LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 210 - Stay Calm
Mai Dongzi instructed the cadets to avoid making any noise that could alert outsiders to what was happening inside the room. Wang Liri quickly decided to imitate the appearance of being under control as he went to open the door, aiming to deceive the two mercenaries.
As Wang Liri approached the door, Mai Dongzi readied herself. If the two mercenaries showed even the slightest hesitation or suspicion, she planned to use her mental energy to render them unconscious and drag them into the room.
However, it seemed the mercenaries had complete confidence in their team leader. Despite Wang Liri’s less-than-perfect acting, the two mercenaries noticed nothing amiss and entered the room without a hint of doubt.
Mai Dongzi had initially intended to use her mental energy to incapacitate the mercenaries as soon as they stepped inside. However, she noticed that Zong Qingping had pulled out a packet of powdered medicine.
The two mercenaries had just stepped into the room and hadn’t yet taken in their surroundings when Zong Qingping quickly tossed a packet of powdered medicine at them.
The mercenaries, who were Level 5 warriors, immediately realized what was happening. They tried to hold their breath and retreat, but the powder’s effects were so potent that they barely managed a single step back before rolling their eyes and collapsing unconscious.
It took less than two seconds for them to succumb to the drug.
Although there was some noise during their collapse, the hallway outside was empty. Mai Dongzi had also set up a mental barrier to block the sound from escaping, ensuring no one outside was alerted.
The two cadets, accustomed to high-stakes situations, showed no signs of panic at the sight of the unconscious mercenaries. Instead, they calmly turned to Mai Dongzi with questioning looks, as if asking what to do next.
Mai Dongzi instructed Wang Liri to close the door before turning to Zong Qingping. “How long will the drug keep them unconscious?”
“Four hours. But if we don’t want them waking up, we can make them inhale it again,” Zong Qingping replied.
“Tie them up and throw them into the training room. Activate a communication block,” Mai Dongzi ordered.
This way, even if they regained consciousness, they wouldn’t be able to contact the outside world easily. It would also prevent any potential information leaks before their next steps were secure.
Wang Liri and Zong Qingping glanced at the first two mercenaries who had passed out earlier, belatedly realizing they had no idea how these two had been subdued.
“I used mental energy to knock them out. I can’t guarantee when they’ll wake up, so you’d better use the drug on them as well,” Mai Dongzi said.
The two cadets quickly administered the knockout drug to the first pair of mercenaries before tying up all four of them. They carried the mercenaries into a training room and locked them inside securely.
While the two military cadets were busy, Mai Dongzi discreetly used her mental powers to probe the minds of the four mercenaries. However, upon detecting something unusual within their minds, she immediately withdrew.
“Junior, what should we do next?” the cadets asked.
They had no idea why this mercenary team had targeted them.
Although they now had four mercenaries in their custody, a mercenary team typically consisted of at least a dozen members. Once the others discovered the disappearance of these four, they were unlikely to let it slide and would almost certainly come looking for them.
The cadets had no intention of letting the mercenaries off the hook, especially after such an attack. However, since Mai Dongzi had stepped in to save them, her involvement meant her perspective on the situation needed to be considered. They wanted to avoid unnecessary conflicts and ensure everyone was on the same page.
“Before I came to your room, I asked someone about the object those mercenaries took out of the metal box. The reply was that it could very likely be a ‘parasitic beast.’ The National Security Bureau is already on its way and has advised us to stabilize the situation as much as possible to prevent it from escalating,” Mai Dongzi explained.
At the mention of “parasitic beast,” the cadets’ pupils dilated in shock, and their faces turned pale. Their expressions revealed how deeply alarmed they were.
Wang Liri, shaken and overwhelmed with gratitude, looked at Mai Dongzi. “Thank you, Junior. This is a greater kindness than even saving our lives.”
The cadets understood what a parasitic beast was and the horrifying consequences of being infected. It was a fate worse than death.
When Mai Dongzi had stopped the object from emerging from the metal box, she hadn’t known what a parasitic beast was.
However, she had sensed something was amiss. The mercenaries’ secretive behavior, combined with their ability to control others by merely knocking on a door, made her suspect there was more to this situation.
As a precaution, she had forwarded the details of the incident to Deputy Officer Chen, who was currently in charge of the National Security Bureau.
Using her abilities as a mental-energy practitioner, Mai Dongzi could create dynamic illustrations of what she had witnessed and send them as visual intelligence.
While Mai Dongzi was introducing herself to the two cadets, Deputy Officer Chen had already received her report.
His reply came swiftly—within just a minute. With his extensive knowledge and experience, he immediately grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Upon hearing that Mai Dongzi had reported the matter and that the National Security Bureau was on its way, the two cadets breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Dealing with parasitic beasts was a grave matter that had to be reported to the Blue-Black Empire’s authorities. Having the National Security Bureau handle it was undoubtedly the best course of action.
“Parasitic beasts are terrifying. Who knows how many of them this mercenary team has? If they cruelly decide to release the parasitic beasts they have, and the infected people leave the spaceship and spread to various places, it would be a catastrophic disaster. When will the National Security Bureau arrive?” Zong Qingping asked anxiously.
The horror of parasitic beasts was not only that they could infest the human brain and control their hosts.
Because parasitic beasts possessed a certain level of intelligence, they could mimic human behavior and disguise themselves. In the early stages of infection, it was extremely difficult to detect that someone had been parasitized.
Only specialized instruments could determine whether a person was infected. But under normal circumstances, unless there was suspicion, no one would think to test someone with such equipment.
The most terrifying aspect of parasitic beasts was their ability to continually feed on human blood and reproduce new parasitic beasts to infect others.
If an infected individual in a community went unnoticed and untreated, within a year, at least 10,000 people in that area could be infected.
At that moment, Mai Dongzi received another message from Deputy Officer Chen. After reading it, she addressed the cadets:
“The National Security Bureau needs two days to arrive. However, they’ve already dispatched nearby military forces to intercept this spaceship and prevent it from docking at the space station. The military ship tasked with taking control of this vessel will arrive in six hours. Until then, we must do everything we can to stabilize the situation and prevent the mercenaries from realizing their plan has been exposed.”
“That won’t be easy,” Zong Qingping analyzed. “First, two mercenaries came to ambush us. Then, another pair followed. This shows that the first attack wasn’t an isolated action; the entire mercenary team is likely aware of the operation. Now that these four have been subdued, their prolonged absence will undoubtedly raise suspicions among the others.”
“Which is why I intend to take care of the entire mercenary team,” Mai Dongzi said firmly.