NOVPUB
Chapter 206: Chapter 206: Full and Satisfied
"That works." Han Yi readily agreed.
Not only Zhang Zhuo and Han Rui were astonished, but even Yan Xiao and the others behind Han Yi were taken aback.
Han Yi, seemingly oblivious to everyone’s shocked expressions, continued, "We’ve lost all our food and water on the way down the mountain anyway, so it would be good to have Major General Zhang’s company when descending. This way we have an explanation for why we aren’t carrying anything with us and avoid any suspicion."
Fearing that others would see the smile on her face, Han Jiaojiao quickly turned around and buried herself in Han Yi’s embrace to stifle her laughter, thinking to herself: Big brother is so bad... Hahaha...
Yan Xiao jumped out and hurriedly said, "Major General Zhang brought so many people into the mountain, you must have prepared a lot of food, right? Ah, that’s great! We’ve been starving these past few days!"
Zhang Zhuo’s face stiffened, unable to fathom the situation. — Could it be that Han Yi really had nothing to do with the disappearance of the munitions? How could that be?! There are so few people who know the location of that armory! In the apocalyptic world where everyone is on edge, who else has the capability to reach the factory in advance and transport away the munitions?
From Han Yi’s embrace, Han Jiaojiao asked in a muffled voice, "Brother, why haven’t those people come out yet? ... Could it be that they encountered some monster? ..."
Han Yi gently caressed her back, replying in a calm tone, "Perhaps."
Zhang Zhuo scowled and repeatedly called on the walkie-talkie, waiting a long while with no response, his expression becoming increasingly sour.
Annoyed, Zhang Zhuo glared at Han Rui and commanded, "You, take people down and check!"
Han Rui stiffened, "... Major General, I... "
"Exactly! Weren’t you the one who didn’t believe it was empty? Now you can check it out for yourself, ha ha!" Yan Xiao said loudly, finding pleasure in Han Rui’s misfortune.
Under Zhang Zhuo’s intense gaze, Han Rui clenched his teeth, shot a glare at Yan Xiao and Han Yi, and led a dozen people towards the cave.
It wasn’t long after Han Rui and his team entered when those outside heard a series of disordered gunshots from within the cave! Soon after, someone was shouting loudly, accompanied by the sound of frantic, hurried footsteps getting closer until a few people with dust-covered faces ran out of the cave!
"There are snakes! Lots of them inside! — "
"Major General! There are several giant pythons inside!"
Among the crowd, a gasping Han Rui looked pale as death.
All was lost, the factory was completely empty, his last resort was gone! Once he returned to the base... Ji Huajun would not let him off... What to do... what should he do...
Upon seeing Han Rui looking so defeated, Zhang Zhuo felt even more disgusted. He cast an impatient glance at Han Rui before turning to another soldier who had come out of the cave and asked, "Did you see any weapons or ammunition?"
"Reporting, Major General! We didn’t see any weapons or ammunition! It’s empty inside!"
Zhang Zhuo’s face darkened and he said nothing. Naturally, his mood was anything but good; failing the mission, he could almost envision the disdain and mockery he would face upon returning to the base. And all this was thanks to Han Rui!
Zhang Zhuo stood silently for a long time before finally lifting his head and giving the order, "Form up! We’re heading back the way we came!"
Reluctant to leave it at that, Han Rui said, "... Major General, why don’t we stay and search the area? So many munitions can’t just vanish without a trace; they must be hidden nearby..."
One of Zhang Zhuo’s soldiers disagreed, countering, "Our food and water supplies are limited. Every extra day we stay is another day’s consumption. Besides, this place is clearly not safe. If the pythons from the cave get out, the consequences are unthinkable."
Someone else chimed in, "Exactly, we don’t even know if the snakes are venomous. Although we have a medic with us, treating snake venom requires serum. — Major General, we cannot linger here. We should head back immediately, link up with Captain Wu’s forces, and plan our next move."
Ultimately, nobody agreed to Han Rui’s proposal.
Perhaps from the moment they discovered the armory was empty, nobody took Han Rui seriously anymore.
Han Yi and the others retreated from the Great Canyon together with Zhang Zhuo’s military forces.
It was already getting late, and there was definitely no way to retreat from Goddess Peak before nightfall, so after marching for an hour and a half, the troops arrived at a mountain ravine by a stream where Zhang Zhuo ordered to set up camp.
As all of Han Yi and his group’s belongings were in the Ring Space, and they obviously couldn’t take them out in front of everyone, they rightfully took advantage of the military’s tents and food.
Zhang Zhuo felt like he had shot himself in the foot.
As night fell, tent after tent in army-green was erected, and soldiers lit bonfires at intervals of several meters, illuminating the entire camp with their glow.
Taking the opportunity of going to the bathroom, Han Jiaojiao pulled Han Yi away from the camp and into the depths of the dense forest.
The surrounding area was extremely dark and one could not see their own hand in front of their face; only the occasional moonlight filtered through gaps in the leaves overhead, casting eerie, disjointed shadows that made the forest seem all the more sinister.
Suddenly! A dark shadow swooped at them out of nowhere!
Han Jiaojiao was hit full on and staggered back a few steps, saying with a mix of amusement and annoyance, "That should have filled you up, Pepper."
Han Jiaojiao picked up the little creature in her arms, and Pepper excitedly waved its twelve tentacles while making "gugu gugu" sounds.
"Where’s Cotton Candy? And Xiaogua and Xiaodou?" Han Jiaojiao asked it.
Then, several thicker tentacles reached out, coiling around Han Jiaojiao and Han Yi like several green pythons, which were actually Xiaogua and Xiaodou. Unlike the small bundle that was Pepper, Xiaogua and Xiaodou were over a meter tall, with tentacles that could extend over ten meters, no wonder people mistook them for snakes.
Following Xiaogua and Xiaodou came the sluggish Cotton Candy. Its huge white shape was very conspicuous in the dark, dense forest. It was close to the height of an adult man, with even thicker and longer tentacles.
Han Jiaojiao wondered how Cotton Candy had managed to avoid the soldiers sent to scout the caves. However, upon further thought, it wasn’t hard to figure out. The emergency lights in the armory had long been out of power and it was pitch-black inside; the people who entered could only rely on a few flashlights, which were insufficient to light up the entire factory, giving them plenty of places to hide.
Han Jiaojiao went from one to the next, touching the bottom part of their trunks, which was the part closest to the ground. In fact, she didn’t know whether that area counted as the stomach, but whenever she touched there, it felt like scratching a puppy’s belly, and they would make comfortable "gugu" noises.
"All full?" Han Jiaojiao touched each one, chattering away like a mother, "If you’re full, then rest well. Don’t come over at night looking for trouble and scaring people, got it? From now on, try to eat Mutant Beasts and Alien Species more... Sigh, I just wanted you to scare them, I didn’t tell you to eat people..."
Han Yi chuckled softly, "No one passes up the meat that comes to their mouth, especially when it’s delicious Superpower Users."
Han Jiaojiao frowned slightly, saying uneasily, "I still think eating people is not good... What if they get used to it?" Would they start drooling at the sight of people?
"Don’t worry, I think they know their limits," Han Yi put his arm around her shoulder and reassured her, "Look, they’ve never laid a hand on any of us."
As if... Yesterday, Pepper almost ate Xinyue. But... it might be because Pepper was still young and didn’t understand, plus Pepper wasn’t familiar with Xinyue.
Han Jiaojiao sighed with no choice and turned to open the sheepskin backpack behind her. Pepper obediently crawled in, and the backpack bulged out immediately.
"Brother, are we really going to go down the mountain with them?" Han Jiaojiao put on her backpack again and asked the Han Yi beside her.
