The warm sunlight stread in through the window, illuminating a fairly decent view by the window area.
A huge table was placed in the center of the room, large enough to accommodate more than twenty people sitting around it, though what it was previously used for was unknown.
At this mont, the team mbers of the Rat Extermination Team were gathered around the table, projecting a large map onto it.
"The target this ti is the area to the far west, about 40 kiloters from us."
At the edge of the table, Morris pointed his finger at a section of the map, which was already marked with a red circle.
"According to intelligence, the gang originally controlling this place was called ’Blade’, and it wasn’t particularly strong."
"But according to survivors coming from that direction, Blade was wiped out five months ago, and the place is now occupied by a gang called ’Necro’..."
"It’s said they’re a bunch of Imperial Faction mutants, madn who gathered here after the apocalypse, robbing passing survivors, not even sparing the corpses..."
"However, according to the Star Alliance’s rules, we must investigate the actual situation there before taking action. If it’s really like the rumors suggest, then there’s nothing more to say."
As Morris spoke, he made a slashing gesture across his neck.
The others saw this and all nodded in agreent.
Murder, looting, cannibalism and things like that are despised everywhere; those guys can hardly be called human anymore.
"But Boss, we’ve never carried out a mission on this planet, and it’s in the No Light Zone. Don’t we have any more valuable information?"
"Like the specific terrain, the distribution of personnel, the number of mutants, and I don’t even know what the deal is with this damned ’Imperial Faction’! Could it be so group of oddballs who enjoy throwing empire-thed parties?"
The black man, Jiko, complained with a face full of displeasure.
"There’s nothing we can do, this is all the intelligence we have. As you know, it’s the farthest from the Star Alliance Base, and it’s almost impossible to find survivors who can make it here alive, so knowing even this much is quite a feat."
Morris shrugged helplessly, turning off the projection in front of him.
"I know it’s troubleso, but since we’ve chosen this place, we must complete the mission no matter what. Those extra points are not easy to co by."
"Wait!"
A man wearing glasses suddenly shouted.
He quickly rummaged through his bag and pulled out a notebook, opened it quickly and muttered under his breath:
"Imperial Faction... Imperial Faction... Ah! Here it is!"
The man with glasses pointed at a line on the page and said:
"’Imperial Faction’ refers to a group of extrely radical Audock bloodline supremacists within the Federation. They usually like to transform themselves into gene mutants, possess strong abilities, and specialize in carrying out the dirtiest, most despised tasks."
"Because of their extre belief in bloodline superiority, even in the black market, these guys are very unwelco... Due to excessive genetic modification, they are often unpredictable, and no one wants to associate with them..."
After speaking, the man closed the notebook and carefully placed it back in his bag.
A few teammates nearby looked at him with surprise, as if astonished that he knew so much.
"Alright, where did you hide this stuff? How co I didn’t know? Hurry up and let have a look!"
Jiko reached out to grab it as he spoke.
The man with glasses quickly turned away, refusing to let him succeed.
After tussling back and forth for a bit, Morris lightly tapped the table to stop them.
"Alright, knock it off, the mission is important!"
He looked towards the man with glasses as he spoke.
"Run, where did you get this information from, can you ensure the intelligence is accurate?"
The latter adjusted his slightly crooked glasses, guarding against Jiko, as he carefully took out the notebook again, saying:
"These are notes I made when at the Star Alliance Base, not really taught by them, just things so instructors ntioned offhand that I noted down."
Morris’s eyes lit up.
"Impressive, I didn’t expect you to have sothing like this, it really surprises ."
Then he showed a puzzled expression.
"But did the instructors ever ntion the Imperial Faction? I don’t recall it."
"Yeah, I can’t rember either, Run, are you sure you’re not just making stuff up to seem more diligent?"
Jiko chid in from the side.
"Haha, is there even a need to prove that?"
Run adjusted his glasses again, this ti a certain gleam seed to flash across the lenses.
"It was said by the ’Thunder God Instructor’, on the afternoon of the third day, after teaching us the ’Guleng Star Basic Survival Manual’, while taking us to the C2 training ground soone asked him what Audock ant..."
Seeing Run recount the scene so earnestly, everyone exchanged glances with a trace of amazent.
They hadn’t noticed this guy was so detailed before, how co he’s changed so much now, could it be that the Sun Essence improved his mory?
No one thought much about this question and attention shifted back to the task.
"I know Audock, yesterday I heard locals at the base ntion it, seems like it’s another life planet in the Prism Star System... It’s hard to imagine, having two civilized life planets in the sa Constant Star System, what kind of scene that would be..."
Morris steered the topic back on track and continued:
"But that aside, since those guys are all mutants, we need to be even more cautious in this operation. I’ve heard that mutant abilities are extrely strong, and in terms of physical qualities alone, we may not even be a match."
Jiko smirked disdainfully:
"Heh, what’s the use of muscle alone? On Water Blue Star, haven’t we killed plenty of these mutated guys? I wonder which is tougher, mutants or mutant beasts..."
Run, without turning his head, curled his lips into a smile and said:
"Jiko, anyone else can say that, but not you. I think you might be more than a match for them."
The black man was taken aback for a mont, then realizing the sarcasm, he imdiately started to tussle with him again.
...
In the ti that followed, the Rat Exterminator Team continued discussing the operation plan. By the ti the eting concluded, it was nearing noon.
"Alright, our plan is more or less finalized, pack up the gear and supplies right after, and after lunch, we set off. Make sure to reach the destination before nightfall and begin precise intelligence gathering."
Morris announced the conclusion of the eting.
He then distributed a set of suits to everyone.
"These are Corona Combat Suits, authentic advanced alien technology. We all learned how to use them, so cherish them; we only have one set, and losing it would require a ton of points to replace!"
Everyone accepted them with joy.
They had only seen them demonstrated by instructors back at the Star Alliance.
It’s said to be an outfit that allows one to operate in space, extrely precious, and now they actually own a set.
Next, Morris rationed out firearms and ammunition.
Each item custom-made by the Star Alliance, far superior to anything they had modified themselves.
But compared to the Corona Combat Suits, these weapons, although excellent, are not alien black tech, but gunpowder weapons from Water Blue Star.
Considering environntal limitations, those black tech firearms, which can’t be used in the Red Light Zone, have to be discarded.
This is sothing that brings a lot of regret to everyone.
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