Chapter 76 Happy Birthday

Everyone did their own thing that afternoon, and the hours passed quickly.

The sky gradually darkened.

Bai Yu spent the afternoon with Duan Xi at the shooting range, and returned looking like she hadn't had enough.

Duan Xi was being punished with practice, while she was just playing along.

“I took shooting classes when I was in school, but I hadn’t touched a training gun in a long time. It took me a long time to get used to it before I could hit the target.”

Yun Zhao, in a great mood, handed Bai Yu a bag of snacks. "I don't know how to use a gun yet. The captain said he'll start training me tomorrow."

Bai Yu was puzzled. Why did Yun Zhao seem so happy after only a few hours away?

"What happy thing happened?" Bai Yu asked.

Yun Zhao raised his wrist, pointed to the communicator he was wearing, and his almond-shaped eyes shone with joy, "The points rewards have been distributed."

It totaled over 59,000 yuan, and she now has a balance of over 60,000 yuan in her account.

My ruined mood has finally improved.

Congratulations!

Bai Yu took the snacks with a grin, staring at the fancy packaging, and asked curiously, "Did you bring these out of the contaminated area?"

Yun Zhao wasn't surprised at all that she knew these things. "Okay, pack some to take back and eat later."

Bai Yu didn't stand on ceremony, thanking them with a smile, and while eating snacks, she looked up and asked, "Where are they?"

When she returned, she was surprised to find Yun Zhao sitting there.

Upon hearing this, Yun Zhao's expression became somewhat indescribable.

I really don't know how to describe it.

She thought for a long time before saying, "The captain is going home to get something, and the rest of you are in the training room... um, preparing dinner."

She started to worry again about what kind of expression she should make when she went over.

Bai Yu: "Should we go over and help?"

Yun Zhao: "You can cook?"

Bai Yu declared confidently, "No way!"

Then just sit still and don't go over there and cause trouble.

*

The two hadn't been sitting for long when, sure enough, the rabbit ran out and called to them, "Dinner's ready!"

The rabbit even pulled Bai Yu back, and the two of them lagged behind. The action was meant to let Yun Zhao go in first.

It's so obvious...

Yun Zhao hesitated for two seconds, then walked to the door of the training room alone and pushed it open.

In an instant.

Colorful balloons, like a group of cheerful little elves, floated down lightly from above the door.

The training room was decorated with balloons of various shapes hanging from the ceiling and floor, and colorful ribbons floated on the walls, giving the entire room a dreamlike feel.

"Happy birthday!"

The entire Zero team stood together, holding balloons in their hands, and shouted in unison, "Happy Birthday!"

Yun Zhao stood at the door, thought for a moment, and then exclaimed, "Wow!"

Duan Xi: "..."

Tao Haohao: "..."

Song Liang: "..."

rabbit:"……"

Xie Tu turned his back, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

Seeing their strange expressions, Yun Zhao quickly added, "What a pleasant surprise!"

surprise?

Where's the surprise?

What do you mean by surprise?

"Who exactly leaked the news..." Duan Xi looked at the rabbit with suspicion.

The rabbit immediately threw a punch, yelling, "What does this have to do with me!"

Duan Xi dodged, "A gentleman uses words, not fists!"

He spent the entire afternoon at the shooting range, finally completing three hours of extra training. Without even taking a break, he rushed over to surprise Yun Zhao.

So what happened?

"We spent the whole day setting this up..." Song Liang was questioning his life choices; he hadn't even finished writing the report because of this.

The little bluebird emerged, flapping its wings and making a "clang clang clang clang" sound.

This group of people is absolutely hilarious!

Yun Zhao knew his acting wasn't very good, so he racked his brains to make up for it. "I'm actually quite happy. I just wanted to treat everyone to a simple meal, but I didn't expect you to prepare such a surprise for me."

She hadn't celebrated her birthday for many years since her uncles passed away.

She was actually... really happy.

Bai Yu, who was standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

No, you were all prepared, so why didn't anyone inform her that today is Yun Zhao's birthday?

At least let her know so she can prepare a birthday present.

Xie Tu coughed lightly twice, "As long as you're happy." He tried to smooth things over.

Next comes the gift-receiving part.

They had originally wanted Yun Zhao to guess the gift, but now they realized that Bai Yu didn't seem to know it was Yun Zhao's birthday and hadn't prepared a gift.

This part seems to have become a bit awkward.

So no one mentioned it. After handing the gift to Yun Zhao, the group gathered together for a lively hot pot meal...

*

In contrast to the joyful atmosphere of Team Zero, the base was filled with a tense and serious atmosphere.

After nightfall, the city, under martial law, was quiet, with only occasional patrols of sentries passing by with solemn expressions.

The operations building was still brightly lit.

The investigation team has arrived at the small base on Route 22 and sent back initial findings.

“Zhang Dehui came to participate in the celebration with the people from their shelter. They set off from section 22 on September 17, but he got separated from the escorting sentries midway and entered the city two days later than the others.”

The head of the intelligence team was a man in his thirties, with an unremarkable appearance and a very low-key demeanor.

He continued, "After the investigation team arrived, the others said that everything was normal before the incident, and he was even excitedly planning to win a prize before he left..."

The preliminary conclusion is that they got separated along the way and something happened.

As for the others who came with them, they are currently undergoing quarantine and testing at the Shuguang Base due to the incident at the scene.

“We have sent people over to interrogate him. Zhang Dehui got lost on section 24 of the road, and the search team he was part of searched for a whole day but couldn’t find him…”

Ordinary people have no chance of winning against mutants, and everyone thought he was in grave danger.

The search team members were also shocked to hear that the anomaly in the city was caused by Zhang Dehui.

Minister Duan narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, "Is there anything unusual in contaminated zone number 24?"

"No, the No. 24 sentry post thoroughly checked all the surveillance footage in the vicinity and did not find Zhang Dehui."

Each sentry post has a huge signal monitoring tower, which sets up surveillance cameras outside the contaminated area to monitor the spread and changes of the contaminated area.

However, all the cameras were pointed at the gray fog surrounding the polluted area, and no separate camera devices were set up along the route.

Minister Duan grunted in acknowledgment, then looked down and opened the map on the table. "Continue to expand the scope of the investigation, including sections 26 to 30 below, to see if we can find any other clues."

The southwest region has a vast terrain, and the 24th section of the road has several side roads leading in different directions.

Is it possible that Zhang Dehui left midway and entered other sections of the road?

"yes."

The intelligence team leader asked, "Minister, should we notify Team Zero?"

Minister Duan pondered for a moment, "No need for now, the guides need to attend training courses."

There are six pollution zones along road sections 22 to 30, including two four-star pollution zones.

Only Team Zero is capable of carrying out four-star missions.

Before the results are in, let Yun Zhao focus on training.

Let her train for a while first; she needs to learn more about the contaminated area and how to use firearms.

Minister Duan was more concerned that the guide's spiritual threads were ineffective against this mutant species, and they would have to wait for the results from the Biological Research Institute to find out the reason.

If the problem truly lies with the contaminated area, then this contaminated area might very well happen to be the one that counters the guide's abilities...