First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 165

Chapter 165: Go Away

"Get lost,"

"What are you all doing?" Doctor Lin turned to look at them. "What expressions are those? Have you forgotten your identities? Are you really this scared?"

The students looked up at him.

When they realized the situation was unavoidable, the first thought that surfaced in their minds was utter confusion. Then they tried to recall what they could do, only to find they were powerless.

A sense of helplessness rose from their feet, making them increasingly uncertain. Now they even began doubting themselves.

They had trained for so long, armed with conviction and determination, yet when faced with a real crisis, they were simply locked in a building, unable to do anything?

Why were they so weak?

"Calm down," Doctor Lin's steady voice sounded above them as he comforted the students. "You've grown up now; you should be able to stand on your own. Reality won't give you the luxury of taking things step by step—you have to run."

"We..." a male student said, "we're not scared, just lost."

"It's true we don't know anything right now, and we have nothing, so it's fine. But don't stop thinking," Doctor Lin said. "Even if you don't know what to do, you can't stand still. And deep down, you do know—we need to get out first, so let's find a way out, right?"

Doctor Lin continued, "Everything can be learned. Don't panic. Follow me now."

They continued climbing the stairs upward.

Lian Sheng and the others left the base and took a vehicle to the eastern district.

They were all dressed in casual clothes—low-key, timeless outfits paired with sweatpants to avoid drawing attention as easy targets.

"Damn, did they mess with my optical computer?" Fang Jianchen shook the black box in his hand, then stretched his arm out in different directions to find a signal. Eventually, he realized there was no network here.

Fang Jianchen smirked smugly. "Good thing Dad downloaded the map."

Ji Ban, puzzled, said, "There shouldn't be no network. Aren't all districts supposed to have full coverage? Unless the signal towers were taken down, there's no way the network would just stop without warning."

Nearly all commercial activities relied on the network these days. A sudden outage would likely cause panic and massive losses.

Lian Sheng asked, "When did the network go down?"

Fang Jianchen: "Probably after we got on the vehicle. Didn't pay much attention. It was still working when we left the base's shielded area."

Cheng Ze: "Does this vehicle have a signal jammer?"

Fang Jianchen scowled. "What kind of insane vehicle would have that? And so aggressively?"

"Even if there were signs, we wouldn't have noticed in the base," Zhao Zhuoluo said. "No network there."

Fang Jianchen said calmly, "Don't treat the 36th District like the 2nd District, guys. Nothing here surprises me anymore. Seriously."

Lian Sheng tapped her chin. "Look at them."

Their vehicle had come from the base, so there were few people inside. Glancing around, they noticed most passengers were calm, unaffected by the network outage. It seemed like a normal occurrence.

Lian Sheng looked out the window.

Pedestrians hurried along the streets, vehicles speeding past, almost all heading in the same direction—though it was unclear where they were rushing to.

This was the first time they had seen so many people in the 36th District.

Zhao Zhuoluo said, "Does the atmosphere feel a bit off?"

Lian Sheng: "Is today some big occasion?"

"I think it's some celebration day for the 36th District," Ji Ban said, leaning against the window and pointing. "Look, the ad banners."

For some reason, Lian Sheng felt irritable. As the vehicle turned, the street screen disappeared from view. The display was black.

The entire district suddenly felt alive yet devoid of vitality, an eerie tension lingering in the air.

Ye Buqing picked up his optical computer. Still no signal.

As they fell silent, lost in thought, the vehicle stopped. They had reached their destination.

Hearing the announcement, they grabbed their bags and stepped off. A passerby, rushing by too quickly to adjust his pace, bumped into Ji Ban. Lian Sheng steadied Ji Ban from behind and looked over, but the man didn't even glance back as he hurried away.

Fang Jianchen, feeling a sudden burst of intelligence, grabbed Ji Ban. "Quick! Check your wallet—watch out for pickpockets!"

"Huh?" Ji Ban clutched his optical computer. "But I don't have a wallet."

"Ah!" Lian Sheng suddenly realized. "If there's no network and no wallet, does that mean we can't pay for anything?"

They finally grasped the severity of the situation. Did that mean their trip was doomed from the start?

Lian Sheng glanced around.

About half the shops were closed, and the remaining ones had few customers.

Lu Mingyuan rubbed his arms. "Something feels really off here. They're creeping me out. Maybe we should just go back to the base?"

"Is it unsafe?" Ji Ban added. "If we can't buy anything, we might as well return."

"The network issue—I’m not sure where it started, but I think we should report it," Cheng Ze said. "But another thing—why are there so few security robots and police officers on the streets?"

An indescribable discomfort settled over them. No matter how they looked at it, the 36th District felt wrong.

Lian Sheng frowned. "Wait here." Then she strode forward.

After a brief hesitation, the others jogged to catch up.

Lian Sheng followed her memory to the shop they had visited before.

Fang Jianchen recognized it. "You want to ask them for info? Seriously? They’d sell us out in a heartbeat—and we’d be the ones getting sold."

"If we’re talking about locals in the 36th District, they’re the only ones we know," Lian Sheng said, one hand in her pocket as she quickened her pace into a run. "Hurry! My gut says something’s about to go down."

They broke into a sprint, crossing two intersections before finally spotting their target.

The middle-aged man and his son were packing up, too busy to notice the newcomers at the door.

Lian Sheng stepped forward and called out, "Hey?"

The man looked up, startled at the sight of them. "What are you doing here?!"

Cheng Ze straightened, feigning nonchalance. "Customers are normal, right? We’ve been here before."

The man fell silent, just staring at them. The child beside him clung to his father, hiding warily behind him.

Lian Sheng walked over, picked up an apple, and tossed it playfully in her hand. "Why so nervous? We’re just here to shop. And last time, we didn’t even hit you."

The man said, "Take it. It’s on the house."

Lian Sheng chuckled. "So generous? I’m flattered."

Ji Ban stepped forward. "Uncle, are you closing up?"

"Yeah, why is everyone shutting down?" Lu Mingyuan asked. "Why did the whole district’s network go down?"

The man’s eyes darted between them, searching their expressions for something. Still uneasy, he said, "You... really don’t know?"

Lian Sheng: "Know what?"

"There’s an enemy attack! The 36th District is about to fall. The outer defenses have already been breached!" The man lowered his voice. "A dark army, swarming toward your base. Didn’t you see them?"

Silence fell over them. They tried to detect any falsehood in his words but found none. Yet the claim itself was hard to accept, and they resisted believing it.

Cheng Ze forced a laugh. "Buddy, don’t joke around."

The man snapped, "Who’s joking?!"

Ji Ban: "Swear it on your identity as an Alliance citizen."

"Screw the Alliance citizen identity! That’s worthless!" The man grew angrier, waving a hand dismissively, as if the title meant nothing to him. "That’s the truth! Don’t believe me? Fine. We’re leaving."

He picked up the child and turned to go.

Ji Ban was stunned by his outburst.

The others were too shocked to react. Hearing the news so abruptly left them unsure how to respond.

They knew they should feel urgency, but without seeing it firsthand, they couldn’t muster it. Only shock and disbelief remained.

This wasn’t right.

Lian Sheng’s earlier irritation finally had a reason, but no outlet. She sidestepped, blocking their path. "Where are you going? Has the district alarm sounded?"

"Waiting for them to sound the alarm is like waiting to die," the man said. "We’re heading to the shelters!"

Lian Sheng softened her tone, trying to get him to explain. "Maybe it’s a mistake. Maybe it’s a drill. But right now—"

"No! We saw it ourselves! The government didn’t issue any warnings. They even cut the network and broadcasts to hide it from us. They don’t care about our lives!" The man took a deep breath and shoved her. "We’re leaving now. Move!"

Lian Sheng didn’t budge.

The man looked up, fear in his eyes. "What do you want?"

Lian Sheng closed her eyes, thinking for a moment before concluding, "Take us with you."

The others paled, shouting in alarm, "Lian Sheng!" What was she thinking?

"If what he says is true, returning to the base is dangerous—it’s swarming with enemies. Staying in the district is also risky, with war possibly breaking out at any moment. No network means no way to communicate. And we need to understand what’s happening first," Lian Sheng said. "Take us to the shelters. We’ll help carry your things. Just lead the way—we won’t cause trouble."

The man was about to refuse when Lian Sheng added, "Hey, don’t forget what we did to you before—and what you did to us. Your son’s watching."

Meanwhile, the Gelen United Army, having seized the 36th District’s military base, began their final sweep.

From infiltration to conquest, they had faced no resistance. The enemy’s complete lack of preparedness was perfect.

It had been a long time since they’d achieved such an effortless victory—worth the month they’d spent lying in wait in the neighboring system.

A few officers, adorned with epaulets, strode forward under escort.

A dark-haired man asked, "Are we done?"

A brown-haired companion answered, "Yeah."

"Double-check. No mistakes."

"Relax, nothing could go wrong," his companion said with a laugh. "Let’s go see that new mech. I’m dying of curiosity."

They headed toward the storage warehouse. Smoke still lingered in the air behind them, faint sounds of combat echoing, but they paid no mind.

Their technicians were already inside, examining the machine.

They studied the seams and joints, testing the likelihood of dismantling it without damaging the core systems.

The brown-haired man stepped forward, running a hand over the hull, marveling at its craftsmanship. "So this is the legendary manually operated mech. Impressive. Beautiful."

The man beside him said simply, "Open it."

The technician replied, "Initial assessment—external intervention won’t work without corrupting the data."

The brown-haired man clenched his fingers, eyes locked on the mech. "Such precious research data can’t go to waste. Manual mechs usually operate via iris or fingerprint recognition. If we find the pilot, we can just override the permissions."

The dark-haired man looked up. "Where are the students?"

The brown-haired man gestured ahead. "Probably up front. My poor little captives."

Doctor Lin led the students to the fourth floor, locating a ventilation shaft in the farthest storage room. He sent one student crawling inside, only to find reinforced metal grates welded shut every ten meters.

Doctor Lin cursed and called the student back. Then he searched for another exit.

The emergency exit doors, unlike the main entrance, were easier to push open from the inside—if you had the key.

Of course, "easier" was relative. Without tools, they still couldn’t force them.

Doctor Lin tested the door, finding the passcode altered. He glared at the control panel before kicking it in frustration, his expression dark. "Haven’t been here in too long. Everything’s changed. What kind of mess is this?"

Perhaps responding to his frustration, the door suddenly swung open from the outside.

Light flooded in. The students instinctively stepped back, staring in shock at the figures in the doorway.

A group of soldiers in black uniforms, armed with thermal weapons, stood at full readiness.

"That uniform color..." One student’s voice rose sharply. "You’re not Alliance soldiers!"

The familiar design confirmed it—this was the Gelen United Army.

"Heh." Someone chuckled. "Hello, little Alliance soldiers. Though I doubt you’re feeling very 'hello' right now."

"Everyone, hands up! Face the wall!"

The students froze. The armed men stepped forward threateningly. Tension spiked.

Doctor Lin spoke. "Hands up. Face the wall. Be smart."

Only then did the students comply, turning to press against the wall with hands raised.

Soldiers moved in, slapping restraint devices on their backs. The students were bound tightly, treated like cargo as they were lined up against the wall.

Once secured, the soldiers parted, clearing a path for their superiors to enter.

Lin Shu—clearly in charge, despite wearing a lab coat with the school’s insignia—stood out.

In their eyes, doctors were low-threat. They wanted to talk to Lin Shu, extract information, so they afforded him some respect.

Both sides sized each other up. Doctor Lin felt uneasy.

The 36th District was remote, but not the most remote. How had the enemy bypassed the defenses to get here?

The students, lying on the ground, strained to see what was happening.

The brown-haired man stepped forward.

His skin was pale—a shade lighter than Lin Shu’s. "Doctor? I saw a manually operated mech back there. Where’s its pilot?"

Lin Shu: "Coincidentally absent."

"How convenient."

"Very."

"Heh."

The brown-haired man reached out toward Lin Shu—only for Lin Shu to seize his wrist in a flash.

The move was so fast no one reacted before the man was twisted into a submission hold.

Rarely did anyone move with such precision.

Immediately, soldiers raised their guns, barrels aimed at Lin Shu’s forehead.

The students thrashed against their restraints, shouting muffled warnings.

Lin Shu, ignoring the guns pressed to his head, said coldly, "I’m a man who wields a scalpel. If I wanted you dead, you would be."

The brown-haired man laughed. "Not bad. Who are you?"

"Don’t push your luck. We’re a proper military force," the dark-haired man said, stepping forward. "Let him go, unless you want everyone here dead. Threats don’t work on us."

Lin Shu released his grip and stepped back. The brown-haired man, freed, promptly punched him in the face.

Satisfied, he shook out his hand with a smirk.

"We don’t kill civilians," the dark-haired man said. "They’re just students. Even if they chose the military academy, they know nothing. They haven’t killed any of ours, so I won’t harm them. You’re a school doctor—I won’t hurt you without cause. But don’t seek death."

He jerked his chin at his subordinates. "Take them away."

One by one, the students were dragged off to an unknown location.

"You won’t tell us? Fine. Whether he’s here or not, we’ll find him," the man said, glancing at Lin Shu in warning. "The entire 36th District is under our watch. No one escapes. His name’s Ji Ban, right? We know every student here for training. After all, the roster was publicly available."

Lin Shu lowered his head, licking the cut on his lip. Like the students, he was bound and led away.

The enemy had infiltrated silently.

Border identity checks, military entry scans—there was no way a force this large could’ve slipped through undetected. And the base’s external defenses? Not even an alarm had sounded during the attack.

Too fast. The enemy knew them too well. Their defenses might as well have been nonexistent.

Every checkpoint should’ve caught them. The only explanation? They were let in on purpose.

There was no doubt about it.

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