Chapter 393 - 393: Ordinary, But Great
“What are you daydreaming about?”
At the supply station, Sergeant Yan Zhiming’s squad leader pushed open the dormitory door and walked in.
Currently, Yan Zhiming was sitting on his bed, smoking. When he saw the squad leader come in, he didn’t get up. He simply shifted his buttocks and leaned against the bedpost of the metal bunk.
Only after the squad leader came over, took a cigarette from him, and lit it did Yan Zhiming speak, “Squad leader, do you think the gap between people can really be this huge?
When Wang Ye was studying, he was quite ordinary. Apart from having a bit of money at home and being a bit more handsome, he didn’t have any other advantages.
But now…”
The squad leader turned around and sat down beside him.
Afterward, he turned to look at him and smiled, “People are inherently different.
Einstein is also a human, and I am also a human, but can Einstein and 1 be the same?”
Pausing for a moment, he continued with a smile, “Let’s not talk about me and Einstein. Just consider the simplest thing – you and I are both human, but we don’t look the same, do we?”
The squad leader’s smile remained unchanged, and he patted Yan Zhiming’s shoulder. “In this world, there are geniuses, but this world can’t only have geniuses.
We may be ordinary and common, but in our ordinariness and commonality, we bear a great mission!”
“Do you regularly wander around on the railway tracks?” Yan Zhiming mumbled.
In the next moment,
* Smack!*
His head made an intimate contact with the squad leader’s hand, not very forcefully.
The squad leader laughed and scolded, “What’s wrong with guarding the railway? Isn’t it a great job to protect this railway leading to the border? Even though the tracks are overgrown now, is that really important?
In the years to come, as long as we guard it well, once a war breaks out, this railway can become the most powerful presence on the front lines against the enemy.
It’s the lifeline of weapons, personnel, and supplies.
We are great!” The squad leader shouted loudly at the end.
“Yes, yes, yes…” Yan Zhiming, with his head slightly lowered after that little knock, immediately smiled and nodded.
He had just experienced a momentary crisis of confidence, but now, thanks to the squad leader’s comforting words, he had returned to normal.
“Squad leader, are we going to perform our great duty now?”
“Yes, let’s take a break!”
At the supply station, guarding the supply station was one task, and there was another task to patrol a military railway section that totaled more than a hundred kilometers up and down.
This was a railway leading to a deserted area and usually looked no different from abandoned tracks.
But they had to guard it because in times of war, this railway would need to be reactivated.
“Alright, let me pack up!” Yan Zhiming immediately stood up with a smile.
He quickly prepared his gear and left the dormitory once more. Yan Zhiming turned to look at the nearby mountains. Without a doubt, his fellow villager was in one of those mountains.
“You’re impressive, but I’m also great!” Yan Zhiming had a smile on his face.
After muttering to himself, he slung his backpack and swiftly headed towards the only flagpole with a national flag at their supply point.
This was their starting point.
In the jungle, Wang Ye didn’t know that his promotion had become common knowledge throughout the entire battalion, and even the locals in this remote mountain corner knew about it.
At this moment, he carefully carried a piece of grass mat supported by branches and slowly lay down in a pit.
The world suddenly plunged into darkness.
Inside his nostrils, there was the unmistakable scent of soil.
Wang Ye, a grown man, had hidden himself underground.
From the outside, there was absolutely no trace of anything amiss here.
It looked like a completely natural mountain, forest, and grassland with fallen branches and leaves on top.
In other words, unless someone stepped directly on top of him, there was no way to discover Wang Ye hiding beneath.
Thermal imaging?
Nonsense, it’s not that miraculous.
Even if Wang Ye was lying in this pit, he would still emit some heat, but he wasn’t worried about it at all.
He dared to sleep here, so how could he not have thought of this?
Currently, the grass mat covering Wang Ye was layered with more than three to four inches of soil.
With such a thick layer of earth, even if there were small openings for ventilation, it was enough to cool down the heat dissipation to the ambient temperature.
In less than two minutes, although Wang Ye was not used to sleeping underground, drowsiness overcame him, and he quickly fell asleep.
“Captain, we can’t find him; there are too many tracks in this area!”
Around ten o’clock, in the jungle, Black Fox listened to the voices coming through the communicator.
Even though his face was smeared with green oil paint, you could still see how bad his mood was.
“Report, I’ve found tracks here as well, and it’s not just one person’s tracks. Additionally, there’s a supply station here, and there’s a transport vehicle parked inside. This should be where they departed from!”
In the earpiece, voices from other team leaders who had followed in pursuit also came through.
Black Fox’s expression was grim.
Looking around, the spot where he was standing now happened to be the first place where Wang Ye had initially stopped to disguise and dig a pit. It was just that Wang Ye had abandoned this location, and subsequently, he had activated his advanced camouflage skill to throw them off track.
Following that, Black Fox, who had found the disrupted trail, reluctantly ordered his subordinates who had traced him to this area to continue searching the surroundings.
And now, they had arrived at this result.
It wasn’t that there were no tracks; it was just that there were too many tracks in this area.
Last night, the reconnaissance company from Division A had departed from here.
At the beginning, everyone was focused on speed and efficiency, and they didn’t deliberately hide any tracks. This resulted in complete confusion for the special forces Black Fox had brought with him.
How were they supposed to find him now?
“Forget about him; based on the existing tracks, continue tracking and catching the mouse!” Black Fox finally issued the order with a muffled voice.
Although he was frustrated, he had to accept this reality.
However, after giving the order, he paused and spoke with a more serious tone, “I don’t want another Black Cat incident. If anyone else gets bitten to death while trying to catch the mouse, you better come up with a good explanation when we get back!”
“Yes, sir!”
All the team leaders responded solemnly over the channel.
“Let’s go!”
After ending the communication with the other team leaders, Black Fox looked at the special forces soldiers in his team, and with a command, he turned and walked away.
At this moment, Black Fox was unaware that in the exercise command center, Captain Xue, who had been awake all this time, had a face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
“These idiots, couldn’t they have searched more carefully? Can’t they at least look around nearby?” In his heart, Captain Xue cursed.
He had been watching Wang Ye’s camouflage.
He couldn’t deny that he was deeply impressed; this camouflage skill was truly remarkable.
As they moved on, looking back, there was no way to tell that someone had passed through this area just a while ago.
Unfortunately, Wang Ye had no desire to become a special forces soldier, and he had other options now.
But right now, he just wanted to curse Black Fox.
Couldn’t they see through the camouflage? The trail was lost here, couldn’t they have looked around nearby?
Perhaps with some luck, they could have stumbled upon the person hiding underground with a single step.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t call Black Fox, so he could only watch as Black Fox and his team left the area.
Underground, Wang Ye was sleeping soundly and had no idea that Black Fox had just arrived nearby, and there were even several teams of special forces in the vicinity looking for him.
Wang Ye had considered the possibility of special forces tailing him, but he hadn’t expected there would be so many.
In fact, when he dug this pit and created this camouflage, his main goal wasn’t to evade potential pursuers from behind.
He had thought of it as a stable shelter for the next five days.
In times of exhaustion, having a place where he didn’t have to worry about being ambushed in his sleep was a comforting thought.
It was just that unintended consequences had turned his actions into a way to evade a full-scale manhunt.
Wang Ye slept until a little past three in the afternoon.
When he woke up again, he didn’t immediately come out.
The underground was pitch-black, and with the camera still around his waist, he could lie there, eating, without the camera being able to see anything.
So Wang Ye indulged in some of the food he had in his personal storage.
Of course, he also had some of the special pills on him.
After eating his fill and drinking, Wang Ye carefully lifted a large piece of grass mat supported by wooden sticks from the head end, slowly and carefully revealing himself.
“This guy can really sleep, slept until now!”
In the exercise command center, when they saw Wang Ye crawling out, the staff officer carefully covered the grass mat back in place.
The Chief of Staff turned to look at Captain Xue, who was lying on a recliner next to him, but his eyes were already open. He smiled and made this comment.
In fact, they had also been taking a nap just now, lying on recliners here.
But because the Chief of Staff had given orders to call them when they saw Wang Ye, they woke up when he did.
Listening to the Chief of Staff’s words, Captain Xue looked at him expressionlessly.
Then he simply closed his eyes again.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Wang Ye knew from the situation that he couldn’t be easily taken out in the short term.
As for the guy next to him, he didn’t feel like talking about him.
After so many years as old comrades-in-arms, he understood the thoughts of his comrade-in-arms, Captain Xue.
Captain Xue probably wished Wang Ye could just sleep through these five days!
Of course, that was impossible.
“Wow, someone actually caught up?”
In the jungle, after getting some rest, Wang Ye began to look around. He pretended to search for food, as he only had a few survival pills on him and needed to find more food.
After searching the nearby area for a while, Wang Ye hadn’t found any food yet, but he did discover the traces of Black Fox and his team pursuing him.
At that moment, Wang Ye was dumbfounded.
They’ve chased me all the way here?
What’s going on?
Wang Ye was unaware that they had full-map communication capabilities, and he had no idea that they had known about the elimination of the Black Cat trio by his hand. Furthermore, he didn’t know about the possibility of the thermal imaging falling into his hands.
“Darn it, do they think 1 have no temper?”
Following their traces, Wang Ye arrived at the spot where he had initially thought about digging a pit last night.
At this moment, Wang Ye felt a little regretful.
If he didn’t have his camouflage skill, he realized he might have been stepped on the head while sleeping.
He rolled his eyes.
Then Wang Ye began to follow the traces they left behind.
He was looking for the traces of their departure.
Wang Ye had originally planned to listen to Jiang Nan’s instructions and try to stay low-key during these five days.
But now, he was almost running back to the water source, and there were still people chasing after him.
This was getting on his nerves!
As for the thermal imaging, Wang Ye didn’t value it as much as Jiang Nan did. He knew it was a valuable item, but he also knew that in another two or three years, the reconnaissance company might also be equipped with it.
Moreover, even if he managed to keep it for the full five days, there was no guarantee he could keep it once he left.
So, make the most of it. Since it had been handed to him on a silver platter, Wang Ye didn’t plan to be polite.
First, he decided to search for their traces, and then later in the evening, he would follow those traces to find them.
If he could find them, and the conditions allowed, he would teach them a lesson.
He wanted them to know that if they could chase him all the way to the water source, he could also track them relentlessly across the entire map for revenge.
Soon enough, Wang Ye found their traces.
Black Fox and his team had not hidden their tracks too well.
However, Wang Ye didn’t immediately follow them. He spent some time nearby, found a wild banana tree with fruits, picked some unripe bananas, and then returned to his pit.
He opened the grass mat and carefully went back inside with the bananas.
During broad daylight, when he was alone, pursuing them was not a good choice.
Because the daytime visibility was too wide, pursuing someone in the jungle was easy to be discovered and countered.
With his thermal imaging device, the nighttime would be the best time for pursuit..