CHAPTER 424: CHAPTER 424 NOW, DEPARTURE

Lin Fu rubbed her cheeks, easing the sleepiness upon waking and quickly got into the swing of things. She and Xu Jinglan stepped out of the tent together to find that the previous disarray outside had vanished; everything had become orderly. Everyone had a role to play, and clearly, during her slumber, Ivan had arranged everything.

Seeing Lin Fu emerge, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her, as if in slow motion.

Lin Fu immediately felt the weight of a heavy burden press down on her shoulders like a great mountain.

Could she safely bring everyone back to the academy?

These were Elbert’s hope, the Golden Generation that would become the pride of Elbert Academy if they survived.

The usually reticent Lei Ze came over and gently patted her shoulder, "You have us too, don’t underestimate our combat strength."

"I would never underestimate you," Lin Fu said with a wry smile.

Her respect for her teammates had never waned; if it weren’t for the weapons and equipment gifted to her by Fu Xing, she would be no match for Lei Ze and the others.

"Now, let’s move out."

The Elbert students were divided into dozens of small squads, each with three Marine Corps students, and other corps were arranged logically. As the squad leader, Lin Fu was assigned to the first squad, with Anton and Ji Xiu as her assistants.

The three of them were escorting other non-combat students.

Apart from the pilots, those from the Command Department, gunnery, and other specialties could hardly fend for themselves; their domain was in the vast expanse of star battles, and without warships, they were effectively disarmed.

Nolan, as the second person to possess a Divine-level Mecha, was assigned to cover the rear. Considering his occasionally unreliable nature, Ivan did not feel reassured without entrusting Lei Ze and Morton to support him.

Every squad had been sensibly arranged.

For instance, those who weren’t sufficiently steady were paired with a Command Department student to serve as the brains of the operation.

After distributing supplies, Lin Fu led her team out.

The climate of Helheim Star was truly harsh, especially since they had to cross the perpetually dark Shadow Side. Moving forward in the boundless darkness, constantly skirmishing with prisoners, their only light came from lackluster personal devices.

The prisoners were unafraid of death; they hadn’t even fully entered the Shadow Side before they encountered the first wave of assault.

"Wait a second."

Lin Fu released her Spiritual field, scouting the situation clearly beneath the cliff ahead.

Her expression immediately turned very ugly.

"What’s happening ahead?" the corpulent Ji Xiu asked nervously, "There was originally a prisoner stronghold beneath the cliff ahead. If I’m not mistaken, it should have been a detention site established by the Empire, but now it’s empty."

"Isn’t that good?"

"Of course it’s not good; this means the enemy has dispersed. I’m afraid we won’t be able to look after everyone in the fight."

"Sister Fu, you need to change your thinking. We can’t possibly look after everyone; someone is always going to die."

Lin Fu turned around, and faces, both familiar and strange, appeared before her eyes, all silently looking at her with trust and a calm readiness to face death. Many of them would never have set foot on a battlefield in their lives, and many chose civilian jobs because their constitution didn’t permit them to board warships.

Lin Fu gripped Purple Moon tightly, took a deep breath, and the breath she exhaled immediately condensed into mist.

"I know,"

She replied heavily.

Anton knew she hadn’t really taken it in; she would never give up on anyone easily. He wanted to say something but was pushed by Ji Xiu, and he swallowed his words.