The eting inside the Changzheng-418 lasted another two hours before Adrian and Ryan finally departed the Chinese submarine.
By the ti their RHIB returned toward the destroyer fleet, the morning sun had already climbed higher above the Philippine Sea.
The atmosphere aboard the fleet had changed.
The sailors watching from the destroyer rails imdiately noticed it.
Because Adrian’s expression looked more serious than before.
Even Ryan had gone unusually quiet.
And that alone worried people.
The RHIB slamd lightly against the destroyer’s side while deck crews secured the boat imdiately.
One of the officers waiting near the railing saluted sharply.
"Sir."
Adrian returned the salute automatically before stepping back onto the deck.
"Prepare return course to Subic imdiately."
The officer blinked slightly.
"Yes, sir."
Ryan followed behind while adjusting the sling of his rifle.
One of the Marines beside them quietly asked.
"How bad is it?"
Ryan looked toward him briefly.
"...Imagine Manila getting nuked, then filled with smart zombies."
The Marine imdiately stopped asking questions after that.
Inside the Combat Information Center, the fleet commanders gathered again shortly afterward. The tactical display still showed the Chinese submarine nearby beneath the sea while the remains of the dead Kraken floated farther behind the fleet.
Captain Weber stood beside the digital map while Adrian briefed the officers quickly.
"We’re heading back to Basa Air Base imdiately."
The destroyer captain frowned slightly.
"Urgent?"
"Yes."
Adrian pointed toward the tactical map afterward.
"We are preparing a long-range special operations mission into mainland China."
That imdiately got everyone’s attention.
Ryan leaned against one of the consoles.
"Specifically Beijing."
The room went silent.
One officer blinked slowly.
"...Sir?"
Adrian continued calmly.
"There is a surviving scientist trapped beneath Beijing who may possess information regarding the origin of the outbreak."
Several officers imdiately exchanged looks.
Captain Weber crossed his arms slightly.
"And the city itself?"
Ryan answered first this ti.
"Nuked."
Another silence followed.
Then Weber quietly muttered.
"Well that sounds terrible."
"It gets worse," Ryan added.
That honestly did not help.
Adrian continued the briefing anyway.
"Captain Liu confird large portions of Beijing remain infested despite the nuclear strikes. Multiple underground sectors survived the detonations."
One of the intelligence officers frowned.
"Underground survivors?"
"Yes."
"Military?"
"Scientists."
Ryan rubbed his face slightly afterward.
"And apparently so infected underground are evolving."
That imdiately changed the room’s atmosphere again.
Adrian noticed the reaction instantly.
Because everybody already understood how dangerous Hunters alone were.
Intelligent infected?
That was another level entirely.
Captain Weber slowly exhaled.
"So this is basically a suicide mission."
Adrian answered honestly.
"It’s dangerous."
Ryan imdiately added.
"That’s commander language for yes."
Several officers quietly laughed at that despite the tension.
Mostly because Ryan was not wrong.
Adrian looked back toward the tactical screen afterward.
"We’ll prepare at Basa imdiately. Captain Weber, maintain fleet coordination with the Chinese submarine."
"Yes, sir."
"Captain Liu’s submarine will shadow the fleet until further notice."
Weber nodded once.
"Understood."
Then Adrian looked toward Ryan.
"We need a team."
Ryan sighed quietly.
"Already figured."
Hours later, the fleet finally returned toward Subic Bay.
The mont Adrian stepped off the destroyer and boarded the returning aircraft toward Basa Air Base, preparations imdiately began.
By the evening, the massive air base had transford into organized chaos again.
Floodlights illuminated the runways while vehicles moved nonstop between hangars and operational buildings. chanics serviced aircraft beneath maintenance lights while soldiers unloaded crates of ammunition, radiation suits, dical supplies, and specialized equipnt.
The mission spread through command personnel quickly.
Beijing.
The na alone unsettled people.
Especially after hearing the words nuclear strike zone.
Inside one of the main operations buildings, Adrian finally entered the mission briefing room alongside Ryan.
Several special forces personnel were already waiting.
Twelve n total.
Most of them had survived operations in Seoul, Manila, Clark, Boracay, and multiple Hunter engagents.
So carried visible scars from earlier campaigns.
Others simply looked tired from years of nonstop fighting.
But none of them complained.
The mont Adrian entered, everyone imdiately straightened.
"Sir."
"At ease."
The room settled again afterward.
Ryan walked toward the digital display before activating the projector.
A satellite image of Beijing imdiately appeared across the wall.
Several soldiers quietly stared at it.
Because the city looked dead.
Completely dead.
Collapsed districts stretched endlessly toward the horizon while massive blackened craters scarred entire sections of the capital.
One operator quietly muttered.
"Jesus Christ..."
Adrian stepped forward afterward.
"Two days ago, a surviving Chinese military submarine made contact with our naval fleet in the Philippine Sea."
That imdiately got everyone’s attention.
He continued.
"The submarine belongs to surviving Chinese naval forces operating independently after the collapse of mainland command."
Ryan activated another image afterward.
Doctor Lin i.
The room focused imdiately.
"This woman is Doctor Lin i," Adrian explained. "A scientist trapped beneath Beijing inside a surviving underground research sector."
One of the operators frowned slightly.
"And we’re extracting her?"
"Yes."
Another operator crossed his arms.
"What makes her so important?"
Ryan answered this ti.
"She may know how the apocalypse started."
The room went silent again afterward.
Because that statent carried enormous weight.
Every survivor alive wanted answers.
How did civilization collapse so fast?
Why were the infected mutating?
And why did so variants behave almost intelligently now?
Adrian stepped closer toward the display again.
"According to Captain Liu, Doctor Lin transmitted evidence suggesting the outbreak may have been man-made."
That imdiately caused several operators to exchange looks.
One finally spoke.
"You think this was a bioweapon?"
Adrian shook his head slightly.
"We don’t know."
Ryan pointed toward the display again.
"That’s why we’re going."
The satellite imagery shifted afterward.
Underground thermal maps appeared across the screen.
"This is Doctor Lin’s last known position."
A deep underground sector beneath Beijing.
Ryan pointed toward the highlighted route.
"Our insertion will be airborne using a C-17 Globemaster."
One operator imdiately frowned.
"Directly into Beijing?"
"Yes."
Another operator quietly muttered.
"That’s insane."
Ryan nodded imdiately.
"Correct."
Nobody inside the room disagreed.
Adrian continued the briefing anyway.
"The mission will consist of myself, Ryan, and ten selected special operations personnel."
Several operators imdiately straightened slightly hearing that.
Because now they understood why they had been called personally.
Ryan activated another image afterward.
Radiation zones.
Destroyed districts.
Infected concentration heat maps.
And then, unknown movent clusters beneath the city.
One operator slowly stared at the underground markers.
"What are those?"
Ryan answered honestly.
"We don’t fully know."
Then more quietly.
"But Captain Liu warned us so infected underground may be evolving."
The room beca noticeably heavier after that statent.
Because everyone there had fought Hunters before.
And Hunters alone already required concentrated firepower to kill.
Intelligent underground variants inside confined tunnels?
That sounded horrifying.
Adrian crossed his arms slightly afterward.
"This mission is voluntary."
Several operators looked toward him imdiately.
"I’m serious," Adrian continued calmly. "This operation carries extrely high risk."
He pointed toward the screen.
"Nuclear contamination."
Another point.
"Unknown infected variants."
Another.
"Underground combat in collapsed sectors."
Ryan folded his arms.
"And if things go wrong in Beijing, there’s a good chance nobody’s coming to rescue us."
That statent settled heavily inside the room afterward.
Because everybody understood the truth behind it.
Beijing was not Manila.
Not Clark.
Not Subic.
This was a dead nuclear wasteland on foreign soil.
Far from ho.
Far from reinforcents.
Adrian looked around the room afterward.
"If anybody wants out, say it now."
Silence answered him.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even hesitated.
Finally one of the operators quietly spoke.
"When do we leave?"
Ryan slowly sighed through his nose.
"...Yeah. That’s about the response I expected."
Adrian looked toward the team again.
"Twenty hours."
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