Hearing they still had to settle the score, the two of them deflated.
"Didn't you already punish us with a written report?" Shi Feng asked.
"You think writing one little report is the end of it?" Captain Li sneered. Making them write it was just so he had something to show his superiors when they returned to headquarters tomorrow.
How the higher-ups decided to punish them was up to them. He certainly wouldn't be pleading their case.
"You got into some serious trouble today," Captain Li said gravely. "Whatever punishment the higher-ups hand down, I won't be able to protect you. You'd better pray for yourselves."
Upon hearing this, Feng He whispered, "They're not going to beat us to death, are they?"
"They won't beat you to death, but you'll definitely get a beating," Captain Li chimed in, having overheard.
'A beating is fine, as long as they don't kill us.'
They quickly finished their three-thousand-word reports. After handing them to Captain Li, the two of them entered the hospital and headed for the hospital room.
Lin Jingjing still hadn't woken up, and they didn't know when she would.
Feng He sat by the bed, still worried. She reached out and checked her pulse again.
There was nothing wrong, yet she just wasn't waking up.
"Why hasn't Sister Lin woken up yet?" Shi Feng asked, standing by the bed.
"She should be waking up soon."
The two of them waited in the hospital room all night, and Lin Jingjing didn't wake up until the next morning.
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly before she slowly opened her eyes under their watchful gazes.
The first thing she saw were their two faces. Lin Jingjing fell silent.
'They don't have to get right in my face just because they're worried.'
"Sister Lin, how are you feeling? Does anything feel uncomfortable?" Feng He asked hurriedly.
Shi Feng poured her a glass of water from the side, while Feng He reached out to help her sit up.
The two of them attended to Lin Jingjing as she drank the water, which soothed her dry throat.
"How long was I asleep?" Lin Jingjing asked.
"You've been out all night," Feng He replied.
'That long?'
Lin Jingjing scratched her head. She remembered lying on an incredibly comfortable lawn, basking in the sunlight. The gentle breeze felt wonderful as it blew past.
As she lay there, she became completely immersed in the feeling.
'I remember just lying down for a little while. How could a whole night have passed by the time I woke up?'
Now that she was awake, the two of them hurried to tell her what Captain Li had said the night before.
"When we get back to headquarters today, we're probably going to get beaten."
"Why?" Lin Jingjing was surprised. 'We didn't even do anything! Why would we get beaten?!'
Captain Li's voice suddenly echoed in the room. "You're still asking why? Because of what you all did yesterday, I'm the one who got chewed out!"
His tone was exceptionally harsh; you could tell he was genuinely angry.
"What did I do to deserve you lot? All you know how to do is cause me trouble, day in and day out."
He continued impatiently, "Still lying around? Get the hell up and get ready to face the judgment of the God of the Empire!"
Half an hour later, the four of them stood beside the flatbed hovercraft they had swiped the day before when no one was looking. Captain Li and Shi Feng took off first, leaving the frontline base camp and heading for headquarters.
The hovercraft under their feet shot off like a rocket, while Lin Jingjing and Feng He hadn't even departed.
"AAAAAHHH—" Shi Feng shrieked, clinging to Captain Li's arm. "Captain Li, slow down! I'm scared—"
Shi Feng's voice drifted back to them from the distance. The two women exchanged a look and silently prayed for him.
"I'll fly, you're still recovering," Feng He said, moving to the front. Lin Jingjing didn't argue, simply standing behind her and wrapping her arms around her waist as they took off.
The two of them flew along at a leisurely pace, as if they were out for a stroll, and they even started chatting.
"I wonder when we'll find them," Feng He mused. Thinking of her fiancé's face, she couldn't help but sigh.
'I wonder what kind of body he'll be reborn into.'
"If you're in the same legion, you're bound to run into each other one day," Lin Jingjing said, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "But you can't always be thinking about your fiancé. You need to work on your physical fitness. Otherwise, you really won't survive an encounter with a mutant beast."
"That's true," Feng He said with a nod.
Twenty minutes later, the two of them finally arrived at the main gate of headquarters. They were greeted by the sight of Captain Li, his arms crossed and a thunderous look on his face, and Shi Feng, who was cowering to the side and trembling uncontrollably.
The two of them silently exchanged a look. 'We're screwed. Captain Li is angry again.'
'He's like a volcano, ready to erupt at the slightest displeasure.'
"You were flying plenty fast yesterday. How come you could barely move today?" Captain Li asked sarcastically.
"Were you scared of your punishment? Trying to stall for time?"
"If you're so scared of being punished, then you should've behaved yourselves! All you do from morning till night is make more trouble for me!"
The huge hole they'd smashed in the mecha wash bay still hadn't been patched, and the mecha inside were still dirty.
There's still a ton of work to be done in the vegetable garden and the pig farm, and now people are complaining that the food in the mess hall is bad, which he also has to deal with.
He was busy as hell day in and day out, yet this bunch still found the time to stir up trouble.
After they receive their punishment, they'll need most of the day to recover. 'What a complete waste of time.'
"Let's go, now! The three of you aren't getting out of this!"
Once inside, Captain Li led them toward the main building. Along the way, they ran into some of Captain Li's colleagues who were on good terms with him, and they all glanced at the trio trailing behind him.
They all started teasing him. "Yo, Li Wang, your troops stirring up trouble again?"
"Heard they smashed a huge hole in the mecha wash bay and took someone else's mecha for a joyride."
"Li Wang, you're just too soft on them. You shouldn't even bother with these Grade D superpower users. All they do is cause trouble and get you chewed out. It's not worth it, man."
These people looked at Lin Jingjing's group with open contempt and disdain, but the three of them stood behind Captain Li with their backs straight, letting themselves be scrutinized.
With a dark expression, Captain Li argued back. After shutting them up, he turned to scold his own team again. "Can't you guys show a little more promise? Even Grade Ds can make a name for themselves."
"You're being looked down on like this, and you're not even a little bit angry?"
"We're very angry," Lin Jingjing replied earnestly. "But proving people wrong takes time."
Finishing her sentence, she looked at Captain Li and said, "Just you wait. We'll make you proud."
"Heh," Captain Li scoffed. "I'll be thanking my lucky stars if you just stop causing trouble for me."
When they arrived, Captain Li went up and knocked on the door.
Only after receiving permission did Captain Li push the door open and enter, the trio following closely behind.
Inside, a woman in a black military uniform sat at a desk. A cap rested on one side of the desk, and a tall stack of files was piled high on the other.
What caught Lin Jingjing's eye was the woman's silver hair, which stood out starkly against the cold, austere style of the room.
Captain Li saluted Chief Bei and reported loudly, "Reporting! Chief Bei, I have brought back those who violated military regulations yesterday. Awaiting your orders!"
Chief Bei didn't even raise her head, merely humming faintly in acknowledgment. But even from that single sound, the three of them could feel an immense, oppressive pressure.
Beisang lifted her head, her silver eyes sweeping over the three of them.
From that one glance alone, Feng He and Shi Feng couldn't withstand the pressure and coughed up blood.
As Lin Jingjing watched this unfold, a question mark slowly appeared above her head.
'What's wrong with them?'