Chapter 276: Ch

The rest of the Marines, who had allowed Anna’s team to pass, believing they had a significant report, were now utterly speechless. Some began cursing Anna and her team on personal comms channels. It was clear to everyone they had been fooled, and now they could only stay behind and watch their merit points get “stolen.” They couldn’t complain; it was their own fault for not being more cunning.

“Oii! How dare you play dirty with us, huh!” one Marine shouted privately.

“Dirty bastards!” another spat, and the curses continued.

But Anna and her team were not easily pushed around. With zero shame, she broadcasted her response to the entire squad’s private channels: “Say what you want, guys… but you got my thanks. That was way too easy. It is quite delightful how you all gave me and others such a chance to earn a bit more. Your gratitude is much appreciated.”

“Likewise, much appreciated, everyone!” chimed in Olson, Clark, Josh, and Nolan together, their tone clearly amused.

Those words only added fuel to the fire, and the cursing speed increased. Anna’s team simply closed off their receiving comms for the others and let the profanity fall on deaf ears.

The cursing Marines, realizing their voices were falling on deaf ears, could only mentally stomp their feet in frustration. Since they were still hidden, they couldn’t physically express their annoyance, which only added to the tension.

Just then, all their headsets registered the beacon signatures of figures moving rapidly toward them: Kaelen, along with Aarav, Kabir, Adam, and the teams of Sam and Ava. Kaelen had successfully linked up and caught up with Sam and Ava’s teams and was now swiftly closing the distance.

The 90+ Marines positioned at the fourth intersection were not surprised; Kaelen’s speed was expected.

“Everyone, hold,” Alex’s voice commanded instantly. “Everyone stay put in your place. We shall let the Lieutenant join and lead us further now that he is here.”

The others nodded and replied, “Roger that!” stopping their movement just in front of the massive door of the fourth intersection.

In a couple of seconds, dozens of figures moved toward them, stopping directly in front of Alex and Ryan.

Kaelen

took a quick look around at the consolidated force. “Good work, Alex, Ryan, and all of you so far,” he said. He turned to face the entire group. “I guess our mission is proceeding smoothly, huh?”

“So far, yes, Lieutenant,” Ryan confirmed over the comms channel.

“Indeed,” Kaelen concurred. He looked at the giant armored door ahead. “Alex, we shall proceed now, right?” He gave Alex a hand signal.

“Yes, sir!” Alex replied, then turned to Ryan. “Ryan, open up the door!” He addressed the rest of the Marines: “Be alert, everyone, and do pay attention.”

“On it,” Ryan confirmed. She moved to the corner of the door, where the opening and closing mechanism was located. She manipulated the system, causing the massive armored door to silently open at a slow, controlled pace.

The other Marines gripped their weapons, focusing ahead, ready to fire at any anomaly.

Kaelen, however, was focused on his life detection equipment. It showed two immediate problems:

First ….A new patrol of Minotaurs, numbering a few dozen, was entering the fourth intersection from the far side and moving rapidly toward their position.

And second ….In the middle of the fourth intersection, a fight—or rather, a slaughter—had already begun by Noel’s group. The number of Minotaurs there was significantly greater than anticipated, approximately 9 to 12 Minotaurs per Void Marine.

Kaelen instantly calculated that Noel and his group would not be able to finish the fight in time and would be noticed by the new incoming Minotaur patrol. This would trigger the ship-wide alarm—a consequence he absolutely wanted to avoid.

“Alex, Ryan, both of you,” Kaelen commanded immediately. “Split the others into three teams. Two teams will be headed by both of you, deployed similarly, one from the left and one from the right.”

“I will move with the third team and join Noel and provide him with some support to hasten up the process.”

“Both of you ensure that you don’t let these incoming Minotaurs become a hindrance to our mission, which is otherwise proceeding smoothly.”

Kaelen and the remaining Marines moved quickly, their pace accelerating.

Alex and Ryan

confirmed their orders simultaneously, selected their teams, and vanished through the walls via Phase Shifter, hurrying toward their target Minotaur patrols. The Delta Team had entered the final phase of their mission, encountering a small, unexpected problem that they were mobilizing to eliminate with utmost care and efficiency.

The Alpha, Beta, and Gamma teams, however, were encountering their own significant problems but, like Delta, were moving without falling back or giving up their position.

But this was also where the easy walk for Beta Squad finally came to an end. Just ahead, near the entrance leading to the main command bridge, they were suddenly faced with countless Minotaurs guarding the area. Their numbers were so overwhelming that taking them all out in one swift move—and without causing commotion—was impossible. A frontal breach was out of the question for now.

They could theoretically use their stealth to slip in through any of the three gates connected to the bridge. But this, too, was unstable. All three entrances were under direct watch. The moment any door opened, the guarding Minotaurs would notice immediately—and react violently.

Phasing through the walls was another option, but Zena and the others knew the challenge that came with it: clearing the interior.

And that was nowhere near as simple as it sounded. Inside the command bridge, Zena’s spiritual sense and her suit’s sensors detected multiple strong personnel at Jargon rank—and critically, three individuals who had reached the World Bulwark Realm.

She could eliminate any of them easily under normal circumstances… but now was different. She was operating under heavy restraint, and that made everything far more difficult. On top of that, the team had to neutralize the Minotaurs without causing any commotion and while ensuring that the equipment inside the command bridge remained intact.

With these restraints, it would be impossible for her—or any of her teammates—to deal with the high-level targets quietly. Any real clash would create noise, and that noise would definitely alert the Minotaurs outside, triggering reinforcements and turning the command center into a battlefield. The damage to the crucial equipment would be catastrophic—something Zena absolutely wanted to avoid.

If that happened, the command room would be severely damaged, and worse, the entire Minotaur fleet would know of the Void Marines’ presence, making them the primary target.

“Sigh, this is troublesome,” Zena muttered.

MeanwhileThe Gamma Squad, led by Tim, was having an even harder time, seemingly the unluckiest of the bunch.

From the moment they left the hanger bay, they had encountered multiple groups of Minotaurs who, somehow, possessed rather high spiritual sensitivity. Tim’s team managed to evade the initial detection but were then immediately met by another Minotaur group moving toward them, and a third from the rear.

They chose to use the Phasing equipment to retreat, only to find the entry point to the secondary command room was also under heavy security. They were forced onto the offensive, and just as they took down one group, another patrol came from behind, catching them off guard. Only due to Tim’s team’s quick reaction were they able to neutralize those Minotaurs without the alarm sounding.

But this wasn’t the end of their problems—if anything, it was the beginning of a massive headache for the entire squad.

Groups of Minotaurs kept appearing from different parts of the ship, all heading toward their location in clusters.

Tim’s and the others’ first assumption—after dealing with the fourth group—was that somehow the Minotaurs had detected them. But the more Tim thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. They had been in stealth the entire time. There was no way the Minotaurs could have noticed them so easily, and no one on the squad had sent any alert that they were compromised.

Then they ran into another Minotaur team… and that was when Tim finally noticed something. A pattern. Or rather—the expressions and behavior of these Minotaurs.

First: they were in a hurry to get somewhere.

Second: they were far too relaxed.And by “relaxed,” Tim meant completely unalert—a terrible state for anyone supposedly out hunting intruders.

To confirm his suspicion, he captured one Minotaur after neutralizing the rest of the group, and interrogation gave him the answers he needed.

First: the Minotaurs had no idea anyone was sneaking around.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep