The King of Black Fog

The three of them boarded Zheng Qing's jeep, which bore special license plates, and immediately headed to the rendezvous point.

"Do we not need to change clothes?" Li Qianxia asked, seated in the back with Yang Qinglan.

She had originally planned to have frog legs with her girlfriends today, so she was wearing a black denim skirt with rolled hem, the hemline rising 20 centimeters above the knee. If it wasn't for the safety shorts she wore, Li Changzhou would have broken her legs.

As she would say—don't look at me with only a B-cup, but I have the heart of a spicy girl.

"We have military uniforms and gas masks ready at the gathering point," Zheng Qing explained.

The jeep charged forward, breezing through red lights; the situation was truly urgent, with many people in war-torn areas waiting for their only hope.

◇

Ming City's third military base.

An airstrip had already been cleared, and a military transport plane was parked to one side, with a group of fully-armed soldiers ready to deploy inside it.

"Lying drunk on the battlefield, Lord, do not laugh, through ancient times few have returned from war."

"Scholar has started reciting poetry again."

"Scholar, drinking is not permitted in the army."

"What this expresses is that life is inevitably disappointing, but never lose that innate nonchalance. How shallow are those who only see the wine!"

"What use is being nonchalant? When you're on the battlefield, you're still rolling in the mud."

"As long as you have nonchalance, even rolling in the mud can attract women!"

"Heh, Yang Liu, tell me, do you like Scholar's nonchalance, or do you prefer a real man like me?"

Yang Liu was the only female warrior in the 'Storm' squad, with short hair, an agile and slender figure, and delicate features.

"I like Tan Ke." Yang Liu toyed with a dagger, an item from the game.

"Tan Ke?!" Aside from Tan Ke, the other three men clearly disliked the answer.

The 'Storm' squad comprised five people: the slightly frail-looking Scholar who took pleasure in mocking others, Poison who enjoyed teasing, the self-proclaimed real man Thigh, the strong and sturdy Tan Ke, and lastly, Yang Liu, also known as 'The Resilient Morning Glory' (Yang Liu being her codename).

The Tan Ke mentioned by Morning Glory was average-looking, quiet, and taciturn—not the cold aloofness of a tough guy, but the dull nature of an honest man.

Back in the new recruits' camp, whenever Tan Ke spoke, regardless of what he said, he'd reflexively show the simple smile of an honest man. Since it lacked any intimidation and seriously undermined the seriousness of the troops, the platoon leader forbade him from speaking during missions.

This order had been carried through to the present, even though Tan Ke had joined the player squad, it had not changed.

Scholar, Poison, and Thigh had a good relationship with Tan Ke, but when it came to being liked by women, they were still quite confident and self-assured.

They were not handsome, but each had his own characteristics that could attract women in some way.

"Mm." The sharp dagger moved in Yang Liu's hands like a harmless chess piece, "Rather than looks or literary talent, I like Tan Ke's quality of 'doing the best within his ability'."

"I think you should wash your eyes." Scholar sighed, "A beauty you are, but alas, blind."

"Mud has clouded your heart." Thigh lamented pitifully.

Poison said slyly, "A-Liu, from today on, you're not our Storm's Morning Glory anymore, I'll consider you one of the guys."

"Fine by me!" Yang Liu gripped the dagger backwards, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Let's see which one of us five is more of a man this time!"

Just as Poison was about to suggest they all take a bath tonight to see who was more of a man, Scholar suddenly spoke up:

"They're here!"

All five fell silent, the atmosphere shifting from relaxed to somber and solemn.

After a little while, the neatly dressed Zheng Qing, with a military dog named 'Storm', and three people wearing military uniforms and gas masks, walked in.

All five were seasoned military dressers, and even though the trio's genders were indistinguishable, they could tell at a glance that they were one man and two women.

"Assemble!" Zheng Qing ordered.

The five instantly lined up in front of her, hands clasped behind their backs, chests puffed out, chins raised, eyes looking straight ahead.

"I'll repeat the importance of the mission again," Zheng Qing's sharp gaze swept over the five, "This is a mission we must accomplish. No matter how strong the enemy is, we must escort all of Academician Lu and his students to the airport. Understood?"

"Understood!" the five roared in unison.

Zheng Qing's gaze softened slightly as she turned to introduce the three people:

"These are three top players from the national team, who will cooperate with us to complete this mission. They are not soldiers, but ensuring their safety in critical moments is also one of our responsibilities. Understood?"

"Understood!"

"Last equipment check, we move out in three minutes. Dismissed!"

Trained and orderly, the five returned to their positions and meticulously checked their combat gear.

The three people following Zheng Qing were naturally Li Changzhou and his group.

To conceal their identities, they used the name of the national team and wore gas masks to hide their appearances.

"You're pretty young to be such a high rank." Li Changzhou teased.

"Thanks to your sniper rifle, I've now become a first-level player on the national team," Zheng Qing said with a smile.

With the sniper rifle, and together with Storm and another warrior, Zheng Qing had been almost unassailable before reaching full value.

Of course, the opponents were also strong, but the power of a sniper rifle in the hands of an ordinary person and in the hands of Zheng Qing was vastly different.

Attributes and skills followed the same logic.

When the panel data was roughly equivalent, there were always some outliers who defied logic and did things that betrayed humanity; these outliers were either "geniuses" or "clumsy players" with nothing to lose but their lives.

Zheng Qing led them to their seats.