Sky-cracking Rider

"The 'wormhole clouds' have appeared! There are already more than 13 of them!"

The bustling restaurant, filled with people having lively conversations and enjoying their meals, fell silent instantly, with only the faint clinking of cutlery heard.

"Damn it! They're finally here!"

"Where are they?"

"I thought they wouldn't come."

"Finally, we can have another battle, hahaha..."

The sound of chairs scraping and cutlery clashing erupted as many people stood up, losing interest in their dinners.

"I've been ready for this moment for a long time."

"They've appeared! There are 15 of them now!"

Beside Chen Fei, another figure appeared, not a "loli," but a significant presence. Although she looked young, her actual age was comparable to being Chen Xiao'er's grandmother. Moreover, she was a local S-class supernatural power user, undoubtedly a powerful figure.

On the other side, Miyoshi Xuesen couldn't help but shiver. The monk, scarred by his past, seemed to have met his nemesis. Though he was supposed to keep an eye on Chen Fei, it felt like he was the one being monitored.

In the supernatural power user system, the gap between A-level and S-level was far greater than that between G-level and A-level.

A-level was the ceiling for ordinary supernatural power users, while S-level represented a higher tier, breaking through the ceiling. Thus, they were regarded as strategic-level forces, similar to walking nukes that could be used multiple times. Compared to them, nuclear weapons seemed diminished.

Mouri Misono wasn't here, having her own duties to attend to. She only visited occasionally, usually to grab a meal. Besides, knowing that an ill-tempered S-level user had arrived in the observation camp and with "wormhole clouds" erupting worldwide, she had even more reason to stay away.

In the number 2 flagship's bridge, a holographic projection displayed the entire Blue Star, synchronized with the command center's data chain, showing the exact locations of each "wormhole cloud" in real-time, distributed across continents, oceans, forests, tundras, deserts, and snow-capped mountains...

The blinking red concentric circles denoting the "wormhole clouds" were alarming.

"As expected, it's within the margin of error!"

S-class power user Yan Ling, still wearing a miniature earpiece, looked at Chen Fei, recalling his recent prediction error margin of plus or minus five days. The "wormhole clouds" had indeed appeared within 90% probability.

"Standard operation, standard operation!"

Economics involved a lot of data, and Chen Fei wasn't a stranger to statistics and probability. With the AI "Adam" generating mathematical models and copying Randon's answers, it wasn't surprising that his probability estimation was accurate.

Chen Fei waved towards Miyoshi Xuesen, who was 15 meters away.

"Master, there's a job that needs your help."

"Coming, coming!"

The monk, who was drinking tea alone, quickly shuffled over but hesitantly glanced at Yan Ling standing beside Chen Fei.

Once bitten, twice shy. Every time he encountered this "little girl," he couldn't help but overreact.

It seemed he was genuinely afraid of drowning. He was scared witless.

Noticing Miyoshi Xuesen's scared look, Yan Ling said expressionlessly, "Work honestly!"

To everyone but the local Chen Fei, she showed no kindness.

"Yes, yes!"

Miyoshi Xuesen nodded humbly and approached Chen Fei with unprecedented reverence.

Having a powerful backer made a big difference. Normally, he wouldn't pass up a chance to mock Chen Xiao'er.

Pointing at the three-dimensional holographic projection of Blue Star, Chen Fei said, "Currently, there are 15 'wormhole clouds' on Blue Star. Hmm, now there are 16. Let's assign them threat levels. Those that might get out of control and need all sovereignties to act are special-level; extremely serious ones that need at least the Big Five to step in are first-level; serious ones manageable by moderately developed sovereignties are second-level; those needing two to three top 100 small sovereignties to handle are third-level. Based on their distribution, assign these 'wormhole clouds' their levels."

The projected planet, with a diameter of about two meters, floated one foot off the ground, made up of interwoven projection lights from multiple angles.

The number of "wormhole clouds" was slowly increasing. It indicated the parasitic species had fully grasped Blue Star's location and accurately opened "wormholes" without offsetting near the sun or moon or even Mars.

The "Sagali" species excelled at parasitism, boasting powerful spiritual power and individual evolution. As an ancient and strictly hierarchical civilization, their foundational knowledge didn't match the ever-improving human science but was still unique.

"Wait, wait, is this your job?"

Miyoshi Monk looked at Chen Fei, then at the bridge door. Shouldn't this be the command center's responsibility?

"No! Just passing time."

Chen Fei spread his hands, looking justified.

Evaluating "wormhole cloud" threat levels, even if all levels were assigned, was just theoretical. He alone couldn't resolve them all.

Solving a "wormhole cloud" independently was already a great feat for anyone below S-class.

"Passing time..."

The monk stared blankly. Wasn't this making trouble out of nothing?

Exactly! Making trouble out of "Fei," Chen Fei's "Fei."

Chen Fei's grading of "wormhole clouds" was also being done by the command center.

Whether the grading standards matched, though, was unknown. Chen Fei's approach seemed trivial to Miyoshi Xuesen.

Chen Fei urged, "Hurry up, we might have to depart soon."

Despite the monk usually handling covert tasks, his geographical and sovereign relationship knowledge far exceeded Chen Fei's, who mainly fought mutants in remote areas or performed interstellar duties. Thus, his evaluations of regional armed forces and "wormhole cloud" threats were apt.

"Alright! I got it, got it!"

Miyoshi Xuesen begrudgingly joined in, standing before the holographic planet projection. Pointing at the central Yangzhou Continent, he said, "This 'wormhole cloud' in the Yangzhou Continent should be third-level, ideally fourth, fifth, or even lower. With numerous types and numbers of mutants there, any monsters from the 'wormhole cloud' will just be food, so Hablav City doesn't even need to act. The outcome will likely be mutual destruction, so we can resolve it last."

The aftermath of a war 30 years ago heavily impacted the Yangzhou Continent's heartland. It remains the main battleground affecting humanity's fate. Lacking "Dragon Slayer Missiles" back then, tactical nuclear weapons were heavily used. Even the least harmful neutron bombs and fusion hydrogen bombs left significant radiation.

This residual radiation caused many creatures to undergo terrible mutations. Gene segments were broken and recombined by radiation, and despite most mutations being harmful or lethal, the sheer number of mutations eventually produced some extraordinary outcomes, unexpected yet plausible.

Cancer-like mutants began plaguing Yangzhou's interior, especially in the Central Great Desert.

Meanwhile, mutants appeared elsewhere on Blue Star due to nuclear weapon damage, burdening the planet.

The Blue Star Global Joint Defense Committee chose Hablav City at the frontline of mutant eradication as their headquarters, uniting all sovereignties to suppress the numerous mutants, preventing their spread to oceans and other continents.

The mutants managed by aircrew bases worldwide were insignificant compared to the Yangzhou Continent's mutant plague.

"In the Tiberian Tundra, it's winter, and although there are few mutants and large predators, Arctic cold waves limit monster activities. Thus, the local sovereignty can handle the 'wormhole cloud' there and it can be rated third-level."

"In the South Continent of America, canals bizarrely dried up, disrupting transport. Land travel is also difficult, but since it's within the American Federation's territory, it can be second-level. The issue shouldn't be significant."

"Pacific Honolulu..."

"Borneo Island..."

...

Miyoshi Xuesen pointed at the planet projection, analyzing logically and assigning levels.

Europa, Asia, and North and South America had strong sovereignties, so they weren't major concerns.

Yangzhou Continent's local sovereignties were weak, sparsely populated, but had mutants and the Global Joint Defense Committee Headquarters to hold them back, facing minimal pressure.

The most troublesome were Africa, Desert Peninsula, the Atlantic, and the Pacific's "wormhole clouds."

The first two were lands with poorly capable sovereignties prone to causing more problems than solving them. Some were nearly incapacitated, always ready to surrender before even encountering threats.

Like Marin Kai Sovereignty receiving support from the United Defense Committee – they were slow and disorganized, missing the optimal intervention window, leading to their collapse. They hadn't even formed a governance team yet and spent all day arguing, causing frustration.

The neighboring sovereignties were no better. The rest didn't bother with them. Even the smallest gesture from a foreign sovereignty would cause them to fall over in submission. It was disgraceful.

The Atlantic and Pacific, Blue Star's biggest oceans, were vast and complex. Sovereignties had limited reach there, making sealing and resolving "wormhole clouds" difficult. Their threat levels were set as special, enough to endanger Blue Star's survival.