“They are just a bunch of low-grade trash.”

A girl with longer hair but slightly shorter stature muttered disdainfully, then swiftly slew a gray shadow with one sword stroke.

I shook the dust off my sleeves and gently blew the wind off my fist with my mouth.

“Tsk, no need to bother, Aina.”

What a troublesome group of people, truly a group of pests that are hard to kill and never-ending!

In the moment they were wiped out by me, those despicable guys stood up again, threads of black shadows flashed before me, forming a black cage that trapped me within.

“Hmph, seems like you’re determined to kill me at all costs?”

With a flip of my palm, another strong tornado immediately counteracted the confinement of the cage.

Finally, the enemy's core was revealed – a deep blue gem floated above my head, seeming to be at death's door.

“How about that?”

The blonde girl closed in around me, with the short-haired girl staring at the gem in my palm as if it could shatter at a touch.

“Do we need to kill them?”

“No…”

(Yu Nai's perspective, in Europe)

When I woke up, there was no one around. I slowly recalled: I lost consciousness right after entering the room, could this be a trap?

Where is this city? No, this is a small town. I stepped out of the room, the bustling streets outside were unlike Moscow, but I didn't care. I just went to the station and bought a ticket back home.

Back home, my father asked me, “Why are you back so soon?”

“Don't even mention it!” I complained.

“Unlucky to the extreme, encountered zombies, almost... oww!”

“What?”

He interrupted me.

“You didn’t have a fever, did you? The highly trained military like you must have been under some stress.”

“No, really saw...!”

I grew a bit anxious, “I saw it with my own eyes.”

After pondering for a moment, he angrily said, “So, are you saying that the media and politicians have conspired to deceive us?!”

Forget it, let's visit Juxi's house for a bit!

At the chairman's doorstep, what I heard left me stunned!

“Who is this? Isn't this the Disciplinary Committee member?”

The chairman said, “I heard Juxi is going to join an operational group.”

Upon hearing the chairman's words, I left without looking back. Once back home, I searched online for this group, and surprisingly found it easily (though I didn't know it was a trap). It belonged to an organization: Alliance Army, commander: Sui Mo.

I used the afternoon to sign up, but there were not as many people at the registration site as I expected, nor was there any fierce competition.

At the registration site, there was no one, then a man in an orange outfit said, “Miss, are you here to sign up?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“What's your name?” he asked.

“Grace.” “Age?” “19.” “Education?” “Um... high school graduate?”

“Can you shoot?”

“No, but I can fight!”

“...You're in, welcome to the STA group.”

“What? I just wanted to join this group.”

“But if you want to join this group, you have to join the organization STA for a month of training!”

He spoke straightforwardly, but I decided to join anyway, as long as I could get in.

It's really strange that he didn't give out any test questions... Well, who cares, it's actually better without any test questions.

"Report in at noon tomorrow."

"Yes, Captain."

"By the way, I'm Sandman, the overall commander of this operation. You must obey orders, understand?" he said.

"Roger!"

I smiled, it's too good to be true. I made it, I can finally join this group. But why is there no one else there?

It's so eerie, what's going on? Oh well, I'll just take a rest.

The next morning, I groggily got out of bed and saw that it was already half past eleven. I quickly ate some breakfast and left, too excited to have slept well the whole night. The meeting point was in the suburbs. I was 10 minutes late, but the Captain didn't scold me.

That's when I noticed that the second member was a blonde woman. No, she was actually the renowned martial arts master - Blood Queen!

I forced back my excitement but accidentally let out a laugh.

Everyone immediately gave me strange looks, making me feel awkward and causing my voice to stutter.

"Why... why are you all staring at me?"

"If you don't laugh, can we look at you?" a soldier said. "And what are you laughing about?"

"N-nothing!"

I replied.

"Oh!"

The soldier understood.

"Alright, everyone quiet down!"

Sandman said sternly.

"Let's take attendance!"

"Fayres!"

"Here!"

A white-haired man immediately stood up straight and took a step forward.

"Yu Nai."

"...Here."

As the Commander finished speaking, I scrambled forward a little.

"Blood... cough, I mean, Iphie!"

"Present!"

With a hint of pride, the self-proclaimed Blood Queen Iphie confidently stepped forward.

"Liu Zuo..."

"Here, here!"

It was the soldier from earlier, seemingly from the Eastern Alliance based on his name. It is said that people from the Eastern Alliance are of a bellicose type, fighting only for their beliefs. I wonder if that's true.

"Alright, that's enough. Cough, the mission this time is to find the markers I left behind. And just so you know, the enemy you'll be facing is extremely formidable."

Sandman chuckled mysteriously and said, "Be careful, or you might lose your lives."

"What kind of mission is this? How terrifying!"

I retorted, but he just smiled and replied nonchalantly, "You'll be facing something you've never encountered before."

Everyone was puzzled, but I continued, "Huh, I thought it was something serious. Turns out it's just a joke."

"Have you seen it before?"

Some felt that Sandman was just trying to act cool without knowing anything.

"Of course I have, during my time in the Eastern Alliance."

He truthfully replied. This was met with laughter, and Sandman shrugged, indicating it didn't bother him.

"Cut it out, how could someone like you, a mere trainer, have seen the Evil Entity?"

"Why wouldn't I have? I've just returned from there."

Sandman said defiantly from behind his desk.

"Alright, enough chitchat, the plane is coming, and we need to reach our destination before nightfall."

The sleep demon solemnly regained the initiative to speak, and everyone quieted down. At that moment, the airplane arrived, and everyone unexpectedly lined up in an orderly manner to board the plane.

"If you had said something, I wouldn't have been so startled just now."

"Oh."

I nodded.

"Little sister," she started this time, "why do you always ask such strange questions?"

"Didn't I just want to find someone to talk to?" I excused my embarrassment.

"Oh, you're such a strange person."

She was a little speechless...

"Oh, what was I going to say?"

I found myself stuttering.

"Oh, you are really strange."

After that, the cabin fell silent again until we rested in a town in the outskirts of the northern station of the Eastern Union at the border.

The plane was refueling here, and I felt something was off, so I asked, "Why is there not a single soul around here?"

"You fool..."

The sleep demon took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and explained, "How can there be many people in an epidemic area? But there should still be a few guards here, right?"

He was also confused, and at that moment I seemed to see a figure approaching, so I quickly warned everyone.

"Be careful, something is here!"

"What?"

Although everyone was skeptical of my words, they still maintained a defensive posture and didn't dare to let their guard down at all.

"What is this thing?"

"It's so disgusting, the blood is dark red."

Even a combat master like Iphy, who was used to seeing blood every day, couldn't help but panic, after all, the opponent was invisible to the naked eye.

He made a vomiting gesture, and at that moment, there was a low growl from all around.

"Alert!"

In the instant when everyone raised their guns, only the sleep demon stood up and shouted loudly, brandishing a dagger.

"There are unidentified energy forms around us. Everyone, keep your eyes peeled."

As soon as the chaotic gunshots subsided, nothing had happened in front.

"Hehe, I told you it's too difficult for young rookies!"

Uncle Sleep Demon waved his hand indifferently, gesturing for others to put down their weapons.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? Ordinary weapons won't cause any harm to them!"

Before he finished speaking, the sleep demon disappeared from the spot without a trace, and I faintly saw a trace of his figure, moving at a speed that far exceeded human limits!

After a dagger light circled around us....splut!!

A black, thick, blood-like liquid splattered everywhere out of nowhere, as if something had been completely destroyed, leaving us in deep dread and contemplation.

"Alright, I think our warm-up is over..."

I couldn't help but wonder: Has Xi been fighting these monsters all this time?

Captain Sleep Demon stretched lazily and greeted us as if nothing had happened.

"Why are you all standing there? Get on the spacecraft and leave!"

"Yes!!"

Everyone got into the vehicle.

I looked outside with a desperate look at the "scenery" - Evil Entities coming in masses, just in time for that sudden and astonishing sight, the slaughter of monsters stopped here, and the person on top of it all was his father... Did I see it wrong?

"It was so difficult for me to find out, that girl had been lurking for so long?"

...

There's no need to dwell on what happened next. We got separated while fighting those strange things. In fact, that was when I lost my focus. When I got captured, I left Xi behind, not knowing how he's doing now. Will he be angry at us for leaving him behind? Besides worry, I'm starting to feel a bit scared too. I wonder if I'll ever see Juxi's little brother again... His little brother will understand.

"Why... why am I so worried? I always feel like I'll never see him again."

That's right, Xinlan Yu Nai, you just need to remember your mission...

Mission!

Mission!

Mission... Yes, I have a little brother, that's what my belief is.

"Yes, I have a little brother, and I must go find him."