Chapter 581: We're gonna hit you, Flood Dragon!

Xiong Yao said coldly: "Chief of Staff Zhao, you really have too much free time, coming out in the middle of the night just to join the fun?"

Zhao Haishen shook his finger: "The long night is endless, I can't sleep; besides, you two aren't sleeping either, are you just enjoying the moon?"

Xiong Yao gave a cold snort and said sharply: "The exercise is almost over; coming over now to join the fun, you're deliberately looking for trouble with our Blue Army."

Zhao Haishen chuckled: "Chief of Staff Xiong, that's not right; we finished our work and rushed over right away, and we're not even clear about the current battlefield situation—who's ahead—so how can we say we're against anyone?"

"Zhao Haishen?"

In the directing department, Director-General Cai Zhengbang heard the commotion and came out.

Seeing that Zhao Haishen had previously refused phone calls, saying he had no time, yet now he showed up in the middle of the night with people, the old schemer immediately understood what was going on.

He had heard before that Lu Yang of the Blue Army had some connection with the Flood Dragon; now it seems he actually has a personal connection with Zhao Haishen.

"Director Cai, I was tied up with a mission earlier and couldn't get away; I've just finished work and rushed over right away—this isn't late, is it?"

"Not late at all, not late in the slightest—you've come at just the right time!"

Feng Ming strode forward from behind the crowd, grabbed Zhao Haishen's hand, and was overcome with excitement.

He had been worried earlier about how the Red Side would fend off the Blue Army's counterattack.

Who would have thought? As soon as he felt drowsy, a pillow appeared—Zhao Haishen's arrival was perfectly timed.

Zhao Haishen feigned surprise: "Director, what's the current situation? Which side has the advantage—should we help the Red Side or the Blue Army?"

Cai Zhengbang: "A few hours ago the Red Side had the advantage; now the Blue Army has launched a counterattack and seized the upper hand."

Zhao Haishen gave an "oh", firmly grasped Feng Ming's hand with both hands and shook it: "Brigade Commander Feng, let our Flood Dragon give you a hand, Old Cat!"

"Present!"

Lao Mao stepped forward.

Zhao Haishen turned his head and said lightly: "Later we'll go get the equipment; you'll be in charge of leading the team and accompanying the Blue Army for some fun."

"Yes!"

"Remember, keep it to a minimum—don't steal the spotlight, don't overdo it; we're just here to give the Red Side a hand, not to show off excessively."

"Yes!"

Lao Mao saluted, then led Xu Ce, Tu Hongwei, Jiang Dahai, and four others to the directing department to get the equipment.

Zhao Haishen turned his head and offered an apologetic smile to the grim-faced Zheng Chengfeng: "Brigade Commander Zheng, I'm really sorry; it's not intentional targeting of you—it's just a coincidence. If we had come earlier, we might have been able to lend a hand to your Blue Army."

Zheng Chengfeng gave him a brief smile, said nothing more, and walked straight to his position.

Xiong Yao followed in, but his peripheral vision kept drifting to the doorway, where Zhao Haishen was eagerly chatting with Feng Ming.

He gritted his back teeth and said: "That Zhao Haishen guy is truly devious—no wonder the industry says he's a poisonous blue-ringed octopus, deadly toxic; once entangled, it's death! To show up at this critical moment just to stir trouble—clearly he doesn't want our Blue Army to win."

Zheng Chengfeng held his teacup, voice icy: "The Red Side is sure to lose—never mind the Flood Dragon, even if the Heavenly King himself came, it wouldn't help! This exercise will definitely be a victory for our Blue Army."

Xiong Yao: "Should we send a message to Lu Yang and the others as a heads-up?"

Zheng Chengfeng shook his head: "No need—if we're going to win, we'll win fair and square; the more they resort to tricks, the greater the difficulty, and the higher the value of this victory."

"I believe Lu Yang will have a countermeasure; these few are his friends—letting them spar will also help his growth and progress."

"Just wait and see—the exercise will only get more exciting, and the attention on Lu Yang's team will only increase!"

Outside the directing department, Feng Ming walked to a somewhat distant spot and glumly smoked a cigarette.

Zhao Haishen didn't smoke, but instead tucked a cigarette behind his ear, just to keep him company.

Feng Ming seemed to have found an outlet for his frustration, complaining: "I just can't figure out how we ended up falling for their tricks so easily."

He pointed at Zheng Chengfeng inside the directing department's tent and said: "In the past, Zheng Chengfeng was always under my command, serving as a deputy brigade commander; I treated him fairly enough—if he's not grateful, that's fine, but now he's brought the entire Third Brigade to compete with me for resources."

"Several times before he's pulled tricks—deceiving me out of equipment and supplies—and I've let it slide."

"Before the exercise began, he found a work crew and leveled our tidal flat position—that was the Red Side's only position, and he just flattened it."

"If that tidal flat position were still there, the Blue Army wouldn't have taken it so easily, nor would they have had the chance to reach the rear and blow up our logistics warehouse; if it weren't for all these problems piled together, the exercise would have ended long ago and the Red Side would have won already."

"Don't get angry, don't get angry." Zhao Haishen, showing empathy, said: "Brigade Commander Feng, I can understand your feelings—that's why I specially brought the team over to help you regain face."

"Rest assured, our people have already entered the battlefield; the situation will soon become clear."

"It's just the Blue Army—take them down; reclaim what should be our victory, isn't that simple?"

Feng Ming nodded firmly: "Old Zhao, then please take care of it."

"Don't stand on ceremony—we're sister units."

"Proper thanks are still due—after the exercise, I'll find a chance to host and treat you and Hou Yi to a good meal."

"Eh, no need for drinks, but there is indeed something that requires Brigade Commander Feng's strong assistance."

"What is it?"

Feng Ming immediately became wary.

Zhao Haishen's reputation in the industry has never been great.

"Just now, he was also desperate, needing to borrow the Flood Dragon's power to turn the tide."

"Now that he's calmed down, combined with this guy's penchant for digging traps everywhere and his dark personality, we still need to raise our vigilance."

Zhao Haishen said with a smile: "Next month, the Flood Dragon will begin a new round of selections; we hope that the number of applicants from the Second Brigade this year will be higher than in previous years."

Feng Ming's brows immediately knotted: "I recall that you just held a selection batch at the start of the year—how can you start another so soon?"

"It's been moved up; the training model has changed, and the selection process has changed as well."

Zhao Haishen: "We hope Brigade Commander Feng will lend more support then, sending more high-quality talent our way to the Flood Dragon."

Feng Ming's face darkened; he actually didn't want to agree—his brigade had painstakingly cultivated talent, only to have it become a dowry for the Flood Dragon—who would want that?

"But the current situation is not optimistic; better to agree for now, then later, after winning the exercise, pretend to have forgotten."

"All right, no problem."

"But you can't go back on it."

"I'm a brigade commander—would I really be so petty?"

Feng Ming said generously, "For the Marine Corps, soldiers who can get into Jiaolong must be one in ten thousand; I also look forward to having more troops under my command, passing selection to join, and I can also have a glow on my face."

Zhao Haishen laughed deeply, his mouth unable to close, saying "overpraise, overpraise," but he knew better than anyone.

No one is willing to hand over the soldiers they have carefully cultivated, but he has his own way.

This exercise's cameo is the best advertisement, the Jiaolong recruitment card.

Lao Mao's upcoming performance will let rank‑and‑file soldiers see what true tactical coordination, infiltration reconnaissance, even behind‑enemy‑lines decapitation is.

Then, when Zhao Haishen precisely hits the soldiers' pain point of wanting to get stronger quickly, he can execute a precise harvest and easily meet Jiaolong's recruitment KPI.

At 5:40 a. m., just before dawn, mist still lingered in the forest.

On a certain Red side position, the atmosphere was tense and the soldiers were exhausted.

During the night they failed several assaults; while retreating they were chased and hit by small Blue army detachments.

Because ammunition was scarce, food and drinking water were in short supply; this caused morale to plummet, the soldiers became depressed and very irritable.

Around the perimeter of the position, a few Red side soldiers were on guard; they saw an unfamiliar‑plate Mengshi armored vehicle approaching, and the soldiers blocked it from afar.

"Stop the vehicle, what are you doing?"

Lao Mao rolled down the window, stuck his head out of the driver's seat, still with that arrogant look: "Move aside!"

The Red side guard asked again: "Answer my question, who are you? If you don't answer, we'll treat you as killed by the Blue army!"

Lao Mao, a bit impatient, flashed his insignia and pointed to the dragon on it: "Jiaolong Special Operations, we're external support arranged by the Director's Department, specially sent to help you Red side with the situation…"

"Help your mother!"

The guard instantly got angry and fired early: "Using that trick, you think we're fools!"

Lao Mao was stunned, but he reacted quickly; otherwise the earlier shot would have already been a headshot from the opposite side.

"What the heck, are we Jiaolong people?"

"We're the ones fighting you Jiaolong!"

"Are you kidding, we're external support!"

"Support your grandma, still acting mysterious, don't let them escape; the rocket launcher, blow up the vehicle!"

"Your grandpa's!"

From a distance, many people on the opposite side gathered, including one carrying a rocket launcher; Lao Mao, frightened, quickly shifted to reverse gear and fled.

Although this Mengshi armored vehicle had been modified to resist ordinary bullets, it still couldn't stop a rocket launcher.

After speeding away from the area, Xu Ce and his group were full of question marks.

They originally came to help the Red side, but almost got blasted by the Red side.

"Is there some misunderstanding here?"

"What misunderstanding could there be? Could anyone still dare to impersonate us?"

"Hard to say! This kind of thing, others can't pull off, but Brother Lu Yang can definitely do it; he's always more aware of our internal matters."

"Damn, we got trapped by Lu Yang before the fight even started, this kid is getting more and more scheming!" Lao Mao wiped his forehead.

"Xu Ce, contact the Director's Department, have their people come out to explain clearly; we won't rush to rendezvous with them, find something to do, and also prove our identity."

"Yes!"

Jiang Dahai asked: "So, what shall we do?"

Lao Mao put on sunglasses, a cold smile crossing his lips: "Launch a surprise attack on Headquarters, behead the Blue army commander; consider it a big gift to the Red side!"