SCOM - Chapter 73
Chapter 73
The situation at the mine was not good. Although they didn't have to protect civilians, countless third-generation robot dogs swarmed out from the ground, their numbers far exceeding those at the port.
By noon the next day, Yan Yan had rendezvoused with Luo Shaoyuan and Jiang Hong. They continuously moved toward the mine. Both sides were exhausted, but the morale boost from joining forces allowed them to carry on.
"It's one thing for there to be third-generation robot dogs on the east side, but they're in other parts of the mine too?" Jiang Hong was completely baffled. He asked the 377th Army's commander, "Your people are here, yet none of you noticed anything unusual."
The 377th Army commander's face was grim. "No."
He didn't need Jiang Hong to point it out. From the moment the third-generation robot dogs appeared at the mine, he had been constantly asking himself why.
"Looks like the 377th Army is as leaky as a sieve," Jiang Hong said.
The 377th Army commander instinctively wanted to retort, but he couldn't find the words.
"Not everyone in the 377th Army is a problem. Captain Sun and her teammates fought with their lives for everyone's safety." Luo Shaoyuan, having grown up in the Northern Region, had a natural affinity for the Winter Army and couldn't stand Jiang Hong's sarcastic tone.
Jiang Hong shrugged. "I'm just giving a reminder. Besides, robot dogs appeared at the eastern mine before. The rescue team at the time didn't find anything unusual. Either the Gashiro people tampered with something, or..."
The 377th Army commander's eyes flickered. There would have been no opportunity for the Gashiro to tamper with anything.
That time, the eastern mine had exploded prematurely. Yan Yan's father led a rescue team, but they encountered a secondary collapse, and many were injured. A different squadron from the 377th Army went in to rescue them afterward.
If someone had tampered with something beneath the eastern mine, only they would have had the chance.
"The silver-blue ore... they were the ones who discovered it," the 377th Army commander said hesitantly.
"Let's not talk about this for now. Commander, it's best to gather the 377th Army first and deal with the third-generation robot dogs together. We can investigate after the current situation is resolved," Jiang Hong said.
In reality, both the Winter Army and the Western United Army would maintain a certain distance from the 377th Army. No one knew if someone from within the 377th would suddenly attack them.
Even though the 377th Army felt uneasy about it, they could only comply.
The 377th Army commander, however, couldn't gather everyone. Some were missing, and some had died at the hands of the robot dogs. He scanned all the present 377th soldiers and frowned. "Where is Lu Hui? Why don't I see him? Has anyone seen Captain Lu?"
Yan Yan was taken aback. Uncle Lu had been with them at the hospital earlier. Later, a Winter Army unit arrived and protected his parents at the hospital. When Xijiang Exile Star fell into chaos and Sun Long insisted she was gradually getting better, Yan Yan, along with his parents and the Winter Army, led the residents underground. Uncle Lu had said he was taking people to the mine.
"Commander, Captain Lu hasn't shown up at all."
"I haven't seen him either."
Listening to their conversation, Yan Yan's parents' expressions gradually turned grim. To go missing at a time like this, apart from death, there was only one other possibility.
Nearby, Jiang Hong narrowed his eyes. Fang Yong had said that Sun Long had been injected with a poison needle, but the injection wasn't completed, which was why she only fell into a coma.
For someone to be able to administer the poison while Yan Yan's father was constantly on guard, that person... had to be Lu Hui.
Jiang Hong lowered his head and pulled up Lu Hui's file. His situation was almost identical to Yan Yan's parents'. He had been friends with Yan Yan's father since childhood and had once saved Sun Long in the Northern Region, so the two families had always been extremely close friends.
For such a person to betray the Federation and attempt to murder his good friend's wife, there must be a reason.
What reason could trigger such a possibility...
Jiang Hong hid to the side and took the opportunity to quickly send the information he had to Ji Yuezhi, also informing him of Lu Hui's disappearance.
"Jiang Hong sent a message." Ji Yuezhi was driving. He glanced down at the optical computer on his wrist, then turned his head to Zuo Luohuan. "Can you help me open it and take a look?"
Hearing this, Zuo Luohuan leaned toward him and raised a hand to open Ji Yuezhi's optical computer. She swiped the light screen in front of her. "It's Lu Hui's file. Jiang Hong says he's missing."
She scanned the information on the optical computer, ten lines at a glance. According to his evaluations from school and after enlisting, Lu Hui was a hardworking and mild-tempered person, not someone prone to extremism.
He had one son, an A-class Alpha, but he failed to get into a military academy last year and could only remain on Xijiang Exile Star.
Zuo Luohuan's gaze paused on this line of information. For a differentiated A-class Alpha to fail to get into a military academy meant there was a problem with his academic scores.
The 377th Army commander had once said that for twenty years, many in the 377th Army had been hoping to leave. It wasn't because they couldn't endure the hardship on Xijiang Exile Star, but because many had married and had children, and those children had grown up.
Those with ability could get into a military academy. Those who couldn't needed to go out and see the world.
Zuo Luohuan closed the light screen. "Perhaps it's because his child didn't get into a military academy, and he grew resentful of the Federation because of it."
There were too many reasons to betray the Federation, and some had no reason at all. For example, the well-known Ren Pingbo. He enjoyed the Federation's best resources, had the best instructors, countless friends, and the attention of thousands. He was about to become the Federation's new guardian deity, yet he suddenly turned around and went to the Gashiro Empire.
Before his defection, his instructor died a tragic death at Ren Pingbo's hands.
The reason?
Ren Pingbo only left a single sentence, an optical computer recording he had tossed into the pool of his instructor's blood: "Your Federation is so boring."
That short sentence played almost day and night in the minds of the Federation's people for years.
The eight hundred people in aircraft were the first to arrive at the mine. They jumped down directly from above, wearing skeletal mechs, like a troop of mechanical soldiers.
Luo Shaoyuan looked up, her mouth agape in awe. "If it didn't say Seventeenth Army on them, I'd almost suspect they were sent by the Gashiro."
"What they're wearing should be complete skeletal mechs," Jiang Hong recognized. "We used an incomplete one during the military exercise."
A look of longing appeared in Luo Shaoyuan's eyes. "I want to try one too."
However, the descending rescue forces had no time for them. They all went to deal with the third-generation robot dogs. With them taking action, the army groups that had been resisting for two days could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"The upperclassmen are here," Yan Yan said, watching a line of vehicles speeding toward them from a distance.
"It really is them." Jiang Hong had already seen Zuo Luohuan open the car door. "Fuck, she has a skeletal mech!"
His tone was filled with the utmost envy and jealousy.
Seeing robot dogs pouncing toward them, Zuo Luohuan didn't even wait for Ji Yuezhi to stop the car. She directly opened the door, pressed the spherical button, donned the skeletal mech, stepped onto the running board, and instantly leaped off, clearing all the robot dogs in front of the vehicle.
She practically tore the heads and bodies of the third-generation robot dogs apart with brute force.
Ji Yuezhi slammed on the brakes, and the car screeched to a halt on the left. He jumped out of the door, gripping a light gun and shooting the throats of the robot dogs that had their mouths open.
He didn't wear a skeletal mech. He wasn't used to it, and it would actually hinder his speed.
These robot dogs, which had been rampaging arrogantly, were instantly crushed after the rescue forces arrived. The other army groups were ordered to retreat to prevent injuries from the explosions.
Ji Yuezhi was standing on the other side of Zuo Luohuan. Before he could move, an upperclassman behind him hit a series of robot dogs, causing a chain reaction of explosions that expanded the blast radius several times over. A pile of explosive debris flew toward him.
Ji Yuezhi instinctively moved to dodge, but two robot dogs in front of him opened their mouths and stretched their necks to bite him. If he shot them, he would be caught between explosions from both the front and back.
Before he could react, a black shadow flashed over and wrapped around him. The person lifted his hand, which was holding the light gun, and shot the two robot dogs.
Just as expected, shrapnel flew from both the front and back, but none of it touched him. It all hit the person holding him.
Ji Yuezhi turned his head to look at the black skeletal mask. His cheek was pressed against the cold shell of the mech. Listening to the sound of shrapnel hitting Zuo Luohuan, his eyes filled with anxiety, but he didn't dare to move recklessly.
"You follow me. Don't get separated," Zuo Luohuan said to Ji Yuezhi after the shrapnel had settled.
"...Okay."
With the arrival of the rescue forces, the third-generation robot dogs at the mine were mostly cleared out by late night. They deliberately avoided the eastern mine to prevent damaging the ore.
"The army groups will set up camp and rest first. The rescue forces will continue to search for traces of third-generation robot dogs to prevent any surprise attacks." After Ji Yuezhi gave the arrangements, everyone returned to the temporary shelters at the mine to rest.
Before they rested, the rescue forces had already swept the living quarters once.
By the time they rested, it was almost dawn.
Neither Ji Yuezhi nor Zuo Luohuan rested. The port had been completely cleared, and another thousand rescue soldiers were dispatched to sweep all the key locations on Xijiang Exile Star.
"This thing is inconvenient to move in." Jiang Hong discovered after trying on a skeletal mech that although it looked light, it was cumbersome to wear.
"You need more practice." Luo Shaoyuan was clearly adapting better than Jiang Hong; she was stronger.
Yan Yan was also doing okay. Having grown up in the mines, he was quite strong too.
Zuo Luohuan glanced at them. "Once you've rested enough, follow us to clear the city."
This sweep lasted for a full three days before they finally confirmed there were no more robot dogs.
A portion of the third-generation robot dogs were still being held at the mine, waiting for researchers from the capital.
"You haven't stayed here before, have you? Enjoy it today," Jiang Hong said, bumping Yan Yan. "We can go back the day after tomorrow."
After they finished the sweep, some of them were arranged to stay at the Xijiang government building, where there were many empty rooms.
Ji Yuezhi and Zuo Luohuan returned to their original room, only this time they could remove and destroy the listening devices.
Although Zuo Luohuan's arm injury had been aggravated several times, it was just an ordinary mechanical wound. After a few applications of medicine, it healed quickly.
She came out of the bathroom after a shower, casually dried her hair with a towel, and stood barefoot at the bar, tilting her head back to down the glass of ice water in her hand.
Even so, it couldn't dispel the restlessness in her heart.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Zuo Luohuan looked up but didn't move.
This susceptible period had come on fiercely. She had managed to vent a little by clearing out those third-generation robot dogs, but tonight, she could clearly feel the restlessness surging up again.
Perhaps because no one opened the door, the person outside thought she was asleep. There was no sound for a long time. Just as Zuo Luohuan thought the person had left, after a while, the knocking sounded again.
Two rhythmic knocks.
Zuo Luohuan put down the water glass. The bottom of the glass made a crisp sound as it touched the bar. By the time she walked to the entryway, cracks were gradually spreading up the side of the glass, and it finally shattered on the bar.
"...What is it?" The moment Zuo Luohuan opened the door and saw the person outside, the impatience in her eyes vanished instantly, leaving only surprise.
Ji Yuezhi held up an inhibitor in his hand. "I asked an upperclassman for an S-class inhibitor. It's for you."
Zuo Luohuan stared at him for a long moment without reaching for it. Instead, her gaze held an indescribable meaning. "Which upperclassman did you ask?"
Ji Yuezhi didn't seem to notice her strangeness and continued, "Upperclassman Xiang. I remember he's also in his susceptible period recently, so he should have one on him..."
Zuo Luohuan cut him off coldly, "You even remember Xiang Chengping's susceptible period?"
"Upperclassman Xiang mentioned it to me before." Ji Yuezhi was still holding out the inhibitor.
"He tells you things like that." Zuo Luohuan scoffed in annoyance and snatched the inhibitor from his hand. "I told you, S-class inhibitors are useless on me."
Ji Yuezhi finally seemed to realize she was angry. He looked up and explained, "I ran into Upperclassman Xiang at the school infirmary. He was holding an inhibitor, so we just exchanged a few words about it."
"You don't need to explain these things to me. That's between you two." Zuo Luohuan clutched the inhibitor. "Thanks."
Ji Yuezhi pressed his lips together. "You said... it's useless. Should I get Doctor Fang?"
"It's just a susceptible period." Zuo Luohuan suddenly laughed, looking at Ji Yuezhi with composure. "Do you know what I need most right now?"
Ji Yuezhi met Zuo Luohuan's gaze and subconsciously took a step back, but it was too late. She pulled him directly into the room.
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