Translator: Deyonna
It was very clear that He Li was aware of Hu Changchuan’s identity, and could even clearly recognize his appearance.
“We just set up a temporary signal station and made contact with the T-12 sentinel tower. We heard that you were ambushed on the way…But fortunately, you’ve arrived safely, we already feel at ease.”
“En.”
At this moment, Hu Changchuan’s expression was solemn, and he nodded slightly. His unreliable middle-aged uncle temperament had suddenly dissipated a lot.
After first greeting Hu Changchuan, He Li then turned to look at Chen Xinyue. His attitude towards her was very friendly.
“Captain Chen, we’re really sorry. We’ve been dealing with the underwater horde of otherworldly creatures since arriving at the supply station, so…”
“Understood. Mission comes first.”
Chen Xinyue’s tone was very cold.
“But since you already know me, there’s no need for further introductions.”
“Yes. I’ve long heard that Captain Chen is straightforward and efficient in her job and today, it seems to be true.”
He Li did not seem to mind Chen Xinyue’s attitude. He smiled and explained good-naturedly.
“Because yesterday, during the operation to eliminate the otherworldly creatures, the team leader was seriously injured, so we couldn’t send people to look for you in time. But the team leader has regained consciousness now, and I’d like to invite investigation officer Chen and Officer Hu to come to our station to jointly discuss this incident of the king creature’s attack.”
Saying this, he paused, then turned to look in Yuan Ye’s direction, respectfully bowing his head.
“‘Of course, I’d also like to invite the greatest contributor to this incident, Mr. Yuan Ye, to come along.”
At this moment, everyone’s eyes were focused on him.
Yuan Ye had no particular expression, he simply lifted his eyelids to look at him and casually asked.
“During your team leader’s injury, were you responsible for the deployment of military investigators?”
—Direct questioning?
The little octopus immediately raised its head.
Even though they had already analyzed that there might be problems within the supporting military investigators’ team due to Bard’s incident, Ye Yunfan did not expect Yuan Ye to directly question such a key issue.
Chen Xinyue was also taken aback for a moment, but then she immediately looked at He Li, carefully observing every subtle expression on his face.
He Li’s upturned mouth did not change, and he lowered his gaze as he replied gently.
“Yes.”
After getting the answer, Yuan Ye did not continue to inquire about the matters regarding the clinic and Bard, almost as if he had just mentioned it casually. He bypassed everyone and walked straight out the door.
However, Chen Xinyue did not immediately follow him. She went to look at the triangular-eyed man wrapped in a bundle, gave a few instructions to Old Man Xu, before hurriedly catching up.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Dea jwlv atf vfcrfis qjmxfv rlcuif-rabgs yelivlcur, atlr atgff-rabgs yelivlcu rabbv bea vlralcmais.
In front of the main entrance stood two guards, and beside them hung a large iron plaque with large Chinese characters that read, “Administration Office”.
Fortunately, they were simplified Chinese characters.
Ye Yunfan recognized them very clearly. He quickly inferred some information from these details.
This place is called the supply station, and this three-story building at the center of the supply station is called the Administration Office. It’s very clear that this is an office site belonging to a government department, but it has been temporarily occupied by the military investigators as their station.
“Eh, the military investigators are stationed here?”
Jon doubtfully looked towards his captain.
“Wasn’t this the station manager’s office before?”
Their team had come here before to borrow the station manager’s yacht twice, so Jon remembered it clearly.
And after the night of the king creature’s attack, he had been busy rushing around following his captain’s orders, and had not paid any attention to the specific location of the supporting military investigators station.
Jon had not received the full systematic training for military investigators. He was just a new recruit temporarily brought in by Chen Xinyue to fill in the manpower, so he was not aware of certain specific procedures.
So Chen Xinyue did not feel impatient, but rather explained it to him gently.
“When military investigators are out on a mission, especially for emergency support missions, the local government is required to provide resources and support according to the regulations.”
“Oh, I see…”
Jon scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Ye Yunfan, on the other hand, listened very attentively.
He had been collecting every piece of information he could gather from his surroundings, treating them as small puzzle pieces to slowly assemble the true appearance of this world.
He needed to quickly figure out what this world was exactly, and why he appeared here with an identity of a “player” and in a non-human form.
The curly-haired puppy looked around and suddenly turned to ask Chen Xinyue.
“Captain, didn’t you say before that there should be at least one hundred people stationed here? But the people here seem to be not enough.”
He Li led the way and explained the answer to Jon’s questions.
“Because it was an emergency mission, the heavy weapons brought were not enough, so the casualties were high.”
“—they’re indeed quite high.”
Yuan Ye seemed to be just speaking casually.
“It seems that your team’s strength is not enough, as even dealing with some remnants, you can achieve a casualty rate of over sixty percent.”
Ye Yunfan sensed something unusual in these words.
He immediately turned his head and the first thing he looked at was He Li, and sure enough, he caught a hint of guilty conscience on the man’s face.
But the latter soon recovered and said with a wry smile.
“The team leader was seriously injured, and I took over the command in an emergency. My poor leadership has let my brothers down, and I will surely receive a disciplinary order in a few days.”
This explanation can be considered perfect.
Chen Xinyue remained noncommittal, while Hu Changchuan held down Jon who was looking around, laughing it off.
As for Jon, he had not noticed at all the silent probing and games that had taken place between the two sides. He merely nodded with a melancholy expression, as if recalling some sad events.
Just a moment later, the curly-haired puppy seemed to have remembered something and brought up a third question.
“Is the station manager upstairs?”
But of course, Jon’s concern was not about that stingy director, but because he had ruined someone’s beloved yacht.
“Oh…I’m so sorry.”
The guide ahead, He Li, suddenly sounded downcast.
“He sacrificed his life in the name of duty the night the king creature attacked the supply station.”
Tap.
Chen Xinyue’s footsteps paused.
After the incident at the clinic with Bard, she was full of doubt and subjective hostility towards the sixth support team that arrived. Therefore, when she heard about the death of the station manager, her first thought was that perhaps the station manager was silenced.
After all, the true manager and person in charge of the supply station is the station manager. If the station manager dies, the team leader of the investigation team sent to provide support can directly take over the highest management authority of the supply station according to the emergency regulations during wartime.
Chen Xinyue subconsciously looked towards Yuan Ye, but the latter showed no expression at all, as if he heard nothing.
The little octopus lifted its head from the young man’s shoulder. He paid attention to Chen Xinyue’s gaze. He suddenly realized that the other’s strange reaction was due to the news of the station manager’s death.
Could it be that there’s some problem with his death?
“Captain?”
Jon sensed that something was off. However, Chen Xinyue shook her head.
“It’s nothing, just a bit surprised.”
After saying this, she continued walking with her usual demeanor.
Hu Changchuan naturally also noticed it, but he didn’t show it at all, acting as if he hadn’t noticed.
This incident was strange and unusual in every aspect, especially with the involvement of a dismissed chief.
Hu Changchuan just hoped to get through the process smoothly. As for the truth behind it, Hu Changchuan intuitively felt that was not something a third-class decontamination officer like him could handle.
“Officer… Officer He.”
A military investigator came running in from the entrance. His eyes were red, and his whole body was soaked, as if he had just come back from the sea.
“We’ve been diving all night, we’ve… we’ve recovered them all.”
As he said this, he showed the thing he was holding to He Li. They were a bunch of metal tags with identity information engraved on them.
He Li’s voice was slightly hoarse, but he still said calmly.
“En, take them to be registered. Don’t miss a single one.”
“What is that?”
Jon quietly approached Chen Xinyue. The latter immediately knew what it was the moment she laid eyes on them.
“—That’s the engraved identity tag of military investigators.”
She pulled a thin iron chain from the collar of her uniform, with a similar metal tag hanging on it, then quietly said to Jon, who had temporarily joined without an engraved identity tag.
“Because the majority of the military investigators who died in the battle with the otherworldly creatures either had no intact bodies, or had to be cremated due to contamination. So the engraved identity tags are like their dead bodies, and also equivalent to medals of martyrdom.”
“However, for the lower-ranking military investigators, the most important use of this thing is… that it can be used to obtain a death gratuity.”
Ye Yunfan suddenly froze.
So the greatest significance of that thing was not honor, nor sentiment, but a compensation payment.
Very realistic and pragmatic.
“However, they died on a highly dangerous mission against the king creature, which is still better than some ordinary exploration missions.”
Chen Xinyue unknowingly thought of something, and smiled self-deprecatingly.
“At least the amount of the death gratuity will be several times higher.”
“……”
The little octopus fell silent.
After he listened carefully, he looked at those bloodstained small metal pieces and suddenly felt an indescribable stifling feeling.
At this time, Jon stealthily looked at Yuan Ye, but saw that the latter had a flat and indifferent expression, as if he didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt for his sarcastic remarks about the casualty rate just now.
He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt a bit disappointed.
The strange atmosphere briefly lasted for three minutes.
Three minutes later, they saw the team leader of the sixth team, whose upper body and head were wrapped in bandages.
Thank you for the chapter! ❤
He Li is sus, major sus 🤨
Thanks for the update ❤️