Chapter 372: A Grand and Mighty Operation

This night, many found it difficult to sleep.

Whether it was the members of 『Summer Chasing Smoke』 or those hired from various major teams, after learning the specific details from their respective commanders, they remained sleepless for a long time.

In the camp on the tenth floor, the bonfire was warm, but it couldn’t warm the hearts of most people.

Many spent the night with feelings of worry, unease, and even fear, making the atmosphere in the camp feel somewhat heavy.

But no matter what, time waits for no one.

No matter how many people worried, how many felt uneasy, or how many were afraid, the morning of the next day still arrived punctually.

This was the eighth day since the Midnight Labyrinth manifested in the world.

By this day, only about two days remained before the Midnight Labyrinth disappeared again.

Looking at the time displayed on their signal-less terminals, many who had been unable to sleep knew that they could no longer afford to delay.

After all, they still had to consider leaving this underground labyrinth, leaving this hidden realm, and returning to the surface by dusk on the tenth day.

Otherwise, they would have to follow the Midnight Labyrinth back into the gap between the present world and the Spirit Demon Abyss, rarely seeing the outside sun and the outside world again.

Thus, one by one, the Professionals mustered their courage and began to leave their tents one after another.

Some were fully armed.

Some were thoroughly prepared.

Breakfast ended in complete silence, allowing the numerous Professionals to gather in the open space at the center of the camp.

Among them were the members of 『Azure Mercury』.

“It’s about to begin,” Feng Qing’er murmured, seemingly distracted.

Beside her, Mu Yan and Tong Xinyao remained silent—one quiet, the other looking somewhat nervous—but neither avoided the situation.

Su Ming and Chi Qian, needless to say, stood in the midst of the group.

Under these circumstances, the leaders of the other teams also arrived one after another.

Qiao Liang and Qiao Zhi…

Zhu Qian and Zhu Yun…

The commanders and vice captains of the major teams…

By this morning, all the teams had gathered.

Before long, Xu Xiayan arrived late, bringing Wang Di and Wang Qian with her.

“Commander!”

“Commander!”

The many members of 『Summer Chasing Smoke』 immediately saluted, their attitudes respectful and devout.

It was clear that within 『Summer Chasing Smoke』, Xu Xiayan held very high prestige and authority.

The members of the other teams also had a change in their expressions when they saw Xu Xiayan making her entrance with Wang Di and Wang Qian.

There was no helping it.

“Three Six-Star Professionals…”

The commanders and vice captains of the various teams were both awed and envious.

This was especially true for people like Qiao Liang, Qiao Zhi, Zhu Qian, and Zhu Yun.

As A-rank teams, both 『Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion』 and 『Iron Rose』 were stronger than any other team present.

But precisely because of this, the Qiao brothers and the Zhu family master-servant pair felt envious.

Although their teams were very powerful, each had only one Six-Star Professional.

Generally, having one Six-Star Professional in an A-rank team could already be considered a top-tier configuration.

In Tianfeng City, among all the A-rank teams, most had only one Six-Star Professional as their highest combat force.As for multiple Six-Star Professionals, that constitutes the combat strength of an S-rank team. Generally, it is quite rare for an A-rank team to have multiple Six-Star Professionals.

Given this, Summer Chasing Smoke, which previously had two Six-Star Professionals, was regarded as the A-rank team closest to S-rank status.

It was precisely because Summer Chasing Smoke had multiple Six-Star Professionals that they earned this distinction.

It is worth noting that among the various S-rank teams, there are not only teams with just two Six-Star Professionals, but more than one.

Therefore, compared to those S-rank teams, what Xu Xiayan’s Summer Chasing Smoke truly lacked was only the team’s scale. In terms of top-tier combat strength, they were already fully on par with S-rank teams.

Summer Chasing Smoke’s team scale couldn’t even match that of Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion.

Having been established for twenty years, Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion actually had more Upper-Rank Professionals than some S-rank teams. What they truly lacked was just one Six-Star Professional.

If they could gain one more Six-Star Professional, Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion would possess the complete combat strength, scale, and equipment of an S-rank team.

Under such circumstances, Xu Xiayan revealed that Summer Chasing Smoke had three Six-Star Professionals. How could this not make the Qiao brothers and the Zhu family master and servant envious?

Even they felt this way, so those B-rank teams without any Six-Star combat strength need not be mentioned—they could only gaze up in awe at those three imposing Six-Star Professionals.

Thanks to this, all the Professionals in Summer Chasing Smoke held their heads high and puffed out their chests, appearing proud and honored.

Xu Xiayan seemed oblivious to this as she brought Wang Di and Wang Qian with her to stand before the numerous teams.

She scanned the surroundings, looking at everyone present as if wanting to memorize each person’s face, her gaze sweeping over them one by one.

Then…

“Now, please follow the plan and divide into the reconnaissance team and the treasure hunting team,” Xu Xiayan said without further ado, immediately instructing everyone to proceed as planned.

The Commanders and Vice Captains present did not hesitate.

“Divide into teams!”

“Divide into teams!”

Under their brief commands, the Professionals quickly began dividing into teams, moving with the discipline of a well-trained army.

The division was quite interesting to observe.

First, the treasure hunting team had an overwhelming majority, numbering nearly a thousand people.

They were all lower-rank Professionals from the various major teams.

Among them, Summer Chasing Smoke alone contributed over a hundred members to the treasure hunting team. Even Iron Rose sent over a hundred lower-rank Professionals. The largest contribution came from Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion, the most established A-rank team, with several hundred lower-rank Professionals forming an impressive force. Combined with lower-rank Professionals from other B-rank teams, forming a group of over a thousand people was easily accomplished.

According to the plan discussed last night, these thousand-plus lower-rank Professionals would be divided into teams of five, splitting into smaller units that would eventually form over two thousand Professional squads. These would be dispersed throughout the tenth layer in all directions to search for the Golden Dream Sprite Thread.

The tenth layer covers an area comparable to Tianfeng City’s Dragonheart District. Without this many people conducting the search, finding the Golden Dream Sprite Thread in a short time would truly be like searching for a needle in a haystack.Now, with so many people embarking on this treasure hunt together, the efficiency would undoubtedly be very high.

This was one of the reasons Xu Xiayan had hired so many teams.

In contrast to the treasure hunting teams, the number of people in the reconnaissance team was quite small.

The reconnaissance team consisted of only about sixty people, a negligible number compared to the massive treasure hunting teams that numbered over a thousand.

However, among these sixty or so members of the relatively small reconnaissance team, almost every one was an Upper-Rank Professional.

Among the teams Xu Xiayan had hired, aside from ‘Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion’ and ‘Iron Rose,’ the rest were all B-rank teams.

Although these B-rank teams had no Six-Star Professionals, they did have Upper-Rank Professionals.

Among them, some were relatively weak, with two or three Upper-Rank Professionals, while others were stronger, with four or five Upper-Rank Professionals. On average, each B-rank team had about three Upper-Rank Professionals, totaling over twenty.

The A-rank teams, on the other hand, had significantly more Upper-Rank Professionals.

After Bai Xuefei joined, ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ contributed a total of ten Upper-Rank Professionals.

‘Iron Rose,’ the all-female legion, had seven Upper-Rank Professionals.

The most came from ‘Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion,’ the most established A-rank team, with a total of seventeen Upper-Rank Professionals, surpassing all others.

Combined, the three A-rank teams contributed thirty-four Upper-Rank Professionals, a number more formidable than many top-tier families in Tianfeng City.

In addition, with the three Upper-Rank Professionals from ‘Azure Mercury’ (excluding Su Ming), the entire reconnaissance team had over sixty Upper-Rank Professionals, an astonishing figure.

It was worth mentioning that Su Ming and Tong Xinyao, who were regarded as Lower-Rank Professionals by outsiders, had also joined the reconnaissance team.

Moreover, Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan, who had already joined ‘Summer Chasing Smoke,’ still remained by Bai Xuefei’s side and entered the reconnaissance team.

This led many to stare at Su Ming, Tong Xinyao, Bai Ruxiang, and Bai Xiaoyan, making the women other than Su Ming feel slightly uneasy.

Only Su Ming stood there calmly, silently watching Xu Xiayan.

Xu Xiayan, however, was not looking at Su Ming.

Seeing that the teams had been divided, Xu Xiayan nodded.

Clearly, the leaders of the various teams had indeed followed the discussions from the meeting after returning last night, carrying out the plans and giving the necessary instructions to their respective teams.

This saved Xu Xiayan a lot of effort.

“Since everyone has been divided into teams, you should have already learned about your tasks from your respective teams and Vice Captains, right?” Xu Xiayan spoke.

“Yesterday, we also discussed and agreed on the respective search areas each team is responsible for. I believe everyone already has a clear understanding.”

“Then, as before, please proceed according to the plan and carry out your respective tasks.”

“That’s all from me. Good luck to everyone.”

After speaking, Xu Xiayan, along with Wang Di and Wang Qian, also joined the reconnaissance team.

And so, the preparations were complete.

“Move out!” Xu Xiayan commanded the members of ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ first, ordering them to take action.

“Move out!”

“Move out!”

The Commanders and Vice Captains of the various teams also issued their orders one after another.The next second, squads of Professionals surged out of the camp in a grand display, dispersing in all directions and leaving behind the numerous Upper-Rank Professionals of the reconnaissance team.

But soon, the reconnaissance team set off as well.

……

Tenth layer, center.

Here lay a canyon.

The canyon wasn’t particularly large, but it had only one entrance, leading directly to a basin with extremely low terrain.

A faint mist lingered here, though it wasn’t water vapor but rather a thin, dark fog.

The members of the reconnaissance team appeared here together, halting at the canyon’s entrance.

“Alright,” Xu Xiayan said, turning to the group with a serious expression. “For the next phase of the operation, aside from the Six-Star members, everyone else should remain here and wait to support us.”

Hearing this, the many Upper-Rank Professionals exchanged glances, then nodded gravely in agreement.

This had been decided during yesterday’s meeting.

According to Xu Xiayan, when investigating the legendary Nightmare Species Mutant, fewer people were better.

The fewer the people, the lower the risk of detection, allowing for a reconnaissance mission that could proceed with caution but without undue danger.

However, since there was no guarantee they wouldn’t be discovered, the reconnaissance team still needed sufficient combat strength to engage at any moment.

After discussion, it was decided that all teams would contribute their Upper-Rank Professionals to join the reconnaissance team and investigate the Nightmare Species Mutant.

Subsequently, the highest combatants in the reconnaissance team would take the lead, while the others would provide support from outside.

After all, over sixty people were still too many for a covert operation.

Thus, the Six-Star Professionals with the highest combat strength would handle the reconnaissance. If the operation went smoothly, they would regroup after the investigation and everyone would withdraw together. If things went awry and the Nightmare Species Mutant was alerted, the Six-Star combatants would rush out to join all the Upper-Rank Professionals, concentrating their forces to face the enemy.

“Let’s begin,” Xu Xiayan stepped forward first, prompting Wang Di and Wang Qian to advance without hesitation.

“Big brother,” Qiao Zhi couldn’t help but say, “be careful.”

“I know,” Qiao Liang replied expressionlessly, stepping out.

“Young Miss,” Zhu Yun looked at Zhu Qian with concern.

Zhu Qian said nothing, silently stepping forward.

Next, Su Ming and Chi Qian emerged together.

“Commander.”

“Sister Qianqian.”

Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao wore worried expressions.

“Don’t worry,” Chi Qian reassured them with a smile. “It’ll be fine. Wait for our good news.”

The three women nodded in response—one silent, one anxious, one with tears welling in her eyes.

Su Ming remained silent.

But seeing him step forward, someone couldn’t hold back.

“Are you really coming along?” Wang Di frowned.

“You should have gone with the Spirit Bearer from your team to join the treasure-hunting squad,” Wang Qian added coolly.

Though the others didn’t voice their opinions, their expressions made it clear they felt the same.

No one had expected Su Ming and Tong Xinyao to appear in this team.

In contrast, no one commented on Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan.

That was because the two were carrying large amounts of equipment.

Undoubtedly, they were here to assist.The investigation of Nightmare Species Mutants isn’t merely about visual confirmation—it requires scanning, analyzing, and transmitting data using various Alchemy Devices and Alchemy Instruments.

All this data is sent back to Tianfeng City for discussion and decision-making by the Tianfeng City Executives.

Naturally, the Upper-Rank Professionals wouldn’t know how to operate these instruments and devices, nor would they have the time to learn.

Their role is to provide support and combat strength—having them spend time learning these skills would be a sheer waste of talent.

As a result, Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan were selected by Xu Xiayan to learn how to use these instruments and devices, so they could assist in situations like this.

Knowing this, no one questioned why these two were present.

But then, what about Su Ming and Tong Xinyao?

－－－－－－Author’s Note－－－－－－

I fell and hurt my leg yesterday…

So damn unlucky…o(╥﹏╥)o

7017k

(End of Chapter)