"All the hidden posts on the European route you care most about." Charles Yin's deep voice made Captain Hans's eyes suddenly light up.
"You're a real friend." Captain Hans nodded to Charles Yin. "Thanks a lot."
"If there's nothing else, we'll go rest first." Charles Yin wrapped his arm around Cecilia Gu and turned to leave. "We'll be staying at your base for a few more days, so give your people a heads-up. If anyone messes with my people, I won't go easy on them!"
Hans couldn't help but complain, "Hey, hey, hey, this is my turf, shouldn't you show me some respect?"
"Nope." Charles Yin replied with swagger.
Miles Gu and Ethan Yin also came along this time and were kept here as well.
They were supposed to come in the second half of the year, but because they were having too much fun, their training got bumped up.
Sherry Yuan stood outside the barbed wire, watching Miles Gu and Ethan Yin run laps with weights on their backs on the playground.
There was an instructor timing them with a stopwatch. If they slowed down even a little, they'd get hit with a stick.
Watching this made Sherry Yuan's eyebrows twitch uncontrollably.
"Scared?" Captain Hans stood next to Sherry Yuan, watching Ethan Yin and Miles Gu on the playground. "Look at them—out there, they're privileged heirs, the next generation of tycoons, commanding respect. But here, they're just ordinary trainees, subject to the toughest training. No one gives them special treatment because of their status. If they fail, they face the harshest punishments."
"What kind of punishment?" Sherry Yuan asked.
"Could be hunger, cold, sleepless nights, solitary confinement, even whipping, hanging upside down, or just having their legs broken." Captain Hans answered calmly.
Sherry Yuan couldn't help but shiver. "Will I have to go through that too?"
"What do you think?" Captain Hans shot back. "You can still choose to refuse and leave with Cecilia Gu and the others. Given Cecilia's personality, she wouldn't make things hard for you. She'd give you some money and send you somewhere safe, so you could live out your days in peace."
Sherry Yuan was very clever. She asked again, "So I have a choice now. One is to be an ordinary person—safe, but never able to get close to them. The other is a path full of thorns, but if I succeed, I get a chance to repay this kindness. Is that it?"
"You're smart." Captain Hans patted Sherry Yuan on the head. "There's a third possibility—you could die here. My base has a death rate over 20%. There's a good chance you won't live long enough to pay anyone back."
Sherry Yuan fell silent, saying nothing more.
Captain Hans didn't say anything else either, just silently watched the two kids training on the field.
Miles Gu and Ethan Yin finished their laps in record time. Without a break, they dashed straight into the obstacle course for cross-country training.
Miles Gu adjusted the weights on his back and said to Ethan Yin, "Regretting coming here, huh? We were supposed to start training in two months, but now we've got two extra months of this."
Ethan Yin was too exhausted to speak, replying weakly, "How was I supposed to know the instructor would be this brutal? Can't we just visit without having to train? I don't even want to complain anymore."
Just then, the supervising instructor chimed in calmly, "I'll report everything you say to the officer. Because you two talk too much, that's twenty more minutes of obstacle running!"
Miles Gu: "..."
Ethan Yin: "..."
The two were exhausted, but Yina Yin was so envious she couldn't sit still. She clung to Cecilia Gu, saying, "Mommy, I want to go play with my brothers too!"
"Be good, Yina! Your brothers are training, not playing." Cecilia Gu held Yina Yin's little hand and said, "You can't disturb their training, okay?"
Yina Yin became even more envious!
What should she do?
Her brothers are so cool!
That makes her feel less cool!
No way, she has to be more 'manly' in the future—she's got to be even cooler than her brothers!
Cecilia Gu was teasing Yina Yin when she saw Charles Yin walking over with a furrowed brow. She immediately looked up. "What's wrong?"
"Cecilia, I need to tell you something, but you have to stay calm first." Charles Yin hugged Cecilia Gu, his expression growing even more serious.
"What is it?" Cecilia Gu laughed. "What could possibly make me lose my cool?"
"Yun Morong is in trouble!" Charles Yin held Cecilia Gu tightly, his voice low. "My cousin just sent me a message—he wants us to search along the way!"
Cecilia Gu's legs buckled and she collapsed into Charles Yin's arms, her face suddenly pale as snow. "How could this be? My sister..."
"My cousin said she accidentally discovered a new kind of tea tree, and through some channels, found out it was near a primeval jungle in the South Pacific. She went to investigate with a team of bodyguards, but two days ago, she disappeared!" Charles Yin's eyes flashed with pain, but he knew he had to tell Cecilia Gu, or she'd be furious if she found out later.
"Charles, hurry and save her, I want to go..." Cecilia Gu was so anxious she couldn't finish her sentence, clutching Charles Yin's arm and looking at him desperately for help.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine!" Charles Yin comforted Cecilia Gu. "She's Yun Nuo, after all. She may not be strong, but she's smart enough to avoid danger."
Cecilia Gu wasn't comforted at all; she just got more worried. "Even though she's much healthier now, she's still just a regular person. The terrain here is so complicated—what if there are primitive tribes? What good is being smart if my sister runs into cannibals..."
Seeing Cecilia Gu getting more and more anxious, Charles Yin quickly interrupted her. "Don't overthink it! If she dared to come here, she must've prepared. We'll go borrow some people from Captain Hans—his team knows the area best."
Cecilia Gu nodded quickly. "Charles, go borrow some people—let's head out right away, okay?"
Seeing Cecilia Gu's pale face, Charles Yin felt terrible for her. He stopped talking, set her down on the sofa, and went to find Captain Hans to borrow some men and get a map of the area.
Captain Hans would never choose a busy, crowded place for his base. It's too hard to stay hidden that way.
That's why, like a clever rabbit with three burrows, his bases are scattered in remote, rarely visited places.
One of his bases was actually very close to where Yun Morong disappeared.
Captain Hans was generous enough to give Charles Yin a detailed map of that base. He frowned, "Why is your cousin-in-law or whatever going to a place like this? It's all primeval jungle, full of poisonous insects and wild beasts. She doesn't have jungle survival experience—what's she doing there?"
Charles Yin carefully put away the map.
Here, even satellite maps are useless.
Because of magnetic interference, all satellite maps are inaccurate. In fact, the most primitive hand-drawn maps are the safest and most reliable.
"That's because you don't really know her," Charles Yin replied calmly. "She used to be a genius, with thousands of encyclopedias in her head, but she was so frail she couldn't even leave the house. The more she read, the more she longed for the outside world. When she finally got healthy, her biggest wish was to explore places she'd never dared to dream of. Besides being a poet and writer, she's also an expert in biology, botany, intangible cultural heritage, and speaks more than a dozen languages. She can master a new language in just a few days. All of Cecilia's talent comes from her—she taught Cecilia everything. If you think Cecilia is amazing, imagine how talented her sister is. Do you think someone like that would settle for an ordinary life?"
Captain Hans raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Who exactly is she?"
"Cecilia's sister—her closest family." Charles Yin put away the map and nodded to Hans. "I owe you for this. I'll make sure you get properly rewarded."
Captain Hans didn't ask any more questions and saw Charles Yin off.
When they set out, Cecilia Gu kept the truth from the kids. They couldn't know about this—otherwise, they'd be too distracted.
So, Cecilia Gu just told the kids that they'd already dropped off Sherry Yuan, so it was time to leave.
Rona Muir and Jiro Hirayama had already gotten the news and insisted on coming along. Cecilia Gu couldn't refuse.
They figured Jiro Hirayama's impressive biochemical combat skills might bring unexpected help and support.
Rona Muir had spent years rock climbing and hiking outdoors, so her physical fitness was no problem at all.
Charles Yin was no problem at all; the only one at risk was Cecilia Gu. But Cecilia insisted on going herself—otherwise, she'd be too anxious and give herself away at the base.
Charles Yin brought several personal bodyguards to protect Cecilia Gu.
Captain Hans's team was responsible for everyone else's safety and logistics.
Fifteen people packed up, fully prepared, and parachuted into the area where Yun Morong disappeared. They made contact with Yun Morong's bodyguards.
Yun Morong's bodyguards were so anxious they'd developed blisters from stress. When they saw Cecilia Gu and the others arrive, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Mr. Yin, Mrs. Yin, thank goodness you're here! We've already done a grid search where Mrs. Jiang went missing, but there's still no news! Here are all the search reports!"
Now that Yun Morong had married Jiang Yihai, she was naturally Mrs. Jiang.
Charles Yin took the reports, read them, and handed them to Cecilia Gu.
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir finished reading and passed them to Jiro Hirayama.
After reading, Jiro Hirayama looked up at the sky and said softly, "The air here smells strange."
Yun Morong's bodyguard quickly explained, "This is a primeval jungle area, so to keep everyone safe, we've cleared the surrounding trees and vegetation. All the branches were burned, so what you're smelling is probably smoke."