Chapter 117 Traps and Prey
Wen Le and the others had no idea what kind of earth-shattering surprise was waiting for them. They were still happily discussing what kind of work they would be assigned after meeting their seniors in the outing.
When they arrived at the base, they were stunned to see it completely deserted, with some areas clearly ravaged by artillery fire. Everyone stared at each other, unsure what to say. What was going on? Had they been abandoned the moment they arrived? Or were the pirates this time so formidable that even the Ninth Legion couldn't defeat them?
The messy scene after the defeat made it hard for them not to think too much.
"What's going on?" Someone finally couldn't help but ask out loud.
Weren't we supposed to let them obey the elders' instructions and learn from them? Why did they change their minds once they arrived? Not only that, they even disappeared. What's going on?
But everyone was not completely fooled and immediately realized that something was wrong. The squad leader's face suddenly changed: "Oh no, we've fallen into a trap! Everyone, hide quickly!"
This is like playing an empty city trick on them. What's even more terrifying is that they are afraid that they have been surrounded and they are being caught in a trap. If they are caught in such a place, there will be no one to help them.
What puzzled him was why the Ninth Legion, having been defeated, hadn't sent a distress signal. He hadn't even received any information beforehand, yet they had simply arrived without a care in the world. Either there was a traitor on board, or this empty city tactic was a ploy specifically for their benefit. It was bizarre no matter how he considered it.
What the squad leader could think of, the others could naturally think of as well, but it was too late to hide. Suddenly, the lights flickered on, and applause erupted from the watchtower overhead. At that moment, this series of applause reverberated like thunder in everyone's ears. Many, like frightened deer, looked up at the watchtower from which the applause had come. A figure had suddenly appeared atop it. Because of the backlight, no one could clearly see his face; they could only tell from his build that he was a man.
Fortunately, everyone had been on several missions with the instructor before, and although they panicked at first, they quickly calmed down. They couldn't panic at this moment. If they panicked, the enemy would likely exploit their weaknesses and wipe them out. If that happened, there would be no chance of escape.
With a formidable enemy at hand, it was no time to engage in small-group tactics. Everyone quickly gathered, with the squad leaders at the forefront, to secretly discuss countermeasures using newly learned codewords. Now certain they were surrounded, the key was how to break out. Therefore, those strategies couldn't be discussed openly; if overheard, they would be even more vulnerable.
Little did they know that their every move was recorded by invisible mini military cameras, which then transmitted it to the command room and played out through surveillance video.
Meanwhile, several familiar faces were sitting in the monitoring room, including Wen Le's school's dean and the "missing" Ninth Army Corps commander. The other three were the deans of the friendly schools participating in the joint exercise and the adjutant of the Ninth Army Corps commander.
When they saw Wen Le and his men using the code they'd learned to discuss countermeasures, they couldn't help but laugh. The Ninth Legion's commander even said, "Interesting." It was just too foolish, using codewords right in front of the enemy. They thought they were clever, but they were actually foolish, and their tactics were completely flawed in front of these veterans. If this were a real battle, facing real blood-infected pirates, they would have been wiped out by now. There was no need to wait for them to come up with a plan. In this situation, it was a life-or-death struggle. The enemy wouldn't give them a chance to resist.
After all, they are just newly hatched chicks, so they are still too tender.
Thinking of this, he felt somewhat discouraged, and his hope of discovering talent was extinguished. What a mistake. If he had known he was just playing house with these rookies, he might as well have gone back to sleep in. His time was precious, and it was a shame to waste it all here.
The adjutant understood his boss's thoughts very well. Afraid that he had really fallen asleep here, he quickly bent down and whispered in his ear: "According to reliable intelligence, that person's apprentice is here." It was the genius therapist who became famous with a bottle of durian-flavored anesthetic~ He thought about it, and the other party's name seemed to be Wen something. Look at his memory. It even failed at the critical moment. He must eat more brain-nourishing foods when he goes back.
The adjutant said this to avoid his superiors being disrespectful in front of the school's senior management. After all, these three schools sent a large number of talents to the various regiments every year. The number of key positions their Ninth Regiment secured this year depended entirely on the advice of these senior management. Even the most powerful regiments could not withstand the loss of new talent over a long period of time without new recruits. Therefore, offending these school executives was definitely not a wise choice.
The Legion Commander naturally understood his adjutant's underlying meaning and hummed in agreement, not intending to speak out. This was the Ninth Legion's internal affairs, unrelated to outsiders' knowledge. However, his interest was piqued. That person cherished his disciple so much that he even used his privileges to upgrade his personal information security level to A, making some information invisible even to him. As for the videos and photos circulating online, they had all been altered by the mainframe. At first glance, they looked similar to the real person, but a closer look revealed a world of difference, even down to their most distinctive features, temperament and demeanor.
If someone really used those photos and videos to find someone, they might be able to pick out a bunch of targets from the crowd, but not a single one of them would be related to the real person. This is the power of the mastermind: if it wants to hide someone, no one can find them.
The legion commander finally perked up after thinking about this. He glanced at the three deans, but couldn't resist his curiosity and approached Qian Mingyu, nicknamed the Smiling Tiger by the students under the Imperial Capital Military Control, and asked, "Dean Qian, considering our past friendship, could you tell me which one is the other's beloved disciple?"
He was incredibly curious. The man who had willfully abandoned his position as president had been wandering around for decades, appearing and disappearing like a ghost, leaving no one able to track him down. Then, unexpectedly, he revealed a bombshell—he had an apprentice! And this apprentice was a legendary prodigy with incredible talent. This had everyone completely blown away. Hadn't they seen the Healer Association go into a frenzy when the news was first announced?
But that young apprentice truly deserves the title of genius. At seventeen, he was already a three-star healer. It's said that he deliberately suppressed his leveling to lay a solid foundation for his apprentice, otherwise, three stars wouldn't be that simple. Tsk tsk, the more I think about it, the more curious I get. What should I do?
Qian Mingyu glanced at his old acquaintance with a half-smile. They had been dealing with each other for decades, and he knew his character inside and out. So, he simply said, "Forget it. That precious child will be used as a living signboard in our school. We won't just give him up easily. I advise you to give up on this idea. Besides, his master had already said when he sent him here that he wasn't to be sent to the front lines until he became a four-star healer."
As the saying goes, one cherishes one's apprentice. If this were his apprentice, he'd probably protect her even more closely than the other one. This precious child has the potential to become a four-star healer before turning twenty. His future is limitless. Sending him to the front lines would be a waste. Failure to cherish talent is a surefire punishment.
As the two talked, the principals of the other two schools felt mixed emotions. On the one hand, they lamented why they didn't have such good luck, and on the other hand, they were envious of their old rival Qian. They didn't know what kind of luck this guy had that good things always happened to him.
It's really infuriating and makes my teeth itch.
Not to mention the group of old foxes in the monitoring room who were playing witty games with each other, the students outside who were regarded as chicks by these old foxes had also discussed a countermeasure, which was to hide in the base.
They realized that after all this time, these people had just surrounded them without taking any action. There must be something fishy going on. They figured they wouldn't just attack them. So, if that was the case, they might as well hide in the base, perhaps there was still a chance of escape. Without hesitation, they joined hands and, while the surrounding people weren't paying attention, they rushed towards the base.
There were over a thousand of them, so there was bound to be one who could escape. Then, they could ask for help from the outside world, and there would be a chance of rescue. However, if there was no rescue, they couldn't pin all their hopes on others; they still had to find a way to save themselves.
The man in the watchtower chuckled at this, thinking these kids were quite interesting. They had seen through their plan so quickly and found the most correct way to escape. However...hiding in the base was indeed the most correct method, but it also depended on whether they had the ability to escape.
The so-called advanced trap is designed to make the prey jump into it on their own initiative. Not only does it make them jump in, but they are also trapped inside, unable to escape. Watching the prey struggle hopelessly in the trap is the most interesting part of the hunting process.
But when acting out a full performance, one must always act realistically. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing to be seen through by a group of rookies. As a senior, he would teach these juniors a lesson today.
He gestured downward, and the gunmen who had been surrounding the group of students suddenly opened fire on Wen Le and the others. They showed no mercy, and several students running behind were struck by the energy guns and fell to the ground. Blood soon oozed from their bodies, the glaring red especially striking under the incandescent light.
Everyone was horrified at the sight. Some classmates of the fallen couldn't help but stop to save them, but were dragged away by those around them. Saving someone at this moment would be suicide. They only had a little over a thousand men, and because of their carelessness, they were completely unprepared. Leaving these unarmed people to fight the enemy was like trying to hit a rock with an egg. Rather than trying to block the gun holes here, it would be better to escape to the base and find another way.
At least they cannot destroy the base, unless the enemy comes with warships to attack it. Otherwise, this base built with special materials is the safest.
Seeing that they were trying to escape, the people who were surrounding them from behind also chased after them with energy guns, shooting at them as they chased.
People kept falling down, and some were so frightened that they ran directly into the enemy's guns and were shot to pieces on the spot. Everyone couldn't help but shed tears. It was the first time they realized how weak they were and how vulnerable they were in the face of absolute force.
Some people even swore: If they can escape danger this time, they must go back and practice hard, and will never let themselves be beaten passively like they are now!
Just when everyone thought they were about to lose more of their companions, the bandits who were chasing them suddenly fell down as if possessed. It turned out that Wen Le's patch had taken effect. Because they were within the effective range of the patch, they were infected. Even though they had prepared themselves and wore special gas masks, they still couldn't escape the disaster.
Wen Le narrowed his eyes and glanced back, his gaze fixed on the other person's gas mask. An idea suddenly occurred to him. These people must have known about them beforehand, especially him, a healer who also knew how to make medicine, otherwise they wouldn't even be wearing a gas mask. However, he sneered inwardly. Did he think wearing a newly developed gas mask would protect him from his medicine? He was dreaming!
This was his latest drug, so of course, a gas mask couldn't protect him from it. He'd been tortured countless times by Mr. Tiger in order to create this anesthetic, and during that time, he'd even been dreaming about mixing the drug, trying to find the perfect ratio.
Now it seems that all the hard work was not in vain, because it came in handy at the critical moment.
If you ever look down on me again, then try these potions! Even a dad can be a hero!
At this moment, everyone in the monitoring room straightened their backs, staring at the virtual display without blinking, their eyes bright with astonishing brightness.
"It can't even protect against the latest gas masks... Well, this is really a treasure..." The legion commander couldn't help but murmured.
Qian Mingyu's face was beaming at this moment. Their school was about to become rich!
The students from the other two schools were so jealous their eyes were bloodshot, wishing they could turn into red-eyed rabbits. The Imperial Capital Military Control Bureau had to have saved the galaxy in their past life to find such a treasure in this lifetime! If the situation weren't so awkward, they'd be crying out to the heavens to send a treasure like this to their own school!
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