Chapter 72
Where’s the air support drop?
In the sky, flying, being hoisted by a helicopter, such a large supply drop?
All the players on the ground looked up, craning their necks in confusion, still unable to figure out what was happening.
The helicopter, following its pre-set flight path, slowly flew to the planned drop location. In front of the four teams preparing to compete for the supplies, it gradually dropped a long, thick hemp rope that had been broken. The point of impact was charred black, and there was nothing below.
It was a lonely drop.
After completing the “drop” motion, the helicopter continued to fly forward.
He Su shouted, “Hey, there’s nothing here!”
But this question was clearly in vain.
The program had no emotions, and the code had no reason.
The helicopter did not answer his question and continued flying without a hint of feeling.
He Su, looking hurt, bounced a couple of times in place: “What the heck? Can’t it at least check if the supplies were properly delivered to us? What’s going on with this air support? Totally unreliable! There’s nothing less reliable than our superiors…”
The captain held him down, signaling him to stop making a fuss.
The bullet comments responded to his question:
[Hello, there is.]
[There’s hot food to eat, and they’re sending weapons. Isn’t that reliable? Much more reliable than the enemy.]
[So funny, doesn’t the production team consider letting Tong Zhao understand what they’re saying?]
[I suspect that if Sister Zhao heard it, she’d be so furious that she’d start shooting at all the sharks.]
The resource supply drop that sparked the dispute was intercepted, and everyone lost their reason to initiate a conflict. Kong Yeming took the initiative to talk to the two teams who looked hesitant, sharing the information he knew and the potential situations they might face, in order to gain their trust.
Reflecting on the tragic deaths of the Thunder team members, Kong Yeming couldn’t help but feel a bit gloomy: “Looking back now, two people guarding the night really isn’t safe enough.”
“After all, we don’t have many people; Brother Kong has already thought things through thoroughly.”
The Thunder team members comforted him in return.
Kong Yeming waved his hand and continued, “Now that all fifteen of us are gathered here, it means that the person who shot down the supply drop earlier doesn’t belong to our camp. They are likely one of the Empire’s lackeys, one of those who killed our team members. Since we were able to learn the location of the gas drop in advance, it’s also possible that they know we have a supply drop coming.”
“So that person just now…”
Moon Team member A recalled.
Everything happened very quickly, and with Duan Ge standing on top of a water tank on a rooftop, it was too high. When they heard the gunshot and looked over, they only caught a fleeting shadow and couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman. However, both teams were frightened by Kong Yeming’s description of the brutal enemy, and coupled with the incredible marksmanship that seemed to have an aimbot, the team quickly agreed to take action together after a brief discussion.
The Moon Team agreed, and the Star Team had no choice but to nod and join in.
This wasn’t because their team names had a sense of harmony or couple dynamics.
The Star Team captain thought to himself, “If I’m the only one who doesn’t join, wouldn’t our four people become isolated targets? Acting as a group is the safest option.”
Since the two teams had encountered each other before Director Chen decided to change to a “common language” format, the events that had occurred couldn’t be altered. Thus, the language between the two teams remained unintelligible, and they relied on the remaining survivors to translate.
From Duan Ge’s perspective, it sounded like a perfectly identical encrypted communication in gibberish.
It was something akin to “wabi wabi, wabi baba.”
“After hearing about Mr. Shen’s (the fallen Thunder Night Watcher) experiences, I’m too scared to go to the restroom alone,” one member of the Star Team said with a bitter smile.
Even though these survivors had never directly encountered the assassin, the ominous shadow of terror weighed heavily on their hearts. In Kong Yeming’s description, they possessed the combat power to quickly subdue four tall adult men, patiently lurking, and would never engage in prolonged battles after eliminating one target.
All they had seen were cold corpses; they had never witnessed a fight.
“This is just like a vengeful spirit…” he whispered.
At that moment, the live broadcast displayed a line of special effects text in white against a black background:
“The mysterious assassin no one has ever seen, a predator moving through the darkness…”
“So, in the imagination of the contestants, what do they think the assassin looks like?”
Bullet screen: [This way of speaking has a Japanese variety show vibe to it.]
[The world’s poorest assassin!]
[The rabbit princess reigning over Canaan City?]
A blue line appeared above the heads of the fifteen contestants, and as they pulled it upward, fifteen scanned images appeared with a swish—
These images embodied the empire’s assassin as imagined in their minds: muscular and brawny men, a classic bearded killer wearing sunglasses, lean figures that clearly seemed like they could take action, and a few who were too timid to imagine anything, resulting in a mental image of nothing but deep black fog.
Through the same actions of description, the images that people conjured up could differ vastly.
However, they all shared one common point…
[Uh, why are they all male?]
Among the fifteen scanned images, not a single one depicted a woman.
In the contestants’ imaginations, they defaulted to the assumption that this powerful and cold assassin was male.
The live broadcast screen was briefly dominated by question marks and ellipses.
Stereotypes regarding gender and strength reside deep within people’s hearts; we all know they exist, yet when they are blatantly displayed on the screen, ordinary individuals still feel discomfort. After a moment of unease, the audience began to anticipate their reactions upon finally encountering the assassin in person.
So, what is the beautiful and handsome assassin sister doing?
The live camera panned to the top floor of an abandoned industrial building, which was also Duan Ge’s “birth point.”
A wisp of white mist rose.
Duan Ge was having a meal.
She opened two large cans.
One was sardines in tomato sauce, and the other was a can of luncheon meat.
Duan Ge placed the fish and meat on top of the self-heating rice, pressing it down tightly, and let it steam for a while. When she opened the lid, the audience was struck by the excessiveness of this meal… the sweet and sour tomato sauce from the sardines seeped into the slightly hard rice, and each bite was filled with meat, the savory flavor coating her entire palate.
After several consecutive meals of bland, tasteless instant noodles, Duan Ge’s sense of taste had almost been neglected.
This steaming can-topped rice completely awakened her taste buds!
She ate quietly, without making exaggerated slurping sounds, her brows and eyes subtly curving with happiness, which was incredibly contagious.
[Ah, this…]
In that moment, even those who weren’t fans of Tong Zhao could understand her cute point.
This was clearly a rare instance of a bunny getting a hearty meal!
With such a cute bunny, why would they let her go hungry? The production team deserves a beating!
Tong Zhao’s looks really can make an impact.
While fans were being charmed, some passersby couldn’t tear their eyes away from the screen, secretly thinking.
Duan Ge was obviously starving.
When she ate heartily, her expression was focused and serious, her cheeks bulging with rice and meat, completely contrasting with the cold and capable image she usually projected 90% of the time. If she behaved like this all the time, it would lose its special charm; people are creatures of novelty, needing visual stimulation, and occasionally seeing this kind of side on screen…
Ah, it’s hard to tell whether it’s the aroma of the rice or the scent of Tong Zhao.
…
After finishing her meal, Duan Ge eagerly began to examine the spoils of this round.
In the production team’s plans, Kong Yeming and his team were supposed to seize the airdrop, gaining weapons and an advantage, slightly tipping the scales in their favor. The airdrop box contained a variety of weapons—
First was the most common type, a rifle that was easy to use.
She looked at the three fully loaded magazines in her hand and then at the one bullet her dog-like boss had given her, now already fired from the empty handgun…
Duan Ge felt a surge of dissatisfaction again.
There was a very powerful machine gun, and when Duan Ge’s fair little hand touched the black firearm, a segment of official commentary appeared:
“The production team did not provide Tong Zhao with the instructions or usage for these weapons.”
“Because they were not prepared for her at all…!!”
The underlying resentment in the words amused the audience.
But could this really stump Duan Ge?
Not a chance.
“This gun has a very fast firing rate; it’s a bit unstable, so I need to be careful,” she pondered. “But it’s great for defending a building; it can handle multiple opponents pretty well.”
The box also contained two sniper rifles and an eight-times scope.
“If I take this…”
Duan Ge curled her lips, creating a troubled arc.
The audience thought she wouldn’t be able to use the sniper rifle.
“Isn’t that a bit unfair?”
…
“Alright, I’m willing to call her the strongest force.”
“If anyone else said that, I’d think they were just trying to show off, but my sister Zhao really can do it.”
“By the way, didn’t we find out about Tong Zhao’s background before? After seeing all her impressive moves in the reality show, I still think this girl is incredible; she’s not like ordinary people.”
“I’m a bit confused—did Tong Zhenming raise his daughter with the intent of making her a special forces soldier?”
Tong Zhenming felt innocent, but he wasn’t entirely sure.
Because Tong Zhao’s school emphasized “quality education,” she took numerous extracurricular classes. Not to mention the usual ones like piano, violin, tennis, and calligraphy, but some boys were interested in learning shooting. Anyway, he was only responsible for transferring the tuition fees from his card each semester. What if Tong Zhao had learned these things without him knowing? He could only scoff at the thought that she didn’t act like a proper girl.
Just as the comments were discussing Tong Zhao’s background, a line of official special effects text appeared again:
“Even if you’re cheating, you have to follow the basic rules!”
“Since this is an exclusive weapon for fugitives, the little thief rabbit is prohibited from using it /heart/heart.”
The official commentary subtitle was being cute, but the analysis that followed was very serious: “The weapon resources from the reinforcements utilize brand new technology. The fingerprints of all twenty survivors can unlock these weapons, and they cannot be used unless unlocked.”
“Cold weapons are not subject to this restriction.”
In other words, although she was restricted from exclusively using these bug-like weapons, she still obtained a crowbar, a crossbow, an axe, and the telescope she had longed for.
After all, this unexpected operation of intercepting the airdrop was an impressive maneuver that the production team highly recognized. They couldn’t simply discourage her enthusiasm for completing the mission but could only secretly adjust the balance.
…
The more cute she acted in front of the audience, the more seasoned she was behind the scenes.
Director Chen lit a cigarette, biting it with satisfaction: “Fortunately, the batch of firearms we rented came with identity verification functions; otherwise, we would have been in serious trouble.”
“Even humanoid self-driving hacks need to be sanctioned by the officials!”