Chapter 60

Yang Ning pondered for a moment: "No, looking at this situation, it's impossible that they are coming for us."

Fu Luo's long-stalled thinking level began a retaliatory rebound, her IQ took a direct rocket, shooting up a dozen levels at once. As soon as she heard this, she immediately demonstrated her professional qualities, picking up on Yang Ning's words: "Right, even if it was a rescue, we definitely wouldn't go all-in with everyone. Probing would be the priority - very likely only sending one or two small teams. As long as the other side doesn't want to tip their hand, they definitely wouldn't make such a big scene."

Yang Ning looked at her with great surprise. Fu Luo's eyelashes weren't dry yet, her eyes appeared moist, clearly in a state of great sorrow followed by great joy.

Although he didn't want to eavesdrop, Yang Ning inevitably overheard snippets of her argument with Fu Xiaoxin. While finding it both funny and exasperating, he couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

So how exactly did she switch from brain-dead idol drama mode to tough military drama mode in one second? Yang Ning pondered but couldn't figure it out, only able to conclude that "she probably has two systems in her brain."

"So our special forces should be nearby, and they must have received inside information confirming the flight path was correct. This ambush is targeting them." Fu Luo quickly reached a conclusion. "What should we do?"

Yang Ning didn't respond. He found it a bit unbelievable. While observing Fu Luo, Yang Ning couldn't help but wonder, in such a short time, how could a person grow to this extent?

Fu Luo felt uncomfortable under his gaze and cleared her throat: "...Colonel?"

Yang Ning asked back: "What do you think?"

Fu Luo paused, as if not expecting her superior to ask for her opinion. She was used to learning mode - when encountering a situation, she would think it over in her mind without voicing it, and compare it with the plans proposed by colleagues or leaders to fill in her own gaps.

Fu Luo went over the words in her mind twice before tentatively speaking: "I think we should temporarily hold our position for now. We are in a small vessel that's not easy to be discovered when hidden. We should first observe before making a decision."

Although this statement sounded prudent, it was equivalent to saying nothing—a noncommittal opinion.

If it was someone else, Yang Ning would have most likely sneered and let it go. But he just didn't want to let Fu Luo off the hook. Contrary to his usual style, he pressed: "Then if during the observation, our special forces appear and fall into the enemy's encirclement, do you plan to continue watching or mount a rescue?"

"Of course, we'd rescue them." Fu Luo answered without hesitation.

Yang Ning: "How would we rescue them?"

Fu Luo raised her hand to pull out a virtual coordinate system. With her finger, she drew an arc on the touchscreen, then marked three points on the semicircular arc: "These are the places where the enemy has set up an ambush, here is where their forces are concentrated. Ahead are the coordinates included in the inside information we received. If our speculation is correct, most of their attention is drawn in that direction. If our comrades appear, we can arrange a team to launch a sneak attack from behind, forming a semi-encirclement to open a gap in their lines as quickly as possible. The cooling time for large ships is long to begin with, and now they are surrounded by small vessels. They won't be able to react quickly. But we have curvature drives. Our forces can't directly confront theirs, we can only fully utilize our nimbleness and mobility."

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Yang Ning immediately asked: "But have you considered, what kind of vessels are the special forces piloting? Even if they are piloting our military's original vessels, they haven't undergone curvature drive upgrades. Warping may not be successful."

Fu Luo didn't know why he was suddenly pressing her step by step like this, but still responded swiftly: "The other two teams set up an ambush here to provide cover. As soon as the other side pursues, immediately snipe with heavy firepower. During this time we can complete personnel docking. If it really doesn't work, then abandon the corresponding warship."

Fu Luo paused, silently calculating in her mind: "If I'm operating, the docking process can be completed in no more than one minute."

Yang Ning stopped and looked at her with a half-smile.

Fu Luo instantly came back to her senses from the state of rapid response. For a moment, she couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive. Not very confidently, she added: "I...I'm just saying casually, it's all my own understanding, maybe not quite right either."

Yang Ning glanced at her, then turned to the intranet that had opened at some unknown time: "You all heard, I don't have anything to add for now, execute as she said."

"First team, roger."

"Second team, roger."

Fu Luo: "..."

No...wait, what kind of situation is this?! For such an important battle, letting her, a B-rank soldier - and a B-rank that got lucky and skipped ranks - do the briefing?

Colonel Yang is crazy!

"Teams one and two provide cover, team three is the main assault force. B-rank soldier Fu Luo!"

Fu Luo reflexively clicked her heels together: "Yes!"

Yang Ning: "I will be responsible for coordinating the three teams. The combat command task for the third team is handed to you."

Fu Luo: "Yes...ah?"

She suddenly realized what she had agreed to, instantly feeling a wave of numbness on her scalp.

Even if her individual combat level had already reached the realm of "martial arts master" under Yesi's guidance, it didn't mean she was qualified for the role of commander. But since Yang Ning had spoken, this became her battlefield task. No matter how unconfident she was, Fu Luo couldn't back down on the frontlines.

"You and your big mouth, why did you have to offer an opinion?" She silently said to herself.

Yang Ning lightly raised an eyebrow: "Any problems?"

"Correction, no."

Fu Luo took a deep breath and nervously took out a reader. She started recording various coordinates with full concentration, carefully calculating bit by bit like when playing a long game of Go.

She didn't notice at all that in the small command room, Yang Ning's gaze remained on her the whole time.

This time, Yang Ning personally led the team. With so many people in the General Staff Office, he finally decided to only bring Fu Luo.

Yang Ning felt that when he originally wanted Fu Luo from the ground staff department, it was no different from rummaging through a flea market, first having an expectation of "this thing isn't worth much". She didn't look like some dust-covered pearl either, just looked fairly pleasing to the eye, so he casually stuffed her in his pocket and took her away.

Although at that time, Fu Luo demonstrated solid fundamentals and reliable personal abilities, it wasn't enough to make Yang Ning remember her especially.

Who knew that on the first day of her enlistment, she would bring him a surprise.

Smashing open a two-yuan clay pot bought from the flea market, there was actually real treasure inside.

Yang Ning secretly paid close attention, but although he had a great way of dealing with people, his personality was not very outgoing. In an elite team like the Second Department, the commander needed to maintain a certain authority, and he couldn't be as close with the team leader and members as Dagger was in the long run.

Apart from work, Yang Ning always maintained a certain distance from his subordinates in private. Even if he was "paying attention", it was a kind of "attention" that no one could see.

Yang Ning had always felt that Fu Luo was a surprise wrapped in a clay pot, but it wasn't until the war began that he discovered she was not just a "surprise", but a "rare treasure".

Everyone knew that the pirate leader Yesi was a bastard. If it weren't for the fact that the Second Department needed to rely on his rich pirate experience to survive in this difficult time, Yang Ning would have shot him dead at the first opportunity to eliminate the hidden danger of instability.

That's right - although he had always maintained a superficially warm and friendly relationship with Yesi, deep down in Colonel Yang's heart, he had wanted to get rid of Yesi for a long time.

Especially when the old pirate threw Fu Luo into the enemy's encirclement right under his nose, the mature and steady Yang Ning accidentally broke a cup.

At that time, at least ten small starship pirates surrounded Fu Luo, and Yesi's arrogant whistling came through the internal communication system: "Go on, boy! Bite them to death, charge!"

If Yang Ning's nails hadn't been trimmed too flat, they would have pierced his palm. A sudden surge of anger rose in his heart - that was an elite of our General Staff Office, not a Tibetan Mastiff trained by this old turtle who was still serving his sentence!

Yang Ning suppressed his anger, reached out to press the communication button, and said quickly, "I'm going to gather reinforcements, give me the holographic map..."

He scanned the entire battlefield holographic map at a glance, quickly calculating the rescue route, but just a second before he gave the order, Fu Luo's voice came through the internal communicator.

She said two things at the time, which Yang Ning remembered vividly and could repeat verbatim.

One was, "I'm just a small ship, they won't have too much interest in me. At most I can hold off three to five enemy ships. Please be prepared to defend at the c02 position."

The other was, "Please have the comrades near the t008 coordinate area open up a gap in the encirclement for me, and I will lure the enemy in within three minutes."

In the midst of the gunfire, when she said this, she was shuttling through a dense formation of pirate ships at a speed many times faster than the speed of sound. Countless high-energy cannons swept past the hull, yet her voice didn't even tremble.

Not only Yang Ning, but the entire command room was dead silent at the time, all silently watching on the holographic map as the small starship, with incredible reaction speed, shot down an enemy small ship in the blink of an eye, emerging unscathed from the debris and ruins, like a comet with a long tail.

That time, Fu Luo finally cut off the tail of the ship to avoid a fatal shot, and lured the enemy behind her into the encirclement near the t008 coordinate point with pinpoint accuracy.

In the evening when they returned to the ship, Yang Ning personally went to the cabin door to greet them. He saw Yesi howling like a dog from afar, patting Fu Luo's shoulder: "Good boy!"

Surprisingly, Fu Luo was able to remain as usual, her attitude unchanged as she brushed his salty pig hand off her shoulder, while not forgetting to admonish him: "Senior Yesi, be more human."

As if she hadn't just nearly been killed by that man.

In the command cabin of the medium-sized ship on this Mid-Autumn Festival night, there were only two people. Yang Ning suddenly had the urge to talk to her. He raised his hand and turned off the two-way internal communication system: "Fu Luo."

Fu Luo: "Huh? Yes!"

Yang Ning paused for a moment, suddenly not knowing what to say to her. However, he had brought up the topic himself, so it wasn't good to leave her hanging halfway through. He could only randomly bring up a stiff topic: "Yesi has nearly gotten you killed several times, don't you hate him?"

Fu Luo also felt that his question was a bit out of place. She looked at Yang Ning blankly: "No."

Yang Ning narrowed his eyes slightly, a little displeased, feeling that she wasn't telling the truth - how could she not care at all about someone he really wanted to kill?

"He had no obligation to teach me in the first place, it was my own choice, how can I blame others?" Fu Luo said frankly, but after a while, she carefully considered and added, "But Yesi is indeed a full-fledged pirate. Although he can be used now, if there's anything to be entrusted to him in the future, it's best to be cautious, he... well, I think his worldview is a bit skewed."

Not seeing oneself, therefore bright; not asserting oneself, therefore distinguished; not boasting of one's ability, therefore meritorious; not being self-important, therefore enduring.

Suddenly, Yang Ning thought of a passage he had read a long time ago.

He pondered for a while, then suddenly said slowly, "You really impress me."

Fu Luo widened her eyes, not knowing what she had done again to impress her superior. Attention from Yang Ning was like a huge stage spotlight, making her involuntarily become apprehensive and shy.

But at this moment, the ground communications system suddenly sent a message that spoiled the mood. After quick decoding, it was soon presented to the Third Department's Command Center -

"To our dear comrades: The brothers are preparing to jump through fire hoops."