"... That's about it!"
Zhou Xuan looked at Lü Wenrui with a frustrated expression.
He did not intend to let things develop on their own.
Although the rest of the team seemed to be planning to do this, and even Shen Heng himself thought so, he was still wondering if he could change it.
After all, this is not consistent with what his mother had always taught him: that everyone must take responsibility for themselves!
"This is indeed a problem. Who punishes someone for something like this?" Lü Wenrui nodded, frowning.
"That's right," Zhou Xuan nodded, "The decision wasn't made by the captain alone, so if anyone should be punished, shouldn't they all be punished together?"
"So what do you want? To get the Chief of Staff and the others to change their minds?" Lü Wenrui asked, raising his eyes.
"Yes, that's right. We bleed and sweat outside, so we shouldn't be punished no matter what, right?" Zhou Xuan nodded.
"I understand," Lü Wenrui nodded, "But there's nothing I can do to help."
Zhou Xuan was slightly taken aback. "Hmm? Why?"
"Where would I get such power? If you're talking about Brother Heng or Wang Hu, you could say they can change the Chief of Staff's mind, but I have to consider the situation even when I go out!" Lü Wenrui said.
I don't know whether to be happy or sad about it, but he's one of the few people the base is paying special attention to!
The reason...
Just like this Anchor Point sabotage operation.
Before the operation began, a member of the Deep Blue Squad was injured, and he was added as a temporary member, so he should have been able to participate in the operation.
However, when the base later inspected the plans and personnel, they specifically singled him out.
The reason is that he might be away for a relatively long time this time, and his abilities are not suitable for such a long trip!
Well... he had actually reported all his previous expeditions before!
This isn't something the base is paying special attention to; rather, each team has to report to the base whenever they want to go out on an exploration mission.
The base will approve the reported teams to ensure that there are sufficient forces within the base to defend it!
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan could only frown and ponder.
Lü Wenrui glanced at him, thought for a moment, and said, "How about you try submitting a statement of fact?"
"Explanation of the situation?" Zhou Xuan looked up at Lü Wenrui.
"That's right!" Lü Wenrui nodded. "It means that the decision to carry out this operation wasn't made by Brother Heng alone, but by all of you. If we're going to assess responsibility, we can't just assess Brother Heng's responsibility alone!"
"Will this work?" Zhou Xuan frowned, somewhat doubtful.
"It might be useful, or it might not, but it's better than you sitting here doing nothing, right?" Lü Wenrui said.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Xuan nodded, "That makes sense!"
After glancing at Zhou Xuan, Lü Wenrui added, "And if you're going to submit a statement, it's best to have several people go with you. Otherwise, since you're on the same team as Brother Heng, the base might not believe you!"
Zhou Xuan nodded in deep agreement.
This isn't a huge problem, since at most you can only find about thirty people.
Two hours later, at the end of the corridor in the base's dormitory area.
Zhou Xuan stopped Cao Mingyu and Qi Yue, who had just finished training.
He didn't go to the other members of the team immediately because he was worried they would tell Shen Heng, so he planned to get the others to sign first.
Then, he would look for other people; he knew who was easy to talk to and who wasn't.
Therefore, he immediately found the two members of the Waking of Insects Squad who were somewhat related to him and who had not suffered any casualties in previous operations.
" Brother Cao, Brother Qi, just two minutes." Zhou Xuan calmly pulled the two men to the corner of the wall.
"What's wrong? Why are you being so mysterious?" Cao Mingyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked with a smile.
He and Zhou Xuan had known each other for a long time, since they had been in the same training camp. Although they had less communication after entering the Erosion Zone due to their different teams, they still kept in touch.
"I have a statement of fact that I'd like you to sign!" Zhou Xuan said, taking a printed document from his pocket and handing it to the two of them.
The top sheet of paper already had several lines of text, titled "Explanation of the Specifics of Operation Eye of Earth Marrow."
Yes, Zhou Xuan explained the whole situation to his personal terminal and asked the personal terminal to help him write it.
Although this may seem like a lack of sincerity, he simply couldn't write something like this.
Cao Mingyu took it and read it with Qi Yue.
Then, somewhat puzzled, Cao Mingyu looked up and asked, "What is this?"
"The base might be going to discipline the team leader, are you aware of that?" Zhou Xuan asked directly.
Upon hearing this, Cao Mingyu's smile vanished. "Is that so?"
"Well, because the Eye of Earth Marrow wasn't part of the initial sabotage plan, and the execution of that plan resulted in many casualties, the base might face punishment," Zhou Xuan explained.
Upon hearing this, Cao Mingyu frowned.
Qi Yue pondered for a moment, then asked,
"So what?"
"So, I want to submit a statement to prove that the vote that night was a collective vote, not just a vote by the captain!" Zhou Xuan said.
"Proof? The base doubts the authenticity of the information submitted by Captain Shen?" Qi Yue asked.
"Uh... no, but since the captain is in charge of the operation, the base might place all the responsibility on him alone. Do you think that's reasonable?"
Without hesitation, Cao Mingyu nodded and said, "It is indeed unreasonable. The decision was made by our vote, and there's no reason for Brother Shen Heng to bear the burden alone!"
Zhou Xuan's eyes brightened slightly as he said, "That's right! That's why..."
Qi Yue stood to the side, watching the two with a hint of helplessness.
He took the statement and read it carefully, his gaze lingering on the words "collective decision" and "clarification of facts," before slowly speaking:
"Does Captain Shen know?"
"I don't know." Zhou Xuan shook his head. "If I knew, he definitely wouldn't agree, but we can't listen to him on this matter. Some responsibilities are not something he can shoulder alone."
There was no reply. Based on his brief interactions with Qi Yue, he felt that this was indeed possible.
"How about it? Will you help me sign it?" Zhou Xuan asked somewhat nervously.
"Of course!" Cao Mingyu smiled, then took the explanation and signed it.
Qi Yue didn't ask any more questions, took the explanation, and neatly wrote his name on the back.
Looking at the two freshly inked names on the paper, Zhou Xuan smiled.
He folded the paper and put it away, saying:
"Thanks, Brother Cao, Brother Qi! I knew you guys were a good friend!"
"Alright," Cao Mingyu patted his shoulder, his tone returning to its usual cheerfulness, "If you need any help later, just let me know!"
"Okay, I understand!" Zhou Xuan nodded and turned to walk towards his next target.