Sixteen Years

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“Similar?” Fu Yan asked.

Fang Sining frowned and didn’t speak for a while. After a moment, he shook his head and said, “But it’s not as extreme. The toxins from plant viruses at most just paralyze the nerves and induce hallucinations in people, but these people have already lost vital signs, so how can they move freely?”

Seeing that he didn’t say anything useful, Fu Yan lost interest and withdrew his gaze without saying anything more.

He was too silent, and Fang Sining felt a bit uneasy about his silence. After a while, Fang Sining hesitated and asked again, “By the way, when can I see Shao Qiu?”

“Soon,” Fu Yan said. “He’s on his way here.”

……………………

“…Then let’s decide on this for now. I, the deputy team leader, He Feng, and Yao Tu will go to meet the captain as originally planned.” He Tang pointed to Liu Ruosong and said, “Brother Liu, you will go with us. Xiao Ming, you will escort the blood samples back to Yan City.”

“Okay,” Xiao Ming said. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to complete the mission.”

“Can he handle it alone?” Liu Ruosong was a bit worried. “What if he encounters zombies or needs to look for supplies on the way? Will he be able to manage on his own?”

“No problem,” Shao Qiu waved his hand dismissively. “The captain managed to get himself from S City all the way to Peng City on his own. The distance to Yan City from here is nothing compared to that. If he can’t make it back, he can just end it right here.”

“Puh,” Xiao Ming rolled his eyes unceremoniously. “Can’t you say something more encouraging?”

“All right, all right, I’ll say something encouraging.” He Feng reached out and patted his shoulder, trying to hold back his laughter as he said sincerely, “Don’t be like Shao Qiu. I have high hopes for you – after all, we didn’t buy Biohazard VR for nothing, right?”

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Xiao Ming: “…”

Thanks to that, he got even more annoyed.

Unable to argue with Shao Qiu or He Feng, Xiao Ming held back his anger and forcefully loaded the container with the blood samples into the back seat of his car.

“Oh, be careful,” He Feng, who enjoyed watching the commotion, teased without fear. “Our brave Ming Ming might shatter the blood sample box.”

Liu Ruosong didn’t expect his comment to cause such a stir, so he suddenly felt quite guilty and discreetly moved away from the scene, heading in the opposite direction.

“No worries, we do this all the time,” Yao Tu noticed his discomfort and comforted him with a smirk, “You’ll get used to it.”

Liu Ruosong was surprised. He had always thought that elite military personnel had strict discipline and a formal way of speaking with superiors and subordinates.

“Don’t tease him, bro,” He Tang said. “Let’s pack up.”

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He Feng blinked and instantly dropped his teasing of Xiao Ming, picking up a spare box from He Tang.

“Okay, okay, let’s pack up,” He Feng sighed. “Move it, Miss, look what you’ve done.”

He Feng complained with his mouth, but his hands were surprisingly fast. He pushed He Tang aside and grabbed Xiao Ming’’s packed supplies. Then, after some thought, he added a couple more bundles of straps.

He Tang tilted her head and watched him for a while, then shook off the dust on her hands, and got into the driver’s seat to check the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Liu Ruosong took a slow sip of water, finding Fu Yan’s teammates surprisingly interesting.

Initially, he thought that people who were influenced by Fu Yan’s personality would at least have a somewhat similar personality. However, he did not expect that Fu Yan’s comrades were a unique bunch, yet they somehow didn’t clash with each other. When they didn’t speak, each had their own roles, and it was easy to see the unspoken understanding that had built up over the years.

Especially He Feng and He Tang, the siblings. He Tang opened the car hood to check the vehicle’s condition, and almost as soon as she looked at He Feng, he knew what she needed.

“They’re like that,” Yao Tu pointed to his temple, joking with Liu Ruosong, “Brother and sister with a telepathic connection. We can’t understand it.”

Liu Ruosong helped him lift a spare signal box onto another car. Hearing Yao Tu’s words, he smiled and said, “You know, this is quite impressive. You people are so efficient. It’s something to envy.

Fortunately, they were considerate of Liu Ruosong and didn’t show off their “telepathic connection” in front of him. They rarely used professional terminology, making Liu Ruosong not feel excluded.

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These people were efficient, and it took less than twenty minutes to distribute the supplies among the two vehicles.

After settling down, Liu Ruosong used the team’s internal communication system to call Fu Yan once. Unfortunately, Fu Yan’s phone was off, and he couldn’t reach him.

Liu Ruosong knew that Fu Yan probably didn’t bring a portable charger, so his phone had likely run out of battery. However, the chaotic situation outside made it difficult for him to keep his composure, and he couldn’t help but imagine the worst.

In just three minutes, he checked his phone three times. Even Yao Tu, not to mention He Tang, noticed that something was wrong.

“Liu Ge,” He Tang was driving and glanced at him, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Fu Yan’s phone is off,” Liu Ruosong said. “I’m thinking about how to meet up with him later.”

He Tang smiled and said, “Don’t worry about him.”

Yao Tu, overhearing their conversation, leaned forward from the backseat and pointed to the laptop on Liu Ruosong’s knee.

“The captain’s phone has a locator chip. Even if his phone is dead, we can still find him,” Yao Tu said, then leaned over and made a few swipes on the screen, opening a dark green icon.

The computer screen, which had been monitoring four channels, suddenly flipped and turned into a simple map with a black background and green lines. Yao Tu raised the map’s perspective, then opened the search bar and entered Fu Yan’s code.

Immediately, a green dot with a long trail appeared below the map.

Yao Tu zoomed in on that area, and Fu Yan’s driving path was clearly displayed on the map.

“How’s that? Impressive, right?” He Tang chuckled and said, “Military equipment, guaranteed quality – even if his phone is broken, this thing can be injected directly under the skin and still work.”

The green locator on the map was moving steadily forward, and Liu Ruosong stared at the small dot for a while, feeling much relieved.

Yao Tu glanced at him, then, after a moment of thought, took out a thumb-sized identity chip from his pocket and plugged it into the computer.

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After identity verification, the computer emitted a beep, and a notification flashed on the screen. The map’s colors deepened, and a small real-time locator window appeared in the upper right corner, showing Fu Yan’s current location.

“Without identity verification, you can only see it for twenty minutes at most,” Yao Tu scratched his head, pushed the computer back onto Liu Ruosong’s lap, and said, “This should be enough. You can keep watching as long as you want.”

Liu Ruosong was slightly surprised, as he didn’t expect Yao Tu to pay attention to this detail.

“Thank you,” Liu Ruosong said.

“Don’t be so polite with us,” He Tang chuckled. “Little Rabbit here is attentive; if you need anything, just ask him… um, if we miss anything, just let us know.”

“Little Rabbit, what’s this Little Rabbit?” Yao Tu protested, kicking the driver’s seat from behind. “Don’t I have a proper name?”

“Tu Tu, don’t mess around,” He Feng leaned against the car door and looked at him playfully. “Give it up; there’s no room for contrast cuteness here.”

Yao Tu: “…”

Liu Ruosong, guarding a functioning tracking chip, felt much more relaxed. Listening to the banter between the two in the back, he couldn’t help but smile.

“So, why was there such an option in the draw that day?” Liu Ruosong curiously asked. “I always thought you guys wanted to maintain a serious and unified style.”

“It was like that originally,” He Feng said. “But life should have some fun moments—on the day we drew code names, the captain wasn’t around, and Number One got called away, so we threw an extra piece of paper into the draw box.”

Liu Ruosong: “…”

No wonder. He knew for sure that Fu Yan would never do something like that.

“It was just a prank, and who knew it would be such a coincidence that Yao Tu would draw it,” He Feng said with amusement. “It’s fate’s guidance—anyway, after the captain comes back, we’ve already filled out our reports, and maybe Number One thought it was too funny to send it back for review. That’s how it passed.”

Liu Ruosong chuckled, feeling that there was an underlying sense of “when the captain’s not home, we can climb onto the roof” in his words.

Feeling relaxed and with a good atmosphere, he was about to casually ask them some trivial questions about Fu Yan when he noticed that He Feng’s gaze casually swept over and suddenly landed on the computer in his hand.

Immediately, Shao Qiu, who had been quite laid-back before, slightly straightened up, leaned forward a bit, and pointed at the computer screen, saying, “Ruosong, can you zoom in for me?”

Liu Ruosong complied but couldn’t see anything unusual. Although Fu Yan’s vehicle had deviated from the intended route a bit, it was still moving smoothly out of Peng city.

“But where is he going in this direction?” Liu Ruosong furrowed his brow and asked, “Isn’t this the wrong direction for the meet up point?”

Shao Qiu remained silent. His eyes quickly scanned the map, tracing Fu Yan’s driving route backward.

“104.68; 31.47,” He said.

Liu Ruosong didn’t immediately grasp the significance, but He Tang quickly understood and asked in confusion, “Where is he going, and for what?”

“What?” Liu Ruosong asked.

“Coordinates,” Shao Qiu explained. “Look at the captain’s driving route… if you adjust it slightly, from this angle, you can see these numbers.”