<h4>Chapter 1144: A mess? Can''t calm down?</h4>


    Somewhere in the Bonin archipgo and Izu inds, there is an ind with an area of 70 square kilometers.


    The ind''s name is Arubi Ind.


    30 years ago, the ind got wrecked by a spacequake. Arge hole was created from the center, making the ind look rather deste.


    Therge cove made for a very good tourist spot so the ind had been repurposed into a tourist ind with all the features belonging to one.


    The ind is simr to Tengu City in terms of history.


    Tengu city was once wrecked by spacequakes but the refurbishment made the town grander than before.


    Arubi Ind''s transformation also involved anti-spacequake and emergency shelters. Although the preparations herecked inparison to Tengu City, it''s still pretty solid.


    Moreover, the crescent moon-shaped ind made for an interestingndmark and tourist hotspot. Every year, scores of foreign and domestic tourists hit the ind to shop or tour around.


    It might be disrespectful for the people rted to victims of spacequake, the ind''s untimely encounter sparked a better chapter in the ind''s economy.


    Cross Travel hosted the school trip here while providing free lodging, meals, and travel expenses.


    As the ne with students and teachers slowly descended, everybody got ready to disembark. Soon, students in school uniforms arrived at the airport gates with teachers escorting them. They looked around with ecstatic smiles.


    Wu Yan inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh smell of the salty air.


    "Ah, nothing like the fresh air of an ind. Coming here for a summer vacation sounds like a great idea."


    "Indeed…"


    Shiori also basked in the refreshing air. She''s also a happy camper.


    "I didn''t think a trip close to home would yield such a result. Truth be told, I didn''t expect much. Coming here was the right decision, the school did a good job."


    "Why are you guys so happy?"


    Tohka wrinkled her nose. She smelled the air but she couldn''t identify the difference.


    "I don''t smell anything nice, rather there is a weird stench…"


    "That''s the smell of the sea…"


    Wu Yan rubbed Tohka''s head.


    "Don''t treat the air here like you would treat food, dummy…"


    "I am not!"


    Tohka snapped.


    "Astrea''s the dummy!"


    "Astrea?"


    Shiori flinched.


    "Who is Astrea?"


    "Astrea…"


    "You dummy!"


    Wu Yan stopped Tohka before she spoke more than she should. She pushed the two forward.


    "It''s time for our roll call, let''s go!"


    "I know, stop shoving me…"


    "Let me finish my exnation!"


    "Don''t sweat the small stuff, let''s go already…"


    "Seriously…"


    Ellen also got down from the ne. She looked at Wu Yan and Tohka who were flirting with each other before pressing her earpiece.


    At the same time, the clouds high above Arubi ind got cleaved in twain. It''s like a giant sword split the sky. The soft clouds parted way for an invisible airship, judging by the outline, this airship''s rather huge too.


    Indeed, the parted clouds gave the location of the invisible airship away.


    Behind the cloak is an airshippletely red in color with a design mimicking a cobra''s head. The airship slowly hovered while splitting the clouds in its path.


    The airship''s name is Arbatel, an airship of DEM''s design. It''s one of the fewrge ships under DEM''smand.


    To support Ellen in her investigation and capture of spirits, Westcott took this airship out while delegating it to Ellen''smand. Once Ellen confirms the targets, Arbatel will start attacking Arubi Ind.


    Arbatel is waiting for orders from Ellen while maintaining constant contact with Ellen.


    Inside Arbatel, a middle-aged man sat on the colonel''s seat with the disy showing Wu Yan and Tohka''s footage. He rubbed his beard.


    "They are the targets this time? Just a bunch of kids? Are they really spirits?"


    "If we can tell a spirit''s identity from their outward appearance then we wouldn''t have to work so hard…"


    Someone replied, her voice echoing in the room.


    That''s the sound of the second executive in charge of this operation, Ellen.


    "Spirits have weird abilities. They can hide their own Reiryoku signatures. It''s expected that they can manipte their facial features as well. Using a Reiryoku machine to gauge would be a fool''s move.


    The Arbatel''s captain snorted while shrugging.


    "Really? Thanks for the reminder, boss…"


    Ellen can hear from the captain''s tone that he didn''t take her lesson to heart.


    "Anyway, raise your guards, don''t lose track of the two targets."


    The captain leered at the screen disying Ellen''s footage. He''s incredibly displeased.


    Ellen''s ability as the strongest magician isn''t something to scoff at.


    However, he''s still incredibly annoyed with Ellen.


    First, he has never seen Ellen in action. To listen to someone the age of his daughter bossing him around just rubbed him the wrong way.


    Hence, he treated Ellen''s order with utmost rudeness.


    But, to prevent punishment for a possible failure in this operation, the captain still yed ball and did his job like right now.


    "Okay, what do you want?"


    "Hmm…"


    Ellen thought about it.


    "Intercept and block ingoing and outgoing signals, make sure nobody gets in our way."


    "Okay…"


    The captain ordered his crew with a wave of his hand.


    "Deploy the Interference Field, interrupt all transmissions."


    "Okay."


    The crew replied. Then, the operators in Arbatel started working on the order.


    With the crisp sound of keyboard strokes, a faint, mist-like barrier started covering the ind. The illusory Territory is almost impossible to detect with the naked eye.


    The Territory covered the ind.


    Covering an entire ind in Territory is something AST can never do.


    Excluding Ellen''smunication device, nobody can get outside help nor will outside signal enter the ind.


    In other words, nobody will know what is happening on the ind. Even if a spacequake struck, nobody outside the ind would be any wiser.


    This is official DEM''s turf now.


    "Interference Field deployed, Territory has cut off all transmissions."


    The captain listened to the verbal reports before giving a suggestion.


    "Do we need to send out bandersnatch units?"


    Ellen replied after a brief pause.


    "Release all the Bandersnatch units we have in store!"


    "What?!"


    The captain couldn''t believe his ears.


    "All of them?"


    "Don''t doubt your ears…"


    Ellen looked at Wu Yan''s back before smiling bitterly.


    "I can''t rx if we don''t do this…"