"It won't be like that. We're all fine. How could Captain Wang be in danger? In the crazed state, combat power jumps several tiers. With Captain Wang's skills, there's even less to worry about."
Besides, even if someone died without leaving a body, there should be scraps, torn cloth, something. They had searched the whole mountain and found nothing. So Captain Wang was probably alive.
Probably.
…
"In that case, is Captain Wang most likely inside the dense forest?" Xi Yu asked, face tight.
They had barely escaped from there. No one wanted to go back. If they went in again, who could say whether they would make it out? And who could prove Captain Wang had really gone in?
Captain Zhang hesitated, then said, "Let's go take a look outside the forest entrance first."
Hearing that, the people from Captain Wang's R City base couldn't help themselves. "Captain Zhang, if Captain Wang is really inside, will you go save Captain Wang?"
"How can you be sure Captain Wang went in?" Captain Zhang said. "Forget all of us not being able to guarantee an exit. Captain Wang doesn't even have an ability. How would Captain Wang just walk in? I don't think Captain Wang would go. But if Captain Wang didn't know the situation, Captain Wang might be waiting at the entrance for us. So it's worth checking."
The R City team understood. If Captain Wang truly was inside, a rescue might mean a chance at life. But they also knew this wasn't something they could force.
Captain Zhang led everyone toward the dense forest. The closer they drew, the clearer the distant clamor became.
It didn't sound human, but it didn't sound like animals either.
Lan Jin raised the binoculars and swore under her breath. "The mutant plants are still blocking the entrance. They were there when we came out. They never left."
If so, Captain Wang couldn't have gone in.
They hadn't confirmed it yet, so they couldn't just turn back.
They moved faster up the slope. The deeper they went, the louder the noise grew, until a mass of unknown mutant creatures came surging toward them.
Many had only just awakened abilities and hadn't learned how to use them yet. The group made a mess of their first engagement until Lan Jin stepped in and cut the creatures down.
They were just starting to breathe again when a sharp bang split the air. A gunshot.
"A gunshot. Could that be Captain Wang?"
"Probably. Move."
They sprinted toward the sound and found Captain Wang standing on the fork of a tree, surrounded by mutant beasts.
Captain Zhang shouted at once, "Captain Wang, hold on tight."
Hearing Captain Zhang's voice, Captain Wang lit up. "You're finally here. I can't hold out much longer."
The team surged forward to drive the creatures back from the tree.
There were a lot of them, and many kinds. The sight dragged up Lan Jin's worst memories of the dense forest. "Why are there so many mutant creatures here?"
There were even multi-legged worms. Smaller than the ones inside the forest and without human faces, but vicious all the same.
While the teammates tested their abilities, they hacked open a path beneath the branches. Captain Zhang called up, "Do you have an ability? You're covered in blood. You must have gone mad too."
"I do. Wind. But it's useless."
Captain Wang raised a hand. A breeze stirred around them.
That was all it was, a breeze. Not even the first setting on an electric fan. Forget attacking. Captain Wang couldn't blow these things away. In this heat, the best it could do was cool someone's face.
Captain Zhang sighed. "Better than nothing."
At that level, it wasn't much different from his own mental power for show.
Once they cleared the creatures, Captain Wang jumped down, hurried away from the trunk, and explained, "I woke up and found monsters everywhere. I didn't know what to do. The tree was easy to climb, so I climbed. They can climb too, so I shot them off. The small ones I fanned away with the wind. The big ones I used the gun on. Barely kept my life."
"We broadcast from the ship just now. Did you hear it?"
Captain Wang pulled a face. "I heard it. So what? I yelled back and nobody heard me. And I wasn't coming down."
Hearing and doing were two different things.
…
With Captain Wang found, their roster was finally complete.
Captain Zhang let out a long breath. "Down the mountain."
Captain Wang looked around. Everyone had been excited a minute ago, but now every face was heavy. Captain Wang didn't know what to say. "All right."
Once they reached the bottom, Captain Zhang, as mission lead, gave the wrap-up.
"Our team was fully recorded when we set out. No need to repeat the original number. As of now, the total number alive is sixty-seven. While you were crazed, one more thing happened. I have to tell you. Every base except the Capital city base has fallen. When we return, there's only one destination left, the Capital city base."
"So from this moment, we're all one base. On the way back, the higher-ups gave us a task. We'll start here in R City, rescue survivors along the way, and keep doing that until we reach the Capital city base. And most important of all, this mission is complete."
Finishing a mission should bring joy. But thinking of teammates who would never leave this place, no one knew whether to feel glad or grieve.
Captain Zhang added, "We can't relax just because we finished. The road back will likely be harder than the way here."
Captain Zhang gave a brief rundown of the waterways. Here in R City, they could still travel by ship. But somewhere ahead the water would run out, and they would have to walk. Walking was fine. What mattered was what they might meet on the road.
Out there, danger had no script. No one could know.