In midair, Nolan looked down at the crowd hot on their heels and said grimly, “I had my suspicions when I heard your description earlier, but now I'm absolutely certain. This is the extraordinary ability of the 【General】, one of the three specializations of the War Pathway: 【One-Man Army】!”
“Depending on the General's strength, the size of the ‘army’ they summon will vary. At the very least, there will be ten people, and at most, there could be hundreds or even thousands. What's more, every single one of these summoned soldiers possesses the strength of a Rank One of the War Pathway!”
“Huh?” Freya was completely dumbfounded. She had worked so hard just to step onto the Rank One War Pathway and obtain a tiny bit of extraordinary power, yet this guy could mass-produce them? Dragging out such a massive crowd all at once?
Just then, as Nolan glided lower and lower, several pedestrians made giant leaps, lunging at the two in midair. The first one fell short and dropped back down, but the second and third were about to grab the hem of Nolan's coat.
But before they could, the two pedestrians suddenly plunged downward as if weighted down by hundreds of pounds. With a loud crash, they slammed into the ground, their feet sinking deep into the pavement.
Yet, Nolan's expression grew even more solemn. As mentioned before, using extraordinary abilities consumed spirituality, and his mana bar was clearly insufficient to support a flight all the way back to the police station, especially since he was still carrying Freya under his arm.
Nolan glanced down at the girl, his mind racing. Honestly, if he simply dropped Freya—this “deadweight” who lacked any combat capability—and fought his way back to the police station alone, his chances of survival were actually quite high.
Alternatively, he could choose to stay behind to cover their retreat, holding off these “soldiers” under the General's command while letting Freya escape with the intelligence and head back to the police station.
He didn't know what others would choose in this situation, but if it were him, he would undoubtedly choose the latter. After all... he was a police officer. How could he abandon an innocent citizen and flee on his own?
With that thought, Nolan ripped off the badge on his chest, shoved it into Freya's hand, and said, “Take this to the police station, to the Special Service! Tell them there is a 【General】 of at least the Rank Five War Pathway, and request immediate assistance from the Mobile Squad!”
Soon after, the two of them descended rapidly and landed. Nolan set Freya down on the ground and said, “Go, quickly!”
Under normal circumstances, whether in anime or movies, whenever a similar cliché occurred, the fleeing party would always hesitate, waver for a moment, and exchange a few words with the person staying behind, right?
But Freya didn't. She blurted out a single word, “Okay!” and bolted at a speed that left even Nolan dazed for a moment!
Nolan's lips twitched. “That kid is definitely not from the Destiny Pathway.”
How could someone from the Destiny Pathway run that fast?
But there was no time to overthink. The “soldiers” had already caught up. Nolan spun around quickly and waved his hand. Without even touching anyone, the leading batch of “soldiers” four or five meters away were sent flying backward at the same speed they had rushed forward, knocking down a large crowd behind them.
Shifting back to Freya's perspective, she specifically chose to run through narrow, dark alleys with plenty of shadows. Because the enemies were too numerous and flooding in from all directions, Nolan couldn't possibly block them all on his own, so quite a few slipped through.
Fortunately, under the cover of night, and since Freya was also a fast-running extraordinary of the War Pathway, she managed to shake off her pursuers before long. Following another high-intensity sprint without slowing down once, Freya successfully returned to the police station and dashed inside.
The duty officer was currently propping his chin up with one hand, his head nodding as he dozed off. It wasn't until Freya burst in like an arrow, making a racket, that the officer snapped awake. “Huh?! What happened?!”
Freya didn't waste any words. She pulled out Nolan's badge and said, “Emergency! We need to contact the Mobile Squad immediately!”
“Huh?” The duty officer was still in a half-asleep, dazed state, only reacting after a moment. “Captain Nolan sent you?”
Freya was utterly speechless, her face scrunching up like a grumpy cat. “Who else?”
“Oh... right!” The duty officer finally sprang into action. Although this world didn't have telephones or cell phones, telegraphs existed, which could be used to communicate critical and urgent matters.
However, this duty officer had no authority to use the telegraph, so he had to run to the police chief's house first to summon him. Afterward, Freya handed Nolan's badge to the chief and explained the situation.
By the time the telegram was successfully sent, forty minutes had already passed.
Freya stood at the entrance of the police station, staring into the pitch-black night outside, as if some terrifying monster might leap out at any moment.
Yet she stood there silently the entire night. Neither monsters nor ordinary people appeared. It wasn't until dawn that Miles and Reina arrived for their usual shift at the Special Service, and the other notified Special Service squads gathered one after another.
By afternoon, the Mobile Squad officially arrived in the city, stopping in front of the police station. The squad consisted of five people, led by a white-haired, blue-eyed woman.
Shortly after, the Mobile Squad and several Special Service squads set off immediately. Freya had wanted to tag along, but since she wasn't part of the Special Service, she was forced to stay behind at the police station.
Miles and Reina were left behind with her. With Captain Nolan gone, and both of them being mere Rank One extraordinaries who likely wouldn't be of much help in the upcoming operation, they were told to stay.
Reina said with some worry, “Captain Nolan will be fine, right?”
Miles seemed to want to comfort his sister, but he only opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. Seeing this, Freya walked over and said, “Captain Nolan is so strong, he'll definitely be fine...”
However, Freya knew very well that since Nolan hadn't returned by now, the odds were heavily stacked against him.
Hearing this, Reina wore an expression that Freya couldn't quite describe. Desolate? Grateful? Or perhaps something else. Reina looked at the unfamiliar girl in front of her and said, “Yes... thank you...”
Then, whether she was speaking to Freya or simply talking to herself, Reina continued, “About three months ago, Miles and I were caught in a terrible extraordinary incident. More than thirty people lost their lives in that disaster, including our parents.”
“Only Captain Nolan arrived in the nick of time to save the two of us. He brought us into the Special Service, counseled us, guided us, gave us jobs, and gave us the hope to keep living. To me, Captain Nolan is like a second father, and I don't want to lose another of my remaining family members...”
As she spoke, Reina's lips trembled, and Freya suddenly realized that the other girl possessed the ability to detect lies. Her comfort earlier had likely been useless, since even Freya believed Nolan was probably dead.
Time ticked by as the three youngsters waited silently in the police station. Freya was the first to give in. After all, she hadn't slept all night and had pushed through the entire morning. Finally overcome by exhaustion, she found a sofa, curled up into a ball, and took a nap.
When she woke up, evening had already arrived. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw a crowd of police officers standing in the station lobby, bustling back and forth as if busy with something.
Freya looked around and didn't see Reina, but she did spot Miles. She walked straight over and asked, “What's the situation now?”
Miles sighed and said, “The results of the operation are out. The mastermind behind Obsidian has been killed on the spot, but... the Special Service paid a heavy price.”
“One member of the Mobile Squad was killed. Out of the seven Special Service squads, three captains and fifteen members lost their lives, and the injured are too many to count.”
After a brief pause, Miles added, “As for Captain Nolan, the Mobile Squad found his body halfway to their destination. Once Reina found out, I had her go home to rest. I stayed here to wait for you to wake up.”
Hearing this, Freya fell silent for a long time before asking, “So, was the incident successfully resolved?”
Miles nodded. “I suppose so. The potion factory producing Devil Pathway potions has been destroyed, and that Rank Five extraordinary has been killed. Still, the Special Service took a devastating blow this time. It will probably take a while to recover.”
Freya asked for more details, and Miles answered them one by one. For instance, the final battle hadn't actually taken place in that dilapidated warehouse. By the time the Mobile Squad arrived, the Obsidian mastermind had already fled.
However, the Mobile Squad had an extraordinary of the Destiny Pathway who possessed divination abilities. They successfully predicted the target's location, allowing everyone to corner and pursue him. After a chase lasting several hours, they finally trapped him on a hill on the outskirts of the city.
Finally, Freya asked, “So, what was that guy's identity, anyway?”
At this, Miles shook his head. “I'm not too sure about that either. I went out of my way to ask, but his identity seems to be quite sensitive. The Mobile Squad members specifically warned me not to pry any further.”
Hearing this, Freya fell silent. From the look of things, the purpose of her simulation seemed to have been accomplished. She had successfully prevented the disaster that would have swept through the entire city thirty days from now.
This was far simpler than she had imagined. Freya had thought she would have to try multiple times, but she hadn't expected to succeed on her very first attempt.
This was clearly because the Mobile Squad and the official authorities were simply too powerful. Causing trouble in a major country meant facing the weight of the entire nation, after all.
But to be honest, Freya wasn't entirely satisfied with this outcome. Although the crisis was averted, hadn't too many people died? Especially Reina, who was probably sobbing uncontrollably in some corner right now.
Consequently, Freya's mindset shifted slightly. Before this simulation, she had been terrified of that Obsidian boss, believing him to be incredibly powerful and frightening. But looking at it now, he didn't seem all that impressive, did he?
Once the Mobile Squad arrived and the authorities made their move, didn't he just go down immediately?
Now that the enemy was no longer terrifying, Freya began to push her luck and wonder: could she eliminate him while minimizing their own casualties as much as possible?
It was like playing a game she had already beaten once. During the first playthrough, she could play casually, letting some NPCs die, missing a few side quests, and not caring about certain weapons or items. But in the second or third playthrough, she would definitely aim for a perfect, 100% completion ending.
End simulation, Freya muttered quietly in her heart. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in her own home.
【Simulation complete. Duration: 23 hours. Save this slot?】
Since she had an extra 02 save slot, Freya casually saved this run in the new slot. Although there was essentially no difference between the 01 and 02 saves—both being Rank One War Pathway—
Didn't this mean she could now summon two War Pathway clones? Wouldn't her combat power be directly doubled compared to before?
However, she recalled the Obsidian boss's 【One-Man Army】 ability, and suddenly felt that doubling her combat power wasn't that big of a deal after all.
“Sigh, I'm still too weak. It would be great if I could get stronger. But the problem is, where am I supposed to get Rank Two or Rank Three War Pathway potions?”
With the simulation entering a one-hour cooldown, Freya took the opportunity to wash up, then sat on her bed and waited quietly. The moment the cooldown ended, she immediately started a new simulation.
Then, the first thing she did in the simulation was sleep until dawn!
Well, although that sounded a bit bizarre, if she slept in reality, the night would pass for real. But if she used that night to let the cooldown run, it would be enough for her to start several simulations.
Shifting back to the present, Freya decided to change her approach for this simulation. Instead of going to the Special Service for official help first, she would visit the church.
When she first crossed over, Freya had learned from the original owner's memories that there was a place called the 【Church of the Earth】 in this city. She hadn't paid much attention to it at first.
After all, she had been an atheist and a materialist in her previous life, so she naturally didn't believe in such things. In her eyes, these so-called faiths were nothing more than self-hypnosis and self-consolation for believers.
When you're short on cash, does praying to God actually make Him wire you money or something?
But... this world actually possessed extraordinary powers. And in the system's death preview, did she remember those barefoot people wearing light green clothes? Those were people from the Church of the Earth, and they were clearly extraordinaries as well!
Rate on N.U.
