Chapter 45: Sending the Rescue Team

Liu Guangmin was momentarily stunned. Matters concerning the front lines were of utmost importance, and he dared not be careless. His expression immediately became serious.

“Mr. Qin, is the intelligence reliable?”

Behind him, Zhong Xiao was somewhat nervous.

Qin Dezheng pondered briefly, but then spoke with unwavering conviction: “I can only say that, based on my many years of experience on the front lines, Yuehu Island is the place where Shen and the others are most likely to be. Qingfeng once told me, during tense times of war, the most dangerous places can sometimes be the safest. Yuehu Island lies at the northernmost edge of the West Sea Archipelago, surrounded by water on all sides. The island is mostly volcanic and sits on a seismic belt, with scarcely any inhabitants. Only there, for now, is it the most hidden, and the most likely to escape detection. But we must act quickly. If we’re even a step late, the consequences could be unimaginable.”

Liu Guangmin pressed his lips together in silence.

Qin Dezheng, his face grave, declared, “I will take full responsibility for this! Right now, none of us know where the Commander or Shen and the others are. We’re like blind cats trying to catch a dead rat—we have to search wherever we can. If anything is delayed or any consequences arise from this decision, I, Qin Dezheng, will shoulder it alone!”

Liu Guangmin responded promptly, “Mr. Qin, this isn’t something you need to bear alone. Now that the Commander is missing and the army is leaderless, we can’t just sit here waiting for news. You’re right; since no one can say for certain where the Commander is, we’ll start searching from the most probable locations, one by one.”

With that, Liu Guangmin returned to his office and dialed the internal line.

“Follow my orders! Armored Regiment First Battalion Third Company, Air Regiment Second Battalion Second Company, West Sea Fleet First and Third Squadrons—all soldiers to prepare for combat, assemble immediately, fully equipped within thirty minutes. There is an urgent rescue mission!”

“Armored regiment soldiers will await orders at the port. The Second Company commander of the Air Regiment and the squadron leader of the West Sea Fleet will follow my instructions for the rescue.”

Soon, Zhong Xiao heard a commotion outside.

Looking out from the window ledge, she could see a large crowd gathering rapidly in the open area not far away. Their steps were uniform, their movements swift.

From a distance, Zhong Xiao couldn’t see individual faces, only the dense throng coming together within two minutes, quickly dividing into numerous smaller squads.

After a brief headcount nearby, when Zhong Xiao and the others exited the command building, they could already hear the roar overhead.

Zhong Xiao looked up.

Several fighter jets, reconnaissance planes, and transport aircraft thundered past above.

She sighed, “Our soldiers work so hard, always on high alert.”

Qin Dezheng nodded, “On the front lines, even a minute’s delay can cost more than one life. Every second is urgent.”

At that moment, a woman’s surprised and delighted voice sounded nearby.

“Teacher!”

Qin Dezheng turned around.

It was indeed Zuo Lan.

She hurried over, unable to hide her excitement, tears shimmering in her eyes.

“Teacher, it’s really you!” Zuo Lan burst into tears. “I received a telegram from Yuecheng Hospital saying reinforcements were coming, but I never imagined it would be you!”

Seeing his beloved student after so many years, Qin Dezheng was also moved.

He looked at Zuo Lan and said, “Zuo Lan, you’ve worked hard these days.”

Zuo Lan’s tears flowed freely.

Her husband and son had been missing for days. As wife and mother, the pressure weighed heavier on her than anyone else. Though she appeared calm, she went about her hospital duties as usual. The other hospital leaders urged her to take a few days’ rest, but she refused.

Everyone said she was strong.

But only she knew how frightened she truly was.

Her strength was nothing but a façade, for now she was the pillar of the military district, and she could not collapse.

She had to believe her husband and son were safe; she had to steady everyone else.

Moreover, as director of the military district’s general hospital, her foremost duty, no matter the time, was to care for the wounded and critically ill soldiers.

They were someone else’s husbands, sons, fathers.

She could not let anything happen to them under her watch.

But at this moment, seeing her mentor after so many years, her emotions finally broke, and the tears came pouring out.

Qin Dezheng comforted Zuo Lan as he would his own daughter.

His aged eyes too brimmed with tears.

Teacher and pupil, lost in sorrow, Zuo Lan looked up and saw Zhong Xiao standing behind Qin Dezheng, her large eyes fixed on her.

At first glance, Zuo Lan recognized who she was.

She was slightly surprised, “Is… Xiao Xiao?”

Zhong Xiao was startled that the woman knew her, though she herself did not recognize Zuo Lan. She looked at Qin Dezheng in confusion.

Qin Dezheng wiped away his tears and introduced, “Xiao Xiao, this is Shen’s mother. You can call her Aunt Zuo.”

Zhong Xiao exclaimed, “Hello, Aunt Zuo.”

Zuo Lan approached, her tearful eyes softened by a gentle smile as she looked at Zhong Xiao, her gaze warm and tender.

In that instant, Zhong Xiao was reminded of her own mother.

Though she had never seen her mother, she had seen her photograph.

If her mother were alive, she would surely look at her with the same loving gaze Zuo Lan now had.

Gentle, indulgent, affectionate, and kind.

Zuo Lan reached out and caressed Zhong Xiao’s cheek.

Fair and smooth, better than anyone’s skin on Taizhou Island.

Zuo Lan said, “Xiao Xiao has grown so much. The first time I saw your photo, you were just a little thing, lying in your grandfather’s arms.”

“You’ve always had big eyes, such a beautiful child from the start. Now you’ve grown into such a lovely young lady. Xiao Xiao, you are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

After chatting with Zuo Lan for a while, Zhong Xiao saw Liu Guangmin come out from the command building and announce, “We’ve already sent reinforcements to Yuehu Island. They should arrive by tomorrow morning. If there’s no one on the island, we’ll continue the search and rescue.”

Zuo Lan was taken aback, “Yuehu Island?”

Liu Guangmin briefly explained the situation.

As Zuo Lan deliberated, Zhong Xiao couldn’t help but speak up.

“Aunt Zuo, actually it wasn’t Second Granduncle who proposed the idea. I was the one who discovered there might be clues on Yuehu Island, and Second Granduncle… he just believed me.”

Liu Guangmin now fixed his gaze on the girl, so beautiful she seemed to have stepped out of a magazine.

“And you are…?”

Zuo Lan said, “She’s from the Zhong family.”

Liu Guangmin slapped his forehead, “Ah, then you’re our Shen’s…”

Zuo Lan interrupted, “That was all so many years ago. Now it’s all about free love; the children can make their own choices.”

She said this not because she didn’t want Zhong Xiao as her daughter-in-law, but because she worried that Zhong Xiao, having never met her son, might not want to marry him.

Or perhaps, such a vibrant young girl might not want to stay on this island.

It wouldn’t be right to bind her with an old engagement.

Afterwards, Zuo Lan looked gently at Zhong Xiao, “Xiao Xiao, can you tell me how you pinpointed Yuehu Island?”

Of course, Zhong Xiao couldn’t mention hearing the voices of the fish, so she explained that she had often studied ancient military texts in the Zhong family and had a general understanding of the battles over the past decade, deducing the location herself.

Zuo Lan was even more pleased.

She had always worried that with no other members of the Zhong family left and a father who seemed unreliable, Xiao Xiao might not have received proper upbringing, and could have been bullied by her stepmother and father.

But unexpectedly, she was so clever and studious.

Zuo Lan patted Zhong Xiao’s hand.

“Xiao Xiao, don’t worry. No matter what happens, Aunt will stand by you. Even if you hadn’t found anything, we would have begun deploying reconnaissance and rescue operations around the West Sea Archipelago soon. You merely allowed us to act sooner. Regardless of whether we find them or not, you mustn’t feel too much psychological burden, understand?”

Zhong Xiao nodded heavily.

What she didn’t tell anyone was—

She was confident.

They would be found.