The Third Rebirth (REBIRTH)
Regarding Ling Chen suddenly sitting in the passenger seat, Jiang Mu, who was driving, gave him a strange look but remained silent and didn’t ask further.
Ling Chen himself rolled down the window to stare at the flowers and grass outside for a while, then turned back to look at Ye Xiao. He found Ye Xiao hugging his Long Blade with his eyes closed and sleeping with a candy in his mouth, causing his cheeks to puff up.
The road was uneven, and the car shook violently. Ye Xiao’s body swayed back and forth, and his head bumped against the car wall several times. Ling Chen couldn’t stand it anymore, so he got up from the passenger seat, took a few steps, and returned to his original spot. He gently guided Ye Xiao’s head to rest on his shoulder.
“Sleep, I’m here.”
Ye Xiao let out a soft “Mmm” from his nose and fell asleep leaning on Ling Chen.
Before the sun set, Jiang Mu parked the car by a small stream.
Jiang Cancan got out of the car with two large buckets then filled them with water, and carried them back to the car one in each hand. Standing in front of a small mountain of canned food, he was utterly enchanted. “Can Ye never imagined that one day, on a mission, I’d have so many cans at my disposal!”
Jian Lan yawned as she climbed out of her chair before standing sloppily next to Jiang Cancan to peek at the stash. “The organization is indeed the warmest!”
The two of them rummaged through the cans and found a few boxes of Braised Beef Brisket and Chinese Sausage Fried Rice, then happily went to wash their helmets. Ye Xiao followed Ling Chen to the stream to pick some wild vegetables. After blanching them in hot water, everyone was forced to eat a few stalks.
Jiang Cancan, who only wanted to eat meat, struggled to swallow the greens. In the spirit of camaraderie, he asked Jian Lan, “You’ve been wandering around D Zone alone for over half a month. Did you get hurt?”
Jian Lan shook her head. “Not really. I’m clever, you know? If I can win, I fight; if I can’t, I run fast.” She touched her nose. “Though once, for safety, I slept in a tree, but accidentally fell. Ouch, it hurt so much!”
Jiang Cancan stared at her in shock, then burst into laughter, doubling over and leaning on Jiang Mu, and even almost spit out his Chinese Sausage Fried Rice. “Holy shit, that’s some next-level move! Hahaha, Can Ye is dying of laughter! You’re too damn talented!”
Jiang Mu looked at Jiang Cancan with slight disdain but didn’t push him away, his face still cold. His peripheral glance caught Fang Wenzhe sitting next to Jian Lan, looking enviously at Jiang Cancan and Jian Lan joking around with his eyes slightly red.
Jiang Mu lowered his gaze and continued eating.
Jian Lan had always been thick-skinned and didn’t mind much. Besides, she and Jiang Cancan got along well—both loved to chatter endlessly. They could perform a comedy skit at the military district’s Spring Festival Gala without any rehearsal. Given that they were often disliked by the other two team members, they could only huddle together in a corner to whisper, which deepened their bond.
To celebrate Jian Lan’s return to the team, Jiang Cancan went all out and cooked six fish into a fish soup—it was caught from the lake at the second coordinate point but kept in the back of the car, and treasured until now.
Ye Xiao wasn’t particularly skilled with chopsticks, but he was patient. Holding his camouflage helmet, he meticulously picked out the fish bones. Ling Chen glanced at him several times and noticed that by the time he had finished half a fish, Ye Xiao had only managed to take one bite. “Tsk”, Ling Chen clicked his tongue, then reached over and took the helmet from Ye Xiao’s hands. “Stop struggling, I’ll do it.”
Ye Xiao blinked but put down his chopsticks and just propped his chin with both hands before tilting his head to watch Ling Chen pick out fish bones for him.
Jian Lan bit her chopsticks and gasped in shock. Given Ling Chen's keen hearing, she didn't dare whisper. Instead, she raised her wrist and opened a private one-on-one chat.
"Jian Lan: My soul is trembling! Is that really Chen Ge? The same Chen Ge who taught me how to use a scope, got impatient after one try, and beat me up after two??"
"Jiang Cancan: Bro, you're still too young. Picking out bones is nothing. Our Chen Ge isn't the same Chen Ge he used to be."
Jian Lan, annoyed by Jiang Cancan's cryptic and mysterious reply, simply turned off her communicator and continued eating while secretly observing.
Wow, not a single bone was left, and he even blew on the soup to cool it down. He even shared the meat from his own bowl—Jian Lan was stunned, wondering if she was hallucinating or if the world had gone mad!
Seeing Ye Xiao return the meat he had just given him, Ling Chen frowned. "Ye Xiao, you need to finish both the meat and the rice, or I'll cancel your sweet milk before bed."
Ye Xiao glanced up at Ling Chen, sighed, and reluctantly reached out with his chopsticks to take the meat back before eating it with a pout.
Fang Wenzhe, who had been sitting quietly with a downcast expression, suddenly looked up. "...His name is Ye Xiao?"
Everyone turned to look at him. Ling Chen nodded, "Yes, why?"
Fang Wenzhe quickly shook his head, glanced at Ye Xiao briefly, and lowered his head again. "N-no reason."
After nightfall, the two vehicles parked side by side. Ling Chen, finding the cabin too stuffy, climbed onto the roof to sleep. He had barely closed his eyes for two minutes when he noticed Ye Xiao climbing up while clutching his ever-present long blade.
Ling Chen scooted over to make room. "Come lie next to the Captain." Once Ye Xiao had carefully settled down, Ling Chen chuckled softly, "Can't sleep without the Captain?"
"Mm," Ye Xiao's ears turned slightly red, but he didn't deny it—without Ling Chen around, he felt uneasy, so he had followed him up to the roof.
Ling Chen sucked in a breath while staring at Ye Xiao's silhouette in the dark. He couldn't help but feel his heart soften. Unable to resist, he reached out and pinched Ye Xiao's cheek.
Ling Chen: "Are Jian Lan and Xiao Mu asleep?"
Ye Xiao shook his head. "Brother Xiao Mu is working on a 3D topographic map, and Jian Lan... she keeps staring at me." His voice grew softer toward the end. He wasn't very sensitive to others' attention, but Jian Lan's gaze, though not malicious, made him feel awkward.
Ling Chen understood. "Feeling shy?" Seeing Ye Xiao nod, Ling Chen smiled and ruffled his hair. "Our Ye Xiao is so adorable, of course everyone wants to stare at him." But in his mind, he thought, “Is she even allowed to stare? She must be itching for a beating—one round should do it, or maybe two.”
Ye Xiao lay still for a few seconds, then turned to face Ling Chen before calling out softly, "Captain."
"Hmm?" Ling Chen lay on his back with left leg crossed over his right, and turned his head to look at him. "What is it? Got some secrets to share with the Captain?"
Ye Xiao hesitated. He wasn't sure if Ling Chen would believe him if he said Fang Wenzhe was a traitor who would get Jian Lan killed. And if Ling Chen didn't believe him, would he think Ye Xiao was trying to sow discord?
Seeing him on the verge of getting tangled up again, Ling Chen found it amusing. "Our Ye Xiao has grown up and is keeping things to himself now. If you have any adolescent troubles, you can always tell your Captain, and I promise to keep it confidential!"
Ye Xiao inhaled the night air that tinged with the scent of grass and trees, and the sound of a nearby stream murmuring in his ears. He recalled the events of the past half month and gave himself a mental pep talk—Ling Chen would probably believe him.
He opened his mouth, "Captain, Fang—"
At that moment, his ears caught an unusual sound. Ye Xiao abruptly sat up to listen intently for a moment. "Something's coming!"
Ling Chen stood up but first addressed Ye Xiao, "We'll continue this conversation after the fight." Then, with a heavy stomp of his military boot on the vehicle's roof, a dull thud echoed through the night. Jian Lan quickly poked her head out from the driver's compartment, "Damn it! How about showing some respect for public property?"
"Stop babbling." Ling Chen said with hands in his camouflage pants pockets. "Everyone up, it's time to fight." With that, he jumped down from the roof and leaned into the rear compartment.
Jian Lan climbed onto the roof with her precious heavy sniper rifle, noticing Ye Xiao still standing there in a daze. As she set up the tripod, she advised, "Little friend, you should hide in the compartment. Don't be scared when the little monsters come, I'll protect you!"
She thought Ye Xiao looked delicate and handsome, with slender arms and legs, obediently following their commander—it really poked at her protective instincts. Worried about scaring him, Jian Lan even hesitated whether to add a silencer to her heavy sniper rifle.
Jiang Cancan jumped out from the driver's seat of a nearby small armored vehicle, just in time to hear Jian Lan's words. He widened his eyes and gave Jian Lan a look that said, "Bro, you're too naive."
Ye Xiao, holding his long blade, smiled slightly, "Thank you."
Jian Lan waved her hand, "No need to thank me, just serving the people!"
At that moment, the rustling sounds grew closer. Jiang Cancan put down his night vision binoculars before exclaiming, "Oh my, it's a swarm of mutated geckos! They're about a meter long, with tails around sixty centimeters! A whole bunch of them!" He rubbed his arms, "Thank goodness Can Ye doesn't have a phobia of dense patterns, or I'd be scared to tears in a second!"
Ling Chen distributed the night vision goggles he had dug out. Seeing Fang Wenzhe trying to come out from the rear compartment, he sternly commanded, "Get back in."
Fang Wenzhe pursed his lips tightly, "Reporting, Commander, I want to join the fight!" After saying this, he instinctively looked up at Jian Lan for help, and as he withdrew his gaze, he glanced at Ye Xiao still standing on the roof with a flash of fear and concern in his eyes.
Ling Chen, who had clearly seen his expression and look, showed no change in his demeanor. He was always resolute in his decisions, his tone firm, "That's an order."
Fang Wenzhe hurriedly lowered his eyes, "...Yes!"
Jian Lan received Fang Wenzhe's plea for help, but she knew well that not only Ling Chen, but even she herself would never let a suspect join the fight—it's not like they had a death wish. So Jian Lan pretended not to see and just focused on adjusting her night vision goggles.
When the geckos entered the shooting range, Jian Lan called out, "Xiao Mu, give me the wind direction and bullet deviation data!" She added with a laugh, "Having a data analyst is such a blessing, my lousy math always makes me pull my hair out calculating deviations!"
Jiang Mu clearly reported the data with his eyes fixed on the monitor. "The gecko swarm is approaching from four directions. The largest group is coming from the north, followed by the west, east, and south. The total number is around six hundred."
Ling Chen nodded. "Each person will take one direction. I'll handle the north."
Jian Lan counted carefully in her mind—Chen Ge, Can Can, and herself—that still only made three people. It wasn't enough. She was puzzled. "Is Xiao Mu also going to fight?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Ye Xiao's voice. "I'll take the west."
Huh?
Jian Lan doubted her ears. She turned her head and saw Ye Xiao wearing a black T-shirt and faded jeans, with night vision goggles on the bridge of his nose. He was lowering his head and tightening the bandage on his right wrist.
In the next second, Ye Xiao's small face tensed. His left hand gripped a black scabbard, and with a light tap of his toes, he landed on the ground as agilely as a falcon. Without a moment's pause, he swiftly charged toward the west.
Lying on the roof of the car, Jian Lan pulled the trigger and accurately turned several geckos into black ash with her precise shots. However, she couldn't help but get distracted. She picked up the night vision binoculars beside her and looked toward the west. At a glance, she saw Ye Xiao's waist twist lightly with his right hand holding the Long Blade. Wherever the cold light passed, two or three mutated geckos turned to ash and disappeared in seconds.
Calm and composed, and he even handled it with ease as if he were just swatting mosquitoes.
‘Holy crap, I just told him not to be scared earlier? So... so embarrassing!’
Jian Lan pinched her own firm arm—it wasn't an illusion! So, where did Chen Ge manage to find this violent little cutie?
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