"It’s not like I don’t have faith in them. I’m just going down to check on their progress."
[You don’t have to worry about that. I’m sure ng Nian or Yu Song will co running once they’ve made decent progress. So give yourself that little ti to rest.]
Qingran pouted as she relaxed on the pillow, if she kept insisting Lingquan might give her another mission.
"Very well.."
Lingquan made a satisfied sound and rolled to the side bed to lay down beside her, curling up like a smug little guardian spirit. [Good. Finally, you’re learning to delegate.]
"I’ve always delegated.." Qingran argued half-heartedly. "Just... selectively."
[That’s not delegation. That’s micromanaging.]
She didn’t respond to that. Mostly because he was right, and she was too tired to mount a defense. Her body was still recovering, her muscles sore beneath the surface, as if they rembered every step she’d taken through blood and smoke to reach where she was right now.
Still, the urge to move it all forward was hard to resist. Lying still made her feel like she was wasting ti.
[You do realize they’re working right now without you breathing down their necks?] Lingquan added, rolling lazily onto his back.
Qingran glanced at the ceiling. "I know. But I also know how easily things can spiral if soone makes a wrong call. Especially with the defensive structures."
[Which is why you trained them with experience. And drilled them with life lessons. And prepped redundancies. You don’t need to watch every nail get hamred.]
Just then, a knock ca at the door. Before she could respond, it cracked open and Fang Mokin peeked in, his voice low and careful. "Liu Yiran told you’re awake. Hope it’s okay if I co in."
Qingran blinked, then gestured tiredly. "Co in."
He stepped inside, holding a clipboard. "I wouldn’t bother you, but we’re about to start on the trench system. I just wanted to confirm depth and slope with you before we start digging."
Qingran straightened slightly out of habit, but Lingquan gave a ntal tug of warning.
"The trench should slope outward," she said, settling back. "At least one ter deep. Use sandbags to reinforce the inner edge in case we need a fallback cover."
Fang Mokin nodded seriously, already scribbling down the note. "That matches what we talked about before. Just wanted to double-check before we break ground."
"You actually rember all that?"
"Of course. I worked in the site for more than 10 years. A plan like yours? I could build the whole thing off a sketch if I had to."
Qingran studied him for a mont, then smiled faintly. "Then I’ll trust you."
Fang Mokin gave her a crooked grin. "About ti. Rest up. We’ve got it from here."
As he left, the door clicked quietly shut behind him. Lingquan gave her a pointed look.
[See? You’re surrounded by capable people. You don’t have to shoulder it all.]
Qingran sighed "I guess youre right, I’ll leave it all to them until I get better at least."
Lingquan nodded but he had more pressing issues to discuss with Qingran.
[We have to leave this first zone after the flood challenge, we have to find the elite team and we have to find the apocalypse system. Doing that will stop the apocalypse once and for all]
Qingran’s expression darkened, the elite system, she had almost forgotten about them.
"I have no idea where they are or who the apocalypse system is tied to. It’s going to be a hassle dealing with that."
Sighing, she knew she had many things to do.
[I can track the elite team but we must get you to Feng Yizhou first. You can’t take them down on your own, even Haoyu will be useful. As for the apocalypse system, it’s a single entity on its own, that makes it even more powerful, typically AI gone bad. Tsk! When it cos to the AS (apocalypse system) we systems will take care of it. You humans won’t survive it if you tried]
Qingran nodded she would still need to spend another month or two here before she could think about heading to the 5th zone. Then again she would have to pass from the second, third and fourth zones to get to where Feng Yizhou was.
Who knew what obstacle laid waiting for her.
"So what do I do first?"
[Recover fully. Then we finish the building process, After that, we’ll prep for the flood challenge and clear out the zone. Only then can we safely leave.]
Qingran made a face. "And here I thought you were going to say sothing easy, like take a nap or eat dessert."
[I did say recover. That includes dessert.]
She huffed a quiet laugh, but it faded quickly. Her eyes drifted to the window, where light filtered in faintly through the curtains, casting long shadows on the floor.
Everything was moving so quickly, yet not fast enough. Even with the pace they’d kept up, it still felt like they were barely keeping ahead of the decay crawling over the world.
[We don’t need to rush into the next fire just yet ] Lingquan said, picking up on her thoughts. [That elite team hasn’t gone public. Which ans they’re still scouting, or waiting for orders. You know how they work, no action until the target is guaranteed.]
"Which ans they could already be watching .." Qingran muttered.
[Possibly. But if they were that close, I’d sense it. For now, we operate under the assumption that we have ti. Use it well.]
She nodded slowly, then turned her head toward him. "You said you could track them. How?"
[Through residual system signatures. Every system gives off a pulse frequency most humans can’t detect it, but I can. Once we’re in the right proximity, I’ll know.]
Qingran nodded they would at least give them so ti to prepare when it was ti to prepare.
"What would I do without you Lingquan, it’s nice to be able to share my ideas.."
[You did well without my help before, even when I’m no longer here, you’ll still have amazing people by your side.]
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦
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