Three hours later, An Jin’s group arrived at the Northwest Frontier Zone. When the guards saw him, they froze before saluting.
An Jin smiled at them. “Thank you for your hard work, please take me to His Majesty’s residence.”
Soon, a captain greeted him, “Empress, I am His Majesty’s orderly, please follow me.”
An Jin followed the captain and asked, “Where is His Majesty now?”
The captain replied, “On the battlefield, should we inform him now?”
An Jin shook his head. “Don’t inform him.”
Norman’s quarters were located in the rest area behind the battlefield. Norman had a separate room, not big, but two rooms inside and outside, which were the best quarters in the battle area. An Jin thanked the captain. Joseph and the captain exchanged information about the battle area and arranged for the escort.
—
Norman fought for nearly fifteen hours before retreating from the battle zone, and a double SS general took his place to hold the line. Norman first went to the command headquarters to understand the situation in each zone and then returned to the lounge. He pushed open the door and instantly sensed someone in the room and looked at the couch with a stern gaze.
An Jin’s smile was slightly affected by his harsh aura, but he raised his hand and said, “Relax, it’s me.”
Norman reacted before An Jin could say anything. He closed the door and walked to the couch. His brown eyes flashed with surprise, and soon his eyes sank slightly. He leaned down and ran his eyes over An Jin’s face, taking a good look at An Jin’s face. Seeing that he looked well, he looked slightly relieved. “When did you arrive? Why didn’t you contact me?”
An Jin explained, “I didn’t want to disturb you.” After a pause, he added, “and I told Joseph and the others not to tell you.”
Norman instantly understood what he meant and assured him, “I won’t bother them.”
He raised his hand, almost subconsciously wanting to touch his little mate, but thinking that he was not clean after a long battle, he withdrew his hand. He looked at An Jin, pressed down the joy in his heart and said seriously, “It’s too dangerous here, you rest for a while, I’ll have the escort send you back later.”
An Jin shook his head, and he said firmly, “I’m not going back.” He pointed down to the closet, where he had already put his clothes away. “I’m staying here.” Without waiting for Norman to say anything else, he went over his considerations and then concluded, “I’m staying here to save time and manpower on Agent A deliveries.” His blue eyes locked with Norman’s. “And I’ll be at ease here, knowing your news at all times.”
His little mate’s eyes were straightforward and frankly conveyed his thoughts. Norman’s heart moved slightly, thoughts poured out, and he leaned down, unrestrainedly close to his little mate. An Jin raised his hand and touched Norman’s sword eyebrows slightly near the end, and his eyes inexorably showed a heartfelt look.
Norman had lost a lot of weight, and with hostility between his eyebrows, even if he stayed in the lounge, in his presence, his spiritual sea still seemed to have a hint of tightness.
“You, go take a shower and grab some rest!” he urged, withdrawing his hand.
Norman stalled, stiffened for a split second, got up and walked to the closet, grabbed a change of clothes, and walked into the shower. An Jin blinked and realized, as an afterthought, that Norman seemed to be trying to do something. His heart beat a little faster, he patted his cheek and his thoughts turned to business.
After he practiced, Joseph made sure the energy isolator was on, and An Jin moved to the edge of the couch, looked at the nutrients placed against the wall, and used his ability, starting with the nutrient closest to him for purification.
Now that his ability was many times stronger than before and his control was more precise, he dispersed his ability into each nutrient and purified a box of nutrients at the same time with great efficiency. He purified three boxes in a row before pausing slightly to absorb beast cores. After connecting to make twelve hundred nutrients, he stopped using the ability and waited for his spiritual power to return naturally. He took his eyes off the nutrients, only to find Norman had come out of the bathroom at some point, wearing a military shirt and military pants.
An Jin’s crimson lips pursed. “Are you still going to the battlefield?”
He had heard that Norman had been fighting continuously for a long time, and it had been no more than half an hour since he returned to the lounge.
Norman heard his heartache, and touched his face, his fingertips lightly rubbing his earlobe, said soothingly, “No, for the time being, just to deal with unexpected situations, to be in a state to be able to fight at all times.”
He was so refreshed that he didn’t have any worries, so he followed his heart and held An Jin in his arms, asking him in a warm voice about his recent situation.
After a short talk, Norman let go of him, touched his abdomen, and gently picked him up across the room. “Rest with me.”
An Jin let him hold him and touched his hand to his lean, stern chin. “Is it like this every year?”
Norman replied, “The first period is easier than previous years. The last few days have been stressful; after the seventh and eighth defense zones are established, it will be much better.”
He put An Jin on the bed and lay beside him. An Jin put his hand against his chest and listened to his strong heartbeat. He had a kind of trance-like feeling, as if all the wars were far away and the years were quiet. Norman took him by the arm and kissed his forehead, then gradually moved down, their lips pressed against each other, and they were intimate for a while.
An Jin tilted his head and pulled away, urging, “Go to sleep.”
Norman stroked the side of his face, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep. An Jin did not sleep, still lying there, he would like to take a closer look at Norman, but knowing that Norman was very sensitive, worried that Norman was affected by him sleeping badly. He simply expanded his perception and felt what was happening nearby.
The rest room was at the back of the battlefield, not far from the battlefield, and next door to the battlefield medical department. There were many people who were injured, and minor injuries were usually treated by themselves using the healing instrument and they did not come to the medical department.
Therefore the medical department was full of serious patients. Many soldiers were bitten by star beasts, and the severely injured soldiers with broken arms and legs were carried to the infirmary by their comrades.
Next door to the trauma medical room was the spiritual force medical room.
When An Jin’s consciousness spread there, he immediately felt many manic vibes filling the room and couldn’t help but frown. Doctors and nurses skillfully administered soothing agents to the soldiers, and those in more serious situations took Agent A.
The doctor took out the last Agent A inside the box. “Go open another box,” he said with a worried tone, “the longer the battle, the more soldiers with insufficient spiritual power. Agent A is consumed too fast.”
The nurse’s voice was young and energetic. “It’s been more than a month, the star beasts will get less and less!”
An Jin’s brow stretched and he repeated the latter sentence in his mind. He found that when he used his perception, his spiritual power was slowing down, so he withdrew his perception, closed his eyes to rest, and fell asleep without realizing it.
Norman woke up after four hours of sleep and went back to the battlefield immediately afterwards. Before leaving the room, he seriously instructed An Jin, “Don’t go out at will, and when purifying Agent A, make sure the energy isolator is on.”
Seeing An Jin nod, Norman left. An Jin stayed in the lounge at the back of the battlefield; because the lounge was equipped with a soundproofing system, the outside world’s sound could not disturb him.
Except for the lack of a wide pool to soak his tail and the lack of good food, he felt it was no different from the palace.
Only when his natural restoration of spiritual power occasionally diffused his senses, and he heard the sounds of cannon fire and star beasts roaring mixed together, could he deeply feel that it was close to the battlefield.
In the afternoon, after An Jin took a nap and recovered most of his spiritual power, he got up and walked to the outer room, ready to continue purifying nutrients. When he reached the door, there was a strong tremor, and the glass of water on the small table in the living room trembled and thudded.
An Jin held the door frame to steady his body and couldn’t help but tense up. If an earthquake happened now, it would undoubtedly be a huge disaster for Siao.
Bang Bang Bang—
The door of the room was knocked upon sharply, and Joseph’s worried voice called, “Empress, are you okay?”
At the same time, An Jin heard the shrill roar of a beast, not far away. He immediately reacted as the guards turned off the soundproof system, and he opened the door. “What’s going on?”
Joseph’s face was serious. “A SSS cloud-horned beast broke through the defense line and tried to attack the medical area, but His Majesty intercepted it in time. SSS star beasts are very strong in battle; it’s dangerous here, we have to move immediately.”
As he was talking, another violent vibration came. An Jin glanced in the direction of the noise. “Let’s go.”
Joseph led An Jin towards the airport, with his escort team escorting him back and forth.
An Jin walked and used his senses to observe Norman’s battle. The cloud-horned beast was huge, its body surface resembling white leather, and on its huge head, there was a sharp horn.
The cloud-horned beast violently rushed to the black mecha, the mecha dodged, and the cloud-horned beast’s inertia carried it forward, its horn hitting the ground and causing a huge pit. At the same time, the surrounding ground vibrated, the black mecha dodged the attack and then quickly blasted towards the cloud-horned beast.
The cloud-horned beast was large, but very flexible. Its wings flapping, and using the whole air to avoid the attack, dived towards the mecha from a high level.
An Jin’s heart could not help but raise a footstep.
Joseph looked at his terminal, which showed the location of the star beasts, and when he saw An Jin’s footsteps stop, he explained, “This exit is the furthest from the cloud-horned beasts, so it’s safe.”
An Jin hmmed and continued to follow Joseph. As he spoke, Norman flew his black mecha back and forth with the cloud-horned beast, during which the mecha hit the cloud-horned beast once, but the cloud-horned beast was only lightly wounded.
At that moment, a starship came from the camp and hovered in the air.
“His Majesty, unable to attack with the power cannon; it has a good chance of evading and is too close to the medical area.”
Norman received the message and tried to lure the cloud-horned beast to a distance.
The cloud-horned beast was very smart and stopped chasing the black mecha after it exceeded a certain range and flew towards the medical area instead.
Norman was able to stop it in time, but it was so strong and defensive that it was difficult for Norman to kill it without a high-powered cannon.
An Jin heard the words of the people in the starship clearly, and when he reached the door, his eyes lit up and he stopped in his tracks. He looked out the door, and in the far air, a mist suddenly appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, unnoticed by anyone but him. He tried a few more times to determine the farthest distance and then withdrew his sight.
“Empress? Are you not feeling well?” Joseph asked worriedly when he saw An Jin suddenly freeze.
An Jin shook his head and opened the terminal to bring up a map of the neighborhood. “We’re not leaving.” He surveyed the map before pointing to a nearby building. “We’re going here.”
Joseph took a look and quickly said, “It’s too close to where the fight is, it’s dangerous!”
Joseph couldn’t understand An Jin’s behavior. It was as if he was actively looking for excitement, and he stressed, “It’s too dangerous!”
“It’s okay, we’re a small target, the cloud-horned beast and Norman are fighting and won’t notice us.”
An Jin’s attitude was strong, and Joseph could not stop him. He could only accompany the escort, and arrange the rest of the escort to pilot the starship, ready to rescue. An Jin arrived at the destination and immediately ran the ability. All of a sudden, a thick fog rose near the cloud-horned beast’s brain, and the fog swept through the cloud-horned beast’s whole body in the blink of an eye.
The cloud-horned beast’s vision was obstructed, and it flew around like a headless fly.
An Jin concentrated on capturing its position and controlled the fog to wrap it, and then controlled the fog away from the medical area to disperse and attract the cloud-horned beast to fly in that direction.
“His Majesty! Has the cloud-horned beast mutated into a new ability?” The supporting Rear Admiral in the starship was dumbfounded.
The Rear Admiral thought to himself that the cloud-horned didn’t seem to be very good at using new abilities and wondered if the fog was poisonous. Norman immediately knew it was An Jin’s doing and quickly locked on to where An Jin was. He quickly locked onto An Jin’s position, keeping a close eye on the cloud-horned beast in case it turned back, while warning in a deep voice, “Prepare to attack.”
The major general stopped thinking. “Yes, His Majesty.”
An Jin controlled the fog and drew the cloud-horned beast outward.
The major general made sure that there would be no accidental injury, and then decisively ordered the attack. The cloud-horned beasts were hit hard and howled deafeningly. Suddenly, the star beast’s mournful screams rang out from the direction of the battlefield.
An Jin’s heart tightened and he turned around to see a huge star beast flying close to him, its bloodshot eyes as big as a basin, staring at him. An Jin immediately reacted to the fact that he was using his ability and the energy was not isolated and he was discovered by the star beast.
The cloud-horned beast was entangled by his mist, which itself carried energy, and that cloud-horned beast was disturbed and did not find him. And this new star beast was not disturbed.