Chapter Twenty-Nine: A New Beginning!

After making a firm and thorough refusal, the three members of Team 1 left in resentment and unwillingness.

Qi An speculated that the reason they found out so quickly was probably because their source of information was Minister Liu.

It can only be said that she was fortunate to have just made a contribution and gained favor with the Commander-in-Chief, and she also had Teacher Tang behind her. Otherwise, her fate would have been a matter of Liu Hui and that Regiment Commander Wu's easy manipulation.

On a beautiful afternoon, Qi An and his two companions changed into their training clothes, and the rest of the team joined them, sweating profusely on the training field.

As expected, Qi An's progress stimulated everyone. The two teams were all incredibly competitive during training, which made the other teams in the training ground feel scared!

The next day, the prize money was deposited into everyone's accounts. Some people used it to help with household expenses, while others donated money to help the struggling families of their deceased teammates.

At dawn, Qi An went to the black market on the northwestern edge of the base, took out the money she had saved for a year and bought some gun parts and tranquilizer bullets. She also bought some silencers, lighters, canned goods and the like, further enriching her private collection.

On the third day, the approval for the awarding of merit was granted, and on the fifth day, the regiment held an awarding ceremony for Team 2 in the small auditorium.

It was indeed confidential, and the ceremony was not open to the public. Only some high-ranking leaders attended, but everyone was very happy and proud!

Tang Long already had a third-class merit award, and with his accumulated merits and the completion of his years of service, he was promoted to lieutenant.

Zhuang Xiao was so envious she cried.

On the 6th day, Professor Guan was able to walk briskly and went to visit the research department with Yang Yuning.

On the 7th day, new mission orders were issued, and the long, but not very restful, vacation for Team 2 came to an end. Yu Shuang said, "It's time to get back to work, guys!"

"The mission is divided into two phases: the first phase is to escort Professor Guan back to the North 1 Base safely together with Yang Yuning; the second phase is to cooperate with the teams from the North 1 and North 2 Bases to escort a batch of supplies back to our Central Plains Base No. 3."

Zhao Bohan relayed the mission details to everyone as usual. This time, his expression was very serious as he emphasized, "The second phase of the mission will be extremely dangerous because the supplies we are escorting contain a large amount of insect oil!"

Everyone was taken aback. Zhuang Xiao asked in confusion, "Insect oil? Why do we need to transport insect oil from North 1?"

Are they running out of their own? Is there an energy crisis?

The sun's been shining brightly lately. Aren't they supposed to have cutting-edge energy storage technology at their solar power station? Even they couldn't withstand it?

"We don't need to know the uses of the supplies. We just need to know that even purified insect oil, even with the best sealing, will attract fallen insects." Yu Shuang sighed softly.

Zhao Bohan drew a line on the paper map of the mainland on his desk: "The straight-line distance from the North 2 Base to our base is more than 900 kilometers. The road conditions in between are complicated, and it is impossible to intelligently plan a safe route."

Therefore, our actual driving time back could take between half a month and a month.

Carrying a large amount of insect oil, traveling in the wild for a whole month, you can imagine how many attacks they must have encountered along the way!

The expressions of everyone in Team 2 became serious.

“...A death trap,” Zhuang Xiao whispered.

Could it be that they were deliberately assigned this job by their superiors? Was it assigned by the team leader?

Everyone harbored some gloomy speculations, but the order had been given, and speculation would only affect morale.

Yu Shuang put her hands on her hips and said, "Cheer up! We've been through the insect hive before! What's that saying? The bigger the storm, the more valuable the fish! The more dangerous the mission, the easier it is to earn merit!"

These words cheered everyone up a bit. Yu Shuang continued, "We're leaving tomorrow, so let's go get our equipment today. After that, we'll all go home and prepare. We must be in top form tomorrow!"

Everyone responded in unison!

That afternoon, the entire squad went to the special operations equipment registration office together.

This time, in front of the registration staff, Yu Shuang and Zhuang Xiao disassembled all the guns and touched all the parts. Zhao Bohan and Qi An test-flew every drone until the battery was exhausted. Su Qingran even took out a few pieces from each box of compressed rations and pulled the staff to taste them together.

Such outrageous behavior naturally attracted the attention of the entire registration office, and even drew the attention of high-level leaders!

It's unclear whether anyone was observing from behind the glass wall, but the two teams persevered and managed to inspect all the equipment they could.

However, the reputation of the second team as "a bunch of paranoid lunatics" has also spread.

Qi An successfully obtained a set of spiritual energy conduction devices by virtue of her status as a 4-star purifier.

She even took it to Engineer Xu for inspection, and he confirmed that there was no problem—a slight disappointment.

The next day was March 12, 2055. The team members, along with Professor Guan and Yang Yuning, gathered in front of the Dongying Gate. The three off-road vehicles, painted in military green, embarked on their journey eastward.

It was March, the springtime month, with buds blooming on willow branches, butterflies fluttering around flowers, and the weeds on the old highway had long since turned into new green, stretching in clumps and patches all the way to the horizon, where the green mountains stretched endlessly.

Qi An leaned against the car window, completely absorbed in the view, and couldn't help but think of his past experiences in the wild.

She found the most intact and safest house in the ruins of a village. The village was completely surrounded by trees, so she actually lived in the forest.

Springtime brings beautiful scenery, and there's also an abundance of food to eat.

However, the activities of wild animals and insects will become more frequent, and the weather will become hotter and more humid day by day, which will be a different kind of danger and hardship compared to winter.

She was too weak at that time, struggling to survive every day, stumbling and falling, and never had the interest to appreciate the beautiful scenery.

"Professor Guan, is this speed alright? Do you feel uncomfortable?" Yu Shuang asked from the lead car.

Guan Ling replied with a smile, "It's alright, even if it's faster, it's fine! I'm an old man with self-healing abilities, I'm already healed!"

"Alright! Our escort mission is time-sensitive, so we have to speed up. Everyone, hold on tight!" Yu Shuang stepped on the gas and accelerated.

With drones leading the way, the team covered a quarter of the distance in a single day.

However, on such a long journey through the wilderness, especially along highways, it's impossible not to encounter fallen insects.

"Xiao Qi, what's the approximate size of that horde of fallen insects ahead?" Yu Shuang lay prone in the waist-high grass, using binoculars to look at the shadows wriggling in the cracks of the dilapidated tollbooth ahead.

"Not many, around 30," Qi An replied softly.

"There's a wild lake on one side and a forest on the other. If we go around, it'll take forever." Yu Shuang said, holding up a walkie-talkie.

"Old Zhao, use the drone for high-altitude scanning to see if there are any strongholds within a 10-kilometer radius that can provide support to this wave of fallen insects."

A voice responded, and a dozen minutes later, the reply came: "Not found."

"Good!" Yu Shuang looked at Qi An and said, "Little Qi, the time has come to test the results of your shooting training!"

Zhuang Xiao and I will cover the rear; you'll snipe the first wave.