There would always be some guests of n.o.ble dignity visiting the desolated, poor campsite.
Every one of the veterans at the border was already used to this weird phenomenon.
The whole campsite didn’t have a code name, and yet it was a regimental organization specifically written on the military archives of Zhongzhou State, and it was of quite a high level, but in fact, all of its people combined couldn’t even fill an elite company. This campsite that included less than one hundred people had been staying at the border for over twenty years, with only frontline but no rear area. According to the map of Zhongzhou State, this campsite was the closest place to Annan State, and it was at the very front.
It was the rainy season, so the mild rain was dropping on the whole original forest. It wasn’t raining heavily, but it didn’t seem to stop any time soon. It rained all day, as if there was only the sound of wind and rain left in the world.
The rain was surrounding the whole forest.
The forest was surrounding the campsite.
The world seemed to forget about this campsite that had no weapons of ma.s.s destruction, no backup, even no supply. Seen from above, the atmosphere was quiet, sad even.
There was no specific rules or regulations in the campsite, because it was essentially the last shelter for a group of soreheads. Although it was called a military camp, a certain level of freedom and survival was the first priority of the people on camp. There was no military discipline there. People trained themselves, so there wouldn’t be any violation. Deep in the forest where the Emperor was so far away, the rules of Zhongzhou State couldn’t reach there apparently. For these dozens of veterans, as long as the old man in the campsite stayed quiet, no one, not even the President, could order them around.
The helicopter circled down in the air, from the perspective high above, through the rain, everything could be seen clearly. It was quiet in the campsite. People in military uniform walked by once in a while, but they looked very casual and careless. As the helicopter got lower and lower, the hovering sound of the propeller was loud enough to shake the whole campsite, but the campsite was still quiet like it was asleep. No one came out to welcome them.
“Look down, what does it look like?”
In the cabin of the helicopter, an average-looking middle-aged man asked in a small voice.
There was plenty of s.p.a.ce in the cabin with very few pa.s.sengers, two of them, to be exact. One was standing and one was sitting. The middle-aged man who was sitting supported his chin on his hand in a casual way. He stared at the campsite zooming in with a calm face, but he started to narrow his eyes.
This was a man that looked like he was in his forties, in a nice suit, and with an average-looking face, but his hair was combed in a neat fashion, looking casual but graceful. Some military elites that served to be temporary waiters were standing on the other side of the cabin. There were intense respect and honor in their eyes, even some fanaticism caught in their eyes.
This middle-aged man wasn’t intimidating in any way. He was gentle and quiet, but he radiated a sense of broad-mindedness and greatness, like a starry sky. Underneath his calmness, everything he did radiated majesty.
He looked at the campsite below without blinking. Well, he was staring rather than looking.
“Military discipline is nowhere to be found, and this place is a whole mess. Without any regulation, this doesn’t look like a campsite at all!”
A man of the same age stood next to the middle-aged man. But different from his calm, broad-minded temper, he was the standard kind of man that showed his aggressiveness. He had a strong and tall body with a stern look. He looked extremely brave and fierce in that General military uniform. This General of Zhongzhou State stood by the middle-aged man like the most loyal guard, though he was complaining, he didn’t sound very angry, he sounded like he didn’t give a d.a.m.n about the whole thing.
The helicopter was about to land.
The General pointed at the Star Flag of Zhongzhou State hanging outside the cabin, and said in a careless way, “These guys here are insulting the Army, insulting this flag.”
The Star Flag.
This was the national flag of Zhongzhou State. In the Army, at the border, this was the pride of a nation floating in the air every day. It was holy, majestic and represented the utmost honor.
“Insult?”
The average-looking middle-aged man raised his eyebrows, and his eyes getting deeper and more intense. As the view outside the window getting lower and lower along with the helicopter’s landing, he laughed and said in a soft voice, “Are they insulting the Star Flag? Or is the Star Flag insulting them?”
“What…”
The General’s expression changed, and he was unable to find a word to say.
The middle-aged man took a deep breath and then pointed at the campsite outside the cabin again. “What does it look like?”
The General looked outside the window, and then looked at the middle-aged man again. He was confused.
“Like a pack of fierce tigers which remain dormant.”
The middle-aged man talked to himself. “This is their lair. Military discipline is nowhere to be found? I know you are in favor of the wolfpack tactics, which values teamwork and cooperation. But all that is left here are a pack of fierce tigers. Using tactics means a lack of strength. When the individual power reaches the top, the so-called rules and regulations won’t make them stronger, on the contrary, it will only be a burden for them.”
“You can tell me I’m wrong, and you can make examples to refute me, but I’ll stick to my opinion.”
His voice was low and soft, and there was the light of persistence shining in his eyes. “You can make those examples from your perspective, only because they aren’t strong enough.”
The helicopter finally landed.
A middle-aged woman that looked in her forties walked slowly towards them from the campsite. She stared at the open cabin while looking calm and numb.
The middle-aged man stepped out of the helicopter first, and the strong, fierce General followed him around closely.
It was still raining in the forest. The raindrops knocked on the whole original forest that was located on the southwest border of Zhongzhou State. The dry heat in the campsite cooled down a bit, but it started to feel muggy which was more irritating. It seemed even the weather was hostile to the campsite that was remembered and then forgotten on purpose by Zhongzhou State for many years. The second they walked out of the cabin, they felt a smothering heat. The middle-aged man, who only looked young on the outside, felt dizzy instantly and couldn’t catch his breath.
“I’m old.”
The middle-aged man stood in front of the cabin door for a while and took several deep breaths. When he got used to the air around him, he laughed at himself.
“You’re at the peak of your health. It’s just the weather here is really terrible.”
The General supported the middle-aged man calmly and said.
The man shook his head and walked out of the cabin.
Outside the cabin, the middle-aged woman, who was watching everything quietly and numbly, took a step forward and said in a plain tone, “I’m Qingye, please follow me.”
Qingye… Qingye…
The middle-aged man didn’t react in any way, but the General aside suddenly realized something after mumbling the code name twice. Although he knew about this place, at that moment, he felt very surprised.
The General straightened up subconsciously and looked like he was about to make a military salute. But as he raised his hand in the air, he saw the woman’s empty shoulder badge, then put down his hand.
He thought for a while, then twitched the corners of his mouth. He said with a respectful expression, “Are you the Captain of the Totem Detachment? Qingye, Major General Qingye?”
The Totem Detachment of Zhongzhou State.
In the whole Special Warfare System, the Totem Detachment was one of the elite special warfare agencies. For the whole Zhongzhou State, this was a very old agency. Although now it was just an agency of vice governor level, it could match most of the agencies of governor level. The General was one of the biggest authorities of Zhongzhou State right now, but when he was younger, he was trained in the Totem Detachment, so he had met Qingye before.
In his memories, she was an extremely beautiful woman. Now many years had pa.s.sed and he met Qingye again, he found that what impressed him the most in those days was the shiny badge of Major General on her shoulder.
Qingye nodded with a cold face. The Totem Detachment… Hearing this name after so many years, she didn’t feel anything. Now that she thought about the twenty years of ups and downs, the past pride and glory, she felt like it happened in another lifetime.
“Please.”
Qingye turned around and led the way, walking ahead straight to the wooden building at the center of the campsite that was slightly taller than the others.
Watching that face turned around, beautiful as before but with a little bit more trace of time, the General took a deep breath, then followed the middle-aged man closely and walked to the wooden stairs.
This place wasn’t far away from the wooden building at the campsite center, with a distance of about a hundred meters. The wooden building was tall enough for them to see everything below clearly.
When the hovering sound of the helicopter propeller disappeared completely, Li Honghe, who had been running this special campsite of Zhongzhou State for twenty years, stood by the door and watched the three people walking towards him in the rain.
The face of the middle-aged man was getting clear.
Li Honghe narrowed his eyes and watched calmly, but it seemed that he wasn’t going to walk downstairs and welcome them.
“Grandpa Li, another visitor?”
A voice rang out behind Li Honghe.
In the room which was uncomfortable to be in spite of being wooden, a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes were meditating. When the hovering sound of the helicopter disappeared, he opened his eyes and stood up from the bed.
The young man seemed like he was twenty-four or twenty-five, and looked kinda dull. He wasn’t tall but very fit and strong. He walked towards Li Honghe. There wasn’t any momentum in his pace, but it felt natural and rhythmic.
This was the most talented young man in the camp beside Li Tianlan, the son of Qingye. After Li Tianlan left, Li Honghe personally ordered the young man to move into the wooden building, personally trained him and taught him Martial Arts.
“Yeah, a big shot came for a visit.”
Li Honghe stood there in silence with a kind and soft smile on his face, but there was some heaviness in his eyes. “It looks like Tianlan has done a good job in Huating.”
For the whole campsite, what Li Tianlan achieved outside the campsite interested them the most. The young man’s eyes lit up, his dull face got alive gradually, then he let out some goofy laughs.
“It seems we need to change the plan.”
Li Honghe stared at the middle-aged man and the General approaching him and talked to himself in a small voice. Then he asked suddenly, “w.a.n.gsheng, do you want to get out of here? To help Tianlan?”
The young man named w.a.n.gsheng was surprised, opened his mouth subconsciously and looked at Li Honghe dumbfounded. Then he stuttered, “Grand… grandpa Li, ca… can I?”
“Sure you can, if you want to.”
Li Honghe laughed softly, without showing any emotion.
“I…”
After a short excitement, the young man soon calmed down. He took a deep breath and the light of thinking shining in his eyes. w.a.n.gsheng thought about a lot of things in less than a minute. When the middle-aged man down there was reaching the wooden stairs, he said in a soft voice, “Grandpa Li, I want to get out of here, but…”
“There’s no ‘but’.”
Li Honghe lifted his chin and looked at the middle-aged man from above, saying softly, “Today you’re entering the secular world with him.”
At the same time.
Qingye appeared down the wooden building with the middle-aged man and the General in military uniform.
The upstairs and the downstairs.
The actual age gap between the two men wasn’t very big, at least it was a lot smaller than it looked. The two men took a glance at each other.
The middle-aged man laughed softly, then took a deep bow to Li Honghe upstairs. “Li Huacheng is here to greet Senior Li.”
The General suddenly changed his face, followed the move and took a bow.
On the upstairs, Li Honghe slightly narrowed his eyes and stayed quiet for a while before he said in a calm tone, “Come up here.”
He turned around and walked into the damp wooden room.
The young man named w.a.n.gsheng followed him quietly, then laughed subconsciously and asked him, “Grandpa Li, his last name is Li, too. Is he some kind of big shot?”
“A lot of people have Li as last name.”
Li Honghe gave a soft smile. “As for big shot… Ha, at least right now, n.o.body is bigger than him in the whole Zhongzhou State.”
He shook his head, with emotions and heavy surprise.
Li Huacheng!
The Director of Zhongzhou State Decision Making Committee.
The Minister of Zhongzhou State Military Ministry.
The big boss of the Academics.
The name that seemed strange to the whole campsite, was extremely well-known on the outside in Zhongzhou State that had a population of 1.5 billion.
Because behind the series of big t.i.tles, he was also something way more important.
The President of Zhongzhou State.
Li Huacheng!
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