Chapter 130: Chapter 131: Special Markings
Gao Zhong Dui called the police’s on-site commander and headed toward Chang Ning with Ma Da and Geng Jihui.
For something that could threaten local safety, they couldn’t possibly leave out the police comrades.
The army and police have different responsibilities; unless necessary, Gao Zhong Dui wouldn’t exclude the police comrades in this regard, after all, they are the professionals in this area.
The group hurriedly followed Geng Jihui to the temporary command post set up by B Group, where Gao Zhong Dui’s tiger-like eyes immediately locked onto Chang Ning, who was lying on the car hood studying the internal structure of the fast food restaurant.
Noticing someone approaching, Chang Ning straightened up and turned around. Seeing it was Gao Zhong Dui, he immediately stood at attention; he didn’t salute. They had regulations against saluting superiors during missions.
“I heard Forest Wolf say you had some incredible discovery.”
Chang Ning couldn’t discern any emotion from Gao Zhong Dui’s tone.
“Actually, those conclusions all come from my guesses; there’s not a single piece of solid evidence.”
Chang Ning honestly explained to the leaders.
To catch a thief, you need evidence of the crime, let alone when he hadn’t even seen the suspect.
Truth be told, this was only because B Group’s members, Gao Zhong Dui, and Ma Da knew Chang Ning wasn’t one to speak without thinking. If the person in charge of this operation wasn’t Gao Zhong Dui, Chang Ning would definitely get a reprimand.
“Cut the chit-chat. Everyone knows what kind of person Sha Po Lang is; hurry up and show us the useful stuff.”
Clearly, when Gao Zhong Dui spoke, he subconsciously ignored the police comrades beside him.
“This assault team member, you also know the situation on site. Our time is extremely precious. The bandit’s emotions are unstable; they might harm the hostage any second now. So please don’t fool around!”
The on-site commander characterized Chang Ning’s behavior as fooling around; this wording was extremely harsh.
‘This old guy must have taken the wrong medicine.’
Being spoken to like this, Chang Ning naturally felt unhappy inside.
In fact, except for this commander, everyone’s faces from Wolf Fang looked bad. Gao Zhong Dui’s face immediately turned grim the moment the commander finished speaking to Chang Ning.
B Group’s members were wearing masks, so their grim expressions weren’t seen by the commander.
In his view, even if Gao Zhong Dui’s face turned uglier, he still had to say those words. Everyone was waiting for a hostage rescue plan, only to be held up by an unverified message—or rather, a guess.
What did they think rescuing hostages was? Training or child’s play? If the rescue failed, who could bear the weight of a life!
The more he thought, the angrier the commander got; his face was even darker than Gao Zhong Dui’s. He was determined that if this assault team member in front of him couldn’t produce useful evidence to prove the guess, he would make him pay, even if it meant offending the major beside him.
Chang Ning still knew the priorities; he wasn’t like some novel protagonists who couldn’t stand doubt from others. This was also why, despite feeling unhappy, Chang Ning didn’t hold a grudge against the commander or immediately jump up to slap his face.
Besides, even though they belonged to different units, in terms of rank, this commander who harshly reprimanded him was one level higher than Gao Zhong Dui. Making a leader lose face on site—how could Chang Ning mix in Donghai City afterward?
Ninety percent of the plot in the Special Forces World revolved around Donghai City. Now that Chang Ning was involved, some things couldn’t be avoided in the future. Offending someone influential in Donghai City would do more harm than good.
The others didn’t think as much as Chang Ning. Though the commander’s wording was a bit harsh, what he said made sense. So the comrades felt indignant but didn’t react further.
Now the pressure was on Chang Ning. If he couldn’t produce solid proof, his trouble would be huge; even with He Da Dui backing him, it might not help.
The expressions in the nine pairs of eyes showed a clear divide: Lone Wolf’s comrades were full of worry, while the commander showed no emotion, all business.
They just stared straight at Chang Ning, waiting for him to produce useful evidence.
When Geng Jihui went to find Gao Zhong Dui, Chang Ning knew this would be the result. Now everything was built on his guess; after all, there were no teammates around him at the time to witness it.
‘The only thing that could be called evidence is that badge I picked up in the corridor, which looks full of chuunibyou style.’ Chang Ning wasn’t confident either; the badge’s appearance made it hard to believe it was an organization’s emblem.
Truth be told, if Gao Zhong Dui and the commander asked him, he had no intention of showing the badge to everyone. Because its appearance really couldn’t convince people; its shape looked just like a prop from some anime.
In this situation, Chang Ning had no choice but to take it out.
“Pfft!”
Due to the masks, Chang Ning couldn’t tell who burst out laughing.
Gao Zhong Dui and the commander, the two leaders, also had strange expressions, looking at Chang Ning as if he were joking.
“Leaders, don’t look at me like that. This is the only badge I found on site.”
Chang Ning’s tone mixed helplessness and embarrassment.
“Kid, now pray this is real, or you’ll be in for it!”
After the commander finished, he turned and left.
He needed to arrange for someone to search for information on this medal through the police’s intelligence system.
“Compared to your previous guesses, I more hope you hadn’t pulled out this badge.”
Looking at the ram-shaped badge in Chang Ning’s hand, Gao Zhong Dui found it absurd no matter how he looked at it.
But with things at this point, he had no choice but to wait for the results instead of taking action.
Still, no matter what, Chang Ning was his soldier; he had to help where he could.
“Gao Zhong Dui, I also think this is absurd. Better safe than sorry.
If it’s a false alarm, no big deal; I’ll take the disciplinary action, it’s nothing.
But if we hit the jackpot, then this matter isn’t simple.
So, I think it’s necessary to take this risk.”
Gao Zhong Dui stared into Chang Ning’s eyes without speaking. Just as B Group’s members thought Chang Ning was about to get reprimanded.
Gao Zhong Dui looked at Chang Ning and said word by word: “No next time! If you encounter something like this again, report to me first.
Hui Lang, contact Wolf Den and compare this badge in my hand against our military’s database.”
“Yes.”
Upon receiving Gao Zhong Dui’s order, Hui Lang hurried to contact Wolf Den. At the same time, he felt conflicted: on one hand, he didn’t want Chang Ning to face disciplinary action; on the other, he hoped Chang Ning’s discovery was a false alarm.
Overall, Chang Ning meant well for everyone; his action wasn’t wrong, just the method was improper.
As Chang Ning’s superior, Gao Zhong Dui naturally didn’t want him punished; he could only offer Chang Ning a little help in this regard.
For certain reasons, the military’s intelligence network was slightly more comprehensive than the police’s, and the transmission efficiency was a bit faster.
Of course, the gap between them wasn’t huge.
But this small gap might just pull Chang Ning through, preventing criticism or punishment.
The original hostage rescue plan was delayed further due to Chang Ning’s influence, plunging both police and bandits into a prolonged standoff.
“What’s going on with you? Where’s the car we demanded? Last warning: three minutes. If our conditions aren’t met, we’ll all perish together!”
Through the fast food restaurant’s huge glass display window, the bandits saw the police side suddenly go quiet, causing their emotions to fluctuate wildly.
Plus, with three of them surrounded by several times as many police, the pressure in their hearts increased every moment, leading to the bandits’ mental state somewhat collapsing.
“Don’t rush; our leaders are negotiating. We believe there will be a result soon.”
The negotiator was sweating profusely while communicating with the bandits. He didn’t know what change had occurred; no instructions came from the commander, and the negotiation staff’s pressure wasn’t much less than the bandits’.
Given the bandits’ state, they might harm the hostage anytime. Without specific instructions, the negotiator could only follow procedure and do his utmost to appease them.
“Cut the crap! I don’t care how you deliberate; if my demands aren’t met when time’s up, we’ll all perish together!”
The bandit yelled threats at the police at the top of his lungs, extremely arrogant. They didn’t take the police or assault team members seriously at all.
Seeing the little girl tightly choked by the bandit, her small face flushed red from difficulty breathing, Chang Ning and the others wished they could rush up and take out those three arrogant bandits immediately.
“Are we just going to stand here and watch?”
Xiao Zhuang’s breathing grew much heavier; Chang Ning, standing beside him, heard it clearly. It seemed Xiao Zhuang was quite angry.
Not just Xiao Zhuang was a bit agitated; B Group’s members all showed some reaction to varying degrees.
Everyone looked at Geng Jihui, waiting for him to issue the combat order. Gao Zhong Dui had said earlier that this rescue operation was mainly handled by B Group.
Seeing everyone looking at him, how could Geng Jihui not want to take out the bandits and rescue the hostage right away? But as captain, he had to keep a clear head when issuing combat orders; he couldn’t charge in on impulse. He was responsible for his comrades’ and the hostage’s safety.
Geng Jihui instinctively looked at Chang Ning; they were all comrades who knew each other well.
In Geng Jihui’s view, this guy Chang Ning thought quickly and had sharp instincts; compared to him, what he lacked was the professional theory skills for commanding.
Therefore, at times like this, hearing Chang Ning’s opinion was very necessary for Geng Jihui.
“Hey, no. Why are you looking at me? Big brother, you’re the commander; are you really going to make me issue the orders?”
“Nothing.”
Geng Jihui didn’t say anything more, but he had already gotten Chang Ning’s attitude.
‘Looks like Chang Ning agrees to rescue the hostage immediately.’
At a time like this, no one would urge Geng Jihui; even the usually hyper Ostrich quietly waited for his final decision.
Currently, the hostage’s life was under threat; the top priority was rescuing the hostage. Forget Chang Ning suspecting a conspiracy in this kidnapping—even if the suspicion proved true, it couldn’t hinder their rescue. After all, no matter how big the world, the hostage comes first!
As for any series of issues that might arise later, they would deal with soldiers with generals and water with earth! With the nation behind them, what was there to fear!
“Since everyone’s opinions are highly unified, I have nothing more to say. Just one thing: please ensure the hostage’s safety at all costs.”
“Yes!”
Everyone responded.
“Per the action plan, sniper team return to your positions. Assault team head to the rooftop to prepare for a frontal assault. I’ll go to the back door with Mountain Wolf; wait for the sniper team to fire the first shot.
Clear?”
Chang Ning waited a while and saw Geng Jihui hadn’t assigned him; he immediately reacted: “Hold on, I have a question?”
This was no joke; he’d arrived on site, and not letting him participate was too much. Even if he wasn’t part of Lone Wolf B Group’s combat sequence, he shouldn’t get this treatment.
Back then, Gao Zhong Dui had said that without specific orders from superiors, he was under Gao Zhong Dui’s command.
Yet in actual combat, Forest Wolf—this thick-browed, big-eyed guy—had excluded him. Too unethical!
Geng Jihui looked puzzled at Chang Ning, who had stopped him.
“Speak.”
“What about me?” Chang Ning said.
Seeing Chang Ning point at himself with his index finger, Geng Jihui was even more puzzled: “What about you? Speak plainly.”
“What about my task? You can’t just have me stand here and watch you operate.” Seeing Geng Jihui act like he’d forgotten him, Chang Ning felt a rush of anger to his head; his speech sped up.
“Didn’t I say earlier? You have free action to identify and fill gaps.”
After Geng Jihui spoke, Xiao Zhuang and the others burst out laughing, amused by Chang Ning’s earlier urgency. It was rare to see him lose composure.
“Alright, then I’ll go with you to the back door.”
With that, Chang Ning carefully avoided the bandit’s line of sight alone, moving with skilled agility.
“Hey, with your skills, following me and Mountain Wolf to the back door is overkill. You should assault from the front like Siberian Wolf.”
Hearing Chang Ning would act with him, Geng Jihui immediately couldn’t sit still. Chang Ning’s training scores had multiple times broken Lone Wolf Special Assault Team records; even Wolf Fang’s records put him in the top ranks. Especially in shooting and physical fitness, he ranked in the top ten!
Executing a mission with someone like that guaranteed safety. But this wasn’t a high-difficulty task; the probability of life-threatening danger was low. In summary, he and Mountain Wolf might not even get a chance to act with Chang Ning there.
“Forest Wolf, forget it. You said Sha Po Lang is responsible for identifying and filling gaps. Since he chose to join you, it means our assault team doesn’t need help.”
Qiang Zi and Xiao Zhuang naturally didn’t want to execute this task with Chang Ning either; it would cramp their style. So they grabbed their equipment and quickly left, not giving Geng Jihui a chance to persuade.
Lone Wolf B Group’s actions were seen by Gao Zhong Dui and Hui Lang, but they didn’t stop them. In fact, Gao Zhong Dui didn’t care about the badge investigation results. Lone Wolf was here to rescue the hostage; the city’s safety was the police’s responsibility.
I’m back.
