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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A Little Warrior raised his hand.
"Dr. An?" The Communications Soldier suddenly thought of something and asked, "Is the data still in the room?"
An Zheng nodded. "It's in the equipment room; I left it there before we left."
He Yong had a rough idea of what the two were talking about and expressed his concern, "What if it got damaged?"
"It won't. It has waterproof protection." An Zheng called over the Little Warrior, gestured to show him the shape and size of the item, and after several reminders, the Little Warrior took off his clothes and jumped into the water.
At the moment the Little Warrior entered the water, a thought surged in An Zheng's mind. She suddenly hoped that, as He Yong said, the item was already broken or lost? She could also… An Zheng pressed her forehead, her features growing more haggard. The instant she saw Xiaoyun's body, despair washed over her.
"Where is my child? Where is my child?"
An Zheng couldn't voice it but could only shout in her heart over and over again.
The Little Warrior initially failed to find the right position, surfaced gasping for air, then dove down again. Two minutes later, he emerged holding a black square object.
"Dr. An, is this it?" The Little Warrior asked uncertainly; the water was murky below, and he was just feeling around blindly.
An Zheng didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved. She forced a smile and nodded, signaling He Yong to pull the Little Warrior up.
The Little Warrior handed the object back to An Zheng, shivering from the cold as he hurried to put on his clothes while mumbling, "Dr. An, what is that thing? It seemed to be flashing lights underwater."
"Ah?" An Zheng's expression changed instantly as she asked urgently, "What color?"
Little Warrior was taken aback by the question, pulling up his pants and thinking for a long time. "It seems... it seems to be green or yellow?"
An Zheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, no longer speaking. He wiped the water stains off that object and stuffed it into the pocket of his white coat.
The water level had dropped significantly compared to before, and He Yong and the others couldn't bear to let Xiaoyun's body be bitten by mosquitoes. So, several soldiers worked together to move the corpse onto a table and transported it to a slope outside the small grove, where they dug a pit and hastily buried it.
When Jiang He and the others left, they did not mark the exact location but simply informed them to head west up the mountain. However, He Yong and the others roughly guessed their Vice Commander's intentions. They immediately checked their equipment and escorted An Zheng as they waded through the water.
The team moved quickly, and with the water flow having calmed down, they soon made their way into the western forest. After the water level dropped, a side of the dirt slope was exposed, and the footprints left by Jiang He and his group were still clearly visible, saving An Zheng's group a lot of effort. Following the footprints, they arrived at a deep pool around noon.
By the earthen embankment next to the pool lay a single floating log, and the chaotic footprints stopped here. He Yong shaded his eyes with his hand as he looked towards the slope across from the pool, his mind likely calculating something.
Since there was only one log, nine people could not cross at once. He Yong first instructed Er Jin to escort An Zheng to the opposite bank. Then one soldier carried the Communications Soldier who clung to the log while another soldier supported the Communications Soldier's injured leg. They slowly paddled their way to the shore. The Communications Soldier was exhausted from the ordeal, his face flushed as he held onto his injured leg, groaning softly.
"Does it hurt again?" An Zheng leaned over, lifting the makeshift bandage for a look. The wound had become somewhat infected, causing his entire calf to swell.
The Communications Soldier gritted his teeth and forced a smile. "It's nothing serious; I might have gotten it wet."
An Zheng frowned slightly, knowing well that this was an infection. Without proper sanitary conditions, it was likely that he would lose that leg.
Seeing her expression wasn't good, the Communications Soldier felt a twinge of gloom in his heart. Did he not understand his own leg's condition? But in this situation, there was no time or means to care for it.
"An, Dr. An... given our current conditions, if I were to have my leg amputated, would it save my life?" The Communications Soldier hesitated for a moment but still gritted his teeth and asked what he least wanted to know.
An Zheng did not offer empty reassurances; she gently shook her head. Seeing his face fall further, she added, "Hang in there. If we can reach a place with medical facilities on the mountain, your leg can be saved."
The Communications Soldier forced a bitter smile and sighed heavily. "Dr. An, you don't need to comfort me; I know what I'm facing."
"Don't overthink it; I'm an expert at treating injuries," An Zheng said as he helped her sit up. "There's no need to be too pessimistic. It's just some localized pus. As long as I have the basic tools, I can save your leg, but there might be some aftereffects later."
Seeing her serious demeanor, the Communications Soldier felt a glimmer of hope and nodded.
Before long, He Yong and the others waded through the water one by one. They quickly wrung out their clothes and carefully examined the traces on the hillside before continuing their pursuit.
An hour later, they arrived at the spot where Jiang He and the others had covered the ashes of their campfire.
"We're on the right path," He Yong exclaimed as he cleared away the ashes, revealing many unburned twigs beneath the dirt.
"Let's dry our clothes too," Er Jin eagerly suggested.
He Yong shot him a glance but agreed after checking the surroundings for safety. He hurriedly gathered a large pile of dry branches with the other soldiers and skillfully started a fire on the remnants of the old ashes.
An Zheng and the others were unsure about Jiang He's group's situation. For safety's sake, they had all brought plenty of ammunition when they set out. They had lost some during the ambush in the forest that stormy night, but fortunately, nothing unexpected had happened on their way back, so He Yong's group still had a decent supply left. The only things they were lacking were food and water; they had thought returning to camp would solve everything, but they had already consumed their last rations. However, everyone was more concerned about the situation of their camp team than about feeling hungry.
The traces along the way were easy to identify. He Yong and his group were well aware of the existence of the Power Station at the mountain top. The footprints they found weren't particularly chaotic, which eased their minds somewhat. However, there weren't many identifiable prints, indicating a mismatch between the number of people who had gone up the mountain and those who remained at camp.
With confirmation of their camp team's whereabouts, An Zheng and his group slowed down a bit. After trekking for several days straight, everyone was physically exhausted even if they didn't voice it. Looking up at the rotating blades of the wind turbine at the mountain top, an inexplicable sense of loneliness washed over them.
Walking in the middle of the group, An Zheng reached into his pocket several times along the way but ultimately withdrew his hand empty each time. Little Warrior mentioned seeing a flashing light in the distance, indicating that she had received their signal. However, due to delays caused by the heavy rain, she couldn't determine when that message had been sent back.
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