Call for Backup

When she was eleven, her mother went to Institute No. 1 to visit her maternal aunt. Xin Yaoqiao was brought along, right in time for that batch of recruits' degree-of-fusion test... With a nonchalant attitude of "I'm bored anyway, might as well test her and see," her mother sent her in for a round. And so she went in and took a stroll with the mood of "a little princess touring a pretty castle." The result came out: Grade A. Just like that, across the two great clans of the Azure Huaxia Front's scientific research system—the Qu and Xin families—a "martial genius" was born for the first time in history. Her maternal grandfather and paternal grandfather were both thrilled out of their minds. Thus, starting from age eleven, Xin Yaoqiao began undergoing rigorous training under the successive guidance of multiple specially hired masters... Even the Grade S "God Lü," who guarded Research Institute No. 2 from the shadows, had once been her teacher for a few days. Because of her mother's selfish prioritization of survival above all else, Miss Xin was especially skilled in escape and anti-tracking techniques. Therefore, from the very moment those three individuals had tailed her at the street corner, Xin Yaoqiao had actually already noticed them... If she had wanted to run just now, she could have gotten away. But Miss Xin felt that since she had been targeted, killing them was the better choice, and maybe she could interrogate them for some information along the way. And on top of that, indulge her craving for the battlefield. If she could follow her heart... Xin Yaoqiao didn't want to be a scientist at all. She wanted to go to the front lines; she wanted to chop down Great Spikes. Every year, based on the test results of her speed, strength, and other metrics, the young girl would draft battlefield motion formulas and cutting-angle formulas... Unfortunately, her grandfather and the others always said that the task she was meant to undertake was far more valuable and meaningful than sending her to the battlefield. Perhaps it was. Xin Yaoqiao had always worked hard, and she had finally achieved some results. However, she had never told her family the phrase in the Great Spike civilization's language that she secretly wanted to decipher and master the most: "Screw you, I'll hack your motherfucking head off with one slash!" That sentence structure would probably be a bit difficult. As for the three people behind her right now, they certainly weren't petty thieves. They most likely had physical constitutions nourished by source energy, but the strongest among them was probably only Grade B at best. Xin Yaoqiao figured she could try killing them; if she really couldn't, she could always run away again. "If I'm really someone with no sense of direction, then I'm practically built for escaping... Even I don't know my exact escape route; wherever I run is where I end up... How could anyone else anticipate it?" She even found the spare moment to think this to herself. "Tsk, tsk, tsk." A chuckling voice came from behind, accompanied by footsteps that carried neither caution nor concealment. "Haven't seen you in a few years, and our little Yaoqiao is something else now... Just look at this stance, this aura, this tone." The person stepping out from behind the woods along with the voice instantly made Xin Yaoqiao feel deeply disappointed. Because she couldn't hack him to death anymore. The arrival was the current commander of the Ninth Army, Lu Wuzheng, along with his two aides. "Why is it you... Ah, hello, Uncle Commander Lu." Though she hadn't seen him many times, she still remembered him. Xin Yaoqiao greeted him and turned around to walk toward Lu Wuzheng. "Wait, wait, wait... Put the blades away first." Lu Wuzheng took two exaggerated steps back, teasing with a smile, "Your Uncle Lu didn't become an army commander because he was good at fighting." Xin Yaoqiao reluctantly sheathed her blades. However, her three-dimensional apparatus wasn't actually turned off. "Did my grandfather..." "Who else? I've been waiting for you this whole time." *** Speaker Qu Zhongshi finally received the call from Lu Wuzheng of the Ninth Army. "You intercepted her?! That's good, that's good. Then where is Qiaoqiao now..." Listening to the voice on the receiver, Qu Zhongshi froze completely. "What?! How did she run off again? How could you..." "Well, Speaker, you never told me little Yaoqiao has Grade A fusion! How was I to know a little girl could be so formidable?!" Lu Wuzheng argued back, still indignant, and continued: "You told me to keep quiet about it, so I didn't dare make a scene and only brought two aides to wait for her. I figured she's one of our own kids, so there was no need to use force, right? Even if we had to use force, they should've been plenty... "Grade B four-year veterans, both of them! Grade B four-year vets are top-tier for personal aides, alright? "In all Azure's years of tradition, which low-profile army commander would dare secretly use top combat forces as personal aides... Wouldn't the council tear them to pieces with verbal attacks?!" Qu Zhongshi: "..." He was left speechless, unable to retort. This was a private family matter, and reason was indeed on Lu Wuzheng's side. "And Speaker, you didn't tell me that little Yaoqiao came looking for one of my soldiers... A male soldier," Lu Wuzheng continued. "...Oh, right." Qu Zhongshi had been too embarrassed to mention it earlier, but now he no longer cared. He quickly said, "Well, if your soldier is there, why did Qiaoqiao run? It's not like I forbade her from meeting him." "The problem is that soldier isn't here! Regiment 425 just left for field training... If not for that coincidence, how could things have ended up like this?" Lu Wuzheng sighed gloomily. "Then little Yaoqiao asked me point-blank whether Regiment 425 was here... Caught off guard, I said no, they're out on field training... Then she asked me where they went for training." "And you just told her?" "...Yeah. She said if I didn't tell her, she'd resist with force. I was afraid of hurting her, so I told her—Area 1123... Then she said 'Okay, I'll go back with you first'... The second I turned around, she bolted. I was even chuckling at the time, thinking, *You really think you can get away?* Turns out, she really could." "..." "Seriously, how could I have known she runs that fast?!" Lu Wuzheng felt deep down that the Speaker had concealed too much, which was why this mess happened. Feeling thoroughly wronged, he vented before suddenly remembering to dial it back. "So... what do we do now, Speaker Qu?" Qu Zhongshi thought for a moment. "It's fine. Leave the rest to me, and just pretend nothing happened. My apologies—it's family business, and Qiaoqiao is too willful, causing you trouble. Also, remember, under no circumstances can word get out about this... Right, keep quiet and there won't be any trouble." "Understood," Lu Wuzheng answered earnestly, while grumbling inwardly: *Honestly, if you hadn't meddled, Speaker, nothing would have gone wrong at all. Qiaoqiao definitely would've walked right into my army headquarters on her own.* While Qu Zhongshi was giving these cautious instructions on one side, out in the wild mountain forest, Xin Yaoqiao had just come to a stop after an all-out sprint. "Almost got dragged back... Since I came all this way, I have to at least get a look. Honestly, I really am pretty awesome, haha." The girl reflected with satisfaction. Then, carefully finding a hiding spot, she observed the surroundings for a while until she was sure it was safe. Opening her war box, she removed the source energy block—which still had about a quarter of its energy left—stored it away, and swapped in a fresh one. When alone outside, one had to be prepared at all times for combat or long-distance flight. That was how Xin Yaoqiao had been trained and educated all along. This way, her backpack still held ten fully charged blue crystal source energy blocks (earned honestly by the girl herself through research contributions as personnel belonging to both systems), along with twenty thousand yuan in cash, as well as water, food, and medicine... The money probably wouldn't be of much use, but having these supplies made Xin Yaoqiao feel very secure. "So where am I right now?... And where is 1123?" Xin Yaoqiao looked around blankly for a while. In the end, she had no choice but to pull out an Azure military map from her pack. After studying it closely for a long time, she put it away, stood up, and murmured, "Should be that way." Off she went. Though night was falling fast... scientists weren't afraid of ghosts. As for wolves, she'd hack their motherfucking heads off. *** Area 1123. The field training for Regiments 425 and 491—consisting of nearly six hundred recruits and twenty instructors in total—had just entered its second day. Field training was an army tradition. Because future battles would primarily take place in the wilderness, they had to become familiar with various terrains and environments, as well as the techniques and precautions for using the three-dimensional apparatus across different terrains. As for Squad 1123 stationed in this area, they were supposed to be nearby, but there had been no contact so far. In Zhang Dao'an's words, tradition went like this: the regional squads existed partly to provide protection for the recruits, and partly so that if timing coincided... the recruits could observe actual combat in the field. Over ninety percent of the recruits had never witnessed real combat... so this was very important. That night, around one in the morning. Having conducted night drills during the first half of the night, the recruits were physically and mentally exhausted, and almost all of them had fallen asleep. "Up! Quick!" "Get up!" "Put on your apparatus!" Suddenly, almost in unison, the instructors' voices echoed across the tents. "Leave the tents, put on your apparatus first... Quick, down the mountain and get on the trucks!" "What's happening?" "Squad 1123 received notice from Crow: a shuttle craft has landed." "Whoa." Whether nervous or excited, the recruits immediately formed ranks and counted off, then sprinted down the mountain with their apparatuses running, following their instructors to board the vehicles and depart. From front to back, nearly twenty large military trucks sped along the mountain roads. "It's a bit far... Wonder if we'll make it in time." "Yeah, Squad 1123 should already be in ambush. Let's not disturb them and wait for them to contact us." "..." Discussions stirred inside the trucks, tinged with an anticipation that one couldn't quite call excitement. *Beep—* Suddenly, a piercing screech sounded from the communicator in the truck. "It's not a private line. Listen first, don't respond," Zhang Dao'an warned, indicating this was a broadcast across the entire surrounding area. The next second, the line connected. *Boom! Clang!* Fierce sounds of battle and agonizing screams burst through the communicator immediately. Silence fell across the truck at once. "1123 requesting backup!" An urgent voice shouted right after. "1123 requesting backup from surrounding areas!" "Three! Three Great Spikes! Damn it, one was hiding inside the craft... After we split up to surround them, it suddenly jumped out from behind—" The sound of the communicator clattering down. "1123 requesting backup!" The communicator was picked up, or perhaps switched to another device, as a different voice came on. "1123 requesting backup from nearby regional squads!" The entire truck—perhaps every single truck—had fallen into complete dead silence, save for the hum of tires and engines... Only the sounds of fighting, screams, desperate struggles for life, and the calls for backup continued to ring from the communicator: "1123, we've suffered heavy casualties... Requesting immediate backup!" "We are still containing them, we can still hold them off... Requesting nearby areas to provide backup as soon as possible!" "Requesting backup..."