On the tracked vehicle.
The medical soldiers and mechanical engineers were busy treating the injured teammates.
Looking at the captain who hung up the phone, the deputy captain sitting in the driver's seat immediately asked.
"What did the superior say?"
His name is Song Changfeng, and the familiar team members call him Lao Song. A long time ago, this brother worked in the Beacon Team.
Zheng Hao was silent for a while and spoke.
"The original mission was cancelled. The Investigation Department's Accommodation Planning Group asked us to stand by near the crash site. If the other party moves, follow them, but don't act rashly and avoid crossfire..."
Everyone's face changed slightly.
Lao Song asked cautiously.
"How close?"
"Let us decide for ourselves."
Hearing this, many people breathed a sigh of relief.
Except Lao Song.
Seeing that there was no follow-up from the captain, he continued to ask anxiously.
"Where are the reinforcements?"
Zheng Hao looked at the reed marsh outside the window.
"No."
The tracked vehicle was quiet and fell silent again.
Although the superiors did not say it explicitly, it was obvious that they had given up on them and the captured prisoners.
As for the reason...
No, it means that they don't need to know it according to their authority.
The medical soldier silently bandaged the wounded lying on the stretcher and replaced the spare prosthesis. He has seen too many such situations.
Song Changfeng punched the steering wheel hard.
"Damn it!"
Jiang Xuezhou, who was sitting in the back row, slowly closed his eyes, lowered his head and whispered.
"I said... we didn't have to exchange fire."
Zheng Hao silently lit a cigarette and replied lightly.
"Do you think I have a choice?"
It was true that he gave the order to attack, but it was not his own decision.
It's just that he couldn't tell his teammates what the specific task given to him by his superiors was.
In the academy, it is a serious violation of discipline for senior personnel to disclose information that is not in accordance with their authority to "unauthorized" lower-level personnel, and they will be punished to the maximum extent regardless of whether it causes substantial impact.
All units only know the information they need to know to ensure the efficient operation of the entire system. In order to avoid mistakes, senior personnel will even reduce communication with lower-level personnel.
He doesn't care whether these rules are reasonable.
In the academy, even the lowest-level G-level personnel and even the newly accepted apprentices can live a rich life in the ivory tower built by the academy with the standard of "academic preferential treatment".
For the survivors born in the wandering swamp, becoming an explorer of the academy is almost the only way to get rid of ignorance, poverty and barbarism.
Although the Science and Technology Committee led by the academy has given them some advanced technology, it is not free.
Although many survivor settlements have obtained relatively advanced production technology, the improved productivity has not enriched their material and spiritual life.
To be honest, Zheng Hao is no longer as yearning for the ivory tower as he was when he was a child, and he has long passed the age of receiving higher education.
If he could not pass the professional assessment and become a researcher, the highest he could get as an explorer would be D-level.
But he would never accept going back to the original survivor settlement and living a primitive life.
Therefore, he could not make any mistakes.
After finally getting to this point, he had to at least keep his D-level status.
He did not like the road he was on.
But since he had chosen it, he had to accept it.
…
Since the Beta0.4 version was updated, Chu Guang saw that players had good feedback on the new function of submitting and receiving tasks on the official website, so he asked Xiaoqi to further update the function.
Now players can not only receive and submit tasks on the official website task interface, but also update the task status in real time in the text dialog box of the task window.
This function is not mandatory, but only provides players with more options when the original task is difficult to continue or almost impossible to complete.
After all, in the wild where the alliance signal cannot cover, any emergency is possible.
Chu Guang knew very well that he was just an ordinary person, not an omniscient god, and it was impossible for him to perfectly predict every possible situation.
And his limited energy did not allow him to do so.
Sometimes, not to mention the players, Chu Guang himself would be confused for two or three seconds.
For example, now...
Chu Guang was in a confused state.
He just sent someone to the edge of Luoxia Province to pick up a mother body.
How did he provoke the academy?
Although it was not his plane that crashed, the war in Luoxia Province was at a critical stage at the moment. It might not be a good idea to provoke the academy before the problem of the legion was solved.
Apart from a "good job", he really couldn't think of how to respond to the little player who went to the official website to "report on his work".
However, the confusion only lasted half a minute. Soon Chu Guang changed his mind and found that things might not be as bad as he imagined.
A wanted D-level personnel has been living with him for almost a year, and he has not seen the second wave of bounty hunters coming to ask for his head.
Just a few E-level personnel, and they died in the wasteland. The academy, which is rich and powerful, may not take it seriously.
What really concerns Chu Guang is another thing.
"...Are you here for Xiaoyu?"
Chu Guang pressed his eyebrows and thought about countermeasures.
Xiaoyu is the key to solving the B6 layer mother nest. He cannot be handed over anyway. He must be transferred from the academy's power projection range to a safe place as soon as possible before the academy's top management makes a decision.
However, the trouble now is that the company does not want the pilot to get into trouble on the one hand, but is unwilling to take the risk of failed rescue on the other hand.
They hope that the alliance will send airborne troops to rescue the people.
However, Chu Guang really wants to say--
Then you should at least send a few more transport planes!
The alliance's airborne troops can set off at any time, but it is impossible for them to fly more than a thousand kilometers away and then run back on their own.
This is too stupid!
At this moment, Xiaoqi, who was sitting on the desk, raised his head and said in a pleasant voice.
"Master, the company's representative has just arrived at the airport, and he wants to see you."
Chu Guang thought for a moment and said.
"Let him come up."
"Okay."
The Iron Heart lowered the elevator.
Yi Chuan, who had just got off the transport plane, quickly came to the Iron Heart.
Hearing the footsteps coming from outside the door, Chu Guang grabbed Xiao Qi, who was sitting on the desk, and stuffed him into the drawer regardless of the latter's aggrieved voice.
Almost at the same time, there was a knock on the door.
Chu Guang cleared his throat and said.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Yi Chuan walked in in a hurry. Without even a greeting, he got straight to the point.
"Is there any new news about our pilots?"
Chu Guang: "I assure you, both of you are still safe."
Yi Chuan immediately asked with fiery eyes.
"Can you contact them?"
Chu Guang looked away with a subtle expression.
"It's not quite accurate to say that we can get in touch... But we do have an indirect long-distance communication method that can transmit some vague information, just like your pigeons, but it doesn't allow you to communicate with the two pilots face to face."
Chu Guang had a headache when explaining this problem. To be honest, no one would believe him, but he really couldn't come up with any reliable reasons.
The Burning Corps actually carried a radio with super high power that could even break through the environmental restrictions of Luoxia Province?
Just kidding.
What did he put on the Enterprise's plane? How could the Enterprise not know it?
Hearing this vague statement, Yi Chuan frowned, but didn't continue to dwell on this issue.
Everyone has their own secrets.
It is neither realistic nor polite to ask the other party to confess unilaterally.
Taking a deep breath, he stared at Chu Guang and returned to the topic.
"The spokesperson of the Supreme Council promised the public that our non-combatants would not appear on the front line, but in fact we have broken the bottom line for you several times... including before at Camp 530, including before on Highway 7, including--"
Chu Guang coughed lightly.
"Rather than breaking the bottom line, I prefer to call it flexibility, and every time we have made unexpected progress, right?"
"But not this time!" Yi Chuan continued with a stiff expression, "Our two pilots fell on the edge of the Wandering Swamp! You promised me that those non-combatants would not be in danger!"
Chu Guang explained.
"Anything can happen on the battlefield, not to mention that it is outside the battlefield. Who knows if the people from the academy will suddenly attack your plane. At least our soldiers saved your pilots."
Yi Chuan's face froze.
"Academy?"
Chu Guang said softly with bad intentions.
"Besides the academy, who else could shoot down your plane without anyone noticing? You can ask your pilots about this... after they come back."
In fact, he has more direct evidence to prove that the academy shot down their plane, such as the four prisoners captured by the players.
However, he is not sure about the attitude of the enterprise towards the academy.
The importance of pilots' lives does not conflict with the cautious diplomatic strategy of the enterprise. One is a consideration of interests, and the other is a consideration of risks.
Personal feelings may be remembered for three seconds, but collective decisions must be made after weighing multiple factors.
So he plans to test the attitude of his allies first.
Yi Chuan was silent for a while, and seemed not to plan to talk more about this issue.
"...Let's not talk about the academy for now. In any case, you must ensure that the safety of our pilots is the first priority."
Seeing Yi Chuan's expression, Chu Guang raised his eyebrows slightly.
What surprised him was that the representative of the enterprise did not react much to this. That expression seemed... not even too surprised?
It seems that there should be a lot of friction between the college and the enterprise.
But think about it, the world is so vast, and it is not just Luoxia Province. It is possible that the college and the enterprise have entanglements in other regions that they are not aware of.
Realizing that the enterprise probably does not want to make trouble on the issue of the college, Chu Guang did not continue to add fuel to the fire, but returned to the issue of rescuing the pilot.
Looking at Yi Chuan with a serious face, Chu Guang said righteously.
"Mr. Yi Chuan, do you mean that the lives of the residents of the Alliance are not important? I must remind you that we are allies in the same trench with you, not your employees."
"I didn't mean that," seeing that Chu Guang misunderstood his meaning, Yi Chuan explained with a smile, "Every life is important, and of course the residents of the Alliance are... Let's not beat around the bush, I'll just say it straight, the Council promised the residents of Ideal City that non-combatants would not be put in danger, but the reporter of Ideal City Daily heard the news from somewhere and insisted that we let employees bear risks beyond the employment contract."
Chu Guang asked impatiently: "What can they do if they know?"
The seats on the Council are not elected by vote, and he wanted to complain about these guys who are looking ahead and behind before.
"Negative news can affect our stock price. The stock price is the support of the residents of Ideal City for us, which involves Cr... the essence of credit points."
Yi Chuan smiled bitterly and continued, "In short, credit is a sensitive issue for us... You don't want our aid to you to be affected, right?"
Chu Guang took a deep breath and slowly calmed down his emotions.
"I also hope they can go home quickly, so please send two more planes immediately... no, four planes! I can immediately send a hundred-man team from the front line to the north!"
Yi Chuan: "But the problem is, what if it is shot down again?!"
"Then let it land at Oasis No. 8! The desert is our power projection range!"
Chu Guang stretched out his index finger and drew a virtual stroke in the air, pushing the prepared holographic map in front of Yi Chuan.
"I will let my subordinates send your pilots to the boarding point safely... Of course, including ours."
Looking at the punctuation position on the map, Yi Chuan's face was full of embarrassment.
However, it was obvious that he could not think of a better alternative to Chu Guang's proposal, and finally chose to compromise.
"Okay, I'll go and convince our people that the boarding point is in Luoxia Province... there should be no problem."
The Alliance has enough influence in Luoxia Province. Even if the Golden Lizard Kingdom is a vassal of the Academy, it may not dare to do anything to their plane.
And that kind of indigenous kingdom...
probably doesn't have the ability to shoot down their planes as unnoticed as the Academy.
Chu Guang nodded.
"Go quickly, our people can set off at any time."
Watching Yi Chuan leave the captain's office, Chu Guang's brows relaxed slightly, and he rested his head on the back of the chair and muttered to himself.
"This should be fine."
For those cute little players, he, the planner who is both an NPC and a father, really worried about them.
He was almost forced from a salesperson to a nanny.
At this time, the drawer opened a crack, revealing a pitiful face the size of a thumb.
"Wow... Master, is Xiaoqi so shameless?"
This guy even changed his voice to pretend to be pitiful.
Chu Guang coughed.
"That's not the case, it's just... I am the manager of the alliance after all, representing the image of the alliance. It's not a good influence to put a figurine on the table when meeting foreign guests."
Forget about the players.
He never cared about how those outspoken guys made up stories about him on the forum, as long as they didn't draw his own books.
But the enterprise is an outsider after all, and he doesn't want to hear any rumors that damage his prestige in Ideal City, which will increase unnecessary risks for the cooperation between the enterprise and the alliance.
Xiaoqi, who was lying in the drawer, tilted his head.
"But Xiaoqi thinks that they seem to be quite avant-garde on the issue of AI... They shouldn't care, right?"
Chu Guang said with a straight face.
"I care."
Xiao Qi: "Woo..."
Although he knew that the aggrieved look was simulated by the program, Chu Guang still sighed and stretched out his index finger to rub its little head.
"Sorry, my action just now may be a bit rude. Next time, I will ask someone to make a special seat for you at the table with your back to the door..."
"Hehe, no need. Xiao Qi is very happy that the master has this heart! Xiao Qi is the master's assistant. Xiao Qi is very sensible and will not cause trouble to the master."
The aggrieved expression suddenly swept away from the doll's face, and the smile on the small and delicate face was like a rainbow after the rain.
Just as Chu Guang guessed, this guy's expression was indeed fake. After all, how could a "wastebasket" have so many expressions.
Chu Guang couldn't help but feel helpless.
The world has become like this. God knows why the first-generation manager added a bunch of redundant and communication-increasing functions to his AI assistant.
Although he didn't hate it.
Xiao Qi, with his hands on the edge of the drawer, didn't know what his master was thinking at the moment. He put his chin on the back of his hand and blinked humanely.
"Master, can you agree to Xiao Qi's small request?"
"Go ahead."
Xiao Qi said a little shyly.
"Well... next time, can you not put Xiao Qi in the dark drawer, just put it in your pocket like usual?"
Is there any difference?
There was no light bulb in his pocket, and it was also dark.
Although he was curious, Chu Guang didn't ask questions.
Maybe AI also has its own difficulties.
This is not a difficult thing for him to satisfy.
Extending his index finger and rubbing its little head, Chu Guang smiled gently and said.
"Well, I promise."
...
The intersection of Wandering Swamp and Luoxia Province.
Lao Bai, who had just returned to the line, summoned the players in the temporary camp.
"New mission!"
"The command center asked us to take the pilots and the prisoners of the academy and head towards the north of Luoxia Province. We will board the plane at Oasis No. 8, and reinforcements will meet us at that time."
"What about this plane?" Ye Shi pointed to the two pilots who were thinking about how to repair the plane not far away.
Lao Bai shrugged his shoulders and made a helpless expression.
"It seems that we can't count on it."
When that guy understands the instructions, the regular army of the academy may surround him.
I heard that the academy also has its own armed forces, and there are many vassals attached to the academy in the Wandering Swamp.
In order to replace the expensive bionic prosthesis, many bounty hunters and mercenaries are happy to take the academy's work.
Although they are not afraid of those guys, the large number is a trouble after all.
And compared with the straightforward legion, the academy's equipment is too fancy and hard to defend.
Looking at the transport plane, Ye Shiyi said with a reluctant expression and heartache.
"Such a good plane, it's such a pity to blow it up..."
Kuangfeng glanced at him.
"What? Are you going to carry it back?"
Ye Shi looked at Luo Yu who was also reluctant to leave.
Noticing Ye Shi's gaze, Luo Yu was stunned and said with a wry smile.
"What are you looking at me for... I can't repair this thing."
Ye Shi said with a chuckle.
"I'm not asking you to repair it. Can't your Xiao Yu give birth to children like other mother bodies? The kind of evolution we saw in the center of Qingquan City... Can you make one?"
"No hope," Luo Yu shook his head, "Xiao Yu is different from the mother nest in Qingquan City. It can't be attached to mechanical parts."
Ye Shi was stunned and asked.
"Then how does it fly the plane?"
Luo Yu thought about it and gave his own opinion.
"That dragonfly transport plane... probably because it inherited some of my experience, and the Eagle fighter may have assimilated the other party's pilot."
"So essentially its fruiting body is not assimilated into the machine as part of the body, but "driving" the machine that is still working through its own experience... am I right?" Kuangfeng summed it up incisively.
Luoyu nodded immediately.
"Yes, that's what I mean."
Kuangfeng touched the bridge of his nose.
"Then there is probably no way."
To give a common example, Xiaoyu's ability is to drive a car while sitting in the driver's seat, while the mother nest in Qingquan City directly carries the car on its shoulders and runs.
Both are organic bodies driving machinery, but anyone who is not blind can see the difference between the two.
The idea of using slime mold to swallow the plane seems to be unfeasible, and it is even more unrealistic to let the power system carry the plane.
There are nearly 200 kilometers of mountain roads from here to Oasis No. 8.
Carrying such a large transport plane back, and hiking over mountains and ridges, that's not a strong beast, at least a Kryptonian.
However, Ye Shi did not give up.
His eyes rolled, and he suddenly had an idea.
"Why don't we let Fang Chang come up with some bad ideas?"
Killer Dagger's eyes lit up.
"I think it's OK!"
The good name was given by the dog and he raised his hand excitedly.
"+1, Brother Fang Chang must have a way!"
This guy has planned PY with the dog, and he must know some game secrets that ordinary people don't know.
Seeing so many people supporting him, Ye Shi immediately took action and hid the VM of the quit smoking guy in the nearby bushes as a locator.
This thing needs to verify DNA information to unlock, and there is no worry that it will be picked up by someone.
Besides, this thing is just a terminal, and there will be no sensitive things stored in it.
After clapping his hands and standing up, Ye Shi looked at the stunned Kuang Feng and laughed.
"Done! I'll log off in a while and tag Fang Chang on the forum."
Kuang Feng calmed down and said seriously.
"I don't think Fang Chang has a solution."
"How do you know if you don't try? Forget it, at most I'll ask Quit Smoking to buy another VM." Ye Shi patted Kuang Feng's shoulder and said with a smile, "Let's go to work!"
...
After confirming the new task of the transfer, Lao Bai divided two teams and went to the crash site of the Eagle fighter and the Dragonfly transport plane respectively.
The fruiting body samples there were recovered.
The group packed up and prepared to evacuate.
The prisoner named Wu Liangping was seriously injured and unconscious, and was stuffed into a cryogenic hibernation chamber. The previous bionic man was put in a body bag, and a layer of tin foil was wrapped with tape on the outside.
Seeing that these people were going to take him away, Zhao Xiao suddenly became nervous.
"Where are you taking us?"
"It has nothing to do with you, just follow us obediently." Ye Shi poked him in the back with his pistol and said with a playful smile.
Zhao Xiao said with a nervous look in his eyes.
"You'd better let us go. This is the edge of the Wandering Swamp... You can't get out of here with us."
This kind of soft talk is not enough to make people angry.
Ye Shi, who was holding him, laughed and teased.
"It's okay if you can't get out. Excuse me, with your level just now, you will be killed no matter how many times you come."
Zhao Xiao blushed and said indignantly.
"We are an exploration team, and... we are not a regular army! And... I tell you, we are formal explorers, and we are E-level! The academy can't just leave us alone!"
And it's still E-level, which is okay.
Is there F and G below E-level?
Looking at his expression, it seems to be true.
But Ye Shi didn't take it to heart.
So what if it is?
"Stop bragging, you are so confident just being cannon fodder," Ye Shi said lazily, "and if it is really as you said, we will never let you go. Otherwise, when your reinforcements come, who will we use as a cover?"
"You guy..."
Zhao Xiao blushed and wanted to say something, but Chen Yutong, who had been silent, finally couldn't hold it anymore and stopped him.
"Zhao Xiao... Enough, stop talking."
If she continued, she was afraid that these people would change their minds and bury them on the spot.
The reminder from his teammates seemed to have some effect, and finally made the young man realize his position and shut up.
Ye Shi was too lazy to pay attention to him.
This guy always reminded him of his youth and ignorance.
Although he is not that old now.
...
After half a day of running around, the group had left the range of the Wandering Swamp and arrived at the edge of the mountains in the north of Luoxia Province.
There are many alien species active here that everyone has never seen in the River Valley Province, but fortunately there are not many of them, and no danger has been encountered.
It is too dangerous to travel at night in an area where alien species are active.
Lao Bai chose a place with a relatively good view to camp. Some people stayed to guard the first half of the night, and some people went offline to eat.
Official website forum.
As soon as he went online, Ye Shi couldn't wait to open a post, fearing that his teammates would get ahead of him.
"Big news! The academy shot down the company's plane!"
Although things like "stealing planes" can be talked about in a small group, discussing in a small group is not as interesting as discussing with everyone.
Ye Wei swore.
This is definitely not for showing off or pretending.
It is mainly for "brainstorming".
As he expected, almost at the same time as the post was sent, a refresh instantly added hundreds or thousands of clicks.
Tail: "Giao?!"
Sisi: "Really?!"
Garbage Picker Level 99: "??? I just went to the south and you guys opened the north map?"
Quit Smoking, who had just been offline for less than 24 hours, also popped up, and his thoughts were as offline as ever.
"What the hell?! Are we going to go to war with the academy again?"