Chapter 281 - 268: Who Isn’t?
When Ye Junhan discovered the satellite signal was lost, he knew something was wrong.
He tried several backup satellite communication passcodes in a row, but they all came back as invalid. Clearly, something had happened back at the base.
’Someone tampered with the satellite signal, blocking our Special Service Team’s frequency.’
They had lost contact with command, but Ye Junhan remained calm. He led his men in the direction they had originally agreed upon.
The Special Service Team had its own unique method of communication, and Wei Heng’s group had left markers along the route. The trouble was, the heavy rain had caused the wild plants to grow uncontrollably, destroying and concealing many of the signs.
They had only traveled a little over ten kilometers before they could no longer find any of the marks left by the previous convoy.
Just ahead, the recent major earthquake had split the ground open into several large fissures, creating multiple branching paths.
Ye Junhan had no choice but to order a temporary halt. Zhao Qingxiao and Lin Yuan each took a team member and went ahead to scout the path.
But no one expected their scouting mission to lead them to one of the base’s Guard Team vehicles.
A few kilometers away, a heavy-duty off-road vehicle was wedged crookedly in a fissure. Inside, all seven team members were injured and unconscious.
Ye Junhan examined everyone’s injuries. The wounds looked normal, with no signs of dark lesions, so they likely weren’t inflicted by zombies.
Liu Hao inspected the vehicle’s interior and said with a sigh, "There are only a few rations inside, no medical supplies, and the onboard communication system has been destroyed. Based on the signs, we can’t rule out sabotage."
"There’s a small box in the trunk." Lin Yuan slung his rifle around his neck and leaned halfway into the trunk, rummaging through its contents.
Li Shen caught the box Lin Yuan tossed out. After inspecting it, he frowned slightly. "It looks like there’s a self-destruct mechanism inside. This won’t be easy to handle."
"Captain," Gao and the others returned from a sweep of the area, their expressions grim. "We didn’t find any other vehicles or people. All the tracks nearby have been destroyed by the plants; we couldn’t even find any tire marks."
’This isn’t right. Why would a Guard Team vehicle be stopped here?’
’Where did the other vehicles go?’
’And what about the people from the research institute?’
"Could they have run into an emergency and gotten separated from the main group?" Liu Hao speculated, fiddling with his gun.
"It’s possible." Zhao Qingxiao applied simple bandages to their wounds. "But He Yue only has about twenty people and five vehicles in total right now. He just lost seven team members at once; it makes no sense for him not to come back looking for them."
"You know what those Guard Team guys are like, don’t you? A bunch of selfish jerks. They might seem fine normally, but if they run into a life-or-death situation, would they really bother with their own teammates?
You’d be lucky if they didn’t push you forward to take a bullet for them."
Lin Yuan finished his thorough inspection of the Guard Team’s vehicle and clapped his hands together. "Good news. The vehicle doesn’t have any major problems, and the power level is still decent."
Everyone looked up at Ye Junhan, waiting for his decision.
"We take the vehicle and the men. We’re taking this road," Ye Junhan announced to the group.
The Guard Team’s vehicle had stopped here abruptly; something must have happened. Ye Junhan’s intuition told him they needed to follow and see what was going on.
Zhao Qingxiao, Liu Hao, and Gao were assigned to the Guard Team vehicle.
"So we’re not regrouping with the main convoy?" Gao asked as he watched Zhao Qingxiao take the driver’s seat. He stroked his gun and pulled open the passenger side door.
Just then, "Watch out!" Zhao Qingxiao suddenly shouted a warning.
Gao, who had just gotten into the car, instinctively rolled out of the passenger seat.
At the same time, one of the Guard Team members who had been lying in the back seat lunged forward.
Outside, Liu Hao didn’t even have time to open the car door. Two metal chains as thick as his arms shot out from his palms, quickly binding the other members inside the car, while he himself pounced on the awakened Guard Team member.
"What’s going on?" Lin Yuan and the others ran over. The crazed Guard Team member had already been subdued by Liu Hao, knocked unconscious in a few quick moves, and thrown to the ground.
"He was probably parasitized by a mutant plant." Zhao Qingxiao used his psychic tendrils to part the man’s wound and re-examine it, frowning slightly. "The parasitic spores are invisible to the naked eye. It would be best to thoroughly clean all their wounds."
But the problem was, they didn’t have the means to do that.
Nor did they have the time.
Ye Junhan gave the order, "Then just tie them up for now." It was the only option for the time being.
The group split into two vehicles and set off again.
Liu Hao crouched in the aisle of the back seat, stuffing rations into his mouth as he looked out the window. "It’s starting to rain again. I’m starting to miss Mr. Wei’s cooking."
’A rainy day is perfect for hot pot. If not that, a bowl of chicken soup would be nice too.’
Hearing this, Gao, sitting in the front passenger seat, felt the fragrant sweet potato jerky in his hand suddenly lose all its appeal.
After a moment, he balled up the rest of his sweet potato jerky and stuffed it all into the mouth of Zhao Qingxiao beside him, sighing wistfully, "If only Miss Gu were here."
Liu Hao sighed along with him. ’Tell me about it.’
The road conditions in the wild were poor on a rainy day, so the vehicles moved slowly. Ye Junhan sat in the passenger seat of the lead car, frowning at the road ahead. The rain outside was getting heavier, severely obstructing their vision.
Suddenly, he leaned over and grabbed the steering wheel to steady it, then stomped his foot on the brake. He frowned at the driver. "Wake up!"
The driver jolted awake. When he saw the chasm directly in front of them—a mere ten-odd centimeters from the front wheels, yet over ten feet wide and bottomless—he broke out in a cold sweat. "Mr. Ye!"
’That was close. If Mr. Ye hadn’t acted just now, I would’ve driven the car right into that fissure.’
’The most crucial part is, I didn’t even see that fissure at all!’
’What the hell?’
Ye Junhan’s sharp senses detected a faint, almost imperceptible scent in the air, but the driver next to him seemed completely unaware of it.
He frowned slightly and said to the driver in a cold voice, "Get out. I’m driving."
The second vehicle, seeing the lead car stop abruptly, also braked.
"Captain?" Zhao Qingxiao keyed the walkie-talkie.
Ye Junhan briefly explained the situation. Feeling uneasy, Liu Hao checked on the Guard Team members in the car again, adding another chain to bind them all tightly together.
The cabin was cramped, already occupied by several strapping men, all over 1.8 meters tall. It was no small feat for him, a man of 1.9-something meters, to crouch in the narrow aisle.
Liu Hao quietly shifted his numb legs. "My feet are getting numb."
’My head feels a little dizzy, too. Is it from crouching in this cramped, enclosed space for too long? Lack of oxygen, maybe?’
Hearing this, Gao looked back at him, cradling his rifle. "Yeah, it’s a tight squeeze for you. You want to switch?"
"No need." Liu Hao waved his hand dismissively. He didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just from crouching for too long. They had encountered similar situations on previous missions; he just had to tough it out and it would pass.
Just then, "Zhao Qingxiao," Ye Junhan said into his walkie-talkie, one hand on the steering wheel as he stared ahead. "Activate the Spirit Barrier, slow your breathing, and punch through this fissure zone at full speed."
In the driver’s seat of the second vehicle, Zhao Qingxiao already sensed something was wrong. He took a deep breath, deployed his Spirit Barrier, and gripped the steering wheel, pushing the vehicle to its top speed.
In the passenger seat, Gao instinctively moved to adjust his grip on his rifle, but he didn’t notice that his movements were a few degrees stiffer than usual.
Suddenly, a bullet from the direction of the second vehicle grazed past, nearly hitting the lead car’s headlight. Ye Junhan swerved sharply to dodge. Just as he was about to use the walkie-talkie to ask what was happening with the car behind them, it suddenly accelerated and charged straight at him.
SQUEAL—
Ye Junhan immediately sped up to evade it, watching as the other vehicle shot past him. Not far ahead was another deep fissure.
Ye Junhan narrowed his eyes, raised his hand, and threw down a Thunder Net. He managed to destroy the vehicle’s power system and force it to a halt just before it plunged headfirst into the fissure.
But due to inertia, the front half of the vehicle was already hanging over the edge of the chasm.
Ye Junhan slammed on his brakes and keyed the walkie-talkie. "Zhao Qingxiao? Gao? Liu Hao?"
From inside the second vehicle, there was no response.