Chapter Ninety: Efficiently Clearing Troops
The anger abruptly stopped, then slowly faded away.
Qi An suddenly felt somewhat lost in the silence.
She seemed a little angry just now?
All was quiet. Lin Jiaran smiled and said, "I won't go. I wish... Dr. Qi, right? A safe journey and a safe return home."
Chen Xi's expression was grim, and he gave her an uncertain look.
Gu Liansheng's anger subsided considerably, but he hadn't forgotten what Qi An had said earlier.
"I hope Dr. Qi's actual abilities are as impressive as his boasting skills," he scoffed.
However, he also remembered that he had questioned Chen Yuezhou earlier, which was truly inappropriate. Somewhat annoyed, he stood at attention and saluted:
"I'm sorry, Commander, I was a bit too emotional just now... I still wish to stay in the reconnaissance team!"
"Questioning orders from superiors and verbally attacking teammates, this is a demerit!" Chen Yuezhou's voice was stern: "If this happens again, you won't even need to go to the battlefield; just get back to the Northeast!"
Gu Liansheng bowed his head in agreement and turned to leave, almost tripping over Yu Shuang.
Yu Shuang gave him a forced smile, thinking to himself, "If I weren't currently at my peak combat strength, would you even have the chance to team up with Xiao Qi?!"
Qi An quickly became the central figure of gossip in the entire camp.
She walked around the outer edge of the tent, felt the wind, and realized that her anger had been too sudden.
She is a purifier and has received training in emotional stability!
However, this feeling was uncertain and difficult to pinpoint the cause, so she had no choice but to accept it. She returned to the temporary team meeting in a tense and cold atmosphere and looked at a lot of mine design data from around the same era as the Mother Nest.
As darkness fell, the temperature plummeted across the desert, and the howls of wolves resumed.
The temporary team of seven set off fully equipped.
But before Chen Xi could leave, Chen Yuezhou stopped him.
The camp was silent, the lights were dim, and Chen Yuezhou's gaze was also dark, yet it fixed steadily on Chen Xi:
"Protect her," he mouthed.
Chen Xi understood at a glance, and lowered her eyes as if in response.
He turned and walked at the front of the group, making sure Qi An was right behind him.
The group quickly disappeared into the night.
During the 10-kilometer run, several technicians compared him to Qi An, and he looked very relaxed and had great stamina!
This surprised both Gu Liansheng and Feng Xu.
However, Qi An knew this was because she was carrying less weight—Chen Xi had carried half of her equipment for her.
But she felt at ease because the role she could play was far greater than the burden she bore.
"Tell them to wait a moment, carry me inside for a walk," Qi An said to Chen Xi when they reached the first hiding spot on the hill.
Chen Xi nodded without hesitation, but Gu Liansheng grabbed them and said, "No way, you guys actually dare to come in!"
The team's daytime battle plan was to reach a relatively safe hiding spot far from the mother nest, and then have Chen Xi lead Qi An into the mother nest's range to sense the fallen insect sentries.
After the members of the temporary team heard that Qi An had the ability to sense fallen insects, they began to understand why Chen Yuezhou insisted on having her join the team.
But this plan is far too dangerous!
There are only two of them! Qi An still needs someone to carry him!
Qi An yanked out his tactical backpack strap: "Hide it well. If it gets contaminated while I'm not around, don't blame me!"
Gu Liansheng choked, but Feng Xu smiled and nodded, saying, "Take care, both of you. Don't worry about what's behind you."
Wearing only combat gear, Chen Xi carried Qi An on his back, and in what seemed like only a few blinks of an eye, they disappeared into the night.
Chen Xi was familiar with this place; he was the "frontline reconnaissance officer," which was why Chen Yuezhou was waiting for him to arrive.
However, because the human side was planning this great war, they dared not make any moves that might alert the enemy. Therefore, Chen Xi had never actually entered the territory of the mother nest before, but only wandered around the perimeter to scout.
"At 3 o'clock, 1 kilometer away, there is a checkpoint with 3 insects."
There's a checkpoint at each of the 12 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and 1 o'clock positions, 1.2 kilometers apart, with an average of 5 insects, but one of them is a wisdom insect, probably a singer...
Qi An clung tightly to Chen Xi's back, whispering numbers in his ear.
The boy's ears were bright red, but his movements were as swift as the wind and his footsteps were silent. The specially made non-metallic light sniper rifle with a silencer in his hand was like the scepter of death, and wherever it was pointed, death was imminent!
In the darkness of night, Chen Xi was an even greater killing machine, and Qi Anchao was deeply shocked to witness this firsthand.
"Amazing!" she exclaimed softly.
This made Chen Xi's grip on the gun tighten suddenly, and his heart pounded like a drum.
“Don’t praise me at a time like this,” he said.
Qi An: ?
Not understanding, but realizing that this might affect Chen Xi's condition, she stopped sighing and focused on counting.
Their advantage lies in the fact that although the sentry posts on the ground of the mother nest are dense, there are not many insects, because they dare not gather in order to avoid human satellite reconnaissance.
However, Chen Xi has the ability to become invisible. Wearing this specially made combat suit, he can basically blend into the environment, but Qi An cannot become invisible!
Therefore, the fallen insects will still find them.
The fallen insects seemed shocked to discover them; from their perspective, it appeared as if Qi An was floating around in the air.
But the first reaction of all the Fallen Insects when they detect an enemy is not to fight back, but for their cysts to light up, indicating that they want to communicate!
These Fallen Insect Guardians are all highly skilled.
Chen Xi can only go faster, and Qi An must go even faster!
He had to kill silently, while she had to multitask, simultaneously sensing the fallen insects both above and below ground.
There were far more underground insects than she had expected. Just counting them was difficult enough, but she also had to develop spatial reasoning skills and imagine their distribution!
Qi An's brain was racing, so focused that it started to give him a headache!
The night was pitch black, and the weather was not clear tonight, which was good for their operation, but it was very difficult for the few people waiting on the hill.
"It's been an hour already. They say this mine covers an area of 5 square kilometers. Have they been gone for too long?" The first to voice their anxiety wasn't Gu Liansheng, but Chang Xin, the technician carrying the geological radar.
"...There's not a sound at all," another technician, Zhang Xiaoxiao, murmured.
There was some noise, but the technicians couldn't hear it; Gu Liansheng could.
He grew impatient, snapped off a handful of weeds, and hissed, "Call them! If there's no answer, we'll go for it!"
Two reckless fools!
That purifier is reckless and boastful! He's completely unreliable! And he still claims he'll complete the task before the scheduled time!
Feng Xu did not answer him or call out. He listened intently and heard a few extremely short, sharp screams of fallen insects coming from the night.
Two minutes later, Qi An and his companion appeared in the binoculars!
"Help the captain get bandaged up, he's been shot," Qi An said as soon as he landed.
Their journey wasn't entirely smooth. Chen Xi was hit by a bullet from a cicada, but the wound near his right chest seemed to have no effect on him. After the bullet was quickly removed, he didn't bleed much.
Feng Xu and Gu Liansheng were both shocked by this self-healing ability. Qi An had already said to the technician:
"Get me some paper!"
Chang Xin was stunned for a moment, then quickly took out paper and pen.
Qi An drew a map on the spot. His drawing style was naive, but he drew a whole area of mine, showing the location, number, and layers of the fallen insects. Based on this structure, he guessed the location of several main entrances and exits, and marked them very clearly!
Gu Liansheng and Feng Xu were surprised, the three technicians were even more surprised, and Chang Xin picked up the paper and said:
"This...this is already very detailed. We can use the diagram to select the location for the instrument in advance..."
“Yes,” Qi An said; that was exactly her intention.
She didn't just look at the mine structure diagrams from the same era during the day for nothing; she used her senses and memory to the extreme, and combined the results of her senses with the knowledge in her mind to draw this diagram.
Moreover, Chen Xi has already cleared out most of the ground guards, so they don't have to feel their way forward, saving a lot of time!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com