Chapter 246
Chapter 246
Qingqing whipped her head around. A creature that looked almost exactly like a Facehugger was plastered over a soldier’s face.
And that soldier was none other than the veteran’s kid!
Rage surged through Qingqing.
“Fuck!”
Her machete sliced cleanly through the creature, splitting the thing that resembled a Facehugger in two.
But the young soldier crumpled weakly to the ground, blood pouring from the nose and corners of the mouth.
A faint voice whispered in Qingqing’s ear.
“Commander… I guess I won’t get to be a superhero after all. You’ll have to… be one for me.”
The young soldier managed one last smile before going still.
Qingqing tightened her grip on the machete, forcibly suppressing the fury inside her.
“Zhang the Thief!”
The young soldier was dead, and the battle was drawing to a close.
From start to finish, it had lasted less than ten minutes, yet seven soldiers had been left behind in the exclusion zone forever.
As Qingqing stared at the bodies on the ground, something suddenly struck her.
This was different from the fighting on the Moon. There, she could charge into battle and kill the enemy.
But now, she was the Commanding Officer. A single mistake from her could cost someone their life.
Those seven soldiers had used their blood to teach Qingqing that the battlefield allowed no mistakes.
Qingqing drew a deep breath. “Everyone, rest!”
Under the script’s control, the night passed in the blink of an eye.
The team once again headed deeper into the exclusion zone.
A different young soldier now walked beside her, but this one was just as curious as the last.
“Commander, if we really find the Brood Nest, what are we going to do with it?”
Qingqing fell silent for a moment, glancing out of the corner of her eye at her backpack.
Inside was a satellite locator.
If they proved unable to deal with the Brood Nest, the higher-ups would set the plan in motion.
They would deploy the most destructive weapon humanity possessed and saturate the entire exclusion zone.
A special substance had already been dispersed throughout more than thirty exclusion zones across the globe.
It could briefly attract the insect queens.
That was the key to the plan’s success.
To ensure that the teams could complete their missions, the perimeter of every exclusion zone had become an inferno of nonstop artillery fire.
Countless insects charged fearlessly toward human settlements.
At the front, innumerable soldiers used their lives to forge an impregnable wall.
“Report! The Mechanized Battalion has fallen!”
“Send in the field battalion! Even if there’s only one man left, hold that line!”
“Yes, sir!”
If one battalion was wiped out, the next went in.
They had to buy time for the strike teams.
Unless the insect queens were destroyed, Earth had no hope.
Time raced by, and Qingqing finally reached one of the script’s crucial decisions.
“Report! Third Squad is requesting support!”
“Report! The Micro Targeting Cannon is ready!”
Third Squad was currently holding back a massive swarm of insects.
At the same time, Qingqing and her troops were blocking the main force of another swarm.
If Third Squad’s position fell, the entire team would be scattered.
Every last one of them would be hunted down by the insects.
But the Micro Targeting Cannon could only be fired by locking onto the locator carried by Third Squad.
There were two choices, and both were agonizing.
She could fire the Targeting Cannon, sacrificing Third Squad’s lives in exchange for victory.
Or she could send reinforcements now, but that would mean the main front might not hold.
It could collapse in an instant.
Qingqing finally understood why generals were all so cold-blooded.
“Lock on to Third Squad. Fire!”
“Commander!”
“I said fire!”
Qingqing’s roar thundered across the battlefield.
Those beside her gritted their teeth and pressed the launch button.
A small shell packed with gunpowder hurtled into the distance.
In the trench holding off the insects on the flank, five soldiers huddled tightly together.
“Reporting! I’m out of ammo!”
“Reporting! Me too!”
“Fix bayonets! Commander is launching the missile!”
“Hahaha! Never thought I’d get the chance to die a martyr!”
Captain looked up at the faint exhaust trail in the sky, and a smile appeared on his face.
“Long March Company!”
“We face death without fear!”
Their unified roar rang out amid the swarm.
A thunderous explosion reached the troops on the main front.
With the threat to their flank gone, the battle there began going much more smoothly.
By any standard, resolving the crisis at the cost of just five lives was a successful outcome.
As a Commanding Officer, Qingqing was unquestionably competent.
But at that moment, Qingqing squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears.
She had not known those soldiers for long, but there was no bond more steadfast than the one between comrades-in-arms.
Their smiling faces were etched into her mind.
“Zhang the Thief! [Bleep, bleep, bleep]! [Bleep, bleep, bleep]!”
After venting her rage, she turned back to the ongoing battle.
Qingqing raised her heavy machete and charged straight into the insect swarm.
Ten minutes later, the battle was over.
Qingqing wiped the green blood from her machete, her expression resolute.
“Clear the battlefield. Then we move on!”
“Yes!”
Meanwhile, inside the amusement park, Zhang Bei stroked his chin as he watched Li Yang clumsily pick out a lipstick for Gu Yue.
“You’ve seriously never dated anyone?”
Li Yang nodded solemnly. “Not even once.”
“What were you doing in middle school?”
“Uh… playing video games!”
“What about high school?”
Li Yang fell silent for a long moment before finally beginning his explanation.
“Boss, you know how high school students have to do group calisthenics, right?”
“Yeah. We were still doing the third standardized routine back in my day.”
“I used to lead the exercises from the flag platform.”
“And?”
A trace of humiliation flashed through Li Yang’s eyes.
“There were more than five thousand students and staff at my school. That day, the sun was shining brightly…”
“Get to the point!”
Li Yang faltered. “My fly was open while I was leading the exercises. After that, the whole school knew there was a pervert in blue SpongeBob SquarePants boxers.”
Zhang Bei fought desperately to hold back his laughter.
“So that killed your dating prospects?”
“Uh, it went way beyond dating prospects. If I could’ve, I would’ve dropped out.”
Zhang Bei immediately burst out laughing.
His laughter was filled with merciless mockery.
Li Yang scratched his head and looked at his boss.
“Boss, you’ve never even had a first love yourself, have you?”
The laughter stopped abruptly, and Zhang Bei’s expression instantly darkened.
“Go pick your gift!”
Li Yang felt a chill creep up his back. “I’ll take my leave!”
With that, he sprinted away.
Zhang Bei was in a foul mood, so naturally, someone had to suffer.
Still, even messing with people required principles.
The tourists had not done anything to offend Zhang Bei, so why should they be the ones getting tortured?
Zhang Bei swept his gaze around the amusement park.
“The screams from the Giant Swing aren’t intense enough. Add another five minutes!”
“Yes, Boss!”
Boss Zhang shot the Giant Swing a dangerous look before turning his attention to the tablet in his hand.
On its screen was Qingqing, struggling onward.
This wouldn’t do!
She wasn’t suffering nearly enough!
Boss Zhang pulled up the backend control panel and tweaked several values.
While he was at it, he added some even more “fun” options for Qingqing.
The moment Zhang Bei tapped confirm, Qingqing realized that something inside the scenario had changed.