Chapter Thirty-One: A Battle for the Ages

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The squad queued properly among the stream of vehicles before the base gates.

At the checkpoint, layer upon layer of sentries verified their identities and mission details, checked their contamination levels, and thoroughly searched the equipment in all three of their vehicles before finally letting them through.

There was far more to see inside the gates.

Many buildings more than twenty stories high still stood here. Their bright glass curtain walls reflected the sunlight so fiercely that they were almost dazzling.

What astonished everyone even more was that Yang Yuning, who had looked as wretched as a vagrant when they first met him and had seemed, during the journey, rather like a sunny but somewhat slow-witted young man, actually had a private car waiting for him.

It was an ordinary family SUV, neither a military vehicle nor a transport truck. It looked more like the personal car of someone important.

The middle-aged man waiting beside it was dressed in plain clothes and seemed quite unremarkable. He wore a string of wooden beads around his wrist—perhaps Buddhist prayer beads—but the rough, dark-red cheeks weathered by wind and sun, together with his ramrod-straight posture, made it obvious that he was a soldier.

They were still in the military-controlled area before the checkpoint building at the southern gate of North Base One when the soldier with the prayer beads crossed past the guards and strode straight over. He slapped Yang Yuning on the shoulder and looked him up and down.

“You’re finally back! Your uncle has been worried sick these past few days. When he heard you’d be back today, he specifically sent me to wait for you at the gate.” He turned to Yang Yuning, then shook hands with Guan Ling, saying repeatedly, “Those who survive a great disaster are sure to have blessings afterward.”

Someone had come to meet Guan Ling as well: a young man in a filthy white lab coat, his hair sticking out in every direction like a bird’s nest.

The moment he saw Guan Ling, his eyes blurred with tears, and he nearly stumbled as he threw himself forward.

“Director, you’re finally back! I’ve been having nightmares every night for the past two days! The senior brothers and sisters… If even you were gone, then even if they forced me to my death, I still couldn’t build the miniature fusion reactor!”

The young man smeared his tears and mucus all over Guan Ling. Guan Ling looked both disgusted and amused. At the mention of his senior colleagues, however, his throat tightened with grief. In the end, he merely reached out and stroked the young man’s nest of unruly hair.

Five members of Guan Ling’s team had gone northwest. Two had originally escaped the assassination during the internal revolt, but on the night Guan Ling was rescued, the other one had succumbed to his injuries and the pressure, mutated, and been shot dead by Yang Yuning.

“Let’s go back to the laboratory,” Guan Ling said.

The moment he stepped outside, a group of heavily armed soldiers surrounded him and protected him from every angle. The entire party moved away like a mobile fortress, conspicuous in the extreme.

Only then did the members of Squad Two gain a more concrete sense of the fact that Professor Guan was truly a major figure.

The personnel from North Base One responsible for coordinating with the squad had also arrived. After confirming Guan Ling and Yang Yuning’s safety and health and having them sign the necessary documents, they saluted Yu Shuang.

“Our unit has arranged accommodations for the comrades of Zhongyuan Three. Preparing the biological fuel supplies will take another day or two. Please rest well and wait patiently.”

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The entire squad returned the salute and followed him to their lodgings.

“I’ll come find you tomorrow and show you around the base. It should be in the evening, so don’t eat dinner until I get there!” Yang Yuning called to the squad before getting into the car.

Everyone laughed and gave him an OK sign.

…

The champagne-colored SUV traveled along the broad avenue. The man with the prayer beads was driving, while Yang Yuning firmly refused to sit in the back and took the passenger seat instead.

The man was named Yao Du’an. He was Yang Yuning’s second uncle and the secretary to Yang Cheng, commander of the Second Division of the North Base One Ground Defense Army. His rank was higher than Yang Yuning’s.

“Let’s go home first. Take a shower and have lunch. The summons from the military court will arrive by this afternoon at the latest,” Yao Du’an said gently.

Naturally, the summons concerned an investigation into what Yang Yuning had encountered during this mission.

The nature of the incident was extremely grave, and it had come dangerously close to causing serious consequences. It had drawn the attention of the military’s upper command and even the National Security Council.

Mention of it caused Yang Yuning’s expression to turn cold.

“The escort mission was carried out by us and Squad Three. Almost the entire third squad defected, but the greatest damage was still caused by my deputy commander. His very first shot killed the purifier.

“Before he died, my deputy told me that his family was in the hands of the Zhenyue Combat Team’s central command. His orders were to kill everyone. Even if he survived, he was never to return to the base.

“To force him into that position, the central command alone couldn’t possibly have been enough. There has to be someone else behind it…”

“Of course. The relationships involved are far more extensive and complicated than you imagine.” Yao Du’an glanced at Yang Yuning. “We’re investigating it as well. Whoever planned this, trying to kill you means making an enemy of our family. Your second uncle will never let him go!”

Yang Yuning disliked the way he used the word “our”—“our Yang family,” “our Yang family will never let anyone off.”

His grandfather had never spoken that way while he was alive. His second uncle… at least the people around his second uncle did.

So did his relatives, near and distant, who held positions throughout the military and civilian departments of the base.

Plotting the assassination of a mission squad and a scientific research team was a serious breach of discipline and a criminal act. Military law and national law would not spare those people, Yang Yuning thought, but he did not say it aloud.

He merely looked out the window and said quietly, “Grandfather said many times before he died that insect oil would bring endless trouble. Research from numerous laboratories has proven that emissions from insect oil cause people’s contamination levels to accumulate and their mental resistance to decline slowly.

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“Why, then, would anyone go so madly far as to obstruct research into nuclear-fusion power?”

“You’re too clever not to realize that the army is always the first to come into contact with the corpses of Fallen Insects—in other words, with crude oil. That is a form of power.” Yao Du’an spoke lightly.

“If someone could monopolize that channel, he would become the king of the base, unshakable by anyone.”

Yang Yuning fell silent.

But Yao Du’an smiled and changed the subject. “The military is actually overwhelmed with work at the moment. The most important matter is the deployment in the northwest.

“I heard that the squad that rescued you also took part in scouting that stronghold. They’re remarkably lucky. They keep finding themselves involved in events of historic significance!

“And from what I can see, you get along rather well with them. You even specifically asked the commander to send Zhongyuan Three a letter of thanks…”

By the end, Yao Du’an’s smile had taken on a distinctly gossipy air. Yang Yuning shifted his gaze aside, then immediately steered the conversation back to the main issue.

“So we’re about to fight a major war?”

“Yes.” Yao Du’an nodded, lowering his voice. “West of Hualin County, there are billions of tons of coal and iron resources, as well as a gigantic smart factory completed just before the apocalypse. Farther north, there’s also…”

He stopped, but his meaning had already been conveyed in full.

This was a war to seize industrial resources—and to seize the future. It was the first major offensive against the Fallen Insects that humanity had launched in more than a decade.

Yang Yuning could not help sitting up straighter, a surge of excitement running through him.

He had to take part in this war. He would make a contribution in it, even if his individual strength was insignificant. He would do something, however small, to help shape the fate of all humankind.

The vehicle entered an upscale residential complex with landscaping and greenery. Yao Du’an parked, and from the corner of his eye saw the excitement on Yang Yuning’s face. His lips moved slightly, as though he were smiling.

He habitually closed his hand around the prayer beads he carried and gently rolled one between his fingers. Then, smiling, he opened the car door and accompanied Yang Yuning upstairs.

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