Their Feelings

Song Zhi quickly settled into her new life at the Sri Lanka base. She still had plenty of the money Hill and the others had "lent" her, but she didn't spend it recklessly. Apart from buying necessities, she spent nothing extra.

She had to pay that money back, and she didn't want to be saddled with a mountain of debt in the apocalypse. A fiercely independent East Asian woman only spent her own husband's money! Of course, she might not even get to spend her own husband's money... (Don't take that personally, besties. You're all gorgeous, and we're beautiful and rich!)

Her studies were gradually getting on track as well. Miller brought her a long course schedule-languages, emergency medicine, agriculture, hand-to-hand combat, shooting, tactical analysis, information technology, and a specialized guide course.

The so-called guide course was training for psychological counselors, who specialized in soothing mercenaries suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other psychological conditions.

You could think of it as saving Private Ryan!

Aside from the four courses in hand-to-hand combat, shooting, tactical analysis, and information technology, which had been postponed, her schedule was packed. So much so that Song Zhi often wondered: was this fucking survival in the apocalypse? This was fucking studying abroad in Sri Lanka.

Looking at the long course schedule, Song Zhi fell into despair. If she'd known, she hadn't absolutely had to come to Sri Lanka...

Song Zhi's grades in her guide course weren't very good. It was difficult for her, since not everyone was cut out to be a mental health representative. Given Song Zhi's current mental state, there was no possibility of her easing a patient's condition; the only feasible outcome was making it worse.

If it came down to a choice, only one of her and the patient could live!

She sat before a bright window with a book in her hands. The sea breeze tousled her glossy black short hair, revealing her small ears. With one cheek resting on her hand and her bright brows slightly furrowed, she looked as though she was thinking, well-behaved and serene.

The scene froze at that moment, and Miller sent a high-definition photo to Group A's special operations squad via encrypted message.

He added a note: "Violent Loli got a C in her guide course. According to the assessment, she's completely unqualified. Hill's data was wrong. But if your Group A insists on having him as your guide, forget I said anything. Violent Loli does have her merits, though, like focusing on overcoming difficult challenges..."

The message showed as received, but no reply came. Miller curled his lip, cut off the communication, and turned to leave.

Meanwhile, in Algiers, a lizard lay on a golden sand dune. The dune trembled, and the lizard scrambled away in panic.

As the shifting sand fell away, a sniper rifle coated in desert gray emerged from a concealed position. The mercenary in a desert-gray ghillie suit shifted slightly, then pulled out a tactical tablet.

He swiped casually at the tablet a few times, and a high-definition photo came through in a message. It was Song Zhi. She appeared to be studying and seemed to have run into a difficult problem.

"Fellow countrywoman, so even you get stumped sometimes..."

Lu Yu licked his dry, cracked lips and smiled faintly. Then he settled back beneath the cover, motionless, blending into the dunes around him.

Hill was stationed at an abandoned oil field in Zone One. Aside from observing and sorting through information from the surrounding area, he remained motionless, monitoring the various data on another tablet. As soon as Song Zhi's photo was received, he analyzed her surroundings.

The drink beside her was water from the library's public water dispenser, and there was no other food. Her top was an ordinary cotton T-shirt, her pants were ordinary jeans, and her shoes were still the same pair of military boots as before.

Her hair had been redone, but only with the simplest styling. It hadn't been dyed or given any other treatment.

All the signs pointed to one thing: Song Zhi hadn't spent the money they had left her. She was very frugal.

Why?

Hill fell into thought.

Kelante enlarged Song Zhi's photo and focused on the book she was reading-"Zimbardo's General Psychology." He glanced at Miller's message and gave a soft chuckle. "What a diligent girl!"

Wilk thought the clean and tidy Song Zhi ought to wear a pretty dress. Why hadn't she bought one? He had seen many girls at the Sri Lanka base wearing floral dresses, the French-style kind made of soft cotton with tiny floral prints.

He glanced at Hill, somewhat annoyed. "Didn't we leave her enough money? When is this damn mission going to end?"

The latter half was a complaint meant for Lai'en.

Lai'en only glanced briefly at the tablet. When his perpetually cold eyes fell on Song Zhi's slightly exposed collarbone, his gaze darkened. Her collarbone was beautiful...

The next second, his gaze turned exceptionally cold again. He opened the messages and typed swiftly: suspend the guide course. A professional will give her one-on-one instruction later. Doesn't she have enough money?

A message soon came through. Miller looked at it and snickered under his breath.

A professional? One-on-one instruction? Kelante? Then who was going to teach her combat? What about shooting, tactics, and information technology? A bunch of scoundrels!

He adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and quickly replied: the mascot thinks that money was a loan from you and that she needs to pay it back. She doesn't consider herself part of Group A. She was just asking me about positions at an Australian plantation. She'd rather go to Australia and grow radishes than soothe the five of you sentinels.

Pay them back? Go to Australia and grow radishes?

Those two matters seemed thornier than the mission before them. Three pairs of eyes landed on Lai'en at once.

Hill's mouth moved beneath his mask, but he made no sound. He quickly began searching through the data monitor, trying to analyze what was "unreasonable" about Song Zhi.

Wilk looked at the busy Hill and snorted. "Someone was too busy 'kissing her goodbye'!"

Hill's busy figure stiffened. His fingers, clad in tactical gloves, paused for a moment before flying over the keyboard again.

Lying beneath his cover, Lu Yu quickly read through the messages and gave a cold, mocking smile. What was so surprising about growing radishes? That woman also wanted to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes! But he was more eager for his fellow countrywoman to plant strawberries on him!

He adjusted his position and fell silent again, his bloodshot eyes fixed intently on the sniper scope.

If this damn mission didn't end soon, their "home" would be stolen...

Lai'en quickly realized where Song Zhi's intentions to go "beyond her orders" came from. She had cleverly assumed that the night in Seji was merely a "personal transaction," one that would automatically end when the transport plane landed in Sri Lanka...

A personal transaction?

There were never any individuals in Group A. Group A was Group A: the whole, everything, a single unit.

Lai'en's icy eyes darkened, and he quickly issued an order: application denied!

The cold words appeared on Miller's tactical tablet, carrying a firm order.

"Song, your guide course can be suspended. A professional will give you one-on-one instruction later. The farms in Australia aren't short of hands for now... Perhaps you need to get used to how K arranges your life first. Don't you know how to spend money?" Miller put away his tablet and looked gently at Song Zhi, who was sitting across from him.

"The money? No, it's not that. That money was theirs..."

Miller interrupted Song Zhi, though it was very rude of him. "No, it wasn't. That money was a token of their feelings, not a burden. You should use it to live a little more comfortably. Go buy some ingredients at the store, a few outfits at a clothing shop, and some daily necessities. Don't let their 'feelings' go to waste."

"Their feelings?"

Song Zhi remembered the five lingering gazes when they parted, and Hill's inexplicable kiss.

And that messy, chaotic night.

"Are they... doing all right?"

It had been more than half a month since they parted in Seji, and this was the first time Song Zhi had asked Miller about the members of Group A.

"They're safe at the moment, but conditions in Algiers are harsh..." Miller couldn't reveal too much.

Song Zhi felt conflicted. She thought she shouldn't define her relationship with Group A so narrowly. At least she was safe now, and there was no "swamp" here...

She couldn't keep deceiving herself. At least for now, the benefits she enjoyed in Sri Lanka were still privileges reserved for members of Group A's special operations squad.

"If you can, please thank them for me... And tell them I hope they return safely soon..."