"Is the information absolutely certain?"
"Of course! Sir, don't you trust my intelligence sources? Have they ever been wrong over the years?"
"...Repeat it carefully once more."
"With pleasure! There's another battalion commander in the Quicksand Team's operation this time. That guy named Liu Ge took over two hundred people to Lord Luo Qi's side, leaving their originally defended mines with less than a hundred Trainers available—it's a prime opportunity for a rush!"
Hearing the words of the man with pointy ears and a monkey-like face in front of him, Jiama, one of the top executives of the Evil Dog Team, had a complicated expression.
He still heard the echoes of another top executive, Luo Qi, yelling—
"You heartless and unscrupulous guys, the boss was captured, not killed! Do you plan to go your separate ways without doing a thing? Fine! I'll tell you, I'll handle what you won't take care of!"
The other party left in a huff, gathering almost all team members to head to Mine No. 2.
Indeed.
As Luo Qi said, the boss was captured, not killed, but what level are the international police? Even the mayor of Silicon City doesn't dare openly confront them; their power and personnel are all over the world.
There's no way people like them, confined to a small corner, can fight against them.
But honestly, after so many years, how could there be no feelings at all? In his youth, he saw everything in terms of profit and power, disregarding everything else.
But now in his old age, he feels that emotions are very important; they're one of the dependencies on which their status and wealth rely.
"Help him one last time."
Jiama made up his mind and called over his trusted subordinate, "I have a task for you. Choose two executives to join you with two hundred people. Head to the Quicksand Team's Mine No. 1, staying undercover. Capture the defensive force there as quickly as possible, blow up everything inside, and then run. Understand?"
"...Got it!"
The trusted subordinate nodded and bowed, not asking whether this would cause the Evil Dog Team a significant loss, and quickly turned to leave.
Jiama then looked at the sly, pointy-faced man again and said, "If your information is accurate, you won't be short-changed in your reward. Now, leave."
"Yes, Sir!"
The sly man bowed and retreated.
But the moment he left the office, he suddenly reached up to touch his slightly deformed face. Only after his facial muscles returned to normal did he reveal a smile.
"Lucky, really lucky."
He left while laughing heartily.
——
"Five official members?"
Baimu, with his squad, looked at the female driver Terry in astonishment, "Just five official members, along with drones and the Aerial Rotom? Isn't that too tight on manpower?"
Ayana's arrangement was reasonably sound, at least not having the recon squad rely on visual reconnaissance of the enemy. It was equipped with many drones capable of detecting life and two Aerial Rotoms, plus members responsible for operating the drones.
The key was the number of official members going out for recon.
Five was really too few, and he still needed to leave four team members in the mine.
"You know how tight manpower is right now. This mine only has a little over ninety official members. Don't you understand the importance of reconnaissance?"
Terry shook her head and said, "If the enemy uses some tactics to break through your reconnaissance line or uses some special Pokémon to mislead the drones or Aerial Rotom, wouldn't it be dangerous to send out a lot of official members? So, both sides need to be strong."
But even five is too few...
Baimu rubbed his temples, feeling that the risk of reconnaissance this way was very high, but he didn't have the right to refuse a task passed down by Ayana.
Won't the Stone Team and Crystal Team support even one detachment?
What's going on?
"Alright, get ready to go! The squad ahead of you has already returned, and the rotation time for field reconnaissance is just three hours; the pace is very fast, stop dawdling around!"
Terry gave him a hard slap on the back.
"Alright then."
Baimu had no choice but to leave a portion of his squad behind, take four team members and dozens of peripheral members, and ride hover bikes to the designated location.
Although the female driver wouldn't teach him like Flop, guiding him on reconnaissance, she had written down the scope and important points in a booklet and handed it to him.
Under normal circumstances, reaching this point is already quite commendable.
Someone like Flop is the exception rather than the norm.
"Woohoo! I can ride freely again!"
Otsuka's voice came from beside him, followed by the rumbling of engines.
The vast desert was indeed perfect for pushing the throttle to the floor and enjoying the adrenal rush.
After his injuries healed, this guy bought a single-wheeled hover bike. He just learned how to ride it not long ago; it was the honeymoon phase between him and the hover bike.
Compared to this, Cheng Hong and others, due to tight finances, pooled resources to buy three second-hand hover bikes and one hovercraft jeep, taking turns driving.
But before Baimu could reprimand him, Otsuka voluntarily slowed down.
"Got it, I know, the mission is important, right?"
"Smart move."
He redirected his gaze.
Before long.
The specified recon location was reached.
Baimu opened the booklet Terry gave him, and rows of crooked and slanted characters filled his view.
It mentioned using two reconnaissance methods when not slacking off—
In one method, official members lead a few peripheral members and drones, responsible for a region, and exchange responsibilities with others periodically after setting the recon range.
In the other method, official members are responsible for one region, while peripheral members and drones are responsible for another, exchanging responsibilities periodically.
When slacking off, the peripheral members do all the work, and official members do nothing—this is the third method.
Baimu decisively chose the second method.
The first method, although more efficient in recon, would endanger spreading the already limited combat forces too thinly if an enemy is found.
When manpower reaches its limit, he can't be accountable for the safety of peripheral members, only for those he knows personally.
Besides, the saying Flop mentioned, "Leave a green mountain, don't worry about no firewood," was still vividly clear in his mind. Though he wasn't clear on the saying's origin, his brain automatically translated Flop's meaning into this saying upon hearing it.
Baimu thought Flop was absolutely right.
Winning two mines could benefit him as a squad leader, but comparing the reward and his life, it's just not worth it. Why risk lives for the people at the very top?
He's not a naive youngster getting fooled into a reputation.
Baimu felt he could offer himself for ideals, for a bright future, for everything he cherished, but it certainly didn't include the Quicksand Team, the boss's new house, new car, or even a new fiancée.
Before heading out, he specifically reminded Cheng Hong, who stayed behind, to run quickly in case of trouble and not to impulsively stand out.
The Quicksand Team wasn't worth it.
Cheng Hong and the others should have taken the advice to heart.
"Begin reconnaissance!"
A group of people began working diligently under his command.