As a special operations unit, the 64th Mobile Force is also equipped with extremely advanced weaponry. In addition to the improved M5G43 assault rifle and the astonishingly powerful “Special Six” pistol, they are also issued carbon composite combat knives for individual soldiers, as well as S-type combat uniforms with protective capabilities more than three times higher than standard models.

Staring at Brian Carter, who was already dressed in his combat uniform and fastening the buttons, the rugged-faced Henry Clark suddenly grinned. “So, how was it? Did you have a good time during your days in the hospital?”

“…It was alright.” Hearing this, Brian Carter was momentarily stunned, then his expression dimmed. He managed to force a faint, rather strained smile.

The colonel gave him a meaningful look but said nothing. He turned and sat down on a nearby hardwood chair. From the breast pocket of his jacket, he pulled out a pack of issued “Hongtashan” cigarettes, skillfully tore open the seal, shook one out, and held it between his fingers. Lighting it, he took a slow drag. Instantly, a thin, pale smoke drifted from his mouth and nose, twisting into all sorts of strange, inexplicable shapes, curling up toward the ceiling…

A few minutes later, when the fully dressed Brian Carter left the hospital room and, together with the colonel, boarded the assault vehicle waiting downstairs, Jason Grant, dressed in a pristine white uniform, happened to be walking over from the other end of the road, holding a small bunch of brightly colored carnations.

“What, you… are leaving?” The girl looked very surprised. Her two fair little hands, disappointed, twisted the fragile stems of the carnations. Pale green plant sap slowly seeped from between her white fingers, dripping to the ground and pooling into a shallow, damp spot in the dust.

“The unit has a mission. I have to go—” Brian Carter deliberately pressed down his steel helmet, speaking in the coldest tone he could muster, “Thank you for taking care of me these past days. If I have the chance, I’ll come back to see you.”

“Really?” At this, a hint of joy suddenly sparkled in Jason Grant’s eyes. “When?”

“…This time, after this mission is over, I’ll definitely come…” Brian Carter’s face was already flushed red. He glanced subconsciously at his watch, gritting his teeth inwardly. “Sorry, there are regulations on the time to return to the unit. I have to go!”

Amid the roar of the engine, the assault vehicle sped out of the field hospital’s main gate. In front of the special care ward building, only a delicate figure wrapped in a white nurse’s uniform remained, standing there for a long time…

“Why didn’t you tell her?” As the vehicle turned the corner at the end of the street, Henry Clark, sitting in the front passenger seat, suddenly blurted out.

“…Tell her what?” Brian Carter was a bit confused.

“Idiot! Of course I mean tell her you like her.” The colonel shook his head with a wry smile, turning to glance at him. “Anyone who isn’t a fool can see you like that girl. Why don’t you just tell her yourself?”

“I can’t say that. At least… not now.”

Gazing at the faintly dark clouds on the distant horizon, a trace of resolute determination suddenly flashed in Brian Carter’s somewhat dejected eyes. “When you don’t even know if you’ll live or die tomorrow, rather than planting the seeds of affection in someone else’s heart and making her bear the same pain and sorrow, it’s better to seal it all away and make it my own eternal secret.”

The colonel leaned silently against the seat, swaying with the jolting vehicle. Only through the rearview mirror at the front of the car could one faintly see that his eyes were filled with deep emotion…

…

On the vast military airfield, a “Nighthawk II” vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft had already begun spinning its overhead rotors. The powerful airflow made it almost impossible to keep one’s eyes open. Henry Clark and Brian Carter jumped off the assault vehicle, crouched low, and sprinted into the cabin.

According to the original plan, the mission of the 64th Mobile Force was to assist the city police in evacuating civilians. However, an unexpected incident forced the command center to issue an emergency combat order.

Xinning is a small county-level city not far from Chengdu. A few hours ago, the information department received a distress signal from there, claiming that a large number of mutated creatures had appeared in the city and urgently requesting support from headquarters.

The landing site was chosen on a wasteland north of Xinning. Dozens of soldiers disembarked from the aircraft and boarded armored assault vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns, speeding along the highway toward the cluster of steel and concrete buildings.

“All units, stay alert—”

The colonel’s order was not without reason. The wide asphalt road was crammed with all kinds of vehicles, large and small, packed together like a long, multicolored steel dragon stretching from the end of the road to the edge of the city. In the roadside drainage ditches, one could occasionally see vehicles that had been forced off the road, their chassis overturned. Large amounts of gasoline, leaking from ruptured fuel tanks and reeking with a pungent, choking odor, slowly flowed from under the cars into the dark gutters on either side of the road.

Mixed with the gasoline was a dark, blood-red liquid that made one’s heart tremble. It was human blood, flowing from torn human bodies, the essential liquid that signifies life.