The truth behind this incident wasn't easy to piece together. Everyone knew something different, and it took Captain Zhang and his team months to stitch everything into a complete story and investigate it step by step.
By the time Captain Zhang finally had the whole thing sorted out, the polar day was already over.
Along with the endless daylight, the year-long scorching heat had also ended. With day and night returning, the temperature finally settled around twenty-five degrees. From the surveys, it looked like things wouldn't be changing much anytime soon.
Lan Jin said, "Twenty-five degrees, that's real spring weather, the season when everything comes back to life. I think life's only going to get better from here. Don't you guys think so?"
"That's a good hope to have."
…
With Lao Yan and his group gone, there weren't as many run-ins with mutant creatures anymore. Still, on Blue Star, there were always a few ticking time bombs left to deal with.
Orders came from above: "Gather the squads and blow up every known overgrown forest in China. It doesn't matter what's inside, nothing gets left alive."
When it came to missions like this, no one was more experienced than Captain Zhang, so he was once again chosen to lead.
For something this dangerous, there was no way Lan Jin and her three companions could sit it out. But after months of peace, Lan Jin hesitated over whether to take Qiao Qiao with her.
"Normally, I'd insist on bringing her along. No matter how safe the base is, it's not as safe as keeping her under my eyes. But this mission means being gone for months. If I take Qiao Qiao away, not only will the excuse be hard to find, she'll also miss school. Back when the base was dangerous, I didn't care, but now that it feels stable, it doesn't seem necessary to drag her along."
Even though Qiao Qiao was only in kindergarten, this was exactly the time when kids made friends. If she suddenly disappeared for months, what if she couldn't fit back in later?
Ling Jiang said, "Lao Yan's group has already been executed, and the hidden accomplices inside the base were dealt with too. Right now, the base is safe. Whether you bring Qiao Qiao or not, it's really just about whether you can bear to leave her."
Lao Gao added, "I don't think there'll be any missions more dangerous or longer than this one in the future. Since the base is secure, leave her here. Sister Lan, you can't protect her forever, and she can't stay glued to you for life."
Huang Jinghe agreed. "Yeah, Sister Lan. If you're worried, I'll ask my parents to keep an eye on her too. Honestly, with Qiao Qiao's combat ability, forget the other kids, even most adults wouldn't be able to hurt her."
When he put it like that, it sounded true. Qiao Qiao's strength meant ordinary trouble wouldn't hurt her. The people who knew about her abilities were mostly dead, and the few survivors had kept quiet. The rest of the base had no clue. If anything did happen, the poor fool who picked on her would just have to chalk it up to bad luck.
"In that case, I'll leave her at the base. You're right, she's going to grow up. I can't hover over her forever. Compared to most of the kids here, she's already way better off."
So Lan Jin left Qiao Qiao behind.
The funny part was, she thought her daughter would cling to her and cry when she left. Instead, the little one was all smiles. Even after boarding the plane, Lan Jin couldn't help doubting herself. "Did I raise her too strictly? This kid feels different now."
The other three just laughed. "No, she's just growing up."
Even if she was still in kindergarten, a child raised in the apocalypse could never be judged by old-world standards.
Lan Jin didn't dwell on it. "This is fine. Honestly, it makes things easier for me. She's strong anyway, nothing should happen."
…
But who would've thought that the moment Lan Jin and the other strong ability users left the base, the hidden remnants would really stir up trouble.
They regrouped while the powerful were gone, and their first targets were the children.
And of course, among those kids, Lan Jin's daughter stood out the most. Qiao Qiao instantly became their prime target.
They threatened, bullied, and hurt the kids, leaving them crying their hearts out.
The base members tried their best to protect the children and fought back hard.
But by chance, Zhou Zhiye wasn't on this mission. When he heard Qiao Qiao had been taken, he rushed over right away to comfort her.
Seeing how worried he was, Qiao Qiao forgot her own fear. She just wanted to comfort him instead, to tell him not to worry about her.
And then—
Well, that was that.
Qiao Qiao broke her mother's rule. She pried open the man's hand choking her neck with surprising strength. In the same breath, she spun around and pulled off the over-the-shoulder counter-kill that Lan Jin had learned from Ling Jiang and Lao Gao. In one move, she flung the man to the ground.
The little one wasn't done. She puffed and huffed, stomping on him a few more times and cursing at him too. Just as she was about to take him apart, she looked over at Zhou Zhiye and suddenly stopped.
She was a good girl. She couldn't do something that bad. Instead, she ran over to Zhou Zhiye, asking for praise and a bit of comfort, which left him completely at a loss.
The whole scene ended with everyone else staring in shock. When their plane finally landed, Captain Zhang reported everything to Lan Jin.
After hearing the full story, she felt just as speechless as Zhou Zhiye had.
"Fine, I get it. She really can protect herself. I don't need to worry anymore."
With that, they got back to the real mission.
…
Destroying the forests wasn't simple. Each one had its own barrier. If they blasted the barrier without killing the things inside, the creatures would escape, and then it would be their fault for letting them wreak havoc.
So just like before, they went deep inside, placing explosives section by section, working from the innermost parts all the way to the entrance.
That took more time, but it was the safest method with no loose ends.
Fortunately, even though the forests were far apart, China didn't have that many left. In three months, they cleared every last one.
Afterward, they set up electric grids along all the borders to stop mutant creatures from neighboring countries from crossing into China.