Chapter 070: I Believe in the Soldiers of Huaxia

Lin Yan and Li Gang were driving an off-road vehicle along the highway. They had already left the borders of HB Province and entered HN Province, making their way toward the city of ZJJ in HN. However, they did not drive directly to ZJJ; midway, Lin Yan instructed Li Gang to exit the highway at NB Town.

Li Gang drove while Lin Yan sat beside him, frequently checking the map to confirm their route. Although she knew there was a secret military training base nearby, she had never been to this particular location before. For hours, they searched, even backtracking seven or eight times after taking wrong turns, before finally, in the afternoon, they found themselves on a secluded mountain road.

“This time, are you sure this is the right road?” Li Gang asked as he drove slowly.

“It should be right. There’s no marking for this road on the map, which means we’re on the right track,” Lin Yan replied, sipping water and comparing the map once more before nodding.

She then opened the tracking map, carefully confirming that within dozens of kilometers, there were no Chosen Ones nearby. The nearest Chosen One was in the populous city of ZJJ. In such mountain forests, with no villages around, it was normal not to find any Chosen Ones within a certain radius.

Li Gang continued along the winding road for more than twenty minutes before they emerged from the forest, arriving in front of a wide military gate beyond which lay clusters of various buildings. The gate was open, but an electronic barrier blocked the way, and the sentry posts around were unmanned.

On one side of the gate, a plaque read: Central China 24th Sub-military District Armed Training Base. Alongside it, the name of the 127th Battalion, 4th Brigade, Ground Forces Military Commission, was also inscribed.

Li Gang parked the car at the guardhouse. Lin Yan got out, walked to the guardroom, and entered. The door was unlocked—apparently, on the day the gods erased humanity, the soldiers must have vanished while still on duty.

She quickly found the switch to open the electronic barrier and pressed it.

With a mechanical hum, the barrier slowly lifted.

Military districts generally had independent power supplies with their own dedicated plants, separate from civilian grids. As long as no one sabotaged the system, power could be maintained for years. Now, over a month had passed since the gods eradicated humankind, and power issues had begun to surface in many cities with large numbers of Chosen Ones.

“Let’s go, drive straight in,” Lin Yan instructed upon returning to the car.

Li Gang, feeling a surge of excitement, drove into the base.

The military base was not small; it covered a large area. Lin Yan had mentioned that one or two regiments were stationed here year-round for training. As Li Gang drove through the compound, he realized it was even larger than it appeared from outside. Yet, the entire base felt empty and eerily quiet.

“Let’s head to the central control room. Since we’re here, that person might have noticed us already. I want to see who they really are,” Lin Yan said, pulling out the base layout she’d found in the guardroom and guiding the way.

A few days earlier, Li Gang had not only told her about the fighter jet incident but also about how he had marked that individual’s location. Using his mark, Lin Yan had tracked the person as well.

Comparing the marked position on the tracking map with their current map, Lin Yan discovered that the individual was deep in the Changbai Mountains in North China, inside a large military research facility, and had not left for several days.

During these days, she would occasionally check on that person’s movements.

Through Lin Yan, Li Gang learned that the person might be someone Lin Yan knew—she had deduced the individual was likely from the Southern Military District, as she herself once was.

Communication between the districts was always open. If another soldier had indeed entered a military district, the central control room would receive messages from other districts. Lin Yan had told him that the person must have sent out messages to all districts at the start of the apocalypse. Checking those messages would reveal the person’s identity.

Lin Yan had always avoided contact with that person or any other soldiers from China, reluctant to enter any military district. She did not want others to know of her existence, nor did she wish to be bound by duty or responsibility. In this deadly game, she longed to live freely for once.

“If it’s someone you know, will you go find them?” Li Gang hesitated for a long time before asking.

He sincerely hoped that the soldier was not someone Lin Yan knew, nor did he want her to seek that person out. In this apocalypse, he only wanted to be with Lin Yan.

Before meeting her, his main goal had been to survive the first round and later to become strong enough to resurrect the vanished. But after meeting Lin Yan, all his efforts to grow stronger became solely for her; nothing else mattered.

“No. Firstly, the chances of knowing them are extremely slim. Even if I do, I won’t go to them. Human nature is most unpredictable, especially in times like these. I just think that since we’re here, it’s safest to find out who the other person is as soon as possible.

First, although this base isn’t the largest, it’s not small. If the other party is still monitoring the military districts, they’ll probably discover our presence soon and might even contact us proactively.

Second, the location shows another person is with him, and that facility stores over a third of our country’s nuclear weapons. If I’m not wrong, the gods’ warning is related to this. Most likely, he’s activated nuclear weapons. Whatever his intention, he’s extremely dangerous.

Third, being able to fly a fighter jet and control nuclear weapons means he’s not an ordinary special forces operative, but an elite among elites. Such a person’s mindset is vastly different from ordinary people.

If we want a peaceful life, it’s best we avoid contact. From now on, we need to monitor his movements constantly and be prepared for combat at any moment.”

Lin Yan spoke rapidly, her thoughts scattered, sometimes not quite connecting one idea to the next.

Li Gang sensed her anxiety—it was the first time he’d seen her so unsettled.

In fact, they had discussed this matter before. On the way, he’d asked her what to do if the other party discovered them and came over in a plane. Lin Yan had analyzed the rules, noting that Rule Six prohibited the use of large-scale weapons of mass destruction, which included attack helicopters and fighter jets. At most, the other party could come in a regular helicopter, and Lin Yan was confident she could shoot it down from the ground with a sniper rifle.

So, although she believed she was generally weaker than the other person, she was not without the means to fight.

Upon hearing Lin Yan’s assurance that she would not seek out the other party, Li Gang felt greatly relieved.

In the military district’s central control room—

“As expected, after the apocalypse, this place received messages from the Southern General Military District. Let’s see who this person is,” Lin Yan said, operating a console with a flash of insight in her eyes.

Li Gang, hearing this, immediately grew serious and stepped forward to check the messages with her.

The messages had been sent over a month ago—seven or eight in total—along with some recent ones from the Northern Military District. Each message was essentially the same, asking whether any soldiers from other districts had survived.

The general content was: If any soldiers have survived and see this message, please contact the Southern General Military District immediately.

Each message was signed: Southern General Military District, Cobra Special Forces, Captain Huang Feng.

“It’s actually him!?” Lin Yan muttered, eyes full of uncertainty as she read the sender’s name.

“Cobra Special Forces—that’s the unit your father served in, isn’t it?” Li Gang recalled that Lin Yan had told him about it one night, and her father, Lin Hua, had once been the commander.

“Yes, Huang Feng was once under my father’s command, nicknamed the Black Mamba,” Lin Yan replied.

“Black Mamba?”

“My father used to say that Huang Feng was extremely aggressive and ruthless toward enemies. The nickname Black Mamba was given to him by his special forces team members,” Lin Yan explained.

“The black mamba belongs to the cobra family, inhabits dry areas like open scrub and grassland, and is the fastest and most aggressive snake in the world,” Lin Yan added, seeing Li Gang’s lingering confusion.

Suddenly, the room was filled with a beeping sound. At the same time, a video call request from a certain Northern Military District appeared on the computer Lin Yan had been operating.

The suddenness of it startled not only Li Gang but Lin Yan as well; she became visibly tense.

The video call request was, without a doubt, from Huang Feng.

“Lin, what should we do?” Li Gang quickly regained his composure and asked.

“What do you think?” Lin Yan replied with a question.

“Answer it. If it’s fate, we can’t avoid it. If it’s trouble, we can’t escape.” Li Gang thought for a moment and decided.

“Oh?” Lin Yan looked at him in surprise.

Li Gang always made decisions that surprised her at critical moments.

“Maybe you have other considerations, but my thoughts are simple. I believe in the soldiers our country has trained—even now,” Li Gang explained.

He didn’t say the rest: It’s just a video call—no one can come out of the screen, right? In fact, Li Gang was quite interested in meeting a formidable figure like Huang Feng, wanting to see what he was really like.