Under the moonlight

Inside the embassy, ​​Jiang Ying paced anxiously in front of Lao Zhang's desk, arms crossed and brows furrowed. Lao Zhang, meanwhile, was slumped over the desk, a walkie-talkie in front of him, his eyes fixed on it.

It had been a long time since they last contacted each other, and they were really worried. Old Zhang stared at the walkie-talkie and said, "I think we should just break in. Waiting here like this is too agonizing. We can't let them risk their lives, otherwise we can't do anything."

"What are you thinking! Everyone is anxious, but we can't act rashly no matter how anxious we are. What if they succeed? Try to think positively." Old Zhang looked up at Jiang Ying's dark circles under her eyes and knew that her worries were even greater than his own. He sighed and continued to lie there without saying anything more.

Jiang Ying stood by the window with her arms crossed. The sunlight outside was warm, and a gentle breeze blew in through the window, caressing her face.

She sighed deeply. If it weren't for the war, the scenery here would be truly intoxicating and relaxing. Jiang Ying's tense nerves relaxed for a moment, but a sudden crackling sound of electricity made all her muscles tense up instantly.

She rushed to the table, but Old Zhang reacted even faster, already holding the walkie-talkie to his ear. After a brief static, Xu Ao's steady, powerful voice came through: "Old Zhang, are you there? This is Xu Ao. We've found the factory. There are 18 survivors and 4 seriously injured. We just discussed it and decided to set off in an hour, at 11 o'clock. You stay put. The situation in the city is dangerous, so you can't go in. I'll keep the walkie-talkie on for future communication. That's all for now. Please respond."

As Old Zhang listened, he took notes of Xu Ao's words, then spoke into the walkie-talkie: "Received, received. The situation at the embassy is normal. Please take care of yourselves. Please respond."

After finishing speaking, Lao Zhang stared nervously at the walkie-talkie until Xu Ao's voice came through after a while: "Received." Although it was only two short words, Lao Zhang still breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he could be contacted at any time.

Jiang Ying kept her hands on the table, staring intently at Lao Zhang's posture, until Lao Zhang put down the walkie-talkie. Only then did she seem deflated and droop her head heavily.

In any case, so far they haven't encountered any danger and have even found survivors, which is already half the battle won. Soon she looked up again with worry, knowing that the road ahead was even more dangerous.

Inside the factory, Xu Ao, Lao Wu, and Xu Tao (the young man), Jiang Zijie (in his early thirties), and the Luo brothers, Luo Tai and Luo Ran, sat together discussing their route and plan.

Huang Meng was responsible for writing down everyone's name and compiling a list. In addition, Lao Wu asked a few young people to help him make four simple stretchers using the available materials in the warehouse.

Huang Meng helped them put the four injured people on stretchers and secure them. Then they found several backpacks, each filled with food and water. After everything was prepared, Xu Ao and the others had finished their discussion.

Xu Ao and Lao Wu led the way, with Jiang Zijie and Xu Tao in the middle, and Luo Tao and Luo Ran bringing up the rear. Their numbers were considerable, and with the addition of four stretchers, their pace would be significantly slower. They guessed that due to the mercenaries' massacre in the early morning, most of the survivors had gone into hiding, and there was practically no one to be seen in the city. If the mercenaries wanted to search the city, they would inevitably start from the outer perimeter and gradually shrink their controlled area.

Xu Ao briefly described the situation on the path he had taken to get there. After a moment's thought, Lao Wu said, "The massacre in the city has terrified people, causing them to hide. In their panic, many will surely flee to that path. The mercenaries will definitely start their search there, gradually tightening the encirclement. So we need to create a time difference, leaving the city while they are searching the outer perimeter. Once they have completed their search, we must be extremely cautious when leaving the city. This is the most difficult step in the entire plan. We'll decide what to do then based on the situation."

Xu Ao nodded in agreement as he listened to Lao Wu's words. Now that everything was arranged, everyone quickly got to work and began to get busy according to their respective responsibilities. About an hour later, everyone was ready, and the four seriously injured people had been secured on simple stretchers and carried by several young and strong men.

Xu Ao and Lao Wu stood in front of the crowd. They looked at the people who were already packed up, exchanged a glance, and then walked towards the metal boxes. As Xu Ao walked, he spoke into the walkie-talkie: "Lao Zhang, we have set off. Please respond."

After a while, Lao Zhang's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Received. Xu Ao, you guys take good care of yourselves."

Xu Ao put away his walkie-talkie and habitually looked to his side, but didn't see Huang Meng. He suddenly stopped and turned around to look behind him. Being tall, he immediately spotted Huang Meng walking in the middle.

She walked with the three girls, occasionally glancing at the wounded on the stretcher ahead. Perhaps noticing his gaze, Huang Meng looked at him.

She understood the concern in his eyes and gave him a big smile. He wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth and didn't say anything. He was then pushed forward by the people behind him. He was reluctant to turn his head back. He had been so busy arranging and deploying that he thought she was always by his side.

Xu Ao lowered his head, recalling her smiling face from just now. Her eyes were firm and full of confidence, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up a little. Then, he composed himself and followed Lao Wu to the gate.

The people inside hadn't come out of that metal door for a long time. Although the warehouse itself was inside the factory, it had suffered an explosion and the building had collapsed severely, so it was really unsafe to wander around outside. Apart from Lao Wu and a few others who came out to look for food, almost no one else had come out.

They were like vampires who hadn't seen the sun in a long time; once they came out of the warehouse, they couldn't stand the intense sunlight and raised their hands to shield their heads from the sun.

Emerging from the dimly lit warehouse, they sized each other up. Their clothes were tattered and filthy, their faces were covered in patches of dust, and their hair was matted and stuck together.

They looked at each other's disheveled state, their faces filled with endless sorrow and grief. They didn't speak to each other, except for the three girls who couldn't help but let out low sobs.

Huang Meng stood beside them, unsure how to comfort them. She knew, of course, how the terror and fear of an explosion could destroy a person's spirit, but the hopelessness and the daily struggle to survive were even more devastating.

Hearing their sobs, the crowd occasionally sighed. Seeing their low morale, Xu Tao spoke up, "Hey, what's wrong? Everyone's fine, hey~ just think of this as something like, what you often do in China, yeah, team building. We're a team, these are all activities, right? Everyone's looking for food, finding their way, isn't this just like those reality shows, haha~"

He had a very easygoing personality, and he laughed as soon as he finished speaking. Someone in the crowd was amused by his words and scoffed, "Hmph, a variety show? People participate for money, but what about us? We might end up losing our lives." Hearing this, Xu Tao realized that his lame joke hadn't worked, and awkwardly scratched the back of his head, falling silent.

They walked through the small square, and when they passed the flagpole, Lao Wu stopped. He looked up at the red flag that was still fluttering in the wind, so bright against the deep blue sky.

The group quickly arrived at the factory gate. Xu Ao surveyed the surroundings. The guard post had long since turned into a pile of rubble, and many sections of the surrounding walls were broken and collapsed. Only the walls on both sides of the gate remained standing, making the gate look like a joke.

The fifth brother chuckled and kicked open the door. Before them was a wide, clean road. The fifth brother and Xu Ao exchanged a glance, raised their chins and looked at the pile of rubble by the roadside, saying, "We'll walk along the roadside so we can hide if there's any noise. You guys came this way too, right?"

Xu Ao nodded and said, "Yes, we did encounter two mercenaries along the roadside on our way here, but we managed to hide in time. However, that was during their reorganization period, so we didn't run into many mercenaries. Now..." Xu Ao didn't finish his sentence, but Lao Wu knew what he was going to say. Aside from the fact that it was too exposed in broad daylight, it was getting closer and closer to afternoon, and there was a high possibility of encountering a large number of mercenaries. Lao Wu turned to look at the group behind him; their faces showed a mixture of doubt and anticipation. They were already out there, so they could only take it one step at a time. Lao Wu looked at Xu Ao and said, "Let's hurry up and go."

Just then, Xu Ao's walkie-talkie suddenly rang. The rapid static seemed to indicate the other party's extreme urgency. Xu Ao had barely put the walkie-talkie to his mouth when Old Zhang's voice came through: "Xu Ao! Xu Ao! Have you come out yet? You... come out for now, please... don't..."

Xu Ao frowned and shook the walkie-talkie, repeatedly calling out to it, "Old Zhang, Old Zhang, hello, can you hear me?" Old Zhang's voice had been intermittent, and he couldn't understand what Old Zhang was saying or what he was trying to say. But from his voice, he could tell that Old Zhang was very anxious and seemed to have something important to tell him. But at this moment, the walkie-talkie signal had a problem, and now he could only hear a noisy static.

Huang Meng craned her neck curiously to look at Xu Ao's worried profile, but she didn't know what had happened. Just as she was about to go over and ask him, Lao Wu seemed to say something to him, and Xu Ao put away the walkie-talkie and continued to move forward.

Old Zhang was so anxious that he didn't even have time to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Jiang Ying, Chen Che, and Xiao Zhang surrounded him, while Chen Ming stood by the window, practically leaning his entire upper body out of the window. He anxiously looked at the original blockade line across the street and kept turning back to Old Zhang, saying anxiously, "Hey, Old Zhang, is it done yet? Can we communicate now?"

Old Zhang didn't even have time to answer the questions; his head was practically buried in the table as he fiddled with the walkie-talkie in his hand. The others frowned but didn't dare to urge him any further. After a while, Old Zhang looked up, wiped his sweat with the back of his hand, and sighed, "The walkie-talkie is fine. It must be... there's a signal jamming device outside. They came prepared!"

Hearing his words, Jiang Ying slowly straightened up, her face looking very pale. Xiao Zhang and Chen Che also rushed to the window anxiously. The troops outside had almost all assembled, including not only soldiers but also helicopters and tanks.

Chen Che slammed his hand on the window, staring at the S country insignia on the tank, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Why did they have to come now of all times? Where the hell were they before?!"

Xiao Zhang was also very anxious, muttering to himself, "What should I do! What should I do!"

She walked over to Jiang Ying, who was deep in thought with her arms crossed, and asked, "Sister Ying, what should we do now? Their army is here. Is this a good thing?"

Jiang Ying turned her head, looked at Xiao Zhang, and sneered, "Hmph, a good thing? They've come with such a large army just to wipe them out. If they wanted to rescue people, they would have come long ago. They're just trying to trap the mercenaries like turtles in a jar. It's not that they don't have weapons or are afraid, it's just that the time and opportunity they've been waiting for haven't arrived yet. Using their own people's lives as bait, they're really ruthless."

Listening to Jiang Ying's words, Xiao Zhang lowered his head and pondered for a while before suddenly exclaiming in surprise, "Sister Ying, so you mean they're not afraid of the New Dealers as we previously speculated, nor are they incapable of deploying troops to deal with the people trapped in the city? It's just that everyone, including the New Dealers and those mercenaries, thought they wouldn't make any further moves and lowered their guard, so they sent troops. Aren't they using the lives of so many people in the city as bait? They... they're too cruel. What's the difference between them and those mercenaries?" Xiao Zhang muttered in complaint. Jiang Ying sneered and said, "There's no difference. They're just using a different method to take innocent lives."

Listening to their conversation, Old Zhang couldn't help but complain, "Oh dear, let's worry about our own people now. What are we going to do with Xu Ao and his men? Judging from their posture, they're going to go in and fight. Aren't we the ones who will suffer? Swords and spears don't have eyes! What are we going to do? What if they're on their way out and a fight breaks out over there? Wouldn't they become sitting ducks?"

After Old Zhang finished speaking, he suddenly felt a chill on the top of his head. He slowly raised his head and saw Jiang Ying and Chen Che staring at him with cold faces. Little Zhang even rolled his eyes at him and said irritably, "You jinx!"

Old Zhang realized he had said the wrong thing, so he slapped his mouth a few times and spat out a few "pui" sounds, but what he said was indeed the truth.

Jiang Ying walked to the window and lifted the curtain. Looking at the dark mass across the way, so well-organized and ready to strike, her heart pounded like a drum. Their army had already been mobilized; the embassy personnel had no reason to interfere, let alone enter the city to report. Jiang Ying sighed heavily and said helplessly in a low voice, "We can only pray they can get away with it."