Chapter 87 The Miracle Returns! Everyone in the port was stunned!
Two days later, at dawn.
Island base, fishing port.
The atmosphere was oppressive.
Political Commissar Wang stood at the very front of the dock, having not slept all night. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked ten years older.
Behind him stood a large, dark crowd, including soldiers in uniform and military wives from the family compound who had rushed to the scene after hearing the news. Zhou Nianci was among them, her eyes red and swollen, clearly having cried all night.
Everyone's face was filled with sadness and despair.
Yesterday, the search and rescue ships and anti-submarine patrol aircraft dispatched by the military region returned to port empty-handed after 48 hours of continuous searching. The return was not due to abandonment, but rather because the ships also suffered malfunctions due to the lingering effects of the typhoon and nearly couldn't make it back.
Based on expert analysis, the command center ultimately concluded that the chances of survival for unpowered ships and people who fell into the water at the center of a Category 17 super typhoon were zero.
"Exploration One," along with its twenty-three crew members and scientists, including Chief of Staff Qin Lie... and his heroic wife, Jiang Wu, who braved the stormy night to brave the sea in a small fishing boat...
They were all deemed sacrifices.
Today marks the fifth day since they went missing. As is customary, the military will hold a simple memorial service for them here.
“Old Wang…” The base commander, a middle-aged man with general's stars on his shoulders, walked up to Political Commissar Wang. He patted Political Commissar Wang's shoulder, his voice hoarse and heavy, “I know you're hurting. Qin Lie… I watched him grow up, he's an invaluable talent in our army. And his wife… sigh…”
The commander couldn't continue speaking. He turned his head away and wiped the corner of his eye.
"Ready... let's begin."
Political Commissar Wang closed his eyes, nodded, and a tear slid down his wrinkled cheek. He turned to face the now calm sea.
That sea swallowed his most prized soldiers and the families of the heroes he admired most.
He opened his mouth, about to give his opening remarks.
Just then!
"Look! What's that?!" A sharp-eyed sentry in the crowd pointed to the distant horizon and exclaimed in surprise.
Everyone's eyes followed the direction he was pointing.
Where the sea meets the sky, in the golden light of dawn, a small orange-red dot rises and falls with the waves.
"That...that's a life raft?"
"It seems... there are people up there!"
"How is that possible?! In this kind of weather, how could anyone still be adrift at sea?"
The crowd began to stir.
Commissar Wang was shocked! He snatched the high-powered binoculars from the guard next to him and held them up.
In the footage, the small orange dot is rapidly growing larger and clearer.
He saw it clearly!
That was indeed a military-grade life raft! There were several people sitting on it!
One, two, three, four!
One of the men was tall and burly, wearing a tattered black thermal coat, and was holding a plank, paddling hard toward the dock!
Although he had a full beard and looked disheveled, his face, his features...
Political Commissar Wang's hand trembled! The binoculars almost slipped from his grasp!
"It's...it's Qin Lie!" He shouted the name with all his might! His voice became sharp and hoarse with excitement, completely off-key!
"What?!"
"It's Chief of Staff Qin?!"
"Impossible! Could the political commissar have made a mistake?"
The entire dock erupted in chaos! Everyone thought that Political Commissar Wang was hallucinating from excessive grief.
"It's real! It really is Qin Lie!" Political Commissar Wang shoved the binoculars into the commander's hand and rushed towards the edge of the dock like a madman. "Quick! Send a boat to meet him! Quick!"
The commander raised his binoculars with some skepticism.
The next second, his usually composed face showed an expression as if he had seen a ghost!
"Quickly! Guard Company! Get two speedboats and go to provide immediate assistance!"
At the commander's order, the entire dock came alive! Soldiers rushed towards the speedboats moored nearby. Medics also ran over with stretchers.
The military wives all rushed to the very front of the dock, craning their necks to get a clear look at the life raft that had brought about the miracle.
"My God! It really is Chief of Staff Qin!"
"He...he's still alive! He's really still alive!"
"Is that Xiao Wu next to him?!"
Zhou Nianci covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. This time, it wasn't sadness, but joy! An unbelievable, ecstatic elation!
The speedboat cleaved through the waves and quickly approached the life raft. When the soldiers on board saw the several savage-like figures on the raft, they were all stunned.
"Salute!" The platoon leader was the first to react. He straightened his back and gave a standard military salute to the man sitting on the raft, who, despite his disheveled appearance, still maintained a straight posture.
"Welcome home, Chief of Staff!"
...
When Qin Lie stepped onto the solid ground of the dock with the help of others, he felt as if he had been transported to another world.
Looking at the familiar yet excited faces before him, and at Political Commissar Wang who rushed over and hugged him tightly, crying like a child, his eyes also reddened.
"Political Commissar, I... am back."
“It’s good that you’re back…it’s good that you’re back…” Political Commissar Wang patted his back, sobbing uncontrollably.
All eyes on the dock fell on the woman Qin Lie carefully carried off the speedboat.
Jiang Wu leaned quietly against Qin Lie's chest. Her face was pale and she looked very weak, but her eyes were bright and calm.
Looking at the bustling and noisy scene before her, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
She won her bet.
She took her man home.
After a brief silence, thunderous cheers and applause erupted on the dock!
"Heroes! They are heroes!"
"A miracle! This is simply a miracle!"
Everyone cheered for the man who had returned from hell, and applauded his heroic wife who had created a miracle!
Wen Xue and Li Weiguo were also among the crowd. Looking at Qin Lie, who was surrounded by the crowd, and at Jiang Wu, whom Qin Lie held in his arms like a precious treasure, their faces instantly turned ashen, paler than the dead.
The color drained from their faces, and their hands and feet grew cold.
How is that possible?
How...how could he still be alive?!
How could he possibly have survived a Category 17 typhoon, with his engine bursting and communications cut off?!
This is not scientific! This is impossible!
A perfect plan, just like that... failed? And failed in the most embarrassing way possible!
Li Weiguo's body began to tremble uncontrollably. He felt Qin Lie's murderous gaze pierce through the crowd and land on him.
It's over.
Everything is over.
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