Troublesome teammates
The feeling of weightlessness lasted only a few seconds.
Lu Chen jerked back and opened his parachute. A tremendous pulling force came from behind, instantly slowing his descent. He steadied himself, adjusting his direction in mid-air, like an eagle, sharply scanning the unfamiliar mountain forest below.
The wind whistled in his ears, stinging his cheeks. Below him stretched an endless expanse of dark green, the tree canopies forming a vast carpet. He couldn't see any clearings, only a general area with relatively sparse trees.
He needs to find teammates as soon as possible.
Before the jump, they agreed on a simple rendezvous signal and emergency plan. However, falling from a thousand meters high, it's common for the landing point to deviate by several hundred or even a thousand meters. In this primeval forest, a distance of a few hundred meters could take an hour to walk.
Lu Chen controlled the parachute, trying to drift in the direction he remembered Wang Lei and Chen Mo jumping from. As for Sun Yi and Zhang Mang... he could only pray they didn't stray too far off course.
"Bang!"
My body passed through a dense canopy of trees, which cushioned my fall, before I crashed heavily onto the leaf-strewn ground. Despite being prepared, a sharp pain shot through my knees and shoulders.
Ignoring the pain, he immediately untied the parachute, rolled to his feet, picked up his gun, and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
All around were towering ancient trees, sunlight fragmented and dappled through the layers of leaves, casting mottled spots of light on the ground. The air was damp, filled with the smell of decaying leaves and earth. It was so quiet that only the sound of my own heartbeat and breathing could be heard.
He took out a map and compass from his tactical vest and quickly determined his approximate location. Then, he emitted three short, cuckoo-like calls from his throat communicator. This was their agreed-upon rendezvous signal.
After doing all this, he didn't stay where he was. Instead, he found a sturdy tree, quickly climbed up, and hid among the dense foliage, like a patient hunter waiting for his prey to appear.
About ten minutes later, a slight commotion came from the woods to the east.
Lu Chen immediately gripped the gun tightly.
Soon, a familiar figure peeked out from behind the bushes, furtively looking around. It was Wang Lei.
Wang Lei imitated him and made three cuckoo calls.
Lu Chen then slid down from the tree and waved to him.
"Brother Chen!" As soon as Wang Lei saw Lu Chen, he excitedly ran over and gave him a bear hug. "Damn, I thought I couldn't find you! This place is huge!"
"Keep your voice down." Lu Chen patted him on the back. "Where's the others?"
"I don't know, I just saw you drifting this way and chased after you." Wang Lei scratched his head. "Chen Mo is probably around here too, he jumped before me. As for the other two... God knows where they fell."
Lu Chen nodded and gave the signal again.
This time, there was a swift response. Three identical bird calls echoed from not far to the west. A moment later, Chen Mo, gun at the ready, calmly approached. Unlike Wang Lei, he wasn't disheveled; his training uniform was still clean, indicating a smooth landing.
"Captain, Wang Lei," he greeted succinctly.
"How is the situation?" Lu Chen asked.
"When we landed, I observed that our group's landing points were relatively concentrated, all in this valley. But I'm not sure about the other groups; I saw parachutes in at least three different directions." Chen Mo's observation skills were as sharp as ever.
There are three people now. Two more are needed.
Lu Chen sent the signal again and waited patiently. Time passed by, and apart from the sound of the wind and birdsong, there was no other movement in the forest.
Wang Lei was getting impatient: "Brother Chen, are we still going to wait? Let's not even talk about Sun Yi. What if Zhang Mang runs away on his own? He's no pushover."
"Wait another ten minutes," Lu Chen said in a deep voice. "If we haven't arrived by then, we'll proceed with the original plan and go find a water source first."
A team shouldn't let one person slow down the overall pace. That's what his father taught him.
Fortunately, at the last minute of the agreed time, footsteps finally came from the woods to the south.
Sun Yi appeared. He looked somewhat nervous, his forehead covered in sweat, but he visibly relaxed upon seeing Lu Chen and the others.
"Captain, we've finally found you."
"Are you alright?" Lu Chen asked.
"It's nothing, it just landed a little off-center and circled around before coming back." Sun Yi wiped his sweat.
Now, all four people are here. Only one last, and most uncertain, factor remains—Zhang Mang.
“We can’t wait any longer.” Lu Chen glanced at his watch. “Let’s go. Chen Mo, you scout ahead. Wang Lei, you cover the rear. Sun Yi, you stay with me in the middle. Stay alert.”
"Yes!" the three replied in unison.
Just as they were about to set off, a lazy voice came from the tree above.
"Hey, you've already forgotten about me? That's really not fair, Captain?"
The four of them looked up abruptly and saw Zhang Mang sitting on a thick tree branch with his legs crossed, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, looking at them with a nonchalant expression.
When did he get there? Nobody noticed!
Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat. This Zhang Mang was indeed quite capable. His ability to hide and infiltrate was superior to most people in the camp.
"Get down." Lu Chen's tone was very calm.
"What's the rush?" Zhang Mang jumped down from the tree, moving as nimbly as a monkey. He dusted off his hands and glanced at Lu Chen sideways. "Hey, Captain, where are we going next? We need a plan, right?"
He deliberately emphasized the word "captain," with a clear sense of provocation.
Wang Lei immediately flew into a rage, stepped forward, pointed at his nose, and yelled, "Zhang Mang, what the hell is your attitude! Brother Chen is the captain, you have to obey orders!"
"Oh, I'm so scared." Zhang Mang patted his chest exaggeratedly. "Wang Lei, you're just Lu Chen's dog, aren't you? You bite whoever he tells you to bite?"
"You fucking want to die!" Wang Lei was so angry that his face turned red, and he raised his fist to attack.
"Stop!" Lu Chen shouted, stopping Wang Lei.
He looked at Zhang Mang and said, word by word, "Now is not the time to argue. My plan is to first go to the river two kilometers to the east to replenish our water supply, and then search downstream along the riverbank for clues about the target location. What are your opinions?"
He didn't get angry, nor did he use his position as captain to pressure him. Instead, he treated him like an equal teammate, discussing the matter with him.
Zhang Mang was clearly taken aback by Lu Chen's reaction and was stunned for a moment. He had prepared a whole host of words to give Lu Chen a good talking-to, but it turned out that the other party had punched cotton.
"What opinions could I possibly have?" He curled his lip and snorted. "You're the captain, so you get to decide. Anyway, if we can't find the target or get wiped out by another team, you'll be the first one to suffer."
After saying that, he slung the gun over his shoulder, whistled nonchalantly, and walked away on his own.
"Brother Chen, look at his behavior!" Wang Lei was furious. "If we keep letting him hang around in the team like this, he'll be a menace sooner or later!"
"Let's go first." Lu Chen's eyes darkened. "There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with him on the way."
The group resumed their journey. Chen Mo led the way, carefully discerning the direction and occasionally stopping to observe the surroundings. Zhang Mang walked alone in the second position, about seven or eight meters behind Chen Mo, looking around as if he were observing something. Lu Chen and Sun Yi were in the middle, while Wang Lei brought up the rear, vigilantly watching for any movement behind them.
A five-person combat team managed to create three squads.
Sun Yi leaned close to Lu Chen and whispered, "Captain, this Zhang Mang... is too undisciplined. This won't do. If we encounter an emergency, our formation won't be able to react immediately."
Sun Yi's previous team emphasized a steady and disciplined approach, and he could not tolerate Zhang Mang's behavior of being detached from the team.
“I know,” Lu Chen replied in a low voice, “but forcing him to do so now will only make him more resentful. Let him run wild for a while, and when he hits a wall himself, he’ll know how painful it is.”
Lu Chen knew that dealing with a troublemaker like Zhang Mang wouldn't work with just lecturing and giving orders. The more you tried to control him, the more he would rebel. He needed to experience firsthand how serious the consequences of leaving the team were.
After walking for about half an hour, Chen Mo, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and made a "stop" gesture.
The team immediately stopped, and everyone sought cover on the spot, instantly creating a tense atmosphere.
Lu Chen gestured for Chen Mo to come over.
Chen Mo crouched down and quickly ran back, pointing to a patch of bushes ahead, and whispered, "Captain, there's something ahead."
"What is that?"
“I don’t know. But the soil there has been disturbed; it’s very fresh, like it was just moved,” Chen Mo said. “And I smelled a very faint… metallic and machine oil smell.”
trap!
These two words immediately popped into Lu Chen's mind. This must be a "surprise" arranged in advance by the instructors.
"I'll go take a look." Zhang Mang, who was walking ahead, had somehow joined in, a hint of excitement on his face. "Maybe it's something good."
After saying that, he didn't wait for Lu Chen's consent and walked towards the bushes with his gun.
"Stop!" Lu Chen shouted sternly.
Zhang Mang paused, turned around and looked at him impatiently: "What now? With such a cowardly attitude, what kind of special forces soldier are you? Afraid it's a trap? Even if it is a trap, I can dismantle it!"
"I said, stop!" Lu Chen's voice turned cold. "That's an order!"
"An order?" Zhang Mang scoffed. "Lu Chen, don't fucking wield your authority like a royal decree! I won't listen, so what are you going to do about it?"
He stiffened his neck, his face full of arrogance, and turned to continue walking forward. He wanted to challenge Lu Chen's authority in front of everyone.
But as soon as he took a step, he heard a "whoosh" and a military dagger flew past his ear with a whoosh, then stuck firmly to a tree in front of him with a "thud," the hilt still humming.
Zhang Mang's body froze instantly.
He could feel his ears burning with pain, and when he touched them, his hand was covered in sticky blood.
He turned around abruptly and stared intently at Lu Chen.
Lu Chen slowly withdrew the hand that had thrown the dagger, his eyes as cold as the Siberian chill.
"I'll say it one last time." His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable sense of pressure. "Obey orders. Otherwise, the next cut won't be to your ear."
The entire forest fell eerily quiet in an instant.
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