Chapter 31: Surrounded
No matter what, there’s always fear of the unexpected; plans can’t keep up with changes. Chang Ning ultimately underestimated the speed of the four-wheeled vehicle and the Blue Team’s speed in deploying troops.
“Careless!”
Chang Ning thought he could use a time difference to lure them to the vicinity of the search team he had annihilated, allowing him to escape.
In the end, he was too naive; he had no idea the Blue Team would move so fast.
“Squad Leader found that kid.”
The private driving the vehicle said excitedly.
On the road, they had learned the specifics: one Red Team member had annihilated one of their search teams.
This was the Blue Team’s heartland; this was a disgrace, a slap in their face.
The lost face had to be personally recovered!
“So unlucky, how did we run right into him head-on.”
The off-road vehicle floored it on the mountain road; even though Chang Ning heard the noise early, it was too late to hide.
Since they had run into them, he had to find a way to run. This wasn’t the time for a head-on fight; who knew if there were reinforcements behind.
“Bang bang bang.”
Chang Ning wouldn’t give the search team a chance to get out of the vehicle; he unleashed a burst at the driver and passenger seat, then ran.
“Stop him, don’t let that kid get away!”
The gunshots mixed with shouts from behind made Chang Ning pick up his speed several notches.
Given the situation, if they caught him, he’d be torn to pieces. They wouldn’t care if he had already been eliminated from the exercise; he’d still get a beating.
Chang Ning remembered in the plot how Chen Guotao and Xiao Zhuang took out a missile unit, but in the end they were surrounded by a group of people. If the team leader hadn’t arrived, they might not have gotten out without leaving something behind.
Everyone turned a blind eye to such things, as long as they weren’t too excessive, no one pursued it.
These were all lessons from others; Chang Ning had no choice but to take it seriously—he had no habit of getting beaten.
Besides, being eliminated was a matter of skill; instead of training hard, going to retaliate was too low-class, something Chang Ning despised most.
“Squad Leader, that kid can really run. There are too many trees in the forest, hard to aim.”
Seeing the distance between them growing, the Blue Team search team members started getting anxious. They now empathized with their comrades who had been annihilated earlier.
They couldn’t outrun him, and even more frustratingly, their marksmanship was inferior. How do you fight a pervert like that!
Glancing at his manpower from the corner of his eye, the squad leader realized half were missing, and it hadn’t even been ten minutes since the start.
What to do? The guy just wouldn’t engage head-on, slowly grinding them down to death!
“If you have the guts, stop and we’ll duel one-on-one!”
Perhaps out of anger, the squad leader blurted out that thoughtless line.
“If you have the guts, stop chasing!”
Hearing that, Chang Ning found it amusing. Seeing how they looked like they wanted to devour him, did he dare stop?
“Kid, surrender. You can’t escape the 321 area. Truth is, besides my search team, there are five others on the way.”
The squad leader tried to break Chang Ning’s will, making him give up running. If he kept chasing, he’d be slowly ground down by Chang Ning; but not chasing meant failing the mission.
“Are you insulting me?!”
Chang Ning’s voice came faintly from the distance; the squad leader could still see his back.
Hearing Chang Ning’s words, the squad leader was visibly stunned, then showed a bitter expression. Yes, he shouldn’t have said that. Since the day the Huaxia military was founded, there have only been soldiers who die standing, none who kneel to live!
His earlier words were indeed inappropriate.
The words from his pursuers gave Chang Ning an impulse to stop and blast them. Though he had been in service less than a year, that didn’t mean he lacked the pride of a Huaxia soldier!
Soldiers must have backbone!
But Chang Ning couldn’t stop; stopping to fight them, he could win, even annihilate that group no problem.
The problem was, once he stopped to tangle with them, he’d 100% be encircled, and even if he annihilated them, it would be pointless.
No way he’d do a losing deal!
Suddenly, engine roars came from straight ahead. Deadly, it was as if coordinated: except behind, engine sounds came from all other directions.
Clearly, despite all his calculations, Chang Ning was surrounded.
“Kid ahead, you can’t run!”
The pursuing squad leader’s voice carried a hint of relief; being ground down like kiting would frustrate anyone.
Now that squad leader could finally vent his malice.
‘Still got encircled, need to find a way to breakout.’
As the person involved, Chang Ning was eerily calm; his demeanor didn’t seem like a new recruit on his first exercise—perhaps he was born with a big heart.
‘Must not let them form an encirclement!’
If he let the six search teams stop and form an encirclement, no matter how accurate his marksmanship, it would be useless.
Firepower coverage from all directions would eliminate him in an instant, nowhere to hide.
‘Now, breaking through from behind is the best choice.’
The search team behind had encountered Chang Ning earliest and was mostly depleted by him.
The other search teams were full strength; fighting them would be tough and drag him down.
Now Chang Ning couldn’t stay in one place too long, or he’d give the other search teams time to form an encirclement.
Seeing the Red Team scout ahead slow down, the squad leader from the earlier clash was overjoyed. Whether he surrendered or fought head-on, they had the advantage.
“Everyone be careful, that guy’s going to fight!”
The squad leader warned; he hadn’t even considered the scout surrendering. As the guy said, Huaxia soldiers don’t surrender!
“Yo, found out huh.”
Motives exposed, Chang Ning wasn’t worried; having clashed with this search team before, he felt he could handle them.
The search team wouldn’t wait for Chang Ning to prepare before fighting fair; while he slowed, they had already found cover and opened fire.
The gunshots startled unknown birds from the trees, flapping their wings in panic to flee this unsettling place.
“Damn!”
The moment he decided to act, Chang Ning was watching behind; when he noticed no footwork sounds, he knew something was wrong.
Without thinking, he dove forward, heedless of small stones on the ground or scraping himself—dodge the bullets first, worry later.
Bullets whizzing over his head nonstop, Chang Ning felt a thrill of aftermath of a disaster; though not that severe, close enough—he didn’t want to be eliminated now.
After the volley, Chang Ning clutched his gun and rolled quickly to the left; there was an earthen slope there, drop less than a meter, barely enough for a position.
