

He couldn't help but exclaim.

"These functions are simply comparable to a Void-Breaking Realm expert..."

In his limited knowledge and experience, the collision-ignoring mode meant being able to manipulate space, and spatial power was a formidable force that only Void-Breaking Realm experts could touch upon and utilize.

"But then again, with these heaven-defying functions, it will be much easier for me to leave the city."

A hint of cunning flashed in Xiao Ran's eyes, and his lips curved slightly upward. After roughly understanding these key functions of the battle armor, he didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately activated the collision-ignoring, stealth, and flight modes.

With a flicker of faint light, Xiao Ran's figure instantly vanished from his spot, speeding out of the city like a phantom.

However, Xiao Ran did not know that from the moment he acquired the battle armor until he disappeared in stealth, a pair of eyes had been secretly observing his every move in the darkness.

On the roof of a building not far from Xiao Ran's house, a man in black was intently watching the direction of Xiao Ran's house through a window, his eyes revealing vigilance and doubt.

"Sure enough, City Lord's foresight is divine; his guess was correct."

The man in black muttered softly.

"This Xiao Ran is indeed not simple; he actually conjured such a magical battle armor out of thin air and can instantly disappear in stealth. It seems things are not as simple as they appear on the surface; I must report to the City Lord immediately."

With that, the man in black lightly leaped, like an agile black panther, and quickly disappeared into the dark streets, leaving only a faint rustling of wind.

At the mysterious and invisible boundary of the power of rules, Li Yang's forces had all assembled, neatly and orderly arrayed in this cosmic space.

At a glance, starships, like steel behemoths, emitted a cold and majestic aura.

Aside from a few starships tasked with rear support and command that remained in their designated positions and had not yet moved, all other starships had, as ordered, quickly arrived at the boundary, quietly awaiting the command to depart.

"Reporting, Captain Li Yang!"

Pal stood tall, reporting in a clear, resonant voice.

"The troops are assembled and ready for your deployment at any time!"

"Good!"

Li Yang stood on the flagship's command console, his gaze fixed on the area ahead shrouded by the power of rules, his expression calm and composed.

"Now, we just need to wait for the target individual to send the command signal."

To ensure the absolute success of this operation and to adhere to the established plan, allowing the fleet to enter this mysterious area strictly according to Xiao Ran's instructions, Li Yang had spared no effort.

The starships of the fleet had all undergone a complete new setup.

Technical personnel had meticulously entered special programs into the control system of each starship.

As soon as they received a specific signal from Xiao Ran, these starships would automatically initiate the advance command, without any manual intervention.

During the advance, no one would interfere with the operation of the starships; everything would proceed in an orderly manner according to the preset program.

This way, both the accuracy of the operation could be guaranteed, and the interference of the power of rules due to human factors could be avoided to the greatest extent, ensuring that the entire fleet could smoothly and safely cross the boundary of the power of rules.

"Comrade Li Yang, the experimental report regarding the target individual from before is out..."

Just as everyone was fully focused on waiting for the command, Hua Dong quickly walked up to Li Yang, speaking as he skillfully opened a glowing light screen.

Data and charts flickered on the light screen. Hua Dong pointed to the dense detection data on the screen, reporting to Li Yang in an orderly fashion.

"From the detection report obtained by our instruments, there is a special situation: if the target individual subjectively and clearly instructs us to launch an invasion, then the entire operation will not be interfered with by the power of rules. Moreover, and more crucially, even if we make decisions and launch actions independently in subsequent operations, we will still not be interfered with by the power of rules."

Li Yang gazed at the report on the light screen, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

He frowned slightly, rapidly pondering the deeper meaning in his mind, unconsciously repeating,

"So, if the target individual truly wishes for us to invade and actually instructs us to do so, then the power of rules will no longer interfere with our forces?"

Li Yang knew in his heart that they couldn't rely on Xiao Ran for every command.

After all, the so-called system was fundamentally just a carefully designed deception.

In this operation concerning significant interests and unknown challenges, the initiative must be firmly in their own hands, no matter what.

Only then could they flexibly respond to various complex situations according to actual circumstances, ensuring that the operation could proceed as they expected.

"Yes, Comrade Li Yang."

Hua Dong looked focused and quickly explained further.

"As long as the target individual genuinely instructs us to invade, once this instruction is clearly given, then even if he regrets it later, the power of rules will still not interfere with our actions. Moreover, in this situation, my research into the rules will also proceed more smoothly, allowing for a deeper analysis of the operating mechanisms behind the power of rules."

Hua Dong's eyes sparkled with excitement; he was filled with a desire to explore this new discovery.