NFBE Chapter 1521 My Brothers, My Soldiers
Chapter 1521 My Brothers, My Soldiers
Temporary outpost.
In the afternoon, at the end of the dirt road in the distance, several plumes of dust, stirred up by vehicles, finally rose straight up.
The deep roar of the engine pierced the quiet air, becoming clearer from a muffled sound.
Soon, three hardtop off-road vehicles, covered in thick dust, painted in varying shades of green camouflage to suit the jungle environment, and clearly reinforced and modified, emerged like steel behemoths from the wilderness. They exuded a rugged yet undeniable aura of ruggedness as they passed the outer checkpoint and came to a steady stop in the open space in the center of the yard, raising a thin cloud of dust.
The engine noise gradually died down.
With a few soft "bangs," the car doors were pushed open almost simultaneously.
Twenty figures leaped down swiftly and in an orderly fashion. They wore uniform dark gray to black combat suits, but upon closer inspection, numerous personalized modifications could be seen. The fabric of their clothing was almost non-reflective in the setting sun.
After getting out of the car, they did not immediately disperse, but quickly formed a loose but mutually protective temporary defensive circle using the vehicle as a base. Their eyes vigilantly scanned the surrounding environment, and their movements were clean and efficient, without any unnecessary actions.
In just those brief ten seconds of getting out of the car and standing guard, a chilling aura, born from countless life-or-death battles and with combat instincts ingrained in their very bones, silently spread out, causing the strategic bureau members who were on duty not far away to involuntarily straighten their backs and feel an invisible pressure.
However, when those twenty pairs of vigilant eyes, scanning the environment like precision instruments, finally crossed the courtyard and settled on the figure slowly rising from the chair under the eaves, a strange change occurred.
That cold, hard, rock-like outer shell seemed to have been struck by an invisible warm current, resulting in tiny but undeniable cracks.
Standing at the very front of the line, Geng Jihui took a deep breath, as if trying to force his turbulent emotions back into his chest. He stepped forward, his movements textbook perfect, and facing Chen Jun, raised his right arm in a powerful military salute!
"Report! Hacker Special Operations Base, First Core Special Operations Squadron, 20 members expected, 20 members present! Led by Captain Geng Jihui, ordered to provide support! Reporting for duty!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the nineteen team members behind him, as if drawn by the same string, raised their arms in unison to salute! Their movements were uniform, clean, and crisp, with a metallic quality.
Twenty pairs of eyes were all fixed intently on Chen Jun.
In that gaze, there surged the joy of a long-awaited reunion, almost bursting forth; it was imprinted with an absolute trust that ran deep in the bones and needed no words; and it carried a deep, unconditional obedience and almost worshipful respect for this man.
Chen Jun stood still, his posture as upright as a pine tree. His gaze slowly moved, sweeping over each face painted with paint, rougher yet more resolute than he remembered, due to years of field combat and rigorous training.
Geng Jihui, He Chenguang, Wang Yanbing, Li Erniu, Leng Feng... one name after another, accompanied by countless scenes of sweat, blood, mud, extreme challenges, and life-and-death struggles, surged through his memory like a tide.
"You've worked hard, brothers." Chen Jun spoke, his voice not loud, even more peaceful than usual, yet strangely penetrating the distance and clearly reaching everyone's ears, "Welcome to Nan Yue. This time, we can fight side by side again."
The brief welcome speech was like a key.
The moment their arms were lowered, the soldiers, who had just been like twenty cold sculptures exuding an aura of unapproachability, instantly "came to life," as if their harsh military shell had been instantly peeled away.
"Boss! You finally remembered you still have us brothers!" Wang Yanbing, the most impatient of them all, couldn't contain himself any longer. He grinned, revealing his signature, slightly roguish smile, and said, "It's been so long since you handed the base over to Instructor Zhan and went off to work on that Strategic Bureau thing! A year or so, right? You haven't come back even once! That's so unfair! We brothers are all thinking of you!"
"Exactly!" Li Erniu, speaking with his indelible rural accent, had a sincere accusation written all over his honest face. "Boss, the hacker base is our 'home'! You, as the 'head of the family,' just disappear like that. It's just... it's like, 'having a new home but forgetting the old one'!"
“Instructor Zhan is strict with us and has high expectations, no doubt about it.” He Chenguang’s words were rather calm, but the expectation in his eyes was equally obvious. “It just feels a little different.”
"Boss, we miss you."
In an instant, Chen Jun was surrounded by his old subordinates, who were all emotional and showing their true feelings.
Listening to them chattering away, each expressing their longing and discontent in their own way, even though Chen Jun's will had long been tempered to be as hard as iron, a warm feeling couldn't help but rise in his heart at this moment, along with a touch of helpless warmth.
"Alright, you're all seasoned veterans who can stand on your own and lead troops, yet you act like rookies who just joined the base back then." Chen Jun's tone carried a rare, almost imperceptible, gentle smile, but more so an undeniable seriousness. "It's not that I've forgotten our old base, nor that I don't want to go back and see you all. On the contrary, it's because I see that you've all grown up, each of you capable of holding up your own sky, becoming the true backbone of the hacker community, that I can leave with peace of mind to open up new fronts."
His gaze swept over every familiar face, his tone turning deep: "If I continue to stay at the base, interfering in every little detail, I'm not helping you, but rather binding you, hindering you from forging your own paths and growing into commanders and warriors better than me. Hackers need fresh blood and different styles. Zhan Xiage has his way, more ruthless, more focused on technology and the mission itself, which is good, maintaining the absolute sharpness and discipline of the 'hacker' blade."
He paused, his voice low but clear, carrying a power that seemed to transcend time: "But wherever I am, the 'hackers' will always be the unit I trained, an inseparable part of my military career. And you—"
He looked around at everyone and spoke slowly and deliberately:
"He will always be my brother."
"As long as the country needs us, as long as the mission calls us, we are destined to reunite under this common banner, back to back, shoulder to shoulder, and continue to fight!"
These words, like a calm breeze, dispersed the slightly noisy commotion and calmed everyone's excited emotions.
The team members looked at Chen Jun with complex expressions. They understood the deeper meaning in Chen Jun's words and the heavy responsibility he carried, and they also understood that he was leaving for a greater cause.
Many people's eyes welled up slightly, but they quickly regained their composure, nodding forcefully and deeply to suppress their surging emotions and transform them into a more resolute gaze.
"Alright, let's stop standing in the sun." Chen Jun waved his hand, breaking the brief silence. "You've all had a long and bumpy journey. Let's go to the canteen for a meal and chat while we eat. The base has limited resources, so there's nothing fancy. Please make do with what you have."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and naturally walked ahead, leading his long-separated and emotionally charged old subordinates towards the canteen.
This scene was witnessed by the officers at the nearby duty post, as well as by Lu Da, Zhang Tie, and other members of the Strategic Bureau who came out of the house upon hearing the noise.
They looked at the twenty "kings of soldiers" who had been so menacing just moments before, but were now surrounding Chen Jun, their demeanor completely different. Their faces showed undisguised surprise, and they exchanged quiet exclamations.
"My God... these guys, the way they got out of the car, the look in their eyes... they're clearly top-notch. The smell they have makes your neck go cold even from a distance..." a young intelligence analyst clicked his tongue, subconsciously touching the back of his neck.
“Nonsense, didn’t you hear what Captain Geng called him? ‘Boss!’ These are all Chen’s trusted men, trained by Director Chen himself!” Lu Da crossed his arms, a proud look on his face, and said in a low voice, “See? These ‘devil gods,’ the moment they see Director Chen, their eyes change immediately, like they’re completely different people, all that warmth…”
"Tsk tsk, is this what they call 'one thing subdues another'? The King of Soldiers meets the one who created the King of Soldiers..." Zhang Tie rubbed his chin, his eyes full of interest. "But then again, with these brothers joining us, we have much more confidence to tackle this tough nut of 'Abyss' this time. Just looking at them makes me feel at ease."
In the simple but clean canteen, large bowls of food were already prepared, steaming hot.
Chen Jun and twenty of his old subordinates sat around a long table pushed together. The atmosphere was much more relaxed and familiar than it had been in the courtyard earlier, but they still maintained the efficiency characteristic of soldiers. No one made a loud noise; there were only the slight clinking of cutlery and hushed conversations.
Halfway through the meal, Geng Jihui put down his chopsticks, picked up his water glass, took a sip, and then looked at Chen Jun, asking the biggest question that had been lingering in his and all the team members' minds ever since they received the mission briefing. His brows furrowed slightly, his expression one of undisguised seriousness and disbelief:
"Boss, has the intelligence about the Abyss organization mentioned in the mission briefing, and those bio-combat units... been verified? Does it really involve aliens?"
As soon as he asked the question, He Chenguang, Wang Yanbing, Li Erniu, Leng Feng and others who were engrossed in eating almost simultaneously stopped what they were doing, raised their heads, and focused their gazes on Chen Jun's face.
Everyone's expression was exactly the same—shock, bewilderment, and deep confusion.