“It seems that your two teammates are also very willing to go out and have some fun with us, to compare and play a little, to ease the boredom and relax.”
Xia Liansheng didn’t feel at all that this would relax him, but rather that Liu Zhongyuan deliberately wanted to see some excitement from him. What kind of playful competition was this? It was definitely just to make fun of him!
But now that it had come to this, if he refused, Liu Zhongyuan would definitely mock him, especially… now that Qin Jiulin was still staring at him.
If he showed weakness in front of Liu Zhongyuan, it would be embarrassing in front of Qin Jiulin, right? He didn’t want that. “Alright then, we’ll wait for you at the roadblock after lunch.”
Liu Zhongyuan replied, “No problem, we will definitely be there on time.”
After saying that, Liu Zhongyuan smiled and held Qin Jiulin’s hand in front of Xia Liansheng. Fortunately, it didn’t last long, they let go after a while, and his expression improved a bit.
It wasn’t until the three of them disappeared from sight that Xia Liansheng took out his phone and messaged Xie Sihan and Cheng Tianxiang, “After lunch, gather at the roadblock. I’m going hunting with Liu Zhongyuan’s squad.”
Xie Sihan and Cheng Tianxiang were chatting together when they received the message, they naturally received it together, and they both found it strange, after all…
Cheng Tianxiang chuckled, “Did Captain Xia really agree? And he even arranged a specific time, is he not afraid of embarrassment?”
Xie Sihan replied, “How would I know? It doesn’t matter to us anyway, if he loses, he loses. After all, it’s just a game. Only our Captain Xia cares so much about winning or losing.”
Cheng Tianxiang said, “Is it because he wants to show off his unbeatable strength in front of Mr. Qin Jiulin?”
Xie Sihan replied, “You’re not correct in saying that.”
Cheng Tianxiang smiled mischievously, “Oh, I know it’s not correct. I’m just giving an example. After all, reality can be cruel, after all, Captain Xia is not a match for Captain Liu, and he’s not even a match for the Mr. Qin Jiulin that Captain Liu has his eyes on. That black and red tiger with dual color patterns, just looking at it from a distance gives me a creepy feeling.”
Xie Sihan agreed, “Yeah, but for us, it’s enough to enjoy the time we have today to go out and have fun. We don’t know if we’ll have days like this again in the future.”
Gao Siyang said, “You’re here, come in quickly. The information is ready, the three of you take a careful look, and then tell me your thoughts after you’ve finished.”
Liu Zhongyuan took the information from the table. The contents of this information were naturally related to the mission they were about to undertake. Qin Jiulin and Qi Yu also came over to take a look together.
Liu Zhongyuan’s expression remained unchanged, but Qin Jiulin seemed much more serious as he looked at his face. Qi Yu didn’t understand at first, but as he saw more, his unease grew stronger.
The mission… is there something wrong with this location? Not to mention the photos taken earlier, the half beastman individuals in the photos are obviously more powerful than those in the city area.
These half beastman individuals have more areas of beastmen, a wider range, and a higher degree. They are clearly the cream of the crop among the half beastman individuals.
Combined with the worn-out military clothes they are wearing, they can deduce that these half beastman individuals were originally soldiers.
In other words, this place is a military base! Shouldn’t they be glad that these half beastman individuals inside don’t use weapons? If they could, they would be doomed if they got close!
Liu Zhongyuan said, “Captain Gao, forgive me for speaking frankly, but this mission won’t be able to accomplish it with just the three of us.”
Gao Siyang sighed, “Is that so? Honestly, I have no other options left… Many weapons are inside this place, and the ones we rescued earlier are almost depleted. We’ll need weapons in many places in the future, and the consequences would be unimaginable if there’s a shortage. The surrounding half beastman individuals occasionally try to get closer to this place.”
“In reality, ammunition and other supplies are being consumed every day, just in places you can’t see. Of course, because they are shared with ordinary beastman individuals, the current consumption can still be sustained.”
“But even so, if something cannot be done, then it simply cannot be done. We can’t play with our lives, can we? Otherwise, why don’t you arrange a few other variant beastman individuals to accompany us? It doesn’t have to be Xia Liansheng’s squad. With him around, even if the mission was originally smooth, he would mess it up.”
Gao Siyang was about to suggest having Xia Liansheng’s squad join them, but before he could say it, Liu Zhongyuan interrupted him, “Oh, please don’t have such a strong opinion against him!”
Liu Zhongyuan was shocked! What a snake with white eyes!
“Do you really have that idea? Then I can tell you clearly now, absolutely not… Our squad will never cooperate with Xia Liansheng!”
Gao Siyang was helpless, “It sounds like you’re only singling out Xia Liansheng. Can you accept the other two variant beastman individuals?”
Liu Zhongyuan stroked his chin, “That can be accepted, but since we already have Qi Yu’s Snowy Owl and Cheng Tianxiang’s Goose, there’s not much use for Xie Sihan’s form. At most, we can accept Xie Sihan coming over.”
“But… that’s still not enough.”
Gao Siyang pondered for a moment, “Alright, here’s what we’ll do. You can go back for now, and I’ll think about this mission more carefully. Once I have a plan, I’ll call you over for a detailed discussion.”
Liu Zhongyuan put down the information in his hand, “Isn’t this mission urgent?”
Gao Siyang said, “There’s no rush. Based on the current rate of consumption, our weapons stockpile can last for about another month and a half.”
Liu Zhongyuan nodded. A month and a half is not a very long time, so they still needed to make good use of it. “We’ll wait for your message then.”
Gao Siyang watched them leave the room and let out a sigh. “How did conflicts arise so quickly? This Qin Jiulin…”
“No, that’s not right. He’s not the cause of the problem. If we look at the bigger picture, he’s actually the victim. But… what’s the deal with Xia Liansheng? He has Qin Jiuzhen, and yet he still tries to get close to Qin Jiulin. Is he lacking common sense?”
Though they didn’t talk much, they still spent some time in Gao Siyang’s office, and by the time they came out, it was almost lunchtime.
Qi Yu said, “Since we’re already here, let’s grab a bite to eat. Just a little something to fill our stomachs. After we come back from our hunt, we can have a proper meal in the evening.”
Liu Zhongyuan agreed, “Alright, let’s go. It’s not yet time to meet Xia Liansheng anyway.”
However, they seemed to have bad luck during this period. Just as they arrived at the cafeteria, they once again ran into Xia Liansheng’s squad.
When Xia Liansheng saw Liu Zhongyuan, his face momentarily turned sour, but he quickly regained his composure.
Xia Liansheng said, “Jiulin, let’s eat and have a chat.”
This time, he took the initiative and spoke before Liu Zhongyuan had a chance. “It’s lunchtime now. As the captain, you wouldn’t want to control your team members even during their free time, right?”
Liu Zhongyuan blinked. What?
“I’m not here as a captain right now. I’m here as Jiulin’s friend. After all, whenever someone like you gets close to him, I worry. And if it’s just the two of us, I absolutely won’t allow it!”
Xia Liansheng narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by someone like me?”
Liu Zhongyuan replied, “I think of you exactly as you think of yourself. Do I have to say it out loud? Jiulin already knows about your double-dealing, so do you really want to backtrack now?”
Xia Liansheng’s eyes widened slightly. So that’s it! Qin Jiulin must suspect that there’s something between him and Qin Jiuzhen, which is why his attitude suddenly made a 180-degree turn.
Now that Xia Liansheng had found the real reason, he started thinking about how to explain to Qin Jiulin that there was no relationship between him and Qin Jiuzhen.
Of course, before that, he needed to eliminate Liu Zhongyuan, who always caused unexpected situations!
Qin Jiulin said, “Let’s go in and have lunch. We’re blocking the entrance and making it a spectacle for others.”
Liu Zhongyuan sighed and walked over to Qin Jiulin. “It’s not my fault, it’s him who keeps blocking us!”
Qi Yu remained silent.
His look of grievance seemed genuinely real.
Qin Jiulin took the lead and walked past Xia Liansheng. “Let’s go, let’s have lunch.”
Liu Zhongyuan happily followed, with a bright smile on his face. Qi Yu, feeling speechless, followed behind. As they passed Xia Liansheng, Liu Zhongyuan gave him a strange look, which contained a hint of disgust.
After all, Xia Liansheng’s actions reminded him of Duan Qiufeng and Qi Jinglan. The result of their secret collusion was to plot against him. So, if Xia Liansheng was secretly colluding with Qin Jiulin’s brother… did he also intend to harm Qin Jiulin in the end?
Xia Liansheng continued to look at Qin Jiulin, unaware of the strange gaze from Qi Yu, as well as the stares from Xie Sihan and Cheng Tianxiang behind him.
It was no different from looking at scum!
Xie Sihan and Cheng Tianxiang exchanged glances. They had never expected to stumble upon such a big gossip. Their captain was actually playing both sides, and those sides happened to be his own brothers?
Impressive, impressive. They had learned something new. They never expected their captain to be this kind of person!
Qin Jiulin stayed close to Liu Zhongyuan, with Qi Yu following behind. Even if Xia Liansheng tried to approach for a conversation, Liu Zhongyuan would keep him at a distance.
He always managed to control the situation perfectly. Xia Liansheng had been fooled by him several times and felt the urge to explode, but he had to endure each time.
This was the cafeteria, it was mealtime, and it was crowded. If they were to have a heated argument here, it would only embarrass themselves.
It wasn’t until they were seated that Xia Liansheng managed to secure a seat directly in front of Qin Jiulin. “Jiulin?”
Liu Zhongyuan interjected, “Hey! We’re having a meal now, why are you talking? Don’t you know that it’s impolite to talk while eating? Let’s enjoy our food in silence!”
Xia Liansheng did know that, but the likelihood of that happening was very low!
Well, with Liu Zhongyuan around, he definitely wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation with Qin Jiulin. He would have to wait until they were out hunting. When Liu Zhongyuan transformed into his beast form to hunt, he could have a chat with Qin Jiulin.
As long as he could salvage Qin Jiulin’s feelings, losing this competition wouldn’t matter. Although he had a strong competitive spirit, the plan he had been following all along was the most important.
When Liu Zhongyuan returned and discovered that his tricks had been exposed, that would be quite a sight, wouldn’t it?
