Chapter 170: A Special Invitation - Part 1

"Xie..."
The forward operations staff officer was startled. "Instructor Xie?!"
"It's only been a few days, and you think you've grown some backbone, kid?"
"You're just a staff officer intern, sent to the front lines to gain experience with transcendent anomaly missions. Look at you—throwing your weight around and putting on airs?"
With a dark expression, Xie Long barked at the nearby special forces soldiers, "Lock him up in the command post's confinement room! I'll deal with him whenever I feel like it later!"
"I didn't do anything wrong!"
Hearing that he was going to be locked up, the forward staff officer named Mo Fei immediately protested, unconvinced. "Why should I be locked in confinement?"
"You didn't do anything wrong? Then it's my fault?"
"Did those political commissars in the military academy wash your brain out?"
"I told you back during the tactical lectures, and it's not that I look down on you student soldiers, but all that armchair theorizing you study is pure trash!"
Xie Long stared expressionlessly at the unyielding Mo Fei. "Just how many days have you been assigned to front-line tasks? What kind of mess have you stirred up already?"
"I..."
Mo Fei tried to argue further, but Xie Long couldn't be bothered to argue with him.
With a wave of his hand, he ordered the special operations soldiers to drag him away, shove him onto an assault boat, and speed off into the distance.
"Everyone, we meet again!"
Having dealt with staff officer Mo Fei, Xie Long finally turned around, squeezing a somewhat stiff smile onto his stern and resolute face.
"Commander Xie!"
After Xie Long appeared, Squad Seven had simply stood to the side watching him discipline the forward staff officer. Now, they nodded and smiled at him as a greeting.
As the leader of Squad Seven, Luo Fei naturally took on the responsibility of communicating with Xie Long. She smiled and exchanged pleasantries, "Is Second Lieutenant Zhou alright now?"
"Mhm, he's fine!"
As he spoke, Xie Long's eyes swept across the situation inside the F14 barrier space with the sharpness of lightning.
When he saw the pool filled with massive mutated snake corpses, his pupils contracted slightly, but he quickly masked it with a smile. "Speaking of which, I should thank you all!"
The two exchanged a few polite remarks.
Xie Long was clearly a straightforward person who lacked eloquence, recycling the same few stiff phrases back and forth.
"Commander Xie, we're hardly strangers anymore; we got acquainted through our clashes."
Luo Fei's smile was beginning to ache, and she finally sighed. "If you have something to say, just spit it out!"
Anyone with eyes could see that Xie Long had a reason for seeking them out.
Yet, given his personality, he simply couldn't find a natural opening for the conversation.
It was making the people around him anxious on his behalf, so Luo Fei decided to bring it up directly.
"I really do need a favor from you all."
"This isn't the best place to talk, though. I'll have someone come relieve you."
Seeing Luo Fei broach the subject first, Xie Long couldn't help but let out a breath of relief, offering a dry smile. "Shall we head back to the rear command post to talk?"
Although it was phrased as a question, Xie Long was entirely accustomed to giving orders.
He immediately instructed the accompanying special operations soldiers to arrange for another transcendent squad to take over Squad Seven's post.
He also notified the logistics troops to come and clear out the snake corpses in the F14 barrier space, which rightfully belonged to Squad Seven as their spoils of war.
Though they had no idea why a front-line commander of the Special Logistics Corps would want anything to do with a novice F-rank transcendent squad, Luo Fei exchanged subtle glances with Bai Yuxi and Su Xiaoke before deciding to wait and see how things played out.
Jason and Chicken Leg, however, grumbled and complained extensively, slightly displeased that they had to retreat to the rear for rest just as they were getting warmed up.
The military's style was always decisive and swift.
Without another word, Xie Long hauled Squad Seven back to the rear command post located on the horn-shaped peninsula in the center of Gulu Lake.
Currently, the entire Gulu Lake scenic area was under strict lockdown, with local residents and scenic area staff having been evacuated together.
To the outside world, it was announced that a simulated live-combat military exercise was being conducted in the Gulu Lake region, temporarily designating the entire lake area as a military restricted zone.
Fortunately, with the drop in temperature as the year drew to a close, the tourism boom was not as fierce as in the summer. Additionally, the area was a minority-populated region characterized by vast lands and sparse population.
With the execution capacity of the state apparatus, and after providing sufficient compensation to the affected local residents and tourism-related entities, thoroughly sealing off the region in a short period of time posed no real problem.
Although the anomaly point appeared on Shewa'e Island in the center of Gulu Lake, the entire Gulu Lake basin was enveloped within the overlap zone.
Located at the border between Yunnan and Sichuan, this region naturally possessed a subtropical and tropical monsoon climate. Combined with the well-preserved natural environment, the population of snakes, insects, rats, and ants was astonishingly large, resulting in an exceptionally massive scale of mutated native organisms once infected.
Fortunately, it had been discovered in time.
After the anomaly point on Shewa'e Island opened, native snakes were attracted and gathered on the island. Before the mutation could spread, the local branch of the Transcendent Management Department dispatched LDH transcendent warriors, sparing no cost to use barriers to seal Shewa'e Island, thereby suppressing this mutated creature disaster within the smallest possible scope.
Bai Yuxi and the others followed Xie Long into the temporary combat command post erected on the horn-shaped peninsula of Gulu Lake.
However, instead of entering the Special Logistics Corps sector, they were led to a small, isolated camp set up with military tents in a corner of the command compound.
Though slightly puzzled, everyone wisely refrained from asking questions, knowing all too well that military secrets might be involved.
In front of a large military tent, to their great surprise, they ran into another acquaintance.
It was Second Lieutenant Zhou Hao, who had suddenly awakened in the core area of Hualan Mountain!
A week later, this dark-skinned second lieutenant had experienced a massive upgrade, evolving from a "special forces soldier" into a "special forces transcendent warrior." His entire aura and spirit appeared much sharper and more formidable.
Knowing that his awakening and his exceptionally high starting point at the F7-rank were thanks to the help of Bai Yuxi and the others during a fortuitous coincidence, Second Lieutenant Zhou was extremely grateful and overly enthusiastic toward Squad Seven. He welcomed Bai Yuxi and the others to be seated inside the marching tent while briskly pouring tea for them himself.
"Weren't soldiers from the Special Logistics Corps..."
"Supposed to be transferred directly to the LDH Transcendent Strike Force the moment they awaken?"
Luo Fei asked out of intense curiosity, "How come Second Lieutenant Zhou is still with the Special Logistics Corps?"
"This..."
This question presumably touched upon confidentiality regulations.
Second Lieutenant Zhou subconsciously glanced at the taciturn Commander Xie Long. *(To be continued.)*