Entering Zone A
Song Zhi and Wilk quickly packed up the thermal blanket and left the area. According to the plan, they had to cross Zone A, reach the high ground in Zone B before dark, and complete the resupply mission. Then they had to travel from Zone B to Zone C and complete the demolition mission. Only after they safely evacuated from Zone D would the mission be over.
Wilk led the way, with Song Zhi close behind. Taking advantage of the faint morning light, they moved swiftly toward Zone A.
Their journey was unobstructed, and by the time they reached Zone A, it was already ten in the morning. They found a concealed building and stopped to rest. Since they had to stay hidden, they couldn't light a fire.
Song Zhi washed down a bite of her energy bar with cold water, her throat stretching two miles long. Once again, she made a wish to the heavens-may there be world peace!
Wilk checked his gear, and after confirming nothing was missing, signaled Song Zhi to get ready to move on. Song Zhi forced down the last bite of her energy bar, dusted off her hands, and stood up.
The two cautiously emerged from their hiding place and continued toward the heart of Zone A. Song Zhi stayed close behind Wilk, not daring to let her guard down for a moment.
Along the way, Lai'en and his team had made no attempt to surround or intercept them. Song Zhi began to suspect they were being lured into a trap so they could be caught like turtles in a jar. Song Zhi had no desire to be a turtle. She stopped, caught hold of Wilk, and said, "Everything's going too smoothly. I think something's wrong. Could they have deliberately left an opening for us to walk into, so they can catch us all in one sweep?"
"Of course! They've already set an ambush and are just waiting for us to walk into their trap. But the only way into Zone B is through Zone A. Some paths are dangerous, but you have to risk your life and keep going. There's no retreat on the battlefield. Even if you can foresee the danger ahead, you can't avoid it." Wilk leaned against the wall, a resolve Song Zhi couldn't understand in his green eyes.
"Honey, we only have this one path, but they only have this one chance. It all comes down to whose fists are harder!" He patted Song Zhi on the shoulder, adjusted his gear again, and stepped out from cover ahead of her. He was a vanguard soldier, charging at the very front, on the line closest to the bullets.
Song Zhi checked her own magazines and hurried after Wilk. She wasn't some overpowered apocalypse heroine, but she wasn't a helpless little white flower either. It remained to be seen who would come out on top! Once she captured those four soldier ruffians, she would make them kneel before her with their hands on their heads.
As time passed, the temperature gradually rose, and Song Zhi felt her strength draining faster and faster. But she gritted her teeth and kept urging herself on-hang in there!
Looking back at her grand declarations, she realized they were nothing but a fool's dream! Reality had slapped her in the face so quickly that Song Zhi felt another wave of frustration.
Just as she was about to reach her limit, Wilk suddenly stopped ahead of her and raised a hand, signaling her to crouch down and take cover. Song Zhi immediately went on alert, quickly ducking behind cover and holding her breath as she watched for movement around them.
By then, their positions had long since been fixed. Lu Yu lay at the sniper position, keeping Song Zhi and Wilk firmly in his sights.
"Targets spotted. They've entered Zone A and are outside its firing range. They're smart; they didn't blindly enter sniper range," Lu Yu reported the situation in Zone A over the radio.
"Sniper, keep observing. Don't alert them. Kelante, stay in Zone B. Hill, circle around from the left. I'll come in from the right. Let's try to finish this fight in two hours," Lai'en ordered over the radio.
"Copy!" the other three replied in unison. The radio then fell silent.
Hill strode out from behind cover. He pulled out his tactical tablet and brought up the team members' vital-sign data. Sure enough, Song Zhi's body temperature was gradually rising, her heart rate was climbing rapidly, and her blood oxygen level was falling. All the signs indicated that she was physically overexerted.
Hill closed the tablet, fastened his goggles, and moved quickly along the wall to circle around Zone A. His movements were crisp and efficient, without a single unnecessary sound. Every step was precisely calculated to ensure he didn't tread on debris that might give away his position. He was like a cheetah entering a hunting ground.
Wilk had planted booby traps along the way. One careless step would trigger a fuse and take him straight out of the exercise. But that was no obstacle for Hill. He marked the booby traps' locations and shared them with the other team members.
When Lu Yu saw the message, he sucked in a sharp breath. "Damn! Those mines were planted for me. The targets have stayed outside my sniper range the whole time. To get a lock on them, I'd have to move, and the moment I did, I'd end up in the minefield. Then Wilk would detonate the mines! That bastard! How damn sneaky!"
No sooner had he spoken than he spotted Song Zhi through his scope. She had exposed herself completely to his view. It looked accidental, but in fact, she was trying to lure him in!
How brazen! That was blatant provocation! Lu Yu laughed in anger.
"Target spotted at two o'clock. Suspected trap, over!" Lu Yu reported, pressing one hand to his headset.
"Sniper, withdraw immediately and rendezvous with Kelante in Zone B." Lai'en quickly gave the order, adjusting the battle plan.
"Copy!" Lu Yu put away his sniper rifle, quickly climbed down from his position, and withdrew toward Zone B through the collapsed alleyway.
Lu Yu moved swiftly through the alleys, his breathing slightly hurried but his gaze as sharp as ever. He had underestimated Wilk—or perhaps he had underestimated Song Zhi.
All was fair in war!
Hill and Lai'en met up in Zone A. They searched and checked as they went but found no trace of Song Zhi or Wilk. The two seemed to have vanished into thin air.
"The targets have disappeared. Initiate plan B." Lai'en's voice was low and cold.
Meanwhile, Kelante was crouched inside an abandoned building in Zone B, lightly tapping his fingers against the stock of his gun, seemingly waiting for something. His expression was calm, but it held a barely perceptible hint of anticipation.
Song Zhi and Wilk's disappearance had plunged the entire battlefield into an eerie silence. It was not a peaceful silence, but the oppressive stillness before a storm.
Lai'en stood on high ground in Zone A, sweeping his gaze over the surroundings, trying to catch any unusual detail. Yet no matter how closely he looked, he couldn't find the slightest trace.
"They can't have vanished into thin air," Hill said quietly, a hint of frustration in his voice.
His device displayed the locations of the booby traps he had marked earlier, but that information seemed useless now. Song Zhi and Wilk's movements had clearly been carefully planned, and they might even have prepared in advance.
Zone A was vast, and Lai'en and Hill couldn't search every part of it. Song Zhi and Wilk had not appeared on the route they had to take to reach Zone B, and this unexpected development could bring many changes.
Time ticked by, and before they knew it, it was already 4:40 p.m. Song Zhi and Wilk had survived another twelve hours. They had made it safely through a third of the seventy-two-hour ghost hunt.
Neither side had much time left.
"Tonight, Hill and I will lie in ambush along the passage through Zone A. Lu Yu will monitor Zone B, and Kelante will provide mobile support. Rest in place for ten minutes. After that, we go radio silent." As Lai'en issued his orders, he opened his tablet to check the terrain map.
The radio fell silent, and the whole world seemed to quiet down with it.
Hill slung his submachine gun across his chest, took a drone from his backpack, and adjusted its far-infrared thermal imager. It looked like he would be working overtime tonight.
While Lai'en was on high alert, he heard a faint sound to his right. His blue eyes turned icy behind his goggles. He made several hand signals to Hill, who was adjusting the equipment, then raised his gun and slowly approached the suspicious spot.
His combat boots made not a sound as they touched the dusty ground. The force and placement of every step were precisely controlled, a habit he had developed over many years on the battlefield.