Chapter 24: Encountering a Former Comrade-in-Arms

Chapter 24: Seeing Comrades from the Past

The exercise was not yet over, but for Xu Qiao, it had well and truly ended. Along with her, an entire logistics unit of the Blue Force and a special operations squad had been taken out of play. Although the explosion she triggered had not initially reached that many people, according to the blast radius of the explosives she had detonated, there was no chance of survival for those in the vicinity. Consequently, they were all promptly declared eliminated.

A squad from the Falcons was absolutely incensed. They clearly had the ability to eliminate Xu Qiao the moment they encountered her, but because they had underestimated her for being a female soldier, it had ended in such a disaster. They were so mortified they could have died of embarrassment. This classic case of "capsizing in a gutter" left each of them with an exceptionally dark expression.

Yet, while they looked miserable, Xu Qiao was not exactly happy either. She had promised herself that this time she would demonstrate her true capabilities, achieve something significant, and, most importantly, survive the exercise.

"Of course, or did you think you could have taken on an entire special operations squad by yourself?" Squad Leader Wu looked at her with a wry smile. "Don't talk about you alone; even if I had been there, I wouldn't have been a match for them."

"If I had escaped Honglin Town smoothly, I might have been able to do more," Xu Qiao murmured, looking a bit dejected.

"What is there to be depressed about? Even if you 'died,' you took out an entire encampment and a special operations squad with you. That is an incredible achievement," Squad Leader Wu comforted her.

Seeing her expression, Yin Li laughed even harder. "So what if you died? Look at us—a whole bunch of us are 'dead' too."

Xu Qiao looked at him, feeling even more downcast. "What kind of hero am I? I’m 'dead' too."

"You have no idea," Yin Li continued. "Listening to the news of the exercise while we were stuck here unable to do anything—that was the truly agonizing part."

"Everyone, look! Xu Qiao is a great hero for our communications company this time. How should we celebrate?" the Company Commander shouted, and everyone instantly turned their attention toward her.

"Don't look at me like that," Xu Qiao said, feeling embarrassed by his words. "It’s not as exaggerated as you say. Squad Leader Wu is so capable, he would have figured it out."

"The squad leader told us," someone chimed in, "that you were the one who warned everyone that night. If it weren't for you, we would have been hit much harder, and the squad leader might not have even had the chance to counterattack."

Xu Qiao nodded slightly, then looked at the others. "I’m sorry... I didn't mean to..."

Yin Li waved his hand dismissively. "What are you apologizing for? It wasn't your fault."

As he spoke, he seemed to recall something and patted her shoulder lightly. "But you did well. Not only did you escape with the squad leader, but you also turned the Blue Force upside down. We wouldn't have even dared to dream of doing that."

"I truly thought that even if you found them, you would at most sabotage some facilities. I never imagined you would wipe out an entire unit."

Yin Li nodded emphatically. "You saw Squad Leader Wu’s capabilities, didn't you? He’s a former special forces soldier. Not just the communications company, but even the reconnaissance platoon is no match for him."

Xu Qiao realized then that she had at least participated in the exercise and held out for quite a while. She looked at the others, who had clearly been "eliminated" right at the start of the exercise, having never even had a chance to engage.

"Under those circumstances, you couldn't have escaped," Squad Leader Wu said, watching her. "There really wasn't any other choice."

Xu Qiao fell silent, reflecting on the past few days. She had done some things well, but there were also lapses in her judgment. She thought that if she had handled the logistics camp better, perhaps she wouldn't have been intercepted by the special forces team.

"To be honest, when I told you to go, I didn't really expect you to pull it off," Squad Leader Wu admitted.

"But I didn't have the ability to beat them. I didn't even have a chance to run, so..."

Watching the dejected look in Yin Li's eyes, she felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that..."

Squad Leader Wu saw her sense of helplessness—a feeling many soldiers experience when facing special forces. "Are you still hung up on the fact that you went down with them in the end?"

"I was taught to use my brain, not to risk my life at every turn," Wu continued, though he smiled. "But you did better than what I asked."

Xu Qiao was stunned. "Squad Leader, are you sure you aren't just humoring me?"

"I only asked you to find the unit in that town and, if possible, take them out," he said. "I did not teach you to sacrifice yourself, and you didn't follow my instructions in that regard. However, you must understand: while strategy is important, it must be backed by true strength. When your strength is insufficient, no amount of trickery will suffice."

Just as Xu Qiao was lost in thought, the rest of the company suddenly swarmed her, lifting her into the air and tossing her upward repeatedly.

Startled at first, she was confused, but as she was tossed again and again, hearing the cheers from below, she finally understood. Looking at these young faces—the comrades she had once trusted with her life, the comrades who had sacrificed themselves to save her in her past life—they seemed to stand before her once more.

The bond of brotherhood, forged in life and death, had seemingly followed her from the past life into this one. This feeling was both heartwarming and joyful. Perhaps in this world, she was not alone; there were still so many people by her side.