NOVPUB
Chapter 84: Chapter 84 Mission Selection
𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Han Jiaojiao watched as Zhan Rong left the courtyard, got in his car, and drove away. She stood at the doorway, muttering to herself, "I wonder if the old general thinks we’re being ungrateful..."
"Who cares about him," Yan Xiao said, slurping down a couple more bites of noodles, completely indifferent.
"Let’s find an opportunity to leave the base tomorrow and switch cars," Han Yi suddenly said.
They had arrived at the base in a station wagon, which was definitely not convenient for future missions; it would be best to switch it back for that HUMVEE.
"How about I go to the labor center this afternoon to see if there are any suitable tasks? This way, we have an excuse to leave the base," Xiao Jian suggested.
Lu Changyuan nodded in agreement, "I’ll go with you; their task point system is quite interesting; I’d like to study it."
"If you see any suitable tasks, just take them on. Ignore those personal tasks for the time being; those people may not be able to afford the payment," Han Yi instructed as he looked towards Bai Kairui and Yan Xiao. "After eating, Kerry, check the performance of the cars, and Yan Xiao, make an inventory of how much ammunition we have left."
The ammunition they were using was a small part initially brought over from a private warehouse by Yan Xiao and Xiao Jian. They had already used quite a bit during this time. If their ammunition was running low, they would need to take from what was left in the private warehouse.
After giving his instructions, Han Yi went back to their room on the second floor with Han Jiaojiao. Zhan Rong’s visit had interrupted their afternoon nap...
Han Jiaojiao lay in Han Yi’s arms but was thinking about something else.
—What should she do about her eggs?
In her past life, Han Jiaojiao always believed that Xiaogua, Xiaodou, and Pepper felt close to her possibly due to the imprinting effect in biology—like how a duckling just out of its shell will regard the first living being it sees as its mother.
Therefore, she insisted on keeping the eggs close to her; she had to ensure that they saw her first as soon as the shells broke; this was critical. But she was not clear on how long the whole hatching process would take. The eggs from her previous life survived, barely, relying on the energy of the Space-Time Beast’s Crystal Core, and she had found them after how many days she could not clearly remember. She vaguely felt it was about twenty days after she brought them back to the cave. But nobody could guarantee that in this life, they wouldn’t hatch earlier.
After all, the environment had changed. Those eggs had been desiccating on the desert sand who knows how long before, and this time, the Space-Time Beast had given her the eggs while they were still alive.
What if, just what if, a burglar came to their house after they left the base, and just at that time, the eggs hatched?... Okay, she admitted the likelihood was small, but she needed to be cautious about it. To fear not that thousands will come, but that one comes unawares, the more she understood how powerful these seedlings would become when they grew up, the more careful she had to be now.
It’s just... how should she bring this up to her brother?
"How come you’re not asleep yet?" Han Yi asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"...I’m thinking about my eggs," Han Jiaojiao blurted out, the words from her heart spilling out without guard.
Han Yi laughed softly, finding his sister’s fussing over the few eggs quite amusing, as if she were caring for a pet.
"What about your eggs?"
Han Jiaojiao snuggled closer into his arms and cautiously asked him, "Brother, I want to take the eggs with us when we go out tomorrow."
"Hmm, sure."
What?... Just like that?
Han Jiaojiao stared blankly at Han Yi’s chin, surprised that her brother agreed so readily without even asking her reasons.
"What is it?" Han Yi’s hand caressed her chest, "You wanting them?"
"Nothing!... I’m going to sleep! I’m sleeping now!"
...
Lu Changyuan was a madman.
He went to the labor center, thinking that just watching the big screen scroll through tasks was too troublesome, so he asked for a list of all tasks but was denied. Instead, he hired someone with a bag of rice to stand under the big screen at the labor center and copy it down!
That was nothing.
Then, Lu Changyuan went to the supply exchange, asking for a detailed points list of all supplies, only to be refused again. He hired someone with a bag of flour to stand in front of the exchange’s shelves and take notes! He was also very interested in the fluctuation of supply points and even planned to hire someone to take notes every few days.
Of course, he hadn’t forgotten his main objective, and together with Xiao Jian, he picked out a few tasks, copying down the details to take back with him.
When Xiao Jian returned, his entire face was smudged with black.
"What happened? Who has irritated our Lord Xiao?" Yan Xiao approached with a chuckle, asking playfully.
Lu Changyuan spread several pieces of paper on the table in the main hall and laughed, "I had him do some writing, but as his writing is quite ugly, he got anxious."
Xiao Jian tugged at the corner of his mouth, "Lu, I haven’t held a pen in years."
Bai Kairui picked up one of the sheets and examined it carefully, "You write quite well... ah, there are characters I recognize!"
"Let me see, let me see!" Yan Xiao leaned in, "What’s this? These here are surely written by Lu! They have the flamboyance of a soaring dragon and a dancing phoenix!"
"We’ve picked three tasks, but we haven’t taken any yet; we’ll decide based on Han’s thoughts." Xiao Jian pulled out the piece he had copied, frowning, "My hands are still more accustomed to holding a gun."
Bai Kairui tried hard to read for a while, then, feeling defeated, handed it to Yan Xiao, "What are these tasks about? Tell me."
The three tasks that Lu Changyuan and Xiao Jian had selected were all high-points tasks; naturally, their difficulty was somewhat higher compared to others.
The first task was that the base hospital urgently needed large medical equipment such as spiral CTs and MRIs.
The second task involved scarce pharmaceuticals and anesthetics like antibiotics the base hospital needed.
The third task was that the research institute required a live specimen of an alien species.
Changyuan had been cunning in picking these tasks; the first two were obviously in the same location, and the third could easily be attempted while en route to the other two.
But the problem was...
"How on earth will we catch a live one?" Yan Xiao racked her brains, pondering hard, "Although we have anesthesia guns, their skin is tough on the outside; the needles definitely won’t penetrate... but it’s a pity not to try, this task has the highest points, twenty thousand points, that’s enough for two months’ rent for us."
Lu Changyuan chuckled at the side, "There are even higher ones, one hundred thousand points, and it’s been on the task board for half a month without takers."
"One hundred thousand!" Yan Xiao nearly fell off her chair in astonishment, "What task is worth one hundred thousand points?!!"
Xiao Jian replied expressionlessly, "A live alien Empress."
Gulp... Bai Kairui and Yan Xiao swallowed in unison, struggling to speak, "That’s indeed worth the amount."
The Empress, that entailed delving deep into the nest to drag it out; it always lurked at the very bottom of the nest, and an Empress was always followed by guards far stronger than the typical alien species. Although they had demolished two nests before with explosives, directly blowing up the nests, to get an intact Empress was nearly as difficult as ascending to heaven!
Lu Changyuan then pointed to the first two tasks and said, "It’s not important whether or not these two tasks are completed; I heard that the base’s military has just returned from a nearby city area, and that place must be littered with alien species’ corpses. We can use these tasks as an excuse to scout the city for crystal cores, so, we can treat this mission as a ruse."
"What about the alien species? Are we still catching it?" asked Yan Xiao.
Lu Changyuan stared at the piece of paper and said slowly, "That too I have a slight personal interest in. I want to capture an alien without a crystal core and hand it over to the research institute to prevent others from getting there first. Just in case we happen to catch one with a crystal core... we may not have much of an advantage in the short term."
