Chapter 14: The Pursuit

Chapter 14: Pursuit

Sergeant Wu was truly formidable. Surrounded by enemies outnumbering him several times over, he still had the strength to resist.

At the communications company's camp, while maneuvering against them, Xu Qiao did not witness how many enemies he had slain, but surviving until now was no easy feat.

Unlike Xu Qiao, who stayed on the outskirts picking off enemies from a distance, mostly hiding, Sergeant Wu remained inside, where enemy attention was most concentrated.

What Xu Qiao did not know was that when she encountered Sergeant Wu, he was already at his wit's end. If the stalemate continued any longer, he would have no way out.

So when he heard Xu Qiao speak, he did not respond immediately but looked at her with a complex expression. "How are you here? And how did you escape?"

"I stayed resting outside; they didn't notice me at all. I only found out when they launched a surprise attack on the camp," Xu Qiao explained briefly.

Hearing this, Sergeant Wu was even more surprised. "That shot was yours?"

Xu Qiao nodded. "Yes. When I saw someone sneaking into the camp and had no radio or other way to alert them, what else could I do?"

Indeed, there was no other way. Anyone in his place would have done the same.

Yet, knowing that it was Xu Qiao who did it was somewhat hard for him to accept.

"As for why I know these things..." Sergeant Wu hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "It's because before coming here, I was also in the Special Forces."

"What's the use of that now? There are only the two of us..." Xu Qiao was unwilling to accept this, but with just the two of them, going forward would only mean dragging others down.

"Your role isn't to rescue the communications company. Since they’re being targeted, it's not something one or two people can fix," Sergeant Wu sighed lightly.

Xu Qiao was initially surprised that the enemy had targeted the communications company but soon sensed something was amiss.

Hearing this, she realized he was right. Her eyes brightened as she looked at Sergeant Wu.

Though she couldn’t see their expressions, she could guess how disheartened they must feel at this moment.

"After I was injured, I couldn't stay in Special Forces. But I couldn't bear to give up this uniform or just retire, and with the skills I had, I returned to my old unit to still contribute something," he said.

Gulping down large mouthfuls of water, he finally felt alive again.

The once busy communications company had all its equipment shut down, lying idle like scrap metal. The personnel sat on the open ground of the camp.

But willpower is not infinite. After hours, they felt utterly drained, on the verge of collapse.

She knew this was all she could do in this exercise. If she couldn’t keep up, she would be of no use at all.

Her endurance was purely driven by grit.

Although she had experience from a past life, even some combat and shooting skills, a month of training was not enough. She lagged far behind, especially compared to Special Forces.

A month of assault training brought only relative improvement, not absolute. Compared to Sergeant Wu and even the Blue Army ahead, she was still far behind.

Xu Qiao listened intently, then understood his meaning. "You mean we keep following until they show a weakness, then we take our revenge?"

Exhausted, Xu Qiao sank down beside him.

Sergeant Wu grew more surprised and shook his head after a long moment. "Looks like we need to get to know each other better."

Though Xu Qiao’s performance over the last month was decent, people have ingrained impressions. Her victory over Cheng Yifei wasn’t enough to change theirs.

Sergeant Wu was unhurried and even stopped. "It's fine. They left traces. I can still track them."

The two rested in place, waiting to see what the other side would do.

Sergeant Wu laughed upon hearing her. "Then what does that make me?"

At that moment, they suddenly felt their pace slow.

"To take without giving back is rude," Sergeant Wu snorted coldly. "They wiped out our base—how can we just let it go?"

He chuckled, "You’re overthinking it. I really am just a cook’s squad leader now."

The victorious Blue Army, the defeated Red side like a beaten rooster, and the referees from the director’s team all gathered in the camp, negotiating something.

"You judged so much just from my few words. Your experience must be solid."

After all this pursuit—climbing mountains, crossing rivers, muddy wetlands—Xu Qiao had suffered quite a bit.

The enemy always took remote mountain paths, either to avoid detection or to reach some crucial point.

As she spoke, she casually sized him up. "Also, messages from the cook’s squad come late. I don’t think only we were kept in the dark—your side probably didn’t get much information either."

She sat down. "Rest a bit, have some water."

Patiently, he explained, "The communications company isn’t a major strategic target. Their goal isn’t just to eliminate personnel; it’s the equipment they want."

By now, the gunfire had ceased, and the camp was in shambles.

"Ah?" Xu Qiao stared at him in shock.

Having been here over a month, Xu Qiao had roughly figured out the unit’s patterns and understood what Special Forces were.

She hadn’t expected that someone of such caliber was right beside her.

Sergeant Wu waved his hand dismissively. "Don’t pity me. I’ve been through it all, done what I wanted. No regrets."

No matter how hard the road, Xu Qiao gritted her teeth and pressed on.

"They’re assessing the final casualties," Sergeant Wu smiled as he saw her anger. "They should be leaving soon."

"You said they attacked quietly, and the second company on the outskirts was taken out like that. If that wasn’t their purpose, they wouldn’t have been so cautious," Sergeant Wu had figured out the situation from her single sentence.

He smiled at her. "Let me teach you one more thing: a good soldier, especially a good Special Forces soldier, can remain calm, endure loneliness, and knows when to hold back."

Xu Qiao looked at him puzzled. "I warned them, but it didn’t help. The communications company was still..."

She shook her head but thought for a moment and said, "I’m okay. Just let me rest a bit, and I can keep going."

Xu Qiao’s words were stifled. "There really is nowhere to go. Even if we find our own people, I won’t be much help. Besides, whether they believe me is another matter."

Just around a bend, they found themselves at a vantage point from which they could see the camp below.

His words eased Xu Qiao’s mind, but Sergeant Wu’s expression changed. "Are you willing to let this go?"

"Sergeant, you tell me what to do. I’ll follow you," Xu Qiao’s eyes gleamed at his words.

She knew he was speaking about her. The old Xu Qiao wouldn’t have noticed these things.

Throughout the journey, whether climbing mountains or crossing rivers, Xu Qiao tried not to be a burden.

Sergeant Wu put away his smile and led Xu Qiao onward.

He laughed at her teasing. "Honestly, your performance has exceeded my expectations."

He sighed. "Why are these people still hanging around here? Are they mocking us?"

But she paid no mind. The more she explained, the more complicated it became. Better to let him think what he wanted.

"Then come with me. We’ll take a detour to the Blue Army’s old base!" Sergeant Wu decided without hesitation.

Before Xu Qiao could show her admiration, she realized something was off. The gap between Special Forces and a cook’s squad was too vast.

As Xu Qiao breathed a sigh of relief, she instinctively glanced at Sergeant Wu, then after a pause, resolutely said, "Sergeant, you should go ahead!"

She suddenly looked up at him. "Sergeant, you’re not just a cook’s squad leader, are you?"

"You leading me is just a drag. If this continues, we’ll lose them."

Xu Qiao wasn’t naive. She hadn’t thought of it before, but after his explanation, she understood instantly. "You mean they want to quietly eliminate the communications company and then use it to create chaos?"

As if hearing his words, just after Sergeant Wu spoke, they saw the Blue side packing up and leaving the original communications camp.

For a moment, a complex emotion welled inside her.

They had been away from the camp for quite some time, too far to see what was happening there.

"Don’t take me for a naive fool. If even the cook’s squad was this capable, how could the communications and second companies be wiped out so easily?"

"Until... the perfect moment to strike."

At this moment, Sergeant Wu looked at her with a sigh. "After this exercise, the cook’s squad might not be able to keep you."

Xu Qiao nodded slowly. Seeing him stop, her heart jolted, and she gripped her gun tighter. "Did someone catch up?"

"How are you holding up?" Sergeant Wu quietly asked, noticing her reaction.

He laughed at her response. "If you’re not with me, where else could you go?"

Sergeant Wu chuckled. "We’re not that important yet."

"This path... I thought you would have given up long ago. But after hours on the move, you still haven’t said a word about quitting."

"I’m not unwilling to give up... but I know that once I open my mouth, I might be saying goodbye to this exercise for good."

"You all said I’m lucky to have such an exercise in my first year in the unit. It won’t be easy to get another chance like this."

Saying this as if to bolster herself, she took a deep breath and sat up. "No, I can’t rest anymore. We have to catch up. We’ve come this far—if I lose them because of me, I’ll regret it forever."

(End of Chapter)