Chapter 142 Reunion
Carl saw Zong Fang trying to pull Qiao Sui Sui up from the ground, so he hugged Qiao Sui Sui without hesitation and lifted her up. After Qiao Sui Sui came up, she wanted to find a way to rescue Carl. Zong Fang had already taken the rope he had prepared and lowered it through the hole, and Carl quickly climbed up.
The second after Carl climbed up, the entire ground began to collapse. Zong Fang grabbed Qiao Suisui's hand and ran to safety, with Carl following closely behind. Every step the three of them took was a race against time against the collapse behind them, and the ground almost followed their footsteps and quickly collapsed.
Finally, the whole earth stopped shaking.
Qiao Susu fell to the ground, looking at the ruins in front of her and gasping for breath, feeling relieved that she had survived the disaster.
Karl saw that her knees and arms had varying degrees of abrasions, so he immediately came over and checked her body all over, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he was sure that she was not seriously injured.
Qiao Susu first looked at Zong Fang and saw that the man had his back to her, seemingly observing the collapsed ground in front of him, as if confirming something.
She came back to her senses after hearing Karl’s concerned inquiry and said, “I’m fine, how are you?”
Karl was also slightly injured, but he didn’t even look at it at this moment, and said nonchalantly: “I’m fine.”
After he finished speaking, he noticed that Qiao Susu was looking at Zong Fang's back again, and then she lowered her eyes and pursed her lips.
Carl also looked at Zongfang and called out to him, "Hey, thanks."
Zongfang turned around, nodded and said, "You're welcome."
Karl frowned when he heard this, and looked at him with a puzzled expression as if he had seen a ghost. Qiao Suisui was also startled, feeling a little unfamiliar with such a kind Zong Fang.
Seeing the two people's reactions, Zong Fang's silver eyes flashed with a flash of light. Then his expression became cold and his tone became as gloomy as before. He said, "If there is nothing else, leave quickly. It's not safe here."
Qiao Suisui nodded, looking at the man who had already walked back, her head slightly lowered. Karl had been paying attention to her state and keenly caught the trace of loss that flashed across her eyes.
"Be good, come up, I'll carry you." Karl squatted in front of her and looked back at her with a smile.
Qiao Suisui waved her hand, pulled him up, and said, "I still have the energy, let's go."
So the two of them followed Munakata and moved to a safe place.
"You guys take a rest here for a while."
Zong Fang rolled out the haystack into a simple bed and let Qiao Sui Sui sit on it to rest. The hay pricked her a little, but she didn't say a word, quietly leaning against the haystack to recover her strength. It was only when Karl took off his coat and spread it on the haystack for her that she felt a little better.
Zongfang just silently fiddled with the fire not far away.
Qiao Suisui sat across from him, her eyes darting back and forth over him. She wanted to ask him if he'd been doing well lately, but hesitated because of his strange attitude. She felt that Zongfang's behavior today was a little different from the past, a subtle change she couldn't put her finger on, and it made her feel strange.
"Zongfang, why are you there?" Qiao Susu asked in a low voice.
Zongfang's face was expressionless, save for the occasional glint in his eyes that made it difficult to read. He didn't answer immediately, but pondered for a moment before saying, "I'm responsible for patrolling that area. I heard the loud noise and rushed over immediately. I discovered you were nearly buried underneath."
Carl asked, "A collapse of this magnitude must be caused by human sabotage. Did you see who did it?"
This time, Munakata answered quickly, saying, "When I arrived, it had already started to collapse. I didn't see anyone, but I saw explosives. Someone must have tampered with it from the ground."
"Has anyone discovered us?" Carl frowned in confusion. "Besides, my talent was useless underground just now."
Qiao Suisui asked, "What about now?"
Carl activated his talent, and a black hole immediately appeared in front of the three of them.
"Why is this? It didn't work when we were underground, but it works now." Carl was puzzled.
Zongfang lowered his eyes and poked the fire with a wooden stick. He said casually, "There are shields on the southern battlefield. Perhaps they interfered with you."
Karl moved his neck and muttered, “If the shield works on me, then why did I come to give you the things last time?”
Zongfang paused, then continued to stir the fire as if nothing had happened. The flames were already burning very high and did not need to be made stronger, but he never stopped.
Seeing that he never mentioned the photo of the cub, Qiao Suisui bit her lip and finally couldn't help asking, "Zongfang, are you blaming me?"
Zongfang kept his eyes downcast for a long while before he said, "It's all over."
Qiao Suisui was stunned, not understanding what he meant. Karl, standing by, couldn't stand it anymore and started to scold her: "Are you okay? Last time you came, you asked me to tell you that you would definitely return to her. Now she's right in front of you, why are you pretending to be so cool? Are you playing hard to get?"
Zong Fang's eyelids twitched, and then he looked up at Qiao Sui Sui with apology and affection in his eyes. He said, "Qiao Qiao, I'm sorry. It's just that I haven't seen you for too long, and I don't know what to do."
Qiao Suisui shook her head, signaling him not to apologize, and gave him a soothing smile. They talked for a while longer. Zong Fang was no longer as cold and distant as before, but instead obeyed him in every sentence, even adding a subtle hint of flattery. The familiar feeling between them faded, and Qiao Suisui's doubts grew deeper.
A silence ensued, and Carl asked Qiao Suisui to rest while he and Zong Fang took turns keeping watch. Zong Fang occasionally looked up at Qiao Suisui and Carl, his eyes seemingly searching for some kind of confirmation, yet he found it difficult to ask directly.
After Qiao Sui Sui fell asleep, Zong Fang suddenly spoke, breaking the silence: "Did you find anything unusual in the laboratory?"
Carl folded his arms and counted the stars in boredom. He said, "We did find some documents, but the truly important ones were destroyed long ago. Plus, the incident happened suddenly, so we couldn't bring the documents out."
Zong Fang nodded, and then he asked, "Did you find the 'black box' this time?"
Carl turned his gaze from the night sky towards Zong Fang and asked, "You mean the recorder that only special federal personnel are equipped with?"
Munakata nodded, "Perhaps there are clues in there."
Carl, holding a piece of hay in his mouth, shook his head and said, "It's been so many years. If there was any, it would have broken long ago. Besides, only a very small number of people would wear it on missions. The chances of finding it now are too small."
Zongfang stopped talking and watched the jumping flames in silence.
After dawn, Zong Fang told Qiao Susu about the black box again.
"You're saying that if we find this black box, we might find some clues? But we're not sure if it contains anything important. And even if we do find it, it's been so long that we might not be able to open it at all."
Qiao Susu didn't want to bet all her time and energy on an uncertainty. She had now found the experimental base and speculated that the Federation had sent people here to conduct secret live experiments. Was the extermination of Dadline's village related to this experimental base?
"We should investigate further along the experimental base," she said.
If the sudden collapse had not destroyed the experimental base, they would have made progress and obtained evidence by now.
Zong Fang's silver eyes were deep, and he didn't insist too much, but smiled and said: "Okay, I know a place that may have a clue."
"Where is it?"
(End of this chapter)
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