Chapter 82: No-man’s-land
Sitting in the car, Chang Ning initially relied on his sense memory to track how far he had traveled.
But they were clearly guarding against this move, driving like drunk driving: sometimes turning left, sometimes right.
In the end, they even made Chang Ning a bit carsick. In this situation, he couldn’t remember a damn thing. When he arrived at the place, he could only rely on his skills to make his way back.
The car drove for an unknown amount of time before finally stopping.
“Comrade, we’ve arrived at the place.”
“Got it!”
Chang Ning yanked off the eye mask and squinted to adapt to the sunlight, which wasn’t too glaring yet.
When he left, the sun hadn’t risen above the horizon yet, but now it was fully hanging in the sky.
After watching the car leave, Chang Ning first confirmed exactly where he had been sent.
Looking at the endless plain and the continuous mountain peaks in the distance, plus the information revealed in his earlier conversation with Captain Li.
Chang Ning guessed he had been sent to the Nature Reserve in xxx district. (Real location can’t be written, so pinyin is used.)
“No wonder Gao Zhong Dui gave me a handgun loaded with live ammunition. This means I have to fight the poachers head-on.”
The Nature Reserve at this point in time was not the one Chang Ning knew before his transmigration; this was exactly when poaching activities were rampant.
“I’ll take it one step at a time.”
Chang Ning shouldered his backpack properly and stepped on the damp ground to the streamside to scoop a canteen of water.
The stream water was crystal clear with no visible dirt. In this Nature Reserve, he couldn’t just eat or drink anything casually.
For example, this stream looked very clean now, but who could guarantee there were no animal corpses upstream.
So in the wild, drink boiled water if you can; don’t drink raw water, or diarrhea will make you question your life.
This place was in the middle of nowhere, and if an accident happened, rescue wouldn’t arrive in time.
Breathing fresh air; gazing at the refreshing scenery; listening to the calls of unknown animals. If he ignored the poaching gang that might pop up from who knows where, this place was simply paradise on earth!
“It shouldn’t be that unlucky, right? Those poaching gangs are all after wild protected animals, and there don’t seem to be any animal groups in this vicinity.”
Chang Ning comforted himself. He wasn’t afraid of combat, but he hadn’t reached the point of facing death calmly yet.
The poaching gang was definitely a group of people. Captain Li had said they had automatic weapons, and there was no cover on the plain. He only had a handgun.
The combat environment was extremely unfavorable for Chang Ning. No matter how strong he was, he was still flesh and blood, and he would bleed and die under concentrated fire from an assault rifle.
Thinking of this, Chang Ning wanted to give his system a bad review.
Other people’s systems made the host superhuman from the start, able to charge in and out seven times like Zhao Zilong amid a hail of bullets, while his experience bar system required the host to learn knowledge himself.
One advantage of the plain over the mountain forest was the open field of vision. Once the direction was determined, he could head straight toward the target. The disadvantage was also obvious: very few reference objects.
After knowing he was in the Nature Reserve, Chang Ning felt much more relieved.
Because during previous training, Gao Zhong Dui had made them memorize maps of major countries around the world, with Huaxia’s map being a key investigation focus.
Knowing his position, Chang Ning could rely on the knowledge taught by Gao Zhong Dui and the others in the Training Camp to return to the Armed Police Border Station.
Although Captain Li hadn’t told Chang Ning the name and location of their sentry post, by referencing the time spent on the road sending him to the mission site, Chang Ning could roughly calculate a vague position.
The soldier who brought him was too cunning, driving wildly on the road, so Chang Ning couldn’t precisely calculate the sentry post’s location.
Luckily, he still had a map. In the original plot, Gao Zhong Dui “kindly” gave every rookie in Team A a map, and Chang Ning naturally wouldn’t be an exception.
Pulling it out of his pocket, Chang Ning opened the map Gao Zhong Dui gave him and showed an expression of “as expected.”
The map was about as good as a child’s scribble, but it wasn’t bad—it at least marked the direction of the sentry post.
“Why is it to the west?”
The sentry post marked on the map was to Chang Ning’s west, but his earlier self-estimated direction was east.
Good grief, without the map, he wouldn’t know where he would end up.
“That soldier is a real talent!”
Chang Ning recalled the honest and innocent smile of the soldier who brought him, and now he got it.
That wasn’t honest and innocent at all; it was full of mischief.
This guy was sly in a sneaky way. Chang Ning felt that when he got back, he had to have a “chat” with him to repay the ride.
“Time to hit the road. There are still five days to kill here.”
Essential elements for jungle survival: fresh water, food, fire source, and shelter.
In the Nature Reserve, fresh water and food weren’t worries for Chang Ning. Even an earth wolf could run a rabbit to death; with his physical quality, he could naturally do it too.
Now, fire source and shelter were problems. This was paradise for wild animals, with large predators frequently appearing.
Without a fire source and shelter, Chang Ning felt he would turn into animal poop while sleeping at night.
It was now spring, and from the air and soil’s dampness, it was clear it had rained recently, greatly increasing the difficulty of finding combustibles.
He was still on the plain now, so to find shelter, he had to go to the distant mountains covered in snow.
If lucky, Chang Ning could find an animal-abandoned cave there, which could barely serve for one night.
But as the saying goes, mountains look close but running tires the horse to death. Who knew how far those seemingly nearby mountain ranges really were.
Chang Ning took stock of his supplies: one water canteen full of stream water, one bundle of rope, one tactical dagger, one set of spare clothes, and finally the life-saving 92-style handgun at the bottom of the pack.
No tools for making fire, no compressed biscuits. Of course, Gao Zhong Dui wouldn’t let him bring those, or “jungle survival” would turn into jungle picnic.
Chang Ning mentally sorted the tasks he now had to complete.
It was still early, so finding shelter came later. Food is the first necessity of the people; Chang Ning had to get some food to fill his stomach.
Food resources in the Nature Reserve were relatively abundant. Chang Ning could also collect combustibles while hunting, doing both at once to save time and improve efficiency.
Even the best hunter can’t catch prey without tools. Chang Ning was lucky; he had a dagger and a bundle of rope.
Using the rope and the grass and trees resources in the Nature Reserve, Chang Ning could completely make a simple trap.
The skill of setting traps had been explained to Chang Ning by someone both in the Reconnaissance Company and the Training Camp.
Although Chang Ning’s trap-setting in rookie Team A wasn’t the best, he could barely manage it.
As for the effect, only heaven knew. He hadn’t had a chance to practice in the Training Camp.
Chang Ning headed west without looking up. When passing a meadow, he deliberately observed it.
He discovered that some places inside had crisscrossing gullies that looked like they had been long-term pressed by something.
In this kind of place, those gullies were obviously animal trails walked by small animals.
Animals’ movement routes are generally fixed, so setting traps on animal trails had a high probability of success.
Chang Ning first used the dagger to cut a short section from the rope, then fixed branches picked from the bushes to make a small trap. Any animal passing through would be caught by the rope.
After finishing this, Chang Ning set off again. This meadow was not far from the foot of the mountain.
He had to find a suitable shelter before dark and successfully make a fire.
