Yalan Star.
Even inside the garrison, protected by thermal barriers, the indoor temperature is still extremely low.
Gu Qiongsheng had already put on a cotton coat, but the raging cold still made her shiver uncontrollably, and her fingertips were frozen red. She had to use her mental strength to resist the cold.
Zhou Qing also kept blowing air into her palms and rubbing her hands repeatedly.
"I'm sorry, but the conditions here aren't very good. Just bear with me and you'll get used to it."
The young man with the buzz cut was Cao Xinming. He was currently showing Gu Qiongsheng and Zhou Qing around the base. As they walked, he excitedly explained, "It's not impossible to raise the indoor temperature, but that would be too energy-intensive. We need to stockpile more for emergencies."
"Also, if the indoor temperature is too high and the temperature difference between inside and outside is too large, people are more likely to get sick."
"Especially for newcomers like you, your bodies can't adapt to the climate here, and it would be troublesome if you develop chronic illnesses."
"Just think about it. We patrol every day, walking through the wind and snow, freezing like a lump of ice. Once we get indoors, it's like jumping into a hot tub. Even the strongest body can't withstand this kind of torture, right..."
He was obviously a chatterbox, chattering non-stop all the way.
It’s a pity that the base is not big and it only took more than ten minutes to walk to the end.
Yalan Star is too remote, and there are only about thirty soldiers stationed here. Apart from the cafeteria, dormitory, bathroom, signal room and training room, there is only an open space like a lobby in the base, and the space for activities is extremely limited.
Gu Qiongsheng pulled Zhou Qing along as he looked over and asked curiously, "What do you like to do when you have free time?"
"What are you doing?" Cao Xinming was stunned for a moment. "Patrol."
Gu Qiongsheng asked, "Besides patrolling?"
"Oh, you don't know, just patrolling is enough to make us suffer."
Cao Xinming licked his dry lips. "Don't underestimate the fact that there are only a few of us. Yalan has a surface area of 230 million square kilometers, and there are 2,212 robotic outposts. At least once a month, we have to visit each outpost one by one to check the situation, replenish energy, and bring back the data collected by the instruments."
"If you do the math, with over 2,000 checkpoints, each person would have to visit at least two or three a day. If the checkpoints they were inspecting were too far away and they couldn't get back in one day, they'd have to spend the night outside—and you saw the conditions out there, is that the right place for people to stay?
Gu Qiongsheng and Zhou Qing fell silent.
They saw the simple environment of the garrison and anticipated the difficult conditions, but they still didn't expect that the daily work of the garrison soldiers would be equally... so difficult.
Not only difficult, but also boring.
Every day, we have to go through wind and snow, rushing from one outpost to another. Sometimes we may not even have time to eat. Occasionally, being able to take a hot bath is a very rare enjoyment.
Zhou Qing lowered her head and dialed a few times on her personal terminal.
"Still no," she whispered. "Sister Jonson, still no signal."
Cao Xinming came over and asked, "You guys want to send a message?"
"It's useless. Personal terminals won't work," he shook his head. "You have to use the station's dedicated signal satellite, but you have to wait a moment. The satellite is currently undergoing its annual shutdown and self-inspection..."
Gu Qiongsheng quickly waved his hands: "It's okay, it's okay, we don't have any important news."
Cao Xinming smiled and said, "You're welcome. We're all family once we're in the garrison. Don't be so formal!"
He leaned over and lowered his voice, "Actually, there's a game console hidden in the captain's quarters. Sometimes we'll secretly wrap the satellite's signal cable around it and play for a while... It's okay, it doesn't affect the normal use of the satellite. Don't tell Lieutenant Colonel Zhou."
"After the lieutenant colonel leaves, I'll let you play first."
Gu Qiongsheng was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, not knowing whether to nod or shake his head.
By this time they had already relocated the various facilities in the base, so they returned to the lobby where they started.
Gu Qiongsheng had just seen that there were more than thirty beds in the dormitory, but now there were only a dozen soldiers looking around in front of her. It was conceivable that the rest were outside on patrol.
Cao Xinming suddenly asked, "By the way, I haven't asked yet, which college did you graduate from?"
"You can join our Yinhui right after graduation, your level is very high!"
There was a hint of pride in his voice, and the other soldiers looked curious after hearing it.
Before Gu Qiongsheng could answer, Zhou Feng smiled and said, "You shouldn't ask them which college they graduated from, you should ask them which university they graduated from."
The soldiers were stunned.
Not a recent graduate?
Or a college student?
"They haven't joined Yinhui yet. They're just participating in training missions and won't stay for long." Zhou Feng continued to explain, "These two are talented players who came from the championship team of the inter-school league. They have great potential."
"Especially Jonson."
Zhou Feng took Gu Qiongsheng's hand, pushed the girl in front of him, and said proudly, "She's arguably the best healer in the Federation right now. She was supposed to be on the front lines healing the wounded, but now... uh, due to some unexpected circumstances, she's come to our Yalan Star... Anyway, just be content. Do you know how many people out there are fighting for her?"
The whole audience fell silent.
The atmosphere was a little awkward for a moment, but Cao Xin was quick to applaud and said, "Great, therapist! Welcome!"
Clap, clap, the applause continued.
Among the soldiers, many people frowned.
Due to Zhou Feng's identity as Lieutenant Colonel, many people were puzzled, but they were reluctant to raise any questions.
However, there were also some people at the scene who were straightforward and completely disregarded Lieutenant Colonel Zhou's face. They asked directly: "So, Lieutenant Colonel, they are not newcomers, but just here to gild their reputation?"
The voice was like a sharp bell, instantly breaking the happy mood that Cao Xinming was trying hard to maintain.
These words were too sharp. Zhou Feng's face darkened immediately. He glared at the place where the incident occurred: "Who is talking? Stand up and speak!"
The man walked out of the corner without hesitation.
He was a tall young man with a very strong body. His facial features looked very young, but his cheeks and brows were full of traces of weathering.
He stood there with his back straight, saluted Zhou Feng from a distance, and kept talking: "Excuse me, Lieutenant Colonel, what is the point of a high school student, a therapist, traveling thousands of miles to the remote Yalan Star?"
"How long will they stay here? Will they join us on patrol missions on weekdays?"
"If not, what are they here for?"
"If so, during patrols, should we focus on completing our mission or protecting them?"
One sentence after another, crackling like a machine gun.
These words expressed the thoughts of many soldiers. Some people in the crowd nodded secretly, while others laughed a few times.
In their hearts, no matter how Lieutenant Colonel Zhou preached, the truth of the matter was this.
Under the deliberate pressure from the federal high-level officials, Zhou Feng "had to" bring the two girls with strong backgrounds to Yinhui's Yalan Star base to brush up their qualifications.
In the soldiers' minds, there are some things Zhou Feng cannot say directly due to orders from his superiors, so they will tear their faces off and teach a lesson to these rich young ladies and young masters who have their heads full of gilded ideas and are ignorant of the sufferings of the grassroots.
Taking a deep breath, the tall young man spoke again.
The words he spoke were cold and almost contained a knife: "Lieutenant Colonel, let me put it bluntly, if the tragedy of three years ago happens again."
"This time, which of your brothers are you going to let take the blame for 'failure to provide adequate protection'?"
The whole audience was in an uproar.
Zhou Feng's face changed again and again, and in the end it turned completely ashen.
"You've violated discipline by talking back to your superiors," she said in a deep voice. "You'll be punished by running ten laps outside immediately."
The tall young man didn't try to argue and simply replied, "Yes."
He immediately took off his cotton coat, covered his whole body with mental power, pushed open the door of the base and walked out.
I didn't even bring a thermostat bracelet.
Although they spoke frankly before, the moment Zhou Feng gave the order, they showed the high level of obedience unique to soldiers.
Gu Qiongsheng was secretly shocked and hurriedly pulled Zhou Feng back: "Sister Zhou, it's not that serious, actually..."
"It's okay," Zhou Feng said coldly, "No one has taken care of them for a long time, and they're almost getting too arrogant. If anyone has any opinions, don't hold them in. Stand up and run together!"
A bunch of people stood up.
In a short while, there were only a few people left in the camp.
The soldiers could not disobey Zhou Feng's orders, but they used this method to convey a clear signal to Gu Qiongsheng and the others: this garrison does not welcome those who come here to gild their reputations.
Cao Xinming had finally come to his senses. His brows drooped, his face wrinkled almost like a bitter melon. He sighed, "Hey, Lieutenant Colonel, if you had said you were here to gain... experience, I wouldn't have said so much. It's a shame I took so much effort to introduce them just now."
"Forget it," he pulled off his cotton coat and walked out the door. "You guys sit down first, I'm going to go run laps first - oh, what's going on?"
By the time everyone had gone out for a run, the hall, which had been bustling with activity just a moment earlier, suddenly became empty. Gu Qiongsheng was surprised to find that Zhou Feng's face, which had been sullen just a moment ago, had gradually improved, with a softer look appearing at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
"You're a bunch of stubborn asses," she muttered softly, insultingly, "You'll get your comeuppance someday."
Zhou Feng immediately turned around, helped Gu Qiongsheng and the other man sit down, and said softly, "Don't be angry. They don't understand the situation and have some misunderstandings."
"It's okay," Gu Qiongsheng shook his head, "We understand."
If they were the border guards, they would probably not be in a good mood right now.
Therapists have always been a synonym for useless in the Federation, and Zhou Qing is thin and frail. If you think about it carefully, they do look like a weak duo who come here to gild themselves.
But there was one thing that Gu Qiongsheng was particularly concerned about.
"Sister Zhou, what did they say happened three years ago?"
After a moment of silence, Zhou Feng let out a long sigh.
Her voice was extremely low, echoing throughout the empty room. "Three years ago... a high-ranking military official wanted his son to gain experience before entering higher education. This whole gimmick was meant to gild his future career."
"The requirements were very strict. We couldn't go to dangerous places or war-torn areas. Furthermore, now is the information age, and many things can inadvertently leave traces. To avoid being exposed, the senior executive ultimately chose the Yinhui base on Yalan Star."
"Yinhui, one of the three major legions, is well-known and well-known. Yalan Star is remote, with poor signal quality, and it's hard to reach anywhere. He went back and boasted about it all he wanted. He secretly contacted other lieutenant colonels without going through me or informing the general, and secretly sent his son to Yalan Star."
"At first, it was fine. The soldiers provided him with good food and drink. As long as he stayed in the base and didn't cause trouble, they would give him whatever he wanted."
"But not long after, the child started to feel bored and wanted to go out on patrol with the soldiers. Once out, he disobeyed orders and ran around everywhere. Unexpectedly, he got lost and triggered... a massive avalanche."
Gu Qiongsheng looked a little stern.
When she first arrived, she heard that there were very few insects on the planet Yalan, and avalanches were the most terrible disasters.
In the face of the mighty power of nature, spiritual warriors can only linger for a while longer. Unless rescued in time, they will inevitably die.
Zhou Feng sighed, "The situation was dire at the time, but they were lucky. They sent a distress signal as soon as the avalanche was triggered."
"The base immediately sent people to rescue them, but unfortunately the distance was too far, and the snow and wind blocked the way, which delayed them a bit. By the time they arrived, they only rescued the dead boy, but the patrol soldier who was with him had already died."
"Wait," Gu Qiongsheng couldn't help but interrupt, "This isn't right. How could it have already been—"
Although the mental power level of those assigned to patrol Yalan Star may not be as high as that of the soldiers fighting on the front line, they are still successfully awakened mental warriors, at least with a configuration between CB level.
How could he not be able to survive a student who just entered college?
Zhou Feng said softly, "When we found them, all the warm clothes and equipment they had were concentrated on that kid, and the soldier who died... had a wound on his back."
"That kid said he was attacked by a ferocious beast, but everyone knows that the only beast on Yalan Star that can be called ferocious is a ferocious creature called the Snow Beast. However, they tend to only move within a fixed area, and the probability of them voluntarily leaving their habitat is very small."
"The location of the snow beast's settlement is hundreds of kilometers away from where they met their end."
"Plus, that guy was frightened, and upon returning to the main planet, he immediately reported the fallen soldiers for failing to protect them. His family is powerful, and with a little guidance during the trial, he ruined the soldier's martyrdom honor. So in the end, many soldiers on Yalan Star speculated that the boy had ambushed the patrol soldiers and faked his injuries in order to get all the warmth equipment."
"Once this happened, everyone's heart went cold. That's why they acted like that when they heard you were still high school students."
Zhou Feng said in a low voice: "Sorry, Qiongsheng, it was my negligence. I forgot to consider this."
"How about I take you to other planets? There are so many Yinhui bases, you can choose whichever you want."
"It's okay," Gu Qiongsheng said with a smile, "It's really okay, Sister Zhou, I think it's great here."
She stood up and looked out through the thick windshield at the snow and wind.
And the small but strong figure running in the wind and snow.
Outside, the sky was covered with frost and looked bleak. Not far away, the dark forest was swaying in the wind and waves, like a dark shadow of the earth.
"We are not here to gild our reputations."
Gu Qiongsheng whispered, his voice unusually firm: "We are different from the people before us."
"Sister Zhou, you know."
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