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Xu Yicheng couldn't persuade An Xiaotian, or perhaps An Xiaotian simply wouldn't listen to him. He had no choice but to find an excuse to leave. An Xiaotian wanted to stop him, but he was an elder and had just been harsh with him, so he couldn't bring himself to do it and let Xu Yicheng go.
"Xiaotian, you're too impulsive," Liu Xuan said as he pulled An Xiaotian down into a seat after seeing Dr. Xu leave in fright. "Maybe you should listen to what Dr. Xu wants to express, right?"
After a long silence, An Xiaotian took a deep breath, pulled out his phone, and opened something, seemingly trying to avoid the current topic. "Let's go have breakfast."
In the living area, at the gym
In the early morning, most soldiers were outside training, and few came in for extra workouts. In the entire gym, only one corner echoed with the crisp sound of punches. Qin Weishan was completely focused on the punching bag in front of him, his fists striking it fiercely. The intensity of his training was no different from killing enemies on the battlefield.
"Bang! Bang!" His fists rained down on the bag like thunder and rain, but Qin Weishan's thoughts were far from his training. He was merely relying on his previous routine to recover as quickly as possible, but that night’s battle kept replaying in his mind, especially when Miao Chengmin split open the building and unleashed a wave of force…
He remembered immediately raising his shield with all his strength just to barely protect the three people behind him. And Miao Chengmin could kill someone with just a casual gesture…
"Bang!"
A heavy punch landed, and the punching bag was actually smashed into a dent, sand spilling out and forming several uneven little hills at his feet. The fine sand slid gently down the slopes, creating an unnoticeable "whoosh" sound in the otherwise silent gym.
Qin Weishan maintained his punching stance as the damaged bag swayed in front of him. He knew he had made another breakthrough in strength, but how could he possibly compete against a god-like zombie like Miao Chengmin? His combat power was nowhere near that of the Zombie Queen; who knew what kind of monsters he would face in the future…
Lost in thought, his phone on the nearby chair suddenly vibrated a few times, jolting him back to reality. Qin Weishan took off his gloves and grabbed the towel hanging on the chair back, thinking it was Sister Jiao An calling. However, it was actually his former apprentice and now captain—An Xiaotian.
"What’s up, Captain? Did you want to spar after finishing your fight?" Qin Weishan joked as he looked at the boxing ring while sitting on the chair.
"I'm exhausted after fighting; who would want to box with you?" An Xiaotian replied as he walked alongside Liu Xuan, and Qin Weishan could hear soldiers giving orders nearby. "I need to ask you something, Weishan; answer me honestly."
Hearing An Xiaotian's question made Qin Weishan realize what he wanted to know; he just didn't understand how An Xiaotian found out so quickly.
"You… you already know?" Qin Weishan cautiously confirmed.
"Liang Muqi—was it you and Sister Jiao An who discovered him?" An Xiaotian asked.
"Yes," Qin Weishan admitted honestly. "He was attacked by zombies while with that girl named Ming Juan; we happened to encounter them and saved them."
"Then why did you let him go?" An Xiaotian pressed.
"He… he saved a group of refugees who hadn't evacuated. The refugees we talked about were those he protected," Qin Weishan replied awkwardly.
An Xiaotian pursed his lips, struggling to control his emotions. Seeing him silent, Qin Weishan continued: "He led us to the military's final evacuation point."
"And then you let him evacuate with Dr. Xu? Let him escape?" An Xiaotian countered. "Why didn’t you keep an eye on him? General Wang died right in front of us; you and Sister Jiao An knew exactly what crime Liang Muqi committed!"
"We…" Qin Weishan hesitated. He knew An Xiaotian hated Liang Muqi more than anyone else and could only try to comfort him: "Let’s not worry about him for now; without Blackhawk armor, he poses no threat."
"Why is everyone avoiding my question?" An Xiaotian continued relentlessly. "Why! Let him go?"
On the other end of the phone, Qin Weishan didn't know how to respond anymore. In An Xiaotian's eyes, he was guilty. He could only calm down and talk to him, saying, "Xiaotian, I understand how you feel right now. After all, he is the one who killed your benefactor. However, objectively speaking, or from what Sister Jiao An and I have seen, Liang Muqi is also atoning for his past sins. Without him, I think that group of refugees who did not evacuate would have likely perished at the hands of zombies. Like you, I was also very angry when I saw Liang Muqi. Both of us were promoted by General Wang and thought about dealing with him ourselves. But everyone deserves a chance for redemption, don't they? I believe Liang Muqi had his reasons for joining Viper; we just might not understand them. He is not the evil person you perceive him to be; give it some time."
"So you and Sister Jiao An let him go?" An Xiaotian seemed unconvinced by Qin Weishan's words.
"…Pretty much," Qin Weishan replied.
Liu Xuan walked beside An Xiaotian, listening to their conversation, feeling a bit worried that An Xiaotian might lose control of his emotions. He didn't understand why An Xiaotian reacted so strongly upon hearing Liang Muqi's name. After all, in Liu Xuan's impression, Liang Muqi was that super genius scientist who developed countless high-tech weapons for the country but inexplicably turned against them a few years ago and became labeled a traitor in the eyes of the people. At that time, as a university student, he was unaware of the murder case that occurred at Military Base in City S and could only superficially grasp An Xiaotian's emotional turmoil.
However, to Qin Weishan and Liu Xuan's surprise, An Xiaotian actively changed the subject. Perhaps he didn't want his emotions to affect his friends too much; he didn't mention Liang Muqi again but instead asked, "Is it possible to contact General Jiang over at Sister Jiao An's side?"
Qin Weishan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No, after we returned to the base, we haven't seen the general or been able to contact him; he might be busy with something."
"Let's hope so." An Xiaotian exchanged glances with the soldiers running past him one by one; from their eyes, he seemed to sense their respect and curiosity towards him. "I'll check back in a few days; I'm a bit worried about the general."
"Ha, what's there to worry about? General Jiang is such an upright person; who would dare to touch him?"
"Yeah. Alright then, I'll hang up."
The days following the battle grew more peaceful by the day; it seemed as if the world had entered an era of tranquility. A few days later, Jiao An was informed that her beloved weapon "Fate Conqueror" had been repaired and immediately rushed to the weapons laboratory.
"Ding dong—"
No one opened the door for her. Jiao An knocked again but noticed that the laboratory door was actually ajar. She gently pushed it open and was instantly startled—holographic information panels floated throughout the room, with some data still variable and changing values above her head. Jiao An tried taking a step inside; her shoulder brushed against one of the data panels and bumped into another one floating in mid-air.
Through the transparent blue holographic panels, Jiao An could see that the walls were lined with experimental series of new equipment. The laboratory was large with screens lit up everywhere; however, strangely enough, it seemed completely empty.
The equipment in this laboratory had been moved from Military Base in City S at that time and was considered quite confidential. Just moments ago when entering this building, Jiao An had received special permission to enter, yet here it felt like a biology lab at a university where anyone could come in freely. Jiao An found this somewhat odd.
"Is anyone there?" Jiao An called out. The laboratory was eerily quiet, even echoing her voice back at her. She walked further inside and looked at the images on the nearby screens; several were describing something similar to a hook lock along with a human body scan analysis.
These things reminded Jiao An of a girl—indeed, her dear younger sister Lu Sha from their team.
"Could it be that someone is experimenting on her?" Jiao An wondered as she approached a corner. Turning her head around in this blue-hued laboratory space, she unexpectedly spotted a black object that seemed unrelated to the lab itself. At first glance, she thought it might be some kind of monster but upon closer inspection realized it was just someone sleeping at a desk with their clothes covering their head.
Jiao An didn't dare disturb this person and could only look around hoping to find her beloved sniper rifle. Just then, unexpectedly from behind the sleeping person’s seat rolled out a small tracked robot with two mechanical eyes staring wide open and making some confused chattering sounds.
"Be quiet! Tsongtsong!" The person buried under clothing shouted back, "I just got some rest!"
"Caw caw! Caw caw caw!" Tsongtsong continued calling out while bumping into the chair with its tracks.
"I told you not to call me…" The person suddenly sat up straight and lifted their clothing only to see Jiao An standing beside them looking somewhat awkwardly surprised; instantly they dropped their angry expression and cleared their throat: "Jiao An? You should have said hello; you scared me into thinking about dismantling this guy."
Chen Hao pretended to glare sternly at the tracked robot Tsongtsong while Tsongtsong stood up straight and quickly scurried behind Jiao An making distressed sounds. Tsongtsong had been around since Liang Muqi was still present at Military Base; as one of only two members of Superhero Alliance alongside Jiao An back then, they shared quite a bond.
"Dr. Chen, are you… very tired?" Jiao An realized she had interrupted him and began to step back.
"No, haha." Chen Hao stood up and greeted with a smile, "I was just giving that girl named Lu Sha a full-body check-up. Her wrist is an issue, and I've been at it all morning. I also need to arrange some personnel for the Battle Armor development... Well, it's quite tiring."
"Lu Sha? Battle Armor?" Jiao An asked in confusion, "Are we making her a Battle Armor? Hey, that sounds pretty good."
"We don't have the time for that," Chen Hao rolled his eyes, lit a cigarette, and waved his hand. "As soon as An Xiaotian returned, he piled a bunch of tasks on us. First, there's the check-up for Lu Sha, then Dr. Xu's Battle Armor, repairing his 'Fierce Eagle,' fixing your and Qin Weishan's equipment... I really can't take it anymore. I'm always cleaning up after you guys. If you had some technical skills, you'd know how exhausting this is. Sigh..."
Watching Chen Hao turn his head to blow out a large puff of smoke, Jiao An could only sympathetically pat Dr. Chen's shoulder and say, "You've worked hard. Without you guys, we wouldn't be able to manage."
"By the way, you just mentioned Dr. Xu's Battle Armor?" Jiao An suddenly realized.
"That's right," Chen Hao confirmed. "It's for our Dr. Xu Yicheng."
"This guy," Jiao An muttered, "What is he thinking? Is he planning to send Dr. Xu into battle?"
"I’m not sure," Chen Hao shrugged. "Anyway, Xu Yicheng hasn't opposed this plan either. Oh right, Jiao An, what is General Jiang doing?"
"Well... I don't know," Jiao An replied. "I've been waiting for news from him, but there hasn't been any."
"That's strange," Chen Hao said. "He should have arrived at the base by now."
The phrase "should have arrived" lingered in Jiao An's mind, and a sense of unease began to creep in...
Indeed, General Jiang should have been at the base long ago. But where was he?
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