Chapter 27 New Commission (Part 2)
Seven days later, Gu Nian arrived as scheduled and came to the factory base of Action Team 2 again. According to the agreement between her and Yu Ziqiu, she and other members were about to escort three researchers to the wilderness to start work.
Gu Nian came to the factory again. This time, there were two armored off-road vehicles parked in front of the factory, and several people were standing in front of the doors.
The leader was a sturdy man with his hair standing upside down, next to him stood a short boy, and the other one was the blue-eyed girl who followed Yu Ziqiu last time, her name seemed to be Lan Shuangshuang?
The sturdy man saw Gu Nian coming and raised his hand to signal: "Gu Nian?"
Gu Nian walked over and nodded, "Who are you?"
Lan Shuangshuang took the initiative to take over the conversation. "Sister Yu is out on business today, so she won't come to send us off on the mission. Let me introduce them." She pointed to the sturdy man: "This is Zhao Cheng, the captain of this mission. He will be in charge of the escort work this time." She pointed to the short boy next to her: "This is Ruan Lu, like me, he is a member of the escort team."
After the brief introduction, Zhao Cheng said in a deep voice: "Okay, now that Gu Nian is here, we are still short of one person. Once everyone is here, we will set off immediately."
Ruan Lu, the short boy, frowned and said in dissatisfaction: "This guy named Yue Jian is too arrogant, isn't he? Isn't it common sense to arrive early for a mission?"
Zhao Cheng tried to comfort him helplessly: "Forget it, there are still five minutes until the gathering time. I think everyone will be here soon, just wait a little longer."
Five minutes passed in a flash, but the person hadn't arrived yet. When Ruan Lu was about to criticize the guy named Yue Jian for being late, he saw a tall man approaching from a distance.
He was wearing a black mountaineering suit, combat boots of the same color that outlined his calves with thin and powerful curves, and a snow-white fur scarf, with the same silver-white hair hanging on his shoulders. Because his shoulders were too broad and he was too tall, the simple black mountaineering suit only brought out his perfect body proportions, and because his neck was slender and straight, and his face was too handsome, the white fur scarf only showed his nobleness.
Yue Jian's beauty is radiant, his eyes are gentle but firm, and his beautiful hair is faintly glowing, which makes it easy for people to think of him as a god. He should appear in an elegant and noble ancient courtyard, or a towering medieval castle, but not in this shabby industrial park.
He looked at everyone apologetically and said, "I'm sorry. I had a fortune-teller's fortune told me that it was not advisable to leave early, so I left a little late."
Even the sound is pleasant, like clear spring water or breaking jade.
Ruan Lu scratched her head and said, "It's okay..." Wow, why can't I complain when I see this person? Is this the lethality of top-notch beauty?
Zhao Cheng coughed and said, "Now that everyone is here, let's go. Shuangshuang, go call out the three researchers."
Lan Shuangshuang entered the factory and came back soon, followed by two men and one woman. They were all wearing glasses and exuded a scholarly air. They were the researchers who were traveling here.
The older middle-aged researcher waved and greeted everyone, smiling and saying, "Thank you. I am senior researcher He Cong, and these two are my students, intermediate researchers Xi Hao and Gong Hong, who are my assistants in this wilderness field trip."
Zhao Cheng said politely, "Okay, then we all know each other. Let's go, Researcher He, we are all here, let's set off as soon as possible."
The group got into two off-road vehicles and drove out of Jiangcheng city.
Ruan Lu, Yue Jian, and Gu Nian were assigned to one car, along with researcher Xi Hao, and Ruan Lu was responsible for driving.
Although he was still driving, Ruan Lu was still a young man, so he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He asked curiously, "Yuejian, you said you had a fortune-teller when you were leaving the house, and the fortune-teller said it was not a good time to leave early. What does that mean?"
Yuejian raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't you know? What I am best at is divination."
Ruan Lu couldn't believe it, his face wrinkled. "Ah? Didn't the captain say that you were an expert introduced by the forum? Can someone who is good at fighting also learn that weird divination?"
Yue Jian said in a gentle and elegant manner, "Whether I am an expert or not is just an exaggeration. I am indeed an expert in divination, but I am not very good at fighting. I can only say that practice makes perfect. After all, when I do divination, I often encounter some difficult customers. Once I say something they don't want to hear, I will always get into trouble. Whether it is to get out of trouble or to get the divination money back, I have to fight. I guess I will learn it slowly."
Just as Yuejian finished speaking, a faint meow was heard.
Lotus came out to get some fresh air. It poked its head out from Gu Nian's collar, pulled itself out gently, looked around, and then chose to lie on Gu Nian's lap. Gu Nian chose to bring Lotus with him on this mission. In the wilderness, Lotus's ability to identify plants might be helpful.
Seeing that everyone turned their attention to Lianhua, Gu Nian said, "This is my kitten, and he will come with me. Don't worry, he is very well behaved and loves to be clean."
Lotus used her claws to nudge Gu Nian, who understood and took out a bag of dried fish from her backpack to feed it.
Yuejian said happily: "That's great, I didn't expect to have such an elegant kitten as a companion on this journey."
Ruan Lu laughed dryly: "Haha, is that so? I think so too." He drove with his fingers so hard that veins almost popped out. In his heart, he was complaining wildly, what's wrong with the outsiders invited this time! A fortune teller who learned to fight on the way, a woman who never forgot to bring her pet when she went out, Captain, are these two people you found reliable?
Regardless of what Ruan Lu thought, the car quickly drove to the campsite at the entrance of the wilderness. The off-road vehicle could not drive into the wilderness, so it could only stop here. The group picked up their luggage and prepared to go into the wilderness.
Two intermediate researchers, Xi Hao and Gong Hong, took out a batch of communicators from the box and gave one to everyone present. They were the same type as the one that Uncle Yiyan gave to Gu Nian. Even in the wilderness, this communicator can communicate within a thousand meters, making it convenient for the team to keep in touch. Perhaps because the wilderness is most seriously affected by the spiritual tide, in the wilderness, the original mobile phones, satellite phones and other communication tools all fail, and only this special communicator can be used within a certain range. Therefore, this type of communicator produced by Noah Research Institute is expensive on the market and rarely circulated. However, because this team is originally carrying out the mission of Noah Research Institute, I think He Cong, as a senior researcher, can still apply for a batch of communicators as travel supplies.
The leader of the researchers, He Cong, was holding a tablet computer and showing everyone an electronic map of the wilderness outside Jiangcheng. Compared to the map at the official recycling point of the camp, the one in his hand was obviously more detailed, with many plant and animal habitats marked. However, the electronic map area beyond 300 kilometers was painted gray, with only simple markings of the terrain and a few scattered plant growth areas.
He Cong clicked a few times on the electronic map, and a red line appeared on the electronic map: "This is our planned exploration route this time. We need to stop at these three locations first. There are some interesting plants here, but there are too few specimens in the institute, so we need to collect more. After that, we will go to this gray area. There are only scattered intelligence from a few wilderness hunters. Our mission this time is to explore this gray area and strive to advance another 100 kilometers to preliminarily detect the distribution of plants and animals."
After saying that, He Cong passed the map to everyone present.
Zhao Cheng also quickly arranged the formation, with him and Lan Shuangshuang leading the charge, Gu Nian and Yue Jian in the middle protecting the three researchers, and Ruan Lu at the back on guard, and they pushed forward in this way.
The first place you need to go to is at a small stream. According to the map, there are no dangerous creatures gathered nearby. What you need to collect is a kind of spring grass that grows by the river.
The group walked quietly towards the stream. The wilderness was so quiet that even the sound of the wind and insects disappeared, leaving only the tall trees that towered into the sky, swaying like ghosts. As we walked along, the scenery along the way seemed to be almost the same, and we always felt like we were walking on a road with no end.
Zhao Cheng has been paying attention to the pedometer on his wrist. There is a pointer indicating the direction on the top of the dial, and a red line in the middle indicates the route traveled. The electronic screen below displays numbers, that is, how many meters he has moved in this direction.
There were still 500 meters to the stream. Zhao Cheng felt relieved and gradually heard the sound of gurgling water. Everyone quickened their pace tacitly.
Soon, a shallow river appeared in the field of vision. It was about two meters wide, with broad trees growing on both sides. The weeds on the shore were knee-deep, and the crystal clear river water flowed forward.
"Teacher, this is it!" Gong Hong pointed to the shore in surprise: "There, that's the spring grass!"
He Cong's expression brightened: "Yes, it's here! Quick, let's collect it quickly!"
Xi Hao deftly opened the collection box he carried with him, and the three of them plunged into the spring grass and quickly began collecting samples.
Zhao Cheng carefully checked the river and estimated that it was only one meter deep. He thought that such a small river should not be able to support any large aquatic life. He couldn't help but relax and ordered: "Everyone take turns to rest."
Lan Shuangshuang cheered and without hesitation, she took out some water from her backpack and started drinking it. She was very thirsty after walking all the way.
Gu Nian was not in a hurry to rest, but stood cautiously not far from the three researchers, with Lianhua lying quietly on her shoulder.
Yuejian also came over, his eyes slightly narrowed, and he kept looking carefully at the river.
Xi Hao carefully dug out a whole spring grass. The blades of this grass are about a foot long and are stacked like springs in a wavy shape. It is a non-aggressive mutant plant, and the material made of it has amazing elasticity. One of Xi Hao's research projects is to study the use of spring grass to make shoe soles. If the research is successful, the elastic shoes made in this way can use the elastic force to jump three to five meters in one step, and can move quickly in complex terrain.
Thinking of his own research, Xi Hao's heart was burning with enthusiasm, and he collected spring grass more carefully. His research required a large amount of spring grass as material.
Suddenly, a black shadow jumped out of the water, pounced on Xi Hao like lightning, and went straight for his head!
The shadow came at him with lightning speed. Xi Hao could only see two rows of inverted triangle-shaped sharp teeth in its wide-open mouth, rushing towards him frantically, about to bite his throat to pieces in the next moment! Having been doing research in the laboratory for a long time, he had no time to react.
Seeing that Xi Hao was about to die, a sword stabbed out from the side. The sword was as powerful as a rainbow and exuded a chilling chill. It just hit the mouth of the black shadow. The black shadow couldn't avoid it, and a big gap appeared between the two rows of sharp teeth.
Only then did Xi Hao see clearly that it was a creature like a water snake.
When the water snake saw that its attack missed, it quickly shot out and seemed to be trying to escape. But it was too late. A sharp arrow shot through the air and pierced it through. With a snap, the water snake fell into the stream, spreading a large pool of blood.
Yue Jian put away the sword in his hand and praised Gu Nian, saying, "Your archery skills are excellent."
Gu Nian put down her bow. "You too." She looked at the blood, her eyebrows as beautiful as distant mountains knitted together, and she said quickly, "Quick, collect them quickly, the smell of blood will spread soon!"
Xi Hao finally came to his senses, his hands trembling, and he tried hard to focus his mind and speed up his movements.
The water snake attacked, Yue Jian blocked it, Gu Nian shot it, and it happened quickly. In just one or two minutes, Zhao Cheng, Ruan Lu and Lan Shuangshuang also quickly walked towards Xi Hao. Hearing Gu Nian's words, the three of them were instantly alert and immediately began to be on guard.
Lotus stood up suddenly, and its little furry paws hurriedly patted Gu Nian's face, pointing towards the other side.
Gu Nian looked up subconsciously, and saw a sky full of light bullets suddenly rushing towards this place from the other side of the river!
The three researchers opened their eyes wide in horror. Gu Nian reacted instantly, picked up the iron collection box on the ground, squatted down to block it in front of him, and did not forget to pull Xi Hao with one hand. Yue Jian on the side also reacted immediately, swung his sword and spun it, and several light bullets flying in front of him were quickly shattered.
Ruan Lu quickly pulled out two swords, which fired a rain of fire, blocking the light bullets in front of him and protecting He Cong who was closest to him. Lan Shuangshuang dodged quickly, her speed was so terrifying that even in a hurry, the light bullets did not touch her clothes. As for Zhao Cheng, he took out a heavy sword to block, and Gong Hong hid behind him.
In the green jungle on the other side, a group of eyes suddenly opened. They were mutant frogs that smelled the blood. They opened their mouths wide, and the light bullets just now were spewed out from them. Many mutant frogs have begun to jump to the other side, intending to attack Gu Nian and his group.
"Be careful, it's a group of mutant frogs, be careful not to get hit by their tongues!" Zhao Cheng shouted. He only had time to say this sentence before three and a half-human-tall mutant frogs rushed in front of him.
Yuejian quickly swept the battlefield and roughly counted the mutant frogs, there were at least fifty of them, and more than half of them were still eyeing the other side, and could spit out light bullets again at any time, while the other mutant frogs had already rushed to this side.
He quickly said to Gu Nian, "I'll deal with the close ones, and you deal with the far ones, how about that?"
Gu Nian simply nodded. After killing the water snake, she had already seen that Yue Jian had extraordinary swordsmanship, and close combat was not her strong point. The right answer was to cooperate with each other to quickly kill the mutant frogs. She quickly pulled out a dagger and threw it to Xi Hao: "Take it." Then she quickly cooperated with Yue Jian.
A group of mutant frogs surrounded Gu Nian and the other two. Yue Jian turned his wrist and swung his sword, and a burst of blood appeared. The head of a mutant frog was lifted high and flew into the air.
Gu Nian bent his bow and shot arrows at the other side in a row. Each arrow went straight through the mutant frog's head.
Zhao Cheng, Ruan Lu, and Lan Shuangshuang were all fighting with the mutant frogs, and they also had to beware of the light bullets shot from the other side. For a while, they were caught in a dilemma and were injured one after another. Just when they were extremely anxious, the pressure gradually eased. When they looked again, they saw that most of the mutant frogs on the other side had been reduced! They all fell under Gu Nian's archery! The frogs on the other side seemed to realize the horror of the arrows. The strongest leading mutant frog raised its neck and croaked, and all the mutant frogs quickly rushed over!
Yue Jian had also cleared the mutant frogs that were entangled with him. He signaled Xi Hao to stay in this area for the time being. He turned his arrows and quickly cleared the mutant frogs where Zhao Cheng and the other two were. Gu Nian quickly retreated, and after keeping a distance, he continued to shoot the mutant frogs without hesitation. With Yue Jian at the head, Xi Hao in the middle, and Gu Nian at the back, a fan-shaped vacuum zone was formed. Any mutant frogs that attacked here would be quickly killed and could not get close.
This fan-shaped area was moving towards Zhao Cheng and the other two. Soon, with the combined efforts of several people, the group of mutant frogs was completely wiped out.
Ruan Lu fell exhausted in the grass, so tired that he could hardly lift his fingers. He felt exhausted and scared. Lan Shuangshuang and Zhao Cheng were still struggling to stand. Zhao Cheng was the most seriously injured, because he was injured while protecting Gong Hong.
Zhao Cheng panted and said, "Hurry up and collect them. Let's leave quickly."
The three researchers also quickly realized that it was no longer safe to leave so many mutant frog corpses here, and they had to retreat quickly. He Cong took out a small black box about 50 centimeters long. The surface of the box was engraved with strange and complex patterns. There was a spirit crystal in the center of each pattern. After opening it, the surface of the black box glowed with a strange blue light. Gong Hong and Xi Hao quickly put the spring grass they had just collected into the black box. They put in dozens of spring grass, but the black box still devoured tirelessly.
"Noah Research Institute's latest product is a folding space box, which has a two-square-meter space hidden inside." Seeing everyone's astonished eyes, He Cong explained.
Gu Nian stared at the black box thoughtfully. Although this thing was far inferior to the farm space, it was still a space, right? If I had the chance, I should make one myself. Who knows, I could use it to conceal my tracks one day.
Zhao Cheng was slightly startled, but he quickly calmed down. After all, he had seen many black technologies of Noah Research Institute. He looked around and found that Gu Nian and Yue Jian, the two foreign aids, still retained their full combat power. He scratched his head and said earnestly: "Gu Nian, Yue Jian, you are responsible for vigilance, we will quickly treat the wounds."
Gu Nian and Yue Jian simply nodded. Zhao Cheng quickly sat on the ground and bandaged his wounds. Ruan Lu also struggled. He was also hit by the mutant frog's tongue. The layers of barbs on the tongue took away the epidermis and flesh.
The battle was over at this time, and Ruan Lu began to check the wound. His face changed, and there was a layer of ice crystals solidified on the wound, as if it had cracked from the middle and the ice layer had grown out of it.
"Report, I got a cold injury, and my right arm can't move." Ruan Lu gritted his teeth and said solemnly. He was good at firearms, and although he could shoot accurately with both hands, once his right hand could not move, his combat effectiveness would instantly drop by half. For the team now in the wilderness, he became a burden.
Zhao Cheng felt a chill in his heart. He was also rubbed by the mutant frog's tongue. Now that he had left the battle, although his condition was not as serious as Ruan Lu's, his reaction was obviously slow and his control over his limbs was weakened. The body could not heal the wounds caused by this kind of cold air. Unless he returned to the Noah Institute for specialized treatment, he would have to remain in a paralyzed state, which was extremely fatal in battle!
Zhao Cheng looked at Lan Shuangshuang solemnly, and the other party nodded bitterly. It seemed that the situation was similar.
Is this mission going to fail? Zhao Cheng felt as if an invisible heavy stone had fallen into his stomach, and he felt anxious and uncomfortable.
"Try this." Gu Nian heard their conversation. She took out two boxes of medicine from her backpack and handed them over.
"Cold Injury Ointment!" Ruan Lu exclaimed, and suddenly his sadness turned into joy. "Captain, there is a way! This thing is specially used to treat wounds caused by cold air!"
Zhao Cheng's mood suddenly rose from the bottom of the valley, Lan Shuangshuang was also excited, and the three of them quickly shared it. Sure enough, as soon as the cold injury ointment was applied, the limb paralysis caused by the cold quickly subsided, and the ice crystals also melted!
Zhao Cheng looked at Gu Nian in surprise and emotion: "Where did you get this good stuff? We have all lined up to buy it, but we have never been able to get it." Zhao Cheng had also heard of the Cold Injury Ointment. This ointment was originally used as a frostbite medicine and became popular in Yangcheng. But some hunter discovered that this cold injury ointment can treat wounds caused by cold air, and it quickly became popular. Many people waited in grocery stores, but they couldn't get it. After Zhao Cheng knew about this thing, he also bought it on the market at a high price, but he never bought it!
Gu Nian touched his nose and said vaguely: "I'm lucky. I bought more of this medicine before it became popular."
Zhao Cheng and the others were inexplicably moved. Everyone knew that the cold injury ointment was a good thing, but they didn't expect that Gu Nian, the foreign aid, was so generous and gave two boxes at once.
Zhao Cheng immediately said: "After we go back, the credit points for these two boxes of medicine will be reimbursed. Don't worry, I'll remember this favor! Call me if you have any problems in the future, and I'll definitely help!" He was originally a straightforward person, and was unwilling to cooperate with outsiders because the strength of the foreign aid he had hired before was not satisfactory. Now, seeing that Gu Nian and Yue Jian were skilled, and Gu Nian was so generous, his prejudice melted like ice and snow.
Ruan Lu was secretly repenting in his heart. How could he have doubted the strength of Gu Nian and Yue Jian before! If Gu Nian hadn't quickly killed the mutant frog on the other side and suppressed the light bullet spray, and Yue Jian hadn't come to help him pick up a sneak attacking mutant frog, he might have died here today!
Lan Shuangshuang also admired Gu Nian and Yue Jian in her heart. In terms of skills and combat quality, these two people can be ranked in the whole Jiangcheng. However, this still depends on Sister Yu's experienced and accurate vision, and she has a keen eye for identifying pearls, Lan Shuangshuang, a senior Yu fan, thought so.
"Captain Zhao, we have finished collecting the information and can head to the next location." He Cong said as he brought Gong Hong and Xi Hao over.
Zhao Cong and the other two had already bandaged their wounds. After getting rid of the sluggishness and numbness caused by the cold, they hurried away and continued their journey deeper into the jungle.
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