Chapter 142

Ka'er saw Zongfang trying to pull Qiao Suisui up on the ground, and without hesitation, hugged Qiao Suisui and lifted her up. After Qiao Suisui came up, she wanted to find a way to save Ka'er, and Zongfang had already picked up the rope that had been prepared and stretched it down from the hole, and Ka'er followed nimbly upward.

Just the second after Ka'er climbed up, the entire ground began to sink and collapse. Zongfang held Qiao Suisui's hand, protected her, and ran to a safe place, with Ka'er following closely behind. Every step of the three was racing against the collapse behind them, and the ground almost followed their footsteps and sank piece by piece.

Finally, the whole earth stopped trembling.

Qiao Suisui fell to the ground, looking at the ruins in front of her, panting, with a sense of celebration for surviving the disaster.

Ka'er saw that she had abrasions of varying degrees on her knees and arms, and immediately came up to check her from head to toe, confirming that there was no serious problem before he was relieved.

Qiao Suisui first looked at Zongfang, seeing the man with his back to her at this moment, seemingly observing the collapsed ground in front, as if confirming something.

She came back to her senses after hearing Ka'er's concerned inquiry and said, "I'm fine, how about you?"

Ka'er also suffered minor injuries. He didn't look at them at this moment and said indifferently, "I'm fine."

After speaking, he noticed Qiao Suisui looking at Zongfang's back again, and then lowered his eyes and pursed his lips.

Ka'er also followed to look at Zongfang, shouted at him, and said, "Hey, thanks."

Zongfang turned around, nodded, and said, "You're welcome."

Ka'er frowned upon hearing this, looking at him with a ghostly expression of confusion. Qiao Suisui was also stunned, feeling a bit strange about such a kind Zongfang.

Zongfang saw the reaction of the two, a light flashed extremely quickly in his silver eyes, and then his expression became indifferent, his tone became as gloomy as usual, saying, "If there's nothing else, let's go quickly, it's not safe here."

Qiao Suisui nodded, looking at the man who had already stepped back, and lowered her head slightly. Ka'er had been paying attention to her state and keenly captured a trace of disappointment in her eyes.

"Sweetheart, come up, I'll carry you on my back." Ka'er squatted in front of her, looking back at her with a smile.

Qiao Suisui waved her hand, pulled him up, and said, "I still have physical strength, let's go."

So the two followed Zongfang and transferred to a safe place.

"You guys take a rest here."

Zongfang spread out the straw to turn it into a simple bed, letting Qiao Suisui sit on it to rest. The dry grass pricked her a bit, but she didn't say half a word, leaning quietly against the straw to recover her strength. It was Ka'er who took off his coat and spread it on the straw, making her feel a little better.

And Zongfang just poked the fire in the distance in silence.

Qiao Suisui sat opposite him, her gaze back and forth on him, wanting to ask if he had been doing well during this time, but hesitated because of his strange attitude. She felt that Zongfang's behavior today was different from the past. She couldn't say what this subtle change was, which made her feel strange.

"Zongfang, how did you appear there?" Qiao Suisui asked in a low voice.

There was no expression on Zongfang's face, only the light that occasionally flashed in his eyes made people unable to see through. He didn't answer immediately, but pondered for a moment before saying, "That area is my responsibility to patrol. After hearing the loud noise, I went over immediately and found that you were almost buried underneath."

Ka'er asked, "This level of collapse should be man-made destruction. Did you see who did it?"

This time Zongfang answered quickly, saying, "It had already started to collapse when I arrived. I didn't see anyone, but I saw an explosive device. It should be someone who did it from the ground."

"Someone found us?" Ka'er frowned in confusion, "And my talent couldn't be used underground just now."

Qiao Suisui asked, "What about now?" Ka'er activated his talent, and a black hole immediately appeared in front of the three.

"Why is this... It didn't work underground, but it can now." Ka'er was puzzled.

Zongfang lowered his eyes and poked the fire with a wooden stick, saying lightly, "The Southern Battlefield has a shield, perhaps it interfered with you."

Ka'er moved his neck and muttered, "If the shield was useful to me, then how did I come to send you things last time."

Zongfang's hand paused, then continued to poke the fire as if nothing had happened. The fire was already burning very high and didn't need to be more vigorous, but his movements hadn't stopped.

Qiao Suisui saw that he didn't mention the photos of the cubs at all, bit her lip, and finally couldn't help but say, "Zongfang, are you... blaming me?"

Zongfang always lowered his eyes. After a while, he said, "It's all in the past."

Qiao Suisui was stunned, not understanding what he meant. Ka'er beside her couldn't stand it anymore and sprayed directly: "Are you okay? Last time you came, you wanted me to convey that you would definitely return to her side. Now that she is right in front of you, what are you pretending to be cold for? Playing hard to get?"

Zongfang's eyelids jumped, then he looked up at Qiao Suisui, with apology and deep affection in his eyes, saying, "Qiaoqiao, I'm sorry, I... just haven't seen you for too long, and I don't know what to do."

Qiao Suisui shook her head, signaling that he didn't need to apologize, smiled comfortingly at him, and the two talked for a while. Zongfang no longer had the cold detachment just now, every sentence was obedient, and even carried some imperceptible ingratiation. The familiar feeling between the two in the past became very faint, and the doubt in Qiao Suisui's heart grew deeper and deeper.

Next, it fell into a silence. Ka'er let Qiao Suisui go to rest, and he took turns with Zongfang to keep watch. Zongfang occasionally looked up to observe Qiao Suisui and Ka'er. His gaze seemed to be looking for some kind of confirmation, but it was difficult to ask directly.

After Qiao Suisui fell asleep, Zongfang suddenly spoke, breaking the silence: "Did you find any abnormal situations in the laboratory?"

Ka'er, bored, hugged his arms and counted the stars, saying, "We did find some documents, but the truly important parts had long been destroyed. Plus, the incident happened suddenly just now, so we couldn't bring the documents out."

Zongfang nodded. Then, he asked again, "Then did you find the 'black box' on this trip?"

Ka'er's eyes, which were staring at the night sky, turned to Zongfang, asking, "You mean the recorder that only special Federal personnel would be equipped with?"

Zongfang nodded, "Perhaps there are clues in it."

Ka'er bit a dry grass and shook his head, saying, "How many years has it been? If it existed, it would have been broken long ago. Besides, only a very small number of people would carry that thing when going on a mission. Now to find it, the probability is too small."

Zongfang stopped talking and looked at the jumping fire in silence.

After dawn, Zongfang mentioned the black box to Qiao Suisui again.

"You mean, as long as we find this black box, we might be able to find clues? But we can't be sure what important things are recorded in it, and even if we find it, after so long, perhaps it can't be opened at all, right?"

Qiao Suisui didn't want to bet her time and energy on an uncertainty. She had already found the experimental base and speculated that the Federation had sent people here to conduct secret live experiments, and the massacre of Dadeline village—could it be related to this experimental base? "We should investigate down the experimental base," she said.

If it weren't for the sudden collapse that destroyed the experimental base, they should have made progress and obtained evidence by now.

Zongfang's silver eyes were deep. He didn't insist too much, but smiled and said, "Okay, I know a place that might have clues."

"Where is it?"

(End of chapter)