"Ugh..."
"Gulp." His Adam's apple bobbed, and cold sweat was about to trickle down his face.
Lin Yuan stared at the massive basin of meat in front of him, lost in thought.
Should I eat it, or not?
"Captain, why aren't you eating! Hurry up and eat! This is canned meat we hauled back from those guys' warehouse, definitely not expired."
Zhao Mengnan, holding a basin of rice generously topped with meat, was shoveling it into his mouth with gusto.
The pain from the bullets hitting his bulletproof vest had mostly subsided, and Zhao Mengnan had a decent appetite now.
He and Wang Zhihai hadn't gone to the other side and were unaware of the news about Lin Yun's group eating people.
Seeing Zhao Mengnan eat so heartily, Lin Yuan felt awkward about revealing the news right away.
Lin Yuan had also specifically asked the survivors rescued today and others not to speak of it. It was a period of evacuation, and to ensure the team members' psychological state, it would be better to talk about it later.
"Unopened?"
Hearing this, Zhao Mengnan paused his chopsticks, looking at Lin Yuan in confusion, as if trying to see if his captain had lost his mind: "Captain, Brother Xiao Zhu and An Jing Zi moved these themselves! How could those two foodies bring back opened cans?"
Lin Yuan had been too busy moving firewood and burning people to actually ask who brought them.
"Hahaha, I might have lost too much blood and am a bit confused." Scratching his head, Lin Yuan quickly picked up his basin and started eating.
Don't think about it, don't think about it.
As long as it wasn't that "cured meat," Lin Yuan was quite happy to eat it.
However, the injury to his left hand still affected his eating, and he was eating very slowly.
Wu Tian, after finishing his meal, was discussing training matters with Wang Zhihai. He could only do it himself.
Eating with one hand was very uncomfortable, with grains of rice and meat juice smearing all over his mouth, but Lin Yuan still ate with great enjoyment until a bandaged tentacle took away the basin of food in front of him.
"Captain, I'll feed you~"
Slowly lifting his head, Lin Yuan looked at Jiang Ziqi, who was smiling cheerfully, and at a gaze filled with killing intent from not far away. Lin Yuan felt a large "danger" sign appear above his head.
"It's Ziqi, no need, no need, I can eat myself. Eat your fill quickly and go prepare for training. You need to grow up quickly." As he spoke, he reached for the basin.
But Jiang Ziqi dodged him.
Lin Yuan was helpless, so he licked the rice grains from his lips, wiped his mouth, sat up straight, and asked gently, "Alright Ziqi, just say what you need to say. If you keep this up, I'm afraid your sister-in-law will beat me into a pig's head tonight."
"Brother Lin Yuan, why didn't you take me during today's operation? You clearly know my hearing is very good, and I can tell how many people are in a room! Look at you now, and Brother Mengnan, and Uncle Wang. If the bullets were even slightly off, have you thought about the consequences? Do you know..."
Jiang Ziqi didn't finish her sentence, but her eyes were brimming with tears.
"Ziqi, don't cry first, listen to me." Lin Yuan's head was about to explode; he hated girls crying the most because he didn't know how to comfort them.
Zhao Mengnan, standing nearby, silently passed him a tissue, easing the atmosphere. He dared not speak either. Jiang Ziqi had a special identity. Although the team members didn't mind, her own mentality must have changed.
She felt deep gratitude towards Lin Yuan, who had rescued her and agreed to let her use the mutated gel, and she didn't want him to get hurt.
Lin Yuan took the tissue from Zhao Mengnan and handed it to Jiang Ziqi, saying earnestly, "I didn't let you go because I was afraid you would die."
"But I don't want you to die."
Lin Yuan patted her head and smiled, "Everyone dies. The meaning of living is to see what one can do for oneself, for those around them, and for the world. I think what I'm doing is very meaningful."
"But, but I'm not useless, I can kill people! I killed the leader! I want to help the team!" Jiang Ziqi was clearly getting anxious.
Although she was optimistic, her right hand had become a grotesque tentacle, and her only ability was to draw.
All of this gave her a sense of anxiety. She didn't want to be abandoned again.
"Ziqi, calm down. I don't mean to look down on you. You've only been on our team for two or three days. Your combat skills, fighting techniques, tactical awareness, and firearm usage are not complete. Taking you out for reconnaissance is already a form of training. I'm afraid you..."
"But I'm not afraid of death!" Jiang Ziqi almost shouted this, cutting off Lin Yuan's last words.
"Sigh, why doesn't this girl understand the captain." Zhao Mengnan had already taken his basin and retreated far away, only able to sigh at this moment.
"Sigh, actually, Ziqi has always wanted to do something for the team. Last time we went to rescue Sister Qingtian, she was like this too. I was really scared then.
I was afraid she would be killed by the fiends like that. Fortunately, the outcome was good."
Zhao Mengnan was startled when Zhao Anjing suddenly appeared beside him.
"When did you get here?"
"What, old brother! Can't I sit next to you!"
Unlike the bickering between the siblings here, Lin Yuan on the other side had already stood up, his brows furrowed enough to kill a mosquito.
Wu Tian was about to step forward to restrain Lin Yuan, but Lin Yuan didn't make any drastic moves.
Instead, he roared out word by word:
"How dare you say you're not afraid of death? Can you dodge bullets? Or can your head block them? Look at yourself now, you've only just started to recover your health. Do you think you're invincible?
I'm afraid of death too! Why am I doing all this? It's because I want to send every one of you safely to the safe zone!! Do you understand?! Huh?!"
The team members who had intended to come forward and persuade him immediately fell silent, not daring to move.
They all sat back in their original positions, eating their meals dryly, thinking to themselves how terrifying the captain looked when he was angry.
However, as they ate, tears welled up in their eyes. The captain was just too good! Woo woo woo.
"Brother, why are you crying? You're a grown man, and you're crying."
"I'm not, I'm not, don't talk nonsense." Zhao Mengnan quickly wiped away his tears and said, "I feel that the captain is someone you can count on, he's really good!"
Zhao Anjing: ...
Brother, you really don't know how to praise someone.
Jiang Ziqi seemed stunned by the scolding and didn't speak for a long time. The atmosphere had become so awkward that Lin Yuan had lost his surge of emotion and just wanted to move a small stool to eat somewhere else.
This was too embarrassing. How could I have been so harsh to that little girl Jiang Ziqi?
"Lin, Lin... Woo ah! (๑o﹏o๑) Sister Wu Tian! Brother Lin Yuan bullied me!!!"
Watching Jiang Ziqi run into Wu Tian's arms, Lin Yuan twitched his lips.
Why is this child reacting so strongly?
Shaking his head, he placed the basin back on the small stool and ate bite by bite. Food should not be wasted.
Wu Tian naturally acted like an older sister, comforting Jiang Ziqi for a while before making her smile again.
"Alright, alright, now that you're smiling, no more crying, okay? If you want Lin Yuan to take you to fight, train hard, and then slap his face severely, understood?"
Jiang Ziqi: (๑•́wก̀๑)
"Understood~ Also, Sister Wu Tian, I wasn't really trying to feed Brother Lin Yuan just now."
Wu Tian generously rubbed her head and smiled, "It's okay, Lin Yuan has many admirers, but probably only me."
Jiang Ziqi looked up at Wu Tian upon hearing this. She found that the elder sister in front of her was smiling very gently, her eyes twinkling with a slight, somewhat dazzling light.
After this incident, Lin Yuan found that during the night training, his team members were incredibly focused, as were the newly joined Yan Ruyu and the siblings Liu Mengmeng and Liu Ziyi.
As casualties, Lin Yuan, Zhao Mengnan, and Wang Zhihai each moved comfortable lounge chairs and lay on them. Lin Yuan chewed on the dried beef he had scavenged and carefully studied both paper and electronic maps.
The paper maps were almost depleted; the remaining path could only be navigated by Lin Yuan and the others referencing the electronic maps.
"Captain, look at that girl Jiang Ziqi. Isn't she being a bit too serious? Did what you said stimulate her?" Zhao Mengnan was drinking sugar-salt water. He was seriously injured and had lost a lot of blood, needing to replenish his energy.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Wang Zhihai chimed in from the side. He was also seriously injured, with a fractured collarbone, and needed rest. He was currently drinking carrot and preserved pork rib soup, the last of their supplies from last night.
Besides him drinking it, it was given to the children to eat. Lin Yuan hadn't even had a sip.
Lin Yuan looked up. As Wang Zhihai said, she was training very seriously, and the other team members were also earnestly helping Jiang Ziqi adapt to the training.
Jiang Ziqi was not left-handed, so training would be very difficult.
Even Wu Tian was nodding in approval.
He picked up the phone map again and continued to study it, saying, "I hope she can grow up quickly. Her hearing can indeed be of great use in combat."
On the training ground, Jiang Ziqi felt the fatigue emanating from her body and the sweat stains clearly visible on the floor in front of her.
Her eyes became even more determined.
"I will definitely be able to help a lot!"