Chapter 2
The next morning, when it was just dawn, Lu Shiyu, who usually prepared ingredients at this time, was standing at the door of the store with a huge travel backpack on her back. Tang Zeyu also abided by the agreement and came to find her as soon as possible. After confirming that everything was ready, Tang Zeyu took Lu Shiyu to the gate of the base in their area.
Tang Zeyu took Lu Shiyu's backpack and walked in front to lead the way. Lu Shiyu asked curiously:
"Captain Tang, may I ask what your mission is this time?"
Yesterday, when I was on the road, my mind was full of what kind of creatures I might encounter when I went out. It was only now that I remembered to ask this question.
Tang Zeyu looked back at her. Lu Shiyu thought that this was confidential and immediately said that it was okay if she couldn't say it.
"Nothing. After all, you need to come along and have the right to know the mission details," Tang Zeyu said. "The base's higher-ups said they've detected an unknown object in the northern forest. However, because the trees there are too dense, satellites can't directly observe the target from above, so they can only use the most primitive method, human observation on the ground."
"Unknown object?" Lu Shiyu tried to imagine: "Is it some kind of creature?"
"I'm not sure. I don't have much information here. Anyway, you'll know when you go there."
Lu Shiyu's shop was not far from the base gate, which was why her shop became one of the popular dining options for the exploration team. After a brief chat, the two of them had already arrived at the heavily guarded base gate.
At this time, there were already several fully armed men waiting for them at the door.
One of them took the initiative to wave and say hello to Tang Zeyu. As Tang Zeyu led the way, Yu stepped forward and introduced them one by one.
“This is Shaoxing Yang.”
"Hello, hello, hello." Shaoxing Yang shook hands with Lu Shiyu very familiarly.
"Hello."
When Shaoxing Yang let go, Yu moved his hands and thought that this man was too strong.
"This is Yan Hong."
The woman with the bun stretched out her hand to shake hands with Lu Shiyu, but her expression was so serious that she looked inexplicably formal.
"This is Chen Yunliang, the team's doctor."
"Hello." The squinting-eyed man smiled and shook hands with Lu Shiyu. At this point, Lu Shiyu had a brief meeting with the entire team, and the last part was the introduction of Lu Shiyu.
"This is Lu Shiyu, the one I hired as a chef. She'll be traveling with us this time. This is her first time out, so please take care of her on the way."
Shaoxing Yang immediately came forward and asked Lu Shiyu curious questions. Yan Hong also pulled Tang Zeyu aside and talked in a low voice.
"Captain, do you really want to take her with you? She's just an ordinary person, with no special abilities and no fighting power. She's too much of a burden."
"I understand what you're saying, but this time we're going to a place farther than usual, and it's going to be difficult if no one on the team can cook."
"But," Yan Hong was still a little resistant, "Didn't we always bring dry food when we went out before? It would be better if we could bring more this time."
Tang Zeyu glanced at her and said, "Do you want to eat choking biscuits for two months straight or dry biscuits?"
Yan Hong thought about it and fell silent.
After gathering, they can set off directly. Tang Zeyu walks in front, Shaoxing Yang and Yan Hong are on both sides, Lu Shiyu and Chen Yunliang follow at the end. After completing the registration at the checkpoint at the entrance, the group sets off.
After walking out of the base gate, a breeze blew towards him. Lu Shiyu was stunned when he looked at the scenery outside.
Compared with the unchanging appearance inside the base, every place outside the base seemed to be full of vitality. There were lush green grass everywhere, and dewdrops hung on the top of the green grass, which would wet people's trouser legs when they passed by. The air was filled with freshness. Lu Shiyu had not seen the outside world for too long, and now everything was full of temptation in her eyes.
In the end, Chen Yunliang smiled and patted her shoulder.
"If we don't leave now, we'll be left behind."
Lu Shiyu suddenly woke up as if from a dream. The people in front of her had already walked some distance away, while she was still standing there in a daze. Lu Shiyu reacted quickly and caught up with them to prevent herself from being left behind as soon as she left the house.
Yan Hong in the team became even more worried when she saw Lu Shiyu's appearance.
"Do we really want to let someone with no experience of going out go with us?"
Shao Xingyang put his hands behind his head and said nonchalantly, "Whatever. Casualties are common when we're out there. Besides, didn't the captain say he would take the primary responsibility? Don't worry too much."
The group walked from morning to noon. When the sun reached the top of their heads, Tang Zeyu looked at the sun in the sky and then announced that they should take a break. They found a place with a huge rock as shelter to rest.
It was the first time for Lu Shiyu to walk such a long distance in one breath. His legs were so numb that he could hardly squat down.
Tang Zeyu took out a water bottle from his backpack and handed it to the breathless Lu Shiyu.
"Ah, thank you."
Lu Shiyu took the kettle and drank from it in big gulps. She hadn't stopped since they set out. Fortunately, the weather was not particularly hot, otherwise she really wouldn't be able to bear it.
"Drink slowly. It's normal that you can't keep up the pace the first time you come out. You'll get used to it after a few days."
"Um."
On the way, Yu took a sip of cold water and swallowed it bit by bit, looking in the direction of the base. They had been walking for so long but they could still see the base from a distance.
After resting for a while, Tang Zeyu saw that the time was almost up, so he stood up and said it was time to go. The other people in the team stood up and carried their bags, but Lu Shiyu was the only one looking at them at a loss.
"Um," Lu Shiyu asked carefully, "Aren't you going to eat?"
When everyone heard Lu Shiyu's words, they all turned around and looked at her in confusion. Shao Xingyang was surprised and said, "Eat? It's a bit too early to eat now."
"Ah? But it's already noon." Lu Shiyu still didn't understand the situation and his face was full of confusion.
Yan Hong poked Tang Zeyu with her scabbard: "Hey, captain, you didn't tell her, did you?"
Lu Shiyu suddenly had a bad feeling: "What did you say?"
Tang Zeyu just remembered that he hadn't told Lu Shiyu about this. A little embarrassedly, he said, "Sorry, I forgot. Since the exploration team's schedule is always quite tight, we only eat one meal a day, usually in the afternoon before sunset."
"What?" Lu Shiyu was incredulous. "I have to walk such a long distance every day, but I only eat one meal. Won't I faint from hunger?"
Tang Zeyu was a little embarrassed: "Although it's only one meal, I will eat a lot. I will get used to it after a long time."
Seeing that no one else reacted, Lu Shiyu had no choice but to accept the tragic fact that he would only have one meal a day from now on, packed his bags and continued on his way.
The base was built on flat ground and the surrounding terrain was relatively flat, so the journey was not particularly difficult throughout the day, at least there were no obstacles.
The group successfully arrived at the edge of a forest. Just as they were discussing where to stay, Yan Hong suddenly asked everyone to be quiet.
The sound of discussion suddenly disappeared, and Lu Shiyu, who was originally gasping for breath, held his breath.
Everyone looked at Yan Hong, but Yan Hong ignored them. She was concentrating as if she was feeling something, as if she was looking for something. Yan Hong turned around and walked into the bushes behind. The few people looked at each other and followed her in.
When Lu Shiyu pushed aside the branches, he felt like there was something on his face. He reached out to touch it but felt nothing. Some fireworks-like scenes appeared in front of his eyes. The sun could not shine through the bushes. It was almost pitch black. Lu Shiyu's eyes could not adapt for a while. Before he could see clearly, he heard the sound of a fight. However, his eyes could not see clearly. When the scene in front of him became clear again, the battle was over.
Yan Hong sheathed the long sword, turned sideways and said, "It's solved."
Lu Shiyu looked at Yan Hong's feet, and saw a giant spider as big as a child!
Lu Shiyu's first reaction was that his hair stood on end, but then he was extremely curious and tried to see the giant spider's appearance clearly.
Shaoxing Yang cried out in amazement.
"If I hadn't been spotted by such a big spider, I might have been attacked by it by surprise."
Yan Hong snorted, "If you can be ambushed by it, you should pack up and prepare to leave the team."
While the two were arguing, Lu Shiyu noticed that the spider seemed not to be dead yet. Suddenly, Lu Shiyu saw a scorpion tail standing up from the back of the spider, ready to stab Yan Hong.
"careful!"
As soon as Lu Shiyu finished speaking, the spider's tail was cut off by the long knife. Yan Hong accurately cut off the spider's tail without even looking at it a second time, which made Lu Shiyu admire her very much.
“Amazing!”
Chen Yunliang walked over and brushed off the spider web on Lu Shiyu's head. "Of course. Yan Hong is a very sought-after mercenary in the base."
"mercenary?"
"That's long-winded."
After Yan Hong finished speaking, she walked around the two of them and walked out of the bushes. They simply set up a tent here to spend the night.
After everything was ready, Shaoxing Yang sat down on the ground and asked Yu for directions and what to eat.
"It can be made right away, but what to make depends on what ingredients you prepare."
As soon as Lu Shiyu finished speaking, everyone stopped moving. Lu Shiyu felt that something was wrong and looked at Tang Zeyu.
"What happened again?"
"You..." Shaoxing Yang hesitated and said, "You didn't forget to bring the food, did you?"
Lu Shiyu's eyes widened: "Don't you guys prepare the ingredients and I'm just responsible for cooking?"
The members of the team looked at each other, and finally their focus was on Tang Zeyu, who was in charge of the negotiations. Tang Zeyu covered his face.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to discuss this when I left."
"Damn it," Shaoxing Yang stood up suddenly. "Captain, why did you leak so much this time? It's almost the same as not saying anything at all!"
Tang Zeyu lowered his head and remained silent, feeling so guilty that he couldn't say a word.
"What should we do? We didn't buy any dry food this time, and the food we have is not enough to support this operation." Yan Hong said.
Chen Yunliang thought about it and suggested going back to purchase some supplies before setting off again.
"If we turn back now, we'll waste three days, which is really not worth it."
Yan Hong disagreed.
"What can we do? Without food, we'll probably starve to death in less than three days."
Shaoxing Yang lay on the grass, feeling hopeless.
"I want to eat~"
Tang Zeyu sighed and said, "It's my fault. Although it will waste some time, there is no other way but to go back now. Without food, it's difficult to move forward."
Even Chen Yunliang said there was no other way.
"Well," Lu Shiyu raised his hand silently and said, "Why don't we use local materials?"
"Use local materials? What kind of materials can we get? Chew tree bark or eat grass?"
Shaoxing Yang replied weakly.
"Yes, didn't we just kill a spider? Let's eat that."
For a moment, everyone stared at Lu Shiyu with strange eyes, looking at her as if she were a monster, full of weirdness.
"Are you starving?"
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