Chapter 53: Mo Li: Xue Yu, I Need You More Than the Children Do
The co-workers, after seeing Wenying take off her mask without any incident, also took off their masks.
Everyone wiped the sweat from their faces and complained:
“The higher-ups are really something. If they have this kind of radiation-clearing device, why didn’t they give it to us earlier? It’s so convenient. They even made us wear this radiation-proof suit, like an ant. It’s so stuffy.”
They ate, drank, and chatted, then asked Xue Yu about the naval combat team again, and also about the situation when she had gone to Pinglan Lake to fight.
While chatting with them, Xue Yu opened the virtual screen on her watch.
Before she and Squid Man had gone down the tunnel, they had bound their positions. She could see on her watch that Squid Man was only ten meters away from her.
Xue Yu raised her finger to Sister Wenying and said:
“I’m here to carry out a mission. There are Abominations here. I’m here to clear them out. The Abominations are coming soon. You all be quiet. Leave everything to me.”
“Xue Yu has made it!”
Sister Wenying exclaimed in admiration and then also made a shushing gesture to the co-workers around her. “Everyone, be quiet. Cooperate with Xue Yu’s mission.”
Only a slight breathing sound was left in the tunnel.
Xue Yu held her breath and gradually heard the sound of military boots on the ground. Squid Man was coming.
Squid Man saw the shadow here from a distance and shouted, “Xue Yu, don’t communicate with the ant-men. Open fire.”
Xue Yu walked towards him. “There are no ant-men here, only miners.”
“They’re not miners. They’re all ant-men.”
Squid Man shone his flashlight inside and said impatiently, “I don’t care if they’re miners or ant-men. Just kill them all. Our mission is to kill all the living creatures in this tunnel. Do you understand?”
“Okay, then you go in front,” Xue Yu took the initiative to go behind Squid Man.
When Squid Man lowered his head to load his bullets, Xue Yu raised her submachine gun and pressed it against the back of his neck, pulling the trigger and firing directly. After three consecutive shots, Squid Man’s neck bone was shattered.
His spirit body, the squid, rushed out quickly. As long as the spirit body was still alive, the master had a chance to be saved no matter how serious the injury.
Xue Yu summoned Blueberry.
Blueberry flew over, and the long proboscis on its mouth pierced through the squid’s head.
Xue Yu took the opportunity to invade Squid Man’s spiritual landscape, making a mess of it, and then shot at the squid with her submachine gun, completely killing both Squid Man and his spirit body.
A few miners slowly stood up at the other end of the tunnel.
After the gunshots stopped, Wenying strode towards Xue Yu. “Xue Yu, was that the Abomination? Did you kill it? Do you need our help?”
Xue Yu wiped the blood from her face and shouted at Wenying, “Are all the miners in this tunnel wearing ant-man suits?”
Wenying: “Yes.”
Xue Yu: “Call everyone over. I have something to tell you.”
The tunnel was not wide. The 500 “ant-men” gathered together, like a black line extending in the tunnel.
Xue Yu showed everyone her mercenary card and the information for this mission, telling everyone the whole story.
Everyone’s faces were sullen. A man in the front said, “Actually, everyone should be able to guess. The mechanical mining technology of the White Tower is very advanced now. We don’t need so many miners here anymore.”
Wenying held Xue Yu’s hand. “It’s a good thing you recognized us. Otherwise, we would have died here.”
“It’s a good thing I recognized you…”
Xue Yu repeated her words. She couldn’t imagine how she would live in the future if she had unknowingly killed so many of her former co-workers. She would definitely become psychologically twisted, just like the people of the White Tower.
“Xue Yu, you’ve awakened your spirit body. You’re stronger than us. What should we do now?”
Everyone gathered around her and asked.
Xue Yu took a deep breath to calm down. “We have to escape the White Tower. It’s actually not that dangerous outside. I’ve been out before. There are rivers and plants outside, and also a lot of abandoned small towns. We can always find something to eat.”
Wenying: “But there are contaminated areas everywhere outside…”
Xue Yu: “It’s not that dangerous. Everyone has a pollution level detector, right? Just bring a detector and be careful to do a test at any time. If you get sick, you can go to the South Continent. There are many black-market doctors there. Their skills are very good.”
A girl on the side said, “Then what about you? You’ve broken the rules of the White Tower. The consequences are very serious.”
Xue Yu gritted her teeth. “I can’t worry about that much. I’m not staying in this White Tower anymore. Let’s all go out and wander.”
Everyone unanimously agreed to escape the White Tower with Xue Yu.
Xue Yu was quite familiar with the tunnels here.
She then asked Zhuang Xinzhang for a map of the entire mining area and then led everyone from the G12 mine to the D3 tunnel.
The D3 tunnel was five meters away from the moat. As long as they dug through this tunnel, they could get out.
When Xue Yu was mining before, she had done a lot of blasting work. This time, she was also very skilled.
She determined the position, dug a small trench, had everyone back up, and then threw the grenade that the mission center had given her in.
After blowing up the harder rock layer, she led everyone to dig together.
It took two hours and three grenades to finally dig through the D3 tunnel to the moat. The river water suddenly poured into the tunnel.
Even if the people of the White Tower had not awakened their spirit bodies, their physique was much stronger than that of earthlings, and they all knew how to swim.
Xue Yu led the way in front, and also summoned Blueberry, having Blueberry bring up the rear to prevent anyone from falling behind.
The water in the moat was still swift, and there were also minefields and all kinds of barbed wire below.
The last time Xue Yu had come back from the Pinglan Lake battlefield overnight to accompany Feng Qizhou for childbirth, she had passed through here.
With the experience from last time, she successfully led everyone around the minefield and came to the front of the barbed wire, tearing it open with her bare hands.
This section of the moat was over sixty meters wide. Xue Yu led everyone to swim out.
After getting ashore, she quickly counted the people. There were a total of 518 miners.
Without time to rest, Xue Yu looked at the time. It was now 10:30 at night. She led everyone to continue to run out.
They ran wildly in the dark until 6:30 in the morning, when the sky was just beginning to lighten. They had completely left the safe zone and entered the buffer zone of the contaminated zone.
These miners had been working in a closed underground environment and all had rations and water with them, as well as a pollution detector.
After going around a slope, they were really tired. Xue Yu had everyone stop and eat something.
In a few minutes, a girl stood up with her Cloud Sound Box and said loudly, “Xue Yu, you’ve been discovered! Look at this! You’re wanted by the White Tower! The wanted poster is out!”
Xue Yu was chewing on a compressed biscuit. She turned her head to look. In the live news broadcast of the White Tower, there was a rotating information of wanted personnel.
One of the wanted personnel in the video was her.
It was a picture of her when she had just entered the naval combat team, wearing the formal uniform of the naval combat team, with a silly smile.
Xue Yu slapped her forehead. Oh no!
The equipment on her was all from the naval combat team.
Her helmet, combat suit, and even her submachine gun, and her watch and Cloud Sound Box, all had trackers.
The people of the White Tower would definitely be able to follow the tracking information and catch up with her soon.
Xue Yu swallowed the compressed biscuit in her mouth, took out a piece of paper and a pen from her bag, quickly drew a map on the paper, and desperately recalled the information she had seen on the road when she had gone to the South Continent with Zhou Siyan to have a baby.
She called everyone over and gathered them around her.
“This is the White Tower. We are now in the buffer zone. The pollution level in the buffer zone is not serious. You don’t have to worry. Just run.”
“If you go south, you can reach the South Continent. There’s an abandoned highway here. It’s very easy to walk. In this direction, there’s a field of reeds with a lot of fish. The fish are edible. I’ve tried it before.”
“If you continue to walk this way, this is a desert area. There will be sandstorms, which are very dangerous. You have to be careful.”
“In this direction, there’s a safe zone, the Yaga Safe Zone. It’s a gathering place for wanderers. You can go there and rest…”
Xue Yu tried her best to draw all the information.
She even drew the route and terrain of her trip to Pinglan Lake to fight.
The ecology on the Pinglan Lake side was not bad, and the frogmen had been temporarily driven away. If they went there to survive in the wild, they probably wouldn’t starve.
After drawing the map, Xue Yu had Wenying take a picture with her Cloud Sound Box and send it to everyone.
She stood up and looked at everyone:
“I can’t go with you. I’m a wanted criminal now, and my equipment has a tracker. I have to go in another direction and lure the pursuers away first.”
She rubbed her face hard and continued, “You don’t have to worry too much. The higher-ups want to kill you to solve the population pressure. Now that you’ve escaped, they probably won’t chase after you. You can just go out and find your own way to live!”
Everyone looked at Xue Yu, not knowing what to say.
Xue Yu turned and walked north, waving at everyone. “Hurry up and go! Don’t worry about me! I will also find my own way to live!”
She didn’t give everyone a chance to say goodbye. The moment the morning sun appeared on the horizon, she ran further and further away.
As she ran, she looked in the direction of the White Tower.
My precious daughters, Mommy became a wanted criminal on the first day of her mission. You can’t be civil servants in the future.
Goodbye, daughters. Mommy is going on a long voyage for now. When the storm has passed, I will definitely come back to see you!
Xue Yu hadn’t had much feeling for the children before.
At this moment of forced separation, she suddenly realized that she really loved the children and was very reluctant to part with them. She not only had a responsibility to them, but also love.
The big glutton, Xue Xiaohai, the crybaby, Xue Xiaobei, and the newborn, Xue Xiaonan… they were all her daughters, with her blood flowing in them.
As Xue Yu ran, her eyes were gradually blurred by the wind, and her eyes became wet.
Blueberry was coiled on her shoulder, its long caudal fin wrapped around her neck, as if it were comforting her.
Blueberry’s strength was getting bigger and bigger. With this one wrap of its caudal fin, Xue Yu was so choked that she stuck out her tongue. She pulled this thing off. “You damn seahorse! Are you trying to murder me for the bounty!”
The sky was getting brighter. Xue Yu did not dare to stop for a moment.
She ran north all the way until after nine o’clock.
When she reached a karst landform of stone mountains, she felt that it was about time. Xue Yu took off her equipment. All of her equipment had trackers. She planned to leave her equipment in this place.
She took off her combat suit, helmet, military boots, and submachine gun and hid them in the grass.
She took out her Cloud Sound Box to check the situation.
The first thing she received was a message from Yan Wantang: You good-for-nothing Xue, you’ve actually followed my old path and become a wanted criminal. It just so happens that I’ve received a mission to capture you. You should run, hahaha.
Zhou Siyan and Feng Qizhou had not made a move yet. They probably hadn’t gotten the news that she had become a wanted criminal.
They had sent her a message, just asking how her mission was going.
Zhou Siyan: How long will this mission take? Can you come back today? I’ll cook for you.
Feng Qizhou: I found something called a chastity belt in the hospital’s warehouse. It’s so funny. I don’t even know how to wear it.
Feng Qizhou: Don’t misunderstand. I don’t have any intention of wearing it. I just thought it was funny and sent it to you. Don’t get any funny ideas about me.
Mo Li: If you need any help, please let me know anytime.
Xue Yu had no time to reply to them one by one.
She forwarded the wanted criminal video to the group chat.
At the same time, she tried her best to send a message in the group chat in a relaxed tone to inform them of the situation—
Xue Yu: Family, who understands! I became a wanted criminal on the first day of being a mercenary (crying, crying). The ant-men are not Abominations. They are all my co-workers. I can’t bring myself to do it, family!
Xue Yu: I’m slipping away first. I’m running north. Damn it! My shoes have all flown off. My equipment and communication tools all have trackers. I can only throw them away first.
Xue Yu: Take good care of the children. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. I will definitely come back! I love you! (heart rose)
After sending three consecutive messages in the group chat, Xue Yu completely turned off her Cloud Sound Box.
Turning off the Cloud Sound Box could turn off the positioning function, but the positioning of the equipment, watch, and submachine gun could not be turned off. She could only leave them here.
In the end, she only had a close-fitting quick-drying suit on her.
There was also a small tool bag, which contained a multi-functional folding military knife, a waterproof lighter, scissors, a pollution level detector, and other simple tools.
Xue Yu turned and walked east, looking for a water source according to the terrain.
At twelve noon, she entered a large canyon with a small river in it.
She jumped into the river, held Blueberry in her arms, and adjusted her body to lie in the water.
She just let the river carry her along, thinking that she would go wherever it took her. This was much more energy-saving than running on land.
***
Today was a rare day off for Zhou Siyan. After he got up, he first changed Xue Xiaohai’s clothes, fed her, and did some simple housework.
Xue Yu was going to carry out the mission to destroy the ant’s nest last night. He was worried at first, but then he thought that this was a mission carried out in the White Tower Safe Zone, and the mission level was not difficult. It should be fine.
He had sent a message to Xue Yu in the morning but had not received a reply. He waited anxiously.
He went to the kitchen to prepare ingredients, thinking that Xue Yu should be back at noon. He would reward her for taking on her first mission.
Xue Xiaohai was playing on the foam mat in the living room. The TV was randomly playing the morning news of the White Tower.
Suddenly, Zhou Siyan heard the child shouting in the kitchen, “Mommy, Mommy!”
He thought that Xue Yu had returned and hurried out to look. He saw Xue Xiaohai lying on the electronic screen embedded in the wall, her small hands scratching at the screen, constantly shouting, “Mommy, Mommy…”
He looked at the screen. The host was just broadcasting the latest wanted criminal news.
Xue Yu appeared on the screen. Xue Xiaohai had been shouting for her mother because she had seen Xue Yu.
Zhou Siyan pressed the pause button, stopping at the wanted poster for Xue Yu.
The information on the wanted poster was very simple. The photo used was the ID photo that Xue Yu had taken when she had just entered the naval combat team.
Name: Xue Yu.
Identity: Mercenary of the 18th team, B group, water-type.
Wanted Level: B.
Reward: 50,000.
Wanted Description: During the mission, this mercenary colluded with Abominations and killed her teammate. She has now fled the White Tower.
Zhou Siyan was dizzy. He opened the screen of his Cloud Sound Box and only then did he see the message that Xue Yu had sent in the group chat.
He tried to call Xue Yu, but he couldn’t get through.
Mo Li also knew that Xue Yu had become a wanted criminal at this moment. He sent a message in the group chat: I’m going to find her.
Feng Qizhou only got the news at ten o’clock, after he had finished a surgery.
He immediately came to find Zhou Siyan. “How did she suddenly become a wanted criminal?”
Zhou Siyan said, “Yan Wantang was also a wanted criminal before. She was able to return to the White Tower because she killed the head of the affairs department and took his position.”
“If we want to let Xue Yu come back, we have to find a superior of hers and have her kill the superior to continue to stay in the White Tower.”
“Thank goodness, thank goodness…”
Feng Qizhou’s body trembled slightly. “Thank goodness she’s smart and didn’t directly kill those so-called ant-men. If she had, she would definitely not be able to take it psychologically.”
Xue Xiaohai crawled over and pulled at Feng Qizhou’s pant leg, wanting to get a milk cake. This strange uncle would always give her a sweet milk cake whenever he appeared.
Feng Qizhou picked up the child. “Poor child. Your mother has become a wanted criminal. What should we do?”
Xue Xiaohai seemed to have realized something and burst into tears.
Xue Yu used to report her safety in the group chat every night.
Now, the group chat was very quiet. It had been three days, and no one had received any news from Xue Yu.
The few men were connected by Xue Yu as a bond. They helped each other take care of the children and formed a prototype of a family.
Now that Xue Yu was missing, this “family” that had not yet been formally established had become a pile of loose sand.
Even when Xue Yu had gone to war before, she would have video calls and calls with the children.
But now, the children had not received any news from their mother for three days and had been crying to find their mother.
Xue Xiaohai would wake up in the middle of the night, lie on Zhou Siyan, and cry, constantly calling for her mother.
Zhou Siyan would turn on the light, pick up the child, walk from the bedroom to the living room, and then walk back, kissing the child on the forehead. “Daddy also misses Mommy.”
Xue Yu was Meng Wu’s soldier. Meng Wu had been following up on the clues to hunt down Xue Yu.
He told Zhou Siyan that he had found Xue Yu’s equipment on Buliye Mountain to the north of the White Tower, and then the clues had been cut off.
Zhou Siyan handed Xue Xiaohai to Feng Qizhou. “I’m going to find Xue Yu. You take care of the child.”
Feng Qizhou was already preparing his combat equipment and said, “I’ll go. You stay at home and take care of the child.”
Zhou Siyan: “Xiaonan is still too young. I can’t take her.”
Feng Qizhou had no choice but to give up.
Zhou Siyan pulled some strings with Yan Wantang and had her transfer the case of hunting down Xue Yu to the Security Division. Yan Wantang was very easy to talk to and quickly handled it for him.
Then, Zhou Siyan used the excuse of going out to hunt down Abominations and hunt down Xue Yu to get a chance to go on a field mission.
The day he left, he went to Feng Qizhou’s apartment to see Xue Xiaohai.
Xue Xiaohai’s daily tasks now were to drink milk, sleep, play with a rubber ball, and find her mother. She was a very easy child to take care of.
Feng Qizhou asked, “If you can’t find Xue Yu, what do you plan to do?”
Zhou Siyan: “I will find her.”
Xue Yu drifted along the river in a daze. When she was hungry, she would catch a few fish, go ashore to grill them, and then drift in the water again.
She had completely adapted to the state of sleeping in the water, sleeping in a daze.
She gradually discovered that this river was drifting in the direction of the South Continent.
She planned to go to the South Continent to find Guan Xun and have him help her contact Zhou Siyan, telling them that she would hide for a while and then plan where to settle down.
After drifting for eight days, Xue Yu was washed into the sea by the river.
This was the first time she had been in the sea since she had transmigrated.
Blueberry was very excited, as if it had come to an amusement park, playing with dolphins, whales, and all kinds of marine creatures everywhere.
Xue Yu remembered that the South Continent was a coastal city and should be on the coastline of this sea. But she didn’t know which direction it was in and could only continue to drift in the sea randomly.
After drifting for another three days, Xue Yu found a deserted island in the sea. She went ashore with Blueberry and hurriedly caught some fish to grill and eat.
After she was full and had rested for a while, she began to explore the island.
This island was not small. It was a tropical island, with lush trees and vines, and sal trees and flame trees everywhere.
Xue Yu tested the pollution level everywhere and found that this island was almost not polluted at all and could be completely used as a safe zone for construction.
She was overjoyed. A blessing in disguise. She could build this island into her own safe zone and then bring her husband and children over to live.
She kept wandering on the island, the corner of her mouth curling up in anticipation.
She had already thought about it. This place would be a small amusement park for the children to play in.
She also had to build a big house, with three master bedrooms, one for Zhou Siyan, one for Feng Qizhou, and one for Mo Li.
As for her, she could sleep anywhere. As long as the men and children were living well, what was a little hardship for her?
After staying on the island for two days, Xue Yu tried to find the location of the South Continent. But in the vast sea, she had no compass and no navigator. It was too difficult.
She wanted to discuss it with Blueberry, but Blueberry had already gone crazy with playing and was drilling into the sea all day.
That day, Xue Yu felt an unusual pleasure in her body. She thought that Blueberry was flirting with some good-for-nothing male fish again and was about to go down and give it a beating.
She successfully found Blueberry, which was hiding behind a coral tree. Blueberry was playing with an octopus.
Xue Yu was ecstatic. It was Mo Li’s blue-ringed octopus!
She swam around and was suddenly hugged by a black shadow that rushed over. It was Mo Li. Mo Li’s belly was much bigger, and it was even more obvious underwater.
“Mo Li, how did you find this place?” Xue Yu held his face and kissed him again and again.
Mo Li said, “The child in my belly can sense your direction. I followed the child’s guidance and found my way here.”
It was not convenient to talk in the water. Xue Yu took Mo Li’s hand and led him out of the water to her small island.
She hugged Mo Li and cried, “I’ve become a wanted criminal. I can’t take good care of you and the child. Mo Li, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Xue Yu. It’s not your fault,” Mo Li wiped the water from her face.
Xue Yu sniffled. “How did you come all this way to find me? Is the child bothering you? Is your belly hurting?”
“No, the child is very good.”
Mo Li’s eyes were always on her face. His voice was hoarse, and his voice was calm and firm. “Xue Yu, it’s not that the child needs you that I came to find you. It’s that I need you. I need you more than the child does.”