Jin Zijue and Xiao Sheng were naturally unwilling to just watch the title of Yenching's strongest esper fall into Li Keyi's hands. Previously, Gong Changfa had also vied for this title with them, but after Gong Changfa left for the Northeast, the contenders for this title became Xiao Sheng and Jin Zijue. If one counted carefully, out of the six geniuses from the Esper Management Bureau back then, only three were still alive. Yue Hengyi had been executed, Fang Qinghao and Zhang Zi had died at sea, and Qin Kewe did not wish to compete. By all rights, this title should have gone to either Xiao Sheng or Jin Zijue.
However, before the two could decide the outcome, Li Keyi was already poised to snatch it away.
As for this situation, Xiao Sheng could only say, "Who can we blame but ourselves for not having evolution crystals? If we had evolution crystals, we would have become seventh-tier espers long ago. For now, let's focus on the battle. As long as Yenching holds, all problems can be managed."
Jin Zijue and Xiao Sheng were also striving to resist the mutated birds' assault, but their effectiveness at this moment was not great. Neither of them could fly, so they could only passively wait for the mutated birds to descend and enter their attack range before they could strike. In such circumstances, the main force resisting the mutated birds was still the soldiers.
The soldiers were continuously firing at the sky, and black shadows were falling from the sky. Yenching's defensive strength was by no means as weak as the cities outside the passes. Its population alone was many times greater than those cities, and its firepower was also fully sufficient, with no issues of insufficient firepower.
Thus, under the soldiers' defense, mutated birds were continuously falling, and blood splattered on the ground. Feathers mixed with shattered bones drifted down onto the ground or trees. As for the mutated beasts thrown into the city, they were basically dealt with by the soldiers on the ground. Falling from a height meant they could not remain intact, and many had broken bones. Occasionally, intact mutated beasts that landed on the ground were immediately killed by soldiers.
Yenching's defenses were extremely tight. Under normal circumstances, mutated birds and mutated beasts were never allowed to cause chaos within the city. Even if the mutated birds were endless, there was no risk of the city being breached in a short period because the supply of ammunition was always sufficient. As long as the firepower was ample, the mutated birds' attack could ultimately not breach the city.
At this time, satellites also detected large groups of mutated beasts outside the passes taking action. A Beast King had appeared in the deep mountains and old forests of the Northeast, leading millions of mutated beasts towards Shanhaiguan, seemingly intending to cross the Great Wall.
Mutated birds could only carry small mutated beasts for flight; they were incapable of carrying large mutated beasts. Therefore, only mutated birds were currently attacking Yenching. If the mutated beasts were allowed to enter the passes, Yenching would eventually face immense pressure.
Facing this situation, headquarters made a decision: "Fighter jets will carry out bombing missions to scatter the beast tide. Mutated beasts must not be allowed to enter the passes."
The current southward retaliation by mutated beasts was something no one had anticipated. It was initially thought that the gathering of mutated birds was solely for seizing food, but now it seemed that the mutated birds' objective was not just that. They appeared to be allying with mutated beasts to exterminate humanity. This was due to the animosity of mutated beasts and birds towards humans.
Over millions of years, the emergence of humans had caused the extinction of large numbers of wild beasts, and very few wild beasts had survived. Mutated beasts were now different from before. Their fertility rates had surged, and their sizes had continuously increased, while the human population had been decreasing year by year. With this shift in power, the tables had turned. Powerful mutated beasts and birds sought revenge and to seize sufficient living space. Mutated beasts and birds were no longer content to live only in the mountains.
The bombers immediately departed, stating that they would resolve the issue of mutated beasts moving south of the Great Wall. Even if they could not kill them, they would certainly scatter them.
Meanwhile, in Yenching, in addition to the Esper Management Bureau, a new esper organization had been established. This organization was named the Special Operations Bureau, its meaning simple: dedicated to carrying out special operations. A temporary captain was eventually chosen, named He Qiuan. He was the great-grandson of a marshal. He was originally an ordinary person, but because few were willing to join this dangerous department, He Qiuan volunteered. At this time, he was only a third-tier esper, and it would take more time for him to become stronger.
Headquarters also knew that the Special Operations Bureau would not be able to form combat effectiveness in a short period. Coincidentally, Qin Kewe was being ostracized at this time. After some consideration, headquarters decided that since Qin Kewe was being ostracized, it would be better to have Qin Kewe temporarily command the Special Operations Bureau.
Thus, Qin Kewe appeared in another area of Yenching, where she was responsible for training espers in combat.
"Listen up. In battle, you are all a single entity and must cooperate properly. No matter what personal grudges you have, they must be resolved after the battle. You absolutely cannot harm your comrades during battle," Qin Kewe was commanding the espers in combat.
This newly formed department was very loose, and its members came from diverse backgrounds. Some were children of high-ranking officials, some were selected from the army, and others were chosen from different systems. There was strong distrust among them, and it was impossible to form them into a cohesive unit in a short time.
Mutated beasts were continuously falling from the sky, and the task of these espers was very simple: to kill these airdropped mutated beasts.
"Sister Qin, you've worked really hard. We have to trouble you to help us train," He Qiuan walked over at this time, holding a cup of tea, hoping Qin Kewe could take a break.
But seeing mutated beasts constantly falling from the sky, Qin Kewe had no time to rest and politely declined He Qiuan, saying, "Young Master He, when commanding battles in the future, you must identify the enemy's weaknesses and respond accordingly. You absolutely cannot act recklessly. Most importantly, as you are the captain now, you must know what your team members are good at and what they are not good at to make your decisions."
He Qiuan learned a lot and quickly nodded, saying, "I understand. I will definitely follow your teachings. You are already considered our instructor, and we will certainly listen to you."
Although Qin Kewe no longer held the position of captain in the Esper Management Bureau, she had long been famous. Therefore, many people had heard of Qin Kewe's reputation. At the very least, Qin Kewe's strength was evident, and ordinary people were generally no match for her.
"Speaking of which, I've had a headache recently. You're taking over my command now, and I'll be watching from the side. If you encounter danger, I will step in to handle it." Qin Kewe then handed over the command to He Qiuan, letting him take charge, while she leaned against a nearby wall to rest.
He Qiuan quickly put down the tea. He knew that the instructor had been having headaches recently, a condition said to have been present for a long time and that flared up from time to time.
After sitting down, Qin Kewe couldn't help but cover her head. At this moment, a sharp pain shot through her brain, a pain that seemed to penetrate to the bone. Accompanying the pain were scenes she had never seen before.
In these scenes, there was a common element: a young, handsome, and optimistic young man was always by her side. However, this young man had long since died. His name was Yue Hengyi. Because he had killed many people in Yenching and committed grave sins, he was eventually killed.
"Why am I thinking of him now? He was clearly a villain." Qin Kewe didn't understand why she would think of such a person for no reason. This was clearly not right, as he had also killed her husband. She should not be thinking of Yue Hengyi at all.
More than a year had passed, and Qin Kewe thought she had forgotten about it. But when the scenes from the past appeared in her mind, she couldn't help but recall them, murmuring, "Speaking of which, he and I went through many dangers at sea. How could I forget him?"
Originally, Yang Yunhe was supposed to seal Qin Kewe's memories periodically. Human memories could not be deleted, as all memories were stored in the brain. To delete a memory, one had to know where that specific memory was stored. However, humans understood very little about the brain, so even espers could only seal memories, not delete them.
But Qin Kewe had been very busy during this period, and the sealed memories in her brain were about to recover. Yang Yunhe had also forgotten about it. The sealing power was weakening, so more and more scenes were appearing in Qin Kewe's brain.
Qin Kewe remembered many things, which seemed to be from a long time ago. At that time, Qin Kewe and Yue Hengyi were carrying out various missions together. When they paired up, many problems could be solved easily. Among them were scenes of the two of them descending into a cave in winter to search for zombies.
"Right, I shouldn't have forgotten this. We were a team back then. After entering the cave, we were trapped for about 10 days. How could I forget such an important event?" Qin Kewe suddenly felt a bit resentful. Clearly, she and Yue Hengyi had been investigating the distribution of zombies in the underground at the time. Such an event should have left a deep impression, yet she had forgotten such an important matter.
Next were scenes of the two of them killing mutated beasts in Yuzhou. At that time, Shen Feng used his abilities to blow away the mist in the cypress forest, which resulted in Ke Yiming igniting pollen, causing a dust explosion. Yue Hengyi was on the verge of death, with his skin burned in many places.
"At that time, I clearly carried Yue Hengyi to the hospital, yet how could I forget such a thing?" Qin Kewe became confused. At this moment, she had already sensed that something was wrong. These memories were not the ones that caused pain, as previously stated, but rather the pleasant memories of being with Yue Hengyi.
"Could it be..." Qin Kewe now felt that she might be caught in a conspiracy. These memories were clearly very important, yet they had ultimately been sealed by Yang Yunhe. This was truly strange.
"If the scenes appearing in my mind are all true, wouldn't that mean that what Yue Hengyi told me before was true, but I just didn't choose to believe him?" Qin Kewe finally realized that she might have wronged Yue Hengyi, and she might have made a big mistake.
In the following time, more scenes appeared in her mind. Qin Kewe also saw more strange scenes, including confessions of love between herself and Yue Hengyi at sea, and Yue Hengyi proposing to her after they fell into the water. These memories, one by one, surged like a stream, and Qin Kewe now understood everything.
"Sister Qin, Sister Qin, wake up?" a young man's voice suddenly appeared in Qin Kewe's ear.
At this moment, Qin Kewe suddenly woke up. She then realized that she had fallen asleep at some point. When she woke up, she saw someone standing in front of her. Upon closer inspection, it was He Qiuan. The sky had already darkened, and there were no more mutated birds in the sky.
"Sister Qin, you must be too tired. You should get a good rest tonight," He Qiuan said with concern.
After dark, the vision of many birds would be affected. Even with the city lights shining brightly overhead, it was not suitable for mutated birds to fight. Therefore, after persisting until night, the mutated birds' attack had stopped.
"I know. I will get a good rest tonight," Qin Kewe nodded, stood up, and prepared to leave. She was now confused. Were the things she saw in her dream true or false?
After the mutated birds left, the city's alarm was lifted, and people gradually emerged from their homes or bomb shelters. When the battle began, people either stayed at home, closing and boarding up their windows and doors, or they simply hid in bomb shelters. Now that the alarm was over, it was time for many people to cook and rest.