Chapter 45: Escape from the Fragile Butterfly
Jiang Chen
A pair of light grey eyes flashed in my memory.
How could...
"Uncle Zhou."
A blue-haired young man in a dark black suit took a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray and approached with a faint smile. "It's been a while, you're still as charming as ever."
Zhou Junlin laughed heartily and clinked glasses with him: "Ah, our little Jiang has grown up and is quite a handsome man!"
The middle-aged man was busy saying, "Old Zhou, your son Falcon Yi is a very handsome man! I am so embarrassed to praise Xiaochen in front of Falcon Yi!"
"Hahaha! You old guy..."
Jiang Chen took a sip of the wine in his glass, curved his light grey eyes, and greeted them.
Xu Nuo held Zhou Xuanyi's arm, his eyes fixed on the boy's profile, then quickly looked away into the distance.
The voices of people and the music at the banquet mixed together, and she could not hide her uneasiness.
Jiang Chen is a member of the Capital Base Guard. It was previously rumored that his father was a high-ranking official in the base. Now it seems that he also has a good personal relationship with Zhou Junlin.
In the original storyline, the capital base escaped destruction. Was it because of this relationship?
His father is Zhou Junlin's man?
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Zhou Junlin turned around and asked Zhou Xuanyi to take Jiang Chen around, then he walked away with the middle-aged man.
Jiang Chen immediately raised his wine glass and turned sideways: "Brother Falcon Yi, long time no see."
Zhou Xuanyi clinked glasses with him: "It's been a while. I didn't expect you've grown so much."
Jiang Chen smiled. "Yes, ever since Fino made this his headquarters, it's really too far from the capital. Father sometimes wants to talk to his uncle, but he can't get away."
Zhou Xuanyi: "Is your father now the top official in the capital?"
"He never talks about work at home, so I don't really know."
Zhou Xuanyi didn't ask any further questions, but simply raised the hand of the person beside him and said, "Let me introduce you. This is my partner, Xu Nuo."
Jiang Chen's gaze followed their intertwined hands to Xu Nuo, and he smiled lightly, saying, "Hello, sister-in-law."
Xu Nuo felt numb when being called sister-in-law.
This Jiang Chen was completely different from the timid little snake sentry in his memory, and could not be associated at all with the elegant, sociable and sophisticated young man in front of him.
Zhou Xuanyi's eyes swept across the girl's stagnant face, and he lowered his eyebrows and said, "It's not that close yet. It's too early to call out."
Jiang Chen also laughed: "That's a matter of time. In this world, except for S-level guides, no one can refuse Brother Falcon."
Zhou Xuanyi said in a self-deprecating tone, "That's not necessarily true. Nuonuo, why don't you say hello?"
Xu Nuo met Jiang Chen's gaze, not knowing how to start.
Does Zhou Xuanyi know that she and Jiang Chen know each other?
If Fino had been monitoring her and Qi Qian, it was impossible for him not to be aware of this relationship.
But...what if Fino's hand has not yet penetrated the base? Zhou Xuanyi doesn't know, this might be her chance to escape.
But...Jiang Chen...can he be trusted?
The purpose of his visit this time is unclear. If his father has a personal relationship with Zhou Junlin, he might also be a spy placed by Fino next to Wei Yan.
"Xu Nuo, long time no see." The boy with light gray glass eyes raised his glass towards her.
"Long time no see." Xu Nuo didn't have any wine, so he just nodded.
Zhou Xuanyi's slightly frowned brows relaxed, and he asked the waiter for a glass of wine. "Alright, I know you haven't been back to the capital for a long time and miss your friends. You two can catch up. I have something else to do, so I'll pick you up later."
He pressed the wine glass into the girl's hand and strode away, as if he never worried that she would find an opportunity to escape.
They had been on high alert for the first three months, and now... they were just leaving time for her and Jiang Chen to be alone?
The opportunity came too easily and too suddenly. Xu Nuo pinched the slender stem of the cup and suddenly didn't know what to say.
Jiang Chen looked at her and spoke first: "You left the academy for too long and were almost expelled."
Xu Nuo raised the corner of his mouth bitterly: "Let's get rid of it. I don't even know if I can go back."
"Is everyone okay?"
"Everything is fine," Jiang Chen said, looking at the golden wine rising and falling in her glass. "Fu Xue is still in charge of security at the administrative center. Thor and Gu Feihai have left the guard team. Song Ke came with me this time."
Xu Nuo: "Song Ke? Hasn't he always been responsible for Sister Fu Xue's safety?"
Jiang Chen: "Sister Fu Xue is very worried about you, but it is not convenient for her to come over, so she sent Song Ke to check on the situation."
"Now you see, I'm fine, don't worry." Xu Nuo whispered.
Don't even get involved.
The matter between her and Wei Yan was already troublesome enough, and as an official of the capital base, Fu Xue could not be too involved in diplomatic affairs.
Jiang Chen: "Song Ke is in the dressing room upstairs, want to go and take a look?"
Xu Nuo looked around for a moment and nodded.
Song Ke waited for her at the door of the busy dressing room.
"Wei Yan is not in the base." This was the first sentence he blurted out after seeing her.
"Fu Xue is worried about you, I'm just checking on her behalf."
"She can't help you. You should understand that she represents the capital."
"I'm glad you're okay. Jiang Chen and I will go back tomorrow. You can stay here and they should let you go soon."
The sentry finished speaking quickly and turned to leave, but Xu Nuo couldn't help but grabbed his hand.
"Is there any news about Wei Yan?" she said.
Song Ke pulled his hand out of hers with an expressionless face.
"No."
A long sigh.
Xu Nuo sat down with the help of the table, his eyes unfocused.
The appearance of Jiang Chen and Song Ke was like a fleeting phantom. When she came back, the banquet was over and most of the guests had left. Only the busy waiters were cleaning up the mess after the meal.
Zhou Xuanyi still hadn't returned, and she didn't seem to have the freedom to leave on her own, so she could only sit here and wait.
"Miss, the young master said he had something to do and couldn't send you off, so he asked me to escort you back." A man who looked like a waiter half-knelt in front of her and spoke respectfully.
Xu Nuo looked up at him. He was tall and of ordinary appearance. He was a well-trained A-level sentinel.
She clenched the note in her hand, stood up, followed him out, and got into the car.
The car window was rolled up, blocking out the light from outside. In the dim light, the car's engine roared.
"You can't get out of the gate." said the sentry after opening the gate for a while.
"I know," Xu Nuo said, rubbing the pillow in his arms and looking out the window. "Heavy weapons and several A-level sentries are deployed there. The gate requires a key, fingerprint, and iris scan to unlock it."
"Are you going to go through that contaminated area?"
Xu Nuo scratched his head: "Do I have to go out? Can't I just wait for them to let me go?"
The person in the front row chuckled: "Why are you waiting for them to let you go and get in my car?"
Xu Nuo looked at the person in the rearview mirror who was looking at her. That look was truly hateful: "Gu Feihai, you really can't speak as usual."
The sentry laughed a few times, his skin pulsing with a subtle red light, and his appearance changed in an instant. Curly hair, pale skin, a pair of enchanting red eyes that seemed to drip with blood, and facial features as gorgeous as an oil painting—it was undoubtedly the stinky fox.
"I made a bet with Song Ke about whether you would get in the car."
Xu Nuo was speechless: "You bet I will do it?"
Gu Feihai shrugged: "We all bet that you will win, so the bet can't go on."
Xu Nuo paused for a moment. "Tell me, what is our escape plan?"
Gu Feihai: "Baby, it's a pity. I only got in with the help of Jiang Chen. I have to go back with them tomorrow. I can't help you."
"But...if you plan to enter that contaminated area, I might consider helping you get in."
Xu Nuo: "How can I help? Will Fino not hold the base accountable?"
Gu Feihai put his right hand on the steering wheel: "Didn't Jiang Chen tell you? Thor and I left the base three months ago."
Three months ago, she was just trapped by Fino.
Xu Nuo was quite touched: "Thank you."
"It's not all for you," Gu Feihai raised his bright red lips towards her, "but words of thanks are worthless, actions are needed."
"Gu Feihai, it seems like you've been very frivolous since we met."
"Don't you want to know how I found you?"
"How did you find it?"
"I told you, your scent is unique."
The car sped past, creating a roar on the dusty road.
Three o'clock in the morning.
Violent explosions erupted from the southern end of the Fino complex all the way to the north, one after another, like the prelude to war.
Searchlight beams gathered from all directions, illuminating the explosion area as bright as day. The shrill alarm broadcasts and noisy voices mixed together, and a large number of security vehicles surrounded the border.
"Was it an enemy attack? The White Tower?" Beside the collapsed and charred ruins, the captain of the guard in guard uniform was talking on the phone with a gloomy brow.
"Do we need to call everyone to investigate?"
"clear."
He waved to the other guards, "There are currently no casualties in these areas. All employees must remain in their dormitories and not leave. Check and roll call all night shift staff. Increase hotel security and make sure not to disturb the chairman's guests."
"If you encounter any suspicious individuals...kill them on the spot and bring them back."
At the order from above, a carpet search was carried out quietly in the night.
Faced with the sudden alert of the guards, the staff dormitory fell silent. Even if they still had to work the next day, they all turned on the lights and stood by the window waiting for any movement.
"Li Lu, what's going on? Do you know what's going on?" My roommate said, scratching his messy head as he sat up from the upper bunk. "I have to work tomorrow, and it's so noisy everywhere."
The roommate complained, Li Lu scratched his head, got up from the bed, yawned and looked out the window.
Outside the window of the dormitory building downstairs, security cars blocked the stairwells, and the detectors' wailing was shrill and ominous. On the other side, outside the balcony facing the polluted desert, it was still pitch black and dead silent.
As if possessed by a ghost, he walked towards the balcony.
"Knock, knock."
"Is 205 here?"
There was a knock on the door, and Li Lu sensed that there were no less than five people outside, all of them well-trained sentries.
He was the only one who got up in the dormitory. Under the gaze of his roommate, he had to go back and open the door.
"Surprise inspection, everyone get out of bed and line up, I want to check the pupils one by one." The fully armed captain of the guards said solemnly outside the door.
The four people in the dormitory got out of bed with confused looks on their faces, lined up, and were scanned one by one by the captain of the guard using an instrument.
While scanning, the other guards turned the dormitory upside down, not even leaving a tile untouched.
"Captain, no." The guard said after checking the balcony.
The captain of the guard threw the instrument to his entourage, turned around and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped.
He turned around and asked, "I heard you also graduated from the Capital Military Academy?"
Li Lu's scalp tightened under the stare: "Yes, sir."
The captain of the guard turned around, his nearly two-meter-tall body standing before him like a wall, his cold, animal eyes looking down at him condescendingly: "Do you know this girl?"
The guard next to him unfolded the portable display screen in his hand, and Xu Nuo's photo came into view.
The bloody smell of the powerful sentinel made Li Lu's hair stand on end. He subconsciously clenched his fist and said, "No, I don't know him. No, I know him!"
"Do you know where she is?"
Li Lu shook her head fiercely. "I was a member of the team that worked with Captain Zhou before. Captain Zhou brought her to the dormitory before. I only let her in with Captain Zhou's permission!"
The captain stared at him. "She disappeared. The last surveillance footage showed her nearby with a male sentry."
Li Lu hurriedly said, "It can't be me! I was always in the dormitory, they can all testify!"
He had good relations with his roommates in the dormitory, and the other roommates were eager to testify for him.
The captain folded his arms and glanced around, his cold, desolate eyes chilling the heart. The voices of his roommates' testimony gradually faded until they vanished. Li Lu stood there, like a stranded fish, barely catching her breath.
Almost suffocating, the guard captain finally spoke: "Report any suspects immediately. Otherwise...anyone involved will be killed on the spot."
…
"Surprise inspection."
On the corridor connecting different buildings, the captain of the guard checked one by one and it was dormitory No. 211's turn.
"Captain, according to our information, there's a guide here named He You, who also graduated from the Capital Military Academy. He joined the company last year and is a second-level drill instructor."
The captain of the guard nodded slightly and knocked on the door.
"Knock, knock."
"Is 211 here?"
"Knock, knock."
No one answered.
"Bump it open."
Bang! The dormitory door collapsed to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
The room was empty.
The captain of the guard only had a moment to react before rushing to the balcony.
Under the dim moonlight, my sister and her roommate lay in the sand below, their lives unknown. In the distance, a figure hurriedly ran toward the restricted contaminated area.
"Chase!" he shouted, and a flash of fire passed before his eyes.
"boom!"
A burst of fire broke out from a building in the distance. Xu Nuo heard the explosion, looked back, and continued on his way, sometimes deep and sometimes shallow.
Gu Feihai was going to trigger an explosion and couldn't go with them. They had agreed to meet at the edge of the contaminated area fifteen kilometers away, and she had to arrive before the pursuers.
The sand was of varying depths, making running very difficult. Fortunately, her physical fitness had improved significantly after three months of training.
The desert night was peaceful and quiet, with only the sound of her shallow breathing and footsteps on the sand as she ran. The girl ran in the vast yellow sand with her skirt lifted up, her hair in disarray, and her bright red skirt was lifted up by the night wind, swaying and flying. The bright white moonlight fell on her smooth and bare back, like a fluttering and fragile butterfly, swimming lightly into the dead silence.
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