The Third Rebirth (REBIRTH)
The moment the battered armored vehicle, missing even its windshield, drove out of D Zone, all communications returned to normal.
It was dawn as the sun had yet to rise, and the air carried a chill.
Jiang Cancan stuck his head out through the sunroof, took a deep breath, and dramatically exclaimed, "Finally out of that bizarre place!"
No one paid him any attention.
Jiang Cancan retreated back into his seat, patted his buzz cut, and cautiously glanced at Ling Chen, who was resting with his eyes closed.
His face and heart were filled with worry. But he didn’t dare to blabber, so he quietly opened his communicator and started a private chat with Jian Lan.
Jiang Cancan: Ever since the little friend left, the old man has lost his spirit! It’s been almost three days, and he’s maintained that expressionless face the whole time!
Jian Lan, sitting in the passenger seat, was hugging her precious heavy sniper rifle and catching up on sleep. Feeling the vibration on her wrist communicator, she didn’t need to guess who it was.
Jian Lan: I drove most of the night, I’m exhausted!
Jiang Cancan: You’re all in the cab and leaving me alone in the back compartment. I’m practically freezing to death from the cold aura Chen Ge is radiating! It’s so sad!"
Jian Lan: I said I need to catch up on sleep!
Jiang Cancan: What do you think the little friend is doing now? Without Can Can Ge to cook for him, will he go hungry? Just living on nutrient solution, life must be so bland.
Jian Lan: …
Jiang Cancan: Chen Ge’s mood is really bad. And last night before bed, I saw him habitually prepare a glass of sweet milk for the little friend. But since the little friend wasn’t there, Chen Ge just stared at the milk for a few minutes, then poured the milk out.
Jian Lan: …
Jiang Cancan: I’ll stop talking, Chen Ge is glaring at me again!
Jian Lan, with a face dark from lack of sleep, really wanted to drag Jiang Cancan out and give him a beating!
The vehicle gradually slowed down.
Jiang Mu, holding the steering wheel, asked, "Chen Ge, should I send a signal to the Command Center now?"
Ling Chen opened his eyes. "Yes, go ahead." He was holding a milk candy and flipping it deftly between his fingers. His eyelids drooped, looking somewhat listless but the tension in his jawline gave him an overall cold demeanor.
After the sound of fingertips tapping on the keyboard ceased, Jiang Mu spoke again, "Chen Ge, there’s a text message on the encrypted channel."
"Encrypted channel?" Ling Chen stood up, stepped over in his military boots to the driver’s seat, and saw the words "Insufficient Permissions" displayed on the screen in Jiang Mu’s hand.
He leaned down to quickly enter three sets of secret commands into the bar, and then the words "Insufficient Permissions" on the screen changed to "Access Granted." Immediately after, a short message popped up.
Ling Chen’s pupils contracted.
On the screen was a very brief sentence: "The flowers at home need watering." The signature was Bai Hengyun, Ling Chen’s mother.
Jian Lan, sitting in the passenger seat, leaned over to take a look and was surprised. "The message is from Professor Bai? But why would she use the Second Division’s encrypted channel just to say something about watering flowers?"
Ling Chen’s expression sharpened, and the cold aura around him intensified. He said icily, "My mother is allergic to pollen. We’ve never had flowers at home."
Jian Lan stared at the text on the screen with her expression turning serious.
For a moment, no one in the armored vehicle spoke. Finally, Jiang Mu asked Ling Chen, "Has something happened at the Engineering Institute?"
Ling Chen nodded, affirming, "Something's happened."
Both of Ling Chen's parents were chief scientists at the Engineering Institute that was involved in the construction and refinement of the Noah System.
When Ling Chen was fifteen, he was sent to the Second Division and personally mentored by the then Grand Commander Liang Ling.
A significant reason for this was the higher-ups' decision to use Ling Chen as a "hostage" to ensure his parents wouldn't betray or leak secrets.
This time, after retrieving the Regional Core from D Zone, they were to escort it all the way to the Engineering Institute for secret research, a project led by Ling Chen's mother, Professor Bai Hengyun.
But now, the message received through the encrypted channel clearly indicated that Bai Hengyun was warning Ling Chen—something had gone wrong at the Engineering Institute.
Jian Lan asked, "Should we still go to the Engineering Institute?"
Ling Chen didn't answer directly. Instead, he said, "Jian Lan, pay attention to whether your family is trying to contact you."
Jian Lan's father and grandfather were still in positions of authority and holding military ranks. If there were changes in the military district, they would surely send a message to Jian Lan if given the chance.
Jian Lan nodded, "Understood."
At that moment, a dialog box popped up on the nearby communication terminal. Jiang Mu said softly, "The Command Center is requesting a conversation."
Ling Chen stood straight, "Connect."
Three seconds later, a young woman's face appeared on the screen. "This is the Command Center. Please report the situation."
Ling Chen's expression was cold. "Mission completed. Requesting extraction. Mission level: SSS. Responsible unit: Security Department Second Operations Command. Responsible officer: Ling Chen. Rank: Brigadier General. ID number: E311. Over."
"Received. Please stand by at your current location."
After the communication ended, the armored vehicle fell silent again.
Jiang Cancan had long been unable to sit still and squeezed into the driver's compartment. "Chen Ge, why do I feel so uneasy?" He thought for a moment but couldn't hold back. "We barely managed to bring the Regional Core out safely from under the guns of those Holy Judgement bastards. If... if something's happened at both the Command Center and the Engineering Institute, wouldn't we just be delivering the Regional Core back into Holy Judgement's hands?"
"Possibly." Ling Chen replied with his gaze fixed on the message received through the encrypted channel, lost in thought.
Hearing Ling Chen's answer, Jiang Cancan felt uneasy. Clutching his K57, he asked weakly, "Then what should we do? Are we really going to hand over the Regional Core?" His eyes shifted to the calm-faced Jiang Mu, and he gave up on overthinking. "Whether we hand over the Regional Core or not, I'll follow Chen Ge. Wherever you go, I'll go."
Ling Chen asked him, "What if I decide to run away with it? Would you still follow?"
Jiang Cancan grinned, "A big escape? Sounds thrilling!"
When Ling Chen returned to the back of the vehicle, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes to rest, Jiang Cancan sighed softly. "If only Little friend were here. They could at least lighten the mood. Chen Ge's aura is too intimidating—it's making my hair stand on end!"
His tone grew somber as he leaned against the driver's seat. "What mission do you think Little friend is on? D Zone is so dangerous. Well, Little friend could take on twenty enemies in a flash..."
For once, Jiang Cancan rambled on for so long without Ling Chen stopping him.
Not long after, three red dots appeared on the vehicle's 3D map. Jiang Mu reported, "Chen Ge, vehicles are approaching. Estimated arrival in three minutes."
Three military pickup trucks stopped not far from the armored vehicle. The doors opened, and a man in his thirties, dressed in military uniform, stepped out with three others as they quickly walked towards the armored vehicle.
Ling Chen sized them up, "Stay in the vehicle, I'll go down." After saying this, he jumped out of the vehicle in his combat uniform and walked straight towards them.
The two exchanged military salutes.
"Hello, Ling Zihui, I am Pan Wei, in charge of this reception mission."
Ling Chen glanced at the other's shoulder rank insignia, "Hello, Major Pan, I haven't seen you before."
Pan Wei, who was significantly shorter than Ling Chen and much paler than most in the military district, had a constant smile on his face, "It's normal that you haven't seen me, Ling Zihui. I was assigned to the Command Center when you were already leading a team into D Zone on a mission, so we missed each other."
Ling Chen: "Transferred to the Command Center a month ago?"
Pan Wei smiled and replied, "Yes."
Ling Chen nodded, "I see." He didn't say more and got straight to the point, "What are the specific arrangements next?"
Pan Wei quickly responded, "I will lead the team to escort you back to the Command Center in Zone One. The senior officers and experts from the Engineering Academy are waiting for you."
Ling Chen briefly instructed, "Let's go."
With one military pickup truck leading the way and two following, Jiang Cancan whispered, "For a triple-S level mission, they usually send familiar people for the reception. That Pan guy, Can Ye has no impression of him at all. He's only been in the Command Center for a month and he's out on a mission? Is the Command Center out of people? And those in the pickup trucks, haven't seen them either."
Ling Chen asked him, "Did you see how many people came?"
Jiang Cancan nodded, "Of course I saw, including Pan, there are twelve people. Four in each vehicle, fully equipped, but I don't know how good they are in a fight."
Jiang Mu answered Jiang Cancan's earlier question, "Perhaps, the Command Center really couldn't send the familiar reception people we know."
Jiang Cancan choked with his expression not good as he cursed softly before falling silent.
Ling Chen looked at the military pickup truck leading the way and suddenly instructed, "Jian Lan, take the wheel. Xiao Mu, try to access the military intranet backend."
Jiang Mu quickly switched places with Jian Lan with his fingers flying over the keyboard. A series of commands popped up on the screen, and Jiang Mu's voice was slightly heavy, "Their vehicle has a special signal jamming device."
Ling Chen: "Can you break through it?"
Jiang Mu: "Yes, give me a minute."
A minute later, Jiang Mu's fingers didn't stop, "I'm already connected to the military intranet backend."
Ling Chen: "Don't use official permissions, go through the system backdoor and check the secret announcements."
Soon, the sound of typing suddenly stopped, and Jiang Mu looked up, "Found it, a double-S level classified information. Some scientists from the Engineering Academy have defected, with an attached list."
Jiang Cancan's expression was as if it had frozen, his words unclear, "Holy... holy crap, scientists from the Engineering Academy... defected? What kind of bizarre twist is this?" He murmured, "Can Ye just went into D Zone once, and now the world has changed?"
Ling Chen's expression didn't change at all as he rubbed his fingers, "Does the list include my parents?"
Jiang Mu: "Yes, Professor Ling Dingnan and Professor Bai Hengyun are on it."
Ling Chen said, "The confidentiality level is double S, which means only a very small number of high-ranking officials are aware of it. It's kept secret both internally and externally."
Jiang Cancan nodded hastily, "It has to be kept secret. If this news gets out, it could cause panic in an instant. The Engineering Institute is the place where the Noah System was developed and is maintained!"
He swallowed hard and cautiously asked, "Chen Ge's parents were the chief engineers at the institute, and they've already... passed away. So, what should we do with the Regional Core we brought back?"
Ling Chen's expression relaxed again, and he even smiled, "Let's stir things up. Want to join me?"
……….
D Zone
When Ye Xiao woke up, he felt a bit cold. He tightened the black combat uniform around him before he hugged his Long Blade, and sat up.
The place he had spent the night was a shallow cave and just enough for him to sleep alone. However, he hadn't slept well for two consecutive nights and felt quite listless.
Remembering what Ling Chen had said that morning about not going hungry when he was alone, Ye Xiao thought for a moment and then rummaged through his black backpack before pulling out a tube of nutrient solution. He drank it in one gulp and soon felt full.
He held the small wooden rabbit hanging from the scabbard, lost in thought.
In the past, he could sleep anywhere—on the grass, in trees, by the river—but now it seemed he couldn't.
Habits are easy to form but hard to break. Without Ling Chen's presence around him, he found it hard to sleep soundly through the night.
Ye Xiao lowered his head and sniffed the scent of Ling Chen on the black jacket, only to find it had faded.
Feeling a bit disheartened, Ye Xiao got up, slung the backpack over his shoulder, and crawled out of the cave. It was already light outside, and he guessed that Ling Chen and the others had already left D Zone.
It was good.
This time, Jiang Mu and Jiang Cancan hadn't died, and Jian Lan was still alive.
Lost in thought for a while longer, Ye Xiao nimbly jumped to the ground, identified the direction, and continued walking.
By noon, Ye Xiao climbed onto a tree branch to rest before he closed his eyes, and called out in his mind, "Noah."
He waited patiently, and after a dozen seconds, a mechanical electronic voice sounded in his ear, "Hello, Ye Xiao."
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