Chapter 60

"Sure."

"Alright."

"No problem."

"Get in the car."

Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, Jiang Baimian, and Shang Jianyao almost spoke in unison, without the slightest hesitation.

The young man, dressed in a dark shirt and trousers, with a black windbreaker, then walked around the front of the car to the passenger side and opened the door.

He smiled faintly and said to Jiang Baimian,

"Can you sit in the back?"

"No problem, you sit, you sit." Jiang Baimian stood up enthusiastically and moved aside.

After the man took off the silver rifle from his back and sat in the passenger seat, she bent slightly and smiled ingratiatingly,

"How should I address you?"

The man with black hair and golden eyes slightly furrowed his brow,

"Qiao Chu."

"Such a beautiful name." Jiang Baimian didn't skimp on her praise.

"Look at his name, look at yours." Shang Jianyao turned his head to tease Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong didn't mind at all and echoed,

"Yes, yes."

Amid their praise, Jiang Baimian opened the rear door and said to Shang Jianyao,

"Move over to the middle."

Before he could respond, she changed her mind,

"No, get out first, I'll sit in the middle."

Seeing that Shang Jianyao wasn't too willing, Jiang Baimian emphasized,

"I'm the team leader!"

Shang Jianyao reluctantly got out of the car and watched as Jiang Baimian sat in the middle of the back seat.

Upon hearing the term "team leader" from the Ashen Earth language, the black-haired, golden-eyed man, Qiao Chu, subconsciously turned his head and glanced at Jiang Baimian.

Jiang Baimian seemed to have been waiting for this, and their eyes met. She smiled sweetly.

Qiao Chu didn't say anything more and slowly turned his gaze away.

Jiang Baimian didn't look disappointed. She leaned forward, propping her chin in her hand, and couldn't take her eyes off Qiao Chu's profile.

After Shang Jianyao sat back down, he found that due to his position, he could only see the back of Qiao Chu's head, and his view was often blocked by the headrest. His face showed unmistakable disappointment.

Qiao Chu looked at the broken bridge ahead and suddenly asked,

"Do you have any food?"

"Yes!" Bai Chen quickly turned and opened the armrest box.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Jiang Baimian took her hand off her chin and hurriedly searched her pockets for food. Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong straightened up and turned around, trying to get a can of braised beef for Qiao Chu.

Without a doubt, Bai Chen was the fastest, handing Qiao Chu a small bag of compressed cookies and an energy bar.

"That's it. You should eat too. We probably won't rest at noon, and we'll need to take turns driving." Qiao Chu took the food and gave orders like a leader, and Shang Jianyao and the others had no objections.

After eating the cookies and energy bar with water from a water bladder, Qiao Chu put away the items, waited a moment, and turned to Bai Chen,

"It's time to go.

"Head towards the hills in the northwest."

"Okay." Bai Chen, who had just finished lunch, agreed but didn't move his gaze.

Qiao Chu extended his left hand, patted Bai Chen's right arm, and smiled gently,

"Drive carefully."

"Okay!" Bai Chen, flattered, straightened up and started the jeep.

Qiao Chu then turned to the back seat and smiled,

"I'm going to rest. Keep an eye on the surroundings and wake me up when we reach the hills."

"Okay!" Jiang Baimian and the others responded in unison.

Qiao Chu didn't say anything more and turned his head back.

The smile on his face quickly disappeared, and his gaze became unusually cold.

Then, he took out a sky-blue box from his pocket and snapped it open.

Inside the box was a small mirror.

Qiao Chu gazed at his reflection, raised his right hand, and carefully combed his hair.

After a thorough inspection, he slowly closed the mirror, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes.

By evening, the jeep had returned to the hills where Black Rat Town was located. By then, Wang Beizheng's 23rd Brigade had long since departed.

Without needing a reminder, Jiang Baimian and the others, acting as alarm clocks, woke Qiao Chu on time.

Qiao Chu glanced at the darkening sky,

"We'll rest here tonight and continue northwest in the morning."

"Okay." Bai Chen found a familiar camping spot and stopped the jeep.

Then, the four of them scrambled to set up the tent, light the campfire, and take out several military cans from the trunk.

"You have quite a lot of supplies..." Qiao Chu, sitting in the passenger seat with the door open, watched Shang Jianyao and the others busily.

Not long after, Shang Jianyao jogged over and volunteered,

"I'll go get some water."

Qiao Chu followed the direction he pointed and looked at the clean water source, thinking for a few seconds,

"No need, our water will last for several days."

"Okay, the cans will take a while to heat up. Do you want me to sing a song for you?" Shang Jianyao didn't insist and instead asked with a smile.

"..." Qiao Chu looked at Shang Jianyao suspiciously for a few seconds, "No need."

"How about the Gold Coast Hula Dance?" Shang Jianyao pressed.

Qiao Chu's brow furrowed,

"No, I want to rest for a while. Wake me up when the cans are heated."

"Okay!" Shang Jianyao responded enthusiastically.

After turning to the campfire, Qiao Chu once again took out the sky-blue plastic box and snapped it open.

Looking at his reflection, Qiao Chu's expression softened slightly, and he sighed softly,

"Ah, what a hassle..."

The night passed quietly, and the sun rose again from the east of the Black Marsh Wilderness.

After breakfast, after a bit of competition, Jiang Baimian finally used her authority as the team leader to secure the driving responsibility, while Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen had to squeeze into the back seat, feeling a bit aggrieved.

Qiao Chu checked his mechanical watch and used the compass on the dial to determine their position.

"Head in that direction, straight ahead." He pointed to a spot in the northwest.

Jiang Baimian didn't question it and drove the jeep out of the hills, then sped straight in the direction Qiao Chu had indicated.

As time passed, the terrain became flatter, the soil darker and muddier. Eventually, the main scenery became mud, and the harder ground became scarce.

They were heading deeper into the Great Marsh.

Compared to Bai Chen, Jiang Baimian had less experience in this area and almost got the car stuck in the deep mud twice.

She had to give up the driver's seat and return to the middle of the back seat, while Bai Chen took over, driving the jeep seriously and diligently, like a child expecting praise.

The jeep's speed undoubtedly slowed down a lot. By noon, they had not traveled more than thirty kilometers, and various plants began to grow in the surrounding marsh.

Compared to normal, their colors were either dull or vivid, looking quite strange.

Jiang Baimian, remembering her duties as the team leader, casually reminded Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong,

"Seeing clusters of mutated plants means we've entered the contaminated area. However, the plants here are not too bizarre or dangerous, so the contamination level is not too high.

"In such an environment, ordinary people can move around, but without protective gear, it's best not to stay more than three days. People who have undergone mature gene modifications can last about ten days, but they need to have prepared food and water."

Qiao Chu turned his head again and glanced at Jiang Baimian but quickly looked away, pointing to the side,

"Go this way."

"But..." Bai Chen instinctively wanted to suggest her own route.

She had chosen routes with lower contamination levels and suitable for vehicles. If they changed course, they might encounter an expanded marsh that could trap the car and people, sinking them to the bottom.

"Go this way." Qiao Chu emphasized again.

"Okay." Bai Chen decided to comply.

After changing course, the jeep entered an unfamiliar area, which slowed it down even more. Bai Chen had to drive while judging the road conditions based on her experience.

About twenty-five minutes later, after the group finished lunch and were about to let Jiang Baimian take over from Bai Chen, the scene ahead suddenly changed:

In the boundless deep black marsh, thick vines emerged from the bottom, covered in decaying mud, forming a low "forest."

They were dark green and as thick as ordinary pythons, with countless tiny red thorns on their surfaces.

These strange vines intertwined, covering every visible area in front of the jeep. Except for the dark marsh itself, everything else became their decoration, even the sky seemed to become gloomy, gray, and oppressive due to the low "forest" or other reasons.

Seeing this spectacular but terrifying scene, Jiang Baimian, Bai Chen, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong all felt an indescribable shock.

In their shock, they almost simultaneously had a question:

"Why are we here?"

At this moment, Qiao Chu's lips curled into a gentle smile,

"Don't be nervous."

This voice and these words immediately dispelled Shang Jianyao and the others' doubts, making them look at Qiao Chu with admiration.

Qiao Chu sat up straight and began to give Bai Chen serious instructions on how to drive and where to go.

Watching the python-like dark green vines with red thorns pass by outside the window, Jiang Baimian's left hand moved slightly.

She instinctively took out a pen and paper from her pocket and recorded what she saw.

Shang Jianyao sometimes looked at the back of Qiao Chu's head and sometimes observed the vines outside, always feeling that they harbored great danger.

At this moment, he felt a light bump on his left arm.

Shang Jianyao instinctively turned his head and saw Jiang Baimian move the white paper closer to him.

He focused and saw that the white paper faithfully described the current scene, and at the end, there was a strange sentence:

"...The deep part of the Great Marsh actually has such a severely mutated area, but strangely, the chip in my left arm tells me that the radiation contamination here is not too severe. Perhaps the contamination has decayed and weakened over time?

"...The vines are covered with tiny red thorns, as if they are full of fresh blood...

"...The chip in my left arm tells me that our current position is completely opposite to the intended target, Qifeng Town..."

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