novelraw Chapter 295 - 282: Are You Any Good?
Chapter 295 - 282: Are You Any Good?
Qi Xiang and Qin Yi shared a look, their minds immediately concocting conspiracy theories.
The two of them looked up at Gu Xi in unison.
Gu Xi stared at the fire, and after a long silence, she looked up and asked Wei Heng, "What was your original mission?"
Wei Heng looked over. "The research institute has a secret lab here in City A, but for some reason, there was an accident. It’s said all the researchers inside mutated. We were ordered to investigate and assist City A in capturing the mutated individuals and retrieving the research results..."
"What research results?" Gu Xi asked again.
Wei Heng shook his head. "I don’t know."
When we first arrived in City A, the person in charge here said the address we had was wrong. The institute’s lab wasn’t at that location. As for where it actually was, we had to reconfirm with the research institute.
This should have been an easy mistake to correct, but the person in charge in City A claimed the lab’s affairs were confidential and couldn’t be easily disclosed to unauthorized personnel.
To get the correct address, we had to go through procedures, report up the chain of command...
Anyway, it was one excuse after another. In the end, we rested in City A for a night and only got the lab’s address the next morning...
After that, we were to capture the mutated people inside, eliminate all dangerous elements, and file a report... As for collecting and organizing the research results, that was handled by someone from the research institute who was with our team.
After listening, Gu Xi stood up and dusted off her hands. "I’m going to check on Ye Junhan and the others. They should be waking up soon."
Wei Heng and the others exchanged a look and followed her.
The stone house Wei Heng had built was simple. The members of the Special Service Team lay side by side on a large earthen platform. Zhang Wen was leaning against the door. When he saw them enter, he straightened up, smiled, and greeted them, "Miss Gu, you’re here to see the captain, right?"
’See,’ he thought, ’the captain still has a chance.’
Gu Xi thought his expression was a bit strange as he said this, but since she was indeed here to see Ye Junhan, she nodded.
Qi Xiang, who had entered behind Gu Xi, saw Zhang Wen’s eyes light up. She rolled her eyes elegantly and nonchalantly interjected, "Actually, we don’t have a pot. It’s about time to make dinner, so we came to see if Liu Hao is awake."
Zhang Wen glanced at Ye Junhan, who was lying on the outermost edge, and sighed inwardly. ’Captain, you’ve got to step up your game.’
’If we want to latch onto Miss Gu’s coattails, you’re our team’s main hope.’
Perhaps his thoughts were too intense, because the moment he looked up, he saw Ye Junhan’s eyes open. He instantly strode over. "Captain, you’re awake?!"
The instant Ye Junhan opened his eyes, his special ability had already gathered at his fingertips. As he sat up, his right hand was already gripping the scimitar at his waist.
As soon as he sat up, his gaze met Gu Xi’s.
But he quickly looked away, his gaze sweeping over his teammates lying around him.
Ye Junhan frowned slightly. He remembered injecting everyone with the antidote before he passed out...
"They’re fine." Gu Xi followed his gaze to the men on the earthen platform and explained, "You were all infested by that thing, but you’re okay now."
At the same time, Yabao shot out from her fingertip and circled around Ye Junhan’s wrist.
The "thing" Gu Xi mentioned was the creature from under the cliff that had infested the crooked-neck tree, coveted her knife, and tried to hide it.
Ye Junhan’s brow furrowed slightly. He rested his right hand on his scabbard, stroking it slowly, trying his best to ignore the strange sensation on his wrist.
After a moment, he looked up at Gu Xi. "When will they wake up?"
"It depends on the individual, but it should be soon." Gu Xi checked on Liu Hao, Lin Yuan, and the others. "That thing devoured their special abilities. The reason they’re still unconscious is that their abilities are severely depleted. Once they recover some of their power, they’ll naturally wake up."
Gu Xi was about to take out some Crystal Cores for them to use, but Wei Heng stopped her.
His reasoning was that High-level Zombie Crystal Cores were scarce; each one used was one less. They had to be saved for critical moments. Since they were here to watch over them, there was no need to waste the cores.
Hearing him say that, Gu Xi didn’t insist.
"Captain, what exactly happened?" Wei Heng stepped forward and asked. A mission led by Ye Junhan had never failed before. This was the first time he’d ever seen even Ye Junhan fall victim to something.
Ye Junhan briefly recounted what had happened. Then, his gaze swept around, and he looked up. "What about the people from the base’s Guard Team?"
Zhang Wen pointed outside. "They’re lying out there. Zhao Li is watching them." He paused, then added, "They’re all still unconscious."
Ye Junhan looked up at Gu Xi, his eyes clear. It was obvious that in just a few moments, the man had already regained his usual calm and composure.
"It’s a bit complicated," Gu Xi said, looking at him. "We can talk about it later."
Ye Junhan didn’t press further.
He looked up and asked Wei Heng, "The convoy..."
Wei Heng briefly explained what had happened after they separated.
At the end, he emphasized, "So far, the data center is still blocking our signal connection requests, and our superiors haven’t tried to contact us either."
This was clearly not normal.
Ye Junhan’s fingertips tapped lightly on the scabbard at his waist.
Normally, if he didn’t report their situation to his superiors for more than 12 hours, they would initiate contact. As soon as they did, they would realize there was a problem.
Ye Junhan raised his hand to check the time. It had now been over 36 hours since they lost contact with the outside world... ’Something happened at the base.’
After a moment, he asked calmly, "When did Shen Yue and the others leave?"
"Last night." Wei Heng glanced at the time and continued, "It’s been 18 hours and 37 minutes."
Ye Junhan frowned slightly. He knew the location of the next supply point. It wasn’t too far from Yang Liu’s camp. At the speed Shen Yue, Qian Shan, and the others could travel, a round trip should take 12 hours at most.
"When was the last contact with Yang Liu?" he asked again.
"Four and a half hours ago. The walkie-talkies were still working." At that time, they had just left the underground commercial street. After that, the distance became too great, and they lost the signal.
Ye Junhan’s eyes met Gu Xi’s from a short distance away, and he was about to say something.
"Captain Ye," Qi Xiang stepped forward, positioning herself between him and Gu Xi. She raised an eyebrow. "You should have a way to contact the outside world, right? Given your status, you should have the authority to activate the backup communications satellite in an emergency."
It was obvious that something major had happened at the Central Base. If they couldn’t re-establish contact with their superiors soon, they would be in a very passive position going forward.
Everyone looked at Ye Junhan.
Activating the backup communications satellite was clearly not a simple matter.
Leaving aside other issues, just judging whether this qualified as an "emergency" was difficult. If he handled it poorly, Ye Junhan could land in big trouble, maybe even jeopardize his entire career...
"I can," Ye Junhan said after a long silence. "I’ll try."
Hearing this, Gu Xi looked up, her gaze once again meeting Ye Junhan’s deep eyes.
After a moment, Ye Junhan lowered his gaze, raised his hand to open his personal terminal, and began to enter the password and activate the program...
「Five minutes later.」
Qi Xiang nonchalantly tapped her own personal terminal and raised a hand to let out a lazy yawn. "Captain Ye, can you do it or not?" she asked bluntly, leaning against Gu Xi.
The members of the Special Service Team on the earthen platform, who had just woken up: "?" ’Huh? How could a man not be able to do it?’
’Our captain can definitely do it.’
Zhang Wen, standing at the door, subconsciously looked up at Gu Xi and blurted out, "Miss Gu, don’t get the wrong idea! Our captain can definitely do it!"
Gu Xi: "..."
Ye Junhan: "..."