newbobooks Chapter 264 Going Out 2
Chapter 264 Going Out 2
It's six o'clock in the morning.
In the quiet surroundings, Jiang Li slowly awoke, groggily got out of bed, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Jiang Li gradually regained consciousness when the cool water sprayed onto her face.
Ye Jingmo was frying sandwiches in the kitchen, and the faint aroma of toasted bread wafted out.
Jiang Li wanted to stay focused today, so she took out coffee from her spatial storage and brewed a latte with hot milk.
The aroma of coffee mixed with the scent of milk makes one feel more energized.
Jiang Li even made some milk foam and used a toothpick to draw a flower on the coffee.
Ye Jingmo carried a sandwich, fried to a golden brown on both sides, out of the kitchen.
The outermost bread of the sandwich was dipped in egg yolk and lightly fried in a pan with butter until it shone with a golden sheen. Inside, it was filled with a generous amount of fillings: bacon, ham, eggs, and lettuce.
The egg was fried to a soft-boiled state, and when it was cut open, the smooth egg yolk flowed out. Jiang Li held the sandwich in her hand and took a bite, and her mouth bulged.
With the rich aroma of coffee, Jiang Li enjoyed her breakfast to the fullest.
About half an hour after breakfast, someone knocked on the door, and a deep male voice sounded from outside.
"Hello, I'm someone sent by Captain Zhou. Are Mr. Ye and Ms. Jiang here?"
Ye Jingmo walked towards the door, but didn't rush to open it.
"signal?"
To avoid any mishaps, Ye Jingmo made an agreement with Zhou Tian yesterday that the person arriving in the morning should be able to give a code.
"I love eating pudding and jelly."
The person outside the door spoke without hesitation.
Jiang Li: "..."
Seriously? Don't you have any other code words you can think of?
This code is too ordinary. Couldn't you have come up with something more sophisticated?
Ye Jingmo slowly opened the door, and standing outside was a young man dressed in black casual clothes, with a tall and upright posture, regular features, and a serious aura, like a steady mountain.
"Good morning, both of you. Captain Zhou asked me to take you there. You can call me Xiao Wang."
Ye Jingmo nodded distantly. At that moment, the door to the next room opened, and Liang Zi walked out.
Upon hearing the knock on the door, Ye Jingmo had already sent a text message to Liang Zi informing him that Zhou Tian had sent someone to take them to the operations center.
Xiao Wang led the way, with Jiang Li and the other two following behind him.
Jiang Li watched as Xiao Wang navigated the corridor on the second floor, turning left and right until he finally stopped at the very edge of a room and unlocked the door.
Isn't this a room? Is the operations center located in this room?
Jiang Li thought to herself, "This is too rudimentary!"
If they were talking louder, wouldn't the people in the next room hear them too?
When Xiao Wang opened the door, Jiang Li discovered that there was a hidden world inside.
The room didn't have the same facilities as the rooms in Jiangli's place; it was just an open space without any barriers.
After closing the door, Xiao Wang walked straight to the wall directly opposite and placed his hand on it.
To Jiang Li's astonishment, an entrance slowly appeared beneath the floor, as if the earth had opened its mysterious mouth to reveal an unknown world to people.
The steps below beckon people, like a winding dragon, enticing them to explore the unknown space.
There are actually three underground levels?
"The operations center is on the third underground level, or rather, the core of the entire base is underground."
Xiao Wang explained to everyone.
As they ascended the narrow staircase, their view suddenly opened up, and a blinding light pierced their eyes like a sharp sword, causing them to squint.
Jiang Li was taken aback by the scene before her, but she showed no emotion on her face, as if it were all within her expectations.
Looking at Jiang Li and the other two, whose faces remained calm and composed without a trace of emotion, Xiao Wang silently admired them.
When he brought the other three people to the underground base, they all showed surprised expressions, their eyes wide and mouths agape, revealing their inner thoughts at a glance.
Jiang Li looked at the clean and bright corridor, with small rooms on both sides, closely connected to each other.
It must be a research lab where experiments are being conducted. Jiang Li could see the sign on the door that read "XX Research Lab." All the doors were locked, and no one could see inside.
As Jiang Li walked along the corridor, people in military uniforms passed by from time to time, their steps firm and powerful. Occasionally, she could also see people wearing glasses and white research coats.
They were all in a hurry. Although they showed curiosity when they saw Jiang Li and the other unfamiliar faces, they glanced at them and then looked away, quickening their pace toward their destination.
After walking for about five minutes, Xiao Wang stopped in front of a large silver-white door and turned to Jiang Li and the other two, saying, "This is the combat command center. The commander is waiting for you inside."
The door opened, and there was a long oval table in front of you. Twelve people were already sitting at the table. Ten of them were all wearing military uniforms, and the other two were wearing ordinary clothes.
Sitting in the main seat was an elderly man with gray hair and a kind face. To his left was a familiar face to Jiang Li—Battalion Commander Zhou.
When Jiang Li's gaze fell on the bald man in the floral shirt on her right, her pupils contracted and her hand instinctively clenched into a fist.
However, once she realized where she was, Jiang Li took a deep breath and put on a faint smile to cover up her momentary daze.
Jiang Li didn't recognize the rest of the people. The last seat on the left was occupied by a female soldier in military uniform; she was the only woman present besides Jiang Li.
Noticing Jiang Li's gaze, she smiled kindly at Jiang Li, and Jiang Li nodded politely in return.
When Jiang Li and her two companions entered, all eyes were on them, some looking inquisitively, some scrutinizing, some curious, but most of the gazes were well-intentioned.
But one gaze subtly swept over Jiang Li, like sticky filth from a sewer, clinging to Jiang Li's body.
Ye Jingmo keenly noticed the gaze and swept it sharply over, spotting the bald man.
The bald man noticed Ye Jingmo's gaze and immediately looked away.
Jiang Li and the other two casually found empty chairs and sat down.
As the door to the room closed, the elderly man in the main seat slowly spoke: "It's a pleasure to see everyone here today. I am Qian Yuechen, the person in charge of the base. You can call me Elder Qian."
"You are all heroes of the base for being able to go out of the base without fear of external dangers and forming a collection team. I admire you."
"The survival of the base hinges on this moment. The only way to resolve this crisis is through you. You hold hope in your hands."
After making some polite remarks, Mr. Qian got down to business.
"First, let Battalion Commander Zhou introduce the members of the collection team. You can also get to know each other; these are your partners going forward."
After Mr. Qian finished speaking, Battalion Commander Zhou stood up and spoke in a loud voice:
"Everyone here should be familiar with me. I am in charge of the composition of the collection team."
Previously, these dangerous missions were mostly carried out by soldiers dispatched by the military.
Due to the current staff shortage, we can only recruit from within the base.
Battalion Commander Zhou explained the reason for recruiting personnel from the base this time.
"However, most of the members of this collection team are still soldiers from the army. The person sitting to my right is Wang Hao, who is the captain of this operation."
You must follow his orders completely in this operation.
The man in military uniform sitting to Battalion Commander Zhou's right had a standard square face, with a scar on his eyebrow that made his serious face even more intimidating. His massive muscles bulged under his uniform, displaying his exceptional strength.
Most people's first impression of him would probably be that he's a muscular man.
However, since Battalion Commander Zhou was able to choose him as the leader of the gathering team, he must have some shrewdness about him.
Jiang Li didn't believe that Battalion Commander Zhou would choose a simple-minded person to be the team leader.
"Next to Wang Hao are Liu Yu, Zhang Tianmeng, Zhao Mingkai, and Fu Qian." The people named by Battalion Commander Zhou stood up one by one, nodded to everyone present, and that was a greeting.
"They were all former special forces soldiers, each with their own skills. Then you can get to know each other better."
"There are also five people recruited from the base: Wang Tang, Yang Yile, Liang Zi, Ye Jingmo, and Jiang Li. Ye Jingmo is the deputy captain of this operation."
The other members of the collection team all turned their attention to Ye Jingmo, wondering why Battalion Commander Zhou had chosen him as the deputy captain.
The reason Wang Hao was chosen as the team leader was because he was a former special forces soldier with powerful muscles. Ye Jingmo's physique was simply robust, with nothing else particularly noteworthy.
While the others were deep in thought, Jiang Li was lost in thought.
When Jiang Li heard the name of the bald man in the floral shirt, she pursed her lips. She hadn't expected it to really be him; he had actually appeared here in this life.
Perhaps this is destiny.
A flash of murderous intent crossed Jiang Li's eyes, so fast it was impossible to catch.
But Ye Jingmo, who had been watching Jiang Li closely, clearly observed this fleeting killing intent. His eyes turned slightly cold as he subtly glanced at Yang Yile.
This man cannot be kept.
Ye Jingmo had only one thought in his mind: he didn't want to dwell on his grudges with Jiang Li. Since Jiang Li wanted to get rid of him, he would share the same idea as Jiang Li.
Moreover, the way this man looked at Jiang Li just now made him feel disgusted.
"After joining the gathering team, everyone should have a rough understanding of the team's mission when they leave the base, which is to retrieve vanilla flowers. Next, Yang Bo will introduce vanilla flowers to everyone."
As Battalion Commander Zhou finished speaking, a vibrant plant appeared on the screen behind him.
The bespectacled man sitting to Qian Lao's right stood up. His face was pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun in a long time, and his body was thin. He seemed to be a researcher who always sat in his office.
"Next, I will introduce the herb flower."
This is information shared with us by City X. According to their research report, vanilla flowers can help the human body produce antibodies against pathogens in dense fog.
This is quite amazing. Scientifically speaking, dense fog contains more than one type of pathogen, but vanilla flowers have the effect of resisting and treating these pathogens.
This is somewhat like the poison mentioned before, for which there is always an antidote within ten steps.
These herbs seem to be a natural phenomenon, growing to resist the dense fog.
Seemingly referring to his own field, the bespectacled man became passionate and showed great interest in vanilla flowers.
"It's a pity that our base didn't obtain a physical sample of the vanilla flower, so we can't conduct thorough research."
The bespectacled man's voice dropped as he spoke, seemingly having suffered a great blow, but he quickly recovered and clicked on the next picture.
"This information was provided by City X. Vanilla flowers look very similar to ordinary wildflowers, but at the very top they have white flower buds that look like light bulbs."
When vanilla flowers bloom, they emit a distinctive fragrance that brings a sense of calm and tranquility. The picture shows blooming vanilla flowers.
The white flower buds in the picture seem to be swaying in the wind, standing out against the gray background as pure and flawless.
The bespectacled man pressed a few keys on the computer, then spoke:
“I sent you pictures of vanilla flowers and some information about the plant’s characteristics to your watches so you can identify them in the wild.”
Jiang Li looked down and checked her watch, where she saw several pictures, along with information about the herb plant and where to pick it.
"Your task is to pick herbs; each person must pick at least two hundred."
As soon as he said that, everyone who had been looking down raised their heads and stared at the bespectacled man in disbelief.
"Isn't more than 200 yuan per person too much?"
We don't know anything about the situation there, and no one can be sure if there are that many vanilla flowers there.
If there are only a few hundred blossoms on a mountain, even if we use all our skills, we still can't collect enough.
Wang Hao's brows were furrowed, and his serious face made him look even more frightening.
However, it is true that Mount Guangyan is not entirely covered with fragrant herbs.
As mentioned above, these herbs are mostly found in isolated areas. For one person to collect two hundred herbs, they would have to travel to many places, and it's possible that even a whole mountain wouldn't be enough to collect that many.
"This is the amount of vanilla needed, calculated based on the current population of the base."
If the collection is unsuccessful, the base will be unable to produce enough medicine for all the patients.
The bespectacled man knew how difficult the task was. He sighed and then slowly spoke:
"If possible, I hope you can complete this task."
However, if it is truly impossible to succeed, then collect as much as you can.
Those who collect more than two hundred flowers and return safely from the base will receive additional compensation. This does not conflict with the previously agreed-upon terms.
It seems the base has made this a KPI; they've gone to great lengths to ensure everyone can complete this mission.
Jiang Li looked thoughtfully at the description of the herb's characteristics on her watch.
Is there a time limit for the mission?
Liangzi looked at the man with glasses.
"The mission is limited to 20 days. Regardless of the collection results, you must return within 20 days. According to our budget, the number of infections in Zone B will reach its peak in 20 days, and half of the people in Zone A will also be infected."
Everyone fell silent. The 20 days included the time to travel to Guangyan Mountain, leaving them with very little time to collect the materials.