Chapter 56: Gathering
After hearing about the confirmation of finally going to war, everyone participated in the last joint training with great enthusiasm. In the training camp, the majority of the espers were young people so past training sessions were always full of laughter. But now, everyone was silent, and they were trying their best to suppress their rage.
The news media continued to criticize the 1st Legion for not defending Earth. For the past few weeks, Earth was constantly under attack, and that has already worn down the citizens mentally. The Sydney event became the fuse that detonated all the pressure that the citizens were under.
People began to question, when Earth was getting attacked again and again and again, where was that 1st Legion that the United Government of Earth invested so heavily in? Why didn’t they stand up and protect Earth?
With the Thorn Birds gang as the lead, all the active pirate groups near Earth had gathered together and attacked this major city that was located in Australia.
Since Sydney was located in Oceania, which was far away from the mainland and didn’t have immediate access to large-scale reinforcement, the pirates and raiders were able to act brazenly.
Worse, after several big pirate groups swept clean Sydney, the pirates actually started firing at the city using the cannons on their battleships, razing this beautiful coastal city to the ground as well as causing heavy casualties.
Undoubtedly, the pirates and raiders were full of contempt for Earth, completely ignoring Earth’s government and army.
Although many espers were in the army, the few espers left still living in the towns still stood up bravely against the intruders, and actively cooperated with the police to resist the invasion. Of course, many of them were never leaving the battlefield ever again.
Unfortunately, the raging citizens couldn’t see that, and the media directed all the hostility towards the Esper Administration. There were even voices of doubt among the United Government’s House of Commons.
After a full 4 hours of joint training, Han ordered dismissal but the majority of them didn’t leave the training base and continued to strengthen themselves in other subjects.
Han knew, all his comrades felt helpless. It was not that they didn’t want to protect the civilians, but they were restricted to the barracks.
An Beibei had stopped crying and locked herself away in the training.
Han let out a small sigh and walked out of the training center. He came to the yard. The snow had stopped but the air was still unusually cold, the weather this year here was quite unusual, and no one knows why.
Han saw a slim dark shadow in the dark, it was Long Chuan, and he was coughing violently in the dark.
Han slightly frowned and walked over to him. Long Chuan saw Han and offered him a cigarette, Han shook his head and refused.
“All the members of the Genius camp probably hates me now right?” Long Chuan smiled bitterly and said.
Han replied, “Not really hate, at most they just feel depressed,”
Long Chuan said bitterly, “You are very honest, it doesn’t matter. Hate or not hate, I don’t care. Sometimes, in order to achieve a strategic goal it’s necessary to make sacrifices.”
Han nodded, “So we are really going to war?”
Long Chuan didn’t deny it, he looked down at the time and said in a deep voice, “There are still 3 hours. You still have some time to sleep.”
Han shook his head, “I can’t sleep, so I will go back and pack up.”
“Okay.” Long Chuan said emotionlessly.
…….
Han laid on his bed, stared out the window into the night. Long Chuan said that we are leaving after 3 hours, and that was at 3 o’clock in the morning. Han already packed the things he needed to bring in his Blue Spatial ring. Although the room inside the ring wasn’t too big, only 1 meter cubed of space, but it was still enough to hold weapons, his combat suit and many medicinal drugs.
At a quarter past two, the base suddenly lit up, all the spotlights were instantly turned on and followed by a hard military siren.
Han sat up from his bed, took his backpack and went straight out of the room.
All the members of the training camp all lived on the same floor, Han just stepped out of the door and he saw Cheng Zhong, Xin Beige, Nicholas, and the others. Everyone’s heart seems to share the same beat, they all packed up long ago and were ready to roll. Cheng Zhong carried a giant three hundred liter travel bag, and Han knew that it was full of high-calorie foods, the essential source of Cheng Zhong’s battle strength.
An Beibei also came out. She had changed into her battle suit, showing the curves of her body, but her eyes were still red and she didn’t look too well-rested.
Everyone went out in silence, and followed the main troop to board the long-waiting Atlantic Cruiser. From the sound of siren to everyone boarding the cruiser, it only took 35 minutes. Although it was recently formed, but everyone in the 1st Legion seemed to be already very well trained.
After all, these were the elites chosen from the 150 thousand espers, so the 1stLegion’s combat power was definitely the highest in the entire army of Earth.
Han laid beside the porthole looking down, he saw the three giants of Esper Administration saying farewell to each other, Li Yu, Talin, and Long Chuan. Of the three, only Long Chuan will command the 1st Legion into battle, and the other two will stay behind to defend Earth.
In the current organization of Earth’s army, aside from the 1st Legion of over 10 thousand members, there were only several Special Tactics teams from Headquarter and other branches. On the Atlantic Cruiser, Han saw Chu Li and his 4 Special Tactics teams from the Shanghai Division, which meant that the whole region of Shanghai was currently only being defended by one team, and that was a total of only 11 espers.
Clearly, the operation was out in full strength, putting all their cards on the line.
“Long Chuan is probably under a lot of pressure…” Han laid in front of the windows and thought silently.
……
“I’m leaving all the resources of the Administration in your hands, so for this war, make Earth proud! You are only allowed to win!” Talin said in a deep voice in Long Chuan.
Long Chuan slightly nodded, smiled and said, “Leave it to me. According to our intelligence, the Thorn Bird Raiding group is already gathering. Without the cooperation of such a large group, Earth will face less pressure. But you guys still have to be on guard. After all, I’m taking all soldiers with me, and our home is just an empty shell for now.”
Li Yu pointed at himself and Talin, “Look at us, do we f***ing look dead to you? Just take care of your team, and leave everything at home to us two. Don’t worry about anything!”
“Understood, Bye!”
Pa~
Long Chuan stood at attention, and paid a very standard salute to Li Yu and Talin. Li Yu and Talin solemnly saluted back.
Turning around, Long Chuan lightly coughed twice, and started walking forward in big steps. The north wind blew, Long Chuan’s slim yet tall and straight figure soon disappeared in the wind.
Li Yu gritted his teeth and his eyes turned red, with a suppressed voice he said, “Long Chuan’s illness is getting worse. This time he’s putting everything on the line, he’s probably didn’t think about coming back alive.”
Talin nodded slightly, and said in a very deep voice, “I know. Before passing away, he wants to do something for the planet he love so much. As friend, the only thing we can do is to not stop him. Long Chuan is a true warrior, he has his own pride and glory.”
Shua~
Loaded with the one and only esper legion, the Atlantic Carrier ejected intense blue flames out of its engines, ascended into the sky, and then disappeared into the starry night sky in the blink of an eye.