The sound effects were incredibly realistic, giving Jiang Ye the illusion of smelling sand. Liu Jizi rubbed her head and sat beside him, nervously staring at the holographic projection.
The armored vehicle convoy advanced in a wedge formation through the desert. After crossing a long stretch of sand, the headlights finally illuminated something on the ground – a disintegrated rotorcraft!
The rotors were nowhere to be seen, the fuselage's metal skin was torn to pieces, and various components lay scattered around, glinting on the sand dunes. However, there were no scorch marks, nor were there any bodies or obvious bloodstains inside the cabin. This meant that at least Wu Junmin and Wan Xiucheng were alive when the crash occurred!
Jiang Ye's hope surged, and his heart rate quickened.
The spider-shaped armored vehicles crouched around the crashed aircraft, forming a windbreak. Several soldiers quickly disembarked and began inspecting the area near the rotorcraft.
"Report, no markings or written messages found. Based on the damage to the underside, the aircraft lost power in mid-air, gradually descended, and came to a halt here after a violent skid," a soldier shouted, covering his mouth against the wind and sand.
"Search the vicinity!" Jiang Ye also shouted, his voice not too loud for fear of being unheard. "They couldn't have gone far!"
"Yes!"
The spiders continued to advance, searching in a fan shape ahead, with the crash site as the center.
Visibility was poor in the sandstorm, with darkness everywhere. Wu Junmin and Wan Xiucheng could be lying anywhere. The armored vehicles were moving too fast and could accidentally run them over, so the search proceeded slowly, with all spiders proceeding with extreme caution.
At the same time, signal flares were continuously launched into the sky from various spiders.
Red signal flares ascended high into the sky, emitting a conspicuous red glow before slowly extinguishing. Then another was fired.
The continuous stream of signal flares, their light traveling far into the night, should be visible to any survivors in the vicinity.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, forty minutes...
No trace was found. If it had been ordinary soil, there might have been footprints to follow. But this was a desert, and with a gust of wind, the sand would cover all tracks.
Moreover, the sandstorm was intensifying, reducing visibility to less than ten meters. In the darkness, all lights became flickering and weak, and the swirling sand almost obscured the armored vehicles' lights.
Liu Jizi stood up and poured a cup of black tea for Jiang Ye, and one for herself.
"Commander, do you think..." Liu Jizi asked.
Before she could finish, Jiang Ye nodded decisively, "We'll find them! They are definitely nearby!"
Liu Jizi's mouth parted slightly. She wanted to ask if they would be found alive or dead, but glancing at Jiang Ye, she remained silent.
Jiang Ye himself was having doubts. How far could two people walk in the desert on foot? Perhaps they were already buried in the sand? But he had to say encouraging words, for good luck.
A long wait ensued.
Suddenly, a crisp sound echoed across the open field ahead, and a red signal flare shot into the sky! It was quite distant, only a red dot visible, but it was enough!
In this place, only the two stranded soldiers, spotting the searching spiders, would fire a signal flare to call for help!
The channel erupted with excitement, with shouts and calls echoing back and forth:
"They're ahead! Hurry, hurry!"
"Keep firing flares, let them know we've seen them!"
"Found them, found them!"
"Be careful not to run them over, slow down before you reach them!"
A swarm of spiders surged forward. All the spiders launched signal flares into the sky. Within seconds, hundreds of bright red lights ascended into the night sky, a spectacular display like fireworks, bathing the ground in a blood-red hue. The exteriors of all the armored vehicles seemed to be bathed in the dawn's glow.
Liu Jizi also became excited. "They're alive!"
"And they got the survival packs," Jiang Ye's heart pounded. "Without the survival packs, there would be no signal flares. They must have had some food and water by now."
The spiders charged for a long time, and finally, their headlights illuminated two figures on a hillside, both sitting at the crest of a sand dune, with a large survival pack beside them.
The officers issued orders, and the spiders crouched around the dune, shielding the stranded individuals from the raging sandstorm. Then, medics, carrying first-aid kits, rushed up the dune. The two stranded men seemed to have reached their limit, collapsing onto the dune and bursting into tears.
The camera zoomed in, revealing the faces of Wu Junmin and Wan Xiucheng. They looked like people dug out of a sand pile, their faces covered in yellow dust, their hair full of pebbles, their mouths and ears cracked. They clutched a pile of empty water bottles, as if holding priceless ancient artifacts, tears streaming down their faces.
"Report, both men found. We'll perform basic first aid and then withdraw."
"Good, everyone worked hard," Jiang Ye sighed in relief.
A miracle. Surviving for over three days after a crash in the desert.
Closing the holographic projection, Jiang Ye's worry was finally lifted, and he fell back onto his bed to sleep soundly.
...
After lunch, Jiang Ye went to Binhai City Hospital to visit the two survivors of the air crash.
They were out of danger, but both were very weak. Wu Junmin's face was sallow, and Wan Xiucheng's was pale. They were hooked up to IV drips for nutrients and had oxygen tubes inserted into their noses. They would need at least another week of recovery before being discharged.
Upon seeing Jiang Ye enter, Wu Junmin and Wan Xiucheng became uncontrollably emotional. They insisted on getting out of bed and standing at attention to salute. The two grown men were practically in tears. If Jiang Ye hadn't ordered the widespread deployment of survival packs across the desert, and if Jiang Ye hadn't mobilized the entire army to search for them on the third continent, they might have died in the yellow sand by now, dehydrated into mummies.
Jiang Ye sat down to chat with the two survivors and learned the full story.
Wu Junmin: "It was probably the sandstorm that caused the engine to malfunction. We were flying at the edge of the desert, and it started with just a small dust storm. We both decided to press on, but the larger sandstorm came too quickly, hitting us like a tsunami. Sand poured over us like rain. The engine stopped working after only a few seconds, and no amount of restarting could fix it. It was making crackling noises."
Wan Xiucheng: "Then we started falling. We desperately pulled on the control stick, trying to keep the plane stable, but we were picking up speed. I thought, 'We're done for. The plane will surely explode on impact. It's better to die like this, no pain, just a second.' "
Wu Junmin: "The sound of the plane hitting the ground was like thunder. With a bang, the rotors, the windshield, the outer shell all peeled away. It was worse than being hit by cannonballs. Glass shards and sand flew into our faces. Fortunately, we wore goggles beforehand, otherwise our eyeballs would have been shattered instantly. Then the plane slid a very long distance on the ground, making a terrifying noise. I thought the fuel tank would explode, but it didn't until the plane finally stopped."
Wan Xiucheng: "It was truly miraculous. Not only did we survive the crash, but we didn't have any fractures or large areas of bleeding. We both only had minor abrasions. However, the impact was indeed quite severe. I felt like my internal organs were shattered. After the plane stopped, I crawled out, and after a few steps, I vomited. Not only did the contents of my stomach come out of my mouth, but a lot of it was expelled from my nostrils."