Free Web NovelChapter 252: Chapter 252: A Smooth Return
If it weren’t for the facial recognition requirement when submitting the mission, Ning Xuan could have avoided showing her face entirely. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Unfortunately, for this kind of special mission, the submission procedures were tedious to ensure the information was accurate. Most importantly, the person themselves had to be present.
Once Ning Xuan settled on this plan, she began hunting Exotic Beasts in the nearby area.
To cover their tracks, both Ning Xuan and Tang Xue disguised themselves as men. They also rescued two heavily injured individuals who had been abandoned by their teammates, treating them as their own squad members to confuse any observers.
With ten days left on the countdown, just as Ning Xuan had predicted, the area outside Zone 13 was swarming with examinees arriving from all over. The zone’s officials were forced to simplify the entry procedures, allowing Ning Xuan’s group to blend into the crowd and enter Zone 13 smoothly.
After entering Zone 13, Ning Xuan’s group headed straight for the cloud-based mission center.
It wasn’t their first time here, so they knew their way around the functional areas. Besides, plenty of other examinees were also there to submit missions. Unconcerned with attracting attention and wanting to get it over with quickly, Ning Xuan entered the mission center’s cloud terminal section.
Perhaps Mo Yu was too busy at the moment to bother with her, or maybe he never expected her to return, so his surveillance was lax. In any case, Ning Xuan uploaded her mission smoothly and encountered no obstacles when leaving the safe zone.
With only one day left before returning to the Federation Star Domain, Ning Xuan’s team was ambushed over a dozen times. Without exception, all of these malicious competitors were swiftly counter-killed by her group. Ning Xuan found some Top-grade Ore and Spiritual Medicine on their bodies. She even discovered a Space Ring on one of them, identical in style to the one on her own hand.
The two heavily injured individuals Ning Xuan had picked up as a cover had woken up. They were utterly shocked when they witnessed the immense combat strength displayed by Ning Xuan and her companions.
They were smart people. Knowing that Ning Xuan’s group had saved their lives and having seen what they were capable of, they immediately offered to sign a contract and serve Ning Xuan, ready to follow her orders anytime, anywhere.
When Ning Xuan’s group arrived at the rendezvous point, it was already crowded. The moment she appeared, Mo Yu, Ji Wuchen, and Guo Jia spotted her. All three had tried to find Ning Xuan through various means after arriving on the New Star Body. Ji Wuchen had failed to find her at all; Guo Jia had managed to run into her once; and Mo Yu, leveraging his position and influence in Zone 13, had brazenly put a bounty on her, only to be outwitted by Ning Xuan, who even took his life-saving Magic Treasure.
Now, under the watchful eyes of the crowd and with fighting forbidden at the rendezvous point, the three of them could only watch Ning Xuan arrive and then approach her for a "friendly" chat.
Ning Xuan was in no mood to deal with them. Her biggest worry at the moment was whether the Space Ring she had obtained in the Underground Palace could pass through the dimensional barrier and be brought into the Federation Star Domain.
Most of the Exotic Beasts Ning Xuan’s team had hunted were exchanged with the official safe zone outposts, either for accumulated Merit Points or for other materials.
However, all the special items they had found during their explorations—like the Earth Fire Crystals, Lan Green Ore, Purple Marrow Star Pattern Ore, sand gold ore, and other special and precious ores, as well as treasures like the Prajna Fruit, Thunderstruck Wood, and weapons left behind by a primitive civilization—were stored in her Space Treasure.
It was safe to say that the Space Treasure held their most important gains from this period. frёeωebɳovel.com
Ning Xuan believed that since these Space Treasures originated in this world, passing through the dimensional barrier shouldn’t be an issue. The real question was whether the Space Treasures could be opened and used after reaching the Federation Star Domain.
Yun Han and Di Youlin drove away Mo Yu and the others who were trying to approach Ning Xuan. Mo Yu’s group looked furious. If not for the soldiers watching from the side, a fight would have likely broken out already.
The Jump Ship arrived on schedule, much to everyone’s anticipation. The return seating was assigned according to the team rankings on the report card. Ning Xuan’s team of thirteen ranked third overall, earning them the right to use the third cabin. The two new members followed them into the luxurious cabin.
In the core area of the third cabin were three levitating sofas that could change their arrangement according to the adjustments of the gravity matrix.
"Welcome to Cabin Three of the Star Dome." The AI butler’s voice was as clear and pleasant as a mountain spring.
Outside the observatory, which was over ten meters in diameter, layers of nebulae stretched out boundlessly, like crushed sapphires scattered across the velvet sky.
The individual resting pods were hidden behind a rippling water curtain. Ning Xuan’s information was saved in the AI system. She walked to her chosen pod, and the hexagonal door unfolded like a Rubik’s Cube.
The resting pod was only twenty square meters, but the bed, chair, and other furnishings inside were exquisite. The ceiling was adjustable; when set to panoramic mode, it offered a view of the vast, boundless space outside.
Of course, this trip wasn’t a space tour, but a jump between set points. During the jump, she couldn’t see the magnificence of space, only countless distorted rays of light. A single glance felt like being thrown into an endless vortex, making her feel nauseous and uncomfortable.
After completing the space jump, Ning Xuan and her team transferred to a large Starship to return to the Federation Central Star.
As she was disembarking from the Jump Ship, Ning Xuan tried opening her Space Ring and took out a gemstone. After confirming that the Space Artifact could be used normally in the Federation Star Domain, she was in a very good mood.
"Contractor, those who successfully complete the graduation assessment automatically become Federation military officers and have the right to choose which legion to join. Are you planning to join a legion?" Yun Han asked conversationally as he stood behind Ning Xuan, massaging her head.
Female Spirit Controllers were already few in number, and High-level Controllers were even rarer. However, legion soldiers fighting on the front lines were highly susceptible to having their Spiritual Seas contaminated, leading to the collapse of their spiritual power. As a result, all the major legions were desperately short of High-level Controllers.
When a Controller joins a legion, their rank starts at Major.
"I haven’t decided."
"Oh, right. When you get back to your territory, I’ll go with you to the battlefield to have a look," Ning Xuan said to Yun Han.
Yun Han’s hands paused. "Contractor, you don’t need to go to the battlefield. As a precious Controller, your duty is to soothe the spiritual power of soldiers on the brink of mental collapse."
"What’s the fun in that? I just want to witness an interstellar war for myself," Ning Xuan said with a frown.
"Contractor, no matter which legion you join, the command headquarters will never let you go to the front lines. The battlefield is too dangerous. No one can bear the responsibility if you get injured or have an accident," Yun Han persuaded.
"We’ll talk about it later, then. I have some other things to take care of anyway," Ning Xuan said nonchalantly. Her Space Artifacts were filled with precious Spiritual Medicine, and she still needed to find time to concoct medicine and consolidate her cultivation.
