Qingjing.
The armed fortress of the Fulong Mountain Range.
Matt, along with Lü Qiufeng and four others, stood atop the city walls, their sharp gazes sweeping over the assembled military officers.
These officers, including Du Jun, dared not even breathe heavily.
The pressure Matt exerted was too immense; they had no idea what to do.
Matt's gaze first landed on Du Jun, who stood at the forefront.
"Commander Du, if I recall correctly, this operation was approved by you?"
Du Jun's forehead immediately beaded with cold sweat.
"Principal Ma, this operation was indeed approved by me… but…"
Matt suddenly raised his voice, interrupting Du Jun's explanation.
"Since that is the case, you should have had a clear understanding of this operation!"
"Yet, you still approved it…"
"Could it be that you intended to murder Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan?"
Du Jun turned deathly pale at Matt's accusation and hastily explained.
"That's not true! That's not true!"
"Principal Ma, it's a misunderstanding!"
"I was indeed negligent in my oversight this time, failing to estimate the immense danger this operation would encounter…"
"But murdering them is absolutely impossible!"
"The main reason, in fact, lies with the clandestine actions of the alien races…"
"Their desire to stir up trouble truly exceeded my expectations."
Matt's expression softened slightly. He glanced at Du Jun and asked.
"Then has your military issued any relevant bounty orders?"
Du Jun's face contorted in distress.
"This… our military has indeed issued relevant bounty orders, and they are SSS-level bounty orders…"
"However, the bounty orders are targeted at the potential beast tide and alien invasion, not the whereabouts of Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan…"
Although Du Jun desperately wanted to lie and say he had also issued bounties for Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan's whereabouts.
He knew that if his lie were exposed, the consequences would be far worse than simply telling the truth.
Since Matt had already arrived and was here with an accusatory demeanor, the situation was dire enough. He might as well give up.
At least with the reinforcements from Matt and the five department heads, the armed fortress of the Fulong Mountain Range should be safe.
Matt let out a cold laugh.
"What, the top scorer of Yan Yun University's college entrance examination this year, the number one special recruit, the hero who saved the Black Dragon Abyss single-handedly, a figure spoken of in hushed tones within the army, is not even worthy of a bounty order?"
"Could it be that these two future titans of Dragon Country, the hope of our nation and people, are less important than the impending beast tide and alien invasion?"
Du Jun knew that saying anything else at this point would be useless. He gritted his teeth.
"Guards, convey my command!"
"Issue a new SSS-level bounty order, offering a reward for the whereabouts of Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan!"
"If anyone can safely bring them back, one person brought back will be rewarded with an SSS-level optional reward!"
"If two are brought back, an additional SSS-level optional reward will be given for each!"
The nearby officers gasped in unison.
Good heavens, Commander Du was making another grand gesture!
Two SSS-level bounty orders issued in less than half a month…
The previous bounty had already spurred countless awakened individuals seeking a stroke of luck to spend their days in the Fulong Mountain Range, attempting to prevent the establishment of the lightning element's teleportation array.
If this bounty order were to be issued again, the awakened individuals rushing to the Fulong Mountain Range might outnumber the fierce beasts within…
As the saying goes, great rewards bring forth brave men.
Moreover, seeing Du Jun's timid demeanor, they couldn't help but find it amusing.
How long had it been since they had last seen the youngest commander of Dragon Country in such a disheveled state?
Fortunately, he was bearing all of Matt's pressure, otherwise, they might have been the ones to suffer misfortune…
Upon hearing the news of Du Jun's newly issued bounty order, Matt finally nodded with satisfaction and continued to gaze into the distance.
Since Matt remained on the city wall, Du Jun naturally had to accompany him, gazing into the distance together.
However, he was deeply perplexed as to why Matt and the five department heads were so worried about Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan. Why didn't they go in themselves to search, or dispatch troops?
They didn't seem particularly anxious!
Yet, they had compelled him to issue such a sky-high bounty…
Although, in Du Jun's mind, the recent exorbitant bounty was of little significance.
Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan's bio-chips had already gone dark. Even if they weren't dead, they must have sustained severe injuries.
With no news for so many days, it was highly likely they had met with misfortune.
Or perhaps they had fallen captive to the alien races.
But then why was Matt still calmly residing in the armed fortress with the department heads?
He truly couldn't fathom what they were up to…
Perhaps they feared the imminent attack from alien races and beast tides, thus refraining from taking such risks? Choosing to fortify their position here?
Abandoning the overall strategic situation of Qingjing for a near-impossible hope did not seem worthwhile.
But then why would they still compel him to issue such a lavish bounty?
It couldn't possibly be just for the sake of appearance…
Or perhaps, to secure a sufficiently generous compensation for the two of them?
But these two had no close relatives. To whom would the compensation be paid?
Du Jun was truly bewildered.
Just as he was lowering his head in thought, he suddenly noticed that Matt and the five department heads had all turned their heads, looking towards the interior of the armed fortress with expressions of pleasant surprise.
The other officers also turned their gazes in the same direction.
?
Although Du Jun had no idea what had happened, he followed the gazes of everyone else and looked towards the interior of the armed fortress.
Then, he saw a faint purple teleportation gate unfurling within the fortress.
And emerging from this teleportation gate were none other than Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan, who had been missing for so long and had prompted him to issue the exorbitant bounty!
As Lin Ran stepped out, he glanced around at the stunned officers and finally his gaze fell upon Matt and the others. He ran over and said with a smile.
"Boss, we're back!"
Matt looked at the two of them, completely unharmed, and laughed heartily.
"Good! Excellent!"
"It's better than anything else that you've returned safely!"
"However, can you first explain what this teleportation gate is all about?"
"Surely it's not another one of your bloodline abilities?"
Lin Ran smiled.
"Uh… it's actually no big deal… I just did a little thing, not worth mentioning."
"I just disrupted the lightning element's teleportation plan, snatched their teleportation core right from under the noses of an eighth-tier hero-level unit, and then foiled the dark elves' dragon corpse operation, before making a潇洒 return!"