Chapter 545: All, Give Chen Panpan a Minute to Speak

"Squadron commander, why are you standing here?"

Lao Mao went up and found Bai Yuan smoking alone outside.

Bai Yuan gave him a glance, gave no reply, and said nothing.

Lao Mao, with a puzzled expression, came to the doorway on guard's side to ask about the situation.

When he learned that Lu Yang was interrogating alone inside and was playing it so cleverly, his eyebrows shot up.

Just as he was about to push the door open, Bai Yuan's voice came from behind: "Wait a moment, come over and have a cigarette."

Lao Mao was forced to stay, went over to Bai Yuan, and as soon as he took the cigarette he asked impatiently: "Squadron commander, you left him alone inside; whatever useful intel he gets, won't all the credit be his?"

Bai Yuan casually lit the cigarette for him, smiled and asked: "What, do I look like I'm lacking credit?"

Lao Mao was left speechless; you don't need it, I do!

For this kind of blind self‑praise, you called me—we're on the same side!

"Old Bai, give me the lowdown, what are you actually thinking?"

"During the earlier selection training, you already took good care of him, taught him so much, and even illegally took Lu Yang to the shipyard; the Chief of Staff was furious about that."

"Now you hand the interrogation over to him; you're openly trying to cultivate him, but he's not one of our Jiaolong people at all, and he may not even share your feelings—he could even become a rival later!"

Bai Yuan, with a cigarette between his lips, looked at him nonchalantly: "Lao Mao, sometimes I really want to tell you, hanging around the Chief of Staff too much narrows your perspective."

Lao Mao didn't understand: "What do you mean?"

Bai Yuan: "Some scores don't need to be calculated that precisely; Jiaolong's honor and attention are already plenty, so sharing a bit with brother units to spur everyone's development is quite good, isn't it?"

"But this is different!"

"Where is it different?"

"He's not a Jiaolong person!"

"But he is in the Marine Corps, the South Sea Fleet, the People's Liberation Army of Dragon Country."

"......"

Lao Mao lowered his voice: "I heard that the Third Brigade is planning to form a new Special Forces unit; aren't you afraid that Lu Yang and his guys will rise up and shake Jiaolong's position?"

Bai Yuan's mouth curled into a playful smile, flicked the ash: "When a unit is set to rise, no one can stop it. If Jiaolong were truly one day replaced by a new Special Forces unit…"

"That would indicate Jiaolong's model can no longer keep pace, can't meet mission demands, so being replaced would be a good thing."

"You can't look at problems only in the immediate patch; you must look farther, have a big‑picture view."

"It's just that you read too few books; I'm currently reading 'The Distant Savior', I'll lend it to you later to boost your literary taste and depth of thought."

Lao Mao had nothing to say, but he didn't agree in his heart.

After all, Bai Yuan is already a squadron commander; his status is different, so his thinking naturally differs.

He himself is only a staff officer now, also serving as a training instructor, and still has a long way to go.

Therefore he needs honor, needs to earn merit, so as not to disappoint the Chief of Staff's expectations, and can rightfully become the fourth squadron commander.

As for that "Distant Savior", he doesn't believe in that nonsense; he only believes that man can conquer destiny!

After the interrogation ended, Lao Mao immediately led his team to a nearby island to spot‑check the whereabouts of another batch of drugs.

What followed was basically unrelated to Lu Yang and his group.

These materials will be compiled to the Anti‑Drug Headquarters or the city anti‑drug detachment.

Upstream drug dealer capture and cleanup work will likely be handled by a special task force set up by the drug‑control police.

As for those two unlucky mercenaries who were also taken away, they will be detained, await trial results, and officially begin prison life.

Only when they were being shipped, the two shouted profanities at Lu Yang in English, wildly cursing his ancestors for eighteen generations.

Fortunately Lu Yang's skin was thick enough, his mindset steady, so he was completely unaffected.

"Let's go."

"Let's eat together sometime."

"Ok."

Bai Yuan boarded the helicopter, and Xu Ce and a few others waved goodbye to him.

The helicopter rose higher and higher, soon disappearing into the horizon.

Lu Yang turned around; before he could call for assembly, Ding Tengfei and six others had already formed a neat line, their eyes blazing at him.

After hearing Xu Ce and the others recount Lu Yang's glorious deeds, each of them felt sincere admiration for Lu Yang.

Especially Kang Changyi, whose capricious, idle‑bouncing nature gave him a self‑contempt, a clown‑like guilt and inferiority.

The bits of skill and experience he boasts about amount to nothing in front of others, yet he remains smug; especially at the Sea Training Base, he even fantasized about replacing Lu Yang, claiming he could lift the big banner of the Iron Foot of the Special Third Regiment.

In the end, he was only a giant in words, never in action.

But Lu Yang, from the day the Special Third Regiment announced its reorganization, has been working earnestly, putting effort into action.

Such spirit is worth each of them learning from, worthy of genuine respect, reverence, and worship!

Lu Yang slightly frowned, deliberately asked: "What's wrong with you, why are you looking at me with that expression, as if you don't recognize me?"

Kang Changyi shook his head: "No, we just think that in the past we were too immature; we constantly questioned your training methods and your training ideas, and now we realize it was our own shallowness."

Zhou Kaidong said: "Lu Yang, I've always known I produced a good soldier, but I didn't expect you to have silently contributed so much on your own."

Ding Tengfei said excitedly: "Brother Yang, from now on in training, whatever you say is law; if I have to say a no, you swing your big mouth at Kang Changyi's face, and don't hold back!"

Kang Changyi stared: "Why me???"

Ding Tengfei hummed: "In the past you always led the whining, led the questioning; you kept saying you had seen Special Forces training and considered yourself superior."

"Look how low‑key Brother Yang is? He calls the Jiaolong squadron commander a brother, the training instructor voluntarily hands him a cigarette, even gives a pack, and has a bunch of Special Operations junior brothers!"

"Ah, low‑key, low‑key," Lu Yang said modestly: "It's enough to know it, no need to broadcast; I'm always indifferent to fame and profit, and I don't want to attract too much attention."

"Look, look, that's the vision, that's the confidence!"

"Brother Yang, from now on you're my own brother, I'm going to stick with you!"

"Me too, me too!"

"I'm aiming right at that thigh of yours!"

Lu Yang kept humbly lowering himself, kept waving his hand, forcing a nonchalant look, but his stubborn mouth was truly hard to suppress.

To prevent himself from laughing, he could only forcibly change the subject, steering the conversation toward training.

"Although we stumbled into a small achievement, it also cost us two days of training time."

"The drill is imminent, and right now you and the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Battalion still have a certain gap in strength."

"If you want to win, you must seize the time and wildly improve your combat level."

"This is your first real combat experience, but certainly not the last. I want to ask you now: are you scared?"

"Not scared!"

Everyone roared.

Lu Yang frowned, "Are mosquitoes your relatives? Speak up!"

The crowd strained their throats, "Not scared!!"

Lu Yang nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the bandaged, gaunt Chen Panpan, "You won't take part in the upcoming training; someone will come later to take you back."

Chen Panpan shook her head, "No, I want to join."

"But your arm is injured."

"Even if I lose skin and flesh, I won't fall behind!"

Chen Panpan puffed out her chest, her tone especially firm, "A minor wound won't pull me from the front line; I want to train together with everyone, improve together, and win honor for our team!"

"The old saying goes, the more we sweat today, the less blood will be shed on the battlefield; I finally understand what it means. If I were strong enough, if I were as capable as Brother Yang, I wouldn't get hit and wouldn't give the enemy a chance to escape!"

The others turned their gazes toward Chen Panpan, each clearly feeling that this soldier had changed.

She became no longer timid, no longer fearful; despite usually being cheerful, she was still the team's scapegoat.

But whenever a problem arises, she instantly seems like a different person; even if her arm is hit, she can say it's fine without a word.

Just this alone isn't something every soldier can manage; for some, they'd probably end up tearfully whining.

Lu Yang looked at the others, "Now, does anyone still have doubts about Team Leader Chen?"

"No!"

"Are you sure?"

"Sure!"

"Because of that shot to his arm, everyone shout 'Team Leader Chen is so cool' three times for me, then give him a minute of cheering!"

Three shouts of "Team Leader Chen is so cool" instantly eased Chen Panpan's arm pain.

When the applause rang out, and at the moment Lu Yang quietly raised a thumbs‑up toward her in approval.

Chen Panpan grinned from the heart, laughing proudly with tears of excitement.

This is their first time receiving everyone's recognition; they feel proud of their effort and growth!