Chapter 23: An Exercise Is War

Chapter 23: An Exercise Is War

Xu Qiao did not hold back on the accelerator, yet the pursuers behind her remained glued to her tail. It wasn’t that she lacked speed; the problem was that there was only one road, making it easy for them to track her direction no matter how much distance she put between them. Gunshots rang out incessantly, and the enemy vehicles kept up the pressure.

Listening to the gunfire, Xu Qiao grew anxious. This was the Blue Army’s stronghold; every extra minute she spent on the road increased her danger. Such a commotion would surely attract more than just the logistics battalion; other units would undoubtedly deploy reinforcements. Lingering meant handing the Blue Army a victory.

With this in mind, she pushed the pedal down. Ahead lay a massive downhill slope followed by a sharp turn. A plan formed in her mind. Instead of braking, she eased off the throttle, eventually cutting the engine entirely as the car slid down the slope. The pursuers were closing in, leaving her no room for hesitation. She vaulted out of the vehicle and sprinted into the woods without a second glance.

The leader, code-named Falcon, noticed something off about her behavior. His expression shifted, and he lunged forward to intercept her. She lacked the combat prowess of Sergeant Wu, but she was determined to fight with everything she had—at the very least, she wouldn't "die" easily.

"Boom!" An explosion tore through the air.

Falcon was fuming. Perhaps he felt that being bested by a female soldier was humiliating, but he could only blame his own carelessness. As she sprinted away, Xu Qiao could still hear the screech of brakes and the chaotic shouting behind her.

"Well, well, it really is you. Pretty gutsy, aren't you?" one of them sneered.

She shot him a fierce glare. "What’s wrong with a female soldier? A female soldier just sent you flying, didn't she?"

Men swarmed around Falcon to check for injuries, while two others approached Xu Qiao. They opened their mouths, at a loss for words. Intense pain forced a sharp cry from her lips.

She attempted to stand, and one of the men helped her up. Xu Qiao laughed. "Our sergeant taught us: an exercise is war!"

She glanced at the disheveled Falcon nearby and chuckled. She had cursed him internally, but she didn't want to be eliminated just yet; there might still be a chance.

Everything had been going according to plan. Just as she thought she had finally shaken her pursuers after changing directions multiple times, a dark shadow lunged at her.

In the instant Falcon attacked again, she didn't hesitate to hurl her backpack at him. Simultaneously, she threw a grenade toward the depths of the woods. This unorthodox camouflage allowed the man to blend perfectly into the forest; even standing in the open, he was hard to spot, let alone when he was deliberately hiding.

"You're a maniac! Who plays like this?" a furious voice roared amidst the blast.

The shockwave knocked them both off their feet, and Xu Qiao was slammed into a tree. The force of the impact made her wince in agony. She knew the blast was from the bomb she had rigged, though she couldn't gauge the extent of the damage.

Xu Qiao looked up at her assailant and realized that while he wore the Blue Army’s insignia, his uniform was entirely different.

"You’re not a regular soldier, are you?" she asked.

Falcon looked stunned, then composed himself. "I am from the Blue Army’s Special Operations Brigade—Falcon."

Special Operations Brigade. That was the unit where Sergeant Wu had served. Having witnessed his capabilities, her heart sank.

Falcon saw her hesitation and smiled. "I suggest you drop any clever ideas. I really don't want to have to hit a woman again."

"Don't bother looking; you won't find them," Falcon said, stepping closer with a voice full of confidence and intimidation. "Drop your weapon and come with us."

Ignoring his words, Xu Qiao clutched her backpack to her chest with one hand and gripped a grenade with the other. She had bailed out of the vehicle at the top of the slope; by the time they realized the car was empty, they would have been at the bottom. The delay caused by the bomb and her diversion had bought her time and confused their judgment.

"You're not going to escape while we're here," he warned.

As he moved to strike, he didn't aim for her, but for the grenade in her hand. Having been kicked once already, Xu Qiao wasn't about to stand still and wait for the next blow.

Falcon, unable to care about anything else, shoved the backpack into mid-air.

"Boom!" The explosion went off instantly.

"Are you actually insane? Even exercise grenades can hurt people, and you used so many..." someone shouted.

Xu Qiao struggled to her feet, still aching from the kick. She had managed to create enough of a delay for her to potentially escape their pursuit range.

"How about it? Didn't your new recruit sergeant teach you anything?" she retorted.

Falcon’s face turned ghastly. He looked her up and down. "Which unit are you from?"

"The mess hall!" Xu Qiao replied with a triumphant grin.

In that moment, the faces of every member of the Falcon team turned a shade of green.