The Third Rebirth (REBIRTH)
Ling Chen noticed Ye Xiao's subtle movements. He leaned slightly forward to cupped Ye Xiao's face with both hands with his thumbs pressing against the corners of Ye Xiao's mouth. Frowning, he said, "Open your mouth."
Seeing Ye Xiao's clear black-and-white eyes looking at him, Ling Chen sighed softly in compromise and his tone softening, "Alright, be good. Open your mouth and let me see if it's bleeding."
Ye Xiao opened his mouth under the pressure of Ling Chen's thumb, revealing his tongue. Ling Chen's frown deepened, "Why did you bite so hard?"
He wanted to take a closer look, but Ye Xiao closed his mouth first before speaking softly, "It doesn't hurt."
Seeing that Ye Xiao didn't want to talk about it, Ling Chen didn't press further. He just advised, "Don't eat anything spicy during dinner tonight, it'll hurt, understand?"
Noticing that Ye Xiao's ears had turned red again and looking somewhat uncomfortable, Ling Chen tilted his head and saw Jian Lan standing straight as a ramrod, with her military posture rivaling that of an honor guard. Her eyes were fixed on Ye Xiao and not even blinking.
Ling Chen shielded Ye Xiao behind him and repeated to Jian Lan, "Bring him over, let me see."
Jian Lan knew from his tone that she was in trouble and quickly responded, "Yes, sir!" She then turned and ran off swiftly.
A minute later, Jian Lan returned with a young man. He had a splint on his leg, walking with a limp, and his right arm was also injured. However, he stopped three steps away from Ling Chen, heels together, chest out, and gave a standard military salute.
"Fang Wenzhe, leader of the third squad of the Soaring Dragon Special Operations Team, serial number YL75742, reporting to Commander Ling!"
Ling Chen returned the salute with his usual laziness completely gone and his back straight, exuding the commanding presence of a superior.
Jian Lan, standing behind Ling Chen, felt the sharp aura of her commander, causing her back muscles to tighten as she stood even straighter and leaning on her black heavy sniper rifle.
Ling Chen nodded slightly, "Report the situation. Where are your comrades?"
Fang Wenzhe's Adam's apple bobbed, "Reporting to Commander Ling! On May 29th, our team received orders to dispatch a combat squad to D Zone to support the Second Division. On the 30th, the third squad successfully entered D Zone. On the evening of the 31st, during a heavy rainstorm, we were ambushed by Holy Judgement. Out of the nine members in the squad, eight were killed."
At this point, his eyes turned red, and he clenched his teeth to keep from crying, "Only I survived by chance."
Seeing Fang Wenzhe's red eyes and the blood from biting his gums, Ling Chen felt no emotional fluctuation. He reached out and patted the man's shoulder, "Those of us who survived will not let them die in vain. We will remember this and avenge them."
Fang Wenzhe wiped his eyes with the back of his uninjured left hand before answering with a choked voice, "Yes, sir!"
"Alright, since the command center has sent Soaring Dragon to support us, you'll stay here. Rest in this vehicle. D Zone is unstable, so don't think about anything else. Recovering your combat strength is the priority. Since you've survived, live well while carrying the memory of your fallen comrades."
After saying this, Ling Chen instructed Jiang Cancan, who was whispering to Jiang Mu, "You drive this vehicle and follow us." Then he turned around, "Jian Lan, follow me."
Jian Lan, who had been staring blankly at the wildflowers and grass under her feet, quickly looked up at Ling Chen's voice, "Coming, coming!"
Jiang Mu took the driver's seat and started the vehicle, while Ling Chen led Ye Xiao and Jian Lan into the rear compartment. He first found some milk, added sugar, and handed it to Ye Xiao to hold. Then, he casually sat down on a chair and said, "Tell me, what's the situation?"
Jian Lan was staring in astonishment at how naturally Ling Chen was feeding Ye Xiao sweetened milk. It took her several seconds to respond to Ling Chen's question.
However, before answering, she cautiously asked Ling Chen, "When I first joined the Second Division, I was wild and didn't respect you. I insisted on challenging you to a sniper duel. We made a bet that the loser would wash the winner's socks for a week—"
Ling Chen raised his eyelids and gave her a half-smile, "Ten days. You washed my socks for ten days."
Jian Lan patted her chest and exhaled dramatically, "Damn, I—I thought you were an imposter! Scared the hell out of me!"
She had only been away from the team for a few days, and upon returning, she found that her commander was actually making sweetened milk for someone! This was unbelievable!
She cautiously glanced at Ye Xiao, who was sitting next to Ling Chen and quietly sipping the sweetened milk with lowered eyelashes. Her curiosity was burning like a cat scratching at her heart, but under Ling Chen's death glare, she didn't dare to ask.
Suppressing her curiosity, Jian Lan cleared her throat, "I—I got separated from you guys back then. In D Zone, compasses and locators don't work. I wandered around for half a day but couldn't find you, so I figured I must have gone too far.
For the first two days, I struggled to rejoin the team, but I realized it was harder than growing my hair long and braiding it. So, I gave up and just wandered around in the wild. Anyway, the nutrient solution kept me alive."
Ling Chen interrupted her narrative, "When did you get the armored vehicle?"
"On the eighth day. After I woke up, I spotted some people from Holy Judgement. They must have gotten separated too because they were only five. I still had my heavy sniper rifle with me, and since I’ve learned well from you, Chen Ge, I decided to ambush them and took the vehicle."
Ling Chen nodded, "What about Fang Wenzhe? How did that happen?"
Jian Lan knew this was the key point, so she sat up straight and answered carefully, "After I took the vehicle, I noticed from the leftover equipment that this squad's target was the central area of D Zone. I thought I could meet up with you guys there, or maybe even run into you along the way.
When I opened the rear compartment to check the supplies, a strong smell of blood hit me. Upon closer inspection, I found a severely injured man. After some questioning, I found out he was from Soaring Dragon, one of our own. He didn’t have an ID tag, but I verified the number he gave and confirming he wasn’t an imposter. So, I kept him in the rear compartment and brought him along."
Ling Chen didn’t mention that they had already found Soaring Dragon’s ID tag and bullets. He continued to ask, "What was the situation at the time?"
Jian Lan was sharp. She lowered her voice, "Chen Ge, do you suspect something’s wrong with him?"
Ling Chen gave a barely perceptible nod, "Go on."
"Alright." Jian Lan wisely didn’t press further and continued to recall, "When I opened the rear compartment, he was lying in the corner. His leg was fractured, and he had a gunshot wound on his arm. He had lost a lot of blood, was pale, weak, and sweating profusely. There were also signs of torture on his body. He told me that the people from Holy Judgement had kept him alive to interrogate him about the Second Division’s location and the mission in D Zone. He refused to talk and was kept imprisoned until I arrived."
After listening, Ling Chen didn't ask any further questions. "If you're tired, go to sleep. I'll wake you up for dinner." Spending half a month alone in D Zone was no easy feat.
Jian Lan's stiffened back finally relaxed. She casually tossed the heavy sniper rifle to the ground and sprawled on the chair, ready to sleep. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Ye Xiao had finished his sweet milk, leaving a ring of foam around his mouth. Her commander reached out to pinched Ye Xiao's soft, fair chin, and used his thumb to wipe away the foam.
Jian Lan felt a jolt through her body and quickly closed her eyes while silently reciting, "Do not look at what is improper, Amitabha Buddha." After a few repetitions, her shock was no match for her exhaustion, and she soon fell asleep.
Ye Xiao waited for Ling Chen to finish wiping the foam from his mouth. He opened his mouth to speak but ultimately held back.
He remembered clearly that during his first rebirth, when he found Ling Chen, Jiang Cancan, Jiang Mu, and Jian Lan were already dead. Ling Chen had mentioned once that Jian Lan had died because of a betrayal by someone named "Fang Wenzhe."
He wanted to tell Ling Chen that this person was likely a traitor, but due to the restrictions of the Noah System, he couldn't reveal his experience of rebirth—so he couldn't explain why he was so certain that Fang Wenzhe was the traitor.
There was no evidence.
This sense of helplessness filled him with anxiety and made him restless.
Ling Chen sent a message to Jiang Cancan: "Try to get some information out of him." After receiving a reply, he turned off the communicator and looked up to see Ye Xiao deep in thought, almost tangled in his own worries.
Ling Chen found it amusing and reached out to pinch Ye Xiao's left cheek. "Tsk, how is your skin so good?"
The warmth of the touch momentarily eased the anxiety spreading in Ye Xiao's heart. He tilted his head slightly to offer his right cheek. "This side is just as good."
Ling Chen's smile deepened. Unable to resist, he pulled Ye Xiao into his arms but mindful of the sleeping Jian Lan beside them, and whispered, "So obedient, huh?"
As he spoke, he pinched Ye Xiao's right cheek again, the skin beneath his fingers smooth and delicate—damn, he wanted to kiss him.
When this strange thought crossed his mind, Ling Chen paused and took a rare moment for deep self-reflection: After spending over half a month in D Zone, constantly dealing with enemies and monsters, his nerves had been stretched to the limit. It had been a long time since he had released the pent-up energy that was about to overflow.
Ling Chen's body was full of vitality. Even after a two-hour weighted run the previous night that left him exhausted like a dead dog, he would still wake up early the next morning while full of energy.
He kept his expression neutral and let go of Ye Xiao. "The Captain is going to sit in the co-pilot seat for a while to discuss things with Xiao Mu. You should rest."
After saying this, he ruffled Ye Xiao's hair, stood up, and pulled a piece of candy from his bag to feed to Ye Xiao. Then he took his seat in the co-pilot's chair.
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