Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 536: Snow Line Rescue

The snowfield at 52 degrees north latitude was desolate and lonely.

A thick layer of snow was hard and cold; one step would sink past the knees.

Old Li shouted in the snow, “Everyone follow me! The first company, first platoon, will be the vanguard, breaking the trail; then the first company, second platoon; and so on. Everyone stay together. If anyone falls behind, don’t wait for them! I repeat, if anyone falls behind, don’t wait for them. It’s a matter of life or death!”

At A02 Base, the people were divided into three groups: the first was the Qing Family, the second was the Li Clan, and the third were convicts exiled from Shendai territory.

The Li Clan had been trapped at A02 Base for over ten years. Even so, they had secretly rebuilt their organization and structure; only in this way could their morale remain intact.

They outwardly obeyed Shendai’s torments but secretly maintained their discipline. That's why, even in prison, the Li Clan and Qing Family remained distinct groups, each resisting the other.

This was the last thing they could do.

It was the unyielding spirit of Li Clan soldiers – the structure remained, the military soul remained.

The reason Li Cheng said not to wait for anyone who fell behind was that over these ten years, they had learned to respect the power of the world.

On the desolate snowfield at 52 degrees north latitude, the trees were black and withered. There was no food, no supplies; they only wore thin winter clothes.

Forcibly rescuing someone would only drag down the entire team.

Therefore, all they could do was to press on and keep the memory of their comrades in their hearts.

Such was reality.

Li Cheng, in his forties, remained at the front of the team. As a C-Class Gene Soldier, he was the strongest and the pillar of morale for the Li Clan.

As long as he was at the front and still standing, the rest of the team would not scatter.

Li Cheng said to the first company commander, “Those damn Shendai never stick to the two-hour schedule. Who knows how much earlier they'll arrive this time. At least those outlaws exiled by Shendai are scattered, which buys us some time. Whether it’s enough to reach our target is uncertain. So, the team can't stop, not for a moment, understand?”

His exhaled breath turned to ice, his nose was red with cold, and icicles had already formed on his beard.

Looking ahead, Old Li murmured, “This time… let’s not think about returning to that hellhole. If we fall here, our souls will fly over the long snowfields, across the Spring Thunder River, and return to our homeland. Do you remember what our homeland looked like? I hardly do anymore.”

After an hour, Old Li finally saw the place he was looking for.

The drone’s humming approached from the rear. With a whoosh, the military drone flew over their heads before quickly returning.

Shendai had found them!

“Quick! Quick!” Old Li quickly trudged through the snow to his destination, frantically digging away the snow.

Then he dug into the hard earth beneath the snow.

Unexpectedly, there were weapons in the earth.

During each winter hunt, they would cleverly kill a few Shendai soldiers, then Li Cheng would activate a signal jammer and secretly transport the weapons to this location.

They knew that getting five or six automatic rifles at a time wasn't enough, so they had to save up until they had enough.

Even by Li Cheng's calculations, it would take a hundred years to collect five or six hundred guns, and some would already be rusted.

But… what if?

What if they got lucky and managed to obtain more one day? Opportunity favors the prepared.

Even if Li Cheng wouldn't live to see enough accumulated, he could leave it for those who came after, until someday someone would carry these guns and leave this hellhole.

Then, those who regained their freedom would head south, towards spring, towards freedom.

Li Cheng found contentment in this thought.

But when Li Cheng opened the eight wooden boxes, he found them filled with stones, excrement, and bones.

“Damn it! Shendai!” Old Li cursed.

Everyone looked at the boxes, imagining the Shendai soldiers’ gleeful (xue) expression as they replaced the weapons with excrement.

“What do we do?” someone asked in despair.

The contents of these eight boxes were their last hope, what would allow them to die with dignity.

But now, there was nothing.

Old Li abruptly turned, looking towards where the drone had flown, “Brothers, none of you want to return to that hellhole, do you? Nineteen years without freedom, I’ve had enough.”

“Enough!”

Old Li slowly walked back the way they had come, “We'll die, but we’ll die free.”

As he spoke, Old Li walked faster, finally breaking into a run!

Behind him, more and more people ran, filled with both fear and the longing for freedom.

In the distance, Old Li saw Shendai soldiers, their uniforms an object of their hatred.

The Shendai soldiers also saw them and raised their automatic rifles.

“Kill!” Li Cheng yelled.

“Kill!” Some raised the stones in their hands and yelled along.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The sound of heartbeats, and gunshots!

Old Li froze. Gunshots? Where were these intense gunshots coming from?

He looked around, but no one had fallen!

“No, the gunshots are coming from behind the Shendai troops! Something’s happening!”

The next moment, these eight hundred people gradually stopped, not from fear, but because the sudden change left them unsure of how to proceed.

Why would gunshots suddenly ring out from behind Shendai?!

Li Cheng stood in the snow and murmured, “It can’t be the people who came to save Qing Chen. If they were saving Qing Chen, it wouldn't be from this direction… It’s Qing Chen!”

“Old Li, you’re confused. Supervisor Qing Chen is still tied up in the pigsty.”

Old Li looked at the people behind him, “Then who else would come from the direction of A02 Base?”

Everyone was baffled. The situation had suddenly taken a turn, but the problem was… Qing Chen was alone.

How could one person be enough?

But the next moment, everyone suddenly looked towards the Shendai soldiers, where two figures darted back and forth among the Shendai soldiers.

In an instant, two dark figures passed by a Shendai soldier, and the soldier was split in two, as if an invisible blade had cut through him.

Between the two dark figures, there was an invisible blade!

Not only were people cut in half, but the trees that the two dark figures passed also fell down.

The prisoners were stunned. The killing method was too brutal and efficient.

In just one minute, the eight hundred-strong Shendai troop was repeatedly attacked by the moving shadows; no one could stop them.

“That shadow… does it look like that damn Shendai Yunzhi?”

“No, it looks like Supervisor Qing Chen.”

“It’s two people, they’re working together,” Old Li said, “They’re killing too quickly, we shouldn’t interfere!”

Old Li wasn’t afraid of death, he just knew he would hinder them!

All the prisoners stood there, hope suddenly dawning in the Face^[-] of despair.

A ray of light shone into the abyss.

Just as they were about to die for freedom, someone descended from heaven.

After an unknown amount of time, the sounds of battle in the snow forest gradually ceased.

The Li Clan stood where they were, not daring to breathe.

Slowly, Qing Chen’s figure emerged from the snow forest, followed by the now-puppeted Shendai Yunzhi, carrying a half-dead man.

Qing Chen walked to Old Li and calmly asked, “Can you still move?”

Old Li looked at Shendai Yunzhi; just now he thought Shendai Yunzhi had defected, but now, the man was covered in wounds, his eyes vacant, his hands bloody, and his wounds deep.

What did this look like? A suffering Living Dead!

Qing Chen asked again, “Can you still move?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Old Li said.

“By the way, what’s this person’s name?” Qing Chen lifted the officer, who was unconscious.

Old Li quickly said, “His name is Takahashi Izumi, an officer at A02 Base. I judge him to be a C-Class.”

“Mm,” Qing Chen nodded. He didn’t care about the man’s identity, he just needed someone fast to use as a puppet.

His current Marionette could already control two people.

As he spoke, everyone saw the unconscious Takahashi Izumi stand up like a puppet, his eyes vacant.

At that moment, everyone understood what had happened to Shendai Yunzhi.

This Supervisor Qing Chen actually had the ability to control B-Class experts!

At this point, Qing Chen no longer considered keeping his secrets or strength. To take everyone out, he had to go all out.

Qing Chen said to Old Li, “Take off the Shendai uniform and put it on, pick up any usable weapons, and follow me… I’ll take you all out of here.”

Old Li timidly asked, “May I confirm, are you truly the master of Autumn Leaf Manor?”

Qing Chen looked at him, “Yes.”

The prisoners looked at each other, almost moved to tears.

But at that moment, Li Cheng suddenly said, “You go ahead, you won’t be able to take us far.”

As soon as he said this, the Li Clan prisoners fell silent again. They knew what Li Cheng meant.