Chapter 400 - 396: Success, Not Sacrifice

Chapter 400: Chapter 396: Success, Not Sacrifice

"How could we not be pissed? Fucking hell, I can’t believe we went through all that trouble, only to find out the intel was completely off. This isn’t their main base at all."

Even the usually calm Zhang Huai couldn’t stop himself from swearing. "It’s just a damn stronghold. A very important one, sure, second only to their main base, but the fact that a single stronghold nearly got us all wiped out pisses me off. Those bastards... Fucking hell, they almost made all our work for nothing."

"Heh heh, you can’t say it was all for nothing. Count how many of them we took out earlier, right? Besides, it was like heaven itself was on our side. Just when we were stuck in a deadlock, our sister-in-law showed up right in the nick of time, and those medicine pills she brought were incredibly potent."

Liang Changsheng chuckled and looked at Luo Hongyi. "Boss, I’m calling it now—I approve of our sister-in-law. From now on, she’s the only one I’ll recognize. If you ever dare to mess her around and dump her, heh, I won’t be on your side, even if you are my captain."

Luo Hongyi aimed a kick at him. "You were almost speaking like a human being for a second there, but the more you talk, the more your true colors show. Do you know how to talk or not? If not, then shut up. Mess her around and dump her? Even if your future wife dumps you, the two of us will still be going strong."

Liang Changsheng was completely flustered, on the verge of tears. "Captain, I don’t even have a wife yet!"

’I don’t even have a wife, and you’re fucking cursing me to get dumped? You’re vicious. Truly our captain. That’s just too vicious.’

Zhang Huai snickered to the side, giving Liang Changsheng a look one might reserve for an idiot. His eyes practically screamed two words: "Just deserts." Heh. He truly suspected the guy was blind. ’Couldn’t he see it? From the moment their little sister-in-law appeared, the captain—normally so inhumanly calm and self-possessed—has been barely maintaining a calm facade. After all this time together, how could he not see from the subtle signs that the captain was already losing his composure around her in all sorts of ways?’

’As far as he could tell, their captain was clearly the one doing the chasing, all nervous and cautious. In contrast, while the little sister-in-law hadn’t denied her connection to the captain, she was still somewhat reserved. It was obvious the captain’s campaign hadn’t been a complete success yet. And then this idiot, Liang Changsheng, had to jump in at this exact moment and talk about being ’dumped.’ Wasn’t that just asking for a beating by stabbing a knife right into the captain’s heart?’

"Let’s go." Luo Hongyi ignored the two of them and took the lead, following the trail markers left by Qi Guoqing and Jiang Wenhao. "Tonight, we’ll get together and properly plan our next move. Those people... every day they’re not completely eradicated, root and stem, is another day they pose a threat."

As he spoke, the grim look on his face intensified, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

He clenched his fists, his determined gaze fixed on the distance.

’In his previous life, this mission had always been a deep, hidden pain in his heart. Back then, they had received the intel at this same time and the mission was assigned to their squad. In the end, it seemed like they had completed the mission, but in taking down this stronghold, their five-man team paid a terrible price. Of the five of them, only he and Third made it out alive. They were heavily wounded and spent a full six months recovering after they got back, but at least they were alive. The other three, however, were left forever in the deep forests of a foreign country.’

’After he recovered, Third had to leave the team. The injuries had completely shattered his constitution; his body was broken.’

’He was still recovering at the time, drowning in deep self-reproach for failing to bring all his men back, when even more unbearable news arrived. It was then that he learned the truth: the mission he thought his squad had completed was not, in fact, finished. What they had destroyed was not the enemy’s true headquarters...’

A bloodthirsty glint appeared in his eyes. ’In his last life, he never got the chance to take revenge himself. He only found out by chance more than a decade later that the mission was only truly completed after two more squads had been completely wiped out.’

’Hatred—’

He couldn’t help but hate.

’In this life, he knew there was a high probability his squad would be assigned this mission again. This time, he refused to let the tragedy of his past life repeat itself. He didn’t want his teammates to be buried here, and he didn’t want the two squads that came after to follow them to their graves.’

’He knew that all those men were just like his own teammates. Even if their bones were left in a foreign land, they would remain nameless. Beyond their private identities as "Security Guards" or "Mercenaries," they all had other, public-facing identities. So even if they never returned, their families would never know what they had done, or the true circumstances of how they left this world.’

’So, since he had a chance to do it all over again, then this time, his squad would be the one to finish this mission for good.’

’That’s why, from the very beginning, he’d cast aside any thought of keeping his treasures to himself. To prepare fully for this incredibly arduous mission, he had even shared the Internal Cultivation Methods he obtained late in his previous life. He didn’t just practice them himself; he gave them to his four teammates so they could all practice Cultivation. He had even decided that when they got back, he would hand over the Cultivation Technique to someone trustworthy and let it be passed on...’

’He wasn’t doing this just for selfish reasons, like getting promoted faster. More than that, he wanted to give countless others who shared his profession a way to increase their strength and reduce casualties.’

’In this life, he thought he had made thorough preparations, but it was clear now that it still wasn’t enough. He had still underestimated the mission’s difficulty. This time, without Nuannuan’s life-saving medicine pills, he couldn’t even bear to imagine if the outcome would have been the same as in his past life.’

’He didn’t want to live with that regret again, but he realized that, in the end, he still wasn’t strong enough.’

His gaze turned cold. Luo Hongyi said, "Tonight, we eat our fill and get a good rest. We’ve burned through too much energy these past few days. If we want to maintain peak combat readiness, we have to rest. As for those people..." He snorted coldly. "Now that their main base has been revealed, there’s even less reason to let them get away."

"Yeah, Boss. I have a feeling we’re definitely going to succeed this time," Zhang Huai said, nodding emphatically.

"That’s right. We’ll definitely complete the mission," Liang Changsheng added with a firm nod. "It’s do or die."

"I want success, not some ’do or die’ bullshit. If even one of you doesn’t make it back with me, alive and kicking, then even if we succeed, the mission is a failure." Luo Hongyi turned and shot a cold glare at Liang Changsheng. "Those bastards aren’t worthy of you, me, or anyone else on this team dying for them."

"Fourth, we say you can’t talk, and you really prove us right, don’t you?" Zhang Huai followed up with an unapologetic rap on Liang Changsheng’s head, giving him a look of exasperation before shaking his head in defeat. "Sigh, I really can’t stand you. I’m serious, can you just try speaking in half-sentences from now on? Otherwise, your future wife might actually get so fed up with that mouth of yours that she dumps you, and no one will feel sorry for you."