Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Since the three-island treasure ship hadn't come to a complete stop yet, everyone continued to sort through enemy intelligence on board over the following days.

The internal military analysis estimated that Miti would send around 40 people, while the Southeast Asian side would send around 200. These numbers weren't necessarily accurate, but even if the actual headcount was cut in half, it was still not a small number and it was impossible to conduct detailed analysis on every single person.

Therefore, the Annan Army side merely extracted a dozen individuals whom the intelligence department considered "relatively dangerous" and presented them to the two squads for reference and study.

The five individuals Yan Yu had previously noticed were among them, indicating that the intelligence this time was quite accurate.

Since no messages could be sent to the outside world from the ship, everyone could only play with their phones and surf the internet on the ship's computers to catch up on the news, relieving some of the tension before the battle.

Owing to Yan Yu's remark, "Do we even need to prepare for Sulu," and with the state media following instructions to guide public opinion, the online sentiment had already undergone a massive reversal, completely suppressing those discordant and pessimistic voices.

Even today, a trending news piece reported that the internet oversight authorities had captured several rumor-mongers, and all the comments below were calling for "severe punishment without leniency" and " satisfying the public's sense of justice."

The current fervor of public opinion could now be fully described as "the hopes of the entire people of Lu Country concentrated on these two squads."

If they won, they would reap both fame and fortune; if they lost, the outcome would depend on how the state media ultimately framed it, but they would certainly not end up in a favorable position.

Liu, who had won so many track and field gold medals, was still criticized for withdrawing from a competition due to injury, which shows that often the earnest expectations of the masses do not sympathize or reason with you.

Not to mention the numerous trolls online who, though currently suppressed by the overwhelming trend, were still holding back their malice. If there were indeed a loss, they would certainly come out to stir things up and mock in a gleefully sarcastic manner.

Lin Ning had said before departure, "I've already risen above their level," but it's impossible for a problem-solver not to care about class rankings, and soon she couldn't help but go online to check the public opinion.

And then she saw a flood of Yan Yu-themed rage comic memes, with captions saying, "Do you even need to prepare for XXX?"

For example, "Do you even need to prepare for the postgraduate exams?" "Do you even need to prepare to meet the parents?" "Do you even need to prepare when looking for a ladyboy?" They were generally used in the sense of "pretending to be heroic before doing something very difficult."

As Lin Ning read on, she started to feel restless.

Why does everyone think the captain is merely talking big? The captain is actually very powerful, okay?

Well, if one hadn't seen the captain in action, merely hearing his statements might indeed seem as if he were putting on an act of bravado...

Lin Ning hurried to the tactical command room, only to see Yan Yu swiping on his phone.

She quietly crept up behind him and sneaked a peek at his phone screen.

A novel?

What are you doing reading web novels at a time like this!

Lin Ning immediately felt exasperated, thinking she was foolish for worrying about him, and impulsively reached out to snatch his phone.

But, what was Yan Yu's reaction speed? Before Lin Ning's hand could even touch his phone, he moved it down quickly with a swift bend.

Lin Ning also reacted quickly, leaning forward and stretching out her arm in an attempt to snatch it—resulting in her entire body lying on his back, at last grasping the upper half of the phone.

"What are you doing?" Yan Yu asked, bewildered.

"I'm confiscating your phone!" Lin Ning said fiercely, "As the captain, you better work properly and stop slacking off!"

"It's off-duty time now, okay? You, the studious one, should at least look at the clock!"

"Is there such a thing as off-duty during wartime?"

Yan Yu attempted to perform the "dead fish twist" to flip the girl off his back.

However, Lin Ning's flexibility was remarkable, and she managed to cling to his neck with her arms while holding onto the phone without falling.

Is Lin eating the wrong pills? Yan Yu was puzzled and used his killer move:

"It's transforming."

"What's transforming?" Lin Ning was initially startled, and then immediately her face flushed with embarrassment. She quickly let go of Yan Yu, jumped off him, and with her hands covering her chest, she angrily said, "Shameless!"

"Indeed," Yan Yu said earnestly, "Suddenly attacking from behind and sticking close is quite shameless."

Lin Ning became enraged, baring her teeth and making a move to bite Yan Yu, shouting:

"I'll show you who's the shameless one!"

Using the command room's desk to his advantage, Yan Yu skillfully started using the "Circling around the Pillar" skill, while his mouth involuntarily began to taunt:

"She's panicking, she's panicking, she's getting flustered."

Lin Ning went into a rage, suddenly activated the Shifting Technique to leap over the conference table, and then tackled Yan Yu to the ground.

Bite down!

Yan Yu activated the Barrier Charm! Domineering Body!

Lin Ning had bitten him for quite a while, yet she couldn't even leave a teeth mark, which inevitably left her a bit disheartened.

Yan Yu then held her in a reverse grip, floated up with the Cloud Ascension Technique, and placed the stunned Lin Ning on the conference table, laughing,

"Cooled down?"

Lin Ning was, of course, still angry, but soon she began to feel a little aggrieved, saying,

"Yan Yu, do you know that on the internet those people are using you for memes, making fun of you?"

"Is that so?" Yan Yu stroked his chin, "If it's about memes. Don't worry, everyone will have their turn soon."

Lin Ning: ?
Explore hidden tales at empire

"And you're still reading novels!" She continued to protest, "You're not taking the upcoming war seriously at all!"

"It's not like you have to stare at the computer all day to be doing something important," Yan Yu said, pulling out his phone to show her the screen, "See this?"

Lin Ning looked at the screen for a moment, and judging from the index, it was a cultivation novel. She hesitated before asking,

"Are you… trying to deduce the secrets and restrictions of the Three Islands' Treasure Ship's Mysterious Realm by researching the settings of cultivation novels?"

Yan Yu paused for a second before answering,

"I wanted you to look at the subscription list. I've subscribed to the entire book and spent the money, so of course, I need to finish it, right?"

Lin Ning suddenly felt like she was choking, with her back teeth grinding involuntarily. Just when she was about to pounce like a famished tiger once again, she suddenly heard the voice of Li Minghu from outside the door:

"Captain Yan, you're here. Do you have time to go over some intelligence?"

"Reviewing intelligence? Sure," Yan Yu replied as he turned his head, "Come this way and talk."

Lin Ning was dumbfounded, feeling like she could no longer suppress the fury in her heart: I ask you to do serious work and you irritate me, she comes to you with intelligence and you're all business, huh?

Thinking my Green Bamboo Sword is not sharp enough?

But with someone else present, she didn't think it was appropriate to pounce on the detestable captain in front of Li Minghu, so she was forced to swallow her frustration and said with a sneer,

"Then I won't disturb you."

"You stay here too," Yan Yu said, "Aren't you rushing me to do important work? Then let's do it together."

Li Minghu looked curiously at them, sensing that the atmosphere between the two was somewhat odd.

However, she didn't think too much of it and simply sat down in the chair in front of the ship's computer and said,

"The Phoenix, that person, what do you think of him?"

"Since he's called 'Phoenix', his abilities must be related to fire and he probably has strong life-saving capabilities," Yan Yu sat next to her and gestured for Lin Ning to come closer, "There should be some footage of him from the Annan Army, right?"

"There's one part," Li Minghu brought up the footage, "You're pretty much right."

Lin Ning also leaned in out of curiosity, and the three of them quietly finished watching the footage.

"What do you think?" Li Minghu finally asked.

"Troublesome," Lin Ning said with a grave expression, picking up the mouse to drag the progress bar, "Look here: he was clearly injured, but the wound didn't bleed, and then here... see? Although the resolution is a bit poor, you can still see the wound is healing."

"If we assume that pure physical damage is ineffective against him…" Li Minghu concluded, "it means his abilities are a strong counter to Sword Immortals."

"When did the wound heal?" Yan Yu asked leisurely.

Both girls paused for a moment before catching on.

"Let me check," Lin Ning said, scrolling to the beginning, playing at 0.5x speed, and then continuously pressing the space bar for frame-by-frame playback.

"Found it!" She pointed to the screen.

"How much time passed?" Yan Yu ordered, "Calculate it."

"You mean," Li Minghu immediately understood, "he's not immune to physical damage but has some sort of rapid healing ability, and he needs to actively deploy this ability, which can't be effective all the time without any limits."

"Just because he has the nickname 'Phoenix' doesn't mean he's truly immortal," Yan Yu said with a slight smile, confidently, "In the Western mythological system, the more invincible something is, the simpler its weakness. The hair of Samson, Achilles' heel, the mistletoe of Baldur... you just have to find it."