Chapter 66: Unexpected
After rescuing Qiang Zi, the three of them ran around in the woods like headless flies, going wherever there were no Wolf Fang special forces soldiers.
“Do you have any plans? Hiding around like this isn’t a solution.”
After Qiang Zi, lying in the grass, waited for the special forces soldiers searching for rookies to pass by them, he lowered his voice and asked Chang Ning and Lao Pao.
Seeing Qiang Zi ask, Lao Pao turned his head to look at Chang Ning; he had no ideas.
Ever since the last exercise incident ended, Lao Pao had known that this soldier he brought out had all sorts of wild ideas in his head.
“Uh…
Actually, I really have no ideas. I’m just thinking that if Gao Zhong Dui and the others want to catch us, then we’ll find a way not to get caught.
As for detailed combat plans, I’m powerless here. This is their turf, full of special forces soldiers everywhere, and we few people aren’t even enough to fill their teeth.
The more you resist, the more excited this group gets, and in the end, we’ll suffer more losses than gains.”
Simply put, Chang Ning had no intention of getting tangled up with a group to confront Gao Zhong Dui and the others; that wasn’t realistic.
If they lost, they would definitely be targeted by Gao Zhong Dui during training camp; if they won, it would be even worse, as that would be slapping their faces, and then it wouldn’t just be targeting—they wouldn’t know how they’d be dealt with.
So, no matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t worth it. Chang Ning thought they should just go through the motions and express their unyielding spirit.
Why take it so seriously? They still had to train under Gao Zhong Dui.
“So your meaning is… Uh!”
Before Qiang Zi could finish speaking, a big hand smelling of earth covered his mouth.
Qiang Zi felt like there was something dry and scratchy in his mouth, like it was cutting his tongue.
“Quiet, there’s movement ahead!”
Lao Pao noticed sounds coming from ahead and immediately covered Qiang Zi’s mouth as he was speaking.
Chang Ning instinctively buried his head in the ground, blending seamlessly with the surroundings.
With Chang Ning’s camouflage skills, he naturally couldn’t reach this realm; this was all Qiang Zi’s handiwork.
The three lay in the grass, not daring to breathe, listening intently to the sounds from ahead.
In the woods, several special forces soldiers searching passed quickly under the trees in search formation.
The medic from the Marine Corps, Sergeant Shi Dafan, timidly poked his head out from the tree canopy and cautiously looked left and right: “No one there, right?”
“There is!”
Shi Dafan looked down to see a special forces soldier looking up with a rifle: “Come down, rookie!”
It turned out that behind that search team of special forces soldiers was one of their comrades trailing them.
Shi Dafan grinned sheepishly: “Squad Leader, how did you know I was here?”
“The red cross mark on your arm is visible from 800 meters away. Come down, come down—you’re captured now!”
Hearing that he had been exposed by the red cross mark, Shi Dafan inwardly blamed himself for being careless, but on the surface he kept calm and grinned again: “Then I’m coming down, Squad Leader. Don’t shoot—close range blank rounds can still hurt.”
With that, he slid down slowly and clumsily with his medical kit on his back, landing on the ground.
Seeing how clumsy this guy was, the special forces soldier involuntarily let his guard down and took out handcuffs: “If you don’t want to suffer, put them on yourself.”
“Okay, right away!”
Shi Dafan smiled as he took the handcuffs: “Squad Leader, you’re so nice to me. I’ll put them on myself?”
If you didn’t know this guy’s background, anyone seeing Shi Dafan now would think he was just a simpleton.
“Put them on, put them on—where did this treasure come from!”
The special forces soldier was amused by Shi Dafan, and without realizing it, his inner vigilance relaxed.
Shi Dafan fiddled with the handcuffs, his movements very clumsy: “Like this?”
The special forces soldier was both amused and exasperated. He suspected this guy had come in through the back door, since he couldn’t even handle handcuffs properly: “Yes, just like that. Are you from the Reconnaissance Company?”
“Yes, yes, I’m the medic from the Reconnaissance Company!”
Shi Dafan hurriedly proved his innocence, pointing to the red cross mark on his arm.
Every move in the woods was seen by Chang Ning and the other two in the grass.
“What do you think, save him or not?”
Lao Pao thought going to rescue now would give them a big advantage, four against one.
“Save him.” Qiang Zi also felt the timing was right to help.
“Not yet. No one who made it through selection is useless.
That Marine Corps medic is definitely not simple. Let’s watch and see.”
Chang Ning opposed this. He had forgotten most of the small details from the original plot, but since that guy ended up in Lone Wolf B Group, Chang Ning didn’t think the medic couldn’t handle that special forces soldier.
Seeing Chang Ning not planning to help, Lao Pao frowned but said nothing more.
“Alright.”
Qiang Zi didn’t insist either; even he had been rescued by Chang Ning and Lao Pao, so naturally they were in charge.
In the woods, that special forces soldier and the medic were still talking.
“How did you pass Reconnaissance Company selection looking like this?”
“One slip, overdid it… Squad Leader, teach me, I don’t know how…”
Seeing the timing was right, the medic spoke up.
The special forces soldier reached for the handcuffs. The moment before, Shi Dafan was grinning; the next, he suddenly and swiftly cuffed the special forces soldier, his movements both skilled and deft.
Only then did the special forces soldier realize he had been tricked by a rookie, but now it was too late.
Shi Dafan wore his signature smile: “Squad Leader, that’s how I passed!”
He smashed his medical kit into the special forces soldier’s face, turned, and ran off like a flash.
The special forces soldier endured the intense pain on his face, staggered to his feet: “Damn it! This is a smiling tiger.
Hai Lang, I messed up! Quick, quick, he’s running your way!”
Shi Dafan sprinted through the woods when suddenly another special forces soldier jumped out in front: “Stop!”
Shi Dafan didn’t slow down, casually flinging a bandage. The special forces soldier dodged his head, then charged forward.
Shi Dafan smiled as he met the special forces soldier, waving a white bandage in his hand. In mere moments, the special forces soldier’s hands were bound.
“Damn! What school or sect are you from?”
It was too fast; the special forces soldier hadn’t even reacted before being tied up.
The medic didn’t reply and kept running.
This was their turf after all. The medic hadn’t gone far when a special forces soldier with a crossbow on a tree blocked him.
Caught off guard, the medic knocked the special forces soldier from the tree, breaking his leg in the fall.
“Squad Leader, don’t move! I’ll treat you.”
Shi Dafan picked up suitable branches from the ground to splint the special forces soldier’s injury.
“Medic, you can’t escape!”
The injured special forces soldier said through the pain.
“It’s fine. As a medic, I can’t just leave an injured person untreated.”
Shi Dafan patted his red cross mark.
“You got it right—this guy’s skills are good. I’m no match.”
Qiang Zi watched Shi Dafan swiftly subdue three special forces soldiers in a few moves and inwardly admired how spot-on Chang Ning was at judging people.
Little did he know Chang Ning wasn’t from their world and had seen their plot.
“Oh no, he got caught.”
Lao Pao saw the medic controlled by several arriving special forces soldiers and said urgently.
Shi Dafan’s impressive skills had convinced Lao Pao. He didn’t know what Chang Ning was planning, but to mess with Gao Zhong Dui, more talents like Shi Dafan were better.
Clearly, Lao Pao didn’t believe Chang Ning had no plan against Gao Zhong Dui.
“Let’s go, help!”
The three were very close to the scene, and Shi Dafan was only restrained with arms twisted behind his back, not handcuffed.
The four worked together to subdue the special forces soldiers with effort, tossed their communication equipment somewhere they couldn’t reach temporarily, and then hurriedly fled.
“Brother, let’s get acquainted. I’m Qiang Xiaowei, you can call me Qiang Zi.
We all saw it—your skills are top-notch!”
While running, Qiang Zi introduced himself and gave Shi Dafan a thumbs up.
“Nothing to it, nothing to it.”
Shi Dafan waved his hands repeatedly, saying it was no big deal.
“By the way, I’m Shi Dafan, from the Navy as you see.”
“Chang Ning.”
“Zheng Sanpao.”
Feeling safe, the four stopped running and got to know each other.
Shi Dafan wasn’t simple. He observed and saw that among the three, Second Lieutenant Chang Ning was subtly the leader.
Looking at Chang Ning’s youthful face, Shi Dafan figured he was definitely under 25. So young yet already a second lieutenant officer—usually, such people either had strong backgrounds or strong abilities.
Shi Dafan leaned toward the latter; no matter how strong the background, you couldn’t be so blatant, or you’d be waiting for investigation!
Even his family had someone as dean of the General Hospital, and they didn’t dare be so arrogant.
The four were sitting together resting when they heard a sleazy voice.
“Paratroopers are born to be surrounded!”
That familiar line, sleazy tone—no doubt, it was Ostrich Deng Zhenhua.
‘Good grief, I’ve gathered two treasures myself.’
Chang Ning quietly glanced at Shi Dafan.
The four saw Ostrich being beaten and smoothly rescued him by disarming the special forces soldiers’ equipment.
Soon after rescuing Ostrich, dusk fell, and the five looked at each other.
“Come on, what next? Give us a plan.”
Ostrich couldn’t hold back and asked.
The other three looked at Chang Ning, waiting for the highest-ranking in the team to decide.
“Let’s hit Gao Zhong Dui with a counterattack and fight them.”
Ostrich said excitedly.
“Good, good!”
Finding trouble with Gao Zhong Dui, Qiang Zi was all for it a thousand times over; he wanted to raise both hands in agreement.
Seeing the eagerness in Lao Pao’s eyes, Chang Ning knew the Squad Leader wanted to do it too.
‘What kind of people are these? Afraid the world isn’t chaotic enough!
Why don’t they think about the consequences!’
Chang Ning didn’t conclude easily but looked at Shi Dafan.
“I disagree with troubling Gao Zhong Dui and the others!”
Sure enough, Shi Dafan wasn’t so impulsive. Due to his family, he was familiar with military intricacies from a young age.
Just as Chang Ning had explained before, this had more harm than good—actually no good at all!
“Medic, then what do you say?”
Whether intentional or not, Ostrich ignored Chang Ning.
“I don’t know either. Chang Ning, your suggestion?”
“I suggest we head back to camp. We’re here for training; not going to camp looks bad!”
“Then why did you save everyone?”
Ostrich asked.
In his view, Chang Ning rescued everyone but then did nothing, which felt contradictory.
“Rescuing you and persisting until dark—isn’t that revenge on Wolf Fang?
They want to catch us, but we won’t let them succeed. We’ll only get caught when we choose to.
This way absolutely annoys Gao Zhong Dui and the others, but they can’t say anything since it’s their own rules.”
Hearing Chang Ning’s explanation, everyone got it.
Chang Ning’s method was indeed the safest, infuriating Gao Zhong Dui and the others without them being able to do anything—at least not openly.
Otherwise, Gao Zhong Dui would seem like he was settling personal grudges.
“I agree with Chang Ning’s suggestion.”
Shi Dafan was the first to agree; it hit right home.
Next was Lao Pao; after all, Chang Ning was his soldier—who else would he support?
Seeing this, Qiang Zi and Ostrich gave up the idea of a big fight; they agreed Chang Ning’s plan was better than clashing head-on with Gao Zhong Dui.
With the strategy set, the five no longer hid and boldly walked out of the jungle.
Didn’t know where the training camp was? Simple—when Gao Zhong Dui and the others checked numbers, they’d surely come looking since they wouldn’t match.
Plus, with Chang Ning and the others not hiding at all, getting found was inevitable.
“Rumble…”
The Mengshi Off-road Vehicle’s engine broke the jungle’s silence, its glaring lights shining right on the five faces.
“Clang!”
Gao Zhong Dui jumped off before the vehicle fully stopped and strode to Chang Ning.
He kicked hard at Chang Ning’s abdomen. The sudden change scared everyone present.
No one expected Gao Zhong Dui to do this—not even Chang Ning, who was kicked to the ground, was stunned.
He had expected Gao Zhong Dui to be angry, to reprimand him, but not to strike.
“Kid, do you know how dangerous it is here!”
Gao Zhong Dui grabbed Chang Ning’s collar, eyes red, shouting loudly.
The stern look on his face crumbled; he was like a raging lone wolf baring teeth at prey.
“I…”
Chang Ning stammered, unable to speak fully. He had the system, knew the plot, had better shooting skills and physical fitness than most there—but so what?
No matter what, he had never been to the battlefield, never seen blood splatter, never held a comrade growing cold in his arms.
Gao Zhong Dui’s aura alone overwhelmed Chang Ning; only now did he realize the gap between him and Gao Zhong Dui.
“Do you know how many things in this jungle can kill you.
You know nothing and dare run around just to embarrass me—I don’t even know what to say.
All of you, get in the vehicle now!”
